MAYLIN2007

Mom this is for you!  http://austinmission.blogspot.com/ Today was the Kiss Me Dirty Mud Run that helps raise money for women's cancers. I did it last year and had a blast. This year, I did it with McKenzie. We asked another mother/daughter that we are friends with to do it with us. It was so fun! We had a great time together. This year was a lot more fun. I think I enjoyed it more because I knew what to expect, even though they had new obstacles, and I was with people I know and love so it made it more relaxing and I felt more comfortable. My hip was hurting, so that stunk. Every step I ran hurt. I hate it when my hip gets like this, but I grinned and bared it and concentrated on the fun! Here are some shots. Alex followed us around the course so he got all the action. I know there are tons of photos, but bare with me and enjoy them. It was hard to choose out of the 159 photos Alex took. Kenzie just flies over with ease. I did much better over the wall this year. ...

I have been noticing in Maylin lately that her face is different. It isn't that little baby face anymore. In fact, it isn't even that little girl face anymore. Her face looks grown up. She looks like a girl. She is so beautiful and I love looking at her, but this change has made me sad too. I feel like the 6 1/2 years with her have just flown by. I have been asking myself if I made the most out of that time. Did I spend enough time with her? Did we do enough together? Do I really know who she is? Did I teach her enough? I hope so. I obviously can't have that time back. I have been putting in my phone little things about her, things she does or says. I don't want to forget them. I finally pulled them out of my phone today and wanted to get them on her, where they will go in book form at the end of the year. I don't want these memories to slip away like the time has. First: Maylin loves to order at the drive thru. I have to pull up and she orders for everyone. So...

 Alex has been growing a lot lately. I mean a lot. We had to special order his school shoes this year. He hit size 14 so to get the color you want you have to order. They came today. The girls had so much fun walking around in his shoes. They could hardly lift them. I stood next to him today and he took a picture. I couldn't believe what has happened over the past couple of years. Where did my little boy go? Here are Alex and I at the end of his 6th grade year. Here we are two years later at the end of his 8th grade year. I am freaking out that he will be in 9th grade this year! Ugh. I'm pretty tall. I am 5'7". He is 5'11".....pushing 6 foot.

 Jay's brother's family came for a visit in July. His son that is Alex's age stayed the whole month. They had a blast going to Especially for Youth, swimming, toilet papering, playing games, checking out girls.....you get the idea. The other cousin's only got to stay a few days. Each of my children have a cousin there age that belongs to this family. Maylin has the biggest age span of 18 months, but everyone else is less than 3 months apart. It is great. For one activity we went and got real, authentic Hawaiian Shave Ice! Yum. We then spent time at the lake. It was over 100 degrees so it was a perfect activity. The girls took a bit to get in the water, but had a good time when they did. The boys, of course, became fully involved in the water and sand. Here are the girls inching their way into the water. Maylin helps bury her cousin in the sand. They made him into a mermaid! Yep, a mermaid. Alex get s a turn being buried. He gets turned into a ...