Apple Pickin'

Sundays are for family. That's been what we've been striving for since our crazy schedules have taken over the rest of the week. This week, we ventured out to a local apple orchard that was really geared toward little kids. There were sunflower and hay mazes, giant tee pees, pumpkins, club houses and bonfire. Or course, there was also a huge apple cart with probably twenty different apple varieties. We all had a fantastic time enjoying a true fall tradition. Our favorite apples were definitely the humongous honey crisps...yum! I've also already made an apple crisp and plan to make a pie to freeze. Yep, call me Betty Crocker. Pretty impressive!

She's 'officially' on the team!

Sofie has been practicing with the varsity volleyball team since the first day of school. She travels with them, goes to team meetings and dinners, but has mostly just been keeping track of 'digs' during the games. She didn't even get a team jersey. Well, that all changed! First, the team chipped in a bought her a warm-up jacket so that she would match. Then finally, last Tuesday, the coach gave her a jersey and told her she could warm up with the team! Of course we had to go see that and take lots of pictures. But, it's even better, she got in the game! She served twice, both times over the net! That's our girl! We're hoping she gets in the game this week too. Not bad, playing time on the Varsity team when she's never really played before. (And, I know what you're thinking, West is actually very good!). Rah-Rah-Ree, Miss Sofie!

Buckeyes and Band Geeks

I've written it before and I will write it again. I am a band geek at heart. While I never had the pleasure of playing in the marching band (I was the only one in my family to escape that experience), the band gene is still pulsing through my DNA. We decided to take Sofie down to "THE" Ohio State University campus to experience game day at the biggest university on the planet. Grin. Since Paul hates watching the game from the stands because he'd rather act like a maniac with some privacy, game tickets weren't in the plans. I think Sofie had a pretty good taste of the absolute madness of a rowdy Buckeye crowd.

The skull session, as usual, was awesome. For our Norwegian friends, before each home game, the Ohio State marching band will play and get the crowd excited before heading over to the stadium. The team makes a quick appearance, along with a few speeches from the head coach and players. It was 80 degrees outside, so with 10,000 of our closest friends in the arena and sitting in the nose bleed section without air conditioning, I looked and smelled delicious. But, Sofie was cute as usual and we were appropriately dressed in our Buckeye Scarlet T-shirts.

By the way, Sofie did enter enemy territory wearing her Buckeye shirt to school on Monday. She's especially brave to do this in Michigan on Michigan State/Ohio State week. While no one threw anything at her, she did receive plenty of comments and opinions about her shirt. Go Sofie! Way to represent!!!!

Happy Birthday Owen

Happy Birthday Sweet Owie!

Toosie, Kailey and Grandma...Heavenly!

Sofie, Cameron and Uncle Dwayne

Mmmm...Yummy!

Dwayne couldn't feed Cameron fast enough!

On Friday night, we met up with Grandma, Dwayne and Cameron along with Toosie for a pasta birthday dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Yummo! The video of Owen is priceless and Kailey was in absolute hog heaven that BOTH of her grandmothers were there to surround her with love and affection.

Owen, I can't believe you are already two years old. Time goes by way too fast. I look at Sofie and catch a glimpse of what life will be like when Kailey and Owen are teenagers. I know it will be here before we know it and having Sofie has helped us realize that we should slow down and cherish each and every day. Owen, you are turning into such a funny, amazing little man. Your smile still lights up a room and you are the perfect companion (and antagonist) to your wonderful sister. You are a joy and a blessing and add sparkle to all of our lives. Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!

Another Big Weekend- Columbus Zoo

This past weekend, we decided to take Sofie back to Ohio to show her Paul's hometown and do some birthday celebrating. We don't get to spend as much time in Columbus as we would like, so we tried to take full advantage of our time during this trip.

After a loooong drive down on Thursday night, we woke up bright and early and headed out to the Columbus Zoo to begin Owen's birthday celebration. Toosie made the trek down from Akron and we had an awesome time! The kids were able to pet and groom the goats, ride the train, see two grizzly bears wrestling and gaze at the Manatee and sea life. This was the first time that Sofie has ever seen a manatee or flamingos before, so she was pretty excited too!

Owen Rockin' and Rollin'

Owen was rocking out during his mid-morning snack. He likes to sit on the edge of the bed, press the sleep button on the alarm clock, and dance his little heart out. I finally caught part of a good session to share with the world!

Silly Girl

At first look, this picture reminds of an eerie scene from Poltergeist, where the mom is running toward the bedroom door and the door keeps getting farther away, no matter how fast she runs. Creepy dream, we've all had it, right?

This story is cute. Not creepy.

Kailey has always been the great sleeper. She was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old and hasn't really turned back since. Sure, we have occasional tears in the night, but there is usually something really wrong or she's pretty sick. From early on, we've been able to just put her to bed, awake, and she would fall asleep on her own. (We didn't know how good we had it!) Now, she likes to read or color before bed. We will say good night, turn off the lights and leave the room. Within a few minutes, she will almost always get up, flip the lights back on and read for a while longer...until she is tired. She will then get out of bed, on her own, turn OFF the lights, get back in bed and go to sleep when she is ready. To me, this is incredible that a three year old has such a strong self-awareness... I still fall asleep with the TV on!

My New Favorite Picture!

Isn't she beautiful?

Heavy, but completely worth sharing

Okay. I've been pretty much on a go-go-go adrenaline ride since May. We've been going non-stop throughout the summer trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather because winters are so long. Paul was gone for almost seven weeks, I have been taking my master's classes, Paul is in the thick of his next career advancement and we've had some pretty low, lows (Grenna, the loss) and some awesomely, incredibly high highs (Sofie and some great family adventures). I think everything started to catch up with me a few weeks ago because I started feeling SO ridiculously tired. Then, I started getting headaches and feeling really sick to my stomach. I'm really happy, on the inside, but just can't shake this exhausted feeling. It all came to a head last night when I decided that no matter what I was doing, nothing could snap me out of my funk.

Those of you who know me, know that I'm not overly religious, but am pretty spiritual. I see things in nature and in the world around me that I truly believe are miracles and not accidents. Things work just too perfectly. So, last night, I started to reach inside myself and tried to 'connect' with my world...even did some praying for just some guidance or help. I went to bed feeling spent, overwhelmed and just yucky.

This morning, we got up at 5:30 because Paul has a graded flight at 8:00. Of course, Owen was up too, so we were all up and out of bed and ready for our day. I kept telling myself, "I KNOW today will be better." Well, we forgot to take out the trash last night. So, after taking Sofie to school and feeding the kids, I emptied out the stinky diapers and headed out...in the rain...up hill both ways (just kidding on that part) to find the most incredible rainbow that I've seen in a very, very, very long time. It was breath-taking and HUGE! My neighbors were even outside gasping at the beauty of it. I ran inside to get the camera and it did fade a little before I got back outside, but it was the sign I needed. Again, it might be just a coincidence, but it lifted my spirits and recharged my batteries, as I like to say. Something, somewhere, somehow showed me a sign...things are bright, hopeful and beautiful. Pretty amazing!