Crazy hair day

I love that I get to share these precious moments with my kids at school. Van was so excited to be able to wear his hair this way.

Done, Done at last

Hats off to all of you who have run a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles), or full marathon (26.2 miles). Man oh man was that the hardest self motivating thing I have done, EVER! I am glad I did it, and glad it is done. I now have a time frame to work towards for my race in April. Thanks so much to all of you who have expressed your support, and encouragement. And thanks to my two lady friends who committed to do this task with me, I will forever be grateful.

Viewer discretion advised

Here is my oldest son getting his first stitches. I fear this will not be the first time. Van was tubing down at the school (it was a tube someone gave them at the playground - we do not own tubes because of things like this.) He ran into the basketball stand and busted his head open.

Luckily Gary was available to help out with this incident. This is a picture after the stitching. Van was so brave and didn't make a sound while he was getting fixed up with 14 (I think) stitches.

Five days later it is time for the stitches to come out. I think he is nervous.

Grandpa at work. Thanks to Dr. Grandpa and Nurse Nana for staying calm and helping us (Van and mom) stay calm.

Here is Van telling his story.

10 down, 13.1 to go

Today was the last long run I did before my 13.1 mile race next weekend. All went well, except for the nasty cold weather, my training schedule says I should be able to go the whole 13.1 with out any problems. For those of you who keep saying "how do you even get to a point where you can run 10 miles?" Here is the site I used, loved, and will use again www.halhigdon.com it is a 12 week program that incorporates running, strength training, and stretching - LOVED IT!
AND I finally feel like I can call myself a runner with having a half marathon under my belt, and one planned for the future.

I can't even stand it

As my boys grow older they have new things that make me want to cry. I remember crying when Van started sounding out words when he was 4 almost 5. I remember watching Finn go from hardly any talking to jabber jaws. Now as they continue to make progress in every way possible, tears are leaking out of my eyes regularly.
Van is learning to roll with the punches (his wining has been happening less and less - not gone yet, but less). I can see Finn growing in all the ways he needs to, striving to be ready for kindergarten next year.
This week has been a lot of craziness with kids going here and there, being picked up by Shannon, and Aaron while mom gets to stay late and school and tend to her other kids.
Tonight I came home to a fantastic inventive surprise. Van created a potion for me to see. Not only that but he included (in his new journal from the book fair) the recipe for this secret potion. Once again the tears are streaming -

I truly can not stand how cute and ... there are no words for how much I love being their mom!

Look at this

Look what I came across as I was cleaning out my files on my school computer.
SO LONG AGO! Doesn't quite seem complete without Finny.

A ya

Van has shown an interest in Karate. We have discussed it is not a sport you get to run and goof around while in session. This is a little clip of his first trial run - part of the reason we have decided to put Van into karate is because of his overexcited personality that keeps him from staying focused at school. It has been less than 24 hours and I have already seen him trying to have the mind of a karate kid. This karate school I took him to has 3 rules (sweet, sweet rules):

1. Obey your parents

2. Keep your room clean

3. No fighting

What more could you ask for?

Stay with me

And once again I have not stayed on top of blogging so here is a catch up post.
I don't know if I will ever get tired of the casual strolling through the zoo.

When we were at the cabin for Van's birthday we say these mom and baby moose, the picture on top we nearly ran into the baby on the trail - noticed the mom was not far behind. We decided to turn and walk the other way.

Our evening out on the Trax. They have a sweet deal - $16.00 for 4 riders using any of the UTA transportation. We did the "Frontfrunner", and Trax. It was fun, and the boys LOVED it.

First day of school for my very first 1st grader.

Van invited a few friend from school to Boondocks for his birthday. They played laser tag, and rode go karts. First grade boys are funny.

We spent the night up at Aunt April's house. It was so fun, we took our bikes and rode around Liberty, and played a little guitar hero. The next day we went up to watch Kevin race at Snowbasin.

More pictures from the cabin. Van is showing off his sweet new bike. This was his birthday cake, he all of a sudden loved snowboarding for a few days - where ever that came from?

The moment you have all been waiting for...

BEFORE
As you may have read in an earlier post, this summer - in JULY - we re did our roof. Although I am forever scared from this experience, yesterday we got the final finishing touches added (gutters, soffit, and fascia). I am so excited to have this project complete and super excited about the way it looks. Thanks again to all who helped with labor, watching the boys, and cleaning the house!

AFTER

Happy Birthday to my oldest son

Van is 7, HOLY COW! We went to the cabin to celebrate his big day. Thanks to all that could join us, Van was so excited to have you there. We were able to enjoy the great outdoors, and to see some moose a mom and baby - so cute!

Van got a bike for his birthday, he LOVES to ride his bike anytime he can. Of course he had to bring it to the cabin, even though the riding was not the best.

Van is in first grade, and I have loved having him here at my school. I get to watch him walk down the halls as a first grader - it is so hard not to tackle him with hugs every time I see him.

Technical Difficulties

This is what happens when you have 17 kids coming to you for questions about things you have already answered only seconds before, FRUSTRATING!
Sorry friends and family
I love you all

spelling list

Sorry, my weeks blended together.
There will be no math homework tonight. Today we took chapter 2 test, tomorrow we will be correcting our test and taking unit 1 test. We will start chapter 3 (unit 2) on Thursday.
Here are the spelling words for this week:

thrown, mood
stole, loaf
clue, growth
dew, youth
choose, slope
rule, bruise
boast, loose
cruise, rude
stroll, flow
route, flute
challenge words:
subdue
pursuit
molten
reproach
presume

Welcome, Welcome

We are glad to have yet another Higginson cousin join the crew. Andrew Nairn Higginson. Wish they were a little bit closer.

Summer time count down - yuck

Summer is winding down and I, for the first time-I think-am not anticipating the return to school. This summer has been filled with fun, and more fun. I have decided that because my kids are older and we are not trying to get back home to inforce naps we have been able to be out and about more so than years past. FUN! These are a few pictures that have been taken here and there. This picture of Finn was taken at his cousin, Layla, birthday party. I love it

Van lost his first tooth. A month or so ago Van said something to the effect of getting $5 dollars from the tooth fairy. I aske him where he heard $5.00 was the going rate, he said someone at school. I didn't want to let him down, so $5.00 it was - he wrote a letter to the tooth fairy asking if he could keep his tooth to show people. Is that something people want to see? I thought is was kinda cool.

This picture is also from Layla's birthday party. Shannon sent this to Aaron and said it looks like an ad for how to be cool. It made me laugh.

Finn chillin' at the park.

NIGHTMARE ON OUR STREET

I can not relive the experience of redoing our roof to tell you the story. Just know, it was the worst thing for me ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who helped in any way. We could not have completed it with out you. If you are considering doing your own roof, please talk to me before you start this never ending project. Oh, but look how cute my kids were at trying to help clean up the mess.

Colorado Fun!

This summer I decided to try a trip with the boys. I was very nervous and because I knew Aaron wouldn't be there to help tame them in the car I was ultra prepared. Surprisingly they were really well behaved for a 9.5hour trip. We headed to Colorado Springs to spend some time with my cousin Jamica and her family.

Took a little lunch break at some college in Wyoming. The kids got thier scooters out to ride for a bit.

Both kids were zonked on this picture - it was a little scary. We were driving inside the clouds, for a long time I finally had to call Aaron so I didn't get to scared.

Finn found a new best friend. This is my cousin's dog named Charlie, at all hours of the day and night you could hear Finn asking or calling for "Char Char". He really did love him.

Here are a few of the kids together. Van asked how they were related to these kids, I couldn't figure it out. Bryan, Jamica's husband told me they are cousins once removed (whatever that means? Removed from where?).

At their zoo you could buy waffer things to feed the giraffs, it was so neat. I think I was the only one who screamed with the encounter.

Face painting was available, most of the kids got their faces painted. Most of those kids washed them off immediately. But the 3 that kept them painted sure looked cute!

When Aaron saw this picture he said "Woa, they let you touch the elephants?" This is infact a life size picture of elephants. I think my favorite part of the zoo was the hippos. I didn't get any pictures.

In the bird house you could buy feeding sticks. The birds would land right on them and eat. It was way cool.

Here we are in the mountains were they rent property. The kids had fun wandering around and swinging on swings.

This picture shows Finn's everlasting search for working, and "helping" in any situation.

Record Breaking

Naughtyness! I can not believe the naughty behavior Finn is starting to be capable of, AND having an older brother who helps contribute knocks all other naughtyness out of the park. We have lost DS's, park fun, and had lots of time outs. I hope this is not how my summer is going to wind down - we have been having lots of fun doing lots of fun stuff, maybe that is the problem. Any suggestions?

FOUR MILES! YIPPEE

This is lame, but this morning I ran 4 miles with out stopping on my treadmill - which doesn't say much since running on land is 500% harder. But still 4 miles is 4 miles. Yea me!

My First Flower Pot

We are going on year 3 in our house, each year I tell Aaron I want to get a big flower pot for the front porch. This year was finally the year. With the help of my friend Brittany I picked out these plants to watch them grow. I am excited to see what it looks like as they get bigger. Thanks Brittany!

Kangaroo Zoo

Today we tried out the Kangaroo Zoo. Lots of bouncey toys to play on, and it was cute to see the boys tagging along with each other to try each new bounce house out.

Past little bit

This is the part I hate about neglecting my blog - catching up. These are a few pictures of some of the things we have been doing the last few months.

Finn & Kyan - they could get into a lot of trouble, those two!
All the cousins

Finn was the only kid daring enough to submerge his head in the water.

Van, loving his swim lessons - mostly to be in the pool, not so much for the actually swim lesson.

Finn sniffing something from the river by grandpa's house (he has an oddly terrific smeller).

This is the boys helping out in the yard - I'm not sure why the decided to take their shirts off, but it sure is cute.

Took a walk up Muller Park Canyon

These pictures show Van's new gun. The expression on his face above is excitement of hitting a target. Like father, like son.

Finn's first shooting trip with the boys. He might need another year before he's ready for an all day shooting excursion.

Silver/Wood kids on a little shooting extravaganza - Fun stuff