September 18

Chris is still training for his half marathon, which is coming up very quickly. Today he had to fit in a 13-mile training run before we left for church this morning. I appreciate so much that he is willing to get up in the dark hours of the morning to do his training runs so that they don't affect my day. That husbando of mine is a good man.

I especially like when he leaves me a time estimate of when he'll be done with his long runs so that the kids and I can wait for him outside. There's something special about having a little fan club waiting for you after you finish a long run!

The kids were still in their jammies when Chris finished his run this morning. While they waited for him, the ran laps of their own up and down the sidewalk.

I love how Eli tries his best to run with the big kids! He is running more and more, and falling very seldom. 

He is officially a toddler.

He brought his favorite book out with him, and ran his laps while holding his book. It was adorable.

I think he knows just how cute he is.

Down the hill!

With his tongue sticking out!

Lily ran her little heart out, too.

Then Daisy proposed a race, which was hilarious. She drew starting and finishing lines on the sidewalk, and even made an earlier line for Eli so that he could have a head start. All four raced! 

OK, Eli mostly stood. But he raced some.

(Don't worry, Mom. He didn't get trampled. See Caleb in the grass? He was running around Eli.)

Zoom!

(Sorry for all of the pictures of the kids running, but I think they are all special and fabulous.)

And then, finally, Chris came 'round the bend at the top of the hill!

The kids all ran up to meet him.

Eli was just a little bit slower than the big kids, so they had already turned around and begun running back to the house before he made it to Chris.

Chris was delighted to see the kids.

And they were delighted to see him!

Then we all got dressed and headed to church. I made sure to encourage Chris to eat three times what he normally eats in order to compensate for all of the calories he burned. 

In the afternoon, Caleb prepared for his first soccer game of the season. The past two games were rained out, so it was exciting that he finally got to play! 

This is my lame attempt at a soccer picture. Caleb was not feeling very cooperative, and Chris was in a hurry, so it was the best I could get. His face doesn't really look like that.

He did great at the game - his team won pretty solidly, and I heard reports that at the end of the game the coach put him on offense and he actually ran around a bit!

My dad went to the game with Chris and Caleb while my mom stayed home and colored with Daisy while I prepared for a photo session this evening. All in all, a busy but fun day!