Mother's Day Fun!

I had the best Mother's Day weekend yet!

It started off with a 4 mile run/race with Linda. Right before the race, over 500 of us broke the Guinness Book of World Records for walking 100m with a water bottle on our heads. Dead serious. I can now officially declare that I hold a Guinness Book of World Record. 
 

The race was at Edgewater Park and it was an absolutely perfect running day with the best views!

When Jack & I were dating, he informed me that Ohio was the "Northcoast of America." =) In all seriousness, I forgot how beautiful this park is!

At mile 3, they asked if we wanted to carry a gallon of water for the last mile (to represent all of the global communities that do not have running water and need to carry their water.) So, I foolishly picked up a gallon. It was painful, but I'm proud to report that I ran the entire last mile!

After we finished our race, Jack had appetizers and dinner ready for us!

Then we just had the most relaxing afternoon. Linda & Jacob have 2 kids, Eli & Julian, and they are the same ages as C & J. The boys ate dinner out by the campfire and played flashlight tag until 10pm. Yes, 10pm. (And all of the adults had good laughs and storytelling through the night too!) Fun times!

 I woke up on Mother's day to Justin's sweet face and Colin bringing me breakfast in bed!!! What a way to wake up. =)

 The boys spoiled me silly and my sister surprised me with a Hawaiian sea glass necklace! Thank you!

 Jack & Natalie got breakfast #2 ready - Delish! (plus eggs and toast)

 Then we went out for our annual Mother's Day hike/walk. =)

 Look at those poses! =)

 The boys and I threw a football around and we didn't have 1 single catch the entire time. But we had fun. =)

 I didn't plan a thing. I didn't cook and I didn't clean. It was the perfect laid-back weekend. Full of family time and sweet boys. A big thank you to Jack for making this weekend so easy for me. =) Love you.

 Love these two!

 The only thing that would have made this weekend more perfect was if I got to see my mom! You are absolutely the best and I miss you.  My mom and my boys. Love.

Family, Music Shows & More

Whoa, it's been awhile! Maybe this is our natural transition to monthly (instead of weekly) posts.  Here are some adventures we've had in the past month. (in no particular order)

Our Justin. Just love that kid. (On a side note, his teachers described him as "spirited." Teachers come up with the nicest words!)

 Jack decided to pull out the animal trap again. There were rumors of coyotes in our city, but we only caught 1 squirrel.

We had a blast at Colin's kindergarten music concert! It's amazing what 1 talented music teacher can do with over 100 kindergarteners!

 Colin is a bat and is the boy in the shorts.

 Yep, that's him singing and dancing with both arms up in the air!

 Justin's school hosted a Mother's Day Tea Party. By far, this was the best tea party I've ever experienced. The kids and teachers did so much work to make moms feel special.

 Look at how fancy all of those tables are! Justin told me that it was a fancy party so he picked out my dress and told me to "wear curls."

 They even surprised us with two songs! Such talented preschoolers.

 Love these two boys.

 Aunt Natalie's visits. We made a trek to a local, organic frozen yogurt place. Organic frozen yogurt makes it healthy, right? =)

 Can you guess what's happening here? Natalie is "charging" Justin's glow in the dark pajamas! haha.

Colin updates: He loves playing cards. He's a solid competitor at gin rummy and blackjack (casino rules, of course). He still loves to create anything including his building with his beloved legos. He's reading more and writing me notes nearly everyday. He loves to solve problems and it's so hard for him to not find an answer. His favorite day is allowance day and it's common to find him giving money to his brother.

Justin updates: He loves people. He hates being alone and begs for people to do things with him all of the time. He loves running around, playing Spot It and wrestling. He likes pajama bottoms that are not too loose, he likes clothes with no stains and likes to keep his hands clean. He verbally expresses himself and talks with his hands often.  He is still selective in his eating, but has recently added salmon to his list. HOORAY! Some of Justin's frequent lines lines include,

• "yeah baby" as he triumphantly pumps his fists in the air. (learned it from my dad)
• "you made me have sad feelings." Said when you have asked him do to something he doesn't want to do.
• "my brother loves me." Said when Colin does exactly what Justin wants.
• "nobody loves me." Said when he doesn't get his way.
• "you're kidding me?" "can you believe that?" 
• "those curls look cute on you." He loves it when I curl my hair (for work) and requests that hair do almost every day. 

Jack updates: Rentals, yoga/running, working.
Jamie updates: exercising, eating and working.
Oh, and we do all of that crazy parenting, cooking, cleaning stuff around the house too. =) 

Okay, all 3 readers of this blog...I am serious. We may be moving to monthly updates. Although I will be considering my sister's offer to pay me $40/hour to keep this a weekly blog. haha. Love you, Lori.

Easter 2014

Aunt Natalie came into town!

Easter egg hunt and basket time.

 Justin was determined to get that easter egg left on the birdhouse!

 Colin was so frustrated because he couldn't find his easter basket. (look in the oven)

 Cousins time/Family Dinner. Thanks to Nick & Tami for hosting! Justin loved the kite flying time.

 I put Reagan & Brooke in charge of the easter egg hunt and they did a fabulous job!

  Playtime with cousins + Sun = perfect afternoon!

Hello, 70 degrees

Shorts and t-shirts, sticks and paint, popsicles and hotdogs. The weekend gifted us with 70+ degree weather and we loved it. A fun trip to the zoo, outdoor adventures, painting sticks.  And no pictures as evidence. Sorry, the camera hasn't followed us around as much.

But, I found these on my camera! We still have our Leela dinners. Popsicle tongues.

 Jack volunteered at Justin's school. He brought wood & supplies and taught the kids how to make a birdhouse. Justin LOVED having Jack in class, and this is the final (painted) product!

 I was out shopping on Sunday and I came home to a present! The boys had picked flowers for me and made me a "Love Book" - it had drawings of all of the fun things we did over the weekend. BEST PRESENT EVER. A total surprise and it made my day! I have a habit of calling them "my Colin" and "my Justin." and at the bottom of the book, they wrote, "My Justin and Colin." Love, love, love.