August Random-ness

cool dudes with their shades from Dadda

 

this is what happens after a busy week with Gracie!

Keilah has learned to say "take" when

she wants us to hold her :)

I love my babies!!!!

Story time :)

 

Ready for Friday Night Football!              



Hannah's Kindergarten Week

I cannot believe that this week/day has arrived.  I didn't think it would bother me so much that my baby was going to kindergarten, but it is hard! She has been going to daycare since she was 12 weeks old, but there is something so much more significant about kindergarten.  I have been able to spend lunchtime every day for the last five years with her...now we won't have that time together.  It breaks my heart.  She is my helper and buddy and I  have missed her so much the two days she was at school.  She is so excited and absolutely loves it so I am so happy about that!

On Tuesday she went to her kindergarten introduction.  She went for just the afternoon with half of her class.  She was so excited to ride the bus for the first time with her friends from play-with-the-kids.  Nate and I were both able to be there to watch her.  It was so nice, but I definitely cried on the way home since it was the first time without my baby girl!



 

On Friday it was her turn to go to school for a full day (with half of her class again).  This was her first all day experience and she did great.  We packed her lunch the night before (PB&J on circle bread, cucumbers w/ranch, strawberries, and prezel fishies) and had her clothes picked out for about a week before! I took time off of work to be able to see her get on the bus and pick her up after school.  I could tell that she was tired after her first day.  She had so much fun though and she is ready to go back on Tuesday!



First For Me!

I was nominated for a blog "award" by Allyson...a first for me!! The award gives me the chance to answer questions about myself.  So... here it goes:

1. What is the oldest piece of clothing in your wardrobe (that you actually wear)?
I think this would be a pair of Adidas basketball shorts I remember wearing in high school phys ed class! They are now one of the last pairs I will wear, but I just can't get rid of them!

2. What is your favorite drink?
Water and coffee...do those count?  My kids know that the first thing I have to do when I go downstairs in the morning is make my coffee.  Once it is brewing I can move on with the morning. :) After that I rarely drink anything but water. :)

3. What's your favorite race distance?
This is a hard one to anwer.  I love a 5k race because I feel like I can really push myself as far as speed is concerned.  I can fine out how "fast" I really can be!  Half marathons are awesome because I feel like it is more of a challenge to myself in distance.  Plus it's something that not a lot of people have done!

4. If you could give your teenage self just one piece of advice, what would it be?
Realize that my parents would be right in so many things! 

5. What did you study/major in college?
Athletic training with a minor in Bible...strange combination I know.  Looking back I wish I had double majored with phys ed though!

6. Cilantro - love or hate?
Love- if it is cooked or in salsa.

7. Brandon or Dylan? (Inspired by the Old Navy commercials)
Yeah I have no idea on this one...I guess I don't watch enough TV!

8. Have you ever run a relay? If yes, which one? If no, why not?
Not since high school! There are not any around here that I know of...plus not sure if that is something I would really enjoy. Probably would depend on who I was running it with!

9. How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?
I arrived on my birthday in the Czech Republic on a missions trip with the Houghton College basketball teams. We had ice cream at dinner to celebrate.  The best was someone who was a stranger to me at the time, but has become a friend found a way for me to talk to my twin sister!  It was the first birthday I had spent apart from her and the phone call Lenka orchestrated meant the world to us! 

10. What movie(s) could you watch over and over again?
Number one has to be "Newsies"...my siblings and I watched it every day for an entire summer.  It's by far one of my favorites still.  I love "The Phantom of the Opera" (newer version) as well...again a definite favorite! Alas, I have not watched either in years!

11. How often do you update your blog?
I TRY to each weekend, but often I go through blog binges where I will back post everything I had wanted to blog about, but didn't have time to! (notice the multiple posts that appeared today!)  Hey it's my blog I can do what I want right? :)

I know that I am supposed to pass this on, but that would require more time than I have right now! Hope you enjoyed learning more about me!

Meet Bellah

Last night we added this adorable puppy to our family!

 One of my coworkers mentioned last week that she was getting a free Fourche Terrier from her neighbor and they had others to give away.  I finally remembered to say something to Nate at the end of the week and on Sunday we went and saw her.  There was no way we were going to be able to NOT get her once we saw her.  The kids were so excited and didn't want to leave her (she couldn't come home with us until yesterday).  It's been an eventful 24 hours, but once she gets the potty thing down we'll be all set.  The kids just love her! :)

 

 

15k Beauty

This was the view I had when I walked out my door this morning to go for my run:

What a way to start the longest run I've ran in over a month!  I knew that I wanted to push my distance this morning with a half marathon planned in October.  I had set out to do 7-8 miles but was secretly hoping to do more.  As I approached the end of mile 8 (and close proximity to my house) I hadn't heard from Nate that the kids were awake so I decided to go another mile.  I had been feeling pretty strong throughout and knew my pace was good so kept going.  Ended up running a 15k (9.3 miles) in 1:28:04 (9:28 pace).  VERY happy about that!

Pool Time

The pool has been the heart of our family time this summer.  I finally remembered to take my camera today! There have been just a handful of days since school got out that we haven't gone to the pool.  During the week as soon as I get home from work we load up and are there between 4:30 and 5pm.  We stay about an hour or two depending on when we get there and what we have to do the rest of the evening! All three kids have improved so much this summer with their swimming.  Hannah has gone from an above the water, swimring wearing, jump into Dadda's arms swimmer to an independant underwater swimmer who jumps off the diving board all by herself! Elijah has gone from sitting on the stairs to swimming with a swimring in the big pool and going under the water countless times in the little pool. He started going under water when Nate would play the "push-pull" game (E is in swim ring, Nate would hold his hands and push him away from him and pull him back under water).  Keilah just loves to be in the water.  She walks and floats around the little pool with her ring on all by herself.  We have to stay close by to catch her if she starts to go under, but she loves being there!  The pool has been wonderful for us...so many times it is just us there it's like our own private pool. :)



 

Sky VBS

This year our church did the Sky VBS...they loved it! Each night afte work we hurried through dinner and headed to the church for their classes.  The theme was focused on trusting God.  They loved the songs so much I'm going to have to order the cd from amazon! :)  It was a great week!

pictures from the first night

all the kids and teachers

Hannah during the singing of the theme song in the church service today

 

No matter...
who you are...
how you feel...
what people do...
what happens...
where you go...
TRUST GOD!!!!

Last Hurrah!

Each year we set aside this day as our last "hurrah" before football starts and the madness of the school year begins.  We decided to head to Delgrosso's to ride the rides and go to the water park.  I was surprised with how many things Keilah was even able to do.  Hannah loved the big roller coaster....I'm pretty sure I was more scared than her!  Elijah's favorite was the race cars...he loved to pretend to be driving them.  The water park was a hit with all three kids.  Hannah was big enough to go on the big slides and loved them!  Elijah loved to splash and go under the water.  Keilah loved the "big slide" in the kid's section.  Every time we would get to the bottom she would squeal and the climb her way back to the top to go down again.  After we were finished at the park we headed into Altoona to do some shopping.  Keilah was asleep less than a minute after we started to drive and Elijah was asleep before we arrived in Altoona.  We got Hannah's new backpack for school while we were there!  On the way home even Hannah fell asleep from the busy day.  It was such a great time being together!!!! :)

Keilah's first ride all by herself!