Marathon update

So I know that a marathon is going to be super hard. Well, Yesterday my dad and I did 14 miles. Ran part, walked part, were boggled. It was very very hard. I have never been doing something so strenous for so long that my muscles are feeling sore from the prior two hours and I AM STILL ACTUALLY EXERTING MYSELF! It took us four hours on the dot and when we were done we were spent! So in the actual marathon it will be like doing that, and then turning around and doing it again. Hmmm.

More Christmas

We got a real tree this year because Jeff kept picking on our little tree. So the little tree went into Hannah's room and then we had to borrow a littler tree from my mom to put in Jacob's room. Long story short, I didn't want to pull out the ornaments until Jeff was home to help decorate. Apparently there is no stopping Hannah because she simply began to decorate her tree with all her plastic jewerly, a pair of sunglasses and hairbows. It gets funnier: when I was cleaning up all the Christmas stuff I also found a screwdriver and two drill bits adorning her tree. (Not sure how that happened).

Christmas!!!

Wow, Jacob had viral pneumonia and then we were getting ready for Christmas and then we were having Christmas and I haven't blogged in forever. Sorry for any dedicated readers out there who were disappointed for almost a whole month. So Jeff made a really cool wooden train for Jacob for Christmas, which he LOVES, and Nana and Baba got Jacob a Thomas that he can ride, which he LOVES. Jacob is a huge train fan and Christmas was probably the happiest day of his life. I didn't pull out my camera much this month so I regret that I don't have very many pictures. Also, a couple of them turned out with an angelic haze (a professional special effect you can

only achieve by having a toddler rub their grubby fingers on the lense).

Santa's little helpers

Saturday evening the kids and I went to help make toys for toys for tots. A man we know builds really cute wooden toys and then has people come over to help sand and then oil them. Little kids are really good at oiling and Hannah had such a good time because she knew she was really helping. As we were driving home she told me: "Vanity (I don't know whose name she was refering to) told me we were really hard workers, but I knew it. " Jacob was quality control and made sure all the toys were fun to play with. We worked in the man's airplane hanger so Jacob was blown away when we were finished and they moved the airplane back in.

Gearing up for Christmas

It is so fun to have Christmas coming, Jacob is old enough to be excited about everything and Hannah is old enough to anticipate it! Here they are chillin' with a snowman, doing some Christmas shopping with Aunt Natalie, and Jacob is ready to party!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff is now 28! We went to Myrtle Beach to celebrate with his family this past weekend. I had taken the kids to the dollar store so that they could pick out birthday presents for him. Jacob selected a bag with five whiffle balls which is Jacob's dollar store favorite- he has purchased this particular item four times now. (Hence the necessity of me purging his ball collection from time to time). Hannah picked a ceramic santa that opens up at his midsection. She did debate between that or a mini doll. The "opener" won. Lucky Jeff.

More camping

There was a playground at the campgrounds and it was fun. ( It is getting late). I love this picture of Hannah.

Camping

Wow, that prior post was messed up. I promise I will get better at this one day. Aaaaah, Gorp. That is what everyone is eating in these pictures. This particular blend was fruit loops, marshmallows, raisins, and Reeses pieces (I love you mom). Jacob was a HUGE fan although he continued to break the cardinal rule of Gorp (NO FISHING)!!!

Camping

Sorry it has been a while since the last post, things have been busy. (Fun busy, so I have a lot to post). Two and half weeks ago? ( I get pretty hazy on details after a week). Mom, Dad, Hannah, Jacob, myself, Natalie, and Brian went camping. Jeff had to work. : ( Shoot. I can't remember the name of the place we went but it was a state park on Lake Murray. And it was dark when we got there which made for interesting set up. He he he. And it was raining off and on. And it got really windy at times. The next morning was beautiful though, and we were really glad that we stuck it out. As it was the kids' first time camping Hannah made sure to dress up. Here is Natalie showing off her baby! Bytheway, I hope that the pictures don't seem too lopsided, I don't want to make people uncomfortable by taking pictures of them when they would rather be left unphoto'd. So, I figure the kids and Jeff are my perogative, and Natalie takes lots of pictures of other people so she is game but what I really want to say is "Sorry Brian, there aren't many photos of you."

Marathon update

So here is where I am with marathon training: Last Saturday we did 6.8 miles but I had to walk the whole thing because couple of weeks ago I got shin splints (ouch). My new shoes felt awful (once I got home from buying them of course) so I went to a place to see about insoles. Apparently I have freakish feet and while I wear a size 8, my left arch is in the position of a size 7 foot. The right arch is not quite in the same spot as the other foot (more like a 6.5 arch) and so they had to finagle my right insole a little. Apparently I am a prime candidate for custom orthotics. My shoes feel much better, now that the arch support isn't trying to lift my heel, but they really fatigue my feet. It will take some time for me to get used to them. Not that I can run though so it is a little frusterating. How ever, it does explain why I have had problems with my arches in the past and why I have always found shoes somewhat uncomfortable (I thought it was because I was too cheap to buy quality shoes). So after a couple weeks of wearing shoes that actually fit my feet, the pain from the shin splints should diminish and I should be able to run again. Hmmm.

On a happier note, I have included a picture of Jacob wearing some of his favorite footwear (my heels) and a picture of him after he smeared body soap all in his hair ( and his clothes, and the carpet. What a precious little angel). You can't really tell from the picture, he just looks really pleased.

Halloween- more happy faces

Halloween- happiness is a tummy full of candy

Hannah and Nana snuggling on the chair and Jacob with Baba.

Halloween- the candy

These first two pictures are the kids trying out pop rocks. He he. Next Baba is helping Hannah check out her haul. Jacob sat over by himself to prevent any possible candy theft and tried to accept as little help as possible. (It looked like a mouse had opened his box of nerds).

Halloween part one

Sorry this took so long to post, the kids became sick with croup, Hannah on Halloween and Jacob that next morning. We are all trying to still get over it. But here they are in their costumes, Hannah is Cinderella and Jacob is Bob the builder. Jeff had to work late that night but Mark and Carol came down to stay the night and we had a fun, relaxed evening.

Boo the Zoo

Yep, you read that right. Saturday evening we went to Boo at the Zoo along with hundreds of other unhappy parents and tired kids. The zoo opened at 6pm and our first sense that things were not going to be good was when there was a line of stalled traffic on the interstate more than a mile from the zoo exit. No accident, just alot of people going to the zoo. It took about 45min. to just go the last mile and a half to the zoo at which point we were trying desperately to convince Hannah that it would be more fun Monday night and that we would buy her a treat, etc. etc. No deal. Then we waited in line for thirty minutes to just get in the zoo. Hence, Jeff looking a little unhappy in his photo. The kids had great fun once we actually got inside but no one felt like taking pictures by that point (and Jacob didn't feel like walking) so this is all we have. I do like Jacob's method of storing half used lollypops. He apparently just learned how to open them on his own because there were three others in his carseat the next morning.

Grandma Ruth's visit

My Grandma came over from AZ to visit recently and it was so good to see her!

Last blog for tonight

Here are some pictures of me and Jeff because I know that the blog is a little lopsided (in an incredibly cute way). Hannah must have taken the picture of Jeff because I didn't. I can't even tell what he is eating but he seems to be enjoying it.

Hannah's pictures

As I have mentioned before, Hannah loves to take pictures. This is really nice for me because if we are doing something and she is unhappy (like extra long errands etc. ) I can give her the camera and she is a happy busy little bee. She said she took the dinosaur's picture because it wanted to be part of the family and on the blog. For some reason I can't explain, the picture of the library books is a favorite of mine. Just wanted to share.

All about Jacob

Here is Jacob with his friend Jade whom he really likes. They are playing ponies. He likes to rub her hair and try to pick her up so we always have to stay very close when they play. (Especially because her neck is the most convenient handle). I love this other picture because it looks like Jacob is explaining something.

Pumpkin carving

Jeff has some really cool ideas and the most current one was to use a dremel tool to carve the pumpkins. I have never had so much fun carving pumpkins! I haven't taken pictures of the final pumpkins yet because I have been using a different camera and of course that threw me for a loop (hence the week of no new posts). So here are some pumpkin pictures with our unfinished bathroom in the background. More pictures coming up.

We went to the fair!

Saturday night we took the kids to the state fair. I think they were a little overwhelmed at first with all the noise and people but they enjoyed seeing animals (after a little while), watching seals, eating cotton candy and funnel cake, and playing games. We ran into Natalie and Brian there and I need her to send me some pictures she took of us because I forgot a camera. So here are some tub pictures.

Hannah goes to the dentist

Hannah went to the dentist for the first time yesterday. The place is called wild smiles and it really is wild. They have the floor like a stone path and the walls are like jungle trees with animals scattered about. In one room they had glass panels on the floor and underneath was a big display of a hippo in a jungle. Hannah did great.