HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY!!

Today my little Johnny turns THREE! I think we will go out and do something special! Now that the older kids are back in school, it is just the 3 of us...... so, we are off to Berryville park (wonderful place if you've never been there!), and then I will treat him to lunch out on the town (probably Burger King.. :)... Then once the kids get home, we will have cake and presents here.

What a big day for us!!

Well, the kids are off for their first day of school! I can't believe how the summer has flown! Last week was a whirlwind of open houses and orientations.... (hence the lack of posting) My little Gus is going into Kindergarten this year! He just looked so little and sweet standing at the bus stop next to his big brothers, carrying his seemingly oversized backpack.... sigh. This is such a big change for him, but I know he is so excited to be one of the 'big kids' now. My Johnny will be missing him though!! And so will I!!

Well, we just got back this morning from our first ever family camping trip!! Wow! We had a blast! It was so nice to see the kids biking, swimming, walking, hiking, roasting, sleeping (barely) without all the computer/tv fuss..... just the good ol' outdoors. We all just loved it. We went with some good friends of ours (who are more accustomed to camping), and had a really good time. Dan and I actually played our instruments around the campfire several times throughout the weekend... (that is more playing than we have done in the last 6 months) We really enjoyed the fact that we were able to spend a whole day doing whatever we felt like, whenever we felt like....... we will definitely be doing that again as soon as we can!!!

Thanks P, K, and family for a great weekend!!

Running.....

Hey, just an fyi....... I beat my yesterday time! I think I am back! I just needed to focus a bit! (okay, back to the doughnut post............:)ha

Doughnuts!!!!!!!!!

Well, here we are hanging out with my nephew and niece while my sister is out of town... we decided to make our own doughnuts........ I have this totally awesome cookbook for baking, and it was calling us...... They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Thank you Mary and Maria for your efforts!!!!!!!

Runner's funk....

Well, the half of my blog title which I have been avoiding is the 'on the run'...... I guess my running this summer has been less than optimal... and certainly not worth writing about... well, due to our 'October skies' we have experienced this week and some nice cool weather, I feel like I am coming back! Today I ran my 5 miler at a 9:30 pace (about 30 seconds faster per mile than I normally do for training runs). I was really happy with it.. I mean, I am not breaking any land speed records.... but, for me, it felt really good! My goal is to run the Akron marathon (late Sept) in under 4hr22min (which would be a 10 minute mile held for the whole 26.2).. something we have yet to accomplish. It is amazing how difficult it is to bring those times down... I guess I will start by upping my mileage a bit, losing my last 5lbs!, and doing some speed work with Dan.. I will let you know how it all works out!!:)

Party weekend!

Well, we really had a party weekend here......... our friends hosted their 4th or 5th annual fish fry on Friday eve. Our whole family attended, along with about 100 (literally) of our closest friends.. then on Sat eve, we went to another friend's home for a 'keg party' (I know I am too old for that sort of thing.... :).... we ended up that evening at 3am...... closing down the party, as always.. sigh. This year, in my true 'Kathy' style, not being able to be on the side lines watching others do the party thing, I jumped in the pool (fully clothed) at around 1 am......... needless to say, it was very cold... well, of course, it was very fun, but very cold. I am glad that I could be one of the 'fun ones' though!! Maybe one of these days I will be as prudent as my good husband, Dan.............. (or maybe not......... :)

Kristen turns 14!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes, does that mean I am old?? My oldest daughter, Kristen, turned 14 yesterday.... we had a really fun day! First, we headed out to Starbucks for a yummy coffee treat, to Walmart so she could spend a bday gift card she had gotten from a friend on a new book she wanted, then off to the Hair Cuttery to get her hair cut and highlighted.... (that was a huge treat since she usually just gets a trim from good ol' Mom...) Her hair looks great btw! Then, we went to Panara Bread for lunch..... MMMMM, so good! After eating, we were off to shop at Kohls and the mall. We found some really nice things for Kristen to kick off her new school year with... When all was said and done, we headed back to St. Johns so she could spend the night at a youth group lock in. I think she really had a great day!! Happy Birthday Kristen!! We love you!

My great family!

Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for a slideshow of my family! Isn't that great? My girls are helping me to 'coolify' (verb meaning 'to make cool'...) my blog... They have shown me the great 'wallpaper' I have now, the book shelf, the slide show, the music.... and I am sure there is more to come!!! So, keep comin' back! :)

Computer Blues..

Well, my computer died a few months ago, and is still in the shop... so, in the mean time, I am 'sharing' with the kids......... so yesterday, I slipped in here to grab a couple minutes online (with so many sharing, it is hard to find this chair empty), and literally in the middle of an email, my eldest daughter slips in to shoot an IM message to a friend... I couldn't believe it... maybe when school starts again, I will have a little more time to be here, uninterrupted!

Summer fun

Well, when the summer began, I must admit, I was wondering how we would survive... (a funny feeling coming from someone who was so used to home schooling and having ALL the kids home ALL the time).... but as the days wear on and we approach the fall, I am thinking I will really miss our current 'lifestyle'......... the kids and I meander out of bed when we see fit, we lounge through our days at the park or our pool... we've had parties and movies and play dates.. We spend time at the local library.. I guess we are just trying to make the most of our 'lazy days' before school starts... I am really enjoying this time with all my kids now. Every season seems to bring something new for us as a family! Well, we are going to 'play' until the schedule requires us not to! Happy summer!!

We survived...

Well, no pix yet, but we did survive. I went to the National Zoo with my 'eight' (Mary brought her friend, Meghan) children.......... a crazy thing, I know. It was really fun, despite the crazy 'kid frenzy, let's try to navigate our way out of DC' way home.... The first half hour of our trip home almost made the whole day not worth it (:)), but they all redeemed themselves and we were fine........ All in all, we loved it. I will show pix soon! Hopefully tomorrow!

Take 'em to the zoo.........

Hey, we are headed for the zoo tomorrow! I wanted to get some fun in before school starts! So, we are planning an 'out of the ordinary' event for each week this month! Say a prayer for us... Washington DC driving is not my thing.......................... :) but, boy are those lions, tigers, bears, elephants and giraffes worth it!! Hopefully Kristen will take lots of cool pix with her camera and I will share them!