Soccer and School!

We have had an abrubt transition from a laid back, carefree summer to a very scheduled and insanely busy school year. It's amazing what a difference a week can make! We're running all over the place these days but I tell myself it will calm down. (It will, right??)

Jaren finally was old enough to start soccer and he LOVES it! And he takes it very seriously. His first games were Saturday--he had 2 mini games as a kick-off to the season. He puts his boundless energy to good use and runs from one end of the field to the other. He is the first guy back on defense and he is usually the guy bringing it towards his goal. He is very entertaining to watch--when he scores a goal, (3 on Saturday) he does not smile, wave, or do a thumbs-up to his parents like all the other kids. No, he hands the ball to the ref, rests his hands on his hips and gets himself ready for defense. It cracked us up watching him!

4th grade for Kaelyn--how is this possible? We crossed our fingers, wished, and prayed really hard to get into a certain Charter School. Just a few days before school started, we found out both kiddos got in (they pull names out and make wait lists...) so we were thrilled! It's a smaller school, a fun, integrated approach to education, and a mandatory parent volunteer policy so each class has extra hands throughout the day. The downside? It's on the other side of town and with Jaren being in half day Kindergarten, I drive it 3 times a day!!

Sadly, my little man is growing up and off to Kindergarten. I would have been perfectly happy to keep him around another year but I guess I have to let him grow up. :( Jaren has the absolute nicest teacher ever and loves going each day. He is in a room full of busy little kiddos and for the first time ever--he does not stand out as the most energetic kid in the room. Phew!! (That may have been a little concern of ours...)

Kenna didn't want to be left out of a first-day-of-school-picture so, here she is! She does not quite know what to do with herself without her sidekick around. She turns five next week and I can't seem to convince her she is not starting school next week. She believes she will just go ahead and start after her birthday... At least I get to have her around this year!! I love the beginning of a new school year, so full of energy and change, but I am looking forward to settling into a less chaotic routine. (Hey a girl can dream!)

Tri for Fun!?!

I'm still not sure why I decided this would be fun, but I trained for a Sprint(half distance) Triathalon this summer. The race was called Tri for Fun, and all the serious competitors race the next day in the Olympic distance race so it was a fun and non competitive atmosphere--which was nice.

And we're off... one of those yellow caps bobbing in the water is me! My wave was one of the last waves to start so I was glad to finally get going--the anticipation was awful!

Here I am at the transition between swimming and biking. See the big butterfly balloon? My friend put that there so she could find her bike faster-lucky for me, I was right next to her so it made it easy for me, too!

The home stretch...just a minute or so away from the finish line. I could hear my kiddos cheering me on and I was elated the end was in sight!

I know you're supposed to "walk it off" when you finish, but I was too tired. I just dropped to the grass. This was as much of a smile as I could muster up so it's hard to see how happy and relieved I really was in this moment!

July 4th

The 4th of July was pretty mellow this year, especially with it being on a Sunday. We drove to the happening town of Biggs for the fireworks on Sunday night-we had heard they put on a pretty good show, so we gave it a shot!

It's always such a long wait for it to get dark, but we brought snacks and games so it wasn't too bad. Plus with goofballs like this to entertain us- we are always laughing!

Kaelyn likes to play around with the camera a little bit. (Which is kind of nice to prove that Mom really IS at all the family events--she is just usually behind the camera!)

The fireworks were great, but for me the best part of the night was watching Jaren comfort Kenna during the fireworks. She thought they were way too loud and was worried that we were too close and the fireworks were going to "burn" her. Jaren kept telling her it was alright, and patted her back to comfort her. It's always a joy to see your kids show love to each other!