Dancing

So this weekend the girls managed to entertain themselves in the garage while Mark and I did various projects around the house and yard.  They play very well together and are so creative at times.  Lauren went inside and got her Barbie CD player and moved it out to the garage and asked me to get the Adele CD out of Mark's car so they would listen to some music while playing in the garage.  

I caught Addison dancing on more than one occasion.  I love the above picture because it is just a silhouette of her dancing.  Priceless.  

Swing

When Lauren was one we got this swing set outside.  It has gotten a ton of use since then, and has needed some thing replaced over the last few years.  We replaced the single swings last summer, and this week we replaced the double swing.  I ordered it on Amazon on a Tuesday evening and it was on our porch Friday afternoon.  Have I mentioned how much I love Amazon.  Everything at your finger tips, no tax and free shipping.  Love it! 

What I love even more is that both girls can swing, together, no fighting, and we DON'T  have to push them.  That is right.  I can sit on the deck, read a magazine, and listen to their laughter while relaxing. 

We had another double swing there before, but this one is much nicer and well worth replacing (after 5 years and all!) 

Lauren is still wearing the 3T skirt I purchased last summer...she loves it and it still fits so why bother putting it away in storage. 

Saturday afternoon we watched our Niece's, Claire and Spohie for a few hours.  Claire and Addison had fun on the swing as well. 

Sophie hung out on the deck with Mark.  She is such a GREAT baby. 

Sunday morning, more swinging time.  Before church, in mis matched jammies.  Why bother with jackets when you can put on long sleeve jammies and flip flops to go outside. 

Sunday afternoon...just hanging out loving the beautiful weekend.  The next thing we need to replace is the rope ladder.  It is totally worn down and broken in several spots.  I think we are going to put up a rock wall for the girls.  I hope they love it as much as they love the double swing! 

KU Rocks, MU Boo

So these things are in random places on Lauren's school work quite often.  I finally took a picture this week to document it (Kindergarten spelling and all.)  She has the right idea. 

KU Rocks. 

MU Boo. 

Diva Dash

I ran my first race of the year this weekend!  It was the Diva Dash of 2012.  It was held over near Town Center Plaza in Johnson County, and as it sounds it was an all girls race.  My friend Casey recently did the Couch Potato to 5K plan and was anxious to get a 5k completed.  I agreed to do the race with her, and a few more of her friends, and we did awesome! 

Lauren was up and ready to cheer me on before I even left the house!  The girls were very excited to come to my race and see me.  I love that Lauren is very excited about running and after this weekend asked me when she can start running. 

Mark and the girls are always easy to spot since Mark is so tall.  I usually see them before they see me!  I love having them there to cheer me on. 

Like I said, Lauren is ready to be a runner too! 

My time at this race was great and I finished in the top 13% of all runners.  My official time was 30 minutes and 1 second.  That made for a 9:39 minute mile.  That is a great pace for me.  I think some people are natural runners, born to run and it comes very easy for them.  For me it is hard, always a challenge, and never easy.  I don't run fast, but I run and that is all that matters.  It has gotten me into great shape over the last 1 1/2 years. 

After the race the girls and I headed back to Lee's Summit to run a few errands before heading home.  Mark went to meet up with his buddy Shannon to do an 11 mile run...yes an 11 mile run.  Mark's half marathon is in 3 weeks!  He is so ready and I know will do great and beat his previous time last summer with his first half marathon. 

The girls were awesome.  We ran some errands and had lunch at Target again...I was the best Mommy ever again this weekend!  Thank you Mark, Lauren and Addison for coming out and cheering me and my girl friends at the Diva Dash.  It was a great race. 

Potraits

So remember when I got the new camera lens for Christmas?  It is a portrait lens that has a manual focus that will take tons of practice to master the art of good photography.  Well, practicing on two very active little girls is tough.  I have tried several times and ended up with blurry photos.  But, this past weekend, outside when it was beautiful, I was able to capture some pretty good shots. 

Their smiles might not be perfect, hair might not be perfect, background might not be perfect...but they are all in focus and the color and detail is amazing.  I am very excited to continue to practice with this lens and get even more comfortable with the manual focus and improve my photography skills at the same time.  And, I have two beautiful models to work with! 

Wordless Wednesday

St. Patrick's Day

Oh my, it is Sunday night and I am SO exhausted.  It was been a wonderful Spring Break and a crazy busy weekend.  I am trying to get this post up during half time of the KU game, so I can sit and relax for the second half of the game.  Although I have been off work the last 5 days, I am totally wiped out and ready for the weekend.  It is going to be a long week, huh? 

Saturday we had a ton of fun with the Beecham's at the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Kansas City along Broadway.

We lucked out and found a parking spot along the street only about 2 blocks from the parade. We there early and still had trouble finding a place to sit along the curb. 

We claimed our territory and set up our little chairs.  The girls started snacking and Mark and I started people watching.  I was not sure what to expect with the crowd with it being St. Patty's day and all.  But, there were TONS of families (we were up near the start of the parade) and tons of cops to keep things under control.  We had absolutely no trouble at all.  Lauren saw a friend from school, one of her daycare teachers, I saw a DR. that I work with and Addison even saw a little friend from daycare. 

Addison sat like this for the longest time.  Look at those long slender legs....she is so pretty!  Oh, and her outfit, picked out by her of course.  Her shirt is from 2008 and she insisted on the red sparkly shoes with no socks.  You don't even want to know the battle we had before just letting her wear this outfit.  Not worth it at all. 

Aiden and Lauren hung out most of the parade.  They had fun. 

There were several marching bands and dancers.  They were my favorite.  There were floats and horses as well.  Slugger was even there.  Lauren said her favorite thing was the juggler, and Addison said her favorite thing was sitting with Daddy. 

She dozed off around noon.  There were several LOUD Harley's in the parade and they did not even phase her.  She was out for about 20 minutes. 

After the parade we headed to the beer garden.  Yes, the beer garden.  It was VERY family friendly with a kids play area, cheap hot dogs and drinks, and music.  The kids had fun and we were able to visit with Shannon and Amy a little more. 

Lauren was getting pretty tired at this point...but I love this picture.  She looks so much like Mark. 

We had fun, the girls really enjoyed the parade and it was a good time catching up with the Beecham's.  Oh how St. Patty's day has changed...for the better of course! 

Lauren's Day with Mommy

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having girls?  I posted on Face book today "lunch, shopping and a movie with Lauren."  The best mother/daughter activities one could ever ask for.  We had a great day. 

I also love the new spring clothes that the girls have been able to wear with the warmer weather.  Lauren is totally into skirts right now.  I don't think I will even buy her any shorts.  She probably has 10-12 skirts.  That should get us through summer, right?  We added to her flip flop collection today with 4 new pairs.  At $2.50 a pair she can have how ever many she wants! 

We went to see The Lorax first thing this morning.  It is a great movie.  Lauren talked me into popcorn, a drink, and a snack.  It really did not take much.  I always let her get the kid pack!  She loves the buttered popcorn. 

Next was Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  We love Chick-Fil-A.  It is so yummy!  After lunch we were supposed to head to the mall and shop, but we took a little detour.  We stopped at the bathroom on the way out and Lauren smashed her finger in the door.  She wasn't crying too bad, but she was sad and she looked up at me and said "I just want to go home and take a nap."  I said, fine, no problem.  Let's go home and take a nap.  Another lady in the bathroom said "my kids never say that."  So we headed home, climbed in my bed and took a nap.  Lauren woke me up by poking my eyes 1 1/2 hours later...seriously...poking my eyes with her fingers. 

Now we were headed to the mall for Build a Bear.  Lauren got a gift certificate for her birthday and was ready to spend it.  First, you stuff the bear. 

Then you give the bear a bath. 

Then you do a little shopping and find the perfect outfit for the bear.  Then you take the bear to the dressing room to try it on. 

Lauren ended up naming her bear Sally. 

Sally was ready to go pick up Addison!  We picked up Addison, I got a quick run in before dinner and then headed to Orange Leaf for dessert.  Again, a great day with Lauren and an awesome Spring Break with my girls.