Random September/October Pictures

Mini golf with Rick's squadron.  

Logan was so very distracted.

Evan enjoyed throwing the balls in the hole.  Thanks for that buddy. 

We also went bowling as a family.  What an experience.

He had a lot of fun pushing it down, and then it went a mile an hour. 

concentration

Their favorite part was watching the balls come back.  

Logan was a lot more forceful pushing the ball down. 

Playing at the Air Force Museum.

Logan pointing out the plane.  His favorite place in the whole world.

Evan feeding the animals at Young's Dairy.

Keeping Sadie out of their fort. 

Sadie found Logan's pile of M&Ms.

Logan's psycho face (of Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" face?")

Someone got his blonde locks cut.

Sadie loves eating real food.  Peas are her favorite.

Logan's been watching Project Runway with me too often.

I don't know where we are here, but this has to be one of my all-time favorite pictures of Evan.  

Logan got us kicked out of Evan's speech/occupational therapy waiting room office (just kidding, I kicked him out).

Sadie's sassy face.  She really wanted that gelato. 

Renaissance Fair and September

We went to the Renaissance Festival one Saturday in September.  We had a great time, even though the boys got upset after a couple of hours because we ran out of money for them to use to go on rides.  Ha ha.  Oh well.

I have to say, the one thing I don't get about the Renaissance Fair right now are the raccoon tails.  What?  People wearing raccoon tails.  I just don't get it.

Rick and the boys on a ride together.

Curmudgeon Rick

Evan the waif.  Look at that smile. He's got the best smile.

These two were so proud of getting on the ride all by themselves.

Evan and Logan ready with their swords. 

Logan the waif.  

Sadie was there too.  She slept most of the time, so she wasn't all that impressed. 

We had a fun time.  The Renaissance Festival is so a Rick thing though.  I get so bored after an hour or so there.  And it's always the same stuff each year.  blah.  The kids have fun, so that's more important than anything else.

DC Trip

Rick had a TDY back in August around the Dulles area of Virginia/DC.  We stayed with Rick at a Wingate hotel.  It was super fun.  I planned a bunch of meals to do in the hotel room, and we had a great time.

On Thursday night, we spent the night with Sarah at her and Kristina's house in Arlington.  We had a grand time.

Here are a few pictures of that trip.  Sarah was so happy to have us come and visit.  And Evan and Logan (well, at least Evan) enjoyed seeing Sarah and spending time with her!

Aunt Sarah holding Sadie. 

Logan swinging at the playground by Sarah's house.

Evan pushing Logan in the swing.

Sarah and I with the littler ones. 

Logan and Evan fast asleep. 

Sadie swinging as well. 

Aunt Sarah holding Sadie at the mall.

 We also went berry picking.  I don't have many pictures of the actually picking process, which didn't last long.  It was pretty hysterical to see them.  At the end, Logan was sitting on the ground and eating all the blackberries that he could.

All of our rapsberries, golden raspberries, and blackberries.  I had to freeze several pints so that we would have some for the jam I am planning on making.    

Anyways, a little bit more about our summer.  Still working on catching this blog up.  Yikes, taking forever!

Maria's Wedding

This summer has gone by in a total blur!  Evan had some evaluations to do before preschool started.  He missed the first two weeks of school this year because we went on our long planned vacation.

We drove out to Phoenix the end of August for Rick's sisters wedding.  We originally planned on stopping three nights each way, and getting home on the fourth day.

Picture by Maria's Photographer.  She did a fantastic job.

All of us looking in this one.

The whole Chappell family all together.  What a great picture. 

But on the way out, we got to Albuquerque (our stop for the third night) before 3:00, too early to check into our hotel.  Instead, we powered through and got into Phoenix that night.  It was totally worth it, because we got an extra day with Rick's family before the wedding.

The time on the road wasn't too awful.  In fact, it was actually pretty good.  Sadie wasn't completely on solid foods yet, so we had to stop every three hours to feed her.  Evan does not like going potty in public though (this excludes Target restrooms;  I guess we're there so often it's not considered a strange place any longer).

Rick and Sadie together.

Reception area set up at the church

Another look at the Cultural Hall

Evan trying to figure everything out. 

Uncle Brad fast asleep in the car on the way back from the temple.

Rick and Logan out to eat after the sealing

We got pupusas one day while visiting!  So good.

Aunt Glenna asleep at the same time as the boys. 

Logan was in a bad mood for the first part of the reception

The quilts as gifts for Maria and Scott.

It was so lovely spending time with family.  Rick and I went to the temple together, which we haven't been able to do for a while.  We ate yummy Mexican food and In-n-Out, of course.  The boys also got to spend a lot of time with their cousins, which is always nice.

We got back a day early as well.  We enjoyed a lot of fun---and the heat wasn't too bad to handle, either.  Probably because it's dry.  I mean, living in humid places makes everything so much stickier.

But this past summer in Ohio has been pretty cool, so it was almost a nice change of place to go somewhere a lot warmer/hotter.

Anyways, we're glad that Maria and Scott live so close to us in DC.  Sarah lives there too, so it's very nice we now have more family in the DC area and so close to us.

Simplicity

Lately I've been thinking of getting rid of facebook.  I feel like the only reason I really keep it is to put up pictures of the kids for my mom.  I am just over all the ugliness.  Facebook is wonderful, wonderful for keeping in touch and staying connected to people.  But I hate how mean people can be.

I hate what I see as "mommy wars".  I have one friend that posts a blog about how she doesn't care she's the mean mom.  And then another friend posts an article about how you don't need to be the mean mom for  your kids.   Aren't women hard enough on each other as it is?  What works for one mom may not work for me.  Is it really that big of a deal?

Also, all the body wars. Those suck.  Pictures of heavy woman saying how hard it is for them to be skinny and their low self esteem.  And then people picking on really skinny women, saying that they're not "real women" because they aren't as curvy.

It's just all so, so stupid.

I have more important things to worry about than what an acquaintance feels about the way I raise my children or the fact that I'm overweight.

Moving forward, I think I am going to really try to simplify my life.  I've been becoming slightly obsessed with my body image, something I've never really worried about before and I think part of it is because of what I see on the internet/facebook/social media. And stress is never a good thing to hold onto when I am trying to get into shape to be a healthier person.

I'd like to try and just focus on what's most important:  Rick, the kids, family, church and my health.  I think sometimes I get so caught up with what everyone else is doing, I forget to live for myself.  It's kind of hard for me to admit that.

I don't know---I feel like facebook can be such a wonderful tool, for sharing the gospel, keeping in touch with family and contacting people, but it has such an ugly side to it as well.  And right now, I'm finding I don't have much time for ugly.

Since I was put in as primary president, I am constantly thinking about the church, the organization, the kids, the teachers, the program, etc.  I've found that I have to prioritize things all day.  So, Rick, Evan, Logan, Sadie and then church, including my calling, personal prayer and scripture study, and then my own health as well. That includes mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health.

I've always had pretty good self-esteem.  My body is amazing, and I am so grateful to be such a healthy person, I just hate the pressure that our society seems to force on women to be thin.  I've always held off on things, like kayaking, biking, or other physical activities "until I get thinner".  I've been punishing myself for a number on the scale, something that doesn't define my self worth.  I wish that sometimes I can see myself as Rick or my kids see me.

Anyways, this week I went through my closet.  I've also been one to never dress all that stylishly, because I wanted to "wait until I'm a size _".  Well, no more.  HA HA.  I am so impressed by the confidence shown by women on pinterest who post pictures of them in their outfits, and they are so cute and confident.  I gathered all my clothes.  The size 10 and 12 jeans were mocking me, along with all my other cute pre-pregnancy clothes.  I took them to Plato's closet to see if they'd give me any money (ha ha...I got $20, that's it).  I am just tired of looking frumpy and frazzled, and I am determined that I can look a lot nicer everyday.

I am planning on posting all of my new wardrobe finds (Rick is really, so sweet and kind, he is all for making me happy...so amazing).  This girl's blog is so amazing.  http://www.puttingmetogether.com/p/wardrobe-from-scratch-series.html  I know what to look for now while I am shopping.  Before I have just picked up what I liked without real thought of what it would go with.  My goal is to get a good, minimalist wardrobe going, with clothes that I can use in a lot of different ways.

Anyways, this started as simplifying my life, and ended on how I am going to try and be more stylish.  Sorry for the rambling.  HA HA.

This past weekend

We had a really busy weekend.  On Thursday, Rick got off work early.  We have been talking about getting a dog for a little while now.  Rick has been looking at available dogs online from shelters.  Well, we saw this beautiful dog, a shepherd-corgi mix.  His name was Roscoe and he was adorable.  We went to the shelter to check him out.  And, he isn't a fan of the kids.  So he was nixed off the list.

We saw a few other dogs.  The most enthusiastic dog that was super happy to see us was a labrador/mastiff mix.  He's huge and was jumping at his kennel the entire time, wanting to come out to play.  We asked to meet him.  His name is Sharkey, and we fell in love.  We decided not to take him home on Thursday evening, just because we wanted to think about it a little bit more and we were planning on going to the zoo in Columbus the next day--it wouldn't be fair to bring him home and then leave him there all day by himself.

So, on Friday we went to the pancake breakfast at the church and then headed to the Columbus zoo.  It was free this last week for military families, so it was super packed.  BUT, this zoo had penguins AND cheetahs.  Ah-mazing.  I love cheetahs, and I don't I've ever seen penguins in a zoo before.

Evan's favorite was the turtles.  He was crying when we left the reptile house (with the turtles in it).  He also liked the "kitty cat" (cheetah).  He was also a big fan of the ice cream cone that he got while his younger siblings took naps in the stroller.  Sometimes there are perks to being the oldest.

Logan liked everything.  He was super enthusiastic the entire trip, and walked with Rick the entire morning while Evan was a lazy bum, getting a ride in the stroller for a few house.

We were exhausted, but headed to the lego store on the way home.  I think it's an understatement to say that my boys love legos.  They are completely smitten with Legos.  They each got a small set and we went home.

That night, Rick went to Walmart and bought a bunch of stuff for the dog.  After a lot of thought and contemplation, we decided to get him!   Now our family is complete!  (at least for now).  He's such a good dog.

He had a good day on Saturday, and the boys were sick so I went by myself with Sadie.  I've been feeling super overwhelmed lately---on Sunday I was called, sustained and set apart as our  ward's primary president.  I am super nervous, of course, but I love working with kids, so at least I have that going for me!   So we're super busy around here lately, but I have been trying to take pictures of the kids everyday.  They just grow so fast.  Sadie also turned 4 months old on Sunday!  Crazy.  She's becoming such a big girl.  I love her.

Fishies! 

Evan petting a snake.  So gross

On the way.  The construction on the freeway was noisy for Evan.

Enjoying his ice cream cone.

Fast asleep in the stroller.

Grumpy on the way to the zoo.

They love turtles.

Just chilling.

Rick wearing Sadie.

Camera flash + Dark room=BIG EYES

Logan and Sadie looking at reptiles

Sadie fast asleep in her car seat in the stroller.  

Big Boy

Just chilling (like the whole length of our couch!)

So, we had a very eventful, lovely fourth of July weekend.