All Over

It has been a little bit since my last post.  Things have been clipping along as we transition into fall.  However, the weather would argue otherwise!  It has been in the 90's for the last week!  We have been held hostage inside most of the afternoons as a little working family, but we enjoyed some cool winds tonight as the sun set during our evening stroll around the neighborhood.

I was in Alaska for the Equinox Marathon relay in Fairbanks a couple weeks ago.  I cannot really express how wonderful it was to be surrounded by friends that I have known most of my life.  Fairbanks was beautiful and sunny the entire weekend, and the run was a lot of fun...although it was very humbling, as well.  My leg of the relay took me up about 2,500 feet of elevation gain.  I was definitely not trained for the elevation!  What was more important, though, was the brief time to reconnect and give a lot of hugs and share in a lot of laughter.

Our family continues to love and laugh and celebrate life.  Audrey is now 9 and we are preparing for a celebration this weekend with family and friends.  Violet continues to learn to read and attends Tae Kwondo twice a week.  Sam...has begun crawling!  Nothing is safe!

The middle of the week is here, and I am looking forward to a busy weekend with family and friends visiting from Indiana and Chicago for Audrey and Kim's birthday weekend continued!  Friday, though, I have been waiting to listen to Stephen King and his son speak at a book tour.  As a long-time reader of King, I am very much looking forward to getting to see him in person and listening to what he has to say.

So that is it.  More to come, adventure in the wind.

-a

Audrey and Violet made Sam his own box spaceship.

Balloon Birthday Girl.

Audrey and Sam.  

X-Wing fighter pilot Violet.

Helping rake leaves!

My Alaska crew celebrating our time together!

Me with Louis and Marcus.  These are my brothers.

At the summit on the Equinox run.  It was beautiful...and killed my legs!

Sun Rising on Sunday

The mornig has started with a quiet sunrise and I have the house and a hot cup of coffee to myself for a few minutes before the family begins to stir.  My dad has been here for the last two weeks and today is his last day here before he heads back to Alaska via Portland.  It has been good to have him here under our roof, although I think abbot of a challenge in terms of adjusting to a house full of children and working parents vs empty Alaskan house in Juneau.  

Today we head up to the North Side of Chicago to meet up with family and celebrate my dads visit.  It will be nice to see Uncle Stuart and Aunt Bobbie again for the second time in about two months.  

School continues to be wonderful.   I am loving being back in the classroom and my challenges of molding my classroom are present but I look forward to working through them.  It feels good working with a great team and saying hi to people throughout the day and having friendships within the building.  

Outside of the classroom, I continue to run and prepare for my half marathons.  I am sad that I could not meet the demands of marathon training this year.  I look forward to runs in Iowa and possibly another half or two before winter. I need to continue running through the winter to lose more weight and attempt to gain back some of my old speed and get my mile times down.   Next year, I would like to attempt a triathlon of some kind along with continuing to seek out more half marathons that offer a unique experience.  

For now, I will sip my coffee and cherish these last few minutes of quiet.  Perhaps a donught run is in my immediate future?  It is Sunday and the sun is rising.  What more could one want?

-a

The girls climbing around the children's garden at the Morton Arboretum 

Playing with the water sphere at Morton Arboretum 

Sam and Dad enjoy a bottle while watching NFL opening day game before going to bed.  

Watching a soccer game near our house with Zayde.

Audrey and Dad just hanging out.

Zayde attempting to feed Sam.  Sam having a conversation between bites. 

Audrey devouring another book.  So proud of my little reader.  

Labor Day Catchup

Zayde has been here for a week.  I am glad he has time to watch his grandkids.  It has been a very busy first full week of school, and I am excited to get back into my the classroom and start pushing my students.  

The weather is changing and I can feel the early fingers of the fall winds trace the back of my neck at times.   The last couple weeks has been a blur of teaching, running, and daily life with my family.  I try to stop for a moment and take a mental snapshot of the girls and Sam as they are.  I try to remind myself they change daily, and it is so sweet and sad all at the same time to watch them grow and evolve from minute-to-minute.  

Sam on a morning walk, enjoying the quiet pond.  

The sun rising this morning on our walk. 

Dads friend, Dave, visiting and playing with the girls.  

Dad and Dave. 

Dave trying out the back slide out back.

A 14 miler this weekend.  Not too fast but got it done.  

Reading to Violet

Violet earned her yellow belt!  We are so proud!

Dads friend, Jim, visited on his way through to New Mexico.  

Dad meeting the grandkids on his first full day.

Half Madness Half Marathon in Batavia.  Fun little run!

The kids enjoyed playing in Batavia after bib pick up the day before!

Sam can be a mess when he eats.   Love this kid!