Toy Story 3 On Ice

The Saturday before the big race, we went with the Pipers to see Toy Story 3 On Ice. It was performing at The Palace in Auburn Hills, MI. The kids LOVED it (and so did the parents)!!! It was a rather long story line but with the help of some popcorn at the end the kids remained content in their seats the entire show. It was a great performance!

My First 5K

I ran my first 5k race today (3.1 miles). I started this journey back in November when I joined a local gym and decided it was time to start exercising, get in shape, and lose some weight. In December I ran a mile on the treadmill and that alone felt like such a huge accomplishment. I hadn't ran a mile since high school!!! I have never been a runner by any means and didn't even think I could do it. After running that first mile, I knew I wanted to do more so I signed up for a 5K. Better yet, a good friend of mine, Mary, signed up with me and promised to drive up from Fishers, IN to run it with me.

Here's a picture of Mary and I in our racing gear getting pumped up for the event!



The race was definitely challenging for the following reasons:

- This is only the 2nd time I've ever ran outside. (Winter isn't the ideal time to run outside in Michigan. :)
- I have a bad cold and was very congested.
- There were several hills that the treadmill didn't prepare me very well for.

Ryan was waiting to take our picture at the top of the last hill not far from the finish line. It was motivating to see him at the top and made me want to push myself even harder to make it to the top.





I tried to look good for the pictures but who was I kidding? That last hill was TOUGH!



Are you wondering what my time was? I finished 3.1 miles in 37 minutes and 32 seconds. (That's about a 12 minute mile.) While I know that may sound like such a slow time to many people...I view it as such a HUGE accomplishment! I did it!!! I ran a 5K and I did it without walking! It was so motivating and touching to be able to give my son a big high five just steps before the finish line! He was so happy to see his mommy running today!

Will I do it again? Heck yes!!! I would love to run another 5K and be able to beat my previous time. It was such a great experience and I had such a great coach to push me along at a couple times during the race where I really wanted to slow down and walk. (Thanks Mary!!! You are such an amazing friend!)

This last picture is Mary, Kadence, and I at the finish line with our souvenir glasses. I will drink out of that glass with pride and hope to add many more souvenirs to my collection.

Funny Bath Time Pictures

I was giving the kids a bath yesterday and decided to have a little fun with Kadence's hair.





I tried the same thing with Carson's hair but his isn't half as long as Kadence's!

My Valentine

On Sunday, February 13th, I was Carson's date to an event called "My First Formal". It was held at a really fun play place called My Urban Toddler. We both dressed up for the occasion and had such a fun evening. My Urban Toddler is a modern play place for kids ages 0 - 5. The evening was filled with playing with trains, pretend grocery shopping, face painting, dancing, eating pizza and decorating Valentine cookies, coloring, putting puzzles together as well as getting our picture taken. I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with Carson since so much of my attention is focused on Kadence these days. We both had a great time and I hope Carson will remember it for years to come!

Hide & Seek

I know the picture quality is very poor but I just had to post this picture because I crack up laughing every time I look at it! Carson and I were getting quite bored the other day. With all this snow we have been stuck at home a lot more than normal and we were starting to go a little stir-crazy so we decided to play a game of Hide & Seek. It was my turn to count to 25 and say, "Ready or not here I come!"

Here's where I found him. He definitely gets a "A" for creativity. Unfortunately Kadence found him first! :)

Kadence is 9 Months Old

Here's the only picture I have right now of Kadence at 9 months old. She is modeling a shirt that I recently made for her.

Kadence had her 9 month Dr. Appt. this past week. Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 lb. 13 oz. (47th percentile)
Height: 30 inches (90th percentile)
Head: 17.5 cm (65th percentile)

She has 2 teeth and is crawling all over the place!

25 Questions

This year I decided we'd start a new tradition and come up with a list of 25 questions to ask the kids each year on their birthday (I stole this idea from a friend). We are a couple weeks late but it's been crazy around here with Carson's birthday party, traveling to Chicago with Ryan for work, and then 3/4 of our family getting the stomach flu. But I will try to remember each year on his birthday to ask these questions. It will be neat to see how they change from year to year.



So, here are the questions with each of Carson's answers.


1. What is your favorite book?
A: Thomas

2. What is your favorite movie?
A: Polar Express

3. What is your favorite food?
A: Cottage Cheese

4. What is your favorite TV show?
A: SuperWhy

5. How did you like being three years old?
A: I wanna be four.

6. What is your favorite color?
A: Green

7. What is your favorite treat?
A: Suckers

8. What is your favorite song?
A: The Thomas song

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: Train Engine

10. What is your least favorite food?
A: I don't like meat.

11. What do you want to do when you're four? (Goals?)
A: Play a game on my Leap Frog.

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?
A: Play Zingo

13. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
A: Play Indiana Jones

14. What is your favorite thing to do at school?
A: Play trains.

15. What is something Mommy always says to you?
A: Good morning!

16. What is something Daddy always says to you?
A: Go to bed.

17. Where is your favorite place to go?
A: This way (pointing to the left).

18. What makes you laugh?
A: The robot panda.

19. What is your nickname?
A: Car-Car

20. What is your favorite toy?
A: Big Thomas

21. What makes you sad?
A: The garbage truck - something's wrong with the batteries.

22. What makes you scared?
A: The dark.

23. What is your favorite thing to do outside?
A: Make snowman and snow castle.

24. What is your favorite fruit?
A: Grapes

25. What is your favorite restaurant?
A: Red Robin