Holland Rescue Run 5k

Holland Hospital was one of the sponsors for the Holland Rescue Mission's Annual 5k event. They asked for some employees to run and I decided to give it a try. Anyway, the kids were happy to have me run another race, because they were sure Ryan would take them to get doughnuts while they waited. Gracie even said the night before, "I want mommy to run a race, so I can have doughnuts." So if/when I run a race next year, I think the new tradition is Mommy runs and the rest of the family eats doughnuts. Aren't we teaching healthy habbits?


Joshua playing after the race


Jaxen



Gracie




Rachel





Everyone after the race posing for pictures.



Waiting at the end of the race, while I catch my breath.



The kids after the race telling me about getting doughnuts.



Me comin into the finish line.

Park 2 Park 5k Race

So at the beginning of this year, I decided to start exercising to get healthy.  I started out on the  elliptical machine, then after visiting my good friend Carmen in Florida, started to run in the mornings during the summer.  She had me convinced it was the way to go, even though I hated running in high school and college.  Well, she was right.  I have lost inches and some weight, but feel a lot better.  I told Ryan that if I kept it up, I would run a 5k at the end of the summer.  Well, by Sept. I could jog 4 miles without dying, so I signed up for my first 5k.  If you know me, I am not a competative person, so I was a little nervous as to how these things worked.  I made Ryan and the kids come for moral support.  I had a great time and am proud of myself for completing the race without stopping or walking once.  I wasn't the first, nor the last, but I did beat my own time.  I made it across the finish line in just 36 minutes.  Yeah for me.  I also had the best cheering section waiting at the finish line for me.  Thanks Carmen for getting me motivated and started.  Here are some pictures.  Ignore the ones of me and enjoy the ones of the kids.

Me with my number waiting for the race to start.

Me again.

After crossing the finish line and all the kids running to meet me.

All the kids telling me they didn't want me to run anymore.  They missed me for the whole 36 minutes I was gone.

Morgan, Joshua, Gracie, and Jaxen posing while I catch my breath and drink some water.

Ryan trying to get everyone to pose together.  Rachel would not stand still, so you just see her hand to the left.

Our Princess got a Haircut

As most of you know, Morgan had very long hair that she thought made her like a princess.  She loved her long hair except when we needed wash or comb it.  It was down to her lower back and snarled easily so we started braiding it at night to make it easier to brush.  It was looking a little scraggly, so I took her to get it trimmed.  While there I convinced her to donate it to Locks of Love.  I told her that some little girl would get to have beautiful princess hair just like hers if she donated it, then she could grow it back to be like a princess. So, they cut about 11 inches off.  She now has a cute little bob that brings out her face and dark brown eyes.  I think she looks cute, and she loves the way it feels when she shakes her head.

Fun this week.

Here are the pictures for Jaxen, Gracie and Morgan on their first day of school.  They were all so excited to be going after watching Joshua leave for school all last week.

This week, Ryan and his parents took the kids along with Zach's kids (Jacob, Abby and MaKayla) to the Allegan County Fair.  They loved all the animals and the rides.  They didn't want to come home.

For their birthday this year the 4 older kids each were given a new bike.  Morgan loves to ride hers, Jaxen will occasionally and Gracie refuses because she doesn't want to wear the helmet.  Joshua loves his bike and rides it whenever he can.  It is still a little difficult for him, but he does not let that stop him.  Here he is after putting his own bike helmet on backwards.  Gotta love it.

Joshua's First Day of School

Joshua is on a different school schedule than the other three. Due to some of his physical/mobility issues, he is able to go to the Early Childhood Center for preschool. Here he gets much needed physical therapy, occupational therapy and class instruction all at one time. They also have a program called music and motion which also helps develop those motor skills where he is behind. This is one of his favorite times of day. He goes 4 mornings a week and the school bus picks him up. This makes for a somewhat busier and week, but is a very good fit for him. It also makes for a sad morning, as the other kids want to go with him. Jaxen does not think it is fair that Joshua rides the yellow bus and he has to ride mommy's bus.


Here Joshua is on the bus with his friend that lives down the street.



Here Joshua and Jaxen are waiting with daddy for the bus to arrive. I think it just came around the corner, hence Joshua's expression.


Here are Joshua and Jaxen standing together while they wait for the bus.

The other three kids start preschool on Monday, so I will be posting pictures of their first day. Unfortunatly, they only get to ride with mommy, but grandma will be coming a long as it's bring your parent to school day and I can't be in two classrooms at once.

Rachel's Birthday

Rachel celebrated her birthday on September 6th. She is now two years old. We actually did the celebrating on the 5th, so that we could do some fun things. We went to Crazy Bounce in the morning and the kids had a great time jumping around and going down the slides. They really loved it when mommy and daddy went down the slides with them. Later in the day we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Since it was a holiday weekend, our party was small. We missed seeing Gotschalls, Zach's family and the Thompsons, but they were all out of town. We shared the day with Grandma and Grandpa MacPherson, and the kids were in heaven. They love the special attention they get from all of their grandparents.


The pictures loaded backwards, but here is Rachel after eating cake and ice cream. Not too messy. She gets better and better every year.


Here is Rachel blowing out the candles. She needed a little help, so Morgan joined in.


Here she is after opening some gifts. She (and the other two girls) loved the Mermaid she got from Grandma.


Here she is starting to open her gift.

I will try and post a few more pictures, but right now my computer is being tempramental and only letting me download one at a time.

Ryan's 38th Birthday

Ryan had his 38th birthday on August 27th. He wanted Banana Cream Pie instead of a cake, so that is what I made. The kids and I made party hats, wrapped his gifts and made him a birthday card. Then we invited people over to eat pie, and watch him unwrap his gifts. We had a great time. Zach came over with his family and since he shares the same birthday, we sang to him as well.


Ryan reading the kids' card that they made.

Ryan opening his gift from me and the kids.


Here are my pies that I made from scratch (sorry it's blurry, we are just learning to use our new camera). Yes, he wanted the real stuff (not instant pudding), and real whip cream. If you know Ryan, he only likes the real stuff. Everyone said the pies were good, so I'm glad the turned out for my first try.