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Saturday, October 20, 2018

September 2018

September started with a short and sweet birthday celebration for my dad, who turned 60 this year. We are so excited for him to retire soon and can't wait to spend more time with him and my mom!
I underestimated how large the cake pans were though; let's just say we had a LOT of cake left over. Good thing Dave and I teach primary at church and can share it with our classes.


Macy turned 7 months old on September 9th. She was not growing like she should have been at her 6 month check-up, so we spent the last month trying to fatten her up, and it's working! Over 6 weeks she gained 3 lbs and grew a couple inches. She's definitely still the sweetheart in our home and we could not lover her more.



We spent a large portion of our Saturdays in September at the soccer fields. Cole, Lexi and Clara all wanted to do it this season. Cole loves playing Goalie (mostly because he doesn't have to run up and down the field - the ball just comes to him), Lexi just loves doing everything, and we learned that Clara has quite an aggressive streak in her. We will see if that translates into a good soccer player or just a pushy sister... ;-)




Macy loved just being on the field watching everyone and being a part of things. We had a super warm September here in the Springs this year, so our little pop-up shade tent came in handy.



We finally purchased a piano for our home! Cole started piano lessons this past summer and is doing really well so far, and we will probably start Lexi this coming summer. Cole is enjoying having a real piano (instead of just a keyboard) to practice on though. Welcome to the family!


Clara is still a little sunshine. Most days she can be found playing happily with her dolls in whatever dress-up costume she has found or chasing after her siblings or friends. She does not want to be left out of anything and is deeply offended if you refer to her as anything but a "big kid".


Excuse the picture through the screen of the window, but I love the view out my laundry room window - little girls dressed up playing in our backyard happily.

Lexi has been invited to several costume birthday parties recently and she won't miss a chance to be a princess either.

I was getting ready and came out of my room to find Clara happily playing with all of her friends on our side table. I just adore her imagination and love listening to her pretend with her toys (including the princesses, ponies, animals, dinosaurs and Buzz Light-year - she doesn't want to leave anyone out).


The kids went out to pick wildflowers and brought me in this bouquet. Isn't it beautiful?! I think they're better at making an arrangement than I am.

I was working on my flowers in my courtyard when I found this beautiful but entirely creepy jumping spider on one of my purple cone flowers. I have never seen one in real life like it, but it kept jumping huge distances from plant to plant. I couldn't help but watch it for a long time, partly because it was fascinating and partly because I was scared to death it was going to jump on me.


This is the view from my stairwell at sunset. Can it be any more majestic?! I love living in Colorado!


Lexi tried BBQ ribs for the first time this month. She has a new favorite food!

Lexi's Kindergarten School Picture.

I love seeing the work that she brings home from school. This picture of my overly voluminous hair made me laugh.

She's still pretty proud of the fact that she can rider her bike with no training wheels now.

Cole's 2nd Grade School Picture.

Cole came home with this. I'm glad that his biggest worry right now is if I am going to make fish for dinner!

I regularly see work come home from school talking about one thing or another with his Grandma and Grandpa Blacker. He is making good memories with them.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

August 2018

Macy turned 6 months old on August 9th. Time has flown by with this sweet angel in our family. She's a great little sleeper, has such a happy temperament, and is cute as a button. We could not love her more!





Macy has a special spot in this little man's heart.


Macy is teething like mad.
Toes, fingers, and pretty much any type of clothing are her favorite things to chew on.

Clara wanted in on the pictures. ;-)

The beginning of our fall harvest. Our little garden has struggled this year. Hopefully we have a green house for it soon.

Cole started taking piano lessons for the first time this summer. His teacher, Mrs. Howe, is absolutely wonderful with him. She promised him any treat he wanted if he practiced five times a week for five weeks in a row. Cole worked hard to do that and chose a giant dirt cup as his treat.


Half the time it looks like we're feeding Macy dirt too...some of the baby food out there really is a rather gross color.

Right before school started the kids and I took a very quick trip down to Albuquerque to visit my parents and Shantae and Brandon. Lilly fell in the love with "the baby" and my older girls fell in love with Lilly. I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad were in love with all of them.






If toes aren't readily available a carrot will do.

The kids request monster cookies every time we visit now. It's a good thing Mom's decorating stash is well stocked!




Happy First Day of School!!!!

Cole - 7 1/2 yrs old, 2nd Grade, Mrs. Flynn's class

Lexi - 5 1/2 yrs old, Kindergarten, Mrs. Hammarquist's class 

These two are 23 months apart, but Cole is more than a head taller than Lexi. Clara and Lexi are also 23 months apart, but they're almost the same height (Lexi is a smidgen taller). People ask me all the time if they are twins.

Clara wanted in on the first day of school pictures, but she wasn't ready yet. It didn't seem to phase her. She had her first day of preschool a few days later.

Clara - 3 1/2 yrs old, Preschool, Mrs. Frieling's class

Lexi finally gets to ride the bus to school with Cole!


The kids new favorite thing to do is the swing on the tire swing at Fox Run Park. Needless to say, we have made many recent visits.

My lunch dates! Sometimes I just have to get out of the house.

Macy loves sitting on my lap while we wait for the older kids at the bus stop.

She is the third "little sister" to wear this onesie. So many little sisters in our family!


Clara got herself ready to run errands. I love this little ham.

Of course she had to buckle up her unicorn as well.

Happy 38th birthday to the love of my life!

We thought we would do something different for Dave's birthday date, so we went to Overdrive, a high-speed go cart race track. It ended (really started - only made it one lap) with me in a bad crash and getting CT scans all night because some crazy man didn't know how to drive. Totally ruined go carts for me. :( Unfortunately it kind of ruined Dave's birthday too. Sorry sweetie - next year will be better, I promise!


Dave's coworkers decorated his new office for his birthday - so sweet! He has officially moved to the Memorial North Hospital, and we could not be happier. Only 10 minutes away from home and lots more flexibility with helping get the kids where they need to be for all their various after school activities.

Happy girls playing together.


One of Dave's coworkers got married at the Broadmoor Resort in August. It was the first time that either of us have been to such a fancy wedding. We had fun getting dressed up and having a night out with out kids.



Macy's first time in a swing. She's not quite sure about the actual swinging part, but she loves being on the play set with the big kids. 

We found a new area of Garden of the Gods to explore. So much beauty right here where we live.

Dave had a morning off of work so he, Clara, Macy and I climbed to the top of Pulpit Rock. It's a beautiful little trail and hiking area right in the middle of Colorado Springs. Clara has turned into a mountain goat this summer!

We took the kids to the Discovery Canyon Campus Community Social this year, and they had a blast. Free food, bouncy houses, and meeting the Thunder mascot (What kind of mascot is Thunder??? It's a sound, not even something you can draw...).



Lexi learned how to ride her bike without training wheels!!!! We couldn't get her to hold still long enough to get a good picture, but here she is rocking it.