Fall soccer ~ Benjamin style

Ben was finally old enough to sign up for a season of soccer and I'm pretty positive there is
nothing more darling than watching a bunch of Pre-K kids run up and down a field, all trying
to get the same ball. They were hilarious and several of them were really good. Although
I do have to admit, at times I felt a bit guilty. I'm pretty positive Ben was the only one in the
group that had three older siblings that played soccer with him nearly every day. It really
wasn't fair, but I was so proud of our guy for being calm about the whole thing and even
though he handled the ball a lot and scored his share of goals, he was really concerned
that the others got a chance too. And not just on his team. Boy do I love our Benjamin.

And boy does he love soccer.

 

 

Fall soccer ~ Matthew style

Fall soccer ~ Annie style

 

 

Fall soccer ~ Campbell style

 

 

Big brothers are the best

Park break in between soccer games

A beautiful photo courtesy of Annie

And courtesy of our new backyard view.  Bitter much?

Rock climbing, with a long prologue

Did I mention Jacob's brother is staying with us for a little while? And that his fiancé flew out to visit for the weekend a couple of weeks ago? And that they have to live in separate states for the fall semester of school? But that come December, they will be getting married and get to live in the same state?  Maybe not. More on that later. But what in the world does that have to do with rock climbing? Glad you asked.

When Kaylie was here visiting, she and Adam, along with Jacob and the kids, went rock climbing. Since Nate hasn't quite mastered the art of climbing rocks (everything else in the house, yes, but large boulders, no), I stayed home with him.

And as you can see below, from the fabulous pictures Kaylie took (thanks Kaylie!), they had a great time. The three oldest kids made it to the top and back down again. And Ben, true to his adventureous self, made it very close to the top. And Jacob is just wonderful and handsome.  And Kaylie and Adam are fabulous. Which is why I need a photo of them. How I got through the whole weekend without one of those is beyond me. I plan to remedy that the second the two of them are together in Boston again.

Until then, we'll just focus on these fabulous rock climbing photos. And be glad we have fun uncles and future aunts that are exciting and fun and invite us to be exciting and fun along with them.

Our Cam

Happy Birthday to the funniest, happiest, kindest, smartest thirteen-year old we know!

We absolutely adore you Campbell.  And are grateful everyday that you are ours.

(Thirteen years since I became a mom.  How could that be?)

Clan Campbell

Jacob spent the last four days in Scotland for a business trip. And while he has traveled to many countries in the last few years (we were counting his total country tally the other day and I think it was twenty-two), I can honestly say I have never been as covetous as I was for this trip. I have always wanted to go to Scotland.

Maybe it is because our oldest carries the name of the one of the most famous clans from that beautiful country. Maybe it is because I am named after my grandpa, who absolutely loved anything to do with Scotland. Maybe it is because from the time I was very young, my mom taught us all to love and appreciate our ancestry and heritage. Whatever it is, I was jealous. And Jacob telling me that the country was even more beautiful that everyone claims, didn't help my jealousy.

Sigh.

I'm going to get there someday. I can feel it in my bones. And I cannot wait.

The trip was too busy to do any kind of sightseeing, but Jacob was able to take this photo of one
of the several castles belonging to the clan of our ancestors. The Duke of Argyll, chief of the Scottish
Campbell clan, lived here. Apparently it served as the family townhouse in Stirling. I don't think he
still needs it. Did I mention my oldest child is named Campbell? I believe that qualifies to have
us use it as our family townhouse, right? I'd better let them know. And start packing my bags.

Ben's first day of preschool

This is definitely one of my favorite photos of Ben to date.

Oh, and he loves preschool. A whole lot.
And I love this darling boy. A whole lot.

Sad

Good grief, I feel sad right now. All because this is the sight

that greeted me this afternoon when I went outside.

Oh, and this.

That would be the sight of trees being cut down. Not our trees, mind you,
but trees that have lined our property since we moved in. Trees that belonged
to two of our neighbors, but might as well have been ours they were so close
to our property. For four years, they have looked beautiful and lovely
and kept our yard and driveway shaded and private.

Now this is the view from our mud room porch each time we leave the

house. I don't have a before photo, but believe me, this is drastically different.
As in, the whole empty space you see above was filled
in with one huge and beautiful tree. And now it is not.

And in our backyard. There are honestly no words for how different it looks.
This entire side was blocked in by several huge trees. And now look at it. And the
only tree that remains, the one on our side? It is bent funny and only has leaves
on one side of it. Which we couldn't believe we had not noticed until they removed
the tree that was literally right next to it, but on the other side of the fence.

And then, the other night, Jacob and I were walking around the block
when we noticed from the street that several limbs had been cut from our tree,
but on the side facing the neighbor's house. Once again, no words. Just sadness
for the yard we used to have, but feels so different now. And gratitude that we rent
this house. Because I can tell you if I was the owner, I would be devastated.

I looked through a few of my photos to see if I could find a proper before photo
of the yard. And while this doesn't show the entire side, it was the best I could
find. See how the whole left side of the photo is lined with giant trees?

Not so much anymore.

Oh, and for the record, the day it happened, I called Jacob at work to tell him
what was happening and how sad I felt. I told him our yard felt totally different.
When he came home that night, he headed out to the back deck to see the damage.
He looked for a minute and then I asked him, "So, was I being dramatic about how
drastic it is or how sad our backyard feels now?" He replied, "Definitely not."

Yeah, that didn't help me to feel any less sad.

Who would have known that something that seems so small could
make such a difference? Not me for sure. It is still such a strange feeling
to look out the window and see a yard that doesn't look like the one
we saw every day, a hundred times a day, for four years. Sigh.

Okay, deep breath and time to move on.

And block out the back windows with dark curtains.

First day of school

Yes, we are the last known people in the universe to begin school and yes,
we love it. And really, aren't these darling chicklets worth the wait? I thought so.

And although he doesn't start preschool until next week,
Ben boy wanted to join the group. With no objections from us.

I love my kids.

Labor Day hike

On Labor Day, we spent the morning and afternoon hiking at a place called
Purgatory Chasm. It is such an awesome place to hike. We've done it once before,
but as you can see, the kids have changed a little bit since then. Unfortunately, it took
us three years to get back to there. Fortunately, it was still as fabulous as the first time.