It's Fair Time!

Thanks to a generous cousin, we got some tickets to the fair and were able to go today! It was so much fun! We started with the tractor pull (last year Thomas won!). It's free, the kids love it, and we do too! Joshua made it 16 feet in the first round. Thomas went through to the next round.

I'm not sure how Thomas won again, but he did. (It was very close between him and an 8-year old). I tell myself Thomas won because prior to the show starting the 8-year old was climbing all over the tractors and such and actually messed one up, while I had to convince Thomas not to get in the area despite what other kids were doing. Like I tell the kids, "Good things happen to good people."

So, in the final round, Thomas paired up against Ziggy and won! Woo hoo!

Afterwards we did the rides. We had enough tickets given to us for each kid to do two rides. The girls have never been big enough for rides, so I was unsure as to how they would do. We chose the little cars and they LOVED it! They couldn't stop smiling and went around again! (No picture of the boys as I was with the girls. Thankfully though, because Dan said the carnival guy had to get the roller coaster started by pushing it several times, which makes me nervous).

We did the annual picture of the kids at the fair and we were done!

What a day, what a day! Sunday School, Bike Race, Family Fun Day (at the Y), and the fair! Wowza! We are all exhausted!

Bike Races Round 1

We got a flier in the boys' backpacks about some bike races happening today. So after Sunday School we headed right on up. Upon seeing the environment and other kids, the girls decided they wanted to do it too. And they did. It was a great experience. They all enjoyed themselves immensely. Thomas did take a spill (envision me running across a field with baby on hip) but was quickly placed back on bike (by me) and assessed later (hey if he's not crying he's good, right?).

Here is the highlight reel:

Weddings Weddings Weddings

Apparently September is weddings month. We have had two weekends in a row of weddings. So busy!

The first wedding was Dan's work friend Sarah. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding at sunset. We got a sitter(and by sitter, I mean Grandma Patti) for the children, but this is me with the boys before we left.

The next wedding was Dan's cousin. Family weddings are always a good time. The boys were really excited to dress up. Here's Joshua before going on the dance floor.

Here's Katie taking a break from dancing.

And at weddings you always have to run into someone you know, so here is Joshua dance with his teacher's assistant from last years dance. Joshua and Miss Kylie.

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Larry

Thomas and the groom (Thomas was so excited that they were wearing the same attire but different colors)

Where was Molly you wonder? Molly is an animal on the dance floor and does not stop for pictures. All pictures of her are blurry! :)

Sweet Katie

Have I blogged about Katie's troubles before? I hope so. Here's a brief synopsis.

In April, Katie fell off a very small slide and injured her tailbone. As in cracked/fractured/bruised it. She has been in pain ever since. It's also causing issues with bowel movements. We've tried many medicines and interventions to no avail. The chiropractor has been a saving grace and is doing great things for Katie. Unfortunately, our insurance is not big fans of that. (Thanks Grou.p Hea.lth). So, we are working more intensely on solving the problem instead of just treating it.

The first step was a barium enema (look it up if you must, it's not pleasant). This required Katie to be conciously sedated. The hope was to see if there were any blockages, anything out of place, and to watch the colon work to see if there was any damage. It was very stressful from a mama's point of view. Katie was a real trooper. No food for over 12 hours, an environment that was rather scary (no matter how great a kid's hospital is, it's still scary), and a rather traumatizing experience). She was awesome. I carried her in the hallways (after sedated), they never removed her from my arms (I placed her on the table for the procedure and then snuggled by her head. She never even cried (aside from some bandage removal when removing the tubes). They said she was the best patient this young they'd ever seen. That's my girl!

This is Katie after the procedure.

Prepare yourself for TMI and stop reading if necessary: She did great. When released we were told she would lose a lot of the liquid that they had put into her and that they had gotten most of it out. When we left Katie was a limp noodle, still unable to hold her head up, still unable to stand. About 10 feet out of the office she started crying and pulling into fetal position. I heard the bubbles in her tummy and knew we were in trouble. Those bubbles quickly spilled out of every part of her diaper on to the floor. Nothing I could do. I couldn't put her down, she couldn't support herself. Couldn't clean her (or the floor up). I just stood there. Then a lady saw me and grabbed a nurse. Together we changed her and got her settled again. She still lost more fluid and some of the after affects are taking a toll on her body so we're not out of the woods yet for this procedure even, but I am hoping for the results next week.

If this shows nothing (as it appears) then we move on to an MRI. More concious sedation. Ugh. Wish me luck.

Hiking Take Two

Second verse, same as the first?

Not so much!

We decided to try hiking again so we could meet up with daddy and let him be a part of the awesomeness that is hiking. We started off on a humdinger of a note. Thomas decided to pee on a tree, but instead of one we were walking by went deeper into the trees and invaded some bee/wasp/hornets home. He got away with one sting/bite on his hand, but it was a doozy! 5 days later and we are still dosing with benadryl to keep the swelling down.

Picnic dinner on a rock

Hiking Take One

I took the kids hiking a couple weeks ago. It was soooo much fun! The kids did great. Molly and Thomas love hiking and their enthusiasm is contagious. Except to Katie and Joshua. Those two like to hike, but like lots of breaks and would prefer tons of observation time instead of straight hiking. We had to really work to balance the two hiking-styles, but we had a really great time. Next time we are taking daddy too!

The kids on top of a rock (with a view of Spok.ane in the background)

Cheesy girls

Joshua and Katie- Hiking Buddies

Kindergarten..Say What?

It's truly hard to believe. The boys are in Kindergarten. This post is a bit delayed on purpose. In our school district, you can choice out of your area school into another school IF they have room. We are in a school that has in the past produced lower test scores and one I did not feel was necessarily appropriate for the children.

Our first couple choices fell through due to the classes filling up. We finally decided on our current school (not to be posted here for safety reasons). BUT....it also became full. So, we had to wait 2 full WEEKS to see what the final numbers are and if our spot was safe. I am happy to say that our space is SAFE! Yay! So, the boys are now officially Kindergarteners!

On the first day, we took apple (cookies) for the teacher.

The best picture I could get of the boys in line at school. :)

Rocky Hill Park

Grandpa Lyle used to live at Rocky Hill Park. In fact, his house is all there. Granted it's not inhabitable, but we can still see the place he grew up before it became a park. It's pretty awesome.

We met at the park with the Domre.se family La.bor Day weekend and it was the perfect place! Here are some favorite snapshots!

The kids

The kids and great grandma Alice