Picture Perfect

This week Valley View had an open house event where all the kids had framed self-portraits they'd created for sale. I didn't buy it (let's face it, we have a TON of artwork all around our house), but I did take a picture! What a beautiful ballerina Aurora:

Aurora's always at her art table drawing something, and Clark is usually trying to copy whatever she's doing. This morning she drew a beautiful rainbow and in his usual Clarkie way he said "Now MY turn!" and proceeded to draw his own.

I told them I thought it was PERFECT, but Aurora disagreed...

My Little Kiddos

This weekend we went to our first (but probably not last) My Little Pony party! It was awesome. I got to help paint cutie marks on the girl's faces, we played MLP bingo, music, activities, had awesome rainbow snacks, the most amazing pony castle cake EVER, and yes... there was even a pony piñata. Nothing like a bunch of little girls smashing the heck out of a beloved cartoon character.

And here's a cute picture of My Little Kiddos. Aurora insisted we go to Chick-Fil-A this week because she'd heard it might be karaoke night. Alas it was not, but I'm sure you can imagine the sweet sounds in our car after the kiddos had this much sugar!

Movie Night

Aurora and her daddy decided she's old enough to stay up late and watch big girl movies on Friday nights. She's amazingly excited about the whole thing. Last month we watched Edward Scissorhands and tonight it's Maleficent.

Chuck wanted tonight's movie to be Gremins but I vetoed that suggestion. I do love the idea of showing her movies from when we were younger... Labyrinth, the Never Ending Story, the Princess Bride, the options are endless! But Gremlins?!?! What would you watch with a sweet 6 (almost 7) year old girl? Suggestions are welcome!

Every Day

I thought last week was busy... this week was BUSY! I watched the Bachelor with my friends Monday, took the kids to the dentist Tuesday, had a friend over for dinner Wednesday, ran 4-miles Thursday, girls night out with friends on Friday, Aurora had a sleepover Saturday, and today I ran over 10-MILES before a Super Bowl party with our neighbors. We also had a Girl Scouts meeting at the Fire Station, which was especially fun for the little brothers.

We aren't big football fans at the Wadey house but Aurora is a BIG Katy Perry fan, so the halftime show was a hit. Of course, we were rooting for Seattle and eating plenty of carbs and melted cheese as the drama unfolded. Over the next two weeks I don't expect to have plans EVERY day... I'll be running a bit less and hopefully eating a bit less too!

Now my turn

Last night I picked both kids up early and took them to the dentist for a cleaning. Aurora's been a few times and she was clearly excited. When we arrived she told the dentist that she would like go first to show Clarkie what's going to happen, so he won't be scared. The dentist thought that was a fine idea... Clark, not so much. The entire time Aurora was getting her teeth cleaned he was touching the equipment and lunging for the chair saying "Now my turn!"

As soon as it was his turn, he changed his tune. "No, we go home now." I had to sit down on the chair with him on my lap and play a Dora video on my phone to keep him still. Taking selfies can usually produce a smile, even in the dentist chair.

Aurora is such a model patient, but Clark is exhausting! You know, in the best possible way...

Busy

Lately it seems that our lives are just busy. Work is busy. The kids are busy. It's not even the sort of busy that's interesting for a blog - just busy! Clark's always moving, bonking his head, wanting me to hold him, insisting on snacks and TV shows. Aurora's busy with friends, art projects, and playing games. Chuck's working late most nights. Now that I'm in the height of my half marathon training I'm even busier than usual running! With just 3-weeks to go until race day my mileage has been increasing significantly. Back in August I struggled to go 2-miles at a walk/run. Nowadays it's hard to get motivated if it's below 40 degrees or if cedar allergies are getting to me - but for the most part, the weather has been beautiful and even if I'm not feeling great I can have a great long run.

Lately I've been running less in my neighborhood and more on the actual marathon course and around the lake. That 9.5 mile run was a little slow, but I decided to take it easy and run without music - allowing myself to walk up steep hills and stop at red lights without worrying about pacing or time. It was actually quite nice. Next weekend I have a 10.5 mile run planned and then I'll taper (sticking with 3-5 mile runs) for the final week or two leading up to event day. A couple weeks ago I got new shoes - exactly like my old pair but PINK! Aurora might love them more than I do...

And hey, every blog post is better with a picture of Aurora! We took a nice long walk earlier in the week in honor of Grandma's Birthday. Aurora doesn't run with me, but she assures me that she CAN run faster than me and that is that. Time to go get ready for another busy week!

Splatter

This weekend Aurora went to a splatter painting party at a little place called Smudge Studios. Paint was everywhere and it was awesome. She's been saying for months that she wants to have a painting party for her 7th birthday, so not only did she enjoy it but I picked up a few ideas as well.

She also got to stay up late on Friday night. Chuck decided she's old enough to stay up past her bedtime and watch big movies every once in awhile, and we started with Edward Scissorhands. Next time we're going to watch Maleficent. Clark was not given the same opportunity, but today he refused to nap and asked to watch Pirates of the Caribbean instead. He seems to think he's big enough to skip naps every once in awhile to watch a movie, but we're all hoping he doesn't make this a regular occurrence - just as I'm hoping our painting party won't be QUITE as messy as that one was.

Weekend Videos

I just went a full week without blogging! Not much to report... the weekend was really cold, I wasn't feeling great, but I went running anyway. That's about it. We also took a bunch of videos and I decided it would be fun to share them here. This is actually three videos strung together. The first was just meant for my Bachelor-viewing friends, but once I showed it to the kids they wanted to watch it over and over and over and over again. Then they wanted me to take more videos, so the other two are just silly but for those of you who haven't seen the littles lately, they're pretty cute. We often play the "this or that" game in the car and while Clark may not have a great vocabulary, he does know what he likes! Enough talk... you have nearly 4 minutes of videos to watch. Enjoy!

 

The Measure of Love

Aurora did her own Christmas shopping this year at the Dollar General. She spent $8 of her own money and got gifts for Grandma, Grandpa, Presley, Clark, Zeland, Grandma Nancy, and me. I helped her shop for most of the gifts, but she snuck my present into the cart where I wouldn't see it - and she wrapped her gifts all on her own, which was awesome. She picked out this cool sign for me, which I decided would be perfect in the kitchen, where I hang my measuring cups:

Speaking of measurements, over at the Slane house they're celebrating Hansen's 15th Birthday and Julian & Maren's 24th wedding anniversary! Wow. And speaking of love, tomorrow a new season of the Bachelor begins and my friends are coming over for a viewing party. Do those belong together in the same paragraph? Probably not, but there you have it. I'm using those measuring cups right now to make chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for the Bachelor viewing party... I mean, to celebrate Hansen's birthday! After all the running and yoga I've done these past two weeks, I'm looking forward to eating them.

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!