Noteworthies

Fall is in full swing around here. Our days are marked by the rhythm and routine of school, and time marches on. Here are a few noteworthy things from the past few weeks:

The girls participated in Spirit week at school at the beginning of the month. Most of the themes were simple. My favorite was twin day, when my girls decided to be the twins. Even though he doesn't go to their school, Lee decided to be their third twin for the day.

Bria got glasses. She definitely needed them, because she has not fought us about it even once. She's a pro at keeping them on, and will ask for them if you don't get them to her quick enough in the morning or after nap.

We had fun celebrating Joya's 6th birthday. We went to Red Robin for lunch, then swimming at the indoor pool near Grammy's house. We had pizza and cupcakes at Grammy's, then the girls spent the night. It was a good day of family fun.

The girls love when the trees dump their leaves in the yard. Daddy hasn't been raking them fast enough, so they do their best to get the job done. My favorite part is when Bria picks them up by hand and takes them to the pile.

And Alaina has a new hole in her mouth.

 These are the days of our lives.

Happy 6th Birthday Joya!

Sweet Joya! You've waited a long time for this, but you are finally six! It's so fun to celebrate with you! You are growing and learning and thriving in school, just like we knew you would. We love watching you be creative. You work hard, even when things are hard to do. We're so proud of you for getting the Ownership Core Value Award at school! You are so fun to be around.

We pray that you continue to learn how to love others and show kindness. We pray that in humility, you'll consider others better than yourself. We pray that you always know that you are loved and that you can be secure in the love that we have for you and that God has for you. We pray that you will always seek Jesus first, when you are happy and sad and confused and thankful and scared.

We love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mom, Dad, Alaina & Bria

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A Discussion About the Quick 5

There's not much new to report this week. We had our first parent teacher conferences with the girls' teachers, and they're both doing great. They are good learners and they are thriving in the classroom. You can't ask for a much better report than that.

I'm considering phasing out the Quick 5. It's been fun, but I'm not sure I have five things to talk about each week anymore. Also, I'm wondering if my quick 5 isn't contributing to the false sense of connection brought on by the Internet. This blog is nice, but it doesn't foster any dialogue. Dialogue is what brings about connection. I often feel like I give my five highlights, but then have nothing else to talk to anyone about. Plus there's the whole braggy/unsolicited/let me talk about US thing going on.

I can still use this blog to let you know if anything spectacular happens. But honestly, most of our life is simple and normal. The kids go to school and learn and grow. I cook food and clean up messes and do laundry. Lee goes to work and does well and provides for our family. That's the essence of every quick 5 anyway.

These are today's musings.

Quick 5

Go Broncos!

1. We're getting into the swing of things around here, I think. Last week Bria and I did something that even I had never done: Family Time at the library. I had never taken any of the girls to any type of story time because it always seemed like I had one that was too small, and I was never in any mood to corral the tiny, loud one while the others heard the story. But Bria is old enough and she needs something to do, so we went. That girl danced like no one was watching, squirmed through the three stories, and did her craft like a boss. I think we'll do that more often now.

 2. Last week was the first week of Awana uniforms, but since Joya was sick we had to wait to take the picture until this week. This is the nicest picture I could get.

3. My friend Amy has chickens, and she brought some eggs for us to take. And then she brought me some of her super special eggs. A novelty, or freak of nature of sorts. See? Two eggs:

Three yolks:

So cool! Thanks Amy!

4. Our apples are all turning red and falling all over the place. And Bria loves to be outside these days. Because she's "so hungry!" And apples are "so hel-fy!" She's a nibbler.

We could probably count the number of apples she's eaten, but we'll probably never know the number of worms she's eaten.

5. Good news: our raspberry bush is making us raspberries! We thought that it was a dud year, because there had been no buds on it all summer. But lo and behold, it was waiting for the cooler nights of September. Now it's a race to see who can get to them first, me or Bria.

 That's all she wrote!

Quick 5 - The Road Trip Part II

And now for the rest of the story. (All the really good pics in this post were taken by my sister Carolyn.)

1. The girls did so well with their cousins. There were only a few minor, childish snafus but those were expected and dealt with. It was so great to spend some time with the long-lost Canadian cousins too. Zeke even almost beat me in checkers.

2. All the cousins, plus a couple of Cora's cousins, were flower children. They carried signs made by my sister that said "Here Comes the Bride." And as far as I know they did quite well during the actual ceremony. I was sitting over on the side, waiting with suckers for when they finished the job. But I did get to watch all the faces of the wedding guests, and they all oohed and aahed as the kids walked down the aisle. They were pretty cute.

3. The day before the wedding we had a formal rehearsal lunch and a family fun BBQ dinner at Cora's family farm. They had a jousting match set up, which the kids all loved. We also managed to sneak in a few family pics. That was a fun day.

4. The wedding was beautiful. A bit rainy, but so lovely. My favorite thing from the day (besides gawking at the bride) came from Lee. After Ben and Cora had been pronounced man and wife and had kissed and were walking back down the aisle, Lee looked down to see Joya bawling. There was much crying during the week as kids got hurt and/or offended often, so he leaned down and asked what happened. Joya replied "I'm just so happy for them." They were precious, happy tears. She's my little tenderheart, that one. Here are all the wedding/reception pics I have:

 5. And now back to real, boring life. School is going well. Kindergarten Crud hit Joya in the form of strep this week, so she had to take her first sick day, which she was not happy about. It's a good thing that she loves school so much. Joya received a Big Hand Award from music this week. It's a certificate saying that Joya was a good student. Joya wanted to know what the certificate was for. "Can I buy anything with it?" she asked. It was a bit less cool once she found out that the certificate was it's own complete award. 

Welcome Labor Day Weekend!