Fremont Fun Run

 Clare officially entered the ranks of runners in the family.

 This past Saturday was the annual "Fun Run" in our hometown,

and she wasn't going to miss it!

She had quite the cheering section: Buddy and Grandma, Papa, Isaac, Ms. Marcia, and her cousin Laura.

Mommy, undoubtedly her #1 Fan, got to run with her.

The race was a half mile, yet Clare continually called it her "marathon."

She ran the entire thing!  She wanted to "wear music in her ears like Mommy and Daddy," but that only lasted a couple of minutes.

She was bound and determined to earn a trophy (awarded to the top three in every age division), so she kept her eye on the prize.

I was really proud of her, and it made me excited to think about the years of running that we have ahead.  I didn't start running until college, and Phil didn't start running until he turned 30, so she has a leg up on us.

Almost as exciting as the potential of a trophy was the other "prize" at the end.

POPSICLES!!!

It was a really fun morning!

 Drum Roll...
She was 2nd in her age group...thus earning a TROPHY!  :)

She was pretty tickled with the whole event.

Mommy was pretty tickled too.  :)

I'm thankful that it was such a positive experience because she's already asking when she can run her next marathon.

Special Days in Michigan

Today was special because our newest niece, Sarah Bernadine, was baptized this morning. 

It was a beautiful celebration with the extended family...

Here is the Brian Hillary Gang

(Marcie, Brian, Sarah, Jeb, and Grant)

Here are all of the cousins...ranging in age from 1 to 8.

The afternoon consisted of much-needed naps and then some outdoor play time.

The weather in Michigan has been FANTASTIC:

Cool in the mornings and evenings with the high temp reaching in the mid-80's.

The kids had fun in the sprinkler and lake.

Don't know if I've said this before, but WE LOVE BEING IN MICHIGAN...

...in the summer!

Dr. Clare at our 24-Week Appointment

We had our 24-week appointment today, and Clare got to be the helper girl.

Every time I get on the table, the kids become immediately concerned that something bad is going to happen to Mommy.  The midwife was really great about allowing them to be a part of the appointment, and she even let Clare handle the doppler to find the baby's heartbeat.  Ninnie was also at today's appointment.  Pretty special.

This is what my belly looks like when I'm not horizontal.

* I'm currently feeling very good.  Second Trimester is the BEST! 

* Baby is moving a lot, and Clare loves feeling her brother or sister move.
* Clare currently wants a BROTHER, and Isaac wants a BABY.
(Those are the answers everyone hears upon asking what they want.)

* Most people say it looks like I'm carrying a boy.

* Phil and I still kind of think it might be a girl.
* We're really excited about the surprise factor this time around.
* I've been craving cold grapes, peanut butter, MILK, and my daily cottage cheese.

It will be October before we know it, right?!

Camp

Clare has been out of school since the Friday before Memorial Day.  She is a programmed girl...always on the go, wanting/needing a schedule, unable to just chill, etc.  THEREFORE, we signed her up for some day-camp programs that have saved all of us from going crazy.  Who are we kidding?  They have saved ME from going crazy!

Her first week of camp was GYMNASTICS CAMP at The YMCA.

She LOVED it!

Her second week of camp was SUPERHERO CAMP at her school.

She LOVED it!

 She made this costume at camp.

This week is ARTS AND CRAFTS CAMP at her school.

She is LOVING it!

 Clare would do crafts EVERY SINGLE DAY if I had an endless supply of them.  

Looks like Isaac might be catching the bug as well.

What would "camp" be without a tent?  Phil set Clare's room up just like last year at this time.  Link to camping in 2012.  He took her bed down and set up a tent in her bedroom.  She's a pretty lucky girl!  :) 

We've roasted marshmallows in our real fire pit and soaked up the whole camp experience.  This picture was from a couple of months ago when Clare fell asleep while sitting by the fire on a chilly night.  We are ANYTHING BUT CHILLY these days.  Summer is in full swing with heat and humidity 100% of the time.

We are excited to head to Camp Michigan in a couple of weeks.  That will be the highlight of the entire summer...for all of us! 

Ninnie's in the House!

Ann ("Ninnie") arrived late on Friday night, 

and the kids have been in heaven ever since.

Ninnie was immediately recruited (mainly by Isaac) to take over all of Mommy's tasks.  Isaac wanted her to get his drink, prepare his breakfast, cuddle his buns, take him to the potty, help him get dressed, and the list goes on.  Even though Ninnie had just traveled over 30 hours, and was catapulted into a 12-hour time difference, she bounced right into the role of HERO.  We're all so glad that she's here! 

The Project Up Above That Felt Like Down Under

We were blessed to have Phil's parents in town for the past ten days.
Fortunately for us, we had two extra sets of hands and lots of extra LOVE.
Unfortunately for them, it was no vacation.

 As I've mentioned before, when Phil and his dad get together it becomes project central.  They accomplished more in ten days than we have in the past ten weeks.  The biggest project was re-doing all of the duct work in our attic.

 I had NO IDEA what that entailed until our house was turned upside down for two days.

 "Command Central"
This is where they reconstructed the new duct work.

This is all of the old duct work that was stripped from the attic.

As Isaac kept saying, "Big Mess!"

There were ten vents that needed to be reconstructed from the inside out.  

This is the inside of one of the old lines...full of mold.

These were original from when the house was built.  Lovely!

Phil spent two full days (15 hours on Friday) in our Florida attic.  It was 112 degrees at one point, and I was seriously afraid for his health.  His eyes were nearly swollen shut, and his fingers were like sausages.  He joined me in bed (at my sister's house down the street) at 1:00 AM and was back at it the next morning by 7:00 AM.

I'm so thankful that I have a husband and father-in-law that are not only knowledgeable on how to do these kind of projects, but they are also willing.  We are now comfortably settled back into our nicely air-conditioned home.

One of the other big projects was cleaning up some trees after a huge storm that blew through our neighborhood.

 This is at my sister's house, 

and Phil once again risked his life for the sake of a project.

 He told me to dial "91" and just be ready to push the extra "1" when I heard him scream.

 This storm also created a few other projects: replacing the garage door opener that was zapped, fixing a phone line that was zapped, and replacing the Internet router that was zapped.  What do we expect when we live in the "The Lightning Capital of the World"

Now...because all of those other pictures were kind of depressing...

Here's Clare Bear on her last day of school!

 Hooray!

Isaac is totally obsessed with his cars right now.  He lines them up one by one...over and over.  He will notice if one is facing the wrong direction, he will straighten up anything that gets out of line, and then he will move the line to another location in the house.

20/20/20

This is me...right now...20 weeks pregnant with Quatro.

 Slightly different angle.

This was almost exactly 3 years ago...20 weeks pregnant with ISAAC!

This was 5 years ago...20 weeks pregnant with CLARE.

I post these pictures not to reveal my frugality in that I have the same shirt from five years ago...rather to compare my belly with each pregnancy.  I kind of think that angle #1 from today looks like how I was carrying Clare, but I think that angle #2 looks more like how I was carrying Isaac.  What do you think?   

Does it look like I'm carrying a boy or a girl?  I love hearing predictions!  :)

 This was trying to get in place before the timer went off on the camera.  :)

(I was the only one home, and I wanted to take a picture before it rained.)

 Check out this link to see the last time I was 20 weeks pregnant.

Just for fun...

Currently Craving: 

- Blackberries, Raspberries, and Cherries

- Cottage Cheese (still an EVERY day thing)

- Baked goods (I've been experimenting with different recipes a few times a week.) 

- Cheesy Crackers (Extra Cheesy Goldfish, Pepperidge Farm Baked Natural Simply Cheddar Crackers, Cheez-Its, and Quaker Cheddar Cheese mini-rice cakes)

- Sabra Hummus (with just about anything)

- "Helluva Good French Onion Dip" (with nearly EVERYTHING)