Catching Up

We are now into the second month of school, chilly October mornings, jackets and coat weather, and our second month of soccer. I love the month of October and the wonderful things it brings such as cold nights to sip on hot cocoa, fall colors emerging in nature, caramel apples and pumpkin flavored everything, and the anticipation of Halloween and the holidays just around the corner. Here's a little catch up of what's been going on:

Riley -- All the soccer craziness as the soccer city director is starting to die down a bit now that we are into the season. Coaching Kendle and Morgan's team and is finding coaching little boys is much more difficult than he thought! Ha. Busy as always with work/traveling and working hard to come in as the top salesman at the end of the year and earn us an awesome travel voucher for a vacation. Go Riley go! He went to a Seattle Sounders game this past weekend with some friends and said it was crazy but a lot of fun.

Kendle -- Probably the busiest out of all of us. Enjoying school as a 5th grader. This year she is a Peer Helper and also involved in Kids on Stage and the Mad Mallet music group. She LOVES Mad Mallets and thinks it's a blast. She has practice for that three days a week after school. She's also still plugging away with piano lessons at my insistence. Soccer is going great and her team is first in their league. She has scored 4 goals so far and made some great assists. Their last game on Saturday she battled with the other teams top player for a good two or three minutes back and forth with the ball, and finally beat her to smash a great goal in. It was awesome, just proud she kept at it and didn't give up. She hasn't played keeper that much as they need her out in the field more, but the one game she played keeper for half the game she made some great saves. She seems to still be ok with having her dad as her coach and tries not to roll her eyes at him too much (because she knows he'll make her run). Ha! She started AAU a few weeks ago and has awesome coaches we are very excited about. Although she is the youngest on the team and they are playing up at the 6th grade level, she is enjoying it and says she is learning a lot. She got asked to sing a solo in the primary program and hopefully it goes off as good as she's been practicing.

Morgan -- Morgan is growing and getting so tall and skinny. He has no baby fat left whatsoever and is getting a serious six pack. We call him our little muscle man. I try and feed him as much as I can but that boy never stops moving, running, or jumping all day. We decided to wait another year to send him to kindergarten and he is doing school with me during the mornings instead. He enjoys it and is a good listener most of the time and let's me help and correct him when needed. He loves to learn about new things and how things work. He is probably the only five year old I know that can tell you about pumps and pipes and all the water workings and things about a farm. He's also become a collector bordering on the edge of being a hoarder. He is always asking me for jars to keep and store more things in that he has found outside, his treasures. His favorite movie right now is the Sandlot and we recently bought him a new pair of high top Converse which he thinks are the best shoes ever. He is loving soccer and we are working on teaching him not to tackle and knock people over so much. (Save that for football in a few years)

Cooper -- Is quite the character. He reminds us of Charlie Brown sometimes and also does this little thing we call the "Cooper Shuffle" where he kind of just slumps his shoulders and sulks away when he doesn't get his way. He loves to draw and color and takes it very seriously with a studious expression on his face. He can be a stinker sometimes, but he is ALWAYS the first one to tell me thank you after I serve them up meals, get treats, etc......Obsessed with Thomas the Train and trains in general and talks about them all the time. Loves to sneak into my purse and eat all my gum. For some reason, he is always the one that is writing with pen all over himself or something else weird like that. Can usually always make me laugh with his mischievous smile.

Kale -- Slightly more dramatic than his twin brother and likes to put lots of extra attitude into his words to get his point across. Also completely obsessed with Thomas the Train and all other trains. Knows all of Thomas and his friends names. Tries to be a sneaker and get into my baking cupboard and eat all the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Is usually one of the last to fall asleep at night and keeps his other brothers awake. Pretty independent most of the time and wants to do things himself. Loves to sing silly songs with me and his brothers or sing along to the radio in the car. Gives good little hugs and squeezes.

Both boys have been potty trained since this summer and it is awesome! So thankful for that. They are getting so big and already wearing most of Morgan's clothes from about six months ago. Can't believe they will be 3 next month.

I've been not so patiently trying to get over these nasty colds that seem to just keep coming. I was attempting to keep my running routine up and train for another half-marathon the end of the month but I've been hit with another bad cold that has me all stuffed up and barely able to talk. My energy level is just wiped out between that and doing all the other day to day tasks. But I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can get better this week. I've been diving into baking season now that the weather has cooled off and keep finding so many new recipes that sound good to try out. I try and keep every one's schedules straight, sports uniforms and practice clothes washed, after school/pre-practice snacks and water bottles ready to go, and all the random soccer gear, cleats, and what not rounded up. I love that now it is dark earlier, all the kids are going to bed earlier and I have time to catch up on my shows I DVR. I don't feel like my life is all that exciting, but I can't complain. I'm thankful for all the many big and small blessings in our life and for this family of mine.

Pushing Limits

Last Saturday I completed my first half-marathon. I felt pretty prepared, but the whole week leading up to the race I was nervous and my stomach was in knots. The night before I couldn't sleep a wink. All sorts of different scenarios kept running through my mind. What if my foot starts hurting again, what if I keep coughing the whole time (hard time getting over a cold), what if I hit a wall and get burnt out too early, what if, what if, what if.......................it was a long night. In the morning Riley drove me to the starting area to check in for the race. I got my chip timer and found for some reason it awkwardly wrapped around my ankle unlike everyone else. I know I have small ankles, but this was kind of ridiculous. Finally I looked at a friends and realized mine was almost broken and hanging by a thread. Riley ran and got me a new one which I was so glad to have since the other one probably would have fallen off during the race. Crisis averted!

They called the warning for everyone to start lining up. There were so many runners, just a sea of faces in every direction. Everyone anxious, making sure their shoes were tied tight enough, gear in the right place, ipod's set on their running mix, stretching and moving in place. And then we were off, slowly at first to get the mass of runners through the starting gate and up the hill past the boat launch. I started to get antsy and began to bob and weave my way forward to get some space and pick up some speed. It took about a mile in to get  a good pace going and spread out a bit. I felt my adrenaline surging and kept thinking about a quote I read from a great running coach:

"Run the first part of the race with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart." I didn't want to burn out too early, but was also trying to make sure I wasn't going too slow. My adrenaline was making me want to speed along.

About the 4 mile mark I was keeping stride with another girl runner and stayed that way for another mile or 2. At one point she looked over at me and told me thanks for helping her keep a good pace. That was the cool thing. I felt like even though we were all competing against each other, we were all in it together too. Because 13 miles is a long ways to go and you have respect for each and every person that is puting the effort into completing it. After the turn around I felt a bit of relief, and knew once I got back to the main running trail with about 4 miles left it would be go time. I watched the miles tick down and kept pushing and pushing myself.

At about mile 11 I was suddenly siezed with a painful side cramp that would not go away. I was on the home stretch and I just kept telling myself not to stop, just keep going. For the record, I have never gotten a side cramp like that ever in my last few months of training so why I got one that day I can't say but I felt like it was a test of my will. At mile 12 I was still in pain and wanted to quit and walk badly. I had never wanted anything more than to just be done with this race and I kept asking myself why I had thought this was a good idea in the first place. I was not having fun, I knew I wasn't going to finish in the time I knew I could do it in. I was getting so mad and upset at the situation. Finally I came around the last bend with a half-mile left to the finish and I decided to just give it one last push of everything I had - pain or not. I could see the finish line and hear the cheering. The ending was cruel as we had to run back up the hill by the boat launch to reach the finish and my calves and side were screaming. About 20 feet from the finish line I spotted my children waiting to cheer me on and as I passed through the finish line I saw Riley waiting there for me with flowers. I was done! I simultaneously felt like a million bucks and like I could die at the same time.

Running a race like this is something I never thought I could do. It was so mentally and physically grueling, but very rewarding and worth the effort and months of running. Riley and the kids were my biggest cheerleaders and were always encouraging me and helping me find time to go on the long runs. Cooper and Kale when seeing me put my workout clothes on will always ask, "going running mom?" and I have to laugh. Overall it was a great experience.

 

What to do in the Fall

Here is a little something I made for our family

Fall Family Fun List:



go to high school football games
make apple pie and apple crisp
drive through the Columbia Gorge
go to the pumpkin patch
s'mores around the fire pit
college football on tv (with football food)
walks at the park
bake lots of pumpkin desserts/treats
make caramel apples
drink hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream
soccer games
watch Halloween movies
plan Halloween costumes
take a hike
carve pumpkins
make a fall wreath
plant mums
have family movie nights
collect leaves and acorns

Palouse Falls

Over Labor Day weekend we squeezed in one more little family outing. We decided to pick somewhere we'd never been and just take a drive there. About an hour and a half from our house is Palouse Falls State Park. Neither Riley or I had visited there or heard about it, so we thought why not? We needed to get the kids out of the house for a bit and some quiet nap time in the car for the kids never hurts. The drive went through some pretty no-man's land stretches and at times was pretty hilly and curvy. We're talking no cell phone service for miles around in any direction. Not much in the scenery department to take in either, but upon arriving at our destination we had a beautiful site to see.

There are some trails you can hike that take you close to the falls, but as they are slightly dangerous we did not attempt them with the kids. We would love to go back and explore more another time. We also found another cool spot to go swimming/camping so we'll have to do that too.

Sometimes spur of the moment plans are the best and you just never know what you might find!