I have a few traditions… I started them back when I had one child who was tiny and I wanted to get pictures of him for a family calendar. Now I have two kids, a popular and highly anticipated family calendar and an inner desire to have awesome pictures for it.

So last week I realized our Fall leaves are as good as it’s going to get… the crazy calendar-minded me wanted to the get the kids out into the leaves. I ran my furthest run ever on Sunday… 11 miles. While I ran I noticed so many beautiful leaves. I suddenly had visions of great photography moments. My plans to take pictures of the kids powered me through the run. (I’m less than two weeks away from my first half marathon.)

Later that day, my brother got into town for the week and I dragged him and the kids out into the leaves along our town’s nature/fitness trail. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t that interested in getting the pictures taken. I’m guessing it’s because I place WAY too much importance on pictures for that calendar. Here’s what I was able to take:

Running through the gardens.

Discovering the pool was just too cold.

Racing around a backyard too fast with Cameron pulling Jordan in a wagon.

Cameron being sweet to the younger kids during Monday night’s potluck.

Jordan reaching over and rubbing my wrinkled up forehead saying: “Get the grumpy off your face Mommy!”

Little moments that I want to remember forever and ever. I tried to snag a few sweet moments with the family this weekend. The weather went from terrible hot to incredible fall-like weather in a flash. I felt the need to be outside with the kids… but they felt attached to watching TV and vegging out. I see some merit to a bit of vegetable living. Relaxing is good. I just don’t think it needs to happen ALL the time. Plus, when the weather is amazing, I want to make sure we take advantage of it!

So we enjoyed a local garden. We went to the pool… even though the shift from summer to fall was so fast, it was really too cold to soak in the final day of swimming season. We spent time meeting neighbors we hadn’t met before at a potluck. My kids were the oldest ones there and played nicely with everyone.

I’ve thought a lot about little moments… It’s what gets me through tough days. It’s what I live for during my parenting moments when I question if I know what I’m doing. It’s those moments that got me into blogging about Cameron in 2004. He said so many tiny, funny things… I didn’t want to forget. Now I have another reason to think about it. This Friday, I get to celebrate the little things at Hallmark in Kansas City. I’m taking part in a meetup for regional bloggers as part of Hallmark’s “Life is a Special Occasion.” I can’t wait. To make it more fun, I get to carpool with my friend Kate. It’s the little things, right?

Here’s some fun pictures from the weekend:

Cam said he was "photo bombing" this picture

We live about 15 minutes away from a really cool corn maze. The family creates it every year with a different design and quiz questions that you answer as you try to navigate the maze. I decided we’ve ignored this cool spot long enough… So we drove over to check it out this past weekend.

The moment you start into the maze, you go on a quest to find the quiz questions. We found the first question without much difficulty.

We tried to wander around all 18 acres of the maze… And every once and a while we’s dip out of the maze and play in an open field.

It was actually Cameron’s idea for Jordan to dance around. Jordan thought it was a great idea… Plus, she really likes her new dress and how swingy it is.

We found five out of the eight quiz questions before Jordan announced she had enough. It’s understandable… the sun was beating down and we were running out of water. But all three of us decided this was a ton of fun and we’ll certainly hike through the maze again next year.

I try really hard to get the kids outside in the Fall and take pictures of them. The sun is a little softer, the leaves are colorful… It’s just a really great thing.

The problem this year? This has been a really dry Fall… so the trees are dropping leaves but they aren’t as colorful as usual. But that’s okay! I took them out to a nearby gardens and tried really hard to get some pictures of them outside and being sweet together. I think I did okay:

There’s something so remarkable about Spring. It’s a chance to just be who you are. The outdoors do that for all of us if you let it. What’s awesome about the outdoors and Jordan is she is attracted it to during all seasons. She’s happy to wander around in whatever the conditions. (Wet, snowy, windy) But give us a breezy warm spring day… and she’s at peace.

Jordan spent a ton of time outside today… and most days lately when we’re home. Both kids spent a ton of time out there. It just makes me happy. Spending time outside seems to calm me… and it feels good when my kids are out there without complaints because it’s just that wonderful out.

Carefree. Happy. Peaceful. I love it.

It’s refreshing to have a child who is happy to just go outside. Last night she spent 45 minutes or so playing out in the slightly muddy backyard. She spent time on the backyard treehouse and swings. She returned covered in extra dirt in her pretty pink dress… But I won’t complain. I appreciate a girl who is willing to dress pretty and get messy.
By the way – that hat is a dinosaur she decorated at school. Very cute.

Jordan’s Grandma, Poppy and Daddy Jr. are here to help us build a new deck in the backyard!! It’s very exciting. Plus, the girl has shown a LOT of interest in riding a bike. Not just a tricycle, but a bike. And since she really has shown that interest, her grandparents pitched in and got her a new bike with training wheels. We would have just handed her the bike her brother used, but she’s too tiny!

So she got a Dora bike! She’s just a touch too small for the 12 inch bike – but that hasn’t stopped her from trying! She even told me she wanted to ride her bike to our favorite ice cream shop – which is NOT an easy ride (nor have I ever tried to do it with the kids). Anyway, I am thrilled she’s excited to become a bike rider – even if we live around a bunch of hills.

Another wonderful moment today (and there were many… to many to write) was watching her play with our family in the backyard. We don’t even have the complete deck up (and I’ll post a picture of the finished product when it’s done)… But Jordan danced on that deck and ran and played. She and Cameron spent more time in the backyard than we have all spring. Just think what it’ll be like once we have a full deck to enjoy the fun.

So… Here’s an example of Jordan’s joy… The deck is big and we’ll have a bunch of performance space for the kids to dance, sing and be silly.

Jordan is starting to talk and talk and talk. So I have to write down a couple of funny things she’s saying.

When turning on a light she says: “I open the light.”
When turning off a light she says: “I close the light.”

When Randy was leaving for work yesterday she asked: “You got your bye-bye bag? You go to your car and go bye bye?”
Bye bye bag. I like that. I isn’t a computer bag anymore. It’s a bye bye bag.

While going upstairs with Cameron yesterday, Jordan started yelling: “Wait up you guys!”

This weekend, we went on a bike trip down the Katy Trail… It’s a pretty nice and easy trek even though it was hot outside. We were all biking while Jordan road around in the bike trailer. She did NOT like riding in trailer. She was feeling trapped and uninvolved. Her best tactic: Scream that she needed to go potty. We’d stop and offer her a chance to use the grass as a bathroom, but she was not interested. We finally had to turn around and find a bathroom. She actually used a public bathroom for the first time. But since that’s been a challenge and we’re planning a big road trip, I just bought a travel potty. I think it will make like a little easier. Anyway, after we turned around, she got to run around on the trail and she was just so dang happy (see picture).

We’re finally getting Jordan’s feet casted today for her shoe inserts. The previous fitting wasn’t done properly so we have to go through it again. This has been a really crazy delayed process and Jordan’s really enjoying life in shoes that don’t require socks. I’m expecting a pretty unhappy process when we bring the inserts back into her life. (There I go again – always so negative. Sorry about that.) The upside of taking her to the appointment, I get to leave work a little early and spend some time working out. I work an odd shift on Mondays and I did some Wii Fit yesterday afternoon while Jordan snacked and watched. As I tried a number of yoga poses, Jordan kept asking: “Whatchya doin’ Mom?” It’s very hard to hold a balancing pose when you’re getting the third degree!

We started the day with an awesome hike. The four of us headed to the nearby state park and enjoyed my favorite two mile trip. Jordan had fun – especially at the end of the hike when she got to get out of the backpack and walk on her own. She was having so much fun at one point I had to remind her to look where she was going — it was a good idea to walk onto a bridge instead of into a creek.

The evening, we got to go to Cam’s first t-ball practice for the season. Last year’s practice was while I had to work, so this time around I get to meet the parents early. That was kind of nice. The most interesting moment: A little boy named Jordan (who happens to be 3) asked about Jordan’s arm. His mom started talking about his friend who has a little hand. I thought that was really exciting. Apparently there’s a little girl who has malformed fingers in his pre-school. Hooray! A new person to meet! The mom said she’d look to see if there’s a way to meet this little girl. Go team! The more friends, the merrier!