There's no story to go along with this one. We got school pictures back, so I thought I'd post it for all to see!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Weekend Report
We had a busy weekend. It started on Friday night with the Boo Bash at St. Cornelius. Jake wouldn't wear his costume. They had snacks, danced a bit and enjoyed the craft table. Here is a photo of Megan and her friend, Tony.
Jake was especially fond of the glue. I think he used this whole bottle on his Frankenstein foam craft.
On Saturday morning, we went to Oak Park so that Darin's parents could get a portrait taken with all of the grand kids. Getting 4 kids under the age of 5 to cooperate is a little like herding cats. Diana seemed to handle it with ease.
Afterwards, we went to lunch at Tasty Dog, where Megan and Lili got to sit at their own table like big kids.
By the time afternoon rolled around, Jake was tired and ready to just hang out on the couch with Dad. He likes for me to take pictures of him while he makes funny faces.
On Sunday, we went up to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The weather was a little chilly, but it was sunny. The kids had a good time running around. They made us pay the toll on the trail:
The main purpose of our visit was to check out the model railroad exhibit. Both of the kids seemed to enjoy it -- but, it was a bit crowded.
And, one more shot from the end of our visit:
After all of that, I'm not sure how they found much more energy, but somehow they seemed to rally enough for some good jumping right before bed. I thought these photos were kind of funny.
Next up - Halloween!! Woo hoo.
Jake was especially fond of the glue. I think he used this whole bottle on his Frankenstein foam craft.
On Saturday morning, we went to Oak Park so that Darin's parents could get a portrait taken with all of the grand kids. Getting 4 kids under the age of 5 to cooperate is a little like herding cats. Diana seemed to handle it with ease.
Afterwards, we went to lunch at Tasty Dog, where Megan and Lili got to sit at their own table like big kids.
By the time afternoon rolled around, Jake was tired and ready to just hang out on the couch with Dad. He likes for me to take pictures of him while he makes funny faces.
On Sunday, we went up to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The weather was a little chilly, but it was sunny. The kids had a good time running around. They made us pay the toll on the trail:
The main purpose of our visit was to check out the model railroad exhibit. Both of the kids seemed to enjoy it -- but, it was a bit crowded.
And, one more shot from the end of our visit:
After all of that, I'm not sure how they found much more energy, but somehow they seemed to rally enough for some good jumping right before bed. I thought these photos were kind of funny.
Next up - Halloween!! Woo hoo.
Happy Birthday, Damien!
Damien's 3rd birthday was Saturday, Oct. 25. We went to visit on Friday and I meant to post this on Saturday, but time got away from me. The kids all had a great time playing together - we've got to do it more often.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Happy Birthday, Uncle Scott!
We visited the south suburbs today. It's Scott's birthday, so we had to bring him a chocolate cake. Everyone has to have cake on their birthday, right? The kids went a little crazy while we were at Grandma & Scott's house. For some reason, Megan wasn't reserved at all. Although, Scott is too fun so they couldn't hold back. Thankfully, they both slept well on the way home!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
It's Back!
In one of my earlier posts, I complained about some thieves breaking into our garage and stealing our wagon. Lo and behold - it's back. On Sunday evening, Darin took the kids for a walk while I made dinner. I was on the back porch finishing up with the grill and here comes the family walking down the alley, with Jake sitting in the wagon. Megan came out of the garage and announced, "We got our wagon back". Apparently, the thieves had left it in a neighbor's yard about a block away. We don't usually walk that way and when Darin passed, the woman asked him if he had lost a wagon. He explained that it had been taken out of our garage and they rode happily back. Woo hoo!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Buddies
Sometimes these two get along so well. This photo was taken one day after school. Jake really misses Megan while she's there. Whenever we drop her off, he's a little bummed that he can't stay with her. But, then he's so happy when we pick her up. They're enjoying an after-school snack on the stairs (er, I mean bus) here. They always pretend they're riding the bus for some reason when they sit on the outside of the rail.
Last week Megan found the biggest leaf ever. Check it out:
She kept it for 3 days until it finally started falling apart.
Megan saw an episode of "Goosebumps" at Debbie's house. Apparently, it's a kid's show with some scary themes. She seemed to enjoy it until recently. Now, when she's going to bed she says, "I'm afraid of Goosebumps". I don't know if this is a stall tactic or if she's really scared. The other morning, Megan woke up in tears and Jake came into her room and said, "Megan goosebumps?". What a good little brother - showing concern for his crying sister.
Most of the time, Jake is pretty good. Lately we've referred to him as the deflector. If you say anything directed toward him, he turns it right around. For example:
Darin: "Jake, you look tired"
Jake: "YOU look tired"
or Jimmy's favorite.....
"Jake, you're cool"
Jake: "YOU're cool"
And, he certainly says it with attitude. Maybe he'll be good at sales.
Last week Megan found the biggest leaf ever. Check it out:
She kept it for 3 days until it finally started falling apart.
Megan saw an episode of "Goosebumps" at Debbie's house. Apparently, it's a kid's show with some scary themes. She seemed to enjoy it until recently. Now, when she's going to bed she says, "I'm afraid of Goosebumps". I don't know if this is a stall tactic or if she's really scared. The other morning, Megan woke up in tears and Jake came into her room and said, "Megan goosebumps?". What a good little brother - showing concern for his crying sister.
Most of the time, Jake is pretty good. Lately we've referred to him as the deflector. If you say anything directed toward him, he turns it right around. For example:
Darin: "Jake, you look tired"
Jake: "YOU look tired"
or Jimmy's favorite.....
"Jake, you're cool"
Jake: "YOU're cool"
And, he certainly says it with attitude. Maybe he'll be good at sales.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My Marathon Review
Well, what can I say? The weather was not the friend of the marathon again this year. I started the day feeling pretty good. Amy (pictured in the middle) and I started together in Corral C and had a pretty good first half. We did end up running a little faster than anticipated and that may have contributed to my downfall in the later miles. We were originally going to try and run consistent 8:30's for the first half, but Miss Amy had a little too much pep in her step and I had to keep reminding her to hold back a little. We crossed quite a few of those miles in the 8:12 - 8:19 range. After the halfway point, I really started to feel the heat. You know it's bad when all you can think about is the sun beating on your back.
Once we got to 18, Amy said, "Alright, what's our strategy going to be for 18 - 25", and I basically had no idea. I said, "Sorry, Amy. I've gone silent on you". At the 20-mile aid station, we lost each other in the crowd. I did see her up ahead at one point, but couldn't muster the energy to give any sort of surge to catch her. I had to stretch a few times between 20 and 24 and felt much better afterwards. I ran a few of those later miles in the upper 9-minute range. Yikes. I conjured up all of the mental and physical energy I could for the last two miles. I didn't stop at any more aid stations (the liquid was sloshing in my stomach by that time anyway) and pulled off the last two miles at a speedy 8:45 pace. I seriously had nothing left.
There are many times I look back on a race and think, "maybe I could've run a little harder. This time, I don't think there's anything else I could have done (other than run a little more conservatively at the beginning). I guess it's nice to have no regrets.
I've run the marathon for the last two years and I think I'm gonna go back to triathlons for next year. It's a little frustrating with these endurance events, when you train for 4 months and then so much depends on the day as to whether or not you feel success. Sure, finishing a marathon is great. But in my competitive mind, when I'm hoping to run a 3:40 - 3:45 and finish with a 3:50, it's frustrating that the one freak warm day in October has such an impact. That's one test that I can't re-take. My body is in need of some serious rest - and I intend to do just that
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Weekend Wrap-up
Last Friday was Cubs & Sox day at Megan's school. We went shopping for a t-shirt at Target and they only had them in the boys section. So, I held up the shirt in the photo and a White Sox shirt that was plain black with white letters. Megan loves black. But, she must love her uncle Jimmy even more because she said, "I like the black one, but Uncle Jimmy really likes the Cubs". So, she picked the gray shirt. She was getting dressed on Friday morning and put on that shirt with a pair of jeans and said, "I look like a boy". So, back to the drawing board. I found a pair of red pants and we fixed up her hair with all kinds of accessories to "girl it up". She was happy with that.
On Saturday, I finished my last pre-marathon long run with my group and then we headed up to the cottage in Wisconsin. We brought our neighbor, Francesca, with us. Megan was psyched. We did a little yard work and then headed over to the Apple Barn for a hay ride and apple picking.
We bought some fresh apple cider and some fresh donuts (a good snack before dinner). They played on an old fire truck and listened to some acoustic guitar and played in the tree maze before we had to drag them out of there!
That night, we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Or as Francesca said, "Can we burn marshmallows now?" We went into town in the morning for a big breakfast, followed by a boat ride on the lake.....
.....before heading back to Chicago. All in all, a fun weekend.
On a different note, Jake loves Dancing with the Stars just like his sister. If he's upstairs and hears the intro music, he stops what he's doing and says, "Dance stars!!!" Here's a photo of some of his moves:
The only problem with that show is they get really wound up right before they should be going to bed. The other day, I was talking on the phone and Darin was at the gym and the kids decided to start jumping from the ottoman to the couch. Jake was a bit tentative since there was about a foot between the two. I told them to stop and that they were going to hurt themselves. Didn't matter. Megan stood on the floor between the couch and ottoman and Jake jumped right into her. She thought she helped "catch him". Then she made the mistake of sitting on the couch and telling Jake to jump to her. I knew this was bad news, but before I could get over there to stop them, Jake jumped. He hit his chin on her head and the sound was terrible. Megan was crying like crazy and I picked her up to rub her head while Jake stood next to us with his finger pointed at her saying, "Told you, Megan". What a nice guy, huh?
On Saturday, I finished my last pre-marathon long run with my group and then we headed up to the cottage in Wisconsin. We brought our neighbor, Francesca, with us. Megan was psyched. We did a little yard work and then headed over to the Apple Barn for a hay ride and apple picking.
We bought some fresh apple cider and some fresh donuts (a good snack before dinner). They played on an old fire truck and listened to some acoustic guitar and played in the tree maze before we had to drag them out of there!
That night, we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Or as Francesca said, "Can we burn marshmallows now?" We went into town in the morning for a big breakfast, followed by a boat ride on the lake.....
.....before heading back to Chicago. All in all, a fun weekend.
On a different note, Jake loves Dancing with the Stars just like his sister. If he's upstairs and hears the intro music, he stops what he's doing and says, "Dance stars!!!" Here's a photo of some of his moves:
The only problem with that show is they get really wound up right before they should be going to bed. The other day, I was talking on the phone and Darin was at the gym and the kids decided to start jumping from the ottoman to the couch. Jake was a bit tentative since there was about a foot between the two. I told them to stop and that they were going to hurt themselves. Didn't matter. Megan stood on the floor between the couch and ottoman and Jake jumped right into her. She thought she helped "catch him". Then she made the mistake of sitting on the couch and telling Jake to jump to her. I knew this was bad news, but before I could get over there to stop them, Jake jumped. He hit his chin on her head and the sound was terrible. Megan was crying like crazy and I picked her up to rub her head while Jake stood next to us with his finger pointed at her saying, "Told you, Megan". What a nice guy, huh?
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