Run boys, run!

Today our town hosted a kids fun run! Wyatt's group of Kindergartners raced 1/4 mile. Here's Wyatt to the right, neck and neck for first place as he approaches the finish line.....

He breaks away and finishes first place!
Will was with the 1st and 2nd graders and raced 1/2 mile. As he was approaching the finish line someone called his name from the bleachers so here he is waving.....
Running hard, despite the untied shoelace.....

And he finishes strong!

This was the second annual Dragon Run and Craig (along with the other Elementary PE teachers and a few key community members) had a big part in organizing it. They worked so hard, and it was a success! It was a lot of fun cheering those kids across the finish line!

a sweet moment

Last night the boys went to bed early and Craig took Anna to the store to pick up something I needed. When they got home I was busy cleaning the kitchen, but I heard their hushed voices in the other room. So I peaked around the corner and saw this:

I had to grab my camera because it was just too cute. Anna absolutely LOVES having her nails painted....and daddy did her fingers AND her toes!
BTW....Craig is an excellent nail painter. I usually pick a light color and quickly brush it on making sure each nail has a little color, but he's a perfectionist and takes his time. He even used hot pink!

What a dad!

Pita Bread

The rising stage

Almost done (hey I think these might actually turn out!)
And they did.....a yummy, soft pita waiting the filling of my choice.

Growing up on of my most favorite sandwiches was tuna on pita with sprouts, sunflower seeds and couple of my Dad's homemade sweet pickles on the side. But I can never seem to find pita bread at the discount grocery store in our neck of the woods, so I have not had it for quite some time. A month or two ago I got to thinking about how yummy pita bread sounded. I looked up a recipe online and printed it off to try sometime. Well, this week over at Home Sanctuary one of our "small things" was to make something from scratch. The first thing I thought of was that pita bread recipe I've had clipped to my fridge for a couple months now. So I decided to give it a go!

I was so pleased (and surprised) with the results! They were soft and delicious. After cooling, Wyatt and I broke one up and ate it on the spot. He commented, "this is good bread, mom". I served them lat night with Picnic Chicken Pita Filling and they were a hit for dinner.

I'll be baking another batch, soon!

something to share

For the past almost 4 weeks I have been struggling with some kind of illness. I was so sick the week Craig went back to school and the kids first week in school, I really don't know how I was making it through my days. I started to become depressed and annoyed that my body wasn't recovering. I was fearful and frustrated at not being able to take care of my family, the way I wanted to. But every time I opened my Bible it was as if there was a word meant just for me. Slowly over the course of two weeks I started letting go of my fears and trusting God to fill in where I wasn't able to. I started focusing on each day, and tried to enjoy each moment as a gift.

So many people were also encouraging to me, and I know there were those praying for me. One day I was talking to my mom in tears and she said, "Lindsay, you are God's personal concern". I kept repeating that to myself over and over. Pretty soon the fear subsided and I was filled with God's peace.

I had and MRI and lab work, last week and everything came back normal! Praise the Lord! Probably the first time in my life I've ever been described as normal, but I'll take it. I am still not feeling 100%, but I'm praying my symptoms will subside and I give the glory to God for my healing.

It is always so hard being a sick mommy (can I hear an amen?) Through this God has taught me to depend on him more, to release my fears and let him take control. I have enjoyed some special moments with my kids. We have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible (which I highly recommend...thank you Kelly!!) and I cry reading it too! I get Anna all to myself in the morning while the boys are in school. It has been so much fun watching her play by herself and hearing the little conversations she makes up for her babies. One of the first days of school she went to her room called out, "Mom, I'm playin' with my babies" and shut the door!

In the afternoons Anna naps, and Wyatt and I have some one-on-one time. He loves to read books, do art, help me bake, and practice piano. Occasionally we lay on my big comfy bed and he'll fall asleep. All in all it hasn't been the easiest start to a new school year....but at the same time, becasue of God's faithfulness, it's been great!

"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him; with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." ~Psalm 91:14-16

Football & Soccer

Today marked opening game day for Will and Wyatt. After two years of soccer, Will decided to make the big switch to flag football. Turns out it was a great decision! He absolutely LOVES it. Today he scored three touchdowns and was diving to pull flags left and right. I never knew I could get so excited over football. Actually, I don't fully understand the game even though Craig's explained it to me dozens of times. But, on the first play Will took off running with the football to score and I was screaming, "go, go, go, Will.....keep going....wooohoooo!!!" at the top of my lungs.

And then there was soccer. This is Wyatt's first year at it and I think one of the cutest things is 5 year olds in soccer jerseys and pint sized shin guards. Wyatt probably fell down at least 20 times, and at one point he thought he was the goalie and tried to pick up the ball. But he did manage this:

He dribbles......
He shoots......
He SCORES!!!!! (and then falls down)
It was a fun day of fall sports and I'm so thankful God gave me these boys to cheer on! By the way, Anna has informed me that she will be playing "shoot-ba'' when she's "bigga". Looking forward to that, too!

the blender thing

We recently had a shredder given to us. Craig had to fix some gear on it or something and he got it working great. My kids had never seen a shredder before and they were quite fascinated by it.

Today Wyatt was telling me a story about something that happened at school, that involved a shredder. It went something like this:

w- you know that blender thing mom?
m- what blender thing, the one we make smoothies in?
w- no, mom, the blender thing.....you know the blender thing that cuts up paper?

Just thought it was a funny and creative way to descibe a shrededer.

A new school year

"Making the decision to have a child- it's momentous. It's to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside of your body." -Elisabeth Stone

I have a picture frame with that quote on it on my desk. My sweet friend Darbi gave it to me with a picture of me holding Wyatt as a baby and Will at 2 years old with a fire hat on and chocolate on his mouth. I like that quote, and I don't think it ever rings quite as true as it does on the first day of school!

Sending Wyatt off to kindergarten, today.
He seemed like an old pro and started building with the blocks immediately.
Will started 2nd grade yesterday.
We love you brother, have a good day!
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us..." -Psalm 67:1

Our one day camping trip

Monday we set off for our last camping trip of the summer. We spent one night at Fisherman's Bend and planned to head up to Suttle Lake for the next two nights. Tuesday morning as we were getting ready Craig looks over at Anna and says "is she ok?" Anna was just laying on the bed with a glazed over look. I said she looked like she didn't feel well and sure enough she said her tummy hurt and started puking about a 1/2 hour later. We decided camping with a sick baby didn't sound like much fun (not to mention the day before I had taken Will into the doctor to get medicine for poison oak up and down his leg)..... so we packed up and headed home. Actually Craig packed up and I held Anna and she fell asleep on me. I definitely got the better end of the deal on that one.

I was glad I got my camera out the night before around the campfire. Craig and I stayed up late after putting the kiddos to bed and just talked around the fire til it burned down. As we were heading to bed Craig mentioned that it's amazing how after being married 10 year we are still finding out new things about each other. I realized that's one of my favorite parts about camping. Being outside with a campfire just has a way of spurring good conversation.

By the time we got home I could tell Anna was already starting to feel better. She took a three hour nap and woke up famished. I kept giving her small amounts of food and she kept begging for more.

Despite the work that went into only being able to camp for one day, we had a fun time. And I admit, I am really enjoying this time at home with Craig before he goes back to work next week. Since Anna was feeling better and it was pouring outside (another reason I was glad we weren't still camping), we took the kids to OMSI this morning. Then we decided to tackle our closet while Anna took her nap this afternoon. Nothing motivates me more than when I have someone to work with. Right now as I type I am glancing over at our amazingly organized and neat closet. Even if it's only a little piece of my life that feels organized, it sure is nice!

Tomorrow's agenda: Build better shelving in our linen closet

Label!!! (I just bought a label maker and I am going crazy with this one, it's just too much fun!)

Spiderman lives at our house

I rounded the corner of our bedroom to walk down the hall this morning and was greeted by spidey staring down at me!

Kinda freaky, huh? He actually made me jump.

He's assured me he was a nice spidey, though.

The River

Here we are enjoying a day at our favorite spot on the river.

Panning for gold.....

Hanging out in the sunshine and cooling off in the river
Great grandma joined us, and Anna loved playing in the shallow water by her.
Swimming with dad....she's got the vice grip around the neck going.....
And we even were lucky enough to have another visit from, whom we now refer to as our friend. Thank goodness when this guy showed up I was OUT of the water. Later a smaller friend came along and Craig gave me sufficient warning so I could scream and scrambled out of the water before he got too close.

And this is one of the scary parts of having boys! Jumping off rocks! It looks like Wyatt is pushing Will (he didn't!)
The very first jump Will did was a TOTAL belly-flop. In fact his belly stayed red the whole day from it. But he was brave and got back up there for several more feet first jumps.


Even big boys are good at frightening the women.


This picture makes me laugh. My little nature boy found this huge leaf and used it for a hat. I think he'd make a darling cabbage patch doll. Don't tell Craig I said that.
Floating with the noodles, the kids and I plus Ama.

We swam and we ate, and swam and ate. The kiddos enjoying their lunch!


Cute Wyatt with a bouquet full of Ama's flowers!

Fun Times!!

catchin' up

We've been busy this past week and I'm just now finding time to catch up the blog.

First, we spent a couple days with our good friends Brian and Jessie who were visiting from the east coast. We stayed at a beach house and got to meet their (almost) 11 month daughter Ava, for the first time. Jessie is an amazing photographer and took some family picture of us on the beach the evening we arrived. We had planned on doing more beach photos the next morning, but woke up to rain. So we settled for some indoor shots of the kids. None of which I have seen yet and I am very excited about them. She always does a great job.

Our kids with their new friend, baby Ava. She is adorable!

This week we have been busy with Wildcat Hoop Camp. Craig and Brian, a fellow teacher, coach, and friend have run this camp for 8 years now. It makes me a little sentimental thinking back on how I used to bring Will at age 1 to visit daddy at hoop camp and now both my boys are old enough to participate. Will is competitive and gives his all. He looks forward to each day and hopes to get an award at the end of the week. Wyatt wasn't so sure. After the first day he was hot and tired and said he would rather be home picking flowers with me and digging for worms. I told him that you have to go every day to get a medal (each kid gets one for participation) so then he was inspired. This morning he was up and dressed in his bball gear before I even knew it.

We may have another hoopster on our hands, yet. He's a little wild and crazy on the court, but we'll see.

Will practicing little dribbles
My two younger nieces are doing WHC as well. This is sweet Hilary with Wyatt. She is about 7 month older than Wyatt and Wyatt just loves her. Really, and truly he does. In fact, he tells me all the time "I'm going to marry, Hilary, mom".

(Side note: bandaid on Wyatt's face due to him sliding down carpeted stairs on his face at the beach house. Nice rug burn!)

Next up: The Good News According to Uke!

This is Will's ukelele class. He had been taking lessons from my mom (an avid uker herself) for the past 6 weeks. Notice he's the only boy among the 6 other girls! He is such a good sport and is coming along with his songs. Next week they perform for a group of retired folks at an assisted living facility. They do lots of gospel songs and hope to share the good news according to uke. Thus the name of the group. Aren't they cute??
And lastly I have squeezed in a little sewing. This is a re-usable grocery bag I made with (you guessed it) fabric from my stash. It is designed after a plastic grocery sack, and turned out ok, but I'm still not sure if I really did it right. I am currently working on a different style of grocery bag (designed more like a paper sack) and if it turns out well I want to sew up a bunch for Christmas gifts or to use as gift bags. Going green, you ask? No, not really. I just like to sew and this is a good way to use up my fabric. And I get .06/each for bringing my own bags to Ware Mart! And let's face it, who couldn't use an extra .06??
The remainder of our summer is pretty much all planned out including swimming at Aunt Paige's pool, a trip to GP, one last camping trip, school shopping, and my parents keeping the kiddos overnight so Craig and I can go to IKEA. I know it's bound to go by fast, so I am treasuring these last few weeks of summer!

Copy Cat

I don't mean to be such a copy cat, but I saw this cute idea for a little girls dress made from a men's button down shirt on Michelle's blog. Today I went to Goodwill and found a cute button down shirt for $2.49. It was a woman's extra large, but I decided to give it a try during nap-time today. When Anna woke up I tried it on her and finished it up. I turned out a little big, but that's ok. She can wear it next summer as well. To try one yourself go here. And don't worry, I won't call you a copy cat. :)

Blueberry muffins

We picked blueberries last week so I was excited to make some blueberry muffins, but I didn't have an amazing recipe to try. I looked around on allrecipes and debated between the "to die for" or the "health nut" blueberry muffins. Each had 4 1/2 stars. Can you guess which one I decided on?

It was these and they are delicious!!

Silver Falls

This Saturday we spent a fun day at Silver Creek Falls. Craig and I had not been there to hike the falls since we were dating. Summer '97 if I recall. So that would be....hmmm....11 years ago. Pretty pathetic.

So, when our good friends called to see if we were free for the day, we were excited to go. Below is the cute T family. We have not gotten our families together since before Christmastime. Also, pretty pathetic, considering they live about 30 minutes away. It wasn't as if we hadn't tried. Kids and life just get in the way sometimes! They are so much fun, their kids have grown, and we've missed them!
We took these pictures right before embarking on the loop under the waterfall. It was cool to see it again and experience it with kids. I found my heart jumping up to my throat a couple times as they peered over the edge below. And I heard a yell that sounded and awful lot like my mom's voice coming out of my mouth, saying, "Stop......no, no, no, get down!"

I had almost forgotten about the cool "caves" and rocks to explore as you walk under the falls. They boys were really into that. Notice how all these things would have been perfect photo opportunities to document that we once again were back at silver falls after 11 years with three kids in tow. But when I pulled out my camera to take some pictures, I realized the battery had gone dead.

So, no more pictures. But trust me, it was beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Thanks for inviting us, guys!!

Little Fish

The boy have had a fun couple weeks doing swimming lessons. They both enjoy the water so much and these weeks in the pool are always a highlight of our summer. Here is Will doing a running jump....

Here is Wyatt's class. They are having a blast jumping up and down making big waves.
Wyatt is such a spaz in the water. He was constantly doing underwater swimming, bobs, rolls, and cannon-balls. He is still getting the hang of actual "swimming" but loved being on his back. He's all about havin' fun!
Will did a good job practicing his all the different strokes, and worked very hard. He's also a great floater. I was proud of his progress this year!
Too bad I didn't get a picture of Anna. But she kept herself occupied on the swing set and playhouse and would occasionally bring me cup fulls of rocks (soup) and "feed" me. Next year she will be old enough for lessons, and boy is she excited!