Growing Everyday

About a week ago, Jared went on his first fieldtrip to Cool Creek Nature Park. He had a blast there but we didn’t get a chance to walk the trails. They had us doing too many activities. So today the family decided to go back and walk some of the trails. It was a beautiful day to be outside.

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As we walked through the woods, Jared decided he was the leader, so most of the walk all we saw was his back. Oh I guess I should explain the backpacks. We have been reading The Magic Treehouse books. In those the main character, Jack, takes a backpack with him on all his adventures. So, naturally, we had to take backpacks with us too.

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It really was a beautiful day here. And the creek runs through the whole park. You are either walking beside it or going over it.

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After walking for an hour the kids were tired. So instead of taking the path back, we deiced to take a shortcut across the creek. The first attempt Jared fell in. The second attempt went smoothly and everyone (including mom) made it across. I absolutely love the first picture of Beka and Jared on the rock.

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The nature center also has a playground. So even though the kids said they were too tired to walk any further, they had enough energy left to play on the playground awhile.

The high school cross country team puts on a free race every year for kids from kindergarden up through high school. Beka decided that she wanted to run in it, so the last few weeks, she and I have been “training” for the 1/2 mile race. I was very impressed the first time we went out that she was able to run the entire circuit around the lake without needing to stop and rest.


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She ran her race on Saturday and we were all really proud of her. She did a great job.


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First, yes I stink at updating the blog. Life has just been chaotic with settling in and trying to figure out where all the basics are.

So far, Indiana is different. It isn’t bad, terrible or horrible. It is just an adjustment. The people are friendly enough and everyone tends to be helpful once they find out you are new here. But it isn’t home yet; it is getting closer but not quite there yet.

Second, onto the kids. Beka is doing great in school. She is excited even anxious to go everyday. She has made friends there and here in the neighborhood. There are 3 kids so far that she seems really close to. One of the kids in the neighborhood is a friend to both Beka and Jared and spends a lot of time over here. Jared is just as excited about school as Beka. Jared’s school is pushing his limits and it is great to see him meet the challenge and excel. Jared’s teacher is all about critters too. So far, Jared has had a frog, fish, tarantula, snake and mice in his classroom. Every school day, Beka and Jared ask if there are any animals in the room. Right now, Jared is all excited about Halloween. Not about the candy, though, he is all about the dressing up.

Third, Andrew is absolutely estastic about his job. Since that was the whole reason we moved here, that makes me pretty happy. He once again enjoys going to work. He doesn’t carry around tension all the time.

Lastly, me. I have settled into my routine. It is different being one of the very few SAHM’s in the subdivision. I actually had one kid tell me I had to work because all parents work. He had no understanding of me just staying home to raise my children. Since I am “just at home”, I have become the back up plan for some of the working families. I really don’t mind. The children are all getting to know me and I like that.

I forgot to mention, we once again have a praying mantis as a pet. We have kept it alive long enough for it to have actually laid an egg sac in the aquarium where we keep it. Beka and Jared love it. Beka name it Manti and both of them are diligent about finding crickets for Manti to eat.

I am putting some pictures at the end of the post just because I like to put pictures up. They are all pretty self-explanatory. The one of Jared was his first day of preschool.

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