Family Pictures

My friend Shannon dabbles in photography, so I asked her to take some family pictures.  It has been about a year since we have done that, and we need some updated pictures for our walls.

We went to Callie's kindergarten playground, because I love the outdoor candid shots.

Here are my favorites. 

First up, CALLIE.

Next up: MAYA.

And some casual walking and candids.

We did the family pictures at the end and the girls were clearly getting squirrelly.

Thanks to Shannon for the pictures!

Since it is a long weekend, I'll post the usual weekend wrap-up tomorrow.

A Picture Update

Happy Friday!

The biggest news of the week is that we now have a full-blown kindergartener. She had orientation on Tuesday morning, and then started full day on Wednesday.

She loves it so far. Her teacher, Ms. Carhart even emailed us a picture from the first day.

It is going to be a great year for her.

The other big news from the week was that Chris, Maya and I were all hit with bad colds and coughs. Yes, the same week we all started our new fall routine. But we all made it through the week  and are looking forward to a long weekend.

As for the pictures...the girls spent Monday with Boom on my first day back to work.

We celebrated the end of summer with a DQ run.

Maya spent the week with Boom, Daddy, G-ms and Pa. Callie got a little time with them all as well, after they picked her up from school.

My week back to work was good. It will

be nice to get back into the swing of things. I was happy to have today off, though, and Callie did too. So the girls and I went to the park.

Have a great Labor Day weekend.

Weekend Wrap-Up:

Well, the last day of summer is almost done.  I'm always a little anxious about transitions, but it is par for the course as a teacher.  Hopefully it goes well...it will be a big change as Callie starts full day kindergarten and I go back to work full time.  Maya's schedule will stay the same, she will just get less sissy time.  I think she'll be okay getting all the adult one-on-one attention, though. :)

On to the weekend...

I finished my 8th half marathon on Saturday!  I wanted to do something in memory of my dad, so I wrote a little bit on my race shirt.  The race went okay- not my best, not my worst.  Running is such a mental thing for me, at least it has been this summer, so it wasn't easy.  But I knew I was physically capable and was able to push through and finish under my goal time.    It helped to have a wonderful crowd of supporters! 

After the race I got champagne!  I then quickly got an email that told me my official race results.  Once I got home, I got a delicious Edible Arrangements delivery from Uncle John and Aunt Jenny.  And then I napped.

My training sticker chart is complete!  The only training run I missed was when I threw
my back out in June.

For part of the time I was running, the girls got to hang out at Amy and Peter's and play with Donald and Fred.  Peter took the picture on the left and sent it to me.  So sweet.  The girls and I spent some time in the evening over at G-ma and G-pa's house with Hanna and Shambles.  Callie learned how to show Shambles who is boss- with water! 

Callie and Chris went to a Twins game with the Helds on Saturday night.  Looks like the kids were SUPER into the game. Except maybe Sylvia. :)

And then there is today.  Today marks the 4 month anniversary of Dad's death.  My mom, sisters and I went to church this morning, and then went to see his cemetery plaque.  It was just installed yesterday (after two different snafus with the plaque company that delayed the installation).  It was pretty hard to see his name on there.

I don't even know what else to say about it.  It is just still so hard.

Anyway.

While I was out, Chris took the girls to play some games at an arcade-type place.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home.  It was nice to hang out at a family- we have been so busy lately that we haven't gotten much time to just chill at home. 

Morning snuggles

Baseball, pool, and toasting the end of summer (with juice).

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  A busy week starts for us tomorrow.  Wish us luck!

A Picture Update

We are closing out the last week of summer.  And I gotta say that the combination of another full moon week and both girls having colds makes going back to work on Monday seem A-OK.  Ha. 

Here are the pictures.

First, a Flashback Friday.

They get so big in 2 years.

We stopped by my school, so the girls got to play on the recess equipment.

We played at the Mill City Museum.

We played with Kona, Callie helped mow, and we got our playhouse back!
And that means...our other house is officially SOLD.  We only own 1 home now.
HOORAY!!!

A typical sister interaction: from sweet to not sweet in seconds.

I did my very last training run in the evening and saw sunset sunrays for the first time on a run.

We went to Back to School night at Callie's kindergarten!!!!

We saw Mari and Josh at happy hour!

Callie had a morning class at the zoo (all about bugs!), so while she was there we met Emily, Vera and Hattie for a
zoo outing..

Don't they look cute in their little dresses? Maya likes to "bump" fire hydrants, like her sissy used to do.

Dinner and playtime at Auntie Mari's.

I'll leave you with a video of Maya being crazy in the play house.


IMG 9929 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Now I will finish my pre-race McDonald's shake and head to bed. 

13.1 miles in the morning!

Summer Wrap-Up

I go back to work on Monday. 

I don't really know what to say or how to wrap up this summer.

It really was a summer spent in a weird alternate universe of grief, exhaustion, joy, anger, confusion, happiness, sadness, and numbness.

We made it through our first season without my dad.  We had to do a lot of hard things because he's not here.

Obviously, my main focus this summer was being off with the girls.  We spent A LOT of time together as a trio. 

As you can see, the sister dynamics grew a little this summer.  And by grew, I mean, they started fighting a lot.  Arguing over toys and books and doing things to annoy the crap out of the other.  But there were also SO many sweet times, just the two of them.

Callie is so ready for kindergarten, I can't even believe it.  She is so smart and inquisitive and creative and hilarious and STUBBORN as all get out.  We had our tough moments this summer, but we also had some wonderful times as well.  I am so proud of her and can't wait to see how much she will continue to grow and thrive in kindergarten.

Maya turned two and has definitely turned into a full-blown toddler.  She has strong opinions about most things, and is growing in her independence every day.  She loves to read books and has the most adorable way of showing her excitement with her feet.  She loves to play (and hates to nap, but does it anyway with just a little fussing) and has learned and grown so much this summer.  She is my little Mama's Girl and I hope my transition back to work will go okay for her.

We were fortunate to have spent a lot of quality time with friends and family this summer.  We have so many amazing, supportive, wonderful and loving people in our life who constantly go above and beyond for us.  I have said it before, and I'll say it again: I could not be more thankful for our village.

This summer was BUSY.  We got some family of four time, and Chris and I got a tad bit of two of us time, but never as much as I'd like.  But again...thankful for the time we did get.

So I guess that besides friends and family, my other focus of summer was running...and looking for the sun.  And doing both at the same time, usually.

For me, my dad is in the sunrays.  And the sunrays were the only reason that I was able to get out of bed early in the mornings and push through my many miles of training.  My half marathon race is on Saturday morning, and I'm hoping to push through and finish strong. 

But really, I'm proud of myself for what I have pushed through this summer, and the fact that I diligently trained and am ready to run 13.1 miles during the most difficult time of my life.

Summer 2015 will forever be the summer of grief and family and friends and sunrays. And gratitude.

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Happy (Belated) Birthday Uncle Craig! and 25-Months-Old! Edition

So I was going to post last night but then totally didn't, but yesterday was Uncle Craig's birthday!!!!!!  Happy birthday Uncle Craig!

This is one of the few pictures I have of him and the girls...I need to get some new ones!
But I also think this pic is funny, so I'm happy to share it.

And then...it is the 23rd, which means THIS crazy girl is 25 months old!

Why are her hands up, you ask?  Because she is going down a hill.
And her older sister taught her that anytime we go down a hill (mostly in a car),
the hands go up.

On to the weekend:

Uncle Dan and Hanna came over on Friday night, and did some pre-bedtime reading with the girls.

Chris had a golf tournament on Saturday, so the girls and I bopped around.  We ran errands in the morning, including SCHOOL SUPPLY SHOPPING.

None of us can believe it, obviously.

Then we headed downtown and went to the farmer's market.  We didn't buy anything, but Callie got a butterfly painted on her arm.  Maya chilled in the stroller.

Then we went to see Boom, where there was bubbles, coloring, and of course a walk.

When Chris got home, we headed to the zoo.

This morning I went to church and had brunch with my friends Jill and Alison.  Then the girls, Chris and I went to see Yoda, Craig, Elliott, Boom and Mari for a bit this afternoon.  Poor Missy Elliott.  She took to hiding behind the big plant in order to hide from her two tormenters playmates.  After that we headed to see Nana, Papa, G-ma, Pa and Auntie Jeanne for a bit.

So all in all, I'd say we had a busy weekend.  One more week left of summer vacation...and then the crazy fall schedule will start.  Gulp.