ending May on a high note!

Yes, I am still working on catching this blog up ... but only for 2014. So many super fun and exciting things keep happening around this house. The kids are so much busier than I imagined they ever would or could be and I am told... it doesn't slow down so I am hanging on tight and enjoying this crazy ride with them... sometimes more involved than others and on this particular day, I got to play super crazy mom run around to try to grab some action photos of Jaiden's first triathlon!

Yep, triathlon! As if running the Bolder Boulder wasn't spectacular enough... he jumped right into his triathlon with a mere 5 days between the two!

We got up super early (6:30am!) and headed over to get set up and ready...

having his race numbers wrote on him... I wasn't prepared for this shot. I didn't actually think they would do this for a kids triathlon... but I was obviously very wrong!

 Waiting by the pool with his buddy. The crazy thing was these two signed up together but because Jaiden is a year older, they weren't going to be in the same heats. Jen and I didn't know that but the boys handled it fine. 

 Lined up with his age group waiting...

 ... and then the coolest thing happened. We don't actually get to be close by but somehow Jaiden dropped down and actually got to race with his buddy! The photo above is them just starting their 100 yd swim...

 ... he did quite well on freestyle, better than I thought he would do for 4 lengths of the pool. He did roll over to backstroke for the last lap but that is what is cool about a kid's only triathlon - it's all about getting out there and doing the best you can!

then it was to the "transition area" where we had previously set up his bike, his change of clothes, shoes, towel and a few other extras just in case. I was quick enough out the door and managed to grab this cute shot of the boys changing. 

 Coming round on his second lap... total bike distance 3 miles and the crazy thing is that you started the course going down a nice simple slow hill... the bad part? the next two lengths were a slow uphill climb!

 then back to the transition area to drop off the bike, chuck the helmet, grab his baseball hat and away he went for the final run!

 And here he is rounding the last stretch with his buddy in close behind him... after running a 10k, this 1k was a piece of cake for him!

And here they are at the end!

The coolest part about watching these two is how they did it together... maybe they were competing against each other and maybe they were just having a good time. Jaiden was clearly ahead in the swimming by almost a full length and a half but when he ran out to the transition area, it took him longer to get on his dry shirt, socks and shoes with enough time for Harrison to catch up. Harrison passed him up in the biking part by a good 1/4 of a mile or more but when he entered the transition area, he took his time getting a drink of water and so the two were able to run that last 1k almost together! 

Oh and his final results?!

100 yd swim: 3 min, 17 sec - Rank 10

3 mile bike: 15 min, 9 sec - Rank 7

1K run: 6 min, 14 sec - Rank 5

Total time with transitions: 28 min, 12 sec

Pretty darn awesome!

It was definitely exciting to watch and chase them around the course to grab some photos. Next year Harrison's mom (Jen) and I just might do the Try-a-Tri!

did I mention?

That Jaiden decided he wanted to run a 10k? Not just any 10k but the Bolder Boulder - one of the biggest races in the nation. Lucky for me, Dennis and Jaiden managed to run into their friends and Ryan took an awesome photo of the two of them that I thought I'd share...

Jaiden trained for this with a few classmates and his PE teacher, who also took some random photos along the route to share with parents. That was sweet too since I have never done the race myself and this year, I spent time with this little one drinking razzleade at Red Robin!

 She did put up a good workout and rode her bike to Red Robin!

Later in the day we went to my favorite small farm that specializes in amazing Spring and Fall flowers as well as our favorite Charlie Brown Christmas trees!

 So festive and perfect for Memorial day! 

And she picked out the flowers for growing in pots this summer...

a pretty creative and fun mixture!

In the end Jaiden was pretty excited that he did the Bolder Boulder. Dennis was impressed how much of it that Jaiden ran. He plans to beat his time next year!

up on the house top...

The thrill of Friday fun at home...

Remember on Thursday when I had all those kids over playing outside? They were playing with this really simple but very cool toy that is like a helicopter rotor plastic launcher... okay that's a horrible description but you'd have to see it in action to understand what I am referring to... but anyway, stay with me for a minute, a piece whirls high into the sky spinning and the kids try to catch it but 3 of them (the plastic whirly piece, not the kids) landed on the roof. 

I decided it was best to wait for Dennis to be home before I went onto the roof - nothing like falling off the roof when you are the only adult home with 7 kids watching?! So when Daddy came home Friday, I asked him for his help. 

The kids were so excited, they raced out the front door to "watch"!

 while Daddy went out on the roof... 

see the yellow and green plastic things near his feet?

 one is by his foot, he had already tossed one off and the third one was on that mini roof peak just above Dennis' head 

So the kids raced upstairs to look out the window to watch Daddy close up!

It's crazy what they consider as excitement around here!

5th and 3rd grader in the house...

yes, you read that right... it's official - there is a 5th and 3rd grader in the house now!

Yesterday we had our annual last day family picnic and the kids officially began summer vacation at 11:30am when we all headed outside for a picnic with our friends and families. The weather held out perfectly - thank goodness with all the sudden tornado watches and warnings, funnel cloud sitings these past few days... this could not have been more perfect. It was definitely cloudy and storms building but they staved off until about 5 pm or so.

Alyssa and her dear friend, Emily

Jaiden and his buddies

 Big kid on campus!

And then we went home with lots of friends. Ironically as it got cloudy and I thought much too cool for water balloon fights, the kids warred on until the girls declared they would rather sit in the sun with books - what a cute pair!

So yes, summer is upon us... and honestly, I am thrilled. Thrilled to be able to spend time with these two kids even if they did have tears and a yelling fight before noon today! Our outdoor pool opens this weekend which is really the signal that summer is here! Yea!

'cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me ROAR!

Last Thursday was Jaiden's final choir concert. I hesitated taking any photos for a couple of reasons - 1. the photos all look the same and 2. he does not look thrilled to be up there.

The crazy thing is that I keep asking "are you sure you want to be choir?" and he always replies "YES!"

He is the not so thrilled looking boy at the end of second row on your left... 

 yes, the one with his arm tucked behind his back and the other arm holding it?!

and then came the song that I have heard him practicing for months - Kate Perry Roar

An awesome song with most of the choir singing at the top of their lungs except the boy at the end of the second row but now has his arms untucked behind his back...

while right next to me sat this one singing at the top of her lungs with audience members looking back to see just who was singing so passionately in the audience...

"I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire

'cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar

louder, louder than a lion

'cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me ROAR!"

The concert was awesome... as always. Their music teacher is simply amazing. 

At the end I asked "are you sure you want to continue choir?"

"YES!"

honey dew...

Or more realistically honey do but I am the honey and I just bring in Dennis when I need an extra set of hands or when I can't quite reach something or I am so frustrated I just might break it with my impatience... yea, that never happens!

Anyway, so I gave you an update on the basement and it made me think of my huge to do list. It seems strange, move into a house and have a huge to do list? Well, that's how I roll because the house was perfect, perfect size, perfect lot, perfect once I made some serious changes! But also the house had been neglected and it needed and needs new coats of paint, a bit of updating and a bit of our own personality blended in.

Biggest steps needed first:

Paint... everywhere except Jaiden's and the guest room.... at least for now

Pink first in Alyssa's room

Remove carpeting in dining room

Add half walls in dining room

Replace light fixture in dining room

Finish basement

Then it became smaller baby steps broken into rooms.

Family room

Eating nook

Kitchen

Dining room

Hallway

Our bedroom

Our closet

Our bath

Entry way

Linen closet

Kids bathroom

Guest room

Front room

Basement 

Phew... and that's just a list of rooms - not all the tasks I thought I might do in each room! So I think I will show you first the dining room. It's about 90% complete but it was a top priority.

Right when we moved in... literally right after we moved in. Dennis couldn't stand that light fixture!

 Oh, I forgot the wine racks and her kitchen were once housed in that room!

Present day:

 New half walls which are a bit awkward to photograph. I mean I can only step back so far!

 No more wine racks or mini faux kitchen! Yea!

what a difference right?

the list looked like this:

* remove carpet and light fixture

* paint walls and ceiling

* add hardwoods and half walls

* find a new table and chairs

* finish trim work (because that was partially done for months!)

* find a light fixture

* find artwork 

* add curtains

and the only two things left are the bottom two... which right now I can live with. I think I found the curtains I'd like to use and the artwork will take some time. I am okay with that. For now, this room suits our needs exactly. This table which I hummed and awed over for several months has been the best purchase. I love it. I love that we can add in another 4-6 people around it. I love the light in this room, the nice breeze of the windows and the warmth that we create when we gather for dinner. 

So that's one room down and how many to go? 

the weekend lens

I am thinking I should start doing posts called the monthly lens or quarterly lens and just load up the photos from the past month or quarter or worse... year!

This poor blog is being neglected something terrible and I really want to keep it more current. The kids and I have so much reading back and laughing or remembering these special moments.

Last weekend... was wonderful!

It started Friday afternoon with a poetry jam session in Alyssa's classroom. 

She read so softly, it's a wonder if anyone heard her but one of the poems was:

April

sunny rainy

growing eating throwing

dogs birds green playing

singing running jumping

cloudy runny

month

Haiku poems: What Am I?

Soft as silk but hard to eat, lay on me still to go to sleep, you watch!

(answer: couch)

Hard as a rock but plain as plain can be but there is beauty in me.

(answer: oyster)

I am someone who likes poems, I like to play with a writer's notebook I bet you love.

(answer: Alyssa!)

Then early Saturday am it was off to some indoor skydiving...

He said it was really hard to smile but I had to have one close up because he is just too cute!

And Dennis even got suited up to go with him. 

Patiently waiting his turn...

 Look mom... no hands! Unfortunately, not many of my photos turned out but luckily Papi treated him to his own thumb drive of photos and a video which I need to dig out and upload.

 Daddy's turn...

 This is Jaiden's 2nd turn flying and is also when the instructor latches on, wind speed goes up to 120 mph + and they both lift up and spin around going way up high.

 and higher... until I could no longer see them!

 and back down again. It looked amazing. Jaiden said the wind was so strong!

Then it was Mother's day on Sunday. Jaiden has big plans for him and I on Mother's day. Remember last year? the 9k race? He wanted to do that again but we woke to a tremendous amount of rain/snow mix and by the time we got to the race it was snowing hard, the parking lot muddy and we opted for a quick and very wet photo...

So we skipped the 9k because it really was so wet, muddy and cold and it is one of those races that once you start, you have to finish. I was secretly glad we didn't attempt it because I was very worried about him or I losing our footing and tripping, twisting an ankle or knee.

So we ventured home to warm up and Jaiden attempted to teach Papi how to play Pokemon..

 which didn't turn out too bad until Papi did this...

 seriously... I love this photo! How appropriate!

And then later in the evening it was a chess challenge with money involved...

Yea, that is exactly what grandpa's are for to teach your kids how to bet?!

What a beautiful weekend spent doing all kinds of family activities!

down under ... done!

Or at least the construction part of it! 

I realized I never wrapped this up and here I am months later thinking that while several of you have seen the finished results, several of you may have wondered what happened. Well, a lot happened. The basement officially passed inspection and finished just days after the huge flooding. In fact, our carpet was to be installed the day of the flooding - it, of course, did not happen. Instead it happened almost a week later and while thousands of local residents were ripping out their carpets, drywall, soaked insulation, I was at home having our beautiful new carpet installed. It was bittersweet for me and I won't go into details but it was sad. very sad. 

A few days later the city inspector came in and signed off... and without much excitement, after 3 1/2 months of noise, dust, daily interruptions, schedules and deadlines constantly changing... it was done.

Here is all the various stages that we went through...

June

July

August

end of September

looking back at Daddy's super cool led colored lights...

June

July

August

End of September

June

July

August

End of September

June

July

August

End of September

remember this? 

it turned out lovely! I am totally in love with glass tiles.

And this is what my upstairs looked like during those 3 1/2 months! The first thing down those stairs was Alyssa's play kitchen... so thrilled to have that moved downstairs!

And this is our front room during that time... 

yes... the room that you walk in first by the front door! Eeek! It housed all the furniture that belonged downstairs as well as cub scout popcorn, Alyssa's play classroom and Dennis' office and oh... what a disaster. I can't wait to show you the after photos of what things look like around here now! Let's just say it's a HUGE improvement.