color run

alyssa told me about the color run a couple months ago.

all i knew was that it was a fun run/walk and at different points along the course you got blasted with colored powder making it the "happiest 5k on the planet!".

before the race we were so clean in our brand new white shirts.

as we went along the course there were four color stations.

pink, yellow, orange and blue powder was tossed, hurled and showered on us.

we were towards the front of the second wave of runners so we had a pretty easy time getting around everyone to take up a jogging pace. 

i have never done a 5k before and i wasn't planning on doing one today but i was convinced by a few girls that i could most definitely do it so i took the challenge.

i am very proud to say that i ran all of it, except for two very short two minute "i must walk or i will die" sections.

let me also say that i paid for it the next few days.

after the race there is a color party. 

we received color packets when we registered and every  twenty minutes or so everyone throws their packets in the air.

its' a beautiful, but slightly choking experience. 

there was colored powder everywhere.

this is kari. she was my running jogging partner.
she was so great to run jog at my pace and walk when i needed to.

i started laughing right as i took this picture cause i got a glimpse of my teeth. classy.

our whole group after. such a fun group of girls and so many fun memories!

we're moving!

when we decided to build this house we did it with the intention of being here forever.
my family moved about every two years growing up so it was a constant of new houses, schools and friends.
i wanted my kids to be in one house for the majority of their school age years, so when we found out we were pregnant with emily, and our three bedroom would no longer do, we set out on a search to find that house we would settle into for the remainder of their years home.
we wanted to be in our home before she was born and time was in short supply so we ended up rushing into a house.
we moved in on december 17th 2002 and our little princess was born on december 19th.
after being here a while we decided we didn't love our new house.
it was fine but had we really thought over the design we wouldn't have picked this one.
it was too late now and it fit our needs so we have made it our home for the past 9 1/2 years.

in those 9+ years there have been times that we have thought about moving but have stayed put for different reasons.
in the last two years, though, more pressing issues have come up that have forced us to rethink our position.
about two years ago the school board wanted to change the school boundaries so that the west side of meridian road, the side we live on, would have to change to meridian high.
parents complained, they didn't change them, they tried again last year, parents were up in arms, they didn't change them.
i fear that on the third try they will pass the boundary change and tell parents to get over it.
austin has been at mountain view for three years and we really like the school and want the other two to attend there as well.
in another few years, i believe, living here will make that an impossibility.
strike one.

about a year ago we got the news that the great city of meridian is putting a walmart in our back yard.
it will, literally, be 200 feet from our back door and we will get to see it ever day in all it's glory.
no thank you.
why they couldn't put it a quarter mile down the road where there aren't any houses built yet is beyond me.
and construction began last week.
strike two.

we received an email about 6 weeks ago from our neighborhood watch.
it let us know that there were two intruders in the back yard of someone on our street.
our yard backs up to a road and has a much too low five foot fence.
any child could jump it and that has always made me a little leery.
that email sent me over the edge but i still didn't think about selling until i was driving down the road later that day thinking about the email,our house etc.
the lord said, clear as day, "it's time to sell".
strike three.

we are under water in our house so after we do a short sale we will have to rent for a couple of years.
we have been home owners for 12 years so this will be different for us but i feel like it also gives us time.
time to decide where we want to live.
time to find the perfect house for us.
time to make the best decision for our family.

my only sadness comes when i think about austin.
i always wanted him to leave for college and be able come back to his childhood home.
the place where he skinned his knees, rode his bike, and learned so much about becoming a man.
it won't play out like i wanted but as the song says, "home is wherever i'm with you".
no matter where we rest our head it will always be home.

so with that we've submitted paper work, purged and cleaned and hopefully it goes on the market this week.
onto our new adventure.

65 and counting

 there aren't many people who can say they've been married for 65 years.

i feel very blessed to know a couple who has.

grandma and grandpa reed celebrated their 65th anniversary over labor day weekend.

weren't they cute?

wedding day

september 2012

cake toppers from their wedding cake, 25th and 50th anniversaries.

 congratulations on 65 years!

so over it

i shouldn't be complaining.
we have it better than a lot of people.
we have healthy children and i thank god every day that we do.
but we have had a lot of medical and dental stuff this year and i have about had it.
i went through my calendar to add up all of our appointments this year and i am up to 25.
25!
between broken teeth, sealants, fluoride treatments, root canals and wisdom teeth i have made 14 trips to a dental office since january.
between broken ankles, lacrosse knees, shots, sinus infections, moles and routine visits i have made 11 trips to a doctor's office since january.
it's not only squeezing our wallet but my insanity as well.
taylor finally got his root canal finished after three visits to an endodontist.
that joy lasted for about 30 minutes.
we got home and his dentist called and said that after we left the endodontist took another look at his final x-ray and noticed a spot on another tooth. he wants us to come in next week to make sure he doesn't need a root canal on that one too.
seriously?!
that poor kid has been through enough.
to round out the month we have one more dentist appointment and one more doctor appointment to get emily's stitches out bringing our grand total through september to 27.
her mole was benign and, even though i wasn't worried about it, it's always good to hear.
so even though we still have some appointments to get to and i will spend a good portion of time ferrying kids from school to dentist and doctor and back again i will be grateful that they are for small things and at the end of the day give thanks that my babies are healthy.

oh fall

i have always loved fall.
the colors, getting to throw on a sweater after so many months of heat, the changing light.
year after year i drive down the road and see giant trees filled with yellow, red and orange and it is breathtaking.
i love making apple cider and casseroles and big pots of soup to eat at the end of a cold day .
even with all that the mood still hasn't struck me.
this year i long for more months of warmth.
more light in my days.
the thought of shorter days and cold weather puts me in a foul mood.
i can't even think about it without getting a knot in my stomach.
i used to not mind the cold.
i've never loved winter but i put up with it cause what else could i do?
then we went to cabo in october.
i can pinpoint it to that year.
that's when it all changed.
this is what we got to play in while everyone at home was frozen.

and ever since then it's been down hill.
to be there snorkeling, getting sunburned and drinking margaritas under an umbrella in the fall shifted my thinking.
now every year i wish for longer summers, warmer weather, sand and surf.
i can feel it calling to me.
the older i get the greater the pull of the ocean is.
i long to be there.
to be able to get up in the morning and walk on the beach.
to hear the roar through my open windows.
to sit for hours with a good book and sand between my toes.
spending my early years in california i spent a fair amount of time at the ocean.
i have been back many times since we left but this last time was so much different.
it felt like home, even after all these years.
even though idaho has been home for most of my life it still felt so familiar to me.
the places we went that i went so many times as a child.
the sounds of the lane dividers on the freeway, the sea gulls, the waves.
it's a part of me that will always be and whether i fight it or, eventually, give in and take up residency someplace warm and beachy remains to be seen.
but it will always be in my heart.
so fall and winter...if you could stay away for a little while longer this sunshine loving girl would really appreciate it.

my ears are ringing

tuesday emily and taylor had to go to the dermatologist to have a couple moles looked at.
taylor gets a once over and an all clear.
emily's keeps getting scratched and bleeds fairly often so he said he could take it off so it doesn't bother her anymore.
i gave the ok and that's when the fun began.
i'm not good at needles and that sort of fun stuff.
in sixth grade we were finding out our blood types for health class and i was the one that ended up laying down in the hall so i didn't pass out.
awesome.
so the assistant comes in to numb her up and i'm trying not to look.
she says the medicine stings and i am holding her hand trying to go to my happy place.
he finished and taylor made a comment about how cool it was and i made the mistake of looking.
he had injected her with something that made her skin expand so the spot they were removing stood up about an inch higher than the rest of her skin.
he went out and i was getting ready to sit down so i could get my head under control when emily starts crying because she's scared.
i am trying my best to comfort her all the while my ears are ringing, i am sweating and trying to figure out how the heck i am going to stay upright.
the doctor comes in and i'm getting worse so i say those eight words that forever haunt me.
"i feel like i'm going to pass out"
since i'm sitting on a rolling stool the assistant goes into action.
he's trying to keep emily's mind occupied with talk of finger nail polish and school while at the same time getting me a stationary chair, a wet paper towel and some air.
my girl is having a minor procedure done and i am bent over with my head between my knees, doing my best to comfort her with one hand reached up on her arm telling her things like "it's ok" and "i'm right here".
i was a lot of help.
the doctor removes the mole, gives her two stitches and she is good to go.
i sit up a little so he can give me after care instructions and tay says "you don't look so good. you're really pale".
thanks bud.
i don't feel so good.
all i can think is that i now have to drive these two across town to school.
the doctor was great and told me to stay as long as i needed to.
don't you worry, doc. i'm not going anywhere.
after about ten minutes i gained enough composure to check out, get to the car and vow never to go to another doctors appointment without my mom again.

first day 2012

in order of departure...

taylor. 7th grade.

this is his first year in middle school and he was a bit nervous.

fortunately he has plenty of kids from the neighborhood, football and his old school to pal around with.

 the color is a little wonky on these pictures cause it's my phone.

in real life he isn't white...har har.

these eyes scream excitement and fear.

ryan's mom drives them to the bus so i say goodbye at the door and off he goes. sniff.

austin. 11th grade.

where did this kid come from?

he's not really a kid anymore, though, so i guess i should say where did this man come from but that's too weird so i will stick with kid.

we only have two more school years with him and then he's off to begin his own life.

that's scary.

we are trying to soak up all the time he will let us have before he's gone.

i was pleasantly surprised that he didn't even put up a fight.

the last two years we have had to threaten him with death to get him to stop and take a picture.

this was last year. memorable huh?

we hardly even had to ask this year, he just hopped right in.

such a good boy.

he still won't smile with his teeth showing. 

i think it's more of a stubborn thing than a 'i hate my teeth' thing but i will take what i can get.

 

emily. 4th grade.

holy cow she looks old here!

not sure when she grew but apparently it's been happening lately.

 

after the boys leave i have a little over an hour with just her.

it's been so nice getting that one on one time with her.

i get her breakfast, help her pick out clothes, have time to do her hair and walk her to the bus. 

it's fantastic! 

 emily and hailey.

hailey is nine months older than emily.

i am so curious to see how tall this girl ends up being.

so that was our first day.

everyone came home happy.

no horrible experiences that made them want to crawl in bed and never get out.

success!

only nine months to go!

insta friday x 2

one of these days i might get around to publishing a post that isn't an insta friday post but for today that's all i've got.

and to top it off it's for a the last two weeks. 

austin had his wisdom teeth out right before school started.

even though he did the conscious sedation he remembers everything. so glad we didn't have to pay the $300 that tiny pill usually costs.

afterward he didn't take one pain pill, one nap or have any swelling.

i think it's cause he's so stubborn.

 i had to look at the ground most of the time so i didn't end up on the ground.

that would have been embarrassing.

 i participated in a mug swap a couple weeks ago.

i love sending things and i love getting things so this was perfect!

this was the mug i got my partner and the mug rug i made her.

and this is the mug i received.

we are going to be great friends.

7th grade shots for taylor.

30 minutes after this picture he broke his front tooth again. oy!

 some last minute school shopping and a pretzel at the mall.

her fav. 

  first game of the season.

we won 42-16

 emily going after the bouquet at a friend's wedding.

 me and laurel at the wedding... 

 and out for a good time later that night.

praying for our kids as they head back to school.

  first day of school.

4th grade for this little one.

 7th and 11th for these two.

this was the first time in three years that austin didn't act like he was dying when we asked for a first day of school picture.

  had to don the sweater at the end of practice this week.

i do love the sweater/three quarter shirt and shorts thing, though.

indian summer makes me happy.

and i decided as long as the flowers are going strong there's still some summer left.

come on flowers! be good to me!

i sent this girl to school with a sock bun today.

she is so stinkin cute it kills me.

she totally rocked it! 

insta friday

  the smoke has been crazy with all the wildfires burning around us.
 it has made for some beautiful skies but mostly it's made my nose run.

it's been so stinkin hot these last few weeks. 

i happened to look at the thermometer at noon, one day, and noticed it was only 72 degrees.

i took a picture, posted it and not an hour later it was hotter than hades.

the cool morning was much appreciated though.

taylor wanted to go to pojo's for his birthday so we obliged.
he and emily played skee ball(my fav), air hockey, pac man and tons of kiddie gambling games.
those are their favorite.
just keep popping in the coins.
in the end they had almost 1700 tickets so they didn't do too bad.
maybe we'll take them to vegas.

we thought it would be fun to take some photo booth pictures.
bad thing is the area where you have to be is about the size of a quarter.
emily was up front and i just knew that hers was the only face we would be able to see.
we got the pictures back and i almost dies laughing.
in every picture all you can see is her forehead.
hilarious!

the birthday boy wanted to go to the drive in, and since it was on our summer list we were able to kill two birds.
other than the mosquitoes it was a great night.
and we actually made it through both movies.
the 2 a.m. arrival home was a little much but so glad we did it.

for his family party, tay wanted to go to the speedway.
it wasn't a great race night but we had fun with the whole family there.

 my darling little girl made a picture and used these 'stickers' to hold it together.
that same darling girl informed us, on the way to church, that "when i was in mccall i was trying to blow bubbles that looked like butt cheeks".
precious isn't she?

in preparation for fall, school lunches and snacks in general i started drying bananas.
i spent two days drying five bunches of bananas and got two quart baggies.
that's it?!
and the kids had them gone in about three days.
i guess i need to do twenty bunches in order to have them around for any length of time.

i also made spicy bread and butter pickles this week.
we've gotten a lot of cucumbers this year but not enough at one time to make it worth the trouble of making pickles.
after throwing most of them away, due to rottenness, i decided to suck it up and make some pickles anyway.
five pints isn't bad.

emily wanted to go for a walk and just had to have sadie come.
i finally figured out the reason.
roller blades+dog=no work.

 middle school registration.
eek!

and finally, we had taylor's last optimist jamboree on saturday.
a little sad that this chapter is closing but it's been such a fun ride.