The Third Battle of Winchester

Thursday evening, for Family Night, we decided to take the kids to the bike trails at the Third Battle of Winchester. It was the perfect evening, about 75 degrees (in July!!) and breezy. We had a lot of fun and did the approx. 4 miles in about an hour. It was quite different for the kids to ride on gravel instead of asphalt, but they did really well. Justin, of course, got to ride in luxury in the bike trailer and even got a short nap. Entrance to the bike trail.

Justin's ride on the back of my bike.


This was a really cool part of the trail where the trees make a canopy over the road. Sadie, of course, got scared because it was dark and a little creepy.
Justin enjoying himself on the ride.

It was a great activity to do together as a family!

Sadie's Dance recital 2009

On Saturday, Sadie performed in her dance recital for the Shenandoah Conservatory Arts Academy. This was her second year with the Arts Academy and we still love it, especially her teacher. She was able be in a class with her friends Molly and Olivia, and they had a great time. Wow, aren't the costumes beautiful!

Molly, Sadie and Olivia looking like real ballerinas!



Sadie after the recital.

Sadie's whole class after the dress rehearsal.

This is a video of the dress rehearsal. Of course, the performance was better, but they don't allow video recording during the real thing.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. Mostly because my husband and kids do everything for me and I get to relax all alone in my room and nap or read after church. This morning I got chocolate cheesecake brought to me as my breakfast in bed. I had requested a cheesecake for Mother's Day and figured instead of a big real breakfast, I might as well apply the calories toward my favorite treat. Just for the record, I do not usually eat dessert for breakfast! Then I got my gifts (a spa treatment gift certificate and some books) and cards from the kids. Sadie wrote a Mother's Day song for me that I absolutely love! I'm not sure what the tune is, but here are the lyrics:

Happy Mother's Day to you,

Happy Mother's Day to you,

Happy Mother's Day, let's shout "hooray!"

Thanks for all you do.

Happy Mother's Day wishes,

Happy Mother's Day wishes,

Have happy wishes,

We'll wash your dishes as you shout "Hooray!"

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I hope all you mothers have someone willing to do your dishes on Mother's Day. I'm sure glad I do!

The Bloomin' Mile

Every year Winchester hosts the Apple Blossom Festival. This is a BIG deal for a lot of people in the Shenandoah Valley. Kids get school off and there are 3 days of festivities. There are parades, a huge fireworks display (unfortunately it was cancelled this year due to construction), several races, a circus, etc. This is the third time Sadie has participated in the Apple Blossom Festival's kid's mile run, called the Bloomin' Mile. This year she ran it in 10 minutes and 58 seconds, better than her last two times!! She did a great job and we are so proud of her!

Sadie running the home stretch. Seeing us cheering her on really gave her a boost and helped her finish in under 11 minutes!

Justin made a new friend while we were waiting for the race to begin.

Isaac and Sadie found a tree to climb while we waited. Isaac stayed in that tree almost the entire hour and a half we were there!

Afterwards, we treated the kids to a dinner out and a trip to the bookstore since the fireworks were cancelled. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!

Justin's favorite toy

For Justin's 3rd birthday he got a geotrax train set. Then with his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Day, he picked out some extra track to add to his set. This has turned out to be his best gift ever. He spends hours every day playing with it and reconfiguring the track. Luckily we have an empty dining room that allows him to have it set up all the time.

Most of the time he doesn't even use the remote control, he just pushes the train around the track.

Easter 2009

I'm finally posting this years Easter pictures!! Sadie, Isaac and Justin had a lot of fun looking for their baskets and eggs.

They each received a Webkinz from the easter bunny.

Grandma and Grandpa Jensen came to visit the day before and Grandma helped the the kids color eggs.


They were tie-die. Pretty cool!
This picture was taken after church. Isaac wasn't feeling well, as you can tell. The poor kid was sick for the rest of the day and never really ate any of his Easter candy.

Girls Night In

Today starts spring break for our school district, so Sadie and a few of her friends had a great idea to kick off the break. A SLEEPOVER! They've been planning it since Monday, on the ride to dance class. So last night we had three 8-year old girls running (and I literally mean running) around our house until 11 pm. They did stop occasionally to watch a little bit of "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" and eat some popcorn and Orange Julius (Sadie's favorite). Overall they were really good and had a lot of fun. Then at 7:30 this morning they were up running around again!