My little chefs

We watch a lot of food channel at this house, specifically Iron Chef America and Chopped. So naturally my kids are always making creations and asking me to judge. These pictures from Thanksgiving pretty much say it all. I love these kids and even though we couldn't be with all of our extended family on T-day, we still cooked the whole spread and had a sweet day with just the six of us!

We are happy when we are in water

Swimming in the irrigation. Who knows what is in there?!

Notice they have their clothes on. They just started stripping and jumped in.

Ella was happy to captain Dash around

Swim team in the cold!

My little diver

Ashley makes me go down the slide all day long

Best buds

Still doesn't love the water. He is slowly getting better.

This is the look you get when you wake her up to go to the pool

Every man needs a tractor, or so I'm told

For months Kyle has been talking about a tractor. (He needs one. He wants one. It is tax-deductible.)

He even asked for one for his birthday. His mom is a very smart lady and got him a toy tractor. He liked it but kept asking for his real one. Over dinner all he could talk about was a tractor. And then the next morning. And then over lunch . . .

I told him heck no, forget about it, maybe in awhile, maybe after our kitchen was remodeled . . . you get the idea.

Then after our five billionth "discussion" on the  matter he went to work and I went to get the kids from school.

All I could think about was "Will the kids remember my fancy kitchen or will they remember having a bike track around our house?"

Jeez, moms are always taking one for the team.

So I pulled into John Deere and told the guy I'd buy it right then if he would drive it to my house.
And so he did. And so I did.

Luckily I bought the right one. Kyle was very surprised. And happy. And ecstatic.

All weekend he kept sending me texts like, "My life is complete."

I will keep you updated on the progress of his master plan. There is a small mountain of bushes and trees outside my house from using his new toy all weekend.

Happy Birthday, Kyle. I probably won't top this one for awhile. Love you tons!

 

Home stretch of the bike track

  

Time to start blogging again

Hello there. Long time no blog. Thought we'd catch you up on a few Gillespie happenings.

-Baby A is growing up. She is into everything. Her favorite words are "thank you" and "Dash". I could also swear she said QUESADILLA the other day. She just barely started sleeping through the night, hallelujah! She lights up every time we go outside. She loves the outdoors and riding her Y bike. Even at one she knows she is a Gillespie. We all love her to pieces. Even when she empties out every cupboard she finds and climbs on tables and hides the remote.

-Dash took off his training wheels this weekend and is starting to get the hang of his four wheeler. He loves playing baseball, especially when all the kids are at school so no one can compete with his turn to bat. He tells me he loves me 10 times a day, which never gets old. "I love you, Mom. Give me a hug and a kiss!" One day, the kids and I were talking about dating and how boys should treat girls and girls should treat boys. Ever since, Dash opens my car door for me, and then walks around to the other side and gets in his car seat. It is so darn cute and he is so darn proud that I don't have the heart to stop him.

Every night includes a book before bed. He loves Kyle during the day but I am his girl at night. "Mom will put me to bed." And so I do.

-Kate can name all 50 states and all 44 presidents of the U.S. Sometimes we add Romney for fun at the end, and then we laugh so we don't cry. She shaved her legs the other day without telling us. "Mom, look, they are just so smooooooooth." Who can blame her? No one wants hairy legs but I told her in the future she needs to ask. She has gotten 100% on every math test since January and has been thriving at school. Share days are her favorite: last week we woke up at 6:00 am to find frogs and salamanders because we had nothing left cool in the house to share. Even though Kate is six, sometimes I think she protects Ella on the playground. She isn't afraid to stand up to a bully and often hangs with the fifth graders. Go figure.  

-Ella has been doing what Ella does best: people. She has tons of friends and has a talent for making sure everyone feels included and loved. Her teacher often puts her next to people that need extra help at school because she is patient and helpful. She is also doing great at school, and it is clear she is an "ideas" girl. She likes to say she is half Kyle, half me, and calls herself "little climber". I would guess the half me is the part that gets easily distracted or caught up in a new idea. Regardless of that she is super helpful with Ashley and always a lot of fun. In addition, you can always count on Ella to end up covered in mud. I don't know how she does it but anything with water and dirt and she is in. Speaking of water, her swimming is getting stronger all the time. One day we are going to have a pool. Either in this life or the next, but one day for sure.

-Kyle is doing his doctor thing by day, his family thing by night. There are around 10 motorcycles in our garage at the moment, and hours worth of SuperCross saturday in our TV cue. We took a trip to the Grand Canyon last weekend and nothing says true love like agreeing to hours of baja riding with K at the wheel. He still talks about how much more he could get done if he didn't have to eat or sleep, which I find hard to understand since those are two of my favorite things. Despite those few differences we somehow make a good team. 

-As for me, I am finally starting to feel like myself again, only 15 months after having a baby. Jeez, it's amazing how pregnancy can feel so much like death. I walk 5 miles a few times a week and sometimes throw in some crossfit, a run or a swim. I clean my house routinely, which then gets messed up just as routinely. I spend a lot of time mentoring teenagers and talking to my own kids about real life. Ella asked me what abortion meant the other day, and when I told her all she could say was, "You mean they do that here? In this country?" I figure I can't give my kids all the answers, but I can certainly arm them with the tools they need to find their own. This motherhood thing is serious business but 9 1/2 years later I am still in the club and loving it more every day.

Hope you all are having a great spring and making the most of every day. Sending happy wishes your way always,

b and fam

Squaw Valley Family Pictures

Road trip adventure (18 days of fun)

As a mom, I am always thinking of ways to help my kids make good choices. One theme that has been on my mind all year is that the Lord will support you in having righteous adventures. Meaning, just because you try your best to keep the commandments doesn't mean you can't have a great time.

So, one night in August the kids and I started talking about going on a road trip to Utah and a few other states. (Nevada, maybe California). When I woke up the next morning they had packed their own suitcases and were literally waiting in the van. It was my sign they were ready for an adventure. I packed my stuff and within a couple hours we had said goodbye to Kyle and were on our way.

18 days later we had packed in enough fun to last the whole year. Here are a few memories the kids said we should remember. Feel free to skip to pictures.

• Chanting "Utah! Utah!" all through Idaho
• Ashley wins the award for best baby traveler ever
• We (meaning I) drove 15 hours straight and arrived just after 1:00 a.m.
• Grandpa Dug, Grandma Anne and Shelby were waiting for us like always
• Cafe Rio every day 
• 2 baseball games with Grandpa (thanks for the treats, Julie!)
• Blaring "Paradise City" in Grandpa's truck
• Boating with Uncle Jake and cousins
• Watched lots of Olympics with Grandma Anne
• Grandma Janie had a backwards/opposite party that was lots of fun!
• Shelby got a fancy haircut!
• Scera Pool with Kate's BFF molly
• Races with the cousins in the backyard
• Splash pad with Grandma Janie
• Fancy restaurants for lunch with Grandmpa (Chuck-O-Rama) LoL
• Everyone sleeps in the same bed
• 7 or so days in Utah
• Drove another 10 hours to Reno
• Surprise welcoming party at Kelly Couture's 
• Ella's quote: "We have the BEST friends! They are waiting for us!"
• 3 days with Kelly Couture (Swimming, children's museum, park at the river)
• Sushi with the girls (thank you husbands for watching all the kids)
• 3 days with Courtney
• Stole John's jeep for late night In-and-Out
• Roasted tomato soup
• Sleepovers at Ashlyn's house ("Mom, Mrs. Sandra let us stay up all night and eat all the candy we wanted!)
• Awesome run along the Truckee
• Kyle arrived and 4 more days at Squaw Valley
• Celebrated anniversary and awesome date
• Swam to the buoy 
• French Crepes
• Tram
• And so much more

We were so glad Kyle arrived to drive us home. We had the best time and the kids were awesome. Thanks, everyone, for all the fun!!!

Keeping baby occupied