We love fall!!!!

The fall in Colorado is AMAZING! Just driving up valley today just put me in awe of God's great creation! It was simply beautiful. I was even inspired to trim some trees at home and start our first round of raking (also inspired by the fact that Mack's nap was super short today and we needed something to keep us busy before practice).

We had our first leaf pile and made the best of it!

Playground and Bax

While I have mentioned it a couple of times already....we really do play in the yard with Baxter a lot! We have a few bumps and bruises to show for it, but nothing major. Bax is soooo good with Macklin and Mack is learning how to play well with him (practices his sharing skills). Now, hopefully those will transfer over to kids!

Sidewalk Paint

We had a fun time on Sunday playing with some sidewalk paint.

To make, just mix equals amounts of cornstarch and water and then food coloring.

I used 1/2 cup of each and it turned into 4 bowls that were perfect for Mack.

He was pretty darn good at it too! And no mess for inside!

I got this idea from one of my crafty MOPS friends!

Homecoming

Thursday we stopped by the pep fest at school to see our friends do their senior dance....

Football guys are ready, where are the dancers?

In the bags!!!

It was super cute! Good work Devils!

After our meet today (nearby in Glenwood), I had to pull myself together to go see some of my favorite high school friends take their pictures for Homecoming. I love seeing my friends all dressed up. We gotta look nice or we are all out of place in the pics. So I get Mack all dressed too and we headed out!

Junior girls

Two of My XC Captains

Seniors Girls (Friday Breakfast Crew)

Then we had to play a bit in the backyard with Bax before bed!

Bax + Mack = BFF

Video Clips

I just connected my phone microSD card to my computer and found all of these videos!

It is awesome to see how much Macklin has grown and changed since I took these!

Walking to the PO May 20th.

Playing with Baxter in the yard May 31st.

Walking in Daddy's shoes Aug 12th.

Macklin's new feat accomplished just last week.

I was making lunch in the kitchen and I look around the door to check on Mack.

This is what I found....and of course, I did what any good mom would do, I grabbed my camera!

Watch out X Games, Macklin Brandt is coming for ya!

Fall Days with Macklin

Macklin has been having some great days the last couple of weeks.

We have had two pool play dates with Nick and Cayle.

He has gotten to go to two cross country meets.

We got to play with Karolina and Colby one morning last week and had a blast on our playground! Mack needs to work on his "playing with others skills" as we are a bit untrained lately. MOPS will help that soon.

Mack can climb up and down his playground with no trouble!

Macklin's appetite has come back. He is good to eat most things and is even liking meat again!

"Want a bite of my animal cracker?"

Mack has fun playing in the bathroom while I get dressed in the mornings. He loves showers!

And we play, jump, and wrestle on the bed at least once a day!

EVXCI 2011

Completing our first Eagle Valley Cross Country Invitational this past weekend brought some sweet accomplishments with it...

First attempt at being a race director of a high school cross country race = check

Successfully firing the starting gun in 2 out of the 3 races = check

(you gotta have a really strong finger to pull that trigger!)

Getting some killer press = check

http://co.milesplit.com/

(above: biggest CO XC site out there and my kids are the front page!)

Vail Daily

Made some money for our team = check

Couldn't tell that 185 people ran 3 miles on a 7 different fairways of the town course = check

37 kids out of 46 runners ran a personal best = check

Both the boys (1st) and the girls (2nd) placed as a team = check

Kids felt celebrated and were proud to have a home meet = check

The golf course will host us again next year = BIG check

All the work was worth it!

Now, more time for blogging!

EVXC 2011

We have had two meets and are off to a great start! 

Here is a picture of my team from the last meet at Beaver Creek. 

(Don't we look good! Yah, I make them dress alike!)

I think some kids are missing from this. 

We are putting up some good times so far and the boys even scored some hardware Saturday 

(2nd in a competitive field).

Grandma Kathy's Visit

Grandma Kathy came for a visit last week and she sure did work hard around here! 

On her first full day here, we took her down the Colorado River tubing! She was such a trooper and even bruised up her foot on a fall out, but kept her spirits high! She is an expert now! 

She had a blast playing with Macklin for 4 days. We went on lots of walks and many trips to the park. 

Macklin loves to be pushed in his little car! 

Macklin is making Grandma keep up! 

Checking out the dying flowers. 

Last Thursday I was able to bring Kathy to a MOPS Pool Party in Eagle. Macklin was very into the other kids and the trampoline and did not want much to be in a picture! 

He did have fun in the pool though (90 degree pool in 65 degree weather!). 

We appreciate Kathy so much and all the things that she did to take care of us while she was here. 

Thank you so much Kathy! 

Happy Birthday Justin!

Last week, on September 1st, we celebrated Justin's 28th birthday! He is a super daddy that deserved a super duper day! He got a hot breakfast sandwich in the morning, lots of birthday wishes at school, time to play with Mack in the afternoon, a yummy dinner of chili and a southern-inspired fruit buckle for his cake! He also walked off with some sweet new climbing gear (new helmet, chalk bag, and a new pair of khakis!). This was just the beginning of his birthday because his mom was coming soon and was ready to spoil him some more! 

Baby #2....

Baby Brandt #2 will be making an appearance hopefully on April 8th! We are super excited for this announcement and can't wait for Mack to be a big bro! 

As for the most common question, "How are you feeling?" The answer would be..."I feel pregnant!" Which is a much stronger statement than Mack's pregnancy. I think I have legit gotten sick about a dozen times in the last 2.5 weeks. Going running doesn't cure everything like it did last time. I have actually stopped to puke in each of my last 3 runs. So, God willing, these next 3 weeks will fly by! In the mean time, I will focus on the blessing it is to have a healthy pregnancy in my belly!