Running amuck...

Ten descriptions of the past few days.

Whirlwind

Fun

Exciting

Fun

Tiring

FUN

Busy

FUN

Emotional

FUN

Yes. We have had fun. We have been going full speed. We have been enjoying life and living it to the extreme. Life is full... that's not even close to being the right description. 

As I blogged on Thursday, I had seven kids at our house for a sleepover. The kids did wonderfully. All seven of them were great (well, except a few times when Bailey ignored me and forgot to listen). They had so much fun. I think I enjoyed it as much as them. They were so cute. And, I was a little emotional... maybe because I knew that the babies weren't babies anymore. Or maybe because I knew that this was just the beginning of a lot of long nights of shrieking girls and wild boys. I think a lot of it was because I was reminded of my own childhood and I realized that so many things in life have come full circle. I'm now the mom who is giving the rules and letting them get broken for a sleepover. I'm not the little girl pushing the limits anymore, but am dealing with my little girl who is. :) Brad and I sat on the couch for a few minutes while they all played and talked about how nice it was that we knew they were making some of the best memories ever. The funny thing is, I'm not sure if they will remember it as fondly as I will. I hope and pray that we have many more nights like this in our future... that the kids will always love to hang out at our house. 

Some photo highlights for your viewing pleasure: 

On Friday, I braved the pool with all 7 kids. Sorry... no photos. :) I am sure you understand why. Haha. They were excellent and we had a great time. Actually... I do have one. :) 

That evening (yes, we are crazy for packing any more into that two-day period), we celebrated at the house with Dawn and Brandon, who recently sold their home and will be moving away. I say celebrated because I know that they are happy about this opportunity. However, I would be lying if I said that I felt anything like celebrating this move. I have mentioned it before that I moved around a lot as a kid. That means that I'm used to saying good-bye to people that I love and care about. It usually isn't that tough for me... not because I'm a cold-hearted bitch, but because I know that change is inevitable in life. Yet... I am not looking forward to them leaving. I mean, I totally support my friends in their move and I am so happy that it has worked out for them. BUT... I am so going to miss our evenings on the back deck, our impromptu get-togethers, and simply knowing that if I need someone to help me with anything, they are just down the road. Our friendship will not end, I know, but I know it will change some, too. And, that just makes me a little bit sad. Dawn, Brandon, and the boys are a big part of our lives... and we all consider them a part of our little Lexington family. It is so rare to meet a woman that you just love to death and then have her husband and your husband get along well... and the kids enjoy each other, too. We love you guys all so much... and hope that we all do what we say and visit each other a lot. :) 

On Saturday morning, we got up and the kids went to tennis lessons. Then, we straightened up the house, packed a couple of bags and headed to eastern Kentucky. We spent the evening with Brad's mom and her boyfriend. It was a nice relaxing evening. We were all exhausted when we left to go to my parents' house that night. 

On Sunday... we were all geared up and ready to go to the wonderful, incredible, amazing Camden Park. Now, if you don't know Camden Park, well... you just don't know what you are missing. :) It's a little bit rundown. It's a little bit old school. But it's the same old Camden Park that I remember when I was just a little girl. There's still the Hot Cat. There's still the log ride. There's still the Big Dipper. We all had a great time. The boys acted like big babies... getting sick over the spinning rides. I have to admit that age has done the same thing to me, but I could suck it up. Colt and Brad were just big wimps.... as these photos show. :) 

The kids had a blast. Bailey loved the Big Dipper. She will try anything at least once... although she assured me that the haunted house would not be visited a second time. Jake, on the other hand, is typical Jake... he had to warm up to the bigger rides and still refused to ride the Spider, despite his love for it in years past. Corndogs, funnel cakes, ice cream, and icees... oh, how I do love the carnival food. :) 

On Monday, we crashed. I mean, the kids and I did. We spent nearly the entire day inside. I didn't get up until almost 9. I did, however, clean up the house, did some laundry, and then actually made time to go for a run. Thank God... I finally got over the hump of never wanting to run again... and I ran 3 miles. The bug is back... I think. :) 


What does the rest of the week hold? Hmmm... it's too early to tell. But, I have to say... I love this summer. 

Labor Day Weekend

I normally like to plan things. Oh whatever... I know you guys know that. What? You couldn't tell that from the fact that I have a list to live my life by? Please. I know I don't have to explain my planning nature to you guys. You know how I am. I can't help it that I'm like this. I just am. 

Of course, my Labor Day weekend has been in the planning process for a couple of weeks. I had it all planned out. And it was packed with action. On Friday, we'd go to a t-ball game, get our boat out of the water, and then bring it to Lexington. We'd get up early on Saturday morning, take the boat to Louisa, go out on the lake there, camp out, and travel back to Lexington to go to a t-ball game on Sunday afternoon. Then, we'd have a cook out on Monday. 

Well, Brad isn't a planner. And sometimes his opinion actually does have some weight in our plans. You know, every now and then. Like, when he decides that I have planned way too much for a weekend. :) He said he was worried that he wouldn't have enough time to have a heart attack if he needed to in the weekend that I was planning. Whatever, Brad.

You already know where this is going, don't you? 

So... our weekend plans changed. The weather was too cool to be swimming/boating. And, my hubby took full advantage of that to get us out of camping out with the kids. Or get him out of it, because I was really interested in going. But, I wasn't dead set on it happening this weekend. Something about sleeping on the ground when it was actually going to be in the 40s on Saturday night just didn't sound that great.

But, I was NOT about to sit in the house all weekend and do nothing. Period. 

This is how our weekend actually happened. On Friday, we went to the kids' t-ball game (see this blog post for more on that). On Saturday, we got up, finished cleaning the house, and packed up the cooler. We hopped in the truck and made our way to Raven Run to spend the day hiking, picnicking, and enjoying the beautiful, cool day. It was wonderful. We hiked about 5 miles. The kids enjoyed it and did really well. Bailey walked all of it and Jake walked most of it. We saw butterflies and a snake (just a green one). It was the kids' first experience in hiking in the woods, which was funny for me. I never imagined that it would be a milestone for my kids to play in the woods. It is something we did almost every day growing up and it was definitely something that I loved. More than anything that I miss about the country, I miss being able to go and wander in the hills for hours enjoying nature. I love the peaceful quietness of the hills. Everything about it just relaxes me and makes me happy. I love to see all the little perfections of the world... all the things we forget about every day. So, needless to say, it was really nice to get out and enjoy this while being so close to home. Of course, once again, I think I enjoyed everything about this more than Brad and the kids. They seemed to have fun, but I always just feel like I am savoring it all a little more than them. :) I think it is just my personality or something. We finished the night with roasted marshmallows over the fire pit. A perfect end to the perfect day. 

On Sunday, we spent the day with family. My parents came down in the morning and hung out with us and went with us to see the kids play t-ball. Brad's mom, Kathy, and James came down to meet us at the field to watch the game, too. After the game, we hung out with them and went out for dinner. Then, they headed home and me, Brad, and the kids came home. We all had to get ready for our Labor Day celebration with our friends. (Really, we just wanted to lay on the couch and watch movies). 

And that brings us to today... we had a great time with wonderful friends. Cilla, Bret, Paul, Rebecca, Joseph, Dawn, Brandon, Jackson, and Carson all came over to have dinner, drinks, and dessert. The kids had a great time playing together (although I'm quite sure the boys will one day ambush Bailey for being such a tattle tale and a bossy big sister). The guys all seemed to enjoy hanging out in front of the TV, as they claimed it was too hot outside to eat out there (we know it was really all about the football game that was on). And I had a great time hanging out with the girls. It's so nice having friends to relax and be yourself with. I hope the girls loved it as much as I did... especially since we are planning a girls night next week! I can't wait. 

That's our weekend in a nutshell. Normally I would have been disappointed that my plans didn't come together, but I have to say, this weekend ended up being perfect. Maybe, just maybe, I'll listen to Brad a little more when he says I've tried to plan too much in a weekend. 

Errr.... nobody hold your breath on that one. lol. I also have control issues.

The Blog Evolution... or something like that.

My blog is evolving. I’m sure you all have noticed it. It’s transforming… spiraling out of control? Well, I might be a little dramatic, but hey, that’s what you get with me sometimes.

I started my blog at the encouragement of a wonderful friend. She inspired me by starting a blog about her children, their journey through life, and the ups and downs of parenting. I had been struggling to keep up with updates to friends and family who live out of town, scrap booking  about the kids’ different stages of lives, keeping up with baby books, and trying to keep my thoughts straight about how I felt about many things. Heck, I would have been happy if I could have just had photos printed before they were a year outdated. I wanted a place to air my ideas and thoughts, vent about crazy things that happen, and, well, you get the idea. So, Life with the Ootens was born.

I have sporadically updated it, trying to keep up with life and post about how we are handling different stages of our lives. I’ve posted daily for weeks and then spent months away from the blog, avoiding it entirely because I had too much to say. Until recently…

I can’t quite pinpoint what happened to make me decide that I wanted to live life a little differently. I could reel off a hundred different things that played a role in my decision to live by a “list,” but that would take a while. It’s easier to just say that I needed to do something new and set some goals. So, as you all know, I created my list.

Now, I’m at a point where I’m trying to decide how to reorganize my blog accordingly, so you might see some changes in the very near future. I’m pretty excited about it. No worries though… I won’t be losing any of the aspects of my parenting and updates on the kids. And, I will most definitely be posting about my list, my life, and all the struggles and successes that go along with it. After all, it is a blog about Life with the Ootens, as hectic as that might be. J I had contemplated separating my blogs into a family blog and a list blog, but it just doesn’t come naturally. There is no way to separate my life into neat little segments, no matter how OCD I am. The kids are definitely a huge factor in why I want to accomplish so many of the things on my list. It is important for me to be their mom (number 1), but more important for me to have an identity other than just their mom. So, it will remain one blog.  Sidebar – the idea that me being more than a mom to my kids is already taking hold. I am already seeing positive response from that with Bailey. She thinks I’m incredibly cool because I’ve been running. J She told my mom all about how I have been training really hard. So cute.

There are more things that I want to write about this whole blog evolution (as I am proclaiming it). One of the biggest reasons that I started this is because I wanted more from my life… wanted to help others… wanted to be on a mission to help my friends, my family, and myself to live the fullest life possible. You simply cannot imagine how happy I am that my very best friend in the world tells me this morning that she’s been working on her list... and she reads it to me. None of you understand what it means to me that you even read my rambling blog posts, much less to think that they actually impact your lives in the slightest way. She’s not the only person out there that’s made me feel like I am doing more than just egotistically rambling about how I want my life to be and what I want to accomplish (as if everyone in the world really wants to know). Another friend confided that she is contemplating her own run in the fall. Another friend is working on the soundtrack of her life (and I fully expect a blog to come from that – hint, hint). I keep getting wonderfully positive e-mails from you guys. You all inspire me to want to keep doing this. You guys keep telling me things on your list and I know that I’m never going to completely finish a list because you remind me of things that I’ve always wanted to do that aren’t on my list. Lol. 


All of you readers (I think there are three of you – just kidding) out there are making me so happy. I can’t wait to open my e-mail after I’ve blogged something. I hear you all encouraging me and it makes me smile. But, I have to say that what is making me happier is hearing about your different goals and “list” items that you are doing. It’s funny that some of you are worried that I’ll think you are “copying” me by doing things on your list. DON’T! I’m not listing these things so that no one else can do it. In fact, I think that might just be what I love the most about my blog in its new stages... I am finding common ground with people that I didn't even realized I shared with them. I am hearing fun stories about things they've done that are on my list or hearing about how I definitely need to make parasailing a priority for this summer because it really is that awesome. I think we all have a list that we have kept mentally. Most of us have never written it down or made it public. Most of us change it frequently, without even meaning to. If my list helps you mark things off your list, or even begin to keep your list, go for it! I would feel honored that anything I have done or will do could have a positive impact on someone else. But, please, I beg you… share, even if it’s only with me and you don’t want me to tell anyone. Because, THAT is what is keeping me inspired… that and my kids, my husband, blah, blah, blah. 


The list goes on… Literally.

Taking cues from a good friend of mine and the blogger who got me started on this, I thought I'd post some photos of the kids' artwork, toys that they love to play with, and some cute pics of them as they are growing. She's great about blogging daily and I love to read what is going on with her life. I wish I was more dedicated to my blog and was as organized as she is. She often posts pictures from a couple of years before on the same day... I'm doing good to have my pictures categorized into years. :) So... my tribute to Cheryl... thanks for always giving me inspiration to blog, talk about the good and bad things that we deal with as parents, and for making me feel like I'm "normal." It seems like every time I think I might be losing my mind or going crazy, Cheryl will post just the right thing to help me realize that I am just a normal parent dealing with the craziness of playing Batman or Spiderman for the 100th time in a day or answering the same question about our plans for the week for the 1000th time. :) Love you, Cheryl... wish we were better about getting together, but glad we have this connecting us still.


Jake has grown to love the snow this year... last year, not so much. He's enjoyed eating it more than anything (and yes, I have warned him about yellow snow). :)


One of my favorite memories of Bailey as a two-year old is that she would lay in our bedroom floor and "make snow angels." This was before she'd really ever made a real snow angel and she loved the idea. Now, she loves doing the real thing. So free and innocent.


If preschool has done anything, it has created a monster in my creative daughter. If I would let her, the entire house would be covered with drawings, glued up construction paper, and makeshift people. Thankfully, she is able to express her creative side effectively. Here is her Valentine's Day bag, complete with her "tons" of Valentine's. She was so excited about her party and proud that she had SO many Valentine's at school. Everyone loves her, she says (she does realize that everyone got the same amount, but it does not impact her confidence that she is well-loved). :)




Her snowman... she is happy with it since we have not had the right kind of snow to make a real one.


And, Jake's artwork. :) I drew the sun or circle at the top. Jake's artwork is more of an attempt to get the finger paint off of his hand. He's definitely less interested in art than his creative sister.


And, our most beloved toys... or at least Jake's. He's so in love with these three that we take them nearly everywhere we go. I love that he has favorites, but I do admit to being sick of them. I've contemplated hiding them, but he can remember when he gets up in the morning exactly where they were when he went to bed. How do I know? Well, if I clean while he's asleep and they are moved, I get questioned about playing with them. Yes, son, I really play with them when you sleep (insert sarcasm). lol. I will also admit how funny or not so funny it is that Jake can tell me lines that the characters say and can even pronounce Dr. Octavius (which was completely done so on his own, without encouragement), but cannot remember that a cow says moo instead of yee-haw (cowBOYS say that). We will learn these things, too, eventually. :)



More to follow... I promise.