jogathon

This past Friday, Aiden participated in his very first jogathon for Lakewood. All of the students try to raise money for the school and jog 20-30 min. There are lots of fun incentives for the kids to raise money and Aiden had a BLAST! The pre-k class ran 20 minutes. Aiden almost ran the entire time. I was SHOCKED. I could not believe how well he did. He ran 17 laps which was the equivilent to a little over 2 miles. Chad ran with him the entire time as well and we were just so proud of him! He was so excited. I was actually asking him to walk because I thought he was overdoing it, but he thought the whole purpose was to run, so well...he ran! After the running, the kids ate lunch with all parents and then there was a carnival in the gym. Aiden and Kian played lots of games, jumped in inflatables, and got their face painted. Aiden when we were on the way home, asked me how many days until the next jogathon, I told him, "um, 365". It was a great day.

Aiden's class ready to run!
Aiden and Chad running

Aiden running!

Right after the race, Aiden was so proud of himself! His face was so red and also very sweaty!

Aiden after gettin his face painted. Aiden chose to get a basketball. Kian on the otherhand wanted a green heart. I don't know why, he just did.

Kian sat there so well as she painted his face. By the way, his favorite color is green, but as for the heart... that's another story. He is so independent! It looked cute though!

the final product!

Update

Another busy week down! My volleyball team has been having a great season so far. We are 15-1. We had a tournament this past Saturday and we won for the first time in school history. This is the third tournament that we have won this year! It's been an interesting season too. As you can imagine, having 18 very different teenage girls on the team bring lots of personality for sure! God is definitely teaching me alot through coaching them! We lost our first game this last Thursday to Bellmont High School. They are a 3A school that won the state championship 2 years ago. They were one of the best high school teams I have ever seen.
I am over 15 weeks pregnant now too! I was hoping to be over my nausea by this point, but apparently this baby had other thoughts. It hasn't been all day however, which helps. I am definitely showing already. Yikes! I guess that's normal, especially with baby #3. Aiden said at dinner yesterday, "Maybe the next baby...". Woah! I had to stop him right there. I told him that this will be the last baby for mommy and daddy unless God intervenes. He would love 5 more siblings if it were up to him! He and Kian are starting to argue more. It is over such stupid stuff too...like they were arguing in the car this morning over who saw the tractor in the field first. Really? I suppose I did that too when I was that age. Aiden is LOVING school. He is starting to write his numbers and some letters. He is really enjoying it all. Kian is...well, Kian! We laugh at his mischevious and adventurous spirit. Yesterday he tried to take one of Aiden's toys and it didn't work. I watched as he looked at one of his shoes on the floor, then looked at Aiden's head. I could see the wheels in his little brain turning. Kian picked up his shoe and threw it at Aiden, hitting him in the head, all the while with a smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile a little bit (Aiden was fine by the way). That's just Kian. He needs very consistent discipline, but he is such a fun kid! Here are a couple of recent pics.


Chad took this one yesterday. Not the greatest of me, but I love snuggling with my boys!

Yesterday for some reason, I felt like dressing the boys the same for church. They looked so cute I had to take a couple pictures.

Weird to think this is how old Aiden was when Kian was born!

Such a good boy! He told me this morning that he was not going to be mean to Kian again...that lasted about 15 min, but he generally is so kind hearted! When he woke up this morning, he told me, "mom, you're the best. God, You're the best. And daddy, he's the best and Kian's the best too." Thinking a little more, he said, "I'm also the best." So cute.

Well, we tried to get a good picture!

Kian was watching "Little Einsteins" on the computer. He was just sitting contently with his hands folded. I'm pretty sure he has my legs too. Look at those calves! :)

Mark Schultz

There are a couple of Christian artists that I really enjoy. Not necessarily, their voices, but the words of the songs they sing and write are so rich with wisdom and truth. One of those artists for me is Mark Schultz. To me, he doesn't have the greatest voice, but his songs are so meaningful. Last night Chad and I looked up several of his songs on youtube and I literally balled through a few of them. Funny thing was I told Chad that I just needed a good cry a couple of weeks earlier. One of the songs was "He was walking her home". It is a great song about marriage and commitment. Another one was "I am". He writes such diverse lyrics, such as he writes a song in tribute to soldiers called "Letters from war" and one to her biological mother called "everything to me". If you have a chance to listen to them, I highly recommend them. I have been struggling with a situation and need much wisdom in how I effectively deal with it. I feel confused with the best course of action and am not sure what to do. Anyway, last night I really wanted to hear Mark's song, "He will carry me" and I couldn't find the one I was looking for. Today as I was driving the boys home, it played on the radio. I haven't heard this song on the radio for months. I thought it was so neat that God would allow it to be played at the exact time I needed it. It was such a reminder that God hasn't forgotten me and is there to "carry me". What a GREAT God we serve.

flowers

This has been the first year that I have ever attempted gardening. I'm not very good at it yet, but some of the flowers have just done beautifully. My mom and I at the end of spring/ beginning of summer visited an amish farm and bought several geraniums for the house. They are beautiful. Shockingly, they survived us being gone for 5 weeks (some high school boys watered them when we were away). Anyway, I have actually enjoyed keeping the house pretty with flowers and plants and love that I can pick some of the roses for bouquets for the dining room table! The next thing that Chad and I desperately need to done is line the landscaping to keep out the weeds. Our weeds are terrible!! Hopefully by next summer, we can have this done. Here are some of the flowers from outside our house (taken this afternoon). One of the pots of geraniums.
One of the rose bushes in the front of our house.

Another pot of geraniums. These are worth the investment. Even though I have to buy them every year...it's well worth it for the beauty they bring!

I actually don't know what these are, but they are behind our house

Another rose bush on the side of our house.

doctor's appt

Today Kian and I went to my dr's appt. I was a little nervous: 1. Kian was coming with me and I didn't know how he'd do sitting quietly in the chair. 2. For some reason, I was nervous something was wrong with the baby. Well, thankfully everything went great. The baby's heartrate is fast and consistent and Kian did great! I talked to the doctor about a few concerns (all of which are normal) and I'm excited that I'm almost done with the first trimester!
Aiden is still enjoying school. I talked to his teacher, Mrs. Rose, after school a couple of days ago. She gave me a great report. The biggest compliment she gave was that Aiden has such a heart for doing what's right. My heart swelled with pride. She told me she just loves him. She also said he is quite shy still. I didn't think he would be as shy as he is turning out to be. We are really trying to work with him on his people skills, trying to get him to ask people questions, talk when people talk to him, tell people hi, etc. I don't think enough people know how to talk and converse with people. People don't know how to ask other people questions anymore! Everything revolves around texting and e-mail. Not that I am saying those things are wrong, but I think people skills are highly important. The other thing his teacher said that we need to work on him with was how to hold his pencil. It's so weird when I think about him writing. It just seems so far away but he is already starting to write in preschool (at least trace). He learns a Bible verse every week. This weeks was Gen 1:1. He knows it pretty well.
The whole school is participating in a jogathon to raise money for the school. Aiden is supposed to try and raise as much as he can and jog laps. The rest of the day is a carnival. The more money he raises, the more free tickets he gets for the carnival.
Kian and I have had a great time together while Aiden's been at school. These next 6 months will be the last times for just him and I and I want to make sure I make the most out of it! He is such a joy. He loves to cuddle and look at I Spy books with me.
My volleyball team is off to a great start. We are 6-0 and have another tournament tomorrow.
Chad is doing well. He and I haven't had much time for the two of us recently and I am hoping we can get a date in soon!

Weekly events

Why is it that my least favorite part of blogging is coming up with a title for the blog? I'm not at all creative! Anyways, Aiden is LOVING preschool. He today had a ladybug picnic with his class where he at a ladybug cookie and then watched a movie on bugs. He had a great time. We are trying to encourage him to learn his classmates' names. He has a great memory with everything else, but names he struggles with. His class had show and tell and Aiden brought in his Batman to show the class. I've realized that my time with Aiden has to be more purposeful. I don't have all day with him anymore. After preschool he takes a nap and then about an hour later, I have volleyball. It makes me cherish the time I have with him that much more.
Kian is currently sick. Last night we were in the car and Kian cried the whole ride home saying his mouth hurt. When we arrived home, I held him for a while in the kitchen and realized that "his mouth" was his stomach. I told Chad that I thought he might vomit and sure enough not 1 minute later, it was all over me and the kitchen floor. Of course this was about an hour after Kian had a bath too, so he and I went back in the bath. Kian fell asleep on me in the bath about 5 min later. Today he has a fever and isn't eating much. Hopefully it's just a bug. It was my first time though having a sick child and having to take another one to school.
Chad's first week has gone well so far. He is pretty busy this year as he is also teaching middle school PE. Friday's are a bit of a killer for him. The only break he gets is for lunch.
Volleyball is in full swing. We won our first match against a team we had never beaten, so that was exciting. Tomorrow is our first tournament. I'm enjoying the girls very much and having a great time with them. They truly are a great group of girls.
Tomorrow I start my 13th week of pregnancy (which mean I will be 12 weeks and 1 day along). I just want the first trimester over! I am looking forward to feeling better and having more energy.
Chad and I are starting to keep our eyes open for a minivan. We are hoping and praying that by the time this baby comes, we will be able to save up enough to get one. It will be a lot easier travelling in a minivan than our chevy malibu with 2 car seats and 1 booster seat. If you come by any great deals, please let us know!

first day of school

Aiden had his first day of school today! He has been SO excited to go to school. This morning I had to wake him up because we got home so late from my volleyball game last night. Aiden's first comment to me this morning was, "I'd really like to sleep for a little bit longer." I thought, "and it begins. Waking up a child who doesn't want to get up." He confidently walked into his classroom, waved goodbye and that was it. Kian asked me on the way out, "Why does Aiden have to go to school?" I hugged him and told him that Aiden was old enough to go to school now. I went grocery shopping with just Kian and it was so quiet! I'm sure I will get used to not having him here, but I sorta miss him! I told him to try and remember everything he learned because I want to know everything. Here are a couple of pictures of this morning:Aiden loves his packpack.

Here he's waving goodbye to me. (sniff, sniff) I did get teary when I left. It's a little bittersweet.
His snack for the morning.