Overdue Summer Update...

The summer has totally gotten away from us. I cannot believe we only have 2 weeks til school starts! It has been a great summer but I am feeling ready for some structure and some down time. I finally got a new camera, nothing super fancy but it is faster and can finally catch Issie on the move and action shots a bit better. This will be a long post but hopefully get us caught up on all the summer fun.

We have been busy with swimming pools and soccer games and camping and jewelry shows. I have been working a bit more this summer and have been busy designing a new jewelry line for the fall. I had a great time at Camas Days (our local street fair) and my little jewelry business did well. I had the opportunity to design for a bride and her wedding party which was super fun. I also got connected with a local shop downtown that seems to want to sell my stuff. We will see how that works out. On top of that my closest girlfriends and I decided to train for the Girlfriends 1/2 marathon in October. 13.1 miles, yikes! I had not run for 6 years but it has been great to get back to it. I need to get my body back, is that possible after 8 pregnancies? I am up to 5 miles and I have a 6 mile run planned this weekend. The tricky part is to find the time to get away to run, our neighborhood is way too hilly and I usually have to figure out a place with a track and a playground so my kids stay put, it is ridiculous but worth it.

Brad has been busier than usual with work, they did a big layoff and we are grateful for his job. We have been totally unsuccessful at doing the projects we wanted to for the summer but we have had good family time instead, so that is worth it too.

Lucy looks like she will be having her one and only litter of puppies in the first week of October. She does not look pregnant yet but we are pretty confident her romantic weekend with Tucker was successful.

The kids are busy. Kadie is super excited about starting kindergarten and we did our first annual Mommy Daughter Back to School shopping trip. She is not quite the shopper she thought she was and pooped out pretty early. We did still manage to get her some super cute things. Up til now the girl has mostly lived off of awesome hand me downs from her cousins but it was fun to get some new things just for her. It is difficult since most places try to make clothes too grown up or too young for her. We also splurged and got pedicures at the mall, so fun. She did a fashion show this morning so the Grandmas could see her new clothes. We might have over did it on the pink but oh well.

This little sweater romper is my favorite.

Kadie loved these boots.

I gave in on the hot pink sparkly poodle shirt, but we both loved the sparkle shoes.

She looks so comfy in this little pink sweat suit.

silly girl

And this one was Kadie's favorite. It looks like 3 pieces but it is all sown together in one.. pretty cool.

The cutie little blue sparkly toes, she dropped the hose nozzle on her toe a week ago and has one ugly black toenail so she picked a color that would totally cover it. This was before she bought all pink clothes.

Jack has had a busy summer with trips with his dad and trips with us and camping with both too. He built his first campfire all by himself this summer and jumped off the cliffs at the waterfall where we camp. Not too exciting for mom but very exciting for the little man. Soccer has been fun too, especially since we are finally getting to some competitions and not just practicing. He has 3 tournaments in a row for most of the weekends in August and then regular season starts in September. He is playing left middle and is soooo much fun to watch. We were blessed with a great and encouraging coach but we can see as he builds his skills they will be moving him up the league to a little more intense coaches (I think that is as politically correct as I can say it). I just pray his spirit is ready for it at the same time as his skills are. He is still our tenderhearted boy.

He is very ready for school to start. He will be a 5th grader, king of the hill. I told him to enjoy it because he will be back at the bottom next year in middle school. That is way too much to think about. Anyways, he loves school, and misses his friends.

Jack with his famous campfire.

Most of the team, acting crazy at the the caravan meeting point for the first tournament. Jack loves his team, he is so loyal and it is fun to see them really bond as a team.

I love this shot, great kick.

Last but not least, Issie. They moved her up in her class at school to the big toddler room and it totally freaked me out. I cannot believe she is 22 months! She is super sweet and we all love her to death but I must admit this has not been the best age for little Issie. She certainly has not been trying to make any friends lately. She is in this stage where she screams, no screeches, when she does not get what she wants. Sadly this is effective when you have 2 older siblings and a worn out mom that just want the noise to stop. She also has learned to scream "no!" and "mine" and flat out hits people that try to get near whatever she has her heart set on. It is embarrassing. She will not ride in a shopping cart but must push it. She spends some time in every store flailing on the floor in disgust about who knows what. I am going to spend a good week letting her scream it out once the kids go back to school. I am not sure that is what will help but what can you do. I know it is because she is almost 2, I always think 18 months is harder than 2 but she was good at 18 months. Needless to say it has been rough. It does help that she says "tank you" and gives good kisses and hugs and still loves to snuggle at bedtime.
And she sleeps alot, is that awful that one of the best things you can say about your baby is she sleeps a lot. Oh well, I love her lots and I know this too shall pass.

Looking sweet, but on the verge of a scream!


Crazy hair girl. She loves to have her hair done, much more than Kadie girl but she likes to pull it out too so I can do it again and again. She is funny.

I am sure I am forgetting things, like Kadie being able to swim and Issie being an underwater baby. The snakes in the front yard that freak me out when I mow. The second porcupine attack. And tons of other exciting things but I feel like I accomplished something just getting this up. We love you guys. Hopefully school will help me have more time to keep you all informed.