Beautiful Weather and Back To School

Today, I got to eat lunch with Daryl at school for their back to school picnic. It is always so much fun to do things with him at school. He just lights up when I get to do things like this with him.

He earned enough tickets to wear a hat to school today. He went through Kelly's hats to pick one. That is funny because he has my pumpkin head and can actually wear Kelly's hats! He is going to have that big 'ol Moreno head just like me. :-)
         
 I don't know about you but I have been loving this fallish weather! It was exactly what the doctor ordered to get me running in the mornings. When it was so humid it was painful to put in the morning miles. It should never be 80 degrees at 5am, never! 15 days out from my race I'm happy to say my long runs are done. In the past three weekends I did 16, 18 and 19 miles.

Alex playing with a squirrel in Gage Park.

That last run was supposed to be 20 but that wasn't happening. I'm hoping these days of tapering get me to 26 on race day. No matter if I run, walk or crawl across the finish line, I'm going to finish.
 My long run this week is 12 miles and next weekend it is 8. It's crazy that those seem easy. A year ago I would have cried if you told me I had to do a 12 mile training run. :-) Even if I'm slow I'm happy about how much farther I can run now.

Updates!

I have had a lack of updates recently! For one reason or another when it has been time to update the blog I choose to knit or go to bed instead. Well, I finally have some progress to show on some projects!
My Harvest Moon cardigan is coming along nicely. I am working on the bottom which is a little tricky because of some pockets. I like pockets so I am going to stick with it. The handspun yarn is making the cardigan a touch "loud" but I've been assured by friends I can just wear it with a black shirt and I'll be fine. I hope these fine people are not leading me astray!

My Pennsylvania socks are not done even though that trip was two months ago! I tried to make some progress during the fair but that didn't really work out either. I would say I have two thirds of the pair done. I don't want to cast on another thing until both of these projects are done.

That needs to happen pretty quickly because we have already missed the annual birthday sweaters. I know, I'm sorry, what kind of mother doesn't hand knit their kid a sweater every year. I have failed them both....
BUT, I have a new plan because I make new plans when old plans fail.

The NEW plan is Christmas sweaters!! Thank you baby Jesus for giving me another opportunity to shower my sweet angels with wool!! I just can't wait until they find out one of their three presents is a sweater, they are just going to....hmmmm....maybe I didn't think this through. I'll wrap some cash up in those sweaters! That will make them the best gifts ever! 

Speaking of a best gift ever, today is Daryl's birthday!!! Happy Birthday little D!!
He is pretty confused about the whole deal because he swears he already had his birthday. And he is referencing his birthday party. Evidently once you blow out the candles, the deal is done, you have aged.
I'm not going to fight about it with him, we have way too much other stuff to fight about. :-)
Daryl is a little con artist. Last night when we were planning what to cook for dinner he sold Wendy's to us. He had two well thought out points.
First, Mom you like Wendy's it's your favorite fast food. (Well Played)
Second, We can have a frosty as a celebration for the last day that I am six. (This kid is too good!)
He won, we had Wendy's. When we got home I was trying to get him to practice his sight words with flash cards that I had made him. Well he didn't want to do it anymore so I convinced him to be the teacher and see if I know them. Well, I decided to get some of them wrong just to see if he was paying attention and to see if he knows them.
Daryl-What is this word? (Shows me once)
Me-Ounce .
Daryl-That's wrong mom it is once.
Me-Oh, you are right.
Daryl- (In kind of a whisper like he was embarrssed) Mom, I think I am a little smarter than you...

I LOVE THIS KID!

1st Dentist Trip!

Alex had his first visit to the dentist today! The first time Daryl went to the dentist it was a total mess and he never even opened his mouth. He cried and cried, with his mouth closed. Daryl didn't get a real exam until his third visit.
So, with Alex I had a plan. Since Daryl is prone to cavities he is actually a little pro at the dentist now. And true to form he had a cavity today, he is consistent!

Watching brother get his teeth cleaned. 

Daryl had the first appointment and Alex watched him and saw everything that was going to happen to him. Then it was Alex's turn. I can't say Alex was totally thrilled when we arrived at East Topeka Dental, (can't say enough good about ETDA) but my pictures show the story better than I can tell it!

Sitting in the chair with brother, starting to get nervous.

Right before it was his turn he told me he wanted to go home. 

Once the Hygienist put the little bib on him he got stiff as a BOARD. I was thinking there was no way he was going to open his mouth! 

Then he got a taste of the mint stuff they clean your teeth with and he decided to just chill in the chair and he did everything they asked him to do! She said he was the best three year old she ever saw! Best part, no cavities!

I'm glad the hygienist and dentist didn't see him like this after his birthday party! 

Last Weekend of Summer

I know the calendar may say one thing, but as far as children are concerned the last weekend before school starts is the last weekend of summer. We packed our weekend with lots of family time and swimming!

On Friday night the whole family got to be a part of the 4-H Exchange swim party. Pam hosted us at her house and the boys love hanging out there and Daryl really loves hanging out with the "big" kids.
On Saturday we kept the fun and 4-H rolling at the Horse show. Normally the boys would stay home but this morning they came along. They were not too excited with the horses after about 40 minutes but then they found some dirt. The dirt kept them busy for over an hour! Dirt for the win!!

Sunday was the boys joint birthday party! Family and friends helped us celebrate Daryl turning 7 and Alex turning 3. We have really come to like the big birthday party we get to do for both of the boys. This year we went to the Ramada West and rented the pool and a room for the party. It turned out really great!
Using an indoor pool takes out a lot of the stress of a pool party. The kids all had so much fun I bet they all slept good on Sunday night!

The only thing I didn't do was a get a picture of all of the kids that were at the party. Darn! They were all so cute in their swim suits.

I did get a picture of the birthday boys!

A Good Fair

Yesterday, was the end of the 2015 County Fair. Today, all that is left is the clean up. I'm up and ready to go but moving a little slow! Thank you to my mom for coming up to help with the kids and thanks to Sofia for lending me Cadence for the weekend. She was a great help, the boys just fought over her attention. :-)

Here are some pictures, not too many, sorry! 

The "before" of Expo hall

Daryl waiting his turn at the Pedal Tractor Pull

He did so good! 

Alex wanted so bad to do it, he will be ready for next year!

My knitting got second place! There were only 2 entries...