Pumpkin Patch 2009

Well, obviously I'm a little late on this post, but I'm really not concerned with punctuality. Ever.

We went to a pumpkin patch in Hillsboro and had a lot of fun last month. But boy were we shocked at how many rotten pumpkins they had! We are fairly certain we found the last four pumpkins that weren't half rotten. We felt bad for all the other people hunting through the huge patch that obviously missed these last few good ones.

We got to see a miniature horse and some cute little pigs and goats, ride a boat across a lake, and a spooky train ride was involved too. It gets easier and easier to do these family traditions now that we don't have toddling children. The bigger they get, the more things are easily accomplished.

We always take a picture of the kids heaving to lift up a pumpkin too large for them to manage because of an endeared picture of Aaron as a toddler doing the same thing. If I had a scanner, I'd post it here. Christmas present? ;)

Jog-a-Thon

Warming up the legs.

The running begins!

(Watch her pull ahead of everyone!)

She was SPRINTING.

Checking her heart rate.

Hydrating.

Sprinting the final few seconds!

Exhausted!

She did 22 laps! Keep in mind these weren't around a track. Still though, pretty good for a five year old to run at top speed for 15 minutes! I estimate she did over a mile. Way to go Ella! She earned enough pledges to get a playground ball and other prizes. She is hoping to be the top pledge earner in her class and attend a root beer float party. We'll find out next week if she reached her goal. Thanks everyone!

If there are any others who want to send us a pledge to raise money for her school, let me know.

Class of '22

So it's almost been a month, but I thought I'd give a little post about Ella's first day of Kindergarten.

First, she picked her outfit independent of any influence from her fashion deficient family. She is SO particular about wearing what she wants to wear, and I love this (for the most part).

She wore a lovely skirt with some sequin pizazz on it, her red hello kitty socks, her new tennis shoes, and her favorite Disney princess shirt under a pullover brown sweater.

And.... her mood ring. Not too shabby!

She went to the bus stop with Aaron and Miles. The stop is across a busy street, which is really annoying, but she met new friends immediately and sat with other Kindergarten students on the bus.

Apparently daddy forgot to care for Miles' hair during all the fuss over Ella's first day of school. Click on this picture for the close up -- it's worth it. He's so adorably unaware of what's growing out of his head.

Ella started getting excited...

The bus began its approach...

And just as quickly as she entered our lives, she was off leaving on the bus. The first of many more to come over the next 13 years...

CNA Training

So this is actually Aaron.  I broke into Chelan's account to inform everyone that Chelan is doing CNA training and LOVING it!  I'm so proud of her and want to brag about her on her very own forum.  

I don't know if she's just too humble or too busy to update with the fact that she is excelling in the program and enjoying every minute of it.  This is a long time dream of hers and it is wonderful to watch her achieve that dream with the dedication, patience and just plain hard work it takes to make a life change of this magnitude.  The kids are handling the transition well and I'm handling it with far less complaining than I expected of myself (still more than the national average, no doubt!).  

So, let's pat CheZam on the back cyberspace style and congratulate her on a job well done.  

Here's a picture of our own CNA in training bandaging her OWN foot on a recent hiking trip!  Awesome....awesome.

Love you hon!

Aaron 

Dahlia Carolyn Webster (my new niece)

Did I somehow forget to blog about my new niece? She was born July 19th, weighing 7 pounds. She's the center of many conversations at our house. "Where's Baby Dahlia?" Miles asks... when I tell him she's at her house with Aunt B and Uncle Chris and Teagan, he reminds me that she was born. "She was borned! And I was borned too! But now I'm a big boy and I'm not borned anymore."

Getting to be with my in-laws and take pictures of all the intimate events of Dahlia's first moments was such a privilege... a treasure of memories for me.

She's pretty sweet. Already bigger. Doing so well. And big brother Teagan is figuring out his new life with this new baby who never seems to go away.

Congratulations Chris and Bethany and Teagan!

The Babes of Bristol 203

I think I need to relive some old glory days. Here's one of my favorite pictures. This is me, Aimee, Priscilla, Rici, Sarah, Kelly.

These are some of my favorite people. The babes of Bristol 203 we liked to call ourselves. We were caught here by the camera while going to the cafeteria for lunch.

We lived together during the 1999-2000 school year, at the turn of the millennium. (I didn't have to spell check millennium. Impressed?)

This was a few months before I jumped a fence and nosedived on the concrete while escaping an attacking dog. Ooh, I'll find those pictures and post them next!

Since I've failed at keeping my computer updated with our current photos of my life, I'll start posting on ancient history instead. Sound fun?

Photography

Aaron's in charge of our photos now. Sometimes I feel like picking up a daisy, plucking off the petals one by one and reciting: 

I like this. 

I like this not. 

I like this. 

I like this not. 

Here's why. I like it! I like that he takes the pictures because he's good at it and has a fabulous camera and edits them so wonderfully and it makes me so happy to know we'll have such wonderful pictures for our years to come.

But then I don't like it! I never know where his camera is, what setting it's on, what lens will be attached to it and if it's okay to use outside, inside, fast speeds, low light, etc. By the time I consider all these things my children have turned a year older and the moment for the picture is long gone. 

sigh.

Aaron let Ella take the picture of him posted above. I love this one. 

I just need to get out my old rinky dink digital camera with two AA batteries and keep shooting away while he does all the fancy stuff. Then I can land on a good petal.