Halloween Festivities....

I just now realized that I did not post anything about Halloween! We had a great week leading up to Halloween. Jeremy's Mom came to visit for the whole week and we had a nice time seeing her! It was a very busy week with a Halloween party at Colby's Parent's Morning Out program and Maddy's school. Maddy also had a Fall play. Of course, I had signed up to help out at both parties so we were busy doing that and making treats, etc..for the parties as well! Oh, and for some reason, I also decided to host a candle party this same week! In the midst of all of this, we all ended up coming down with bronchitis by the end of the week. We had all been coughing and it just seemed to get worse as the weeek progressed. Friday morning, we were all at the doctor! I guess that is probably why I didn't get anything posted on the blog! Lots of cough syrup, cough drops, kleenexes, antibiotics, humidifiers and inhalers later --- we are doing much better! Sorry Barb for bringing you into our germ infested house and getting you sick!! Misery loves company, I guess ;-)

I also realized that the only pictures taken with Grandma Barb were on her camera --- so, I will post those once I get copies. For now, I have posted a picture of Maddy and Colby right before trick-or-treating. They were so excited and running around everywhere with the neighbor kids, so I only got one picture!!

Cousin Time!!

We had Ben and Jordan over last Friday night for a couple hours while Josh went to a wake and Missy was out of town. The kids all had a lot of fun playing. I got a pretty cute picture of the four of them eating pizza:

Colby's First Haircut!

It was way over-due, but we kept putting it off as I think we were scared to have sharp scissors go near Colby's head! He is so active and constantly moving that I wasn't sure how we were going to get this done!! So, finally the other day, I just decided to take him into Great Clips after Maddy got home from school and see what would happen. (it's funny because for Maddy's 1st haircut, both Jeremy and I took her to a "kids' haircut place" and spent a lot of money to get 1 or 2 pieces of hair cut off and a picture taken, etc....we are more practical about these types of things nowadays ;-))

So, back to Colby.....He did not want to sit on the chair, so I sat down and put him on my lap. Then, he was having issues with the gown they drape around you, so I told the lady to just not use it (we both ended up with hair all over us!) The lady cutting his hair was pretty good, but she was definately taking her time --- Maddy helped me distract Colby and overall we got it done (even though, towards the end of his hair-cut I was standing up holding him while she was cutting!) I would consider it a success as his hair is cut, looks pretty good, and no injuries to report!!!

GO, FIGHT, WIN!!!!

Maddy went to a Valley High School Cheerleading Clinic a couple weeks ago and then also got to cheer and do a dance at the Valley JV game at half-time last Friday night. She had a great time and loved having the Valley High School cheerleaders as the coaches!!

At the cheerleading clinic learning all the cheers:


All ready to go cheer at the game:


Maddy and her friend from school Hadley:


Maddy and her friend Reese getting ready to go out on the field:


Video of one of the dances they did at half-time. Maddy is in the 2nd row towards the right side:

The Marathon (2:10) ---

I ran the DSM half-marathon this past Sunday and thought I would post a couple of reflections from the day. First off, it was a totally different feel than running a 5K. The amount of people and the level of excitement was something I will never forget. I felt really good when the race started and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Around mile 7, I was starting to feel a little tired and I think my pace was probably too fast ---- Jeremy and the kids were waiting for me and cheering me on at this point, so that was great as I had some good encouragement to keep going!

I was still feeling good until right around mile 10 and then I started to have some major pain in my quads, although my breathing was pretty much fine, so I was irritated that my main problem was my legs. Cardio-wise, I felt good, so I wanted to move quicker, but my legs weren't allowing it. My goal was to run the whole thing so I kept on and watched several people step off to the side of the course, walking, sitting down, stretching, etc...and I knew I couldn't pay attention to that or I would be too tempted to start walking. As I got up to the last mile there were huge crowds of people lined up to cheer the runners on. What an awesome feeling and at this point there was no stopping as the race was coming to an end.

I will never forget that feeling of accomplishment as I ran the last 2 blocks to the finish line -- when I knew that I was finishing the race and my body made it through!! I guess the feeling is hard to even describe, but it was awesome!!! Of course, Jeremy was there with the kids when I was done and that made it so much better!!

The race has been on my mind all week (just ask Jeremy; I've been looking up stats, race times, other races, etc...:-)) and I can now see why so many people train for and run these challenging races --- the feelings of accomplishment and strength are amazing!! (Of course the next 2-3 days after of being sore and sick to my stomach will be hard to forget as well -- but, hey, no big feat comes w/out it's challenges, right???)

After the race:


My biggest fan:

Brushing, brushing and more brushing.....

Colby has been obsessed with brushing lately; brushing his teeth, brushing his hair, brushing Maddy's hair and anyone else's hair that will let him! It started out really cute (and helpful) as he would stay in the bathroom for long amounts of time brushing his teeth and I could get ready for the day, etc...w/out worrying about him getting into something.

Well, now, we are having some problems when it's time to go somewhere or really do anything that requires going downstairs and getting out of the bathroom! Colby will throw a complete tantrum if you try and pull him away from his teeth brushing!! You can just tell that he thinks he is such a big boy when he is in that bathroom brushing away and he is so proud of himself!! Jeremy even told our babysitter the other night to not allow Colby into the bathroom to brush his teeth or she would never be able to get him out of there! Ha! We'll see how long this phase lasts!

Day Off....

Today Maddy had a day off of school for a teacher in-service day. It was really nice having her home. We went to a music class at our church in the morning and then went over to Incredible Pizza for lunch and to play some games. Maddy must have been in need of a little catch-up sleep as she fell asleep on the couch this afternoon while Colby was taking his nap! It was a fun day and it makes me miss having Maddy around during the week when Colby and I are out and about. Great time had by all!!

No School Today!!! Yeah!!!


Maddy won these at Incredible Pizza:


Colby wearing the big glasses:


Time to catch up on some rest: