God is Good!

This weekend our church was blessed to have an amazing visitor and speaker, Mike Cope.  My husband and I had the pleasure of taking him out to dinner on Friday night with two other couples from church.  He is an amazing, gifted speaker.  Meeting him and spending time with him was special for my husband who grew up listening to Mike speak at youth rallies in high school and still closely follows his messages today when Mike is a faculty member at Abilene Christian University and considered one of the thought leaders and best speakers amongst Churches of Christ. 

The elders at our church made the decision to move toward a gender inclusive worship earlier this year and are implementing this at the beginning of October.  Mike Cope was the perfect speaker to have this weekend because he led his church through a similar process many years ago and offered wonderful perspective and words of encouragement.

Although this process has been rough for our church body, I am more confident than ever that our church is moving in the right direction and that we will be better able to make Christ known through the fruits of this change.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  His love endures forever!

Looking Forward

Like a breath of fresh air, cool fall air swept through the desert this week.  I love fall (really I like all the seasons) because it means football, soccer, hot air balloons, and specific to this fall...my parents are coming to spend a month out here!  I can't wait!  They are going to be here at such a fun time and will get to experience so much while they are here.  It will be such a treat to get to spend a whole month with them! They are staying in a furnished apartment that is only about 1 mile away and is easily walkable.  I can't think of a better set up! :)

School is moving along just swimmingly.  A few years ago I had my doubts as to whether putting my kids in an early child development school was a good thing when I went to work part time rather than just hiring a nanny.  Now I know for sure that it WAS!  My son was extremely well prepared for kindergarten and navigated a new school, new kids, and a new routine easily.  Likewise, my daughter adjusted wonderfully to her new class - she takes a little while to warm up, but I've learned not to interfere in or stress about that process and she settles in nicely in a few weeks.

As for the other 3/5 of our family, we're all doing well.  I am already thinking ahead to the holidays and looking at photographers for our annual family Christmas picture, juggling the kids' schedules and activities, and enjoying running on my pain-free hip. :)  My kindergartener is in a running program at school where he earns beads or every mile he runs so often I get in my usual workout in the morning and then end up running an extra mile in the evening.  My husband is enjoying work - he is out right now at a happy hour with some of his fellow managers while the kids and I enjoy an evening at home.

My 2-yr old is a little sponge soaking up his world.  His speech become more complex and clearer by the day and he is starting to ask lots of questions.  He has known his colors for a few months and is starting to learn his numbers and letters.  Happy Fall everyone!  Enjoy!

 

Picture Hodgepodge

Here is a picture hodgepodge from the last couple of weeks.  We're enjoying the beautiful weather!  :)

A Birthday And An Update

My youngest turned 2 this week!  Here are a few pictures of my silly, goofy, fun-loving, mischievous boy.  Love him to pieces!

All is well in our house.  We have settled into a nice routine with the kids' schedules and work.  I'm up every morning by 5.  I pack lunches, prepare for the day, and get in a workout.  I get the kids up between 6:30 and 6:45 (if they are not already up) and get them ready for school.  My husband heads out with the younger 2 around 7:10 while I get ready and then head out with my oldest around 7:50.  Our evenings have been a bit busy lately, but they are freeing up over the next couple of weeks.  I'm teaching an additional course this semester that I haven't taught before and so far things are going well with both courses that I teach.

I am enjoying a break from training right now and decided to go see ortho about my hip during this down time.  I'm glad I did because the doctor saw some strange things on x-ray and is looking into it further on MRI in a couple of weeks.  He says it's nothing too bad, but that something is indeed not quite right.  While waiting on an official diagnosis I have been instructed to run as usual but not to increase my mileage.  He did state that whatever is going on will probably be resolved in time for me to train for a half marathon early next year!  So glad I went in to get it checked!

Last Tri of the Season

I participated in an all women's triathlon this morning.  It's the last one of the season for me.  I gave up on the Olympic distance tri a couple of weeks ago as the fall semester was fast approaching and my kids were starting their new school years.  I just couldn't fit in the training.  But I'm fine with that - maybe next year!

Today's tri was the last of the season for me.  I injured my hip last week and have an appt with an orth doc next week.  Today I was actually proud of my bike time - I averaged 18.8 mph on the hilly course.  This is a HUGE improvement from last year.  I have my father in law to thank for that b/c I did most of my long distance rides with him & my husband while we were visiting them in TN.  I was disappointed in my run time - I only averaged around a 9 min mile and I've been averaging 8:15-8:45 all summer.  Perhaps it was my hip (it hurt with every step) or perhaps I just had an off day, but I hope to be a little quicker with my run next year.  My swim was fine.  It's my strongest leg.

I had the pleasure of doing this race with a few of my friends from work.  We had a great time and it was a great race.  Overall, a wonderful way to end the tri season! :)

Kindergarten Part 2

I dropped my son off for kindergarten this morning.  Although I am completely secure and confident in the hands taking care of him I did find myself getting a little nostalgic.  When I left him, he was playing with some new friends on the playground.  My eyes teared up a bit as I walked away and wondered how my baby got so big!?!  Oh well, I had to shake it off quickly because I had to give my first lecture of the semester an hour later.  Thankfully, I had a friend who was dropping off her son for kindergarten as well with whom to share the emotional moment.  In case you can't tell, both our eyes and noses are a little red and swollen. ;)  Now that it has been a few hours, I'm back to being excited for my son and can't wait to find out how his first day at school went!

Kindergarten!

My oldest starts kindergarten this week!  This morning we attended an open house to meet his teacher, drop off school supplies, and familiarize ourselves with his room.  It was so much fun!  We knew lots of folks thanks to the pool party that one of the moms hosted on Friday afternoon for all of the kindergartners and their families.  Of course, I love meeting new people (as does my son - wonder where he gets it???)  so I have really enjoyed meeting the other moms and watching the kids get to know each other.

Below is my big boy with his teacher.   I've signed up to help some in his class and can't wait to see how he likes his first day tomorrow!