Let's face it...she's cute

I (obviously) have four children.  But I only have one little girl.

She used to be a Zen baby.

Grandma Gausman & 6 month old Paige

Now, well, let’s just say the word most often used to describe Paige’s disposition on her daycare’s daily sheets is sassy.

Don't touch my Easter candy

And while she does love dresses (sometimes)

Note the shoes

She hates, and I mean HATES it when I try to do anything to her hair.  Now, I have found that (much to Carl's chagrin) if I let her sit on the counter with her feet in the sink she is marginally more tolerable of my attempts to wrestle her hair into adorable pigtails.  But sitting on the counter leads to grabbing the faucet, the cans that need to be rinsed out for recycling, and anything else she may be able to reach.

In Paige’s defense, her hair is a bit hard to deal with.  There is a lot of it and it isn’t stick straight like Matthew’s or even pleasantly wavy like William’s & Joshua’s.  She has inherited my not-quite-straight-not-quite-curly-stuck-in-some-horrible-in-between-place locks.  Her hair is impossible to comb, hard to brush & she’d rather just flip it out of her eyes than let me do anything to it.  She pulls out headbands & barrettes and little butterfly clippie things don’t stand a chance around her brothers.  So most days I just try to pull back the sides in a simple half pony tail and hope for the best.

But, she was beginning to look just a tad bit to wild-child for my taste 

And her bangs were practically under her eyes so the other day I picked her up early from day care and we traipsed out to my stylist for a haircut.  I warned her that she would need her fastest scissors for Paige.

But you know what?  That little booger did awesome.  She sat nicely and they even put a few layers in the back so it will lay a little nicer.  

So what's a girl to do after an afternoon of beauty?  Head for the nearest Starbucks for a cake pop & coffee (vanilla milk) of course!

Because she is Paige,  she wouldn't sit nicely for a picture so you can't really tell how cute the haircut is...but trust me, it is way cute.  And she knows it!

Kindergarten Looms

I’ve been inspired by my friend CB.  You see, he took an extended break from blogging but jumped in last week with a tale of his family’s vacation adventures. I’ve had great fun reading his postings  and it has made me realize I don’t need to make any magnificent reentry in to the blogging world, I just need to start writing.

But this time, instead of laboring over posts for weeks, trying to get it “right”, exercising all of my editorial prowess, I’m planning on just posting little tidbits here and there. (typos be damned). So, look for (hopefully) more frequent updates with snippets of our daily life.

So....kindergarten looms.....

Joshua starts kindergarten on August 17. How did this happen so quickly? In my head he’s still 3; 4 at the most. The mystery of the missing time will probably never be solved but kindergarten is coming just the same.

It was important to us that Joshua not have to participate in before and after school care. Not that there is anything wrong with before and after school care, it just seemed like too many transitions for Joshua. So, Carl & I have rearranged our schedules and practically moved heaven and earth to put us in a position where one of us (usually me) will take him to school and pick him up every day. As you can imagine, Carl & I are ecstatic. Joshua won’t have to ride the bus and we’ll get extra time with him before the triplets get home in the afternoon. And perhaps the most exciting part, I’ll be home earlier so maybe, just maybe, we'll have dinners that don't always involve the microwave & canned fruit. It is a win/win/win for all involved.

Except, Joshua doesn’t see it that way. A few nights ago we were talking about after school snacks. He told me he wanted to ride the bus and have his after school snack after he got off the bus. I told him no, I (or Daddy) would be taking him to school and picking him up.

He paused and said, “only for the first few days though, right? Then I get to ride the bus.”

I told him no, he wouldn’t be riding the bus (the four blocks) to school.

He then told me that because he couldn’t ride the bus I wasn’t his best friend.

Now, if that’s not gratitude, I don’t know what is! Someday you'll understand, my son.  Until then just look at it as an opportunity to get in just a little more Leapster time!

Coming up on 2

Hi everyone! That is, if anyone still checks this woefully maintained blog. I've been told that some of you do, so this post is for you. :)

In case you aren't keeping track, the triplets are about to turn 2 (and Joshua will be 5 soon thereafter, but that can't be possible.....). We have been very remiss about sharing pictures and haven't done a good job of trying to post out here. In honor of the upcoming birthday celebrations, I thought I'd post a few recent pictures. These were taken at their day care, and really turned out pretty well. Here we go....

The Fabulous Four

The Three Amigos

Joshua

Matthew

Paige

William

You may note that Paige had no interest in smiling when she was surrounded by her brothers, but was happy to smile when she was by herself. :)  

Anyway, we'll try to post some pictures of the birthday kids after the big day.  And I have a post to write (that has been waiting a long time to see the light of day) about where we've landed with Joshua's mix of real music.... So, hopefully there will be more here soon.  Until then.....

Fall pictures

We spent some time outside today playing in the leaves, and I thought some current pictures might be a nice addition to the blog. So, here you go.... Enjoy!

Joshua throwing leaves up in the air...

Matthew does his part to get the leaves picked up.

Paige enjoys the leaves!

William watches from the sidelines.

Paige is already looking forward to getting her license to drive.

Follow-up to the race

Hi all. Carl here again.  I figure if anyone read the last post that they might be interested in whether or not I survived the race (or maybe not). :)  Anyway, here's a quick recap of what happened.

Angie's team (Warriors 4 Angie) all met before the race. It was an amazing show of support for Angie, Jeff, and their whole family. I believe there were over 70 team members, and it was very cool to see everyone come out to walk or run in celebration of Angie. Overall, there were over 24,000 registered participants at the Race For the Cure. Watching this mass of people move down the road was truly something to behold.

I did complete the race, and I did so without having to stop or walk. So, that felt good. And I was there at the finish line when Angie and Jeff came across. What a wonderful moment. Way to go Angie and Jeff!  Keep fighting, and remember that countless numbers of people are praying for you. We love you guys!

This One's For Angie

Hi everyone. This is Carl. Tomorrow I will be doing something previously unthinkable. I will be running 3.11 miles of my own volition. For those of you who’ve know me long enough to hear my canned answer about running, no, it won’t be because I am being chased or because I am chasing something. It will be for a much, much better reason. That reason is our good friend Angie.

On May 17th of this year, Angie was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic breast cancer. It was found because Angie was having other problems with her health, which were caused by the cancer spreading throughout her body. In their normal way, Angie and her husband Jeff knew that no problem was too big for God, and they vowed to fight and beat this cancer with His help.

We’ve known Angie and Jeff almost as long as we’ve lived in Iowa. They have been a true blessing in our lives since we first met them and they continue to be a blessing to this day. Now, though, they’ve added “inspiration” to the long list of amazing adjectives that would describe this wonderful family. On August 31st, Angie and Jeff and their family received amazing news. Angie underwent a scan to see how the chemo was working and 99% of the cancer was GONE. The doctors were amazed and said that it should have taken at least a year of chemo to get those type of results, which still might have been unlikely at that point. Obviously, Angie and Jeff and family and friends were elated, and, in typical fashion, Angie is now working to knock out that last 1%. She does so with grace, patience, and a smile always on her face. Or so Jeff writes in their online journal.

You see, one thing we haven’t been able to do for Angie and Jeff that we’ve dearly wanted to do is to be there for them in person. If you are reading this blog, you already know why. But, we have continually prayed for them all, and we are so happy with how this fight is going. That’s what leads to tomorrow. Mid-summer, Jeff announced that they would be forming a team to run in the Race For the Cure in October. I’ve never been a runner (sorry, Dr. Patterson; maybe I should have taken you up on that offer (every year) to run cross country in high school), but I felt compelled to do this to show our support for Angie. Shannon and I discussed it and she supported my running in the race. She even thought about walking it with the kids, but then we thought about how many people show up for this (estimated 25,000 this year), and decided that wasn’t really prudent.

As a result, I became the representative for our family. I started training this summer* and I have continually been aiming towards one day: tomorrow. I owe Shannon a HUGE debt of gratitude. She has taken more than her share of nights to read books at bedtime, and to generally watch over the kids while I’m out running around the neighborhood. And tomorrow, she’ll be taking care of everyone while I’m off supporting Angie. So, thank you, Shannon. I love you. And I’ll make sure Angie knows how much we love and support her.

So Angie, from all 6 of us, this one is for you. Thank you for your amazing friendship. And thank you for the inspiration you have given us in the way that you have approached this fight and in the way you are winning it. Now go knock that remaining cancer out!

* Check out the Couch to 5K program if you are sedentary (as I was) and would like to start moving more. It really works.


*While I know Jeff and Angie will appreciate any new prayers that may come their way from this post, if you also feel compelled to monetarily donate to this worthy cause, you can do so here: Carl's Race Page

It's the day of the big game here in Iowa!

Here's our little Hawkeye cheerleader! Go Hawks!








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