my "other" baby

I'm the social committee chairman for our homeowners association, and a few years back I got the wild idea to host a 5K run in our community. We started small, but this year we have pulled out all the stops, with sponsorships, a certified course and a professional race timing service. It's like a part-time job with no pay, but I like it. I think I must be crazy for doing it though.

If you live around here and you want to run, sign up! I'd love to see you!

http://www.sagecreekhoa.com/ or http://www.runtimeracingservices.com/

My sister Missy again designed the logo and all the advertising materials. She did a fantastic job. Thanks, Missy!

happy day to you

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happy birthday brian!

Welcome to the 32 club!

I have walking pneumonia

whaaaaaaaat!?



I'm going to bed.

I heart faces photo entry

I submitted this picture to a weekly photo contest called I Heart Faces. This week's contest is about natural light. I took this pic of Abby as the sun was setting over a pond in Brekenridge park. Perfect shooting light.

leave your maturity at the door

I was crazy in high school. Like theatre bum, silly, no inhibitions crazy. Since then I've become a lot more reserved, but last week I felt like I was in high school all over again. A group of friends and I ditched the families (and our inhibitions) for the night, bought crazy socks and cosmic bowled. You should have seen us, our socks glowing in the black lights, trying every creative bowling technique we could think of. I would not suggest doing "The Windup," "Running Man," or "The Gimp" when competitive bowling. My top score was like a 70, but we had so much fun!

just because

name that tune

Abby likes to mix it up a little. Can you name the two songs she's singing?

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little girl,

You are growing up too fast.

open wide........?

Abby went to the dentist for the first time today. Carrie, my sister-in-law, is a dental hygienist and she got to clean her teeth, which made it easier I think. We tried to get Abby to go first by herself, but that didn't fly, so Carrie cleaned my teeth next and we showed her how much "fun" it is. After watching me, she seemed to think it was pretty groovy, and she actually let Carrie brush and flouride her teeth. Abby has a tooth in front that is darker than the others, and it worried us a bit, but the dentist took a look at it and said there was nothing to worry about. Phew. So her first dentist appointment was a success. However, we forgot to add Abby to our dental insurance plan and we missed open enrollment, so this bill and the rest of the year is all on us. woo hoo. Better brush those teeth.

Abby

Hates the brumuda shorts I bought her.

I love them.

:(

carter

is a magnet for cuts, bumps and bruises.

abby

Never refuses a strawberry.

Photo by Missy

if i were a _____ where would I be?

You ever play that game at your house?

You know, when you're scouring the house looking for the keys/favorite toy/other shoe/remote that your son/daughter/spouse/imaginary friend misplaced, trying to get into the mind of the person that lost it, thinking where they could have put it, looking in every conceiveable place to no avail?

I mean, our house is not very big, and we've already established the fact that there's not much clutter in the way. But somehow, my family, especially Carter, wanders off with something and the next thing you know its been a week and you still can't find the DVR remote. (Have you ever been without your remote for a week? We watched a lot less TV for sure.) Yesterday it took me 10 minutes of tearing apart the living room to find the car keys Carter was playing with. I was late picking up Abby from school because of it. And today, he's managed to misplace his favorite little motorized train. Oh, how I wish he could tell me where he put it. I think I might go insane if this keeps up.

purging is fun

I don't think a week goes by where I don't go through a closet or toy box and end up with a bag of stuff to give or throw away. Its AMAZING how much we acquire, and we're minimalists by the worlds standards! I know its healthy to de-junk once in a while and make sure your home is clutter free, but I think I've got a problem. I do it all the time. There is strange satisfaction I get from cleaning out, bagging up and taking away crap we don't need. Its almost theraputic in a way. The only other person I know like this is my sister Melinda and she could possibly be worse than me!

Anyone else out there an obsessive purger?


Disclaimer: This does not always mean my house is clean.

hello gorgeous.

Meet my new friend, Mr. Rebel XTi. He's been to Italy, Alaska, Chili, Bolivia, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Egypt, and Israel, to name a few. This was my father-in-law's camera, and when he broke it a few weeks ago he decided it was time for an upgrade. So he called us up and said he'd give us the old one if we'd pay for the repairs. Uh, heck yeah! I've actually been saving up (slowly) for a camera and had a total of $256 in my savings account. The repairs were $265. Is that a blessing, or what? Aren't inlaws wonderful?

I'm so excited to FINALLY have an SLR camera. I've so desperately wanted one for so long that I borrowed their camera many times and even bought my own lense for it. So what better first slr camera to have than the one I've gotten to know so well.

Mr. Rebel, I have a feeling this is going to be a wonderful relationship.

Here's just a few pics that I took at a family get together on Saturday.

snaps for carter

So I just asked Carter, "Do you want more crackers?" and he answered "I want Cracker" plain as day.

We've been working on the "I want" phrase for a while, but this was especially awesome because he paired it with another word, and he formed an answer based on my question, not just copying what I said verbatum.

Watch out, Abby. little bro is catching up with you!

we're THIS MANY!

We met on a blind date and later when he came home from graduate school we became friends. It only took us six weeks from the time we "officially" started dating to know that we wanted to get married. I just knew he was the right guy for me. Five years and two kids later, our love and life is more than I ever thought it could be. Happy anniversary, Brian! Love you lots.

feedback

Hearing aids feed back. It's a fact of life for us over here, and I don't think I will ever get used to the sound. Because Abby's hearing loss is so severe, the microphone on her hearing aids is set at a very high level, so when something touches it, or she puts her head against something, and especially when they are on out of her ears, they make a very high pitched annoying sound. Carter's isn't nearly as bad, but his ear molds are too small, so feedback is more frequent now. Anyway, we just had their hearing aids adjusted, and Abby's left hearing aid got turned way up, so now the feedback makes a really sci-fi, erie sort of sound. Take a listen and see what I get to hear every day.

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