Fingers

Just wanted to quickly update Mitchell. He started to pick up his puffs today.

he was super excited when I got out the container. Daddy told me he was getting pretty good at getting them in his mouth...and sure enough....

there it goes! That's my boy! He's also getting another tooth...so he's been a bit fussy at night. That makes four on top and three on the bottom.

When I got the camera out, Sawyer was in the kitchen and immediately started saying "CHEESE!"...so I had to take a picture. So cute.

Run to me

I have always...for as long as I can remember...wanted to run in a 5K. It just seemed like something fun to do. Plus, I wanted to be able to wear one of those cool t-shirts with the 5k logo on it and know that I was there. BUT....
I am not an athlete. I never have been...didn't know if I ever could be. I'd watch my sister-in-law run near our home and think...wow, if only I could do that. I've watched Craig's cousin run in races and make it look easy. I've seen my nieces run without breaking a sweat. Not me. It's just not in my DNA.
Well, for some reason...and with the help of my friends...I'm trying to change that. So today, I ran (about 99%..i walked just a tad) of a 5k. I was so nervous I had a hard time sleeping last night..and an even harder time eating.
The course was super easy...read, flat....but it didn't matter. I was a huge ball of nerves and excitement. I picked up my best friend Chris at her parent's house at 8am...and we headed to the race.

We met up with Steph (she is an athlete and didn't really have to train for a 5k. ha!)
Here we all are before the race. Steph's sister-in-law Sara (another real athlete who almost placed in her age group), Steph, me, Chris, and Mel. (nice hood!) It was rather chilly. The coldest day of the year so far.

Along the way, we were cheered on my these cuties. Chris and her boys...robert, joe and mitch...Love the signs they made! (my boys had swim lessons and church choir and couldn't make it, but Connor made me a cool sign too.)

he says i'm the one in the blue...i guess that's good because i'm in the middle of the pack!

here we are after the race. Steph did awesome...I think she finished around 25 minutes...Chris was next around 32 minutes...Mel hit at 35 and i was around 38 (i think the results online are wrong, but it was close to 38 minutes.)

Chris really inspired me. She is a runner! She really worked hard and finished awesome. Excuse my super cheesy look...I'm just glad that its over, I'm pleased with my time....but I'm ready to do it again...and do better. Yeah!

Going nuts....

...with packing peanuts!

I ordered a little train for the boys...it came in the mail the other day. It came in a HUGE box...filled with packing peanuts. I was letting the boys dig into the box to find what I had ordered...but instead of being excited about what I'd ordered, they were excited about the packing peanuts that were inside. At first they spilled a few on the floor...before long the entire box was on the floor. Packing peanuts were everywhere....

I did what every good mom should do.....


I let them play!!

They rolled in them....

made snow angels in them...

threw them in the air...

and picked them out of their mouths!

We must have played with them for an hour. It was a blast. (Daddy was at work...so he missed it all!) Then, we worked together to pick every bit of it up. The boys were great helpers. Connor even asked to vaccuum. He did an awesome job...even told me that it could be one of his chores from now on.

By the way...did you know that packing peanuts can break into a thousand and one pieces....and they stick to EVERYTHING!!! Oh well, it was worth it!

You should be in pictures....

Last week, Sawyer and I headed to Jeremy Hess photograpy for a photo shoot. Our dentist asked if Sawyer could be included in her ad campaign. Of course, we think Sawyer is about as cute as they come...so we said SURE!

The photo shoot was awesome. Jeremy is great. He has three kids...two boys and a girl. I told Craig that if we got married today...I'd choose Jeremy to do the pictures. As much as I love the pictures he shoots...he was even cooler. It was so nice to meet a great human being who is awesome at what he does.

Jeremy sent me a link to the proofs...take a look. I think they're too cute. The ad is done, but I haven't seen it yet. I'm sure it'll be awesome.

http://www.jeremyhessphotography.com/proofs/09M2Dec/

On a side note, I'm gearing up for a big day. On Saturday I'll join with three of my best friends to run my first ever 5K. I've always wanted to do one...so with the prompting of Mel, Steph and Chrissy....here I go. I've been training for a few weeks now, but with sick kids, work, and family stuff it's been rough. I'm scared to death and super excited. I'm praying that it'll be a positive experience and I'll be a good role model for my boys. (The boys won't be able to be there though as they have swim lessons and church choir).

I know that this is just a run...and the victory is already won. I'm blessed beyond belief and being able to run...walk...or crawl 3.2 miles is a something that shouldn't be taken for granted.
I'm reminded of the scripture verse that I call me life verse. Phillipians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I'll be drawing on that strength.

In the swim of things

Connor and Jackson got up bright and early this morning...and we headed to the pool! Yep, we started swimming lessons! The boys really enjoyed it. Connor hollered at me from across the pool...Mom, this is awesome! then gave me a big thumbs up.

Poor Jackson (who has no fat on his entire body)was shivering as he got out of the pool....

Here's Connor...talking the entire way out of the pool. He can't wait for the next lesson!

Sweet Treats

There were some pretty cute trick or treaters in Lancaster last night. I'm a little biased I know..but...

Craig headed over to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Steve's house without me for dinner (I was stuck at work)...then Grandma, PopPop, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Lindsey and Seth headed out to fill their trick or treat bags.

Here's a look at our crews....Connor even got a brand new spiderman outfit to replace the shredded old one...

Jackson loved being Thomas...

Mitchell wasn't feeling so well....poor guy...

and of course, our wild pony, Sawyer.

What a fun...sugar filled...night!

By the way, I finally figured out how to rotate my pictures! Yeah!

On any given day

This is something you'll see a lot in our house. Little boys surrounding the train table. One of the best things we've been seeing lately is all of them playing together. They really take turns nicely. I love seeing them help one another find a train or put together a piece of track.

While his big brothers were playing at the train table, I put Mitchell in his swing. He loved it. As you can clearly see....

I actually took this picture in mid-swing. Look at that face! I could just cover it with kisses. Anyway, as Mitchell was swinging, his brother would occassionally walk over to the swing. Sawyer would push the swing....Jackson would try to give him a kiss...then they'd go back to their trains. Well, at one point, I looked in the room and I knew I had to grab my camera because I saw this....

The picture isn't very good, but Connor had pulled out a book and was reading to Mitchell. It was soooo cute. After Connor would "read" the page, he'd hold the book up so that Mitchell could see the pictures. What a sweet thing.