Sunday, June 30, 2013

Just another form of school


Caleb loves to pull things apart and see how they work.
Anytime we are throwing something electronic away he is bouncing in anticipation waiting to get his hands on it.

Over the years he has pulled apart many things . . and fixed a few too.
He pulled a DVD player apart and actually fixed it.
It worked for another 6 months.

Here he is explaining to me what the different function are of some of the parts.
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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Falling in Love


So on Monday I wanted to start a blog post with the title -
Wahhhhhhh!
You see my husband in his great wisdom has started our whole family on the Couch to 5K program (click link).

I am not a runner.

At all.

In fact our first run I was on the side of the trail, bent over, dry heaving and getting tunnel vision.
At first I felt sorry for myself that I had to push a double stroller while starting a running routine
and then
I was so thankful I had it to keep me upright :D

Well the first day didn't go so well.

Then Wednesday came along and I went on a run with just Bailey and  . . . it didn't feel awful, I ran each of the running sessions, and when I came home I felt light hearted.
I had burning lungs but not as bad.

Then Friday came along and  . . . .
I liked it
I really did.  I felt so much better during the run.  I had a hard time halfway through but then I got a second wind and the last section I ran faster than the first.

And I came home hyper!

Maybe just maybe I won't hate this thing called running and one day I will be able to run a mile without stopping ;)

I will keep you updated.


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Birthday Boy


Our sweet , sweet Kadin turned 11 yesterday!
He wanted a superman birthday.
Kadin is loving and compassionate.
He is the first to notice if someone needs something or has hurt feelings. 

Meals are such a big deal to our littles on their birthday.
Kadin's menu picks:
French Toast with Strawberries and whipping cream
Little Smokies with Barbecue sauce
and
Homemade mac and cheese

He couldn't decide between birthday cake and cheesecake - so we got both ;)
 
 
 
 
 
 

After a long party day . . . .Z Z Z Z

We were blessed to have family visiting with us and when we have company the boys give up their "mother-in-law suite" to company.
They did not need to be sleeping in the doorway but this way they could watch the big people while they fell asleep. 
I came around the corner and found them like this and couldn't help taking a picture :D
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Friday, June 21, 2013

Peanut Butter and Bread Plants


Titus was commenting on our garden getting SO big.

 I told him it was just going to get bigger and then it would grow tomatoes, and cucumbers, and sweet peas, (at this point his eyes are getting bigger and bigger) and corn, and bell peppers, ( he starts to bounce a little in excitement), and watermelon for us to eat.

Then Titus said " and will it grow bread and peanut butter too!!"

:D


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Thursday, June 20, 2013

An Afternoon with Papa

Bailey's turn

It is a plain and simple fact, we would always prefer to be with papa/Stephen.  It doesn't matter what we are doing.  The other day Stephen was taking some of the seats out of our new van and one by one we all trickled outside to "help".  I loved watching each of the kids take turns crawling under the van with daddy and talk to him and help him.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy.
The "Peanut" chatting away
Caleb's turn - while Gabric makes a run for it
Now Stephen is working from the top while the boys help from bottom.
Titus' version of taking a turn involves kicking a ball :)

Hadassah found her shadow.  Skirt swishing is so much more fun with a "friend".
 

Do you see that look of determination?  He will scale that mountain.
 
 

All in all it was an amazing afternoon just because we got to be together.
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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

We are well and back to adventures!


When I got back from Speech therapy with Kadin and Bailey today, I heard tinkering in the garage.  When I went to peek out there I was pushed back inside with a "wait till you see what we are doing!"
Caleb was being the most awesome of big brothers and making Titus a robot suit.
Titus just reveled in his brother's attention.  It wouldn't have really mattered what they were doing.  
 

SO cute!

Look at how our garden has grown!
 

Our new toy -
I know, Analene, not quite like your new watering hole ;) but we do the best we can.

Have I mentioned how much I love our new van?  Another thing in it's favor - it has rubber floors.
Yesterday all the big boys got buckets of soapy water and scrubbed it with scrub brushes. Then, since our driveway is on a hill, we just poured buckets of water through it.

The girls thought it was the perfect opportunity to build dams.
 
 

Our very special Papa on Father's Day
 
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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Territory Days

Taking a break in the shade
A few weeks ago we enjoyed Territory Days down in Old Colorado City.
Bailey said it was "one of the best days ever".

"Territory Days is a three day annual event and is one of the Colorado's largest outdoor festivals with an "Old West" theme. Territory Days was created in 1976 to commomorate Old Colorado City being the first territorial capital of the region.
The event takes place in the historic district of Old Colorado City on Colorado Avenue between 23rd Street and 27th Street.  The streets come alive with live music, food, fun and entertainment for the entire family. One of the state’s largest craft vendor fairs (over 200 food, craft and commercial vendors) with pony rides, kids play area, petting zoo, mechanical bull, Cowboy Church Service, toy train rides, gold panning, wild west gunfight re-enactments, live blacksmithing, period costumed characters, live birds of prey, native American dancers, quick draw competition, and two beer gardens with live music running all three days. The festival has approximately 140,000 attendees from across the country."

 
Watching an enactment of the old west - it was pretty goofy :)
 

Free Whippings

The kids all loved the huge blow up slides.  My favorite part, which you can slightly see in both pictures on the ladder,  was Kadin helping his sister.
Hadassah made it up three rungs before she realized it was too much for her.  Kadin said "It's alright mom, I've got her."
He picked her up, had her wrap her arms around his neck and her feet around his waist.  Then climbed the ladder with her hanging on like a monkey onto his chest.  Caleb followed behind, in case he needed any help, but he didn't.  That is the kind of brother Kadin is.  A few bystanders stood there with their mouths agape, concerned that it was too much for him, but if you knew Kadin you wouldn't be worried.  God has blessed him with ridiculous strength.  He can lift things that I can't and even his older brother will come ask him for help with things he can't do physically.  Lately Kadin has talked about being a fireman, before the Black Forest fire, and I can't think of a more suited job.  He has such a heart of service.  So maybe this is just practice ;)
 

Once they got up there Caleb decided it would be best to go down with her so she didn't get scared and stay up by herself.  I am so blessed by my older boys watching out for their younger siblings.
 

Gabric had fun at the festival too, though all from the stroller.
 
 
 
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