Random

Well, before i start my Christmas pictures i needed to finish up my Thanksgiving and fall pictures! Story of my life lately on trying to keep on top of things and i imagine that is the way it will be from now on till the kids are grown. I will take the being behind though because the kids are growing to fast as it is!

For Thanksgiving we went to my parents in Hutchinson. A bunch of us got up on Thanksgiving morning and ran a 5k together, my parents included so that was in my book a great way to start the day! :)

We ate lunch at the church...

Raegan, Hudson and Ella playing a board game...

Avery playing Uno with some of the little ones...and that was the extent of the pictures i took. The rest of the time was spent doing some black Friday shopping and just hanging out!

The next few pictures are just random shots that i took over the past few months.

Our cat Cheta...the most patient cat ever! She won't put up with much but when it comes to Raegan she let's her do whatever Raegan wants to do. She will scratch everyone else if made to do something but if Raegan picks her up she just goes limp. Smart cat! We found the cat sleeping in her bed the other night and Raegan was asleep too and holding tightly onto her tail. One of these days i am sure she will have had enough and fight her but for now she is still patient with Raegan who calls her "baby"

During the election the kids voted at school. Fruit Loops got Raegan's vote!

We had some really pretty fall nights. One of our favorite things to do as a family is just spend time outside on the patio. This particular night we played games and had snacks. It was a great night. The days are coming soon when our oldest two won't think it is so great to hang out with Dad and Mom on a Friday night but for now they do and we love it!

We also had a furry friend that frequented our trash can and drug trash out every morning. One morning i was taking some trash out and i caught sight of him still inside! After having what felt like a mini heart attack and running back inside i went and put a block on top and John called animal control.

When animal control got there she calmly opened it and said "yep, he is just taking a nap in there." Whaat??!! I snapped this picture as she got him out. He was ticked off and wrangled his way off of her thingamijig and ran straight towards me (another mini heart attack). They apparently can't take them away, but just have to let them go right there. He hasn't been back for awhile...maybe he is hiding for the winter! I personally hope he lost his way to our house!

Aww, so that is the rest of our fall! On to Christmas posts soon...

Orchestra

And...moving on from halloween being that it is a week from Christmas...

Avery had her first middle school orchestra concert awhile back. She plays the violin and really enjoys it.

Here is a short clip of one of their songs they played...

Trick or treat 2012

It's pathetic that i am just now putting on Halloween pictures two weeks before Christmas but i am slowly whacking my way out of the weeds (as we would say in the restaurant serving business.)

Each year the kids have their school parade. It was very nice weather again this year so they got to parade outside.

Our little Batgirl. She say this costume in the flyer they send out in September and had it picked out from the beginning and never once changed her mind ( i am used to the kids changing their mind at least once)

   

So, it was very fitting that Ethan chose to be Batman!

Raegan and Mrs. Stegeman

Our youngest two were ready to hit up some houses for some candy! Of which we still have 3 gallon size bags of!

We let Avery trick or treat with some friends....

Trey was just along for the ride this year, no trick or treating for him but i am sure he has enjoyed plenty of the candy!

After we felt like we had more candy than we ever needed we went for pizza. This has become a family tradition every year after trick or treating. I think we will continue it because the kids like it!

And, just like years past Ethan fell asleep at the table but Mom was not quick on the camera and someone woke him up before i snapped the picture...

KC Marathon and kids marathon

Yes, i am still in October with my blogs plugging along and trying to catch up!! The end of Oct was the last half marathon for 2012 and one of my favorites! Got down there plenty early this time but due to waiting in line for a must have restroom visit once again almost missed the start of the race. I ran to the start and jumped into line with the 2:10 pace group as opposed to the 1:50 as i had planned. This kinda messed with my head a bit but i got over it. John and the kids and my in laws were all there to cheer me in at the end. I knew i was cutting it very close to beating my previous half marathon pr...

My watch said i had it but i am never positive till i see my "official" time, since the finish clock time is always different.

and once i got my print out i was super happy to see that i had a new pr by 14 seconds...my new half pr being 1:48:27

  Julie and i after the race...

Rebekah and i after the race...

And then it was time for the kids to run! They run their first 25 miles before race day and then run the final mile and a little more on race day. Trey came flying in and took 3rd or 4th place i believe

Avery had a good run...

I just love this picture of Ethan! I am pretty darn sure he was giving his all!

I ran with Raegan and she did great. We didn't get a picture of us coming across but she was super happy to see the finish line!

So proud of my kids and they had a blast doing it!

It was an all around great day!

Fall pictures

There is a trail that i run often and every time i run it i have thought "i need to bring the kids here and get some fall pictures" So...ones of the days in October that the kids were out of school we took a little walk on the trail and got a bazillion pictures! Here are the ones that actually had (for the most part) all 4 smiling with their eyes open. This is just no easy task with a point and shoot camera resulting in me taking the bazillion pictures i take and hoping i get some that actually turn out!

Raegan...5years old and quite my little photogenic child. She is loving kindergarten and writes CONSTANTLY! I pretty much exist as a  mom who utters the spelling of words, many, many words!!

they are just plain crazy!

soon to be 14 year old and i am in a little bit of denial that i need to go to the dmv to pick up his book to study so that he can go get his DRIVING permit soon!!! Seriously, the thought of my child driving me around makes me extremely nervous! He still enjoys writing. I often find him in his room at night just sitting at his desk writing stories.

 Our 7 year old who starts basketball practice today and is super excited! I just love how he looks back and waves at me 3 or 4 times on his way into school! He breezes through his spelling tests and so far is not a big fan of math (welcome to the club!!) He thinks his mom is pretty cool when i help him with his challenge spelling words by giving him little ways to remember how to spell them. He was super proud to get the words celebration and decorations right this past week. It made his whole week!

 The start of this trail is less than a mile from my house and i never even knew about it until i started running with the local running club last January. It is now one of my favorite running routes that i frequent!

Our almost 12 year old! This first year of middle school has been her cup of tea. She is quite the social girl (takes after her dad in this area) and has made a lot of new friends this year. She loves changing classes and says it makes the day go so much faster! One of her teachers at conferences told me "does she always have a smile on her face, she is quite the social girl but does not let that get in the way of her studies" Hope that continues!

You know there are days when these four just drive me so crazy! They all tend to talk to me at the same time and i feel like a broken record sometimes saying..."i CANNOT listen to everyone at once!! This is especially bad when they all get in the car after school and then arguments break out over who is the longer winded talker....BUT...i am so extremely blessed!! These four healthy kids bring so much joy to our home!

I am seeing my oldest two get along so much better being in middle school together and having more to talk about...and be goofy together...the other day they were walking down the hill to the car (they walk  from the middle school to the elementary car line) all of a sudden Avery just collapsed and flew to the ground dropping everything but then they both busted up laughing...Trey had dared her to do it...all of those days of fighting like cats and dogs seem to be less and less!

I tell them that some day they will like having these pictures and they look at me like i am crazy, but deep down i think they know i am right because momma is always right! Right?!