Raegan

Homework is a DOOSY with this one.
I had to march her desk up the stairs, into my office, and close the doors to get her to sit.
And focus.
My neighbor was brilliant and told me she hired a neighborhood helper to sit with her homework hater.
Might be in my future.
Too much friction for me.
Any takers?

We have inherited 2 hamsters.
Easy to take care of.
But they die.
And then my heart aches.
For my Rae.
Truly, she was devastated.
And I cried with her.
Once again, as my science project, I have witnessed Raegan on several occasions ball up her emotions when there is something sad to cry about.
But when she is mad, she will give me the ugly cry, with spit, fire, smoke, and screamin.
So normally Im telling her to stop.
Gain control.
And use her words.
This day... I told her to cry.
And she broke.
Sobbed a painful hurt cry.
So...I checked her out of school and got her some shoes the color of the bright yellow sun.
And she smiled : )

Raegan loves her volleyball.
Still haven't figured out if she loves the game,
or the social gathering of all her friends in one place.
Time will tell : )

Evan

I tried to get a normal picture of him smiling with his snuggle tooth gone!
This is what I got.
The prop of the pencil aint that bad.
Just confirms...he is a nerd.
The most handsome nerd of all.

Uncle Scott so generously invited Evan backpacking/camping one weekend.
He came home from school with this.
Pretty sure it was the best night of his life.
Thank you Uncle Scott.
It takes a special consideration to invite him overnight to anything considering he is a walking talking alarm clock for the sunrise.
It meant a lot.
A LOT.

Here is another treasure from school.
A list of 'after school priorities'.
So glad 'frinds' came before the tv and iPad.
I would feel like a COMPLETE failure if it didn't.

The rest reads:
dinner
7:00 D (?)
Bed
Breakfast
Chores
School
Name: Evan!

Mayci Jo Jo

She is a big helper in the morning...sometimes : /
But alas I have found the chore for her.
She sat at the silverware for about 30 minutes.
Meticulously placing the right size fork and spoon in its designated spot.
Maybe I have an organizational freak like myself on my hands!
(although my house doesn't prove me to be so)

The small dot of pink in this picture is my little JoJo.
I saw dad wave her over . . .
I tensed up with fear that she would make a straight shot across the court to him . . .
and that she did.
Not my fault this time.

First day of preschool doesn't look too bad on this gal.
Maybe she will learn how to put her shoes on straight:)
I love her.

Wesly Baby

I THINK she looks like me.  Like Evan.  Like my dad.
I Dunno.
Have a hard time when it comes to my own kids but can always see it in others.
Regardless...
She is pretty cute.
So is my dad : )

Just Wesly, Maya, Mom and Dad...
in the wee hours of the night.

Im going to HUGELY miss this when its over.
For every nap and nighty she snuggles in my arms and falls to sleep.
As I move her into her bed I lay her up on my chest and squeeze her.
Kiss her head over and over and over.
Then lay her down.
Treasuring it.

From crawling to standing.
Oh how quickly it goes.
Into EVERYTHING.
And often times I get sucked into watching with awe at how fascinating a bag of chips are to her.
Wish I still thought so.

This little yogurt bite was glued to her face for quite some time.
We all got a good laugh out of it.

Labor Day Madness

This is little ol' me.  Thinkin' Im pretty cool catching some air!
We cruised up to Park City Monday.
It was MADNESS and utter CHAOS to get there, but once we were there, I did not regret it one bit.
I did not have the company of my husband
BUT
I am incredibly blessed to have met up with the nicest most mellow yellow people on Earth.
Right when I arrived, swarms of arms came running at me, grabbed the baby and my 3 other kids,
and sent me on my way with a bike (operation farrah)!
FOR REAL?!
We rode 'Trailside'.  A small hike with a bike to the top and complete exhilaration down.
I felt on top of the world.
Literally.
Park City is so beautiful right now.
Leaves changing.
Cloud coverage here and there.
With a slight breeze.
It was magical.
Plus...the bonus side to all this...
While I rode, the kids strapped on their helmets, grabbed a bike, scooter, or long board (I said it was madness prep for the journey) and rode on a really nice skate park just below the trail.  They could see me the whole time and I could see AND hear them the whole time.  Not one complaint from them.  Nor me.
 

My sweet pics were taken on our second destination.  Once we finished at trailside and the skate park, we headed to 'the jumps'.  After unloading at trailside and then loading back up to head to 'the jumps' I was debating with myself whether to call it a success and head home...or give 'the jumps' a whirl.
Give it a whirl I did.
As we were driving there the kids were BEGGING me to do the Alpine Slide.
That was another consideration but actually don't think it was even doable without another adult:)
So, onto the bike jumps we went.
And onto the bikes the kids went.
And there they found all the joy their little hearts could handle.
Serious.
Hours.
They rode.
Asking when we were going to return.

After the kids rode for a bit Raegan asked, as we made our way to the bathrooms, if we could put a house right there - pointing to the center of the parking lot.
Its been quite the process trying to figure out what makes this child sing a happy tune.
(She is too complex for my little brain)
Its definitely not center stage.
Its whatever she can do...on her own.  At her own pace.  With her own agenda.  Nobody breathing down her neck or heckling her from the sidelines.
Its this.
The challenge...by her big girl self.
And the victory...all on her own.
With the praise of her parents... hearing how fun it is to watch her...without saying a peep while in she is in her zone.
I absolutely love it.
Its freedom!
(I may be investing soon in a bike that doesn't sound like its gonna loose its nuts and bolts at any second!  She was serious as a heart attack and was taking the course to town.  Im sure her wrists and BE-hind are sore!)

Oh Evan. Oh Evan.
How much do I love you.
My heart races as I look at this.
You are always trying your hardest to keep up.  And most the time you succeed.
This day...you eventually did ; )
You took on the big hill after practicing for a bit on the mini course.
Turfed it.
Hard.
And you were so so frustrated.
Yelling. Crying. And beat up.
(he ate it so hard at the skate park too. hard. head bounced off the concrete...thank you helmet! landed in a puddle. soaking wet shirt. and pants - poor guy! - just whipped off his shirt and off he went - after a few scrapes and tears)
"Everyone can do it mom!  Raegans never been here either and she can do it!"
And so it has begun...siblings keeping up with siblings!
I challenged him to ride the mini course 15 times without falling and he can try the big one again, all while trying to explain to him that Raegan is older and thats why she can do it without practicing as much...all the other kids practiced just like YOU on the mini course.  For 2 years!
Lie : )
But around he went.  And I could hear him counting under his breath.
I would yell out occasionally asking how many times, and he would yell back..."8 mom! 8!"
He was in full concentration too. D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.E.D! (i loved every minute of it)
Lets just say it was NOT easy for him.
But around 15 times he went.
And he was READY!
So up the hill we go, after strapping on Lennon's elbow/knee pads.  Adjusted the helmet a little tighter.  And there we stood.  Atop the mountain of doom!  He was shaking.  My heart was pattering.
But I encouraged.  YOU CAN DO IT!
He did.
He pushed off.  Legs shot straight out like sticks (don't mind the pedals) and as wobb-i-ly as he was...
HE MADE IT!
Why?
Why is that such a proud moment for me, so much so that I may have gulped down a few tears?
Maybe because he was SO Courageous.  Determined. Tough. And would not take NO for an answer.
  So no matter what he tries, he can be good ; )
He may have to practice just a little harder than everyone else...which isn't such a bad thing!

And this is what Mayci did.
Neglectful you say?!
Well, if letting a kid play in dirt all day is neglectful...then you were never a kid!
Between this dirt hill and a lovely park 10 paces away,
she was perfectly content.

Labor day.
A success.

Kade and Mayci

Kade.
Rockin' his shorts.
Backwards.
Unzipped.
Unbuttoned.
And pockets hangin' out.
Love him.

Bless her.
Falls asleep anywhere.

See.
Its rough bein 3!

Closing days of Summer

Ya, Ya, Ya...I'm sure you have all heard enough about this lake and our awesome neighbors but it feels like it may soon be over so we had to take every chance we get to head out there.  These pics were too cool to NOT post.  Shawn doing some work on perfect glass.  Your ski makes a hissing noise that only glass on the lake can create.  Music to a skiers ears.

The Hansens are probably the greatest neighbors and even better friends.  They are unbelievably giving and gracious.  It just happened that Scott and Karalee came by our house while they were there and the rest is history.  Let me tell you how it went.  Shawn introduced Scott to Trever with something along the lines of, "This is Trever, he's our neighbor that takes us to his lake." and that was all Scott needed.  He was on that faster than I could finish the introduction.  The Hansens made mention of going that week and sure enough, we got a text on the mentioned day from KJ wondering if it was still on. Yes it was!!!!  Scott enjoying the view.  Stoke level...as high as the scale can reach.

 Evan doing his thing.  No big deal.

 Lights got installed since we were last there....skiing all night if you are up for it...and we were.

 Karalee getting busy under the lights.  She was screaming out loud she was so excited.  Oh yeah, we were the only ones up there that day.

 And here is Shawn putting a stamp on the end of summer under the lights.  We may get away one night now that there are lights, the Hansens are awesome and even mentioned it tonight, but if we can't we will always have these killer pictures too look back on.  A nice carve for an even better summer full of water and good peeps.