Number 9. Number 9.

What's that you say? Where in the h-e-double hockey sticks have I been? Recovering from the half marathon, obviously! Has it really taken me 2 MONTHS to recover? Nah, but I've been busy doing other stuff. And what if it did take me 2 months to recover? 13.1 is a long, long way to run! It's fa!

And now that I have recovered, the Southsiders have decided to train for the Lewis and Clark half marathon in September. Only this time we are walk/running it. The plan (as far as I know the plan. I just kind of follow along.) is to walk a mile, run a mile repeatedly until we've gone 13.1 miles. And I have to say that there was absolutely no alcohol involved in the decision to do this. But I may have been high on endorphins at the time! Anyway, we've started the training. We're running 2 mornings (soon to be 3 mornings) a week and doing a long run/walk on the weekends. The cussing has already begun, and it wasn't by me. I don't start cussing until mile 11 or so, and then I cuss like a sailor! It's good times! Go Southsiders!

And now, let's get to the real reason for this post (which I tried to write last week, and blogger had apparently lost it's mind and wouldn't let me. But I digress...). My Ike is 9 years old! He turned nine last week, and I just don't know where the time has gone! My little man who made such a dramatic entrance into the world is now 9 years old!

He is such a great kid! He loves to make people laugh and tell a story. He talks too much at school, but the teacher can't discipline him because, "what he says is just so interesting or funny that I find myself listening to what he says instead of telling him to be quiet." Thanks, Mrs. B! Just a reminder to Ike, your fourth grade teacher may not be quite so lenient. Just sayin'. And he's kind and loving too. What a great combination! He's a boy to be proud of, and we are!

Here is a picture of Ike on his birthday. Yes, he is decorating his own cake, with help from his big brother. He also helped make it! He loves to cook!

Grandmas and Grandpa came and there was good food and cake and LEGOS! And more LEGOS! All dedicated to Indiana Jones. It was a great birthday all around!

Ahoy mateys, you must see some photos from Pirate camp. Shiver me timbers, they had a great time! Thanks Captain Tomato Patch for such a fun week! AARGH!

And with that, my friends, I am outta here!

Mmmmwah! (Yes, she IS unbelievably cute!)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Let's see,the holiest day of the year+ family+good friends+love+CANDY+good food+laughter+adorable children=one fantastic holiday!

Easter is my favorite church holiday. All the great music and pageantry, how can you not be moved by that? And all the beautiful little girls in their sherbet colored dresses and little boys dressed up in their ties and sport coats-how sweet!

And CANDY! Let's not forget the CANDY!

We enjoyed a great meal at my brother Steve's house. Where we had an outdoor Easter egg hunt in between snow squalls. Snow on Easter is just not right! Thank you, Global warming.

So, here are a few pictures from the day. Hope you enjoy them! Susan's braided bread. It was as delicious as it was beautiful! It looks like a playboy model just posin' there all seductive-like!

Here's a nice picture of my gang all dressed up for Easter. And we get the added bonus of having pretty little Ceecee in the picture with us. She took a shine to Russ after he taught her Sunday school class last week and wanted to be in the picture with us!

The following are Easter egg hunt pictures from Steve and Pattie's house. Look at that little girl on her first egg hunt!
And since we haven't been able to say this for the past 40 days,

Allelulia!!!!!

Warning! Parental bragging ahead!

It's been a fews day without a post about my wonderful children, and I know you are just biting your fingernails down to the nubs in anticipation of a new one!



It just so happens that a piece of Ike's artwork was entered by his art teacher into the Mastadon Art and Science fair. (Sam's science project was not picked to go, but he was ROBBED, I tell ya!)


Anyway, we went as a family to view his artwork at the fair last Saturday. Here is a lovely shot his 3D cookie watch picture:

I have to tell you that the idea of a cookie watch is just brilliant! It tells the time and functions as a snack all in one. I suppose it wouldn't be very practical as it would be a one use item, but still, it's brilliant! (Hey, it's my kid, I'm supposed to use brilliant 3 times in 4 sentences when I talk about him!)

When we visited the art fair, the exhibits had not been judged. But on Thursday, in the parking lot of Shop n Save, we found out from Ms. Falconnier (the world's coolest art teacher) that Ike had gotten first place!

I'm pretty sure that Shop n Save is not an official location for the award ceremony of the Mastadon art fair, but since we had parked right next to Ms. Falconnier, and she had the awards in her car, we had the medal bestowing right there next to the cart corral!

Unfortunately, I was unprepared for the impromptu award ceremony and did not have my camera. But here is a picture of the proud young man and his blue ribbon at home:

Congratulations, Ike!

Super Sunday!

No, this isn't another post about the Super Bowl. And I'm feeling chatty, so just settle in for a long post.

It's about the great day that was yesterday.

We celebrated Ike's first Holy Communion and finally had Sam's postponed birthday party.

It was one of those days that is stellar from beginning to end. Smiles all around and even a few tears of joy...

Here's a picture of the first Communicants:

I have to tell you that being able to celebrate this milestone with such a wonderful group of friends made the day even more special!

There was a cake at church after the service(were you able to get the cake Jacquie??):


And then we had a party for both boys at home.

This is a fantastic photo of Sam. He is getting ready to blow out his candles (really? That explains the cake with all the candles on it.), but under the table is a cell phone that he has used to dial our house phone which is why he is looking to his right, that is where the phone is.


I was rushing to the phone and he was getting a big kick out of tricking his mother. When you are 11, fooling your mother is just about the funniest thing ever! Anyway, I love the mischievious grin on his face that shows off his dimples.

Here's one more picture of Ike on his big day:

Isn't he the handsome young man? How can he be old enough for his first Communion?

It's a blessing that my boys are surrounded by family and friends that love and support them as they grow up!

In short (too late, Jane, too late), a good time was had by all.

On a scale of 1-10, he's 11!

So I suck (children don't say suck, it's not a nice word) at the blog upkeep.

Sorry, sorry!

Several fun events have come and gone since the last post. See future posts for details. You all are patiently waiting, I'm sure.

Most important would be that my oldest son is now 11! How did that happen?

Here's a photo of his reaction to opening his favorite birthday gift-a chess set! But it's not just ANY chess set, it is a LEGO chess set (more LEGOs, just what our house needs!). You all are now swooning over the coolness of this present, I know.

Happy 11th birthday, young man! We love you!!

She's number 1! She's number 1!

Happy Birthday, my pretty!

Yes, we had cake, and Riah LOVED it!

Here's the birthday princess working the tiara!

Here's the birthday girl on her actual birthday. She was quite happy to be having pancakes for dinner!

Gentlemen, start your engines

Pinewood Derby cars

No, we didn't win. Not even one race. We suck at making fast cars apparently.

And even though Sam's car is emblazoned with the Cross, God was not showing any partiality at the races on Saturday. He got the award for Best Fuel Economy. That is the nice cub scout way of saying SLOWEST. He likes the trophy, so keep your pity!

Ike's car, as one of the other moms said, "shows he's a free spirit." Yeah, that's it.

At least our boys actually made their own cars. The winner of the most creative car came from a first grader whose car was a subway sandwich, complete with the curly lettuce leaves sticking out from the bun (which had tiny little seeds on it). This thing looked like a real subway sandwich. With wheels. Which is the only thing that would stop you from picking it up and trying to eat it. Going out on a limb here, but I'm pretty sure the 7 year old didn't carve the sandwich himself.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

It is finished!!

Here is the photographic evidence! The science fair project is completed!

praise the lard!

It's due when???

Damn science fair projects to the deepest pit of hell!!!!

Stolen resolution

Is it bad karma to steal a resolution?

I hope not, because I am doing it.

Here it is: Take at least one photo a day. Not that I will always subject you to them, but it seems like a fun way to document the year.

I'm stealing it from a poster on the Core board at weightwatchers.com and from another blogger here blogger.com.

Bad karma, I spit in your general direction!

Maybe I'll be back later with a photo...

Salutations!

It's a clean slate

Happy New Year!

Great party last night! Thanks to our friends Mike and Kathy for hosting again this year. And for letting our boys crash at their house until this morning! And there were PANCAKES for breakfast! Lots and lots of PANCAKES! this morning.

I'll be continuing on this Weight Watchers Core journey that I started in the summer. My one fitness related resolution is to exercise more consistently, with the hope of running another 5k race in the spring.

And my other resolution comes from Luther's explanation of the eighth commandment (2008, eighth commandment, Coincidence? I think not!) "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing…. Live in peace with each other…. Always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. If you want people to speak well of you, then begin by only speaking well of others. Put the best construction on everything. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Instead of telling of people’s faults and shortcomings, speak of their good points, their strengths, their likable qualities."

Amen

and Cheers!