My Girlie

My girlie is growing up way too fast!  She continues to grow in her love for Jesus, learning to grow in showing Godly character in her daily life and just loving life!  She is a big help for me throughout the day around the house and with her siblings and, has a love for cooking & baking.  This afternoon she helped me bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies; since she is learning fractions and measuring in math right now, she can pretty much make them on her own.  Her biggest passion in life is reading! She reads about a book a day (not including school reading) and enjoys books such as: American Girl, Boxcar Kids, A-Z Mysteries, Cam Jensen and anything else she can get her hands on!  We frequent 3 different libraries quite often so she can get a variety :)  Katie is also very diligent about getting her schoolwork and piano completed and loves the time she gets to spend with her friends at Zion on Tues/Thurs.  We love her laughter, her spunk and adventurous imagination!!

I finally finished sewing Katie's new skirt last weekend.  She did a great job at choosing bright, fun spring material!

Fort Boise Park

This last Sunday afternoon Mom and I checked out the trails behind Fort Boise.  I had never been here before and fell in love! Great view of the valley and awesome running/biking trails.  I had ran 16.5 miles the day before so, only got in about 4 miles this day but, they were up and down hills.  We also checked out the course for our upcoming Race to Robie Creek run... definitely going to be a challenging course!

Playhouse

My dad began building the kids a fun new playhouse, at their house, a couple of weeks ago and got it finished this last weekend.  It was a wonderful surprise and they were all super excited! They got to spend Sunday afternoon "decorating" and playing in it.    I foresee many adventurous summer days ahead :)

Homeschooling

Homeschooling has been going well! After the holidays we were able to get ourselves into a little better routine.  Monday & Wednesday are our bigger work load days... with lighter work on Tues & Thurs because Tys and Katie have school at Zion, piano and Trent has speech.  Then, Friday is our testing days and extra activities such as the library or field trips with Zion.  We've made adjustments here or there and, figured out what works best for us.  One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility!  Also, the kids are learning that the more diligent they are getting their school done the sooner they get to play :)  Katie and Tys have both written a couple of great book reports recently and, Trenton is busy learning his ABS's and numbers etc.  He is a more "hands on" learner so I've had to use some creativity in teaching him :)

One subject I'm not very good at or, don't particularly enjoy, is crafts.  So, that is one area I'm working on... because they LOVE it!

 Yesterday I got out the paint & markers and they them create their own St Patrick's Day art :)

 Quite often our "PE" time is at our local park.  They like to ride their bikes to the park while I run Kristiana in the jogger. Yesterday we brought the soccer ball and had fun playing a game against each other. Also, we usually have a little session of what I call "boot camp"... push ups, jumping jacks, planks, sit ups etc.  They're still working on "form" but have fun doing it!

Double Trouble

Monster Jam is in Nampa this weekend.  The boys LOVE Monster Jam but went to it last year so, this year we decided, as a family, to not go to it and save our money for a different "family date".  Yesterday I spontaneously decided to take the kids to the library and they were super happy to see that the Monster Jam truck, Double Trouble, was also there! The drivers read during story time then, let everyone go outside to see the big truck. The kids were pretty happy about that!  It kind of made up for not actually going to the show this year :)

Training

My first 2014 race is coming up in just 4 weeks and mom & I are in full swing with training! With the nicer weather, we're getting in quite a bit more runs outside now.  Even though we don't run every day together, we do try to do some of the training together.   I've been getting in 4-5 days of running a week and at least some sort of strength training about 6 days a week.  Casey & I got memberships to a Fitness 19 gym and try to go there for some of our strength training about 1-2 times a week. Other than that, I just do it at home where I can work it in around our daily schedule.

In preparation for our upcoming Race to Robie Creek, we're training for the challenging course of 9 miles uphill and 4 miles down.  The uphill goes from 2-10% incline! So, lately all of my short runs include running uphill on the treadmill or, finding hills outside to train up and downhill.  It's been a challenge but, something I've also enjoyed training my body to do!  Mom & I are also currently training for an upcoming full marathon in July so, lately my early a.m. Saturday long-runs are 15-16 miles.

 One evening I spent running up and down our friend's (Rudi & Anne DW) driveway. It's only .4 miles but pretty steep :)

Last Sunday afternoon my mom and I conquered the local famous Table Rock! We ran it both up and down... it was definitely tough but, a great experience and awesome view of the city/valley from the top!!

Brynn DeWinkle

My dear friend, Katie, gave birth to precious Brynn Louise DW a week ago yesterday! She ended up spending a couple of days in the NICU due to an infection but, did get to go home last Sunday.  I was able to hold her in the NI and she is such a sweet, pretty baby!

On Tues. I took the kids over to their house so they could finally meet Brynn.  Katie was the most excited and loved getting to hold her!

Catching Up

It looks like I haven't blogged in a while and have come catching up to do! Amazing how fast time flies and days soon turn into weeks.. and weeks soon turn into months.

We are loving the fact that spring is so very near and, we've had beautifully, warmer temperatures these last few days.  After school, the kids spend their afternoons playing outside with our neighbor kids.. riding their bikes and playing adventure games.  We have also gone a couple of times to our little neighborhood park; the kids ride their bikes while I run Kristiana in the stroller.  It's just so refreshing to be outdoors once again!

We're keeping busy with school, field trips and, activities such as friend's birthday parties, piano lessons, the library and going to the gym.  The kids love playing in the kiddie playland area while I get in my workouts.

Business for Casey at Foam Concepts is picking up once again (they're usually slower in the winter months) and his handyman business is also staying quite steady!  He always has at least one - two jobs lined up and works a couple of nights a week to get them done.  What a blessing!

Kristiana is always full of life and laughter!

Piano

Last Saturday Katie had her second opportunity to participate in the piano "Festival". It happens in the spring and fall and is held at the local NNU Arts building.  At the fall Festival students are allowed to use their piano books.  However, in the spring they play 2 pieces from memory and, they perform in a closed room before a judge.  Katie began working on her two pieces, 'Tooth Fairy' and 'Rainy Day Waltz' months ago and had them memorized before the big day!  We still haven't received her scores but she felt that she did her best and only made on mistake at the end. We're so proud of her and thankful she has a great teacher, our friend Rachel.

 Our Jesse dog :)  Enjoying an afternoon at the park...

Trenton and Kristiana love going to MAF and seeing the planes!  We met Meredith there for lunch one day last week.