Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Noah turned 3 this past Saturday. Hard to believe three years has gone by already. He is such a big boy now (except for the fact that I still don't have him potty trained -- UGH@!!) Noah insisted that he have a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese -- so that is what we did :) Kiddos love that place --- but it has to be one of the craziest, loudest, most sensory-overload places there is! EVERYONE was exhausted by the time we left. Here he is with his Spider-man cake: Noah taking a break from eating his pizza to pose with me:Evelyn pouting: (not sure why -- probably something to do with the fact that it was Noah's party, not hers)

Evelyn helping Noah open his birthday presents from the party the next morning:

It was also my other big guy's birthday recently, too. We celebrated Travis's birthday on Monday :)

I have other news to post about... but will save that for later.

A Race to Remember

Kara and I ran the Mercer Island 5K on Sunday morning. I was so happy to be able to experience Kara's first race with her!! Here we are pre-race:Kara did a great job. It was a hilly course --- and she was strong and pushed through to the finish (even the last .25 miles was uphill!!). I think there will be more races in her future. Who knows... maybe next year she will want to join the "destination half marathon girls weekend" crew with me!!!
Here we are back home after the race: We went out for a celebration dinner on Sunday night. Yummy seafood was had by all --- shrimp & fries for the kids, seafood fettucini for Travis, and Kara and I enjoyed crab legs :)

We were all sad to see Kara leave. It was so great to have her around --- makes me wish she lived closer!! I am hoping she has another work meeting on the west coast next year -- maybe we can make it a yearly visit!!!

Fun on Saturday

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to do some sightseeing downtown. I love any excuse to go to the Pike Place Market! Here we are with the kiddos:

The kids both put Kara to work while she was in town --- Noah enjoyed the extra cuddles and storytelling :)Kara also played plenty of "don't spill the beans", "the three little pigs", "hello kitty bingo" and "candy land". We are a family that loves game-nights!!

"Best Friends"

My college friend Kara came into town today -- we hit the nearby outlet mall for the afternoon, and then picked up the kiddos to spend some quality time with them. Evelyn found a new best friend!! We brought out a new Play-Doh set that she got for her birthday -- and she couldn't be happier!! I couldn't be happier, too!! With Travis's job travel, and my work/home stress, this visit is just what I needed :)
Our agenda for the next couple of days involve more shopping, sightseeing, girl-time, and we will finish it off with Kara's FIRST 5K on Sunday morning. I am praying that it won't rain!! I don't want it to be her first -- and last run. It will be much more enjoyable for her if she can stay warm and dry :)

Outdoor Fun

The weather here has been beautiful the past few days --- cold -- but beautiful!!! I have been taking advantage of every minute of it :) Here are the kids playing with an awesome toy they got for Xmas (Thanks Melissa!). It is a Stomp Rocket --- the kids stomp on that red foot thing and the rocket goes flying up in the air (and then they chase after it, repeat over and over, and get really tired in the process). Highly recommend this toy --- Endless fun!!
Since Travis and I both had today off, we made plans to head to Snoqualmie for some snow tubing. We had a blast! I was surprised how big the hill was, and surprised how fast we went! We all rode with the kids on our laps (Jim and Lucy were there, too) -- and they were smiles from ear to ear :) We also got a workout -- instead of using the "tow lane" (which has hooks that pull you back up the hill), most of the time we opted to skip the line and make the trek back up the hill on foot... pulling the kids in the tube behind us!!

Noah totally reminded me of Randy from A Christmas Story...

Back to work tomorrow -- Travis has more travel again (he gets back Saturday)... so it is going to be a busy week!

Rock n Roll, Running & Marriage Renewal

This picture is for my brother and dad -- Noah has two favorite sweatshirts, his "rock n roll" sweatshirt... and his 4-wheeler sweatshirt (I'll post a picture of that another day). He runs around saying "rock n roll" when he wears this one :)
This is my new running motivation. I came across this today -- I think it is an old Nike ad -- but I like it :) We only have time for what we make and find time for... no more excuses!

In other news, Travis and I are participating in a marriage renewal at our church this weekend. (just in time for Valentine's Day!) It is something our parish does once a year to support & promote healthy marriages. Childcare and all meals (for us and the kids) is provided -- so that is a nice bonus!! It is going to be a long weekend -- but probably worth it. Marriage is tough, ya know?! -- I think we could all use a little revival now and then :)

Goodbye Rain... hopefully :)

We got a little glimpse of spring recently, and so I took the kids to the park to enjoy the beautiful, brisk day :)

Evelyn is always colder than Noah... hence the fleece-lined jeans. The kids ran around and had fun --- and I got a mini-workout by doing jumping jacks and other moves to stay warm, too!!

I am looking forward to leaving the "rainy season" behind -- and getting back into our "fun at the park" routine!! I need less rain... a little bit of sunshine... and longer days to enjoy it all (right now it is dark already when I pick up the kids from school)

I'm also in need of an exit strategy from my "funk". I need to stop turning to food (my pants are seriously getting tight, again)... and find a different outlet. I usually can work-out or run to release my stress... but with Travis traveling, and being overwhelmed with work (both job work and household work), I haven't been able to get my exercise & endorphine fix. Anyone have any alternate ideas for me???

I have a few ideas for this weekend: register for half-marathon in late April/early May, do laundry, house-cleaning, catch some extra zzzz's, and get in a nice, long run. Hope these tasks will get me back on the happy-train!!