Beer & Bacon

When Chris was still sick in bed we bought a few groupon deals online for things that sounded fun. It was a way to stake our claim on a healthy, happy future time where we'd be able to go on dates again and spend our time somewhere besides hospitals and home in bed. We're SO thankful to bed redeeming some of those deals only 4 months after Chris got sick.

This beer and bacon tasting was one of the events we bought while he was still sick in bed. The event was a lot of fun! There were about 10 other couples and a we were all served 7 courses of a tasting menu. Every dish had bacon and was paired by the chef with a beer. Perfect event for foodies like us :-)

A spin on one of my favorite slogans ;-)

The last course was the best!! Chocolate mouse with a graham cracker and bacon crumble paired with a fabulous rich, sweet barleywine beer. Very fun night!

Color Run!!

While Chris was sick this winter he told me about this race he'd heard of called The Color Run. On a particularly trying night during his recovery, we decided to register for the race (then a couple months away) in faith that Chris would be well enough to run it. And he was! Praise God :-)

Pre-race. We look so clean!

Love the slogan "the happiest 5k on the planet!"

This was post race-there was an awesome "after party" and they did a bunch of these color blasts where everyone popped their bags of color powder at the same moment. It was awesome to be in the middle of it...surreal!

The race itself was tough for me-I was not quite ready for a 5k though I'd been trying to run more in preparation. Chris was content to run/walk with me and there were thousands of people who  walked the whole thing. There were 13,000 people in our race and it was the second of the day! A total of 25,000 people! Craziness :-)

Dave & Julie brought the kids to the race so they could watch the spectacle and cheer us on and
we got to hang out with them after the race. The kids had mixed reactions...

Our stroller was definitely a casualty.

Sadie was not a fan of the color powder-as I predicted, she cried as soon as powder touched her. Then she fell asleep :-)

Ella, on the other hand, loved it and wants to run it with us next year! It was a really fun, happy day!

Aquarium and Baseball!

We've had a full couple days! Chris decided to take a day off since Ella was off school yesterday and do the aquarium trip we've been talking about for months. Sadie has never been and I knew they were both at ages where they would live the aquarium. And they did! Within minutes they were both literally squealing with delight at all we saw!

Afterwards Sadie got to make her own pizza at lunch which was a hit :-) she passed out, fully satiated about 30 minutes later when we got in the car.

 After that, the kids spent a little time with my parents making me a Mother's Day surprise! They made an impressive platter of fruit, vegetable, and meat and cheese skewers! They also stuffed beautiful pillow forms for me to have as a gift as well! 

Today, we got to do our first full family baseball game! Sadie had never been and she did well. Snacks and eventually doing puzzles on my phone kept her happy for a 3+ hour game!

Whew! Fun but exhausting weekend so far and a full day ahead tomorrow. Good night!

Ella's 7 1/2!

My big girl is getting bigger! Ella had a half birthday this week which she loves to celebrate :-) She really is maturing in a lot of ways. She still reads voraciously and is doing really well in school. She's doing above grade level work in reading and math. She's also improved in being respectful and in writing detailed answers-two areas that were "satisfactory" last marking period and moved up this period!

Ella is sensitive and thoughtful and will spend hours on a project in her room that is almost always a present for me or Chris. In the last month she's written a few poems, written 2 worship songs, made books for us (using paper, a hole punch and ribbon), and countless art projects. She really seems to have some artistic talent and is taking her first outside of school art class right now and loves it. She doesn't know a single kid in the class and they all know each other and she has NO fear or apprehension going into a situation like that. She walked right in the first day, sat down and waved good bye to me. I admire this quality in Ella so much! She happily fits into new situations with strangers in a way many people can't as adults! Love her! She's independent and quirky and has a memory and problem-solving acuity I find tremendous for a 7 year old. Excuse me, 7 and a half ;-)

Beautiful spring school pics

Out to dinner at chickfila for her half birthday

Silly girl :-)

Ella's enjoying accessories lately, sunglasses, necklaces and all kinda of hair do's and decorations :-)

A recent picture she drew

She looooooves me lately and tells me often :-) very sweet

She's learned a bunch of card games from her cousins and loves it!

5 teeth gone!

First grade field trip!

Ella's class went to a local farm and I got to chaperone! It was a farm I'd never been to and it was really beautiful. The kids got to do and see a lot!

We fed goats

Most of "my" group :-) they were really respectful and well behaved!

Hayride that went through the creek!

The "snake tree" really had a huge black snake hanging in it when we ride by!

The kids got to learn all about seeds and plant their own plants to take home. Really fun trip :-)

Sadie Lady

So, baby Sadie is 2 1/2 and definitely not a baby anymore. I am biased but I must say, I truly feel she is a remarkable child. I wish I'd been better about recording her every antic because she is HILARIOUS and SO sweet. I honestly feel like I haven't recorded more of her stories because they involve her just being kinder and sweeter and more precious than I ever expect a 1 or 2 year old to be and sweet doesn't translate as well in writing as funny. This girl has no shortage of funny but she is really the sweetest, most genuine, maternal, caring child I know. She certainly can have bad moments but the vast majority of the time I find myself completely enamored with her compliant, thoughtful demeanor. I LOVE Sadie so much!!!!!!

Sadie LOOOOOOVES Doc McStuffins, a cartoon about a little girl who is a doctor for broken toys. Here she's letting madi be doc while she gets a check up :-)

Petting zoo with playgroup

Dressed up as a beaver at our weekly dinner with our dear friends (POD)

Kissing her cousin Macy

Sadie is fighting naps but clearly not ready to give them up!

Dress up is a favorite activity these days

On the carousel at the mall. She's just like Ella-very physically cautious, not a daredevil in the least.

My buddy :-)

One of those "I'm 2 so I have to be unreasonable sometimes" moments. She's crying because I wouldn't let her have cheese balls for breakfast.

Sadie gets along great with most kids and adjusts well to new groups of people after a few minutes. If I drop her off at church or bible study she sometimes cries when I leave but the teachers say she always calms down in a minute or two and is happy and well behaved the whole time. What a blessing!

Sadie's learned to love art from Ella

This girl is a serious carnivore. Ella still won't eat a hamburger!