Catch up

Where do you begin when you are so far behind??? I don't know either. I thought I would try and do a little info on each kiddo....

1. Emma

started third grade...

has three different teachers

has lost ten teeth in all and has six loose ones

in the spring performed in her first ballet recital...

as a candy cane

fed birds at the zoo with them sitting on her head and shoulder

enjoys playing with her friends

takes piano lessons again...

doesn't really like it but...

she is getting so much better!

swam in her first swim meets... loved them

still has braces....

for one more week....

LOVES to read!!!

One quick story... the other day she told me that she wanted to be like me. I said "why, I am not a nice mom, I'm mean".. to which she said... I LOVE YOU! AHHH. Maybe I am doing something right???

2. Rachael

started second grade

started piano lessons

danced in her first recital ... also as a candy cane

swam in swim team

loves to draw

writes love notes to us all the time

ran her first mile with me and Emma...

and did pretty good

likes to play dolls with her sisters

is a total junk-food junkie

learned to ride a Emma's bike...

which she insisted was too big for her

is the first to comfort someone hurt..

or in trouble

has discovered not all teachers are created equal

she has moved her pin more in second grade than K and 1st combined

turned seven

did all the dishes by herself

is my little helper!!!

3. Madeline

started another year of preschool

turned four

finally learned her letters... and can write them too

loves playing with Avery

can pump herself while swinging

is a very picky eater

still sleeps with her bunny

found elephant at a friends house after being missing for a long time...

now sleeps with it too

loves to watch television

used to love scooby doo...

I think it has gotten too scary

cut her own hair

loves me to sing to her at night

(my favorite requests are for the blah blah song, sung to twinkle twinkle)

often sings a song to me at night, one of her made up ones

loves her older sisters to pieces

still sleeps with a pull-up on (I know, I need to work on that)

loves to dance with daddy

4. Jacob

is one handsome little man

turned two in July

out weighs his older sister by five pounds

has bigger feet than her also

LOVES trains, trucks

spoke his first audible word... TRUCK

started speech therapy this fall

still isn't sure if he likes his hair cut

sleeps with his blanket...

and drags it around everywhere

is binky-free...

by accident, he lost them all and I decided I didn't want to buy more

LOVES MILK!!! that is his first request in the morning and after naps... milk?

loves to play in rainwater with Madeline

has learned how to unlock the front door

wandered off down the street, across the street and to a neighbors house... (I'll tell that one later)

loves to throw dirt

LOVES to dance (and was quite the hit at the ward party last night)

did I mention how cute he is???

5. Me

celebrated our 12th anniversary

took a trip to Portland to celebrate

trained for another half... but didn't run it (was too sick)

drove to Idaho again

went to see Sugarland with Kayla

won the annual ward chili cook-off... really?

loves to bake, read, run, play with her kids, watch movies

loves her family!!!

6. Bryan

rode in the Hotter'n @#!*% 100 mile race

flew to Idaho

took the family to the top of the world in Wyoming

works for a different company...

loves it there

rides his bike all the time...

in the dark and the cold

tells the best made-up stories to the kids (they are always begging to hear more)

is the best husband and dad in the world!!!

Quote of the day

Context: phone call....
Me- Hi, Can I throw away these old credit reports from 2007?
Bryan- Uh, sure.
Me- How about the ones from 2008?
Bryan-well, can't we save them?
Me-why?
Bryan- I don't know.
Me- Can I throw away this stuff from Charles Schwab? Do we have anything with them?
Bryan-Not yet, but don't throw it away.
Me- How about this thing for your bike that says Mavic on it?
Bryan - you can toss that.

This went on for a couple of minutes. All the while Bryan is trying to get off the phone with me and I was not going to back down. I have been in this darn study for two and a half hours trying to clean it up and organize and I find a pile of papers that Bryan brought home from Akin Gump. Needless to say we both got a good laugh at the end of our conversation when I said,

"You know, you would cause me a lot less work if you would actually do your own throwing away."

SERIOUSLY?????

Where is spring??? We woke up to this today....

AHHHHH!!! Are you kidding me...

we live in Dallas for heaven's sake... and it is March 21!!!

These are my poor tulips that are trying to come up...

As if the snow we got in February wasn't enough... (the following are from Feb)

Thankfully we saved the snow gear we had when we lived in Ithaca... Jacob was decked out... of course he wouldn't wear any gloves... so his little hands just froze. These are some pictures my neighbor took. Can you believe the size of those snow men??? She said she hasn't seen this much snow in 15 years in Texas! In other words, my kids just had their only real snow day! Usually the days we get off are because the roads are super icy. I never would've guessed before we moved here that would be a problem. Hmm...

ps... trying to be better at this... I missed a lot of stuff I could've and wanted to blog about... like the "waste" discussion...

HALF

About a year ago a dear friend suggested that we all train for a half marathon that wouldn't be until January. That would give us all plenty of time to train. Funny how with time I was the only one in the original runners signed up. I don't know that I trained as good as I had wanted to, but that was harder during the holidays and winter months than I thought it would be. Back in September I wrote about my friend Laura who made a deal with me. One night and two days away from kiddos after our races: my half, and her full marathon. I cashed in a little early because Laura insisted that I do something fun for my 11th anniversary since on our 10th we welcomed our little man.

My friend Laura let me join her on parts of her long runs during training. She is a machine. I loved running with her. She selflessly asked me one day if I wanted her to run the half with me or just come and cheer me on. I, of course, wanted someone to push me harder than I new I would push myself. So... I asked her to run it with me.

I have to set the stage on these pictures... January 30, around 11 a.m... FREEZING COLD! At the time the race started the temperature was 29 degrees, with the wind chill it felt like 21... and we ran around a lake people! I can't even tell you how cold it was... I have to thank my cheering squad, Bryan, Emma, Kayla, Jed, Allie, and Lucy (who I might add is not even 2) for braving the cold. Thankfully I finished it around the time I wanted (a little slower), so they didn't have to wait too long.

The finish line...

The reason we were squatting is because we were trying to stay warm...

.................. 2:01:59

Pictures

The day before Emma's birthday we took her 0ut for dinner with both sets of grandparents and Uncle Jared. It was a lot of fun. They brought her some chocolate flan with a candle. She loved it and ate it all gone. She asked me later if we ever go back to that restaurant can she get that dessert again, and eat it all by herself.

We had such a good time!

I can't believe that my first born has been baptized. It was an amazing experience for me. I hope that Emma never forgets how "happy" she felt that day!

Emma's Baptism, look into my eyes

1. Emma was baptized last Saturday. What a great day. It also happened to be her birthday. Both sets of grandparents were there to share in her special day. A few weeks ago my father-in-law told Bryan and I something that helped me to look at this experience a little different. He said that he wished when he was baptizing his kids that he would have stopped to just take it all in and enjoy what was happening. It is something you will only ever do once.

She was so excited for her big day. I loved sitting next to her and holding her hand as she listened to the talks, and helping her get dressed (after getting her warm from the freezing water). I loved looking down and her and seeing her big smile. She is amazing....

beautiful
talented
smart
kind
loving

a great daughter!!
(I will post pictures soon)
2. Look into my eyes...

A. I had to take Rachael to the eye doctor today. It was quite hilarious. She was so funny trying to read the letters/numbers. Unfortunately she didn't know there were also numbers until I told her and then she was quite surprised, and said then, "oh, yeah it is a 4". She really didn't want glasses because, "I'm used to looking at myself without glasses." The doctor was great with her. Of course, her antics just about drove me crazy. I'm not sure how many times I said, "put those glasses down, if you break them I will have to pay for them." We made it out of the office without an additional bill for broken glasses!!!

B. I usually sing a few songs to Madeline before she goes to bed. As I was about to leave she begged me not to go. She always wants just one more song. I told her I had to get ready for bed because I was tired. She said, "I'm not tired, look into my eyes, I'm not tired." She said that as her eyes were as wide as she could get them. She kills me. About the only way I can sneak out of there is by telling her I will check on her in a few minutes. Which is not too far from the truth... I just wait until she is already asleep. She buys it every time! I love little kids and their innocence.