The Comeback Post

We have a lot to catch up on, my old friends! Okay, well it was my 30th bday recently, so maybe I'm your old friend now. Anyways, last time we talked was in the beginning of October? Oh my. Well let's chat. Parker turned 5. By his request, we had a bowling party. It was a good time! And a bonus- Someone else got to do the cooking and the cleaning up? Yes, let's to it again!! He got his big yellow boat he had been saving up for, so he was happy.

Halloween was fun times. We hit the pumpkin patch and decorated the house and told spoooooky stories. The kids got to pick our their own costumes this year. Parker wanted to be a race car driver and Callie picked a butterfly. I was a girl from the 50's and Cory was a Greaser. We did lots of trick or treating and it was great!

Thanksgiving was nice and quiet. We had a big dinner with just our little family. Watched a lot of football. Then, Black Friday shopping with my mom of course! The Christmas season was fantastic! We did all our usual Christmas traditions..making cookies, looking at Christmas lights, writing wish lists, and we even went ice skating and enjoyed the Nutcracker ballet this year. We enjoyed Christmas Eve with Cory's family and had Christmas dinner with my fam. The kids got lots of fun gifts and I must say, so did I! Cory got me an amazing camera that I like to call my "fancy camera". I'm still learning how to use it.

New Years was quiet. Cory had New Year's Eve off, while I had to work so he and the kids played our fun "pop the balloon" game like last year....every hour they got to pop a balloon that had a fun activity in it. Of course we threw in a couple of chores just so we could point and laugh at them. We lit off some kid-friendly "fireworks" like poppers and sparklers.

Cory enrolled in college! He is working towards an AA right now and eventually will get his BA in computer science. What a smarty pants. This is something he's been wanting to do for a long time and finally we had the time and money to make it happen. Well, I don't know about the time part, but I guess you find time for something if it's important enough, right? Mostly, he wants Parker and Callie to see how important college is and he wants to set an example for them. Figuring out what you want to be when you grow up doesn't always happen at 18, but once it does, it's important to go after what you want.

My birthday was fun! My laptop broke awhile back, so it's been hard for me to keep up my blog, download pics, surf pintrest..ya know, the important things in life...So, Cory suprised me with a new computer! Awwww, it was so thoughtful and shocking, he made me cry that booger. My friends and family spent lots of time with me and gave me some awesome gifts...I'm so lucky to have these people in my life!

Oh, did I mention in the midst of all this we are selling our house? Yup, we found our dream house so on the market we go. So please send us happy vibes that we will have a quick sale. Callie starts a new ballet class in a couple weeks and Parker starts basketball again. Also, we have decided to home school Parker and Callie in preschool so that's been an adventure too. Whew, this year is starting off crazy busy!

Callie's 4th Birthday

I know people say all the time, "time flies!" or "where does the time go?!" But man, I really cannot believe my daughter is 4. I guess I still picture her somewhere around 2. Yep, that sounds about right. 2 years old forever. She sure loves to "play baby" and have me wrap her up, feed her, snuggle, and all that other "baby stuff" that is so much fun. I just enjoy it for now. I know those special moments will become fewer and fewer of her wanting me to hold her, sing to her, play "Taylor Swift" and dance in the living room together. I keep promising myself to never forget all the silly things we do together, or the hilarious things she says out of the blue. We pinkie promise each other we'll always be weird together. I love that. This was the first year we had Callie's birthday at home. She wanted a "Unicorns and Rainbows Birthday" so that's what we did. Daddy even made her cake just special for her. For her present we got her a purple guitar because she is super into Taylor Swift right now. We watch her documentary about her "Speak Now" tour weekly. We watch her on Youtube. We listen to her on my iPod in the car. We are official Swifty's. Grammie and Ca got her a little princess boombox with a microphone. Let's just say my ears are bleeding, but I don't mind. It's awesome. Please enjoy some pictures from our super fun party. Thank you to everyone who came.

Cross Training: Biking

Last night I had my first "real" bike ride for exercise. I rode with my sister and 2 friends from work. It was a 10.8 mile ride along the river. It look us about an hour and 15 minutes, but we took lots of breaks and even sat on a bench for awhile to rest our behinds.

I really don't have a fancy bike. I think it was the blue light special at WalMart.It does the job though so I don't mind. My sister and I bought the same helmet without knowing and noticed we have the same bike, just different colors. Weird, huh?! We must be on the same wavelength or something. I actually found biking to be much easier than running. My butt is the only thing that is super sore today. It hurts to sit down! I think I'll get used to it though (along with some padded shorts!) and will try to incorporate more biking into my exercise routine.

ALL DONE!

I RAN FROM THE COPS!

I ran in a local 5k the other night called "Run From the Cops" to benefit the Special Olympics. I ran with my mom, sister, and an old friend from my childhood. They shut down a major road in our area at midnight and cops were everywhere! We made shirts that said "D.O.C." ("Department of Corrections")to help us get in the spirit. There were a few other people dressed up like criminals, but not too many.

The course was an out and back, flat run. It was nice that it was on such a busy street because there was a lot to look at. A local bar on the route was even having a jello wrestling contest outside! There were a fair amount of spectators cheering the runners and walkers on. I liked that there were people of all fitness levels at the run. The only bad thing was how hot it was! Even at midnight it was in the 80's. It made it a harder run that it probably had to be. Maybe next year it will be cooler. Also, there was chip timing, but no marker at the start, and I don't think any checkpoints. I saw a couple people turn around before they were supposed to, so finishing times were not accurate for us that started in the back. I sprinted the last quarter mile, as my garmin said I was going to get a PR! After recalculating the chip timer time to my watch with my sister, I realized I did not get a PR after all. :( My time was 34:11. That's okay though, I'm really proud of my time. We had taken a day trip the day before and had just got into town about an hour before the run. I had been sitting in a car most of the day and eaten fast food. Not smart. My sister also finished her first 5K so I was thrilled to be there in that finishing moment with her. I will definitely run this race again next year!

ALL DONE!

Fairies, Friends, Fore, and Four

What a fun weekend I had. Cory is out of town in LA watching his little brother play in the Area Code Games..it's a baseball thang...so I'm living it up single mama style!! :) I don't even know what that means, so nevermind.

Friday was Corrin's (my sister from another mister) birthday bash. We grabbed some dinner and drinks and ended up going to a couple bars. It was a lot of fun. I pretty much never go out to bars- but Corrin always makes me laugh and we have a good time always. I got to meet some of her friends too, which was awesome because now I can say I have more than um...3 friends?! Oh and we had our own 23 minute dance party in my car.

I signed Parker and Callie up for a YMCA putting golf tournament this weekend. My employer is a sponser of the event and they were short 2 teams. Enter my children. They did so good!! They got awesome goodie bags, prizes, and even a free dinner at the clubhouse! We ditched to dinner though and hit the buffet afterwards. Don't judge me for going to a buffet!! Putting works up an appetite!! My parents and Corrin came and we had a blast- I would totally do it again next year.

While Cory was out of town- I decided I would surprise him with a gift. I would get rid of the beloved binky while he was gone. Not me- the kids use it. I wanted to go cold turkey because that's how I've done everything from bottles to diapers and it's seemed to work for my kids. This time, I've been pumping them up for no more binks by showing them the Binky Fairy video and reading them the email she sent them.
Callie was resistant for a few minutes, but came around. The fairy left them each a gift they had asked for (Callie a dolly and Parker a Thomas the Train). I thought it would be an awful night of crying and begging from Callie- but nothing really happened. Parker doesn't even use them hardly at all except here and there, so I knew he wouldn't be a problem. So now we are on night 2. We will see how it goes, but I think we are going to be okay. I guess I was the one hanging on to them more than they were.

Onto a running note- I had my long run today because I blew it off on Saturday due to the golf tourney. 4 miles bay-bay! I'm pretty excited because this is my longest training run EVER! Took me 46:09 (that's about an average of an 11:30 mile). I did have to take a few walking breaks because it was SO hot. I actually was getting sick to my stomach I was so hot. ICK! I'm pretty proud though because I was able to run the last 5 minutes at a 9:40 pace. That's super duper fast for me.

For some randomness, I'm newly addicted to watching Mad Men on Netflix. Cory took my camera so I'm mooching pictures off my family and friends. Tuesday is a great day because it's when Cory comes home AND it's Corrin's bday AND it's my Friday AND my mom is making my favorite dinner. YAY! Did I mention my cat had kittens a few weeks ago? Yes, this is fun. My room redo is nearly done and I will share pics soon. My scale is broke again. Callie is mastering talking like a robot. So I think that's all with us.