LABOR DAY CAMP JOSEPH

The girls and I arrived at camp on Friday night in the rain.  Mom and dad helped us quickly set up camp in the dark.  (thank goodness)  The rest of the weekend we played, we sang, we built fires, we cried, we played scrabble, we visited with lots of good people, we knitted, we read, we slept, we ate lots, and we climbed trees and picked apples and then came home and turned those apples into applesauce.  They weren't the prettiest apples, but they made some pretty darn good applesauce.  All for FREE!  It was a most fantastic weekend!

THE END!

KAYLA'S FIRST FIELD HOCKEY GAME

I'm new to this sport.  I grew up playing soccer.  I am completely lost when it comes to the rules of the game.  Kayla made varsity as a freshman.  (they have a very young team)  She has been working so hard in practice that the coach started her and played her the WHOLE game.  These two ladies in orange showed up before the game started.  How cute are they?  Little, old ladies in skirts reffing the game.  I love it!  Gilford lost 4-1, it was their first game.

BLACK BELT JOURNEY

It's been five years in the making and I'm almost there.  This fall (undetermined date) I will join the ranks of black belt in Muay Thai Kickboxing.  I am quite proud of myself as there were times that I just wanted to give it all up.  For the majority of my training, I would bring Ben to class with me.  That was a workout in itself.  I would carry him in to the  Dojo, place him on the floor and then run back to my car and lug in his big beanbag.  Then I would lift him into the beanbag and carefully situate him so that he was comfortable.  Then I would train for an hour and do it all over again in reverse.  Rain, sleet, snow and sun he was there with me.  When I got pregnant two years ago I decided I was done training.  I couldn't imagine doing it with a new baby.  Then I lost the baby.  My instructor wouldn't let me NOT return, so I went back.  Then I got pregnant again.  Even after I lost another baby I was done.  Then my mom and husband convinced me to go back which I gratefully did.  Then Ben died.  I wanted to quit again.  But Ben wouldn't let me.  Not after all the hours that HE put into going with me.  :)  Now I'm getting ready.  It's a long, rigorous test.  (8 hours of continuous physical testing)  I've decided to give up sweets until then and to start running again.  I'm hoping I'll be prepared.  There is a part during the ceremony where we will get to dedicate all our hard work and effort to and I know exactly who that will be.

(I'm leaving for the weekend to go camping with my girls.  I'll be back with some fun pictures on Monday night.  Have a great and safe holiday weekend!)

CUTENESS AND HOTNESS

I had the privilege of watching THIS cuteness for the whole morning.  He's 3 months old and such a gem.  I cleared my whole morning and did nothing but snuggle him.  I almost called his mom to tell her that I was keeping him, but I don't think she would have let me.

After I gave cuteness back I headed out for the afternoon in the 90 degree weather again.  I LOVED it.  It was pure hotness.  And so was HE.  He joined us for an after sports dip in the lake.  It was SO refreshing.

It's pretty much official.  My second born is now taller than me.  And he's quite proud.  He had his first soccer game of the season today.  They won 4-1 and he scored one of the goals.  I expect great things out of this athlete...it's his year.

She may LOOK like me....but she's ALL his on the inside.

Another great day.  I just might do okay after all.

I MANAGED...

to  survive my first day without the kids.  I had so much anxiety about it all summer.  I worried about how it would feel not to be busy all day long with Ben.  After I got the kids off to school, I normally would spend a couple of hours finishing his morning feeds, giving him medicine, washing him up and dressing him.  Then I would do his face and mouth care, comb his cute wrinkly head and carry him downstairs for the day.  That was one of my favorite parts.  Carrying him.  I loved to wrap his legs around my waist and place his arms up over my shoulders.  Then I would carry him down the stairs while whispering in his ear in my cutesy voice..."Ben, do you love when mommy carries you?"  I know he did.  Then I would sit and hold him or put him in his giant beanbag on that darn vent.  The vent that limited his portability.  (sigh)  But it did give him more time with us so I can't begrudge that vent too much.  The rest of the school day I would stay busy with house work, appointments for Ben, bills, etc.  I found that today I stayed just as busy.  I dropped the kids off and came home to finish up some morning chores.  At 10am I was off to a chiropractor appointment and my Muay Thai class immediately after.  Then I was invited by my husband to come have lunch with him at the High School.  I was giddy as a school girl.  Lunch with my husband at my leisure?  FUN!  I returned home after a nice casual date to fill water bottles with ice for my children who would soon be practicing their sports in the nearly 100 degree weather.  (secretly I'm loving this heat wave)  I mosey on down to the field where I run 2-3 miles, depending on my mood, on the track.  It's a good way to pass the time.  After I'm done running, I read my latest, greatest book until practice is over.  Today I kidnapped all of my sweaty, stinky children and headed down to the lake where we ALL jumped in with our clothes on.  Man was that refreshing.  We returned home where I filled out a GAZILLION papers for the school, made them dinner, read some scriptures, said our prayers and sent them to bed.  WHEW!  Not much time for mourning today.  I guess that's a good thing.  Oh, and did I mention that in between all of that I had many phone calls, emails, text messages all wondering how I was doing on this first day of school.  ME!  People were worried about ME!  I felt loved.  Thank you.  Thank you for caring about me.  I'm hanging in there.  One day at a time, right?

ONE LAST HURRAH

My children go back to school tomorrow.  I'm in mourning.  We have had the most beautiful summer to play, and it never feels long enough.  It was 90 degrees today so we headed over to our beach for one last swim.  There are no lifeguards on duty anymore, so the kids had free reign of the lifeguard chair.  And YES mom...I went in and it was most refreshing.  After swimming we stopped to get some last minute school supplies and topped it off with icecream.  I'm going to miss those children of mine...

KALEB'S SLEEP STUDY

Last night we headed up to Dartmouth for a sleep study for Kaleb.  They hooked him up to all the electrodes right away and then promptly sent him to bed.  That meant lights out for me too.  They watched Kaleb on camera, listened to him via microphone and observed his brain waves for the whole night.  Because he doesn't have a severe case of sleep apnea, just mild, they kept us for a nap studay today.  It consisted of 5 naps in the course of 10 hours.  They would tell him to nap and then see how long it would take him to fall asleep.  As soon as he was sound asleep, they would wake him up again.  It was quite irritating.  We won't have any results until later in the week.  Here are some pictures of our most exciting day.
(any guesses as to which book I'm reading?)