Pictures from the first day of school...

We might outgrow the fireplace pretty soon!

Jacob is in 4th grade. This is his favorite outfit!

Nicholas is in 3rd grade. He wore this twice to school this week. I had to hide it to keep him from wearing it for a third day!

This is my lil' ticklebug at 7 pm...exhausted. At about 10pm, I found him sleepwalking (which is VERY common for him) in the hallway. When I tried steering him back to his room, he replied, "I'm looking for the ice cream." That's my boy. Stomach always comes first!

Another School Year...

Another school year has arrived. The boys were truly excited to get back at it! That made it fun for all of us.
Jacob has Ms. Jean Tobin, whom I respect greatly as an educator and love as a friend. He woke up ready to go! Confident, excited and comfortable in his skin. He showered, ate, blow dried his hair and dressed in his favorite outfit. Backpack ready to go. He looked very grown to me.
Nicholas has Miss Colleen Chamberlain. I ran in the relay with her. He has been thrilled to have her. When I woke him up, he rolled over with a big ol' grin and said, "Is it finally a school day?" He too picked out his first day outfit, showered and was ready to get to school.
Neither of them wanted me to walk them to their classroom, which was a little bit sad. They wanted to head out to recess with their friends. They've been at Green Park their whole life, so it's not like they could possibly get lost, but there is just something about walking them to their room. I also have to say that it was rewarding and gratifying to watch them walk confidently out of my classroom into their "school world".
They were both exhausted after a great day at school. They even got out of reading because I just couldn't torture them with staying up another minute. Nicholas was in bed at 7:30 p.m. Around 10, I got up to go to the kitchen and found him walking circles in the hallway. When I nudged him toward his room, he told me "I'm looking for the ice cream." Only my son sleep walks and thinks of food! That's my boy!
They both loved their second day of school. Lots to learn, new routines, good friends and great teachers. I'll add pics tomorrow. Tonight was soccer practice for Jacob from 4:30-5:30 and then Nicholas had it from 6-7. Yikes. We're going to need some catch up rest this weekend! Hope so.

Legos & A Lil' Miracle...

Legos are back. Spread from one end of my kitchen counter to the next....on the breakfast table. But I can't complain. Both boys played with them yesterday for over 2 hours straight and then returned after showers. YES! Jacob is following a "plan" from one of his books. Nicholas has created a vehicle, which has changed names a few times, but as of last night, it was a snow machine.

And as for the miracle, well, it's no secret that I've got Jacob's number. I have the kid figured out. Nicholas...not so much. BUT daddy does! We have had two celebrations the last two days. First, Nicholas had a poster for school that he had to finish. It was painful for me to get him to do anything on it-an uphill battle. I went to work at school one day. When I returned, Michael & Nicholas were at the table working on it and almost had it finished! This means daddy will get to endure homework this year!

Also, Michael put a radio/CD player in Nicholas' room. The kid loves it! He cleaned his room yesterday with it on! And when I say cleaned, he really did....he organized his desk, dusted and put things where they go. I can't say that I loved his choice of music or stations, but choose your battles, right? Truly this is the best his room has ever looked! Rock on!

Decisions, decisions, decisions....

And they are making them all on their own! This week, the boys have decided....
1) how to wear their hair (Jacob on the shaggy side/Nicholas very clean cut)
2) what shirts to keep and what shirts to share (with someone else who needs them more)
This was thoroughly entertaining to watch them. The rule was that if one of them liked it, the other couldn't get rid of it. Really, they wear the exact same size, but there is an unwritten rule about what shirt belongs to who.
3) school supplies...the buying of (Jacob is red, black & white/Nicholas is blue & green) and then came the organizing of. I do have to say that Nicholas has NO organizational skills. He quietly stood beside Jacob and watched how he organized his things in his school box and binder. He did exactly his brother did. It was awfully sweet.

Nicholas has had to work on a ME poster for school, so we do a little bit every day. Today he got to the square that asked who is your hero/who inspires you. At first, he wrote down daddy. Then, he erased it, left the room and came back with a picture of Jacob. Yes, it was moments of brotherly love. Jacob was touched, Nicholas was happy to please his brother. It was brotherly bliss for quite a while. Have no fear however, there were tears tonight when Jacob wouldn't give up the remote (as per typical) and Nicholas proclaimed, "He is the worst brother! He ruins my life!" Ahhhhh.....

And, I have made the purposeful decision for the last two days, to run.
The first day out was very emotional. Many, many tears. I actually felt pretty good yesterday. Not so teary. Peaceful. Lots of thoughts about Saturday morning. Able to talk about it without breaking down.
Today, I was pissed. I ran hard. I sang loud. And I felt angry.
I read the obituary. I read more of the police report. It has left me feeling anxious. I wrote on the wall for Pattie and it did make me feel better. So many kind condolences. Not really in a talking mood today. The phrase "How are you?" takes on a whole new meaning.
Tomorrow, I'll run again. Long and steady...but this time...it's for me.

Spokane to Sand Point Relay and one moment in time...

This weekend I participated in the Spokane to Sand Point relay with 11 other women. The idea is that each runner runs 3 legs over a period of about 28 hours. I always have the first runner position...I love it! Our van had ladies from Walla Walla...most whom I am very close to and this year, we had two new additions to our group. As always, we laugh, we act naughty, we tell secrets and most of all, we run! It is tons of fun. The golden rule is "what's said in the van, stays in the van". But what I can tell you about the race is that I ran some of my fastest times! It was awesome. I ran my 5.2 (which is all down hill) in 35:06! I was smokin'. I ran with a young girl who was participating for her first time. We had a great time visiting and passing people (all while wearing crazy wigs). This was at 8:15 am, Friday. The rest of the girls did awesome on their runs too. It was extremely warm this year and this first section has a lot of hills. They rocked it.
My next run took place at 6:00 pm. It was 6.8 miles and I ran it in 53:12. Another great time for me! It was a beautiful run on a trail. At this point, my story takes a turn to the one moment in time.
Part of this relay is to ride a roller coaster at Silverwood with your team. We rode Tremors and laughed! Afterward, we went into the bathroom, we saw a group of HS girls who were on a cross country team. They were participating in the relay and we saw a couple of the moms that were helping them out by driving and biking with them. Lori chatted with them for a minute. I continued on with my 3rd and final leg. It was at 3 a.m. Boy was it dark and scary. I saw lots of shooting stars, heard many spooky noises and had a train scare the HELL out of me. I ran 3.7 miles and have no clue what my time was!
Our night continued on. Our 5th runner had just started her run at 5:45 a.m. We started down the road to wait for her. About 5 minutes into our drive, we were the 3rd car to arrive at the scene of a horrific accident.
The mother from the bathroom at Silverwood and one of the high school girls had been hit from behind by a drunk driver. The mom was biking, the girl was running. They were going towards traffic. The drunk driver crossed over the center line and hit them. When we arrived, the girl was sitting up. The van that arrived before us had a nurse in it and she was with the mom who was seriously injured. A man came to us and asked for any blankets we might have and asked us to slow down traffic. As I reflect on this moment in time, there was so much silence. I have such vivid memories of the next hour. CPR on the mom from a fellow runner. Waiting for an eternity for help to arrive. The helicopter. The damage to the van. The daugher arriving on the scene and the pure sadness, anger and loss that she showed. The rest of the team coming. The daugher calling her dad. Paramedics working together to save this woman's life. Eventually, there were 4 ambulances on scene and a helicopter. The mother did not make it.
It's not that I wonder why. There is no answer that will make sense to this. But what keeps coming back to me is that moment in time. It was a long stretch of highway. I wish she could have just driven herself off the road. Is that horrible? She was destined to hurt someone. She could have crashed head on with another car. The mother on the bike saved this young girls life. But her 3 children and husband now have to live without her. This was avoidable...plain and simple. Don't drink. Don't drive. There was a man on the scene who had been following this woman driving. He had tried to call 911, but couldn't get reception. He even stopped at a checkpoint/exchange for runners to tell them to be careful of the driver. He then drove up and saw the accident.
I feel deep sadness. I feel anger. I feel haunted by visions of raw human emotions. I feel such admiration for the people who did everything they could to help in this situation.
Our runner came upon the accident and saw our van in the middle of it all. She blew past the police officer thinking that something had happened to us. She did not finish her run that day. We just couldn't. I was so numb. So thankful that Marcella was ok. The van had passed her. Another moment in time.
I didn't run today. I've been pretty teary today. I plan on running tomorrow. I know it will be healing. This is one moment in time that I will never forget. Neither will many other people who were on Highway 41, Saturday, August 14th at 6 a.m.
The woman's name was Patricia Lambie (age 46). She will be deeply missed by so many people...that was obvious. The woman/drunk driver was charged (age 31) with vehicular manslaughter.
I want to hang on to all of the wonderful memories that we made, once again this year. And I will. But at the end of the day, the vision of this tragedy is there. Time will help heal. Friends will help heal. And a good run will help heal. The road holds many of my secrets. Tomorrow it will hold many tears--and that's ok.

Dirt & A big deep breath....

What is it with dirt and boys?

Can you see that caveman testosterone?
I should feel lucky they didn't ask to make fire too because about 5 minutes prior to this, they had out their bow & arrows.

But, after a deep breath- - I just let them do their thing.

They weren't fighting. They were having a blast and dirt washes off.

They had to get their goggles because the dirt was literally EVERYWHERE.

Boys will be boys.

Busy Boys

We've kept these boys busy this summer. Fun little trips, big events and a lot of family time have filled our days. I'm ready for school to start, but I'm also trying to enjoy these final few days together because I know life is going to soon be busy. When we went to Spokane for the wedding, we took the boys to Silverwood. They love it there and as they get older, it becomes even more enjoyable for Michael and I. Jacob was just sure that he wanted to go on the fastest wooden roller coaster. I agreed to take him. While he didn't freak out, he didn't love it. When we pulled into the station at the end, he yelled to the crowd with his hands in the air, "People, you seriously need to reconsider this!" It was pretty cute. After a few rides in the amusement park, they were ready to spend the rest of their day at the water park. It was a blast. We all rode slides, hung out in the lazy river and played in the wave pool.

This week we have done a lot of hanging out in the pool and working in the yard & house. Next week is my relay race with my girls and then it is really back to the grind. Michael will be going to school during the morning/day and working at night. We have decided that it will be best for all of us if I skip the fall marathon in Walla Walla. While I really (really) want to, I know it is just not possible right now and I'm ok with that. There will always be a marathon. For the next few months, I'll just focus on running and cross training and focusing on a spring triathlon. Change will be good and I feel at peace that I can keep balance & harmony with my family being first. I think I might volunteer at the marathon. I've never done that and this seems like a good opportunity.

Nana is finally back from all of her trips. Both boys stayed last weekend. This week, they have each had a "singles" sleepover. It's fun to spend time with each one alone. They are great kids...even if I do want to eat them, most days!

The Big Event...

A couple of weeks ago, I thought my 20 year reunion was the big event of my summer. And don't get me wrong, it was a blast! I saw so many people and loved sharing my husband with them. I realize that I look pretty good for my age and that hometown roots & friendships can just pick up right where they left off.

But, the Big Event was this....

My little sister getting married. And it still chokes me up just thinking about it. She looked beautiful and was so elegant. At that moment in time, she changed to a woman. Wow.

She married a wonderful man. As a treat to her, he had been taking "secret" salsa lessons. In the middle of their first dance, salsa music broke in and he showed his stuff. So, he wasn't great, but it was the thought that counted. Everyone loved the surprise, but Jenn loved it the most.

I loved being a part of her bridal party. From L to R....Amie, me, Jenn, Amanda & Lindsey.

The boys couldn't be happier about this day. They have waited with great anticipation to finally get to officially call Travis their Uncle. They've never been to a wedding, let alone a party and they were thrilled about both. They helped decorate, they danced, they cleaned up, they were perfectly behaved. But at the end of the night....

seeing the happiness on my sister's face was all that mattered.