Ten on Tuesday


1. Fall has sprung here in Illinois and we couldn't be more in love with the weather.  The humidity is gone, windows are open and fleece jackets with fuzzy slippers are being worn.  We enjoy the summer, but we love the fall weather and by September, it's always welcomed!  Hello pumpkin spice lattes, visits to pumpkin farms, Wildcat football games and caramel apples. 


2. We are gearing up to go see our great friend Alex race in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend.  We are looking forward to cheering him on and watching in amazement as he finishes (because we know he will!) the Ironman Wisconsin.  It's just a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles bike and a 26.2 mile run.  That's all ;). ha ha... 


3. Hey Makenna.."how do you spell me," Nana asks her last night.  Her response?  "M.A.K.E.N.N.A."  


seriously??...We all had a good laugh!


4. Less than 9 weeks until Half-Marathon Day. Woot!  I ran a bit over 9 miles this weekend and felt awesome.  I still am in disbelief that I can run that long...   


5. Thanks Auntie Dawn for my cool new purse.  I love it!

6. Salsa Chicken is cooking in the crock pot, the house smells yummy, and I love that dinner is figured out before lunch time.  Need to do this more often!

7. This little boy loves all things boy. And has moved on from big cars to matchbox cars.   His favorite thing to do?  Line them all up and crash 'um.  Yep...all boy.



























8.Remember this from last year?

A year later a lot has changed but a lot still stays the same. L.O.V.E.

9.  Another sneak peak photo..

10. Look for vacation pictures later this week. I committed to finish editing them by Friday!  xo, K

Fly fly away little one...

Thanks to Auntie LuAnn, this week we have had a lot of fun watching chrysalis' turn into butterflies and letting them eventually free to fly.   The kids have been in awe with the whole experience and eagerly  checked their status frequently throughout the day.  With watching a total of 4 of them, the delight was spread over a couple of days.

The first one that turned into a butterfly, we took outside and she hung around on Makenna for quite a while.  She was in awe and held it with such gentleness and kindness. Once she did fly away, MC was in a full breakdown, crying because she wanted to keep her as a pet.  Her heart was broken and required lots of explanation, hugs and time. Eventually she refocused on the remaining chrysalis'.



After the the next few turned into butterflies, we saved their flight for when Daddy came home from work.

But....since their wings were dried a bit more, they took off flying in the skies immediately, which also left MC in despair. "Why did she fly away so quickly??"

So with the remaining butterfly, we let loose this morning, before Daddy went to work, knowing that her wings were still a bit wet and she would stick around a bit.  And she did.  Long enough for MC to name her Chelsea, give her lots of loves and then see that she flew to the tree to start her adventure as a Monarch Butterfly.

And although MC was sad she flew away, she was also happy that her new friend was strong enough to fly thanks to her loving care.  Phew...

Thank you Auntie LuAnn! The kids loved caring for the chrysalis' this week and enjoyed letting the butterflies "out!", as Rylan saids.  So much fun!  Thank you for sharing them with us.  xo

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I must still be in vacation mode because all I want to do is eat, sleep and play.  And that's kind of what I have succumbed to.  Although, it's not a bad place to be, I have to admit.  If only my to do lists can remain to the side for a bit longer.

2. Makenna is loving school and the daily structure is a beautiful thing for everyone. With her having afternoon preschool, it leaves the morning to hang out together and then just a bit of time at the end of the day to visit a park before dinner, bath and bed.  And now that Fall is upon us and summer days are narrowing, the kids are tucked into their beds about 7pm and sleeping for a good 11-12 hours.  Summer is fun, but Fall is welcomed too!

3. Rylan is a little talking parrot.  Literally in the last month, he has grown up so much and has become quite the little boy.  He is learning how to count to ten (and already knows a lot of the numbers), and he can now say a lot of the colors.  "How old are you Rylan?"  "OOOwww", he saids, trying mercifully to only hold up two fingers.  My favorite word right now is "wewwow", for yellow.  If I can only bottle this cuteness forever.

4. Scott and I are now officially in half marathon training mode and the running miles have started to accumulate.  I will be doing my first double digit run in just a couple of weeks.  Eeeksss....  It is definitely a very challenging schedule for me, but after each run, I feel so great, I want more!  Running is funny that way.  It's not necessarily the feeling I get during the run (because many of times, that is so not fun!), it is the satisfaction and the accomplishment of finishing it. It's addicting, I tell ya..

5. Makenna's world, according to Makenna.

favorite color-purple
favorite thing about school-playing with Hannah
favorite place to visit- the Z.O.O. (spelled out for me)

(and shoot...she told me so much more, but I can't remember.  Next time, I need to write it down right away.  She loved answering my questions...  We'll have to play that again soon.)

6.  I haven't even touched our vacation pictures, or Rylan's birthday pictures (due to #1), but they are coming to this blog very soon.

7. Today the kids thought it would be a great idea to put themselves to sleep, using the train table trundle as a bed.

Very creative, I must say.

8. Pictures like this make me happy.

9. And this one.  Their morning ritual..sitting on the garage steps, blowing kisses and waving good bye to Daddy as he leaves for work.

These are the moments I want to always remember....

10. Yesterday while at the park, Makenna was trying to play with 2, 10 year old boys. Of course, they didn't want anything to do with playing with a 4 1/2 year old, but she kept trying.  And trying.  Today it makes me laugh....in 10+ years, not so much.

Home.

In the wee hours of this morning, we arrived home.

Home....after a wonderful well spent 8 days vacationing, being together 24-7, enjoying us, eating lots of good food, sharing many laughs and many snuggles and lots and lots of memory making.

Home...a place we are so happy to be but really we could of easily kept traveling on if there wasn't work, school and normal day to day life to resume.

Home....where the clothes washer is spinning, the toys are already scattered about and the pitter patter of 4 loud feet scatter throughout.

Home..with a little boy who is now 2 and a little girl who just turned 4 1/2 who couldn't wait to get back home to see her pups, her Nana and return to school as a pre-kindergartener.

Home...Sweet...Home....  Ahhhhh.....

And before we resume the normal life channel....here are a few photos of our pre-k'er who woke up this morning (much too early for her momma and daddy), proclaiming "It's time for school!!!"

Miss Spunk...

Channeling Mary Tyler Moore??????  :)

Excuse me..miss??

Ok..that's better!!!!!! 

Will be back soon with lots more stories and photographs!

Ten on Tuesday

1. The weather here has finally calmed down and we are now in the 80's and it feels awesome! I have been attending to the growing weeds in the yard, shrubs that needed some mending and a garage that has been screaming for a reorg! It's so great to be outside and not feel like we are melting...phew.. this has been a very hot summer!

2. We are also packing our bags for the Carolina's. We are all so very excited to spending a week in a half together and drive ourselves both crazy and silly with driving our troups, hours on end. An adventure awaits us, I am sure.

3. But before we can leave for vacation, Scott and I are racing on Sunday. This is where we will be in the wee hours of the morning http://www.bangslakemultisportfestival.com/  The weather looks absolutely perfect so I couldn't be more excited!  Ready to kick some pavement (and waves, in Scott's case)!

4. And it looks like our oldest is keeping up with her momma and daddy with much ambition and desire.  This morning while I was cleaning out the garage, she staged her own Duathlon.  "Momma..cheer for me as I go by, ok?"  She even handled the transition from one sport to the other with expertise.  "run, bike, run is what I am going to do!"  Rylan didn't need any prompting and knew just what to do...."woooo woooo!" he shouts.  Love it!  He saids the same thing every time he sees a photo of us at our races.  Just. 2. Cute!



5. Speaking of 2...lil Rylan is coming up on his second birthday.  How that is even possible, I am not really sure.  And it's in just 10 days.  Really??

6. Project 365, a snapshot picture of a day, is just about up to date.  Weeeeee!  So very excited...and now we go on vaca, so I'll be a couple weeks behind again.  LOL  But it's all good.  I love lOVE love this book..it's actually my very favorite out of all my scrapbooks because it covers everything from the big things to the little day to day moments that I want forever etched in my mind.  You can check out the photo stream by clicking on the right side to take you to the flickr page.

7-9 (HA!)  How about some scrappy love?  I did these layouts a bit ago, but never shared.  Here are some pages to update Scott's book. And they are paper layouts rather than the digital ones I have been doing.  How fun it's been to play with paper and embellishments again.

10. Signing off for a couple weeks.  Off to finish our week at home, before starting our fun adventure. Happy end of summer!!!

Ten on Tuesday  Friday

1. Tuesday has also become know as Track Tuesday around here.  Slithering our bodies underneath the fence to get access to the high school track in the wee hours of the morning, all in the name to gain some speed in our running pace.  I can't say I am ever eager for these workouts, but afterwards, I am always quite satisfied.  Bolting your body as fast as it can go for distances at a time..in my case, 0.25miles, sounds durable, until it's actually time to do so. Then the track seems forever long.  I do hope that soon the weather will become a bit milder..80 degrees with 85% humidity, even at 5 am, is a bit rough.

2. Speaking of running, I ran an all time high on Sunday...8.5 miles.  And if I count the 5.5 miles I did this morning, I am past that half marathon mark...it counts right? Ha..  In all seriousness, I was delighted to hit that high number and I would of never thought I could of ever seen the day.  Goes to show each of us that we never know what can be accomplished unless we try!  And I am even so much more excited that I think my coach has figured out how to solve all my GI issues with running, because with added hydration supplements,  my stomach felt completely 100% after both Sunday's and today's run...and that is seriously remarkable!!  No more stomach ick feelings for several hours after a run...wowie, I am so excited!!

3. Well..the kids did it!  Makenna Claire happily and eagerly leaves her lovey, Alfie, in her room without even a prompt and Rylan has easily given up his pacifier except for sleep.  Whew..and it really wasn't that difficult!

4. With this hot summer, I had no choice but trying to change Rylan's nap routine.  For I don't know how long..he has slept in his car seat in the car with things to help him keep cool or warm depending on the season.  But it was just getting too hot to do this anymore.  So inside he stayed.  This was much more difficult than his pacifier, but I am happy to say that  at least most days he is taking a decent nap in his crib now.  Woot!

5. Yesterday, the kids and I went to the local water park.  Makenna was working on her freestyle arms so intently and showing me all her swimming skills with such confidence.  You go MC!

6. MC starts school 3 weeks from tomorrow.  How is that even possible?

7. #1-6 were written for Ten on Tuesday, on Tuesday.  And then life took over.  Sippy cups needed be filled.  Dinner cooked.  Babies washed and put to bed.  And then I went out to meet some Momma's at a local restaurant for drinks and to talk about mom's club stuff.  Storm rolls in, tornado sirens roared, rounds of (free) Blue Moon drinks were served, and the night ended with me scurrying home at 11, landing in bed.
And who knows what happened to the rest of the week..but summertime + kids = lots of busy and fun days.

8.  Yesterday we went to the zoo, and today we scoped out our neighborhood garage sales and walked and walked until little MC's legs couldn't walk any more and ended in a protest.  "my legs are very VERY tired momma!"

But Rylan had it good, and found it time to catch up on his sleep.

MC did find enough energy to pick some flowers for her Nana on the way home.

Ahhh..summertime.

9. I am loving my iPhone for pictures lately..it's always there and so very easy to use.  Not to mention, instagram is my new love and allows for a quick edit and easy send out function.  What did we do before phone camera's?  Here are a few more instagrams from this week.

10. And with that....phew, it's Friday!  I am ready to share these 2 lovelies of ours with their other biggest admirer.  Hurry home Daddy!

Have a great weekend!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Last week, Makenna overcame (again) her need to have her lovey Alfie with her during the day.  Limiting Alfie to bedtime also limits her thumb sucking since they usually go hand in hand.  And guess what....she did it with flying colors!  Surprisingly it was really quite easy. Yea MC...way to go little girl, we are so proud of you!

2.  And this week, my goal is to rid Rylan's pacifier, except for sleep. I thought this may be a bit tougher, but honestly it's gone pretty smoothly so far!  He occasionally asks for it but with the gentle nudge of, "you are such a big boy, that you only need the ba ba for sleep," he continues on with his day.  It certainly helps that he can reason with you and seems to really understand as well. Yea Ry!!

3. I can hardly believe we are in the last dog days of July already.  Although we have spent a lot of time indoors lately because of this crazy heat and humidity, August can't be here already, can it?  M starts school in just 4 weeks...so hard to believe!  We still have so much we need to do to cross off of summer to do lists.

4. We are planning our first family driving vacation and are so very excited!  Charelston, South Carolina here we come in just a few weeks.  A week spent together will be a bit of heaven!  I think the kids will do well in the car, although I am sure there will be moments where Scott and I will be wondering why the car was a great idea, anyways.  "Are we there yet?" will be asked 939475032570347 times and I am sure there will be many, "can we please use our inside voices in the car" spoken, but we are excited to see how it goes and see the land by car.  Wish us luck!

5.  Weight Watchers lifetime program just added another member to their list.  Woot woot for me!  I am so very excited and now those dollars can be coaching dollars as I am continuing my training for one last duathlon right before heading for vacation and then the Half Marathon in November.

6. I spoke with my coach today and she asked me if I had ever been a runner before?  Umm...NOPE! I actually have always hated it with a passion.  I did do a few 5K's and maybe an 8K once or twice in my late 20's, but I didn't really like it, just liked what it did for me.  So, in response to her question I asked, Why?  And her reply made my day..."because do you realize how fast you are running, and how far you are going..and how you have accomplished so much, so very quickly?"  Well, yes and no...but her saying those words to me made me smile and happy all day long.  Thanks Val.

7. My picture a day album is still going strong.  I had to play a little catch up with the layouts but they are all coming together.  I have updated it through May and I hope to have it all current by the end of the week.  No small task, for sure..but when I look at all those daily captures of our lives, it just makes me happy!

To miss documenting these everyday moments???  NEVER....

It's worth all the time and effort, ten fold.

8. While the weather is nice to us (read: warm and sunny, but bearable), we have been busy playing at the zoo.

9. And when it's so HOT outside, we melt, literally and the humidity makes it difficult to breath...we play indoors.

10.  Although life is far from easy and has it's ups and downs, life is good and these two remind me each day to live it to the fullest.  Hope you are having a wonderful summer, having fun playing in the sun and never forgetting the child within us.  Happy end of July!