Sixth State Success

{ Sixth State Race. }

My goal is still far from being reached, but that doesn't stop me from continuing on towards my 50 by 50. 

When Tim travels for work I usually check local races for the area to see if any of them could potentially coincide with his schedule. 

The I Am Second Run was an hour away from the job site and the details of finding sitters for the kids worked out perfectly. I quickly registered us both for this race and organized the hand off of the kids in order for the weekend to be pulled off with success. 

Tim has been in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth working on a large project so I knew when I went down with him I would be a bit on my own. This is no problem for me as I like to explore...and with no kids SLEEP IN! Funny thing is when you have the chance it never happens as you wish. My body was awake by six am and ready for coffee once my eyeballs opened. 

As for the race I requested one thing; NO WALKING. My Love is not a runner so asking for him to run with me and then to push himself to run with a smile on his face was not only speaking my language, but a huge ask physically. I was so incredibly proud that he ran the entire race and had gas in the tank to even sprint to the finish line. I'm not expecting a trend to start anytime soon. Happy to have ran this race with him and also to have our own I Am Second in our personal lives as Jesus truly has given us a second start to life. 

Indestructible

There are people who crumble with a paper cut experiencing tears for days and
needing band-aid changes to dress the wound. 

People who collapse with emotional pressure or fearing the worst case scenario, paralyzing them from ever experiencing life.

Then you have those that rise above the bad news and become shining stars. 

That's my sister...

Traci Lynn Van Dyken. 

Traci has experienced far worse then paper cuts under going multiple surgeries to cut the disease out of her body. Scars that show the journey she's been triumphing on over the course of almost ten years. With every blood draw she receives the pressure of results showing success or defeat. Continual chemotherapy treatments to maintain the progress or to treat aggressively what has taken over her body. Recently, giving up three weeks to full brain radiation to treat the progression of the disease in her eye and brain. The unfortunate part of treating this one area is that the other areas were left untouched. Since then, the tumor markers have traveled over a total of five hundred points higher and an obvious shortness of breath slows My Hero's steps. Scans confirm that the cancer has grown in her liver and lungs.

Sugar Bugs and Costumes

{ Harvest Carnival 2016 }

Do we? Don't we? 

The question of whether we allow the kids to get dressed up and beg for sugar bugs and cavities or stay home with the lights off eating carrots and apples is one we ask every year.

It's not something we put much energy into and I hate spending tons of money on something worn for a few hours. This year we scored some deals at the local consignment stores and found some play makeup at the Dollar Tree to add the finishing touches. 

Myriam loved being a cheerleader and Mom became "totally awesome" as I squeezed into my high school uniform for a little play time. 

Home Tweet Home

Being a parent stretches and challenges you to go places or do things you normally may not try...

All for the sake of your child.

Allowing a bird in my living room is doing just that. 

I'm not a bird person. Not really a pet person. But I do understand the joy a pet brings to a kid.

Addison is over the moon thrilled to be a bird owner. 

It took many trips to Bellingham to search for the perfect cage, toys and locate a hand fed-tamed baby parakeet. We finally found what Addi wanted at Hohl Feed & Seed. It was there we found the sweetest bird lady who was raising seven week old parakeets. We brought the cage in a couple days later for Addison's chosen parakeet to adjust to his new home. Janice was great giving pointers to Addi about how to be a bird owner and what's best for her bird. She's been raising birds for thirty years. I'll take her word over mine. 

Introducing Elvis.

{ Picking out her tweety bird. }

Four Little Pumpkins

With one of our favorite pumpkin patches closed for retirement, we were forced to 

explore and find a new one. 

I loaded all the kids up in the car, picked up Nana and Auntie Traci, then headed south to Schuh Farms in Skagit Valley. This place is family owned and appears to have grandchild forced labor, but oh so cute.  Everyone was beyond friendly and helpful even carrying our pumpkins to the car. There were a few animals to look at, a flooded bouncy house to jump in if you didn't mind getting the kids wet (thanks to all the rain), tractor rides for the kids through the fields,  a spread of orange in a condensed field along with bins of many varieties of pumpkins. 

Across the street is extra parking and a play area for kids that has huge slides, tires and swings to curbed the energy before getting back in the car. It's there the smell of pumpkin donuts lingers and lunch can be found with a few food trucks to meet the hunger needs. 

Thank you Schuh Farms and Family for providing our family with a morning of fun and 

pumpkins to carve in the evening. 

{ Best I could do. }

Funnies...

Too often, Tim and I remind ourselves to write these things down, 
but seldom get to it. 

The raw humor of Myriam has us laughing, sharing with family and wishing we had Go Pro cameras on to capture her personality in action. 

Last week Monday as I went to sign out Addison from school, Myriam called Barkley Regal Cinemas from my phone, asking about movie options. Myriam with a puzzled and upset voice said,

"Addi, Tangled isn't in the movie theater anymore! Is Jungle Book in theaters?" That's when Addison heard another voice say. "No, Jungle Book is not in theaters anymore, but I can tell you what movies are."

How she managed to call anyone is still in question as my phone, for this very reason, is password protected! 

The Transition From Flip Flops to Tall Boots

Summer ended with a big bang and reluctant kids to see it go. 

Grandpa Doug flew all his grandsons to Stehekin along Lake Chelan where they crammed into his plane and spent a night exploring, swimming and eating like grown men. With Charlie gone and Miss Bee on a visit, I then took the older girls on a lunch date to The Mill and explored a little of downtown together. 

Our family, along with many other family and friends, surprised Nana with a back yard party celebrating her 60th birthday with burgers and cupcakes. 

We also braved the heat and spent all day at The Northwest Washington Fair. We ended up splitting the group as Tim took the older ones on rides and I took the melted young ones home. 

Charlie spent time on the boat fishing, catching crab, hiking and enjoying his time with Papa, Nana & Auntie Traci. There were last of the season sleepovers, school shopping trips and BBQ's all before the rush of shelving our exposed toe shoes for tall boots. 

{ Cousins & a cool uncle by the campfire. }