Finally! I Posted!

Hello, everyone!

Did ya miss me?

Things have been so busy and crazy around here, not that I'm surprised by that, but sometimes I get lost in the busy-ness and craziness of life. So, just to try and catch you up, I'll give you a quick rundown of our recent lives.

Josiah and Micah have started up another season of soccer. They are on the same team this year, so at least that simplifies practices and games a bit! Micah really debated about playing soccer this fall. Part of him wanted to play baseball again. I was not for him playing baseball again (I needed a break from that bit of madness), so I may have encouraged soccer more, but even so, I think he's quite happy with his choice. They had their first game on Saturday and although they lost by one, they were both excited about how they played and how their team as a whole played, too.

The boys have also joined Cub scouts. Micah is a Tiger scout and Josiah is a Wolf scout. I can almost guarantee they are both going to have tons of fun being a part of that. They have only been to one meeting so far, but they both loved it! The tricky part of scouts is that the meetings are on the same night as soccer practice. This means that my stinky, smelly soccer boys are sent to scout meetings as is. I may have to start them on some deoderant. :)

We're in our 5th week of school for the year. In addition to what we do at home we're also going to a co-op on Tuesdays. The kids like being around other kids and having "class." I'm their teacher there, too, though so it can't be that much different from school at home, but they act like it is! I'm also teaching/watching my friends little girl during the week. I mean, I figured I already had 4 kids--what was one more?? Ha! Her little girl is 4 and I actually think the situation is going to be really good for all the kids involved. Emilia is sooooo thrilled to have another little girl to play with and Audra now has 3 people trying to mommy her, but we're figuring it out as we go. However, I am EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. Something about having an 8, 6, 4, 3, and 1 year old...

Audra is still trying to figure out the whole talking thing. She's started blabbering up a storm but I have a hard time understanding many words, but she's getting much better! Based on how much she jabbers incoherently now I'm pretty sure she's going to take after big brother Josiah and always have something to say...once she learns actual words! I'll have to move her carseat next to Josiah's and they can keep each other company on our car rides. :)

There's a big project going on in our backyard these days, too. This year I asked my mom and John's parents to put money toward a backyard playhouse instead of the usual birthday presents. All three of us pooled our money and now our labor (although really the majority of the labor is being done by my mom and Sue!) and are building THE MOST AWESOME PLAYHOUSE EVER. Seriously. It's that cool. There is (or will be) a playhouse, a deck, a gangplank, a slide, a sandbox, a rock climbing wall and a swingset. But wait! There's more! As if that weren't enough, Mom and Sue keep coming up with more totally awesome ideas to enhance it. I think they are going to add a pretend store front and jail! Oh, I would have LOVED this when I was a kid. Who am I kidding? I love it now! I haven't taken pictures since the first day of building, but this will give you some idea...

As if all of that weren't crazy and busy enough, John and I are in the middle of training for a half-marathon. A what?? Yes, you read that correctly. I'm trying to train this ole body to be able to run 13.1 miles. Am I insane? Well, maybe. I did wake up before the crack of dawn, before my children were even awake to be able to go out and run 4 miles this morning. In my book that qualifies me as insane, but hopefully you have different standards. Training is going really well, though! I've been running with my friend Stephanie and last weekend (end of our 4th week of training) we ran SEVEN miles. Without walking. We were/are ecstatic!! We feel like superheroes!