A lot & a little of 2011

Well, I'm rediculously behind in my blogging and will feverishly be attemping to update it. Now. Here goes. This is a taste of 2011 with a lot vs. a little of occuring events.

 A lot of this happened. Still does. The baby does all sorts of things to merit time out.

Sarah has to make sure she understands why she's in time out. I have no idea where Sarah gets this stuff.. not like shes in time out like 5 times each day..

 A lot of this happened. In the driveway. They LOVE the car.

 A little too much of this happened. Still does.

And this. But Scott is starting to fight back. It will be interesting to see who wins in the coming years.

 A lot of  baby love.

 A lot of leaf playing as the fall just hung around forever! It was wonderful!

 A lot of this has been happening lately. The kid is a daredevil. He tries to climb on everything and loves to balance. Look at that face. Pure concentration.

 Not enough of this has happened. But when it does, it's a blast.

 A LOT of this happens! The kid is always smiling. He's so happy. Oh, and a lot of pj wearing occurs too..

 We have lots of duets lately. Scott prefers the bass notes while Sarah does the treble ones. They sing too. We just might take it on the road.

Lots of this. Like I said, daredevil.

A lot of hiding happened too. Sarah is still very shy but she's coming out of her shell.

Finally, a lot of this happened. Mostly Daddy's doing but we've had lots of laughs this year. Here's to another wonderful one!

The Half-Marathon

Here I am, after hours of non-stop running. I did it. I ran a half-marathon. The time isn't important. Let's just say that I started slow so I have room for improvement for the next one. HA!

 I ran the race with 2 great friends. Jean and Stacy. They finished before me.. and we did another finish line photo together. It was sooo great to be able to do it with them. They really motivated me and kept me going!

 It was SO wonderful to be done. I wasn't so proud of myself that I had actually done it, but more that I took the time for myself to train and prepare myself to run. The prep work is the hardest part in my opinion. I'm also proud of myself that I ran the whole time, which was my main goal. There were times where I was another foot away from walking but I kept going. Just keep swimming..just keep swimming.. It was hard to be passed by just about everyone.. especially shirtless hairy old men, but I finished. That's what matters.

Friends! What an amazing experience. Have I run since? No.. but I will get back to it.

Still life - rare moments

 No one crying? Indeed rare.. they play well together..oh 75% of the time but Sarah has trouble mintaining her gentleness. Oh, and she likes to sit on top of him like a horse. He doesn't like it much.

Don't mind the naked toddler.. Sarah likes to take off her clothes lately. Potty-training is.. inconsistent at best.

 Scott LOVES the bathroom. He makes a beeline for it whenever it is open. Of course he loves the toilet paper. This picture is probably when he was around 6 months. He was quick to find it!

 7 months.. he is so cute! I just can't get over it. And a male replica of Sarah with those chubby cheecks and sqinty eyes

Taking a picture of Sarah is rare.. she always wants to see the LCD screen which is very annoying when I'm trying dilligently to take pictures of them!

My new car!!

My new rental car.

When Kurtis' family was here we rented a van to accommodate the masses. Oh how I wish it was for keeps. I drove out of the parking lot with it and decided I wanted one immediately. I've noticed it's quite a popular van as I've been driving around since... someday Chrysler Town & Country..someday

The butter-by

One thing I have loved about living in Minnesota is the fact that Monarch butterflies are abundant here! I am also glad to have taught because I am now an expert on Monarchs. Part of the 7th grade cirriculum is to raise and release a Monarch. How cool is that! So every summer I have been able to find a caterpillar (or egg) on some milkweed and we watched it grow as a family. My sad ode to the dog we never had continues...

 This little guy (or girl as it turned out to be) was raised from an egg. This was her home! Sarah LOVED watching it crawl along, eating the leaf.

When Sarah's cousin, Lucia was here, she proudly showed off her pet

 Then the blessed day came when we had to say goodbye! Sarah is finally starting to say more words and butter-by is one of her favorites! She says it with that break inbetween - "butter - by." I wish she was more articulate because she loves telling about how the butter-by walked around on Daddy and then flew on Scott's head...

And then flew away! 'Bye bye butter-by!'

'Til next summer when we find one of your descendents to raise.