LOVE these girlies!

Addie finally lost her first tooth; that thing had been loose since August and she refused to wiggle it or let us touch it at all. That also meant that her tooth brush couldn't touch it either. Yes, that's right...those bottom teeth weren't brushed for a solid two months. EW!!! Anyway, it finally met its demise on Thanksgiving Day. The Tooth Fairy came. She left her $10. Clearly the recession hasn't hit the land of fairies yet! I've been wiggling my teeth ever since; I need Christmas money!!

Halloween is a big thing here in the Midwest; it's almost a month long process. We did two nights of trick or treating. On the first night Addie was a "girl riding a unicorn". She wanted this costume when she saw it on Target's website, but when she saw her friends wearing princess dresses, the unicorn got the boot. Needless to say, the following night, she was Cinderella and the unicorn went to bed hungry.

HANDSOME!

Yesterday I ran the Lakefront Marathon. It was another "didn't really train" marathon; I hate marathon training, but I love the marathon race itself.  My highest mileage was a half marathon at the end of August, and after that, it was a mere 8 miles on 9/30. Plus, with a new job, I really didn't have the time to train, so I really did have a legit excuse this year.

I won't say it wasn't difficult because it certainly was. Between mile 19 and 20 I was asking myself what the hell I was doing. Luckily, my cheering squad showed up (Scott and Addie) and I was passed off 600mg of ibuprofen. That got me through the last 6.2 miles...or should I say the last 6.69 miles because that's what my watch read: 26.69 miles....I ate an extra handful of Reeses Pieces for that.

One of the best things about this year's marathon was the medal. It is big and beefy, the best medal I've ever received. It's awesome.

I also have to mention that my nephew, Zach, ran this marathon as well. It was his first (hopefully not his last) and he finished with about the same amount of training as I had ....maybe even a little less.  He's a hurtin' unit today, I'm sure, but the pride of having finished always outweighs the pain.

The poor blog has been neglected for a month or so, but I wanted to at least post these pics...a couple of my favorites from the summer session with Abbie Morrison. There are many, many more!!

K5 2012

First day of ALL day Kindergarten. BIG girl now! :)

party

   Piñata instructions

   Notice the yawning...really?

 

   THE cake and the culprit

We celebrated Addie's birthday on Sunday! It was a drama filled event from the beginning:

-I fell off of the curb while carrying the cake out of the bakery (skinned knee and an unscathed cake)

- The pool portion of the party started at 1pm; as we pulled in the parking lot, it started to pour, thunder, and lightening

-It cleared briefly to have snacks and do the piñata

- BEES....a LOT of BEES

- The cake was cut and my friend thought she was choking on frosting and eventually left in the ambulance

_ The thunder and rain returned as Addie started to open gifts; we all huddled under two little canopies to avoid being drenched.

The bright side: Addie will always remember her 5th birthday, and although it was wet, the circumstances didn't put a damp-er on her fun!

Meet Jack

Meet Jack!

He's a black and tan furry little dude who will let you do almost anything with him. He goes for walks in purses and spends lots and lots of time being cuddled by a very proud 5 year old. He is the best "toy" to enter our house in a long, long time!

FIVE

happy 5 BIG years to our sweet girl!

you are perfect in every way. EVERY day!

Old Man

He may be old, but he can still fetch a stick with the best of 'em....just twice rather than 100 times.

We drove over the river and through the woods (literally) to see "Sarah -the horse". Yes, her name is Sarah...that's her barn name that she came with when she was a 2 year old. She's 23 now and is still as sweet as ever. She loves you right back and if you give her a few treats, she loves you a little more.

Addie rode; I rode....Addie even trotted and thought that was super fun. We rode in the rain and didn't care. I'll speak for all three of us and will say that we can't wait until next time!

Wicked cute....

evening fishing

maine

It doesn't get much better than this! Happy kids, happy dog, happy parents.

read worthy

I don't usually post about things I love, but I couldn't not share this book (if you go out and read it, you'll know exactly why). I drove for 20 hours to Maine the other day and spent most of those hours listening to this book. When the book was finished, I frantically searched iTunes for her podcasts. If you go here, you can find them.  Choose # 36. 

For me to describe what you'll find in this book would never do it justice; instead, I'll let you search it out, because when you do, you'll understand why I had to share it and why you have to read it.

Happy reading (or listening). 

the gymnast

14 days until the opening ceremonies; we should be ready by then.

Little bud

If she could fit him in her pocket and take him everywhere, she would! 

NYC

NYC was a blast!!
We had a few brushes with fame: Pat Benatar (who apparently is on tour this summer, and if you'd like to see her in concert, click here).
Chris Hansen of "To Catch a Predator" was strolling out of NBC Studios.
Stephen Baldwin was helping his mother or grandmother (we're not quite sure) out of their car for the big wedding. Last but not least, Alec Baldwin; what's with the belabored walk?

We ran in Central Park (one of the highlights), walked and walked and walked, rode the subway, played with makeup at Sephora, drank lots of coffee, ate delicious food here, and did lots of laughing!

We've told ourselves that we will do this every summer. Twist my arm.