September/October

Why I am so bad at blogging lately? I'm not sure. I hope to be better. It has been kind of a crazy stretch for us lately, but really--when is it ever not crazy?

Here's a bunch of recent happenings in the lives of the Atkin family...

I signed the two little 'uns up for a community art class. They loved it and it was fun to watch them. It was even worth all the glitter covering my house for a few weeks there. They just had different tables set up and the kids could do whatever they wanted.

Some of their creations:

Nate especially loved the play dough station that was up every week:

We met at my parents' house again on Conference Sunday. The day wouldn't be complete without some Grandpa-wrestling time:

My mom and dad both just turned 60!
We made them some books with 60 memories from their children and grandchildren.

They were a hit!

An afternoon at the local spray-ground:

We're definitely loving the weather here!

Two weekends ago we had a beach trip. We opted for a colder one this time that supposedly had good tide pools. They didn't disappoint! Unfortunately I forgot to bring sweaters for everyone. It was pretty cold. This is a picture I took as I shivered under a beach towel:

The cold didn't stop those four from exploring.

Some the critters:

This one loves to dig:

Secret reading hiding place:

Fun at the park

(I'm looking through these pictures and realizing that my kids basically wear the same clothes over and over. I just need to get rid of the rest of their clothes, I guess. Sheesh.)

I got to go on Natalie's preschool field trip to a local farm.
She fed some chickens, ate fresh tomatoes, and picked out a pumpkin.

I can't believe that it's almost Halloween. The rest of the year is going to fly by. We are starting to settle in more here. Eventually I'll get the pictures up on the wall. Question: How is it that a person can just hang things up in haphazard ways, or arrange random items on a shelf and make it look really beautiful? This is a skill I do NOT possess, and it's frustrating to me. So, I just leave things in a box in our front room. Joe really loves this habit of mine. :)

I am having exercise troubles lately: namely, I am not exercising at all. We had a scary incident lately, that I don't want to go into on here, that made me realize that I probably shouldn't be running in the dark in the mornings by myself. This makes me sad because I really love to run early in the mornings. I don't love getting up, but I love how it makes me feel. Now I don't know what to do so I am doing nothing. This has negatively affected many aspects of my life (it's amazing how crucial exercise is to my well-being). So--what does a girl do who doesn't like running on treadmills, doesn't really enjoy running with other people (I do like it every once in awhile, but I mostly like to be alone with my music/conference talks in the morning--I'm a loner I guess) yet who needs exercise to function? Run with the kids in the stroller? That is so hard these days (they are heavy!) and I've gotten lazy after getting used to running by myself. Videos? Joe and I have thrown around the idea of P90x. Should we do it? I would love any ideas/recommendations. I know what you're thinking---just suck it up and do something, Ashley! And you would be right.

Thanks for listening, blog.