I know, I know. It's been a LONG time.

Yes, once again, blogging has taken a back seat to all of the other craziness in my life right now. It stinks, because I was just getting into the idea of my new digital scrapbooking series, something I am definitely going to re-spark here as soon as I can possibly wrangle the time and feel like I'm not sacrificing something important by doing so. So please be patient with me!

In the meantime, here's the quick update from our little corner of the earth.

• We just got back from a trip to Colorado to visit my dad and stepmom. We had a FANTASTIC time. The kids hadn't been out there since 2006, when E was just 1 and G was just 4 years old. (Dad's only been out there full time for a couple of years.) Spending lots of time in the great outdoors did us all some good. The air doesn't get any fresher than that of colorful Colorado. Above is my favorite photo of the trip so far, although I haven't made it all the way through the 1000+ photos I took over the nine days. More to come later.
• Did I mention that we DROVE the roughly 1400 miles out to Colorado and back...with two small children within arm's reach of each other in the back seat?!? Were we insane? Actually, the kids did remarkably well, thanks in large part to modern technology. I'm not usually one for letting the kids sit in front of the telly or play video games all day, but when one sits in the car for up to 13 hours in one day—two days in a row—I'm willing to let down my guard a bit. The portable DVD player we bought for the trip was worth every cent, along with the Nintendo DS and two full iPods (and the accessory that let us play those iPods through the car's speakers, allowing us to avoid the radio-station dance for 13 hours a day). 
• G started back to school on Tuesday. (What, exactly, happened to summer?) He has the same teacher his daddy and I both had back 24 and 25 years ago. :o) The first day, he said he liked her. The second day, he said he wanted to skip second grade and stay home with me. I found out that's because his teacher called him out in class (he says he wasn't the only one) for talking during reading. He was so embarrassed he didn't want to go back. :o) Today was a little better, though. Can't have him dropping out of second grade.
• E has changed classes at preschool, and this week, she started her first "real" organized team sport. Daddy is coaching her soccer team, and after two practices, she seems to really be enjoying it. Given how shy she is, I'm happy she's going out and giving it her all. She hasn't shied away from any of the activities, really. She will probably be the kid on the outskirts of the action during game time, happy as a hummingbird when the ball comes her way but not at all interested in going in the middle of the pack to get her feet on it. :o) We shall see. I'm proud of her for being brave and going for it!
• We'll be spending five days a week at the soccer fields for the next, what?, 8 weeks? I suppose we didn't have anything else to do in the evenings. No, seriously, it should be entertaining. I love cheering my kids on from the sidelines. And this is the first season we get to do that for BOTH kids at the same time. Those days we have conflicting game times will be a bit disappointing, but we'll figure it out as we go.

That's about all that is keeping us busy for now. Before I let you go, here's a recent digital scrapbook page for your enjoyment! :o) More Colorado pics for Dad and Anita! :o) Love you guys and miss you already!

{Click layout for larger image}

Here's the journaling:

(Top right block) We had finally arrived at Dad and Anita’s house, and G** was itching to do something active. So Dad grabbed his shoes, and we headed up the mountain behind their house. The destination: Frank’s Rock. It started to get dark just as we made it to the point where the official (once-cleared) path ended, so we turned around and headed back. G*** was disappointed, but with the whole week ahead of us, we felt sure we’d have plenty of time to make it to the top. We never did head back up to the rock, however. In fact, in my three or four trips to Dad’s house in Colorado, I have never seen The Rock. But I know it’s there, and I know it’s beautiful. Maybe we’ll make it up next time! •• (Bottom right block) At left, E*** was copying every move Dad made on the way back, walking right behind him and lifting her foot, scratching her leg and stretching her knees when Dad did. I think it was her way of latching onto Papa as she started to get settled in for the week.

Digital elements are from:

• Background paper: Americana Mini Kit, Heather Ann Designs
  
• Everything else: The Aidan Bundle, Retrodiva (Tracy Collins). Perhaps my favorite kit ever!

Comments

[Kelly]

Beautiful pic of Chad and the kiddos! And your scrapbook page is awesome. I esp. like the pic of you looking like a flower child :) Looks like you had a super awesome time out west. And I had to laugh at G's first week at school...can't really blame him for wanting to skip 2nd grade for being utterly embarrassed. And that's pretty amazing that G has the same teacher as you and Chad did. Good luck on the soccer fields for the next couple months....sounds like that will be your second home. We miss you guys. Hopefully we'll see you before the year ends!