Jogathon

 Here we go again with the jogathon.  The girls ran their little hearts out and I went and ran with them.  This time I told them the story of The Secret Garden.  Rocky was great and had a lot of fun, along with several stops to pick up watermelon and get drinks.  She ended up running 14 laps.

 Daisy had her game face on that day and ran 18 laps.  I was pretty impressed with both of them.  This is a regulation size track we are talking about here. That is 4.5 miles.  Good thing we didn't bother to go out and get any pledges or we would be sending our friends and neighbors to the poorhouse.

 Bonus:

Rocky has a little bit of election fever.  If you want to know her opinion on the issues just go ahead and ask her, and then sit down to make yourself comfortable because the girl has a LOT to say.  Spoiler alert: She's with her.

35 Years and All is Well

 Ike is my workout buddy.  You can tell he is really into it.

 Sometimes he gets worried that all that exercise is going to make me too skinny so he'll get out the shortening and remind me of my priorities.

My girls told me that they were going to get me one of the Costco bears for my birthday but we decided that they fit better in the store than in our apartment.

 Every year the homemade card gets cooler.

I can hardly believe that I have been alive for 35 years.  I feel so blessed and happy.  I love my husband and kids and family and friends and I got to go eat a peanut butter, bacon and pickle burger and things are just good.

A Day Off

 There was no school on Friday so we really made the best of it.  I slept in and when I woke up I found Rocky feeding Ike oatmeal while they watched cartoons.  Basically it was a perfect morning.  We had planned on going to the pumpkin patch but on our way it started pouring rain.  I tried to bribe the kids into letting me out of it by taking them to DQ for a Ladies Lunch.  (Even though Ike is a boy he still gets to go to Ladies Lunch.  We decided on the way that the name reflects the fact that it is the type of lunch that ladies would do, not that it necessarily excludes gentlemen.)  Rosy wasn't satisfied with eating out.  She was crying and whining and exasperated said, "Who cares, it is just a little rain? That's fine. WE CAN BE IN THE RAIN!"

 So when we finished eating and the sun came out we decided to go for it.

 Johnson Farms might be one of my favorite places in all of Eugene.

 It was a gorgeous afternoon as we loaded up our buckets with pumpkins to throw at the scarecrows.  We hopped onto the hayride and were on our way.

 Just as we started moving the sky went dark and as soon as we got to the pumpkin patch the clouds began to dump rain.

Somebody immediately changed her tune.  The stoic in the car melted into a bawling shivering mess.  The change was so drastic that she, and I know it is hard to believe, actually apologized for her earlier tantrum.  She was careful to defend herself though, and in true political fashion continued to justify her position.  Rain, she can handle, but she wasn't warned about thunder and lightning.
The rest of us thought it was delightful.  We picked out our pumpkins and laughed at our luck. On our hayride back the sun came out again and revealed the gorgeous fall afternoon that had been hidden by the storm.

Farmer John's Garden

Rosy and her best bud, Sailor

 This is my third year going on the Head Start field trip.  Every year it is a good time and every year I leave wondering how the teachers survive hanging out with all those kids without losing their minds.

Baby Lunch Date - Ruby and Ike

A New Phone

 Sine I finally got a smartphone I have gotten a little crazy about taking photos.  I am pulling it out all the time and 99% of the time it is aimed at one of my kids.  I know there is a whole world around me but the world is basically the same all the time and the children are changing every single day.

Here are just a few of the moments that I captured.

Daisy woke up to bad hair on picture day.  It was nothing a flat iron couldn't cure.

Chocolate Face

The Whale by the River

Take a picture, Mom!

 No cupcake is safe when Ike is at the birthday party.

 Rosy modeled this amazing dress at the Eugene quilt show.  Carolyn did an amazing job making it and Rosy got all the credit just for wearing it.

Laundry Day

Who really knows what this is about?  I mean, seriously.

Look at these little stylers all ready for school.

Mom, do I look really cool like this?

Another birthday party, another pinata.  

Just putting on the finishing touches before church.

 Ike wants to play all day with balls.  He rolls then around and kicks them and when he can't find a ball an onion will do, or a pumpkin, or a half-eaten apple.

 Anyone who knows this girl will know that her Oma gave her the best gift of her life with the trilogy of Scary Stories.  And anyone who knows me will already understand where she got her interest.  And anyone who is planning on bringing children to our house should be warned that not only are these books available, they are Rocky's favorite topic of conversation.

Soccer Time...Again

After quite a bit of discussion, Rocky and Daisy both decided that they wanted to do soccer again.  My original instinct is to whine about being stuck at practices all week but this season has been surprisingly enjoyable.  It most likely has to do with the weather.  While practice is happening the rest of us get to enjoy the sunshine.

The Life of a Little Brother

 I am just learning to embrace the whole soccer mom mini van deal.

Gol!!!! Unfortunately she is the Keeper.

 Rocky actually has done really well this season.  Every time she steps into the role of goalie I get super nervous.  I don't know why I freak out, it isn't the Olympics, but it just seems like such a vulnerable situation.  She isn't fazed at all by it and handles the challenge with grace and confidence.

Spectatators

Daisy has been playing too and is doing really well.  I don't have any photos because she has missed all the games since they were on Sundays.  Trust me though, she is killing it at practice.