A Case of the Shakes

No worries -- our prolonged absence from the blogging world is not due to any serious illness in our family --unless you count the viruses that our beloved computer has contracted! Being about as computer illiterate as any human being can be in this day and age, I could never have guessed how troubled I would be at the loss of my computer. In fact, I'm pretty sure there were a few times that I actually did develop a case of the shakes (Mostly really late at night, when I ran out of House Hunters, finished my book, and could not shop on ebay or check my blogs!)

We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to my sweet mom, who actually offered to drive clear to Burley with my sis and her kids, just to bring me her computer. What a fabulous excuse for a quick visit and a yummy lunch! I wish I would've gotten pictures of us all giddy and excited for this 4-hour-drive-for-a-one-hour-lunch, but you'll all have to settle for some of the kids in their cute new duds (also thanks to Grandma, of course) whenever I get a chance.

For now, I thought I'd catch you all up on what we've been doing lately --which should be surprisingly simple even though it's been over 3 weeks. Basically, we attended sporting events -- those and tons and tons of practices! I have been so looking forward to the simple schedule that school would bring, and then our kids decided to join every activity imaginable! Kutter couldn't wait to start soccer again, Trayson chose to play football instead (although he tried real hard to convince us he could do both!) and is also starting his first year of piano, and Breje has piano, violin, and cross country! The sportphobic in me (yes, I am positive that this is a real word!) is so shocked that my kids are so willing to try so many new things, and even more surprised at how great they are doing!

Here's Trayson at his first football game. I think he's still disappointed that they don't get to tackle, but he's really been enjoying it!
I love this one of Breje at her first meet -- she was so nervous until she got out there and then she just ran her heart out. She actually took 6th place in her very first meet!

The best part about watching Breje be a part of this team is seeing how much fun she's had with all the girls.

I also had to share this one of her after her second meet, because I am still in shock that a kid of mine won a medal in an athletic competition! How cool is that?! If anyone out there is keeping in touch with any of my past PE teachers, I would so appreciate it if you could pass this one on!

No soccer pics yet, but they are sure to come. Jody and I are coaching Kutter's team this year and I'm pretty sure they are the cutest girl ever!

That's pretty much us in a nutshell. If it takes awhile until my next post, it's because I can't wait to see the latest posts from all of you!

Preschool Begins!

The first day of school is so different for boys and girls. My neice spent two days putting on fashion shows and agonizing over what to wear. Kutter had only one choice. This cute shirt which I bought a couple weeks ago and apparently labeled "his school shirt". The problem? This pic is of him last week, on his way to the openhouse to meet his teacher for the first time. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him wear the same shirt everytime he went to school, as it is his school shirt. Once we got that one cleared up, he told me to just grab him something and then urged me to hurry up, as he really wanted to get there quick. Uh oh, school didn't start for 3 more hours! I tried to kill some of the time with a mini photo-shoot, and he eventually got on board.

This is my boy putting on his best GQ look.

And doesn't he look so excited?!

This really only barely covers the level of excitement. He rushed right in as soon as we got there without even saying goodbye, then he got all embarrassed and hugged my legs, then saw his picture by his coat hook and got all happy again. I'm pretty sure that's how it's gonna go for the next couple weeks, but he came home with a picture which he signed all by himself, so the rest is all good!

One horse town

Ok, so maybe not. I think there are probably more horses than people around here, but Sugarlegs has definitely become the star around our house! We all headed out to saddle her for FHE last week -- I mostly went for the photo op. It's especially cute to see how fascinated little Brielle is by our new horse. She can be in the middle of a tantrum, but if we mention the horse she stops mid-cry and runs to get her shoes (or Daddy's boots).And, seriously, look how natural Breje looks hauling "tack" (that's the reins and bridle n stuff. No, I am not thrilled that I know that!) out to the corral! Is it just me, or does this look sort of like an ad for a cowgirl perfume or something?!Unfortunately, we didn't actually get to ride Sugarlegs that night. 15 minutes after we got outside, we looked up and saw this... ...nope, that's not a fire or a thunderstorm -- just dust and wind! Nasty! Brielle was so distraught that Jody had to take her out the next night. This is her after about an hour on the horse. Jody couldn't talk her into getting off and she eventually fell asleep!

Oh, yeah, and just a funny side note...Kutter sometimes calls his bike "Old Paint" and I think he is actually starting to believe that it's really a horse! We were all out watching the kids ride bikes the other night when Kutter suddenly crashed his bike for no apparent reason. He jumped up with huge tears in his eyes and, with the most serious expression imagineable says, "Dad, my bike bucked me off!"