Wake Me Up When September Ends

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Here are some pictures from the last weeks in September.

CC Community Day:

Some homeschooling pictures from around the house:

Women’s Church Retreat in Breckenridge:

Meanwhile, the boys had soccer games and got ice cream with Daddio (no, Mikey didn’t eat any – he was still finishing up Whole30).

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I underwent a pretty miserable medical test to try to figure out what’s going on with my body.  I was showered with lots of love and prayer.  The boys were especially sweet and made meals for me, drew pictures while I rested and read me books.  It wasn’t a fun experience by any stretch of the imagination, but it was  very sweet to feel loved by my dear community, near and far.

We were able to see family from out of town – such a treat!

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And fall has officially arrived.  I watched Ethan’s soccer practice bundled in a blanket and LOVED it.

Calen Comes to Visit

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My childhood bestie *finally* came out for a visit after years of us talking about it.  She had never been to Colorado before, so I encouraged (AKA nagged) her to come out while Mikey was traveling.  We hadn’t seen each other much in the past few years, but friendships that started in infancy are likely to last forever if you’ve made it this far. =) We picked up right where we left off and the boys LOVED hearing stories about our childhood and getting to know her.

We had a great time showing her around Denver and taking her into the mountains.  It was so much fun to experience Colorado through her eyes.  Also, we naturally bought matching t-shirts since this was a theme from childhood and needed to be replicated. =)

The first day we hung closer to home, but ventured out to Red Rocks.

The next day we went to Breckenridge for a beautiful hike, had pizza at Beau Jo’s and ice cream at Little Man’s.  While we were shopping in Idaho Springs we heard Mmmbop on the radio – a song we especially loved growing up.  It was awesome. (or, epic, as the boys would say)

34 years of friendship with this lady.  Pretty special.

Early September

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September was the month Mike did the Whole 30 challenge.  He began it with a nasty meal which we all rated a D- or below.  Thankfully things improved as the month went on.  I agreed to make 3-4 Whole 30 compliant dinners each week and he committed to doing the rest.  We were all so impressed with his diligence and discipline.  One of the meals I made for us was beef kabobs with a chimichurri sauce.  I even snapped a picture since it was my first time making any kabobs as far as I could recall.  We all rated this one much higher. =D

The boys had a really fun playdate over here during the school day.  We loved doing school with this buddy and also just enjoying the beautiful weather at the park.

Here are some fun shots from homeschooling, both at home, on the road and at CC.  Micah continues to LOVE drawing and Ethan loves playing board slam.  Micah started a reading program called “All About Reading” and is enjoying that, while Ethan is reading lots of books and discussing them with me.  Lots of fun!

Other happenings in the early part of this month include Micah’s new way of “picking” flowers for me:

Ethan wearing my old Packers t-shirt because we can almost share clothes and shoes already.  What?!

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And a crazy rain storm led to lots of fun at the park:

The boys also started playing soccer for the fall season.  Ethan continues to love playing defense, while Micah likes playing center-mid and doing a little of both offense and defense.

Since then…

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Some school pictures from last week:

The boys are getting more interested in running these days.  They each did a run during the day – Ethan 1 mile and Micah .5 miles.  It was really sweet to see them riding alongside each other on their bikes shouting words of encouragement.

We take quite a few walks as a family in the evenings.  If you know Mike well, you’ll know that they always include a ball.

We went out to Conifer for a hike over the weekend.  It was a beautiful hike and required us to dig deep and push ourselves. =D

Grandpa’s Visit

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Mike had another two weeks of travel at the beginning of our school year, so we flew my Dad out to help again.  I was so thankful to have his company and help.  And the boys LOVE spending time with him. We had a softer start to the school year, but still got a lot done in that first week.

We also did some homeschooling on the road – a bike ride and a field trip to Hudson Gardens.

On Saturday, we jogged/walked in a 5k run that our friends put on each year in honor of their daughter who was adopted from China, had congenital heart problems, and died after surgery. It’s a fundraiser for third world orphans with medical problems.  Three kids, in three different countries, will get operations because of the money raised in this run.

Our church service was held in the mountains on Sunday.  We enjoyed the service there, a picnic, and then had some time to play.

Monday was our second week of CC and Mike was back home.  We did our family presentation during opening assembly and then my Dad got to go back and forth between Ethan and Micah’s classes.  That evening Micah had his soccer practice and we all went to watch.

Here are a couple other pictures from throughout his visit and of Mike and his buddies on his trip:

My Dad left on Tuesday morning after a wonderful trip.  We sure loved having him for the week!  When we dropped him off at the airport the boys both said they wished he (and grandma, obviously) lived out here by us. =D

First days of school

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We started our school year on August 19th this year, starting with a full day at CC.  Both of the boys had new tutors this year and I am the Director for our community for the first time.  Ethan has most of the same kids he was in class with last year, but has a couple new ones.  Micah has mostly new kids in his class.  And I’m feeling a good mix of emotions about my new role, but mostly I’m feeling thankful for the opportunity to serve these families. We’ll be studying about the medieval period during CC this year and reading a lot of good books set in that timeframe.  Here are some CC pictures from day 1:

And on Tuesday we had a more laid back start to the school year.  We began with French toast, went for a bike ride, and ended the day with ice cream.  Don’t worry, there was some learning in there, too. =)  Ethan is in 4th grade; Micah is in 2nd.

We also took bi-yearly measurements for both boys:  Ethan is now 4’10” (and has almost the same size feet and hands as me).  Micah is 4’3″.

Micah also had his first soccer practice after CC.  (Ethan started the week after.)

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The weeks before school started…

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We really tried to soak up some family time before the rush of the school year began.  Here are some pictures from around the house/neighborhood.

We also did a timed mile run at the park.  Micah and Mike ran a half mile together and then Mike finished his mile while Micah rested.  Micah ran without stopping, which impressed us all.  Then Ethan and I headed out for our mile run and he beat me by a good minute – such a stud!

We took the boys to Red Rocks for their first concert.  We got to see Chris Tomlin, which was a fun treat.

We attended our second Practicum.  As the Director for our CC community, I needed to attend trainings on both Foundations tutoring and Essentials tutoring.  Micah absolutely loved this – he wore matching shirts with some guys in his little gang for most, if not all, of the days.  One of my dearest friends joined our CC community this year, so we attended Practicum together!

We went on a family bike ride out towards Mel and Joel’s house.  The hope is that we will do it again and make it all the way there.  As it turns out, biking with my family is one of my very favorite things to do.  The boys knocked off quite a few more miles towards their summer biking goal that day.

Also, I celebrated my 35th birthday!  My hope had been to ride 35 miles that day, so I started the day with a long ride with the boys around the Cherry Creek Reservoir.  Both boys reached their 100 mile for the summer goal on this ride. Then later that evening I went out alone and raced the sun and rain, losing my battle and requiring a pick up by Mike and Micah.

We celebrated a friend’s birthday at a cool Ninja gym:

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Mike and the boys played golf one of the weekends and I walked along.

The boys got bank accounts, played a lot of legos, took some more bike rides, and brought in their Bookies summer reading contest.  Micah wrote me a sweet encouraging note when I was having a rough day, so I had to include that in here.

Meagen graduated with her Masters in engineering (or something like that) and invited me to her graduation.  SO proud of her!!!

Mike and I snuck away for a date to see Mumford and Sons at Fiddlers Green again.

And, finally, I had an idea to put some rewards in a jar that I could use throughout the year whenever I needed to motivate the boys.  We are all pretty jazzed about it. =)

Next up: the school year begins!