The bus pics

Campbell continues to love school and the bus. She also won't stop climbing and risking her life in the process. Everything else is going swimmingly. I'm finally starting on the projects that I planned to do all Summer when the boys weren't in school. It would appear that I have more "free time" to clean out closets when they're gone...imagine that?

I've also continued to stick with my quest for fitness. I was going to wait to post about it until I reached my first weight goal but it is one of the things that has been occupying some of my previous blog time (and my blog brain)! Not to mention the fact that I have been way to indulgent with myself in the past several weeks and I keep bouncing the same couple of pounds around. Who knows when I'm going to reach that goal. I have never previously participated in any kind of structured exercise program and stuck with it. Last October I gave in to the cries coming from my body and stepped on our newly bought elliptical machine. I lasted about five minutes...I was pretty sure I was going to die. And yet, here I am...still kicking, still ellipticalling, still walking, jogging, sweating, whining, moaning...still plugging away at it, alive.

If you travelled with me on the journey to get Miss Knievel here safely you know that when I wasn't driving my little boys around to school or having the baggers at the grocery store carry my milk and put it in the car for me, I was laying on the couch on my left side. If I wasn't on the couch I was eating or maybe even perhaps eating on the couch. You know I'm going to say she was worth it...every muscle atrophying bit of her. But after she was here and I wasn't protecting her life with my uterus anymore I realized that I had become rather marshmallow like. So after I had come to terms that there would be no more squirpy little babies coming from my bod and Campbell had stopped nursing I decided it was time.

In July I started working out with a local Mommy and Me Fitness group and I love it. It's hard to make the time and find help with the bigger kiddos (Thanks Aunt Kiki!!!!) but it's so worth it...I'm worth it!!! It's a stroller class so CK gets to ride along. I love it when I start running and she goes "WOW!"...too cute! I desperately want to get more comfortable with running but I keep wrestling with some sort of stress injury in both of my shins (and my 32 year old body). I refuse to give up on my goals though! Now it's out there...now I'm accountable, right?

Enough about the size of my bottom! You come here for this anyway!

Getting some comfort from one who's gone before:



I know this is so heartbreaking but she did great, I promise:



See, she warmed up to the idea:



I'm going to stop predicting when I'm going to blog next and just keep doing what I can. : ) I have lots of closets to clean out and it felt way too good to unload my bags and bags of stuff at the Goodwill trailer today (where the kind of creepy helper guy told me I was a real sweetheart and my husband is lucky to have me) to stop now!

I wrote this last night...no idea why it didn't post!!!!?

It's like riding a bike...

blogging that is! At least that's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that I will jump back in here and remember exactly how it was that I made time for this!

Here's my inspiration for today. As you can imagine in our house there are lots of discussions about anatomy and puberty (If you were at my house in the morning you would hear pretty much everyday, "Please shut the door I am NAKED and I want some privacy!!!). You know, like what happens when you're a teenager, say about age 15? After dinner Tucker announced, "Mom, when I am fifteen I'm going to show you my hairy bottom on your birthday!"!!! I mean really, what am I supposed to say to about that delightful gift that is to bestowed in my future? The conversation deteriorated from there... Nothing like hairy bottom after dinner jokes six year old style!

All of our little peeps are enjoying school. Tomorrow morning I will put my little baby on the bus for the first time. I have been driving her the first couple of weeks and while it's a little heartbreaking to send her off, it will ease up the chaos that has become my noon hour!

Here she is walking into school her first day, bus pictures will eventually follow:




Here's the crew:





And just because:

To Be Continued...

currently drowning in a sea of school supplies...

The Lazy Days of Summer...

were long gone so we had to create some of our own! The parents of the squirps are on a much needed little getaway! More blogging coming maybe when everyone is back in school and I have five seconds soon!

Now, back to relaxing and sleeping uninterrupted...

The Lazy Days of Summer...

are OVER at our house! Seriously, when did August happen? Last week Jackson started back into therapy and Summer school, all four boys are "doing" swimming lessons (in quotes because you know on any given day one of them is too tired, too cold, too hungry, too naughty, too something to stay in the pool and participate), my sister came back after being gone (far too long) on a mission trip to Africa, and I started participating in some mommy and me fitness classes. Yes, that means that we are in the car before 9:00am and not out until after 1:30pm on some days.

I have been very quickly reminded why I was so eager to give up my taxi job and take on the home with five kiddos all day Summer job! Except now I'm ready to take on the mom of five children going to school job so we can stop screaming, bickering, hitting, teasing, driving me insane the run out of things to do vibe that is all the rage at our house!

July brought our 11th wedding anniversary AND my 32 birthday...yes, I did just admit that! I also got braces...are you tired of looking at my teeth yet? This is round three!!! Woohoo! I had them once in junior high and then again the year before I got married. They weren't quite ready to come off but come off they did. And I probably don't need to explain that I haven't had the time in the past 10 years to fix them AGAIN. 10 months or so from now the pearly whites will be all straight...hopefully!

About Campbell Knievel...she won't stop climbing on ev.er.y.thing!




I would have about 27 more pictures to share of her climbing adventures except my hands are full saving her life catching her. It must be genetic...




And speaking of genes...

How about wordless Wednesday...on Thursday?

Bad, bad blogger!!!

When I wrote my last post I was thinking it would be a couple of days...not a week before I could blog again!!! I can't even say it was a,b and c keeping me away, it's just been busyness.

My mom and her friends graciously offered to take Jackson and Tucker on a little trip last week. Instead of using the extra calm to hang out at home and get stuff done I packed as much as I could into those days. I definitely took advantage of having a lighter load! Out to eat, to the movies, shopping a little more leisurely...aaahhhh, it was wonderful!



Sarah and I always been part of each other's lives and she and her husband Jeremy are dear friends. They have two kiddos Maddie and Owen and while our big boys were away we joined them for a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately, Campbell battled a fever off and on all last week so her first look at elephants and manatees was not as enjoyable for her as I had hoped. After we piled into the car, had a snack, cooled down and the kids took a snooze, they perked up and were ready for more. We continued our fun day together grilling out, the kids played and the grown-ups got some much needed time to catch up. What an awesome day!!!



So what was up with CK wearing a backpack a couple of posts ago? Well, she will be toting that little backpack to "school" at the end of the month. When I told Todd that I had to buy school clothes for his baby girl I'm pretty sure he welled up! There is a story behind this that deserves it's own post (but we all know by now how much time I have on my hands) but I'll keep it short with this. Campbell (and Finley too) was born aspirating liquids. She has been followed by a team of really fabulous therapists/coordinators/teachers since her diagnosis and she qualifies for early intervention services. Our little sweetie will ride a bus two afternoons a week and spend some time with other adorable little people and the most amazing teachers...seriously, they are the best and we love that they are in our lives.

With all that out there I have to say that Campbell is just as brilliant and amazing as her siblings. She's been toddling around with fluid in her ears and in an environment in which practically everything is said and done for her. It IS hard to send her off but from experience I know that she will do awesome and love it! It's my opinion that in our house where there is a tendency to act and travel as a pack that some time away socializing and communicating with other children is super important. CK also had tubes put in her ears last week and I know our little sassy pants is going to be verbally giving it back to her torturers brothers very soon.

I have lots of other squirpy stuff to share but I wanted to get this out there since I kind of left it dangling last week. Our baby is going to school...whoohoo, two hours a week all to myself sniff, sniff!