Luke Finds Out He Can Run

When Luke was born his legs and feet were shaped really strange.  His little feet almost made a "c" shape and his legs were decidedly bowed.  I was really worried at the time and brought it up with our doctor.  He assured me that he was fine and that Luke would probably be a really fast runner.  He said something about fast runners have an overlapping stride and that bowed legs help.  For all I know he was blowing hot air up my skirt but I have passed this story down to Luke and it has generated in him the belief that has was predisposed to be a successful runner.  He has been too young in the past to join a track and field team but his time finally came this summer.

The doctor was right, he was a good runner, but not as a sprinter.  Luke found his stride in long distance.  Running speaks to him is the only way I can describe it.  He looks so confident and at home while he is running.  He didn't mind practicing in 100 degree weather and he took several ribbons.  I was fascinated and proud of him.  Proud because running is hard and fascinated because he actually enjoys it!

Luke hates loud noises.  He hated the starting gun!

He qualified to compete at the County Meet and when they announced, over the loud speaker, that he has placed in the 800 meter he was so thrilled and said to me, "Mom, it's the first time someone has said my name out loud!"  So cute!  Love him!  

I had no idea how long Track Meets really are.  You bake in the sun for hours and then your kid is doing something for a minute or two and then you bake again.

 This is his ribbon from the big county meet.  He looks and feels exhausted!

 This ribbon came from a smaller meet.  I love how proud of himself he looks in this picture.  He is awesome!

Claire and Creative Dance

In May, Claire had her dance recital for her creative dance class.  The recital was on the big stage at the Rose Wagner Theater down town.  She loved getting to wear make-up and she danced beautifully.  Creative dance is such a joyfully dance style.  It isn't as rigid as ballet and it really encourages expression and movement.  I love how creative dance builds self-esteem and the girls learn to appreciate their bodies for what they can do.  I love it!

The recital was based on the artwork of a teenager artist, Zev, from Massachusetts.  He has a series of whimsical self-portraits that inspired the dances.  While we were waiting for the recital to start I was telling Tim's mom all about Zev.  I was going on and on about how talented he was and how amazing it was that he was letting the studio use his art work and that he was so young.  Little did I know that Zev himself had flown out from Massachusetts to see the show and was sitting behind me with his mom.  I felt so stupid!  I don't know why because who doesn't like to be complimented?  Anyway, you can see his work at:


http://www.demilked.com/surreal-self-portraits-14-year-old-fiddle-oak/

Waiting backstage is hard!

The boys were very supportive and got excited when they saw Claire come on stage.  I was worried that they wouldn't be able to stay still through the entire recital but they did great.  The woman sitting next to Gage even complimented him afterward.  That made me happy.  They boys couldn't wait to present their flowers to Claire.  As far as they were concerned she was the star and reason for the show!

Kitchen Remodel

Starting in February of 2015 Tim and I began to renovate our very outdated kitchen.  Our kitchen was poorly designed, small, covered in honey oak (everywhere! even the light) and cave like.  Cooking in our kitchen was truly frustrating and really only one person could be inside the kitchen at any one time.  I had put up with it for 5 years and didn't foresee us changing it anytime soon until one day I saw that not only was the kitchen ugly and frustrating but dangerous and poorly constructed as well.

One day in the fall of 2014 I was in the kitchen, with the kids, helping them with homework.  I had just washed my hands at the kitchen sink when Gage called me over to the table; and when I stepped away a solid piece of oak about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide and about 3 inches thick that hung over our kitchen sink suddenly fell off.  It made such a loud noise and dented the counter-top below.  It truly was a miracle that I had moved because if I would have been standing by the sink when it fell I would have had a serious head injury.  We knew the time had come to renovate and we knew that we would need to do much of the work ourselves so we could conserve our money.

We learned a lot while renovating.  We learned that Tim and I make a good team.  We worked hard together and were able to demo the whole thing, including the floor, ourselves.  Tim had hidden construction skills and saved us a ton of money by wiring and plumbing and duct work and patching and painting things himself rather than paying for someone else to do it.

This what an entire 80's kitchen and 700 sq ft of bamboo flooring look like all demoed.  

I learned that I will never take my kitchen sink for granted again.  Going without one for nearly a month almost put me in the looney bin.  I also learned that it is much more pleasurable to clean a kitchen you like than one you hate!  I'm so thankful it is done and that we don't have to eat off of paper plates and take out and that I don't have to wash dishes in the bathtub.  We really have enjoyed the open space and we enjoy gathering as a family and having space for the kid's friends to hang out.

I surprisingly found the finishing details to be the hardest part.  Deciding where to hang lights and curtains and what furniture to buy was the most challenging thing for me.  I spent months looking for a dining table that I wanted but it seemed that all the ones I liked were out of my price range.  One day our neighbors across the street were having a garage sale and Gage ran inside telling me excitedly that they had a table that I would want.  I agreed to go look when inside I was thinking, "Yea, sure they do."  I was wrong!  They had the most beautiful farmhouse table I had ever seen and they were only asking $150 for it!  Score!

Here is the cave sadness before:

 

The cheerful after:

This corner of the kitchen is my happy place.  I love it.

Blog Catch-up

In all honesty it would be so easy to just forget about this blog.  The ease of Instagram and other social media is very alluring.  But, I don't have the opportunity to really share my thoughts and feelings on other Social Media sites and I hope that one day the people who care about me will be able to look back on what I have written and know me.  Who knows, one day I may have dementia and I will need to look back to know myself.  Sometimes I do just that and when I look back on the things I have written I cringe at myself.  I am thankful that I am a work in progress and that God can make something worthwhile out of someone so flawed.  I'm sorry that as I catch up on the last 6 months that these memories aren't fresh and I must do better next year.