Woo Hoo

Our very first tulip of the year!

Ava's eagle eye spotted it immediately and there was much excitement.

So Proud of the Mrs...

I've been meaning to do this for a week but I just want to say I have the best wife in the world and I am so proud of her. Last Saturday she ran a half marathon (yes 13.1 miles) in Wenatchee less than six months after bringing our little Jemma into this world. Most of you know you can't just go out and run 13.1 miles, you have to train for it and she did all that while keeping the house lovely, taking care of the kids, and being a great wife...She is awesome. Good job Kel.

Retro Friday

This week last year he was still my baby!!!

But not for a long, a few days later he was in his new big bed.

It's possible I need to get out more

(photo courtesy of Ava)

I picked Ava up from school wearing this and she got in the car with a big smile and said, "Where are we going?? To someone's house? Out to lunch?" And I said, "Umm, home?" And she said, "Come on mom, you're all dressed up and springy (pause with a peek over the seat) and you're wearing new flip-flops!!" I am sad to say we have officially reached the point in our lives where a green hoodie (a hoodie!) and fresh flip-flops (flip-flops!) means a big day on the town.

Just cause they're so darn cute.

Eager beaver

Jack was out the door before I even finished the breakfast dishes this morning.

(And before he bothered getting dressed)

Busy Bee

Yesterday, about an hour and a half into naptime, I thought to myself that Ava was being awfully quiet during her "rest time" (usually I can hear her in her room jabbering away) and I thought maybe she had fallen asleep so I headed that way to check it out but something caught my eye on the patio and there she was! I had totally forgotten I told her she could go outside and she had been playing away out there the whole time! And sure enough, when I got close to the door, I could hear her jabbering away.

Here she is cutting little branches with her scissors to decorate her pies.

We made it.

We headed to Wenatchee this weekend for a 1/2 marathon and Ava was the lucky kid who came with us. The other two stayed with their cousins and in Jack's words, he had the best time ever with his very best friend Will and Jemma survived (and maybe even enjoyed just a little) the first overnighter away from her mom.

It's always fun to spend time with just one kid and Ava is a good traveling buddy. She cracks me up in the car cause she sleeps like this for about 15 minutes and then wakes up and jumps right back into the conversation we were having before she conked out. She was excited to come on this trip because we were staying with the Madsons whose kids she especially likes!

(And I cannot believe I don't have any pictures of her with the kids!)

Pre-race smiles.

It was a springy day and a riverside course, both of which would have been lovely if we hadn't been running 13 miles! This was the first time Ed and I had run this distance together and it was fun and I learned that Ed is a serious drifter while running--I'm surprised he doesn't fall off the treadmill! But he let me pick the pace and while I was a little nervous running this race less than six months after having little Jemma, I am happy to report that I am still in one piece and I actually felt pretty good! And we finished just a few minutes slower than my previous 1/2 marathon time (but quite a bit slower than Ed's!).

But the best part of the day was that when we crossed the finish line, Ava was standing right there with our finisher medals!

Rachel was working the race with her Team in Training buddies and Ava got to hang out with her and help, which included arranging the post-race snacks (and eating some of them!) and handing out medals to the finishers. Here she is right before we came in.

Post-race smiles.
And thanks to the Madsons for taking care of us!

Thanks Grandma!

My mom bought matching dresses for the three big girls from Amoretti, a cute clothing line designed by our friend (and the mother of little Hero, Ava's first seatmate in kindergarten) Bekah.

Sweet from the front.

Even better from the back.

And really the best when twirling!

Watch out...

for this crazy kid.

(he's turkey hunting.)

Retro Friday

This weekend, last year.

The Wenatchee 1/2 marathon (in a seriously unseasonable snow!).

We're heading back this weekend and I think I am happy to be running it with Ed this year (at the very least it'll be better than the icky morning sickness I had last year!)

Boris comes for a visit

Boris the Bear has been visiting all the kindergartner's families and yesterday he came home with Ava. She has been waiting weeks for this! We celebrated at the park.

Here's Ava pushing the little kids (Kayte was watching Boris).

Boris had some peanut chicken and asparagus for dinner (Ava's favorite!)

After dinner, Boris helped Ava work on her report on Australia. Boris (and the rest of us!) learned that a baby kangaroo is the size of a lima bean when it is born and it has to crawl (blind and hairless) up the mama's belly and into her pouch where it sleeps and eats till it is about six months old. Who knew??

We love school!

Cozy pj's...time for bed!

The Great Egg Hunt

Hiding the eggs.

It begins!

It was a blustery day!

The dads and the bitties watched from the safety of the deck.

All done.

The little ladies.

The brave boys.

These two only came in long enough to chow some ham (seriously, they didn't even come back in for the great bunny cake!) and then they were back out the door even though we had some serious wind and rain. Jack loves, loves his big cousin Will and they have some great adventures! Will is a generous boy (he was passing out money the other day!) and here he is sharing his belt with Jack so he had some place to hang his sword.

10 little cuties and not a single one looking at me!

Happy Easter!

Yummy brunch.

My girls.

The whole family!

Ed set this one up on the counter right before we left for church and it reminds me that we need a tripod!

Coloring eggs and eatin' cookies!

Cuties!

Good Friday

Ed's company is headquarted in the good ol' Bible Belt so he had the day off and the kids were super excited. He's well into his busy season so we don't see much of him in the daylight and it was a nice sunny day. Ed played a round of golf to celebrate and then we had a good outside kind of day.

He later drove the car out ten miles and ran home and I (with my great running group!) headed out the next morning and ran the ten miles to the car and drove it home (the kids were seriously concerned about the car being away from home all night!). The difference was that Ed ran on a beautiful afternoon and we ran early the next morning in the heaviest, wettest rain into 15 mph winds...the entire way! I had a massive chill the whole day but the good news is that the only part of my body that really hurt was my eyeballs from all the wind!