The Crafts

If you happened to walk by our house when the windows are open, you'd hear this... "Sit.  Sit, CJ.  Sit down.  Sit!" If you didn't know any better, you'd think we were training a new puppy. But that isn't any puppy we are talking to.  It is our monkey of a climber, Claudia. If only there was such a thing as obedience school for one year olds! Here she is standing on a recliner. Now standing on the couch.  Standing again in yet another chair. And attempting to balance herself in a folding princess chair. Sweetie pie Kate tells CJ to "sit like this."  But that doesn't help. Instead little miss monkey will laugh in your face.  And then give you a wonky eye... Then she'll probably double over in laughter... And finish with a super cute, gotta-love-me grin. That girl! 

When I uploaded the latest pictures from my camera and found this one, I let out a big, happy, relaxing sigh. Isn't she so beautiful. Seeing this photo makes me want to have a gaggle of girls. Fill up our house with dozens of sweet faced, loving,cheery-eyed girls. But they aren't always so adorable...and neither am I, to be honest. Kids are hard.  I don't need to explain that to you.  I think just about everyone who reads my blog has kids. And while the little kid days are tough, I worry about the teenage years to come. Will my girls like me?  Will they think I'm a witch of a mom who they will be embarrassed to be around? Probably. And that makes me want to freeze time so they will never come to the realization that I'm not as awesome as they think I am right now.  But I can't freeze time.  Rats. I wish there was some magical recipe that would tell me how to keep my girls from ever thinking I'm anything but wonderful.  I'd pay thousands of dollar...

I brought back presents for Matt, Kate and CJ from my visit to the Windy City. (Sorry, Dad.  I hope your not disappointed!) One of the many stores we visited was The Hershey's Shop where I bought Matt... The World's Largest Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!!!!! Yah, this sweet treat dwarfs his cell phone....and a Disney princess. Yum, yum, yummy!!

Before I became a mother I thought life with children would be full of giggles, snuggles, and lots of love with a few hard decisions thrown in.  And while it may in fact be that way sometimes, motherhood is more often full of crying (by both child and mother), getting screamed at by your uncontrollable child(ren), constantly saying no and watching in disgust as your child spits in your face.  Yes, it has come to that.  Kate spit in my face today...intentionally, knowingly, and not-so-lovingly spit in my face.  Which made me start to wonder whether or not there is any good that comes from playdates.  The spitting incident happened during a playdate this morning.  Actually most of the terrible behavior occurs during playdates.  Going back to that pre-motherhood dreaminess; I thought playdates would be heavenly.  Kids get new toys and playmates to interact with while moms get to sip drinks and talk about how wonderful life ...

I think most of America has at least heard of the book Eat, Pray, Love.  (Don't really click to 'look inside' I just copied the pic from Amazon.) When it was first released I was very excited to read it, primarily because I had heard such rave reviews.  But I don't like it.  I only read the first 50 or so pages.  Then the movie was released...with Julia Roberts.  Who doesn't love Julia Roberts?  Pretty much all of her movies rock so I thought, I need to give that book another try before seeing the movie.  So I pulled out my copy of Eat, Pray, Love and again, only made it through the first 50 pages.  Blah.  I don't like it. I want to like it. But I don't. Maybe you will? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite dish and who makes it.  For example, I LOVE my mom's kringla.  I wait and wait for Christmas so I can eat large batches of my favorite cookie. I also want you to say a prayer for a friend and give all your loved one...

Did you figure out where I disappeared to this weekend? Clue:  It was the Windy City. Still confused? CHICAGO!! Chicago with these lovely ladies. What did we do in Chicago?  The following...in just about this order... Shop, walk, eat, walk, shop, watch a terrible Ben Stiller movie in the hotel room, eat, walk, shop, eat with my fav Chicago friend, Jen from college, watch the hilarious Blue Man Group, walk, relax, more eating, more shopping and lots and lots and lots of talking.  Whew!  Our hotel was smacked dab in the middle of everything!  You couldn't find a more perfect location. We were surrounded by restaurants of all kinds, hundreds of shops and all sorts of historical hot spots. Saturday's lunch with my friend Jen was on the 95th floor of the Hancock building. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so our view was a little foggy.  But just about the time we finished eating the sky cleared and we were able to see the beautiful Chicago skyline...

I've been absent. Have you noticed? Monday morning I discovered that our computer security software didn't automatically renew like it was set up to.  So I had to read directions, pay lots of money and upload the new program. Shortly thereafter, the computer froze. And I've been trying to resolve the problem ever since. Long story short, we now have access again but I'm still working on a few remaining glitches. Blah! I don't like it.  Not one bit. So my super fun, totally awesome vacation blog post will have to wait another day or so. Don't give up on me yet!!

Since running the Park to Park half marathon this past Saturday I haven't jogged a single yard.  First off my quads didn't stop throbbing until yesterday (Wednesday).  It was the very first day I was able to walk down stairs and sit down without falling backwards into a chair.  I have also had zero interest in reading any of the running blogs I follow.  I wasn't even able to glance at a running magazine.  However, I feel my few days of lazy may be over.  My body is beginning to feel normal again.... like a normal, lazy, ice cream eating person.  I've already gotten the itch to sweat. So I image my return to running will be very soon.  But first I have a trip planned with... We are going here... Until Monday...

Some days I know these girls love each other. And other days I only think they might possibly, somehow, kinda sorta, maybe like each other. I guess that is part of life when you have a sibling. But despite the disagreements I'm pretty sure they look up to one another.

As I type my quads are screaming for mercy but it was totally worth it.  Why do we put ourselves through such torture?  I ran the Park to Park half marathon with 1,200 of my closest friends this Saturday.  The guy that won finished the race in 1 hour and 6 minutes...yep, he ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes.  I couldn't even mix and bake a batch of cookies in 1 hour and 6 minutes.  Anyway, rather than keep you in suspense (ha!) I did not meet my goal time.  The race went like so... I started off at break neck speed...yep, that there is enough to explain the reason for me missing my goal.  I made a rookie mistake despite not being a rookie.  But the excitement of race day got the better of me.  My first mile was 7:20 and by the time I reached mile 3 I realized I had just set myself a new personal record for a 5K (3 miles.)  At that point I audibly said, 'oh, poop.'  I knew this pace wasn't going to hold and not only that, I ...

1:48:00 or BUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only three more days before race day.  A day that follows ten weeks of rather intense training and mental preparation.  Ten weeks of choosing an apple over ice cream (not all the time, of course!) and ten weeks of pounding pavement before half the town is even out of bed.  But it is all worth it.  I'm hoping for the best...good weather conditions, a cooperative tummy and a positive attitude. I have one more run before my half marathon race on Saturday.  A short 3 miles lies between me and 13 rigorous, sweat drenched, goal achieving miles.  I can't wait! I haven't updated the blog with running updates for about a week and a half.  I've completed lots of little runs and three 'hard' runs.  I haven't been taking the Garmin for my easy runs so I'll just report on the more challenging trips out. Thursday of last week: (4 x 1 mile repeats, with a 1/4 mile cool down between mile sprints)   Mile 1: 10:22 warm up, why so slow?  I stepped o...

...like CJ! The family celebrated CJ's first birthday Sunday. Lots of family, food, fun and messes!  It's the only way to throw a party. (Warning: Obnoxious number of photos below.) CJ had lots of help from Kate with opening cards and gifts. The girls played nicely together played with toys after all was opened up. Here they are sitting at CJ's new Princess table. Oh, and see that super cool party banner in the background?  I labored over that thing for several hours. But I'm really happy with how it turned out. Then we started in on cupcakes.  The cupcake monsters  were thrilled! This cupcake monster went straight to the tub. And we finished the party with some family pictures. Here we are with my sister, parents and grandparents on my mom's side. Followed by a photo of us with Matt's parents and his grandma on his mom's side. I realize this photo of my family with my grandparents on my dad's side is blurry but I had to include it. Check out ...

...our cupcake MONSTERS?! No cupcake is safe with these two around.