A little rest in Colorado

Jay and I just returned from spending a few days in Colorado. He had some committee meetings and they invite spouses to come along for this trip. So we packed up, left all five kids with Mimi and Poppop, and headed west. 

We got to Denver on weds by lunch time and were able to meet up with some friends who live there for a quick meal. 

We stayed weds night at a golf course. I don't remember the name of it, but if you follow golf, this course just hosted the big women's tournament. (See how informed I am??) Jay was able to play the par 3 course on weds afternoon and the main course in Thursday with some if the other guys. He said it is one if the hardest courses he has ever played!! It was gorgeous sunshine and about 70 degrees. 

On Thurs afternoon we drove about two hours to Vail. It was a beautiful drive and I kept taking pictures out of the car window. 

We stayed at a beautiful resort called the Sonnenalp. It looked like we were in the Alps. By the time we woke up on Friday morning, it was only 20 degrees and had snowed! Jay was so excited to see the snow that he was outside by 4:30am walking in the streets. 

It continued to snow the rest of the day. I went for a walk with jay that afternoon in the snow. Nothing like enjoying ice cream when it is a brisk 19 degrees outside. 

By Saturday the sun came back out but it was still cold. We ended our time at a ranch with a big BBQ for the whole group. 

We had such a great time. It was really nice to have uninterrupted time with Jay and to be able to rest and relax. I even indulged myself with a pedicure and rad a whole book. We took a nap and watched a movie and just acted leisurely. And that is a treat!!

We are so glad to be back home tonight with our little people. Thanks Mimi and Poppop for taking care of everyone. 

Starting Fall with some apple picking

Nothing starts fall off like a field trip for apple picking! We enjoyed spending the morning with Will's kindergarten class last week to pick apples, go on a tractor ride, and enjoy some apple donuts. The babies really loved the donuts too! 

I'm excited for fall and enjoying the crispness in the air! 

Tball!

Will started on a Tball team a few weeks ago.  He has always loved baseball and is really excited to be on a team this year. 

As we are discovering, doing a team sport is a full family commitment! He has games two nights a week from 5:30 til 7pm and sometimes has practices on Saturday mornings. It's only a 7 week season, so the chaos will be short lived. In the meantime, we are trying to keep 4 other kids entertained at the ball fields and feed everyone a late dinner a few times per week. 

So far he has had two games and has loved them! He also loves that his best friend from school is on his team. Before his first game, he wanted to know if we needed to buy tickets to his first game and how many fans would be there! 

It's really entertaining to watch a group of 5 year old boys chase after a baseball, give their best swing at bat, and slide into home base just for the fun of it. And then there's the kid who is standing in the outfield yelling "mom, I need to go potty!" And the kid who randomly comes out of the dugout to the stands to give his mom a hug. Pretty cute! 

So here's to our first Tball season! 

Back to school.

All 3 big kids are back in school. Catherine started about two weeks ago and is in second grade. So far this year has been an easier transition than last year since she was more familiar with the school and her classmates. She is in the Learning Community again this year, which is a cluster of 1st-5th grade classes. The teachers can move students into different groups for writing and math based off of ability, not grade level. She really likes her teacher and is even riding the bus home this year! 

Anna is in K3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was very excited to discover that she gets to go EVERY Tuesday and Thursday, not just this week. She gets really excited about packing and carrying her lunchbox. 

Will is in K5 this year. He says that he is not excited about it but I think he will really enjoy it. He's soooo close to reading on his own and I think with the focused effort and encouragement from his great teacher that he will "get it" really soon. He's also really good at math and can do addition and subtraction very easily in his mind. 

If you have children in school, you know how many papers and projects they bring home. It's hard to decide which ones to keep and where to keep them. So far my system (which I actually start when they're two) is to create an envelope for each child for each year. I will eventually get a large plastic box or tote for each child and put their envelope for each year in there. I keep the envelopes close to the kitchen so that I can easily add a paper or picture to them on a daily or weekly basis. I love to look back and see how their handwriting has changed or how they colored. I also add notes they write to us, special papers from church, etc. 

And this was our back to school shopping supplies. That's a lot of glue and pencils!!

Riding bikes

Last Saturday was beautiful weather and we enjoyed the morning by riding bikes with the big kids on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. 

When Catherine was learning to ride her bike without training wheels at the beginning of the year, we promised her that we would all go ride bikes on the trail as a reward outing. 

It was a beautiful morning and we had great fun. We even found this bike for 7 people at a local bike shop!! When the babies ate big enough we could all ride together. Isn't this the craziest bike?? 

We love doing fun activities like this with the kids as they're getting older. They're so much fun. 

Digging

Enjoying time digging in the yard and playing with neighbors for some afternoon fun! 

Who needs toys....

....when you can play with magazines and eat shoes??