We're still here!

 So I've been REALLY lame about taking pictures lately. I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I feel like I spend all my time shuffling my kiddos to and from school, feeding people, and trying to convince the little guy to sleep enough so he doesn't become our little Tazmanian devil. Which, by the way, is NOT making him sound worse that he becomes when overtired. This whole boy thing is a bit crazy sometimes (He doesn't stop moving anytime, anywhere!). But here are a few things we've been up to, along with some random pics of the little guy:

1. Both girls ran in an elementary school cross country race last Thursday. It was a huge affair with 3+ elementary schools involved. Just imagine the chaos of all those kids! They both ran in the K-1 division. You should've seen the start. They were all cram-packed together and there were so many out-of-control collisions and unintended tackles. Oh well. It was just on grass at the park. But they both ran their hearts out for the .6 mi course and J placed 5th for her age girls, and got a ribbon which, of course, will be treasured forever (to give you an idea of how many kids there were, M placed 83rd in the K/1st grade division. She did have the disadvantage of starting after everybody else because she got trampled before it even started so we pulled her out and let her jump in after they'd all gone by, but she was by no means last.)

2. J's growing up too fast. Today she requested that I please put metal spoons in her lunch instead of the IKEA colorful ones because her and her friends think those are for babies.

3. She's also got a little too self-conscious. She does not want anyone at school to know her nickname is Jelly because "they would probably laugh at it. Please don't tell them!"

4. I volunteered at M's preschool to teach a fun Eric Carle art project. Check out their awesome "very hungry caterpillars." It was a blast, although I definitely need to brush up on my Spanish a bit! Vocab such as tissue paper, glue, and caterpillars just wasn't coming to mind! Can't imagine why. Used it all the time on my mission :) Or since.

5. Dude is walking. As a trick. We have video, but let's be honest, i don't know how to put it on here. Hopefully Coop can soon. It's adorable, and he really loves to do it to show off (he makes sure everybody is watching the whole time), but really does just think it's a trick like blowing kisses or clapping hands. Crawling is for getting from point A to point B. Lazy boy.

6. We went to Bend for the weekend because Coop had a work conference there, conveniently 10 minutes from my parents' vacation house. Fun times! No pics. Sorry! Bopa introduced the girls to mountain biking though. Ai yi, yi!

7. The girlies started a tap/jazz class. Hilarious. Love how they think they're doing the right tap moves as long as they're making noise!

8. We're done canning for the year (we might've got a bit ambitious this year, and by we of course I mean me, but hey, if the world ends, we'll at least have fruit for a long time - which by the way, whenever I use any food storage in an effort to rotate, J gets very distressed and says, "Mom! What'll we do on a rainy day if you use that all now?!"). Hallelujah for being done. I know Coop seconds that. Loudly. Although the fruit flies that have taken up residence in our kitchen are a bit disappointed.