St. Patty's Run

I did it!!!!  things have been crazy around here (more on that later) and I haven't been running like I hoped but am happy to report that on a beautiful saturday morning in march I ran my not-so-little body for 5 miles. 

Russ has been trying to talk me into running half marathons with him the past few years and I've always told him to let me try st. patty's first.  well, then last year I decided to go ahead and give the chicago half marathon a try - and the night before we left I had a massive gall bladder attack ending up in the ER.  no running took place.

now I've signed up for the st. louis half marathon in april.  for different reasons (the reasons we'll talk about later) I won't be running 13.1 in a couple of weeks...but at the very least I can say that I ran 5 miles in 2011.  baby steps....right?!?! 

a beautiful day in the city with friends was an extra little bonus :)

my kind of farm.

last weekend we were invited to spend the night at some friends "farm" which is not an actual working farm but what i describe as a play farm.  we got their friday night and headed out to the bonfire for fireworks and smores.  stayed up late playing and dancing and then, after we finally got the kids to bed, enjoyed a little adult conversation with some great friends that we don't get to spend enough time with.

saturday morning we all got up and had yummy waffles, got the kids bundled up and went out to play four wheelers and tubing and just good old fun.  once the kids were ready to warm up with some hot chocolate the guys went off to paintball in the woods. 

even cobb got to come play at the farm.  i didn't want to put him back in the car to go home after 24 hours of running in the woods, splashing through the creek and getting into who knows what.  old dog - couldn't move for the next three days. 

it was such good fun i didn't have a chance to take any pictures :)  truth be told, russ had been traveling the week before - in fact, we met him up by the airport on our way to the farm - and well, i'm just not with it enough to bring a camera that had a charged battery.  on top of it, my phone spent the night outside by the bonfire and wasn't found until the next morning.  i have no idea on earth how the thing still works - snow, mud, fire, four wheelers.  it's truly a miracle and i will probably keep this phone case forever and ever. 

and besides, can i say 9 adults and 14 kidss - girls age 7, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, and 1... my girls were in heaven!!!! and we were totally outnumbered :) 

this is all i've got for memories sake...thanks to the chilly iphone and pictures i copied off facebook (shhhhh...)

3.5 years old...

my middle child is officially 3.5 years old :)  we love celebrating half birthdays around here.  this year, russ was travelling so we decided to indulge our sweet tooth and had cupcakes and ice cream for dessert!! 

to top it off, since E's birthday is in the summer (august to be exact), the dance studio celebrated her half birthday.  it was so fun for her because in the past she hasn't started school by her birthday so she doesn't get to do birthday snack or anything.  (this will change next year and i am so happy for her - she will have 2 days of preschool before she turns 4!!!)

my elle belle!!!

E with her dancing buddies....she looks like a little peanut doesn't she?!?!

american girl place

for J's 5th birthday grandma and grandpa wanted to take her to chicago and visit the american girl place.  some good friends of ours have a beautiful condo right across from navy pier and were kind enough to let us stay there for our visit. 

it was a quick trip - got there friday eve, spent saturday experiencing american girl, went to rainforest cafe for a late lunch, and then went back to the condo for the evening to play with our new doll and and have yummy chicago style pizza for dinner.  sunday we got up and went to brunch at the american girl place and then headed back to stl.  we had so much fun spending this special time with j and i know j had an incredible time having 3 of her favorite adults all to herself :) 

introducing..."katie haberberger" (named in honor of the teenager who lives across the street :))

j with grandma and grandpa

 j and katie haberberger - they look just like each other, right?!?!

spent hours playing with her new doll.

brunch at american girl.  it was so fun!!

love!!!

a special thanks to my mom and dad for giving j and myself such an amazing weekend.  i have not had her to myself in over 3 years and it was great to spend one-on-one time with my first born :) 

and a special hug and kiss to my amazing husband for taking care of the two little girls for the weekend while we were galavanting around chicago!!  things were a little hectic that weekend, his dad ended up in the hospital for a couple of days, plans were changed and he just rolled with it!!!  love you!!

fancified.

isn't this how every 3 year old comes out of her room after quiet time?!?!?!

the great meltdown.....

we've had a lot of snow and ice this winter.  like crazy lots for st. louis.  a few weeks ago we were supposed to have the "blizzard of the decade"...didn't exactly turn into what they expected but let's just say it was enough...and to top it off, cold enough that nothing melted for what seemed like forever.

and then finally the warm up came.  and we headed outside to enjoy the meltdown!!!!!  love these pics because 1) it shows just how big my "baby" is getting and 2) it reminds me how much fun we can have just hanging out on the driveway!!!!

COME ON WARM WEATHER!!!!  WE ARE READY!!!!!!

V-Day 2011

since it's still officially february i thought i could still post about our valentine shenanigans :)

we decided to have a little party to celebrate valentines this year and invited two little girls that are in J's class (that E is friends with also) to play, do crafts and have a little lunch.  it was great fun and the girls played so nicely together. 

both the big girls exchanged valentines at school this year.  while i'm anti-store bought cards, i just didn't have the energy to really "make" cards this year, so we compromised.  we'll go with semi-homemade :)