Love is in the Air

      As I have stated many times on this blog, I am not a fan of Valentine's Day.  I think it is a really silly holiday.  Since having kids, I have decided the focus shouldn't be on romantic love.  I want it to be more about love for each other as a family.  So, we have turned it into a family holiday. I always try to make it very special for the kids.  Last year, wasn't too special since I had a newborn.  I wanted to make it much better this year. 

      I came up with some plans of fun meals to make.  I told Ashlyn it was going to be a surprise, but we would eat some special things.  Last night, when she was downstairs I decorated the dining room.  I thought I had more decorations and will definitely have to get some more for next year. When she saw it, she literally started jumping up and down with excitement.  We then made a few more homemade decorations. 

      This morning, I started the day with heart shaped french toast. Ashlyn absolutely loved it!  She thought it was adorable.  The babies also gobbled it up.  For lunch, I decided to go with a total heart shaped theme.  When Ashyln saw her plate, she got so excited.  She said it was the best lunch she has ever had. 

       After lunch, my mom came over to watch the babies.  I didn't have to work on Valentine's Day, however my class really wanted me to stop by for their party.  I decided to take Aslyn with me.  Ever since she started school this year, she has been fascinated with the fact that I am a teacher and I have students.  She is constantly asking me questions about my classroom, students, etc.  When I asked her if she wanted to come, she enthusiastically answered, "Yes!!!"  We had a great time at my school.  The kids loved meeting her and thought she was too cute.  Ashlyn became very shy and I think she was a little intimidated by the big 4th graders. 

         We left my school and headed to Ashlyn's school.  Ashlyn picked out My Little Pony valentines to give out to her classmates.  Ashlyn's teacher is phenomenal . The stuff she teaches those kids is amazing.  She doesn't treat them like preschoolers.  The stuff they learn is at a much higher level of learning.  They are always studying a different world region.  (Which is so important since geography education is becoming obsolete.) Right now they are learning about the rain forest in South America.  They sang the cutest song about the rain forest and the different layers. While I was waiting, a bunch of the kids came up to me and started talkiing my ear off.  I always seem to attract children.  Maybe it's because I am a teacher?  Anyway, the facts and information these kids were telling me blew me away.  They are definitely more worldly than my 4th graders.  Again, I am so happy with the education Ashlyn is getting at this school.  After the song, the kids got to have ice cream sundaes.  I helped the kids put on their toppings.  It was fun being around younger kids, but it definitely affirms that I could never teach children that young.  I like my older students.  Ashlyn left with a whole bag stuffed with valentines from her friends.

      For dinner, I wanted to make a special dinner.  Joey and I had some amazing crepes while in Vegas.  I decided that I wanted to make them for dinner.  I had never attempted them before.  I found a really good recipe using whole wheat flour, egg whites, and low fat milk.  I threw a lot away before getting the hang of it, but I eventually did.  We had ham and cheese stuffed crepes with roasted asparagus for the main course.  For dessert, we had nutella, banana, and toasted almond crepes.  They were wonderful!  We made it special by lighting candles and drinking sparkling apple juice.  Ashlyn got a kick out of it. 

      What a day we had full of love and fun!  I didn't do anything big but I think I really did make it special for them and I hope I created memories for Ashlyn to one day cherish. 

The hearts we cut out to make it more festive.



There were hearts every where



Here are the gifts for the kids

This was breakfast: heart shaped french toast with strawberry milk. Yum!

Ashlyn eating

Katy and I bought the girls matching shirts.  They looked so cute!

I tried to get a picture of all three, but accidentally cut out Ashlyn's head. 

Dawson's shirt says, "I Stole Mommy's Heart".  Isn't that the truth!!!

Amother attempt at a group shot.

Ashlyn opening her gift.

Checking out Ashlyn's new movie.

Dawson was too cute with his gift.  He knew just what to do. 

He pulled out the tissue paper

Checking out his gift, which was Batman Little People figures

Ashyln's lunch: a heart shaped sandwhich, heart strawberries, and yogurt for dipping

I couldn't leave the babies out.  They also enjoyed their heart shaped food.

Ashlyn singing

Too cute!

Waiting in the line for ice cream.

Eating with her friends.

She loved her sundae!

Our delicious dinner!

Our special dinner table.

She had a great day.

Dessert was so good!



House of Ick

     The title pretty much sums up our house this last week.  There is a lot of sickness going around this house.  It started last week with Dawson.  Tuesday he started coughing and acting like he just didn't feel good.  I only work 2 1/2 days a week and it ALWAYS seems like the kids get sick right before I have to go back to work.  On Wednesday, he started having a fever.  My sister had him on Thursday and when I talked to her during the day she said he still had a high fever despite being given Tylenol.  I called the doctor right after school got out and got him an appointment for that afternoon.  After a long wait at the doctor's, the doctor discovered thatt he had an ear infection.  She prescribed antibiotics and he started them that night.  He seemed to feel better right away.  He still has that lingering cough and runny nose.  Ashlyn started coughing on Saturday and she has been coughing and dealing with the same sickness ever since.  Ella has since also gotten this.  So, all three kids are now sick.  It is not a fun cold because it seems to stick around for at least a week.  I just want my healthy, happy children back!!!  I just hope and pray Joey and I don't get this.  I am really hoping that since I take good care of myself and eat really well it will help protect me.  I will keep my fingers crossed!!!

       I was going to run a 5 mile race on Saturday.  However, when I awoke on Saturday morning there was snow every where and it was only like 20 degrees.  I told my brother there was no way I was running in that.  It was still snowing heavily.  He decided to go anyways and he said it was the hardest, coldest race he has ever run.  I am sure glad that  I passed on that one!  I don't feel I missed anything.  My next race, a 10k is February 25th.  The little two week break will be nice and much needed from racing!

         Dawson finally got his new "big boy" car seat.  I have literally been researching car seats for months.  I take car seat safety VERY seriously and I know through my research, that all car seats are NOT created equally.  I wanted the safest one I could find.  After much searching, we went with a Britax Roundabout 70 CS.  The car seat is absolutely enormous, but it will protect him like no other.  He can also ride in it until he is 70 pounds, suffice to say it will last him awhile. 

       Ashlyn went to her friend Catelin's house for a play date this weekend.  We dropped her off and she stayed several hours.  I can't get over the fact that she is old enough to be dropped off.  She is growing up so much!  I can't get over it.  Dawson perfected giving kisses this week.  When you ask him to give you a kiss, he opens his mouth and gives you a kiss.  It's too cute!

Dawson in his new seat

So much more room than his infant seat.

Playing with his elephant.

Loves to smile for the camera.

I had to take a picture of this.  Dawson and Ella's favorite thing to do is to look at books while sitting in the dog bed.  They do it several times a day.  It cracks me up!



Smash Cake Session

     For Dawson's birthday, I really wanted to do a smash cake photography session.  I had seen them done before and just thought they were the cutestes thing in the world.  I asked my photographer if she did them.  She said she did, however she said they were really hit or miss.  She said most kids didn't get into the cake at all and therefore they didn't turn out real well.  I assured her that I thought Dawson would do great.  We scheduled the shoot for the day before his birthday.  Since Ella and Dawson's birthdays are so close, we decided to also have Ella in the shoot.  This was Dawson's first taste of sugar before.  We put that cake in front of him and he took the first bite.  He immediately fell in love and went to town.  He just kept eating it.  The photographer got a huge kick out of it.  We finally had to take the cake away because I thought he may get sick.  Ella also started getting into once she saw Dawson.  The photographer said it was by far her best smash cake session.  I told her he wouldn't disapoint! Shannon is an incredible photographer, and like usual she did a wonderful job capturing the moment.  Here are some of my favorite shots.  

Here he is before he started eating.  He was very excited to get started.

First bite

Going for more

Love that expression

I think this is my favorite

That frosting face is too funny!

He had a blast!!!



He even started helping Ella



Ashlyn decided to sample some of Ella's cake.

Super 5k Race Recap



     In my last post, I had mentioned that I was debating whether or not I would run the half marathon or 5k this weekend.  Both were an inaugural race for Super Bowl Sunday.  I loved the idea of running a race before eating lots of bad food on Super Bowl Sunday.  When I first saw it advertised months ago, I wanted to do the half marathon.  It was very cheap for a half and it was in Colorado Springs. I figured it would be a great one to do.  However, I have been kind of focusing my training more on speed.  My brother invited me to join his running team for a winter running series.  All the races in the series are 6 miles or less.  Since I knew I needed to have my best times, I have been training really, really hard.  It is kind of counter intuitive to train for distance and speed at the same time.  I found myself not doing a great job on the distance part.  It is much easier for me to get in a quick 5 mile run then a long, slow 10 mile run.  

     So, I still wanted to try the half marathon because I thought it was a great opportunity.  Then I saw the weather report.  At the beginning of the week it was supposed to be 54 degrees on Sunday.  Every time I checked the weather the high kept dropping for Sunday.  The HIGH was then predicted to be 34 degrees.  I just couldn't see myself enjoying a 13.1 mile run in really cold temperatures.  I also thought about it more, and realized that since I have been training for speed so much, I should do the 5k and see how good I could do.  Finally on Friday, made the decision to do the 5k. 

       The race was very well organized for it being an inaugural race.  My sister also came out to run the 5k.  The nicest part was that we got to stand in the Plaza of the Rockies to keep warm before the race.  This was so much better than standing in the freezing cold for a long time.  I started sizing up my competition and really started to doubt myself.  I just told myself I was going to run as hard as I could, do my best, and see where that got me.  When they said "go" I took off.  For the first time in my life, I could see that there were only 3 woman ahead of me.  It was a very neat feeling to know I was so close to first place.  I knew I would have to keep running strong to hold my place.  I held 4th place for the first two miles.  Around mile 2, a woman behind me pulled ahead of me.  I was really hoping she would wear out and I could pull back ahead but unfortunately that never happened.  I wasn't at all familiar with the course which is a major disadvantage to not know where the finish line is.  I was very, very happy to come in 5th place  (out of 250) overall for the females.  That is by far the best I have ever done in a race.   I got second in my age group out of 72 woman.  I got a really neat football trophy.  Being the super competitive person that I am, I am already focusing on what I need to work on to do better.  I have several more races in the near future.  I am truly just having a great time doing them and I am amazed at how far I have come in only 10 months of running since taking my year break.  It will be interesting to see what future races hold.  I have a 5 mile race this weekend.  (I am also toying with the idea of starting a seperate blog about running so this blog can be primarily about the kids.)

       Joey is so supportive of my running.  He helps me out so much.  He always takes the kids so I can go run or go to races.  When I do races, I have to be gone for about 4 hours.  He never complains and is so helpful.  He also comes to as many of my races as he can and takes great pictures.  He didn't come last weekend because it was so cold, but he did manage to come this weekend.  It really helped me when I was running to know that I would see my family cheering me on.  I wanted to make them proud.  The way the course was laid out, I got to run by them twice.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband and family.  I truly couldn't do it without them!

     Sunday afternoon, we headed to Bri and Brad's house for a Super Bowl get together.  We had a great time eating great food and spending time with wonderful friends.  The kids had a great time too.  Bri has a huge Great Dane.  Dawson was pointing at her saying, "Dee".  I think he called her a "Dee" because I always refer to dogs as doggies.  It was too cute!  The other day, he refered to a monkey as a "key". 

       I have been really bad about taking pictures this week.  I will try to be better this week. 

Dawson waiting to see Mommy run by.

Ashlyn and my brother waiting on me to run by. 

Here I come in the purple.

There I go.  (I have decided that I really, really do not like any pictures of me running.)

Dawson waving to Daddy.

Another shot of me running.

Cutie Boy before we went to our Super Bowl party.  He loves the camera.

Posing with my trophy.



This week

    With Dawson turning one this week, we had a very busy week with all that his party and birthday involved.  Ashlyn did get to have play date at the park with her friend Caitlyn.  They always have such a nice time together. 

       I ran a 4 mile race on Saturday.  It was part of a winter race series.  I usually pick races in spring, summer, or fall when it's warm.  I was reminded why on Saturday.  It was so cold!  I think it's harder to run while that cold.  I still wanted to give it my best.  I have been training so hard and I was praying it would pay off.  The course was easy, but I was really struggling towards the end.  I wanted to take my age group and there was a girl literally right behind me that I knew was in my age group. I could hear her right there the whole race. I managed to stay in front of her the entire race and came in ahead of her.  It was an awesome feeling!  I came in 19th out of the women (out of 225 women) and I got first in my age group out of 34 women!!!  I wanted a little faster of a time, but I was very pleased with how I placed.  I am planning on doing two more races in this series if I don't chicken out because of the cold.  I am thinking I am going to do a 1/2 marathon this weekend.  It's in Colorado Springs and it's cheap for a 1/2.  Plus, what do I have better to do on Super Bowl Sunday morning?  I haven't run more than 6 miles at a time for a few weeks, but I have a really strong base so I think I will be fine.  I am just hoping the weather will be decent.  I can't imagine 13.1 miles while freezing.  I may wimp out and do the 5k instead.  I will be sure and update. 

The other day, Ashlyn decided to make a huge bed on the floor out of pillows and blankets.  The kids got out a bunch of books.  They entertained themselves for awhile just looking at the books.  It was too cute and I had to get the camera. 

Emerging readers



Playing at the park



Love the joy on her face

They have so much fun together.

Swinging

Ashlyn helped by pushing Caitlyn