Merry Christmas to All... and to All a Good Night!

Christmas day was a lot of fun. We let the kids sleep in a little bit, and then opened presents when they got up. My parents flew in from Michigan, and we picked them up from the airport around noon. Trav's parents, and Chuck, Kim & Lola came over around 4PM to open family presents and have Xmas dinner.
Christmas Morning -- kids taking a picture with Cocoa: Evelyn's big present was a play-house for her Barbies... this picture was taken right after she walked into the spare bedroom (where it was hiding) I love having Xmas dinner at our place -- it works out well since we have the most space for everyone... and I enjoy putting our china and crystal to use!!
Family photo right before we ate dinner:
Evelyn, Lola (cousin) and Noah -- I hope they stay close buddies :)
This picture was actually taken on the 26th or 27th... but it shows Noah's "big" present. He got a big race car track. It is really pretty cool -- Travis, my dad, and I all had a lot of fun with this, too!!

Christmas Party and Run

We were at a Christmas party last night -- Trav's side of the family gets together every year -- usually a weekend or two before Xmas. It is a big potluck event and a gift exchange (I think there were 19 people not counting kids). Here are the kids with their favorite second-cousin, Kaitlyn.Here I am after my 12K's of Xmas run this morning. This photo looks kinda distorted -- Travis took it looking down on me...I switched from my red/white candy cane socks to these socks that were red/pink/green. I am glad I did --- a ton of people had candy cane socks on.... but I didn't see anyone wearing these :)
I am paranoid about getting blisters... so I won't wear any socks except running socks (no cotton at all!!) I had to turn these socks into leg warmers and wear my other socks, too :)

I had a great run this morning --- it was an absolutely beautiful & sunny morning (right around 36 degrees) I could tell that most of my longer runs lately have been only around 6 miles or so.... the last mile (6.5 to 7.5) was brutal!!! It felt great to push myself though -- I haven't worked that hard in a really long time :)

Holiday Spirit

My computer is giving me problems with the blogger website lately --- so I haven't been as motivated to post since I have to use Trav's laptop. These pictures are from a week or so ago...

Family outing to go cut down our tree -- this is the first year that the kids got into it. I can't remember exactly... but I think last year we even took our BOB stroller out into the tree area with us! Notice Noah has a book in his hand... it is his Bob the Builder book... he takes it EVERYWHERE!


This picture is from an event in our town called Clam Lights. It is hosted/sponsored by Ivar's (seafood restaurant chain in Seattle) It is a fun little holiday festival held at a park on Lake Washington. They had caroling, free rides in Santa's wagon (horse and carriage), and of course the big lighting event. They do a spectacular job with the lights --- the entire park is lit up. AND they have dancing clams!!!

I have to be honest... this year I have been a little more affected than usual by the rainy season. I check the 10 day forecast every morning and when it says rain showers for the next 10 days I get a little frustrated. Since I grew up in Michigan, where it was rare to have a Christmas that wasn't white, it required some extra effort to get into the holiday spirit this year. The non-stop Xmas music has helped... and the house totally festive... and the kiddos are getting excited...

I will also be running the 12 K's of Christmas this Sunday. I am tying bells onto my shoes and might even try to put together some festive running attire (think red & white striped knee high socks!)

A Story A Day Til Christmas

Last night was the first night of our Christmas book tradition. Sally (Trav's mom) gets the credit for this one :) She picked up really nice, collectible type Christmas books for us and also a basket to hold the books. We wrap them up the beginning of the month, number them, and then read one every night until Christmas.
We have about half of the books being fun "Santa" type books and the other half being religious, nativity story type books. A few of the books are short (one of them is a golden book) -- and some of them are longer (Polar Express, Nutcracker) -- but it is a nice mix :)
The kids were SO excited last night to see the book they opened. We only have the books out during the month of December, and then we pack them away until the following year -- so they are "new" every year.

I think we are getting our Christmas tree this weekend --- I am seriously like a little kid -- I love the experience of cutting down the tree, decorating the tree, making the house festive, etc I can't wait!!!

Thanksgiving Update

These pictures are out of the order I want them in... but Trav's computer is being temperamental, and I don't have the energy to figure it out. The puffy jacket pictures are from Seattle --- we had some really cold weather this past week, and I thought they looked cute bundled up (even though Noah is pouting/crying in his picture)
This picture is from Sacramento. We flew in last night to stay with Trav's parents for Thanksgiving. Noah was jumping in the air and throwing bark at the park. It was a beautiful day here today.

Evelyn bundled up -- notice her fleece-lined jeans. I wish they had cute & comfy jeans like that in my size!!

Park picture --- yelling "cheese" :)

I am getting excited for the weekend. Travis and I are leaving the kids with his parents and venturing down to Los Angeles for the USC/Notre Dame football game. We will spend the night there and then come back on Sunday. Hoping to get some pictures at the Coliseum & game.

Bored...

The weather was dreary this past weekend -- so I had to think hard to find outdoor activities. I tend to get a little stir-crazy if I don't get fresh air and time outside. We went to feed the ducks in the drizzle/mist on Sunday afternoon.I think the ducks & seagulls were hungry... normally they stay in the water, but Sunday they were climbing out and coming up for more bread. This picture cracks me up -- Evelyn wanted to keep a close eye on the duck behind her :) The kids were very brave.

Grammy's Visit

The kids had a great time with my mom when she was in town -- one of the things that we did was visit Point Defiance Zoo/Aquarium in Tacoma. I had never been there -- we usually go to the zoo in Seattle instead. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a fun time.
The aquarium part was pretty cool -- they had divers in there with the fish/sharks doing a presentation when we got there. Noah liked when the sharks would swim by :)

My mom played with Play-doh a TON -- it is Evelyn's favorite thing to do lately. She thought my mom was the Play-doh queen :) My mom also played a little bit of CandyLand and Don't Spill the Beans with the kids. Thanks for visiting us, mom!!

Happy Halloween!

We took the kids (and their friend Turynn) to a Boo Carnival on Saturday. It was pretty cute -- lots of games & treats for the kids, inflatable toys, and crafts.

Here are pictures from tonight: Here is the best one I could get of the three of us -- no time to slow down for pictures, Mom :)

I was able to get this one with Evelyn -- it was right before we were done for the night:

More Pics

A friend of a friend took these for us... she is just getting started and trying to add to her portfolio, and we were happy to help her :) Here is her page on Facebook if anyone is interested in her info.
This photo is my favorite -- but can't decide which one I like more... I like them both for different reasons. The good news is that I have all of the files, so I can print whatever I want!!

Noah was a little crazy -- so we didn't get too many pictures of him that day... but this one shows his baby blues :)Like both of these ones -- again, I like both the colored version and B&W. My flower-clip making paid off!!

She also took a few of Evelyn in her cinderella dress... We will have more Halloween pics after this weekend.

B.U.S.Y.

I am busy and a little (or maybe a lot) stressed -- so this is going to be short. The good news is that my mom is coming next Wednesday night for a vist, she will be in town until Tuesday morning-- and I am going to get a little bit of a break :)
Kids at the park:

Say "Chuck-E-Cheese"!

The photo shoot on Saturday was pretty exhausting... but I think we got at least a few good shots :) We shot at 9AM -- and the weather was pretty cold (low 40's), so the kids wanted to be done pretty much as soon as we started. Piper Moore did a good job though -- and had a few tricks up her sleeve to keep them interested.Not your typical shot -- but pretty funny :)

I am hoping maybe family pictures get easier as the kids get older... ? :)

Harvest Festival

I've been playing the single mom role WAY too much the past 4 months... I am exhausted!! Travis gets home in about an hour... and he will be gone all next week again... but hopefully this is coming to an end soon. At least he gets to spend the weekend with us this time!!

Here are the kids last weekend... our town had a little Harvest festival. Both kids decorated a pumpkin for free :)

Here they are being silly -- this is one of their poses when they "show their muscles"I also picked up an adorable homemade "sweater skirt" for Evelyn at one of the craft booths -- I will take a picture when she wears it :)
Kids bath photos tonight:

Family photos tomorrow morning... keeping my fingers crossed for happy, smiling kiddos :)

In a little bit of a work-out rut lately... not because of a lack of energy/ambition... but a complete lack of TIME! I can't work out in the morning or night when Travis isn't around to stay home with the kids... UGH! I did run a 10K last weekend with some friends... and I thought for a second about trying another half-marathon in November (I was on the 8 week training program -- and still could be on track if I run 7-8 miles sometime this weekend) we'll see what happens.

All for now -- my book and bed are calling my name -- I am exhausted!

A girl from Saginaw Michigan...

Ever heard that song? Before my time -- but I have had people sing it to me before :)

Anyway -- these pictures are better late than never I guess. We had a great visit back to Michigan to visit my family there. The weather was perfect -- it went from kinda warm to downright chilly - but there wasn't any rain to ruin our fun! Here is a picture of my mom with the kids at the zoo. Don't mind Noah -- he is mid-tantrum:Evelyn taking a break -- she was helping my parents decorate the yard with pumpkins, scarecrows, etc.

Dad with kids:Ride on the Moo-Train at the pumpkin farm:

Playing in the cornfields:Noah is a typical boy -- LOVED the machinery in the barn (4-wheeler, lawnmower, etc) Even now he keeps asking if he can see Papa and go for a ride on the 4-wheeler. Here he is riding on the lawnmower with my brother Gary:

We were able to go to my nephew Jacob's football game -- I went to Swan Valley HS -- so it was kinda fun to go back there to see a game :) Evelyn and Noah were excited to take this picture - Evelyn loved holding the helmet -- I think they thought Jacob was a pro-athlete or something!!

The trip back was pretty eventful though... involved getting stranded in the Atlanta airport, having to check into a hotel for about 6 hours, we weren't able to get bags so we only had the clothing on our backs (slept in underwear, wore the same clothing the next day, couldn't take out my contacts, almost ran out of diapers) fun fun fun...