heart glow

Since school has started this semester, Rick has been walking to school, leaving just a little earlier than the boys and I need to, so we were delighted yesterday when he said he would be joining us on our morning drop off routine. We grew quite accustomed last winter to the whole family starting each day together as a part of our morning "get everyone out the door and to school" routine and we've missed Rick thus far for the 08-09 school year.

We took CJ to his school promptly at 8:20, which is a real challenge for us every day, me trying to squeeze in running time at the gym before I wake the boys up.

We always say something like "be good to your friends today" or "listen to your teacher today" or "do something nice for a friend today" or "tell us something you learned at school when we get home tonight..." followed by "we love you..." when we drop them off.

Then we went to BJ's school. As I was getting BJ out of the car, Rick said to him something along the lines of "BJ, make today your greatest day ever!"

To which BJ replied, "I can't daddy" or "It can't be daddy."

And Rick and I looked at each other a little frightened...and Rick asked why not?

BJ said, "I've already had my best day daddy."

We both looked at each other, and I'm sure he was thinking what I was thinking, how could a 4 year old know that his best days are over and all further days will be less than the best? A pretty profound statement from a 4 year old.

Rick said, "What do you mean BJ?"

He grinned his BJ grin and said, "Daddy, my best days are when mommy comes to read to my class!" Then he smiled at me, and happily jumped out of the car to start 'Fun Friday' at his school that we love so much!

Oh did my heart warm right up and practically melt as I stood in the middle of the street looking at my precious little boy.

I had no idea how much it meant to him that I've come to read to his class the last two Mondays in a row. I was actually considering skipping this week with my schedule at my own school, but not any more! You can bet I'll be there promptly at 2:15 on Monday with some good books in hand and a smile to read with his class!!!!

You never know what the little things do in someone else's life. Rick and I really make an effort to let people know how much we appreciate you guys and the boys' teachers, but sometimes you'll never know the impact the littlest things can have in someone else's day:)

Have a great weekend!

Spa Day

BJ's class spent the morning Friday at the county fair, which seems like MORE than enough to exhaust me as a teacher, but then they went back to school and had a Spa Day in the afternoon!! We love this school!

I was DELIGHTED, and my heart laughed, when BJ ran up to me as I entered his classroom and fanned out is fingers to show me his new manicured look. The teachers of course were looking to see if I would be upset, b/c he's a boy, but I LOVED it!!!! He does too:)

New personal best

Ran 35 miles this past week (over seven days) and I'm really proud of this personal record.

Saturday - 10 miles
Sunday - rest
Monday - 6 miles
Tuesday - 5 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 7 miles
Friday - 2 miles (Rick out of town, had to impose on the day care to take BJ early)

Able to buy the next size smaller jeans today, which I got at 40% off at Old Navy!!!

This morning when I went running at 7:00 AM, it was a crisp 42 degrees outside. It felt great! I enjoy being on the streets of this college town, running before it seems the rest of the town has left their houses. Makes me feel like I'm starting my day in a productive way. Maybe it means I'm crazy:)

50 and feeling feeling fantastic...

The boys and I are enjoying a few inside games this early afternoon, hoping to go play some tennis this afternoon.

Beautiful fall temps are flirting with us this week and the sun is a-shining! You know we love it. Yesterday Rick had the car in McCall, so the boys and I walked home from their schools. BJ is showing you a couple of the pears we picked up off the ground at a neighbor's house. They have a beautiful pear tree, full of pears and some HUGE, GIGANTIC sunflowers. The sunflowers must be over 8 feet tall. They are taller than me.

As of yesterday, I have now lost 50 pounds. I thought that was a whole CJ, but he surprised me when standing on the scale, as he has somehow gained about 5 pounds this summer...again, that summer growth thing in kids! Maybe it's the vitamin D.

In the last 7 days I have run 34 miles and can't remember when in my adult life I've felt this strong.

Thank you to all our visitors and those who hosted us this summer for providing me with such healthy choices and accomodating my new eating lifestyle, including bringing my own foods out to restraunts.

Thank you to Aunt Nell, who planted the seed in my mind last xmas to entertain the idea of actually going to the gym before school, rather than after.

Special thank you to my precious husband who puts up with my noise in the morning when I'm leaving for the gym at 5:40AM. He listens to my recaps of the food I've eaten or the miles I've run. He doens't laugh when I try on the "skinny" clothes from my closet, hoping to fit into. And of course, keeps the sweet compliments coming my way!

First week of school

Happy to say that our first week back to school was a total success! Busy, as always, but ever exciting! The pics below are actually from the second day of school. We met CJ's first grade teacher the night before school started, and saw several of his friends from kinder there, including his best friend Dylan. This first grade teacher seems to be absolutely wonderful, having written a note home to CJ after the first day of school telling him happy she is to have him in her class. What a difference one little note with kind words can make to a first grader and his family.

BJ, as you might guess, strode into his school with joy and smiles from ear to ear. He was SO happy to be back. I don't know what we're going to do when we ever have to part with his preschool. He looks SO tall now that he's back with his group of friends. What happens over a summer to make all these children grow so?!

Rick and I had a busy, busy week ourselves, and are enjoying a three day weekend to regroup, order text books (me), get a jump on some reading, etc. I'm REALLY looking forward to a fun sememster. I'm taking 12 hours of graduate classes, and TA'ing 20 hours a week, but the professor I'm TA'ing with is my major professor and I get to assist her in teaching her Children's Lit. class! I'm looking forward to the learning experiences that will come my way. My own classes include a linguistics class, a library acquisitions/censorship course, quantitative research (yikes!), and a reading assessment/intervention course. I LOVE IT!

For all those involved in equipping my family with bikes over the summer, I'm happy to tell you that the boys and I went on our first bike ride yesterday and it was absolutely delightful. We went to Mountain View Park (where the boys play soccer, mom, Sarah, and Charles), and we had the long bike path all to ourselves. A couple of runners passed us and a couple of walkers, but other than that, no traffic. We probably rode about a mile and BJ was walking his bike by the end of our ride b/c he was so tired. Last night BJ fell asleep at 6 PM and didn't wake up until 8 AM! He was really tired!!!! It's been a long time since I was on a bike and it was such fun. We're looking forward to going out as a family once Rick gets his tire fixed.

Enjoyed a nice day today, about 70 degrees with a nice breeze. Rick cleaned out the entire garage and some of our window wells. Fall is coming, we just know it, and if memory serves, fall is just BEAUTIFUL in Idaho!!!

Love to all and hope to post pictures more regularly now that we're back in school. Fingers crossed. Soccer starts in two weeks.

Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater, and Grand Canyon

These two pics were taken at the Petrified Forest.



This one photo is from our stop at Meteor Crater in Arizona.

Grand Canyon and Zion National Park

These pictures don't even begin to capture the shock your body experiences when entering the Grand Canyon for the first time. Posters and pictures are beautiful, but they can't capture the grandness of the landforms and the smallness of you.

Saturday morning. The sun was shining so nicely for us, but it was still cool out.

You can't really see him in this picture (blame it on the photographer, me), but the boys are crouching looking at this funny squirrel who had been tucked into the crawl space of the ledge, and then surprised us by coming out to stare at us. He stayed for a long time before darting across the path. He was obviously not intimidated by the usual foot traffic.

Stopped for a little ice cream near the South Rim. Benny has gotten REALLY good now at eating an ice cream and getting all of it into his tummy, as opposed to all over his hands and shirt:)


We finally were able to find the Colorado River.

Oh my, it's hard to even begin a blog that describes the unbelievable last three weeks of our lives. Not much time tonight, but I'm wanting to at least post a couple of pictures from our trip home. All the other pics we took are on our other computer, so will have to post them later (it's the really, really slow computer, so don't hold your breath!).