Happy NYE

We have most certainly had a happy New Years Eve. It started with an early morning trip to the airport. Nancy and Z headed back to AZ today, but not before spending a few more days of winter break in Austin. Zeland was a joy to have in our home. Every moment with him was an adventure, from figuring out what he'd actually eat to matching our activities with his energy level. Aurora will definitely miss her cousin (and her Grandma!).

We had a girl's day out today, painting and doing crafts before ringing in the New Year (at Noon) with silly pictures and noise makers. Then my parents came over for a pizza party and we had a 7pm NYE countdown with the kiddos, courtesy of Netflix and Madagascar (All Hail King Julien!). And well... that's about it. 2014 feels like a blur of dropping off and picking up, commuting, goal setting, reading, training, and squeezing in as much fun as we could while balancing two kids and two jobs. We didn't take any real vacations, but I took a month-long summer sabbatical and I like to think we took advantage of all the best this city has to offer. Clark and Aurora are both growing up too fast, though we're looking forward to the day when we don't have to pay for daycare anymore! We have a few more years to go until that happens... first, let's ring in 2015! My resolution is to run the Austin half marathon and continue running afterwards. Aurora wants to read 5 books per day (seriously, I had nothing to do with that one), Chuck wants to work on more personal projects and Clarkie wants to drink more chocolate milk. What are you looking forward to in the new year? Whatever it is, I hope you find joy in ever day. Happy New Year!

Cousins

I was planning on waiting until the end of the visit before blogging about our time with Grandma Nancy and Zeland, but we already have way too many cute photos to share. Aurora and Zeland have been getting along great. As much as he acts like he'd rather just play video games all day, Zeland has been having a blast going on adventures, playing darts and play-doh (and uhm, the occasional video game) with his Texas family. Clark's been working hard to keep up, and he's been napping better than usual so I think we're wearing him out! You gotta love these sweet cousins.

Digging dino bones at the Nature & Science Center

Fun at the Austin Aquarium

Junk City at the Thinkery

Loving on Grandma Nancy

Hanging out and coloring at my parent's condo

Snuggling sleepers

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We're just hanging out and playing with our new toys after a fun Christmas morning with the fam. We opened dozens of gifts and the kids definitely got everything they could've wanted. Aurora asked for a Doodle Bear and Secret Password Journal and was not disappointed. Clark got a cute stuffed Pluto dog, lots of trucks and books and fun stuff. Chuck bought the kids video games and gave me a fitness tracking bracelet.

At first Clarkie wasn't so sure about opening presents, but once he got the hang of it he wanted to sit under the tree and open them all. He's getting supremely good at using the words "mine" and "no." Once the gifts were gone we had some yummy snacks (thanks Aunt Susanna!) then the boys stayed home to nap while Grandma, Grandpa, Aurora and I went out to run, walk, and ride bikes around the track. We didn't have a white Christmas but we did get some exercise.

Tomorrow our vacation will get even merrier as Nancy & Zeland are coming for a visit. We hope you're having a Merry Christmas, too!

Intermission

The holiday festivities continued around here with a weekend full of entertainment and fun. Saturday Aurora and I went to a play called Kids of the Magi. I was contemplating the Nutcracker but we've seen it before and I know it would be expensive and crowded. This was super cute, and Aurora got to color and get the actor's autographs afterwards.

Yesterday we went down to the Hays County Performing Arts Center to watch our friend David conduct a special holiday concert. The whole family came along to enjoy the show. Intermission really confused Clark and he was unable (or unwilling) to sit down quietly again afterwards, so we ended up leaving a bit early and heading out for dinner, which worked out just fine!

Even with all the lights and music and plays, it's hard to believe it's Christmas week. Today we put both kids in daycare and I spent my time cleaning, shopping, wrapping, doing yoga and laundry, planning and relaxing before the main events. Looking forward to an abundance of food, gifts, and good company in the coming week!

Happy Holiday Parties

This has been a busy and stressful week at work, but today I was able to focus almost entirely on holiday parties. Aurora's class party was this morning and I volunteered to help get everything setup for gingerbread house decorating. It was awesome.

Afterwards my team at work had a nice yearend lunch together, then I picked Aurora up early so she could join us for Clark's holiday party. Santa visited each classroom, then the kids performed Jingle Bells. By perform, I mean nobody sang - they just jingled bells.

Three down, one to go. My folks are coming over to watch the kids while we go to Chuck's company dinner - but not before lighting our Menorah and Yahrzeit candle in memory of Grandpa Sandler. Now if only Clark would stop trying to blow the candles out...

Happy 4th night of Chanukah and happy holidays to everybody celebrating with family, friends and coworkers this week!

Santa!

After 7 years of blogging it's getting hard to come up with original titles, so I stole this one from Julian's blog... ha! Of course, today we DID go see Santa. Clark wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap for a photo, but he did think he'd been a good boy and asked for a truck.

Aurora has definitely been a good girl and I'm sure Santa will be good to her this year. He gave both kids treats and toys after the photo, so we're already off to a good start. They also enjoyed a little carousel ride before heading over to the Lakeway Trail of Lights.

Look - Santa lights! What a fun and festive way to spend the day. One more week of work and school before I get my Christmas wish - two weeks off!

Hair

If there's one thing Aurora is known for, it's her hair. Her thick, gorgeous, curly blonde hair. This week, that hair was nit-picked and combed for hours. Chuck was the first person to get in there and he got the bulk of the lice, but grandpa and I had our chance as well. We moussed and shampooed, washed sheets and pillow cases, vacuumed and cleaned, and she was kept home from school for a day. Today everything looked clear, but the treatments will continue for the next week or so.

Clark seemed to have pink eye, but it cleared up fast. He didn't have lice but I gave both boys short haircuts just in case. That's right... Clark got another buzz cut! He likes it and looks adorable (of course). My dad mentioned that when he was little head shaving was the common treatment, but I decided we probably shouldn't shave Aurora's hair...

Frozen Festivities

We had so much fun this weekend and I haven't even had a chance to blog about it! I've been busy catching up on chores and work, and now we're dealing with head lice and potentially pink eye. Ignoring that for just a moment, wow have we been having fun! This weekend Aurora was invited to a Frozen party with a very special guest - Queen Elsa.

Then we saw the Austin Philharmonic Orchestra perform holiday songs at the Capitol Rotunda. Our neighbor David is the conductor and many friends were in attendance. They played Christmas tunes AND an awesome medley of songs from (you guessed it) Frozen.

We had another birthday party this weekend where we spent the majority of the time outdoors because IT IS NOT FROZEN in Texas right now! It's been in the 60's and lovely.

I also just threw our annual volunteer holiday party at work (above), and my parents took Aurora & Clark to a gingerbread cookie decorating party at the library (photo taken with my mom's flip phone, below). I hear it was crowded and awesome. 

So yeah... now we're dealing with lice in Aurora's lovely hair and the possibility that Clark might wake up tomorrow with pink eye (or, let's face it, lice). We just got rid of our old couch and are awaiting the delivery of a new sleeper sofa. Add in two busy jobs and life as usual, and I'm exhausted! Looking forward to a long holiday break and many more holiday festivities to come.

Going the Distance

Today I spent 3-hours at a running clinic where coaches video taped my form and gave me pointers on areas for improvement. We also did track workouts designed to improve speed and pacing. I've read that I should incorporate track workouts into my training but I didn't actually know what they were. Now I do! During my 1-mile repeats I clocked some 8 minute splits, which is really fast for me. They're going to send me the footage but I don't think I need to post that here. What I do want to post is a little trip down memory lane. I was chatting with my parents a few weeks back and dad mentioned that he was in the best shape of his life when he was 38 years old and running marathons, which kind of blew my mind. Mom brought some scrapbooks over and there were several pages highlighting various long distance races from back in the day.

What's that? Julian and dad did a half marathon together and I cheered them on in the rain!? Now here I am, 38 years old and working toward the same goal. I'm sure I was in better shape in my mid-20's when I used to run 5Ks like it was nothing. I have no idea how fast I was, but I ran in several events including an 8K and a 10K. The 8K was fairly small and I ended up placing in my age group. Randomly, Bruce Jenner presented my medal. I have a scrapbook page of my own to prove it:

I was so fit back then but I honestly expect my distance and endurance to exceed past performance as I work up to the half marathon in February. I probably got about 5 miles in today at various speeds and intervals and my legs are TIRED, but it sure feels good to be this active again.