Halloween & The Road2Hope Race

Here is the official Halloween costume picture. Can you guess who's who?

Ruthie is Hannah Montana, Shay is a fairy (with a sweater) and Malachi is Clarke Kent. So cute!

Halloween was an interesting day to say the least. First, we were all scheduled to be in a race that my uncle and aunt put on every year... very fun! The kids ran the 1KM in costumes with Rob and they did awesome. We're trying to get them addicted to running since they are Ethiopian and have a genetic disposition to be some of the fastest people in the world! You'd think that Ruthie would be the fastest, Malachi second and Shay third, right? Wrong. Shay is actually the best distance runner. She stays really focused, has great posture and doesn't sprint and lose her energy. She usually won when we were practicing and she loved it!

The other fun thing is that my aunt and uncle got running shoes for the kids and I mean, real running shoes, the professional kind. They are SO nice and SO fancy and it makes me sad how fast they'll grow out of them... but in the meantime, my kids thought they were the bomb and are totally appreciating the gift.

I ran the 5 KM with my mom. Why is she not with me? She finished 7 seconds ahead of me... because about 200m from the end I stopped to puke. That's right, I had the flu that day and was actually feeling pretty good. I could see the finish line and was going for it and then, yeah. But, I felt amazing after that and nearly sprinted across the finish line. And to be fair, my mom did stop when she realized what happened to me but I yelled at her and told her to finish the race so she kept going. Ah, that's going to be a good memory for a long time. Offiically, my time was actually 30:30 or so even though the clock says 31:40... if you've run a race, you know about clock time and chip time.

Yeah, it's a gross and sweaty picture but we were proud of ourselves.

Below is my dad, the 55 minute 10 KM runner who makes us all look weak and lazy. He's in his late 50s and is so awesome. Here he's waving at the kids and Rob who saw him along the route and were cheering for him.

Shay & Kai's First Field Trip!

I got to go with the kids to the Yee Haw Adventure Farm... so fun! There were so many JK and SK kids that we took 5 buses from just their school out to the farm. Isn't that crazy? Ah, but what a day. Pig races, hay ride, pumpkin patch, goat lofts... this place had it all and the best part was the look on their faces when they got to go on the bus. A definite fall highlight!

Thanksgiving and October.

Yes, my husband really did cook at 25 pound turkey. Yeah, it was amazing... and the company was even better.We had 4 generations at Thanksgiving dinner and it was the first one I've celebrated with my family in a decade so we LOVED it to say the least. Plus, I had my mom there to help clean up so it was like having 2 sets of hands or 2 brains. Wonderful. All tucked around our table is the Dunham 5, my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and my grandparents... and a LOT of food.

Let's just say that my grandparents are in love with the little munchkins. My grandma may be over 80 but she still reads the blog and prays for us. I think that's amazing.

And this is my brother Brad doing what good Uncles do, let their nieces and nephew beat on them. The kids are also in love with Uncle Brad and Aunt Thadeane, especially since their date to the movies and the corn maze!

And another good thing about being in Ontario is that I'm close to my childhood friend Cara... and when Erin, Matt, Vaughn and Greta come to visit (usually a couple of times a year), I get to see them too! Cara, Erin and I had a reunion a few weeks ago and this is the only picture I've got, me and Vaughno... I figure, Erin and Cara pretty much look the same year after year, Vaughn will look totally different every time I see him so we've got to capture these moments!

So, again, we really miss Etown and hanging out with friends, but there are some highlights around here that we've been waiting years to experience and that's cool too.

Rob's beautiful new artform.

The major difference.

This post is for parents-to-be, for people who want to understand the difference between life before kids and life after kids. People say that your life changes forever and that's true. But I don't think that means you have to become a totally different person! What I think they are trying to express is that the structure of your days is so different.

Practically speaking, before kids we did projects when we felt like it and now, projects happen after 8:00PM or in the 2.5 hours in the afternoon when the kids are in school or during the occasional Saturday afternoon birthday party that you don't have to attend. Things happen, but they happen SO much more slowly. A list of simple projects that you used to be able to accomplish in an inspired weekend have to be spread out over at least 3 weeks.

But perhaps that's one of the best things about having kids - some things slow down to a crawl and force the more important things to climb up the list.

Just thinking about that as we dragged drywall into our basement on Saturday... and blogging, by the way, is a post 8PM project too!

Tracy

A sigh of relief, a moment of ah ha.

I remembered this morning why we moved so far away from everything we knew and loved. Shay snuggled into me this morning while we were chilling out after breakfast and watching a concert on tv, sighed and said, "I love Kitchener". I asked her why she loved it so much and she looked up at me and said, "Because I love you." There was enough implied in that to know we made the right decision. Did I mention that she has completely stopped peeing her pants? I love Kitchener too.

Tracy

Junior Kingergarten 1, Kai 0.