Photography Class Favorite Shot #3

Ok so this isn't any creative photography shot but Brandy and I are having so much fun taking our class together that I thought I would include this one for this week.

Good Old Chuck

This is the last week of my maternity leave and I am soooooo sad! So this week we wanted to have some big fun, and what's bigger fun than Chuck E. Cheese? Nicole and I took the girls to spend the afternoon, and spend the afternoon we did. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours going from ride to ride, playing all the games and having a silly fun time.

Haylie and Kiley liked the driving games the best.

The girls were surprisingly afraid of Chuck - it was like the Easter Bunny all over again, so Nicole and I had to hold them.

Lea was a little climber - she wanted to do everything the big girls were doing.

You're not supposed to do that!!

Here's Haylie back at home with the prizes she won from her tickets. The whole way home she kept saying, "Haylie have a fun time with Kiley." She loves playing with her cousin and I love watching her have fun. I am really going to miss all the fun times we have had together over the last 3 months.

"Prayer Works"

This was Raider's pronouncement in the car this morning on the way to church. He was without crutches so Micah made the observation that his ankle (he had sprained it earlier in the week) seemed to heal pretty quickly, to which Raider responded, "prayer works." I assumed he meant the prayers that we have said for him before dinner, or the fact that he had added his ankle to our family prayer list so we could all be praying for him. But when we probed further about what he meant, he told us this story, which I had to share: On Friday at school he was sitting by himself, fumbling with his crutches (if you saw him with crutches you would understand - not very swift!!), when a Junior at his school came up and asked to pray for him. He stopped and prayed for healing for Raider's ankle on the spot. Since then, Raider says, it has been feeling better, and he is now convinced of the power of prayer, "prayer works!"

This morning there was an article in the Sacramento Bee about Micah's mom's lung condition. If you haven't seen it, click here. I loved how the article focused on her faith and that the intent of her prayers is not to get new lungs but that's God's will would be done. What a testimony to the world about the value and purpose of prayer; what a testimony about the power of God. My first thought when I read the article, although it brought tears to my eyes when it got to the part about seeing James grow up, was to count it a blessing to have such an amazing woman, an incredible spirit and such a great example in our lives! I must admit - I pray that she would get new lungs, that God would heal her right away and that she will be around to play with our childrens' children. I told Raider he needs to find that kid who prayed for him at school and get him to come pray for Grandma!!

Psalm 121 (A song of ascents)

"I lift up my eyes to the hills -Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip - He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you -The LORD is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm -He will watch over your life;
The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

Down By the River

Back when I was working Nicole used to tell me about all the fun things she would do with the girls during the day. One of the things she often talked about was going down to the river and throwing rocks in the water. I was so jealous because it sounded like such fun, something Haylie would really enjoy, and certainly much better than working!! Today we had the pleasure of joining Nicole, Amy, Amber and all the kiddos for some rock-throwing fun at the river! We took a picnic lunch and all the kids had a blast, well as you can see in the photo, James not so much, but he was good most of the time. Micah even got to come by and visit for lunch because we were right by his work. We LOVE when we get to see Daddy during the day! There are so many fun, free things to do in Sacramento and I love taking Haylie on adventures where she gets to try new things and most importantly smile and laugh a lot!!

House of the Injured

Add another Runner child to our injured list... Haylie has 2 weeks left in her arm brace with her broken shoulder, then yesterday Raider tripped at track practice and sprained his ankle. He is now on crutches, hobbling the around the house. He also skinned up his knees and palms; then today Haylie fell at the park and added an owie to her collection with a small cut on her hand (look closely enough and you will see the Dora Band-aid). I also fell down a few stairs the other day and landed on my toe, which has since been purple and swollen. Needless to say we are quite the injured, limping, crippled wreck lately. Not sure if it is a stroke of clumsiness or what. Micah is trying to keep himself safe and so far James seems unscathed. Certainly it is a reminder not to take our health and well-being for granted!

Thank You Jesus

When Haylie and I did our daily Bible Study this morning we learned about being thankful to Jesus. The story was about 10 men with leprosy that Jesus healed, but only one man came back and said thank you. "One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him..." Luke 17:15 - Or, as Haylie says, "He no say thank you, he no say thank you, he no say thank you....HE say thank you." So I asked Haylie what she wanted to thank Jesus for and here's how the conversation went:

Mommy: Haylie, what do you want to thank Jesus for?
Haylie: Thank you for Kiley
M: What else?
H: Auntie Nicole
M: What else?
H: Uncle Brian
M: What else?
H: Apples
M: What else?
H: Daddy
M: What else?
H: Thank you for our house
M: What else?
H: Thank you for church
M: What else?
H: umm, Jasmine (Of Jasmine and Aladdin of course)

Well that could go on forever so we decided to stop at Jasmine and pray and thank God for all the things that Haylie is thankful for. Not sure if Daddy will be thrilled that he made it after apples but at least he beat out Jasmine - that is quite the accomplishment in itself!!

I love spending time with Haylie learning more about Jesus - they are the most basic concepts in a preschool level book but even us smart adults could serve to be reminded about things like being thankful, sharing with others, showing kindness and being obedient. Thank you Jesus for our many blessings and the things you teach us every day.

Photography Class Favorite Shot #2

OK, the second week of photography class is done. This week we learned all about lighting - something I have been really struggling with. I will be experimenting much more but here is my favorite shot from our homework this week!

Hiking Mamas

Every week our friend Danielle organizes a hiking expedition for any moms that are interested. This week we were able to join in for a great little hike (it was actually just a walk because there was a nice paved trail) around the lake. Danielle got more than she bargained for with Nicole and I tagging along. What was supposed to be a 1 1/2 hour hike turned into 3 hours between bathroom stops, feedings, crying babies, etc. We had a fun time though and the kids really liked playing in the water at the end of the trail. The most exciting part of our hike was when we were nearly attacked by a flock of geese while trying to take a picture. Danielle decided to try scare them away as they were getting quite close during our photo shoot. However they were not to be scared and in fact turned the tables to scare us - ok scare me, I was up on the picnic table - they are surprisingly loud and aggressive!! We had a good laugh and I have included some photos of our geese friends. Thanks for organizing the hike Danielle!!

Baby James is 3 months old

Baby James turned 3 months old yesterday. Over the past month he has become much more interactive; he has started smiling and loves to talk to us with his cute baby sounds. This week he even started laughing - it is so fun to watch him grow. His favorite things include laying on his mat, sleeping in his swing and he has just started sitting in his saucer; he is even trying to roll over. Haylie is anxious for him to be able to play and Daddy is right there with her. Mommy is enjoying his sweet baby coos and loves cuddling with him when he is sleepy. Here are some recent photos of James and a video of his adorable laughing.

We Have a Runner!

This year Raider decided to join the track team at school. He has never done track before but he is quite the brave individual and willing to try anything. His primary event is the 100 meter dash and he's actually having a fun time on the track team - running - can you believe it?? Today was the first track meet at a nearby school so I packed up the kids to go watch "Bubba" run. Unfortunately the track meets often take place in the middle of the day so Micah couldn't make it. We found Raider shortly before his race began and as he lined up Haylie started shouting "Gooooo Bubba." She must have repeated it ten times when Raider turned his head and said "OK Bubba heard you." One of the other runners turned to Raider and said, "Oh are you Bubba?" :) We only made it through one race and then we had to head home for nap time (it felt like 100 degrees out there and both Haylie and James were crying by the time we left), but we had a fun time getting to cheer on Raider at his meet.

Professional Photography Here I Come...

OK sooo far from it - but I finally got off my roost and signed up for a photography class. Yeah! I have been wanting to do it for years so I am extremely excited!! My friend Brandy and I are taking a class on composition and lighting. We have only been to one class but already we learned a ton - things like aperture, shutter speed, light metering and all different types of photo composition. It was great because halfway through the class we all went outside and started taking pictures. The one below is my favorite of the shots from last night. We have homework every week to take pictures of the things we learn, so stay tuned, I will probaby post lots more strange artistic type photos over the next few weeks. Hopefully they will get better and better!

Arts and Crafts Time

Do you remember this from elementary school? I always loved arts and crafts time (still do) and I was remembering back to a fun craft where we layed on a big piece of butcher paper and drew ourselves. So Nicole and I recreated our childhood fun for the girls. Halfway through we had to tape the paintings to the wall because the girls didn't understand the concept of not walking all over them, plus Haylie only has one arm so she couldn't really lean over onto the paper. Haylie and Kiley had a blast painting themselves and Haylie was so proud of her artwork at the end that she couldn't wait to go home and show Daddy.

My Grandpa and Me

Haylie loves to go see Grandma and Grandpa. Most recently Haylie has become quite good buddies with Grandpa; as soon as she sees him, silliness begins to overflow from every part of her body - she gets all wiggly and squeaky - because she loves to be silly with Grandpa. Their favorite activity is playing ball. Haylie laughs hysterically when Grandpa bounces the ball off of her head and she likes it when he kicks it through her legs. Grandpa loves to be silly too so they have found a good match in each other.

Here's Grandma and Grandpa with all 3 grandkids at the park last night. We had a fun time kicking the ball, playing the drums with sticks that Grandpa found, and Micah and Raider even raced, with Haylie running as fast as she could behind them. Raider thought he could beat dear old Dad in a race across the park but Dad's not quite as old as he thought. Micah beat him and then collapsed :)

Sandy's Summer Clothes

Ok - so for the last few weeks I have been going crazy because all of my summer clothes, along with several other things (i.e. belts, etc.), had gone missing in our move. I have been going on and on about how I can't imagine what happened to them and how I couldn't possibly just lose all those clothes. WELL, today while in the garage, I was up on the ladder fixing something and on the top shelf what did I see??? "Sandy's Summer Clothes," - not only did I not find a random tub full of the missing clothes, but they were very neatly labeled, facing forward, in plain sight!!!!! Oh my - I am feeling like quite a smarty today! I guess its bittersweet because I was going to have to buy all new clothes.... :)

Walking Trails

We love our new home in Folsom. One of the many reasons that we have recently found are the gorgeous walking trails. We bought a double jogging stroller last week (at a yardsale for $15 - gotta love that deal) and since then we have joined the walking / jogging community in Folsom (we remain Runners only by name!). We have started exploring all of the trails around our house and I have been so impressed with the beautiful trees, flowers, streams, cute bridges, etc. It is so peaceful to go walking in nature and I love that it is just down the street from our house.

Once I get better at photography Haylie will be in for it, the walking trails provide great photo opportunities.

Here we are on our first jogging adventure earlier this week. Haylie kept shouting "Mommy Run!" - apparently she is now Mommy's personal trainer!

Make new friends, but keep the old

Today we went to visit with my friend Abbey and her daughter Claire. Abbey and I went to highschool together so it is fun to be in a new life stage at the same time. At lunch one day last year, Abbey and I announced to each other that we were pregnant, only to find out we even had the same due date (January 20). Abbey's daughter Claire ended up coming out a week earlier than James but both were by C section. It was fun to finally meet Claire and share baby stories. I was quite jealous because Claire is already sleeping through the night and James woke up every 2-3 hours last night!! What a blessing it is to visit with old friends.

Wanna-be

I am a wanna-be photographer! I would love to be able to take great photos. For my birthday last year Micah got me a fancy camera that takes better pictures in the auto-mode than I have ever been able to take before. But now I am ready to take it to the next level. After a very stressful 4 hour experience at JC Penny portrait studio, Micah and I decided we can take our own pictures of the kids and possibly any other family portraits we need. We started small with some fabric for a backdrop and have recently purchased some relatively inexpensive photo lighting to help, but I still can't manage to figure out what I am doing. I have finally resigned to the fact that I am not just a natural and I need to start looking for some classes or something. Hopefully I'll be able to find a class that helps - I absolutely love taking pictures and it would be nice if I could actually take some really good ones. In the meantime here are a few of the pictures I have taken that I am semi-pleased with.

"Go see Kiley"

Haylie's favorite thing to do is visit with her cousin Kiley - pretty much every day she asks if we can go see Kiley, definitely every time we are leaving the house she declares, "go bye, bye, see Kiley." It's always fun when I can tell her yes we are going to see Kiley. She gets so excited and absolutely cannot wait to play with her cousin. One of the best parts of my maternity leave right now is the ability to spend more time with my sister Nicole and her daughters Kiley and Lea; I know Haylie would agree.

It's quite a task to get our combined 4 kids packed and out of the house but today we ventured out to the Zoo. We had a great time looking at the animals and having a picnic in the park. Haylie's favorite animal of course was the monkey!!

Sentenced...

Poor Haylie received her sentence today... We met with the Orthopedic doctor and he gave Haylie a new sling and wrap that should stay on better...FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS. Poor Girl - I can't imagine having my arm strapped to my chest for 4 weeks. Haylie's arm is to be wrapped 24/7, sleeping, eating, everything - she can only take it off for baths and even then she is not supposed to lift it or move it much. I told the doctor she hasn't really seemed to mind much yet - she never complains about the wrap or wants us to take it off - he said that's because it hurts right now, but to just wait until 2 weeks from now when it has stopped hurting but still isn't healed. We are going to have to come up with some creative one-arm fun for the next few weeks!!

The One-Arm Bandit

Since our website is down right now and we are never at a loss for happenings with the Runner Bunch - I decided to start this blog. This past week Miss Haylie broke her arm - yes it is so sad! She fell about 5 feet from the top of the play structure at the park. We weren't sure how bad she was hurt so we watched it for a couple days but she just kept crying every time we tried to change her clothes or lift her arm. We took her to the doctor this weekend and after X-rays they confirmed she has a fracture in her humerus bone. Now her arm is strapped to her stomach and we have been putting her shirts over the wrap so she won't take it off. It is making life a little more difficult for her but she is quite upbeat about the whole thing and she was very hyper at the doctor's office - needless to say Mommy feels terrible. Haylie's first broken bone!!