chariots of fire

it's true. i love to run. it is so freeing for me. so healing. so invigorating.

but, i would never try to pressure my children to run. however, lily currently LOVES it. and while this just may be a phase, grandma pat saw the spark in lily's eyes as she ran with the that sense of freedom that only a toddler running at full speed can experience.

so, lily was absolutely THRILLED today to receive her very first full-on-running-ensemble from her amazing great-grandma pat. it was like christmas for lily opening the box this afternoon and we immediately donned the entire outfit.

and of course went for a run.

thank you so much, grandma pat. you made lily's day...




(jim, check out that stretching!!)

community:

married within months of one another. check.
first child, a daughter, born within months of one another. check.
second child, a son, born withing months of one another. check!

it is such a gift, and so rare, that our lives mirror our dear friends, the hammocks, so closely. we are so blessed that we have been able to share some of life's most amazing joys on such a similar timetable.

so, it was such a treat to be able to spend this past weekend together. the girls were so thrilled to have playmates and it was wonderful to relax together and encourage each other through our own experiences.

thank you so much, preston, kristi, ava & eli for making the trip to see us!!!

::grateful::

whit came to visit this past week as ry has been much more absent than present due to work. it was so very wonderful to have her companionship this week and it meant the world to me that she drove all the way here. and lily could not have been more thrilled. lily keeps saying, "where's my whit?" (note the supposed ownership there!) and saying, "hopefully she'll come back soon." thank you whit. we miss you so much already.

because 10 years from now, i know this will warm my heart...

not too far from our house, there lies a beautiful trail. it is two miles up the side of a mountain, er, foothill, i suppose. it is beautiful and has amazing bridges winding up as it weaves it's way to the top. it's not particularly steep, but it does ascend the entire way.

well, pre-lily, we thought we should go out there to run. somehow we never got around to it. post-lily, we again said we should run up it and then back down. yet, time got away from us. well, in my "i am reclaiming my body" phase, i decided it was now or never and we were running up it. however, it did seem like a silly thing for us to get a babysitter for, so we decided to conquer it with double stroller in tow.

today was the day. and we did it! (however, the grade proved to be a little less steep than i'd imagined in my excitement about the hard workout!) it was great and we all enjoyed it, but the best part was watching lily run part of the way back down. we often go out there to take a walk and last week we decided to let lily stretch her legs on the way down. we thought she'd walk alongside us for a bit, but she ran full speed the remainder of the walk to the car (which was over half a mile!) and it was pure joy for her. so, today we let her enjoy the downhill yet again for a stretch and she loved every second of it. i know that as my sweet one grows, memories like this will warm my heart...

seriously, where else would you see this but here??

humongous golf clubs.
an enormous golf ball and tees.
matching argyle sweater vests?
really, only here i think.

(photo credits to ryan... taken on the sly of course!)

a perfect september evening on the lawn. couldn't have been better...



and finn is so happy with his new trick of finding his hands!
and lily can do it, too, of course!!

first day of school...

and i think i had more jitters than she did!!

ps. she's in the "froggie" class and they get to sit on lily pads. perfect.

post school note: upon picking her up, she jumped in my arms and gave me the biggest hug and kiss and said, "i love you so much!" which was then followed by, "how was your first day of school, mommy?"
love it.

a little love...

dress up:

i have always enjoyed halloween, but have never been one of those people who's gotten really into it.

well, it might be the addition of finn that has gotten me fired up about halloween, but i've already started to think costumes this year. and also the fact that lily is seeming a lot more interested in dressing up, too.

i would consider myself to have a slightly creative mind, but the execution of my plans often leads to great disappointment. i have a beautiful picture in my mind's eye of the glorious project i am about to create, but then it almost always falls quite short. but not this time...

i am not sure what lily will be for halloween. a fairy? a ballerina? the tooth fairy? but, i was pretty sure that my 2 year old was due for a tutu. and she was, too. and this morning, she could not have been more thrilled than to leap and twirl around the front yard with her new tutu in place.


maybe i introduced it a bit early for halloween??...

don't be fooled...

my mom may appear all sweet and innocent, but the woman is a fierce competitor. don't let her smiles fool you.

i don't come by my competitive nature naturally. neither does my sister, whitney. we'd both rather keep the peace and make sure everyone has a good time.

well, i had promised my brother sam an apple pie while i was home. we took a trip to the local treasure of an apple orchard to get the perfect apples to make the perfect apple pie. somehow, while we were there, my mom got the idea that we should make TWO apple pies... one would be her's and one would be mine. then, the boys could judge who had made the superior pie. now, i am not afraid of a little friendly competition, so i jumped on board.

again, the woman is a trickster. we got home and had dinner and i settled in to make my pie. well, my mom decides to decline from her pie making duties and i realize the competition is over. it is just me with my lone pie. of course, i am still going to do my absolute best, but as i am not being compared to another sweet treat, the pressure is off a bit.

i am about 3/4 of the way through making my pie when all of a sudden, my mom is at the sink, fiercely peeling and slicing apples! a late entry!? this just doesn't seem fair. she breaks out her oldest and most tried-and-true cookbook (the one she used to make my dad gain some lb's back in the day) and combines two recipes to make hers all fancy! she decides to make her pie have a streusel topping and lattice work! i tell you, the woman is a competitor!

luckily, i did have one trick up my sleeve... my pie came out of the oven with a glorious "I-U" symbol on top and i scored some huge points with the boys. but, i tell you, we don't come by competitiveness naturally... they wouldn't declare a winner for fear of hurting someone's feelings!


my mom's pie is the pretty one on the left. you can't tell, but the "I-U" symbol on mine was quite lovely.


and several friendly golf games were had. i believe that many bets were made, one which included the losers hitchhiking home with no clothes and only a golf club head cover for modesty. yikes...

"lily, doesn't it feel good to be back home?"...

lily: "no, i want to go back to muffy and skippy's house!" (spoken on our first morning back home)

when we are in z'ville, there is NO shortage of fun, activity and attention that we all receive. our parents shower us all with so much love that it makes it so hard to peel ourselves away. this trip was especially fun for lily as she has reached an age that she is really enjoying all that there is to offer. i guess our water table can't exactly compare to the pool, now can it??


the children's museum was a huge hit. so much so that lily threw herself on the middle of the ramp to tantrum when she thought there was even a slight possibility we were leaving!










the zoo was such a highlight that lily now plays "pretend zoo" constantly!






finn hardly made it out of someone's arms the entire time we were there!


a little apple orchard action.


finn's first apple pickin'.




disappointing cucumbers... much to my dad's dismay!

now you can see why it is so hard to pull ourselves away!!

::thankful::

we could not have been more thankful and appreciative that our friends katy, david, ainsley & david made the trip to z'ville to visit with us. it absolutely meant the world to us and we are longing for them back here in c'ville again.
thank you all SO much!!!!!

with bated breath...

ryan's paternity leave finally rolled around as finn hit the 2 months old mark. and even though i was a bit unhappy with the arrangement immediately following his birth, it did work out quite well. we traveled to z'ville and finn met quite a few people who had been very anxious to see him!


finally!!


grandma pat just couldn't get enough time with finn in her arms!!


finn meeting colin!


stef came down to do some wedding planning (!!!) and hang out!


our amazing friends, katy and david, traveled 5 and a half hours to spend some time with us. ainsley was a natural!!


eric made the trek from columbus and it meant the world to us to get to see him!!




avery getting ready to be a big sister again!!

i realized after we left that there were several other people who i was sad not to catch on film holding finn. i guess that means we will just have to come back again soon!

thanks so much to all of our family and friends for making it such an amazing week!