Joseph had a winning design for his Kub Kar, and made it all the way to the regionals. It's kind of funny because it really is so random the way they do things but some people take it so seriously! Not my boy though, he didn't even watch his car cross the finish line half of the time! They raced three cars at a time in 12 heats, and his car was either first or second in every race. He took home a trophy for sixth place overall, which he was so excited about. We competed again in a "Final 12" race two weeks after that and he didn't place, but we all sure had fun.
When I was still nine months pregnant with Mary, I drove past an arena advertising a run and texted Jeff, "let's do a run next summer after I've had the baby." "You're funny," he texted back. Nevertheless in January I began scouting out races, and found this great one at the Saint John airport, where the course is flat. There was a 1.5K kids fun run, and the boys seemed less than eager when I mentioned it in the winter. Then one day in April I said to my parents, "Jeff and I are running a 5K on May 4" and my Dad looked at me and said, "That's next weekend." And I panicked! We hadn't been out at all! I hadn't run outside for at least seven years, and Jeff hadn't run even longer than that. I thought it wasn't fair to ask the boys to do a race when we didn't have time to train them properly, so I didn't mention it. Turns out I didn't have to. On our first night at the track, both of them asked about it. I told them if they could run two times around the track, they could do the race. That was the only time they got out, but both of them were certain they wanted to do it. And they were excited! They both finished with decent times, and are looking forward to more races in the future. And I've taken each of them out running again since. I hope we are able to go with this as a family, and make running a regular part of our lives.
We celebrated a birthday in April, my second-oldest boy turned seven. I just can't believe how quickly the time is going. Seven seems so old, I keep forgetting that he's not six anymore. His birthday happened right around the time we had a stomach flu going through the house, but rather than take away from his special day, that made it even more special. He had sleepovers at both of his grandparents' houses, went bowling and to a movie, and had birthday suppers two weekends in a row to make up for it. Now the rest of the kids think birthdays are weeklong extravaganzas...at least I have another month to talk them down before the next birthday rolls around.
Jeff and I finished our race with good times. I was pleased because neither of us really knew how we would do. I know it was just a 5K, but it seemed so big when I realized we only had a week to do our training. There was an hour time limit to the race and a sweep vehicle to pick up anyone who didn't finish, and my goal was to not be picked up by the sweep vehicle! More than anything this race helped us to see that we can fit running into our schedule, if we work at it and keep it small. We'll try over the next little while to fit runs in around the things we are already doing, and in small enough distances that it doesn't take away from our family life. We have our eyes on a couple of 5-milers coming up in the next couple of months. Mostly I am excited to be doing this with Jeff...now if only I could keep up with him!
We got new chicks a month ago, 26 of them. 20 meat birds and 6 laying hens. They are currently in our basement while Jeff works furiously to finish the new coop for them (they are much to small to be put in with the other birds just yet. Also we found out the hard way last year that laying hens will eat meat birds, so we can't keep them together). Raising chicks is fun, but we both realize we're not as much into babying these guys as we were the crop before. They were so socialized to us, they'd eat right out of our hands, and fly onto our shoulders when they got bigger. These guys are much more deprived of our affection. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it is what it is. Probably means we're making the transition from pet-owners to farmers. Which I guess is a good thing.
It's been a while since I took a photo of all the kids. I intend to take them outside someday soon and do some proper shots, but in the meantime I thought this was cute. It started off with just the baby on her belly, then the other two little ones came on each side of her and sat the same way, then the next brother. So I grabbed my camera, convinced the oldest two to join us, and snapped away! I didn't get the shot I was looking for, because by then the younger ones had had enough sitting still and started rolling around, but that's life I guess. I think the final shot is a better representation of who we are.
I stole this shot on an impromptu park date while the older boys were at their piano lesson, and our sitter was on vacation. It was a beautiful sunny day, and my youngest boy has been aching to spend some time outside. This little playground was close enough that we could spend twenty minutes playing (while I nursed the baby) and get back in time to pick up the boys. We had fun! My favorite part was watching my oldest daughter tear across the playground from one structure to the other screaming with glee while her two brothers followed close behind. It's a lot of work to go out with them, but so rewarding to see the things we can do, the ways we can enjoy life. We're loving this sunny weather!
And lastly - this girl had her ears pierced. We got my oldest daughter's ears pierced on a whim when she was 13 months old. I didn't think Jeff wanted her to get them done until we were in the mall one day and he said, "What do you think Katie would look like with pierced ears?" I had my ears pierced as a baby, and was all over that! It was however, slightly traumatic, and we decided that if we had another girl we'd have her done as a younger baby, or wait until she was old enough to decide for herself. Mary did really great with it. She cried of course, but she was over it much quicker than Katie was, and has never had a problem getting them cleaned (which we need to do three times a day for six weeks). I even snagged an earring on her shirt the other day by mistake and popped it out, and it didn't phase her at all to have me put it back in. The little hole was just a dot on her lobe, no redness or anything. And they look so sweet! When you have so many boys, it's nice to do little things that celebrate the femininity, daintiness and specialness of girls.
Cheers to you and your families!
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