YRDC 5k

I ran hard to keep up with him.  He slowed down to stay with me. We evened each other out. 
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He ran through some leg pain and I ran despite my lack of air,  lol.
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He talked the whole time. And I mean WHOLE time. I don't know how he did it!
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We shared smiles, and laughs and glances at each other. We shared this time together...time we rarely get anymore.
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In the end, he finished in under 29 mins and helped me finish my fastest 5k yet, in under 30mins.
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We're proud of each other. And to him, the place and the title mean more at this point in his life. And that's okay. But to me, the time with him is worth more than 1st place or the medal won. The time with him is priceless. ❤

Back to School

  For selfish reasons, I am so sad that summer is over and now ALL my kids are into the big world of SCHOOL. I was blessed to be able to take half the summer off to be with the kids, and I'm not sure where all that time went. It flew by! While we did what we set out to do: ENJOY SUMMER TOGETHER, there's still a few items left on our bucket lists! I guess they'll wait until next year! While I'm sad that summer vacation has come to an end, I am beyond excited to see where this school year takes them!!!! The time with them has certainly motivated me to work even harder for our goals!

Here's to a GREAT school year for them!!! <3

We'll start with Monkey...

he's now in Kindergarten!!! 

 Don't ask me how because i have no idea. It blows my mind if I think too long about it. I swear it was just yesterday that we found out we were expecting him. So I have no clue how he's already starting school! 

 Oh, but is he ready! He's so smart and polite and has crazy energy. He's going to give his amazing teacher a run for her money but at the same time give her a sense of calm and peace because he'll be there to help her when she needs it. 

 He's good like that. Always wanting to help. Always wanting to learn. Always there to cuddle and love up on. My baby. He's in big boy school now!!! 

Him and his buddies are too cute! 

Then our Buddy! 

 He is the big man on campus this year!

6th grade!

Unbelievable! 

He is beyond excited though! He's anxious to learn and have fun and wants to be challenged this year so he's ready for MIDDLE SCHOOL next year! SO proud of who he is growing up to be. He's a great person and has a huge heart! I can't wait to see how this year goes for him :) 

And our Princess <3

 Can you believe her beauty?! She just got her FIRST "real" haircut yesterday - and she hates it - but doesn't it look so cute?!!! I LOVE IT! Which makes sense - cause at 7, her and I already are opposites. If i like it, she hates it. If i hate it, she loves it! This girl!!! ;) 

All summer long she complained about school getting closer and closer, but the closer it got, the more excited she became! :) And her 1st day of 2nd grade turned out great! :) She sure is growing up way too fast - i think the haircut helps - and that laugh of hers goes on for miles. It's so contagious! I wish I could hear her laugh all day long while she's at school with her friends! She's our crazy girl, but we wouldn't have it any other way <3

Here's a few more pics from before the bus came:

Em wanted in our 1st day pics, too ;) It was her 1st, 1st day experience afterall! 

My babies & I <3

These 4 are my heart!!! 

Hello!!!!!!!!!

Yea, we have a big bus stop! So what?! ;) 

Oh gosh...there they go!!! 

There goes my baby!!! <3

                                                      




                                                       And...some AFTER school pics!

 

All smiles getting off the bus! 
At least, if they knew I was taking pics, they would have been smiling ;)



And some randoms :) 

Have a GREAT 2016 - 2017 school year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've got a bike rider!

Princess is the 1st to learn how to ride a bike!!! :) 

When I picked them up from camp today, they were already tired.

When I told them I wanted the to practice riding their bikes tonight, they all whined and Princess threw a fit.

But then, something happened. She decided that NOW was time. And, she got on her bike and started riding, then falling, then getting back up and riding again...first in our back yard and on her bike, then in our court with Monkeys bike which fits her better. Then we headed down to the trail, and ended up in the parking lot.

2 hours of never giving up. 2 hours of 7 year old bad words and getting mad at the bike and hitting it. 2 hours of some tears, but more so some smiles. 2 hours of looking each other in the eye and her seeing how much i believed in her and me seeing how much she wanted this! She amazed me at the belief in herself and her determination to never give up.

She was determined to learn how to ride TONIGHT. And, tonight, she learned.

She wasn't ready last year. She wasn't ready last week. She wasn't ready yesterday. But this evening, she was ready, and she wasn't stopping until she reached her goal.

I love it when my kids teach me life lessons ❤

Another one bites the dust!

Monkey lost his 2nd tooth! This time while with Grandmom & Pops!

Monkey lost his 1st tooth!

He was sitting in the movies with Nana and it fell out! We'd been working on it a few days now...he was sooo excited :)

Enjoying Nature

It was a chilly day, but we needed to get out. So we did :)