Happy Anniversary to me!

David and I have been married 12years as of yesterday. We had a wonderful afternoon saturday remembering why we got married- because we love each other. Despite the trials that come in marriage and family there are more blessings than we can count. Daily we grow and become better because of each other. We spent the day in Seattle walking around and seeing the holiday exhibits. We laughed, smiled, talked and there were no interruptions. We did what we wanted; together. I love David- i can be a little difficult at times- let's face it both of us can- but through it all he is still the one for me. He is patient and kind; not easily provoked, easy going, funny and well he loves me, in spite of me! Here's to 12 more and more!

Traditions

We started a new tradition in our family this year and we had a wonderful time. We baked all sorts of cookies- classics like chocolate crinkles and snickerdoodles and new ones like russian tea cakes, lemon zingers, coconut macaroons, peanut butter drops and ooh...it tasted oh so good. Here is a compilation of our fun cookie baking day.

My Sweet Boy

Alex is growing up. Its hard to believe because he is still my sweet boy. Since he is growing up right before my eyes i don't always see it and its hard to ignore. The other night I realized just how much he is growing up and also just how sweet he is. Since he was a baby before bed we always say prayers together and I sing him a song. As he has gotten older he has sung with me, or had a specific song he wanted me to sing but it was a tradition of sorts. Over the years David and i have split up the duties of putting the kids to bed and most often he ends up putting the boys to bed and i put Natalee to bed. But still when i get my turn with the boys each one, individually gets prayers and song with mom and David does the same. The other night, after wrestling practice, Alex had taken his shower and was waiting for us to put him to bed. Both David and I were exhausted and David said "hey, lets just say prayer together right here." (We were sitting on the couch talking and relaxing) I piped in and said "no, Alex needs his song" David explained they don't sing song anymore and asked Alex to confirm this, since it was an obvious shock to my mind. I looked at Alex and asked when did you stop singing songs, i just sang songs to you last night? He looked at me sheepishly and said, Mom-I only let you sing songs to me because you like it but really i am usually just to tired for songs. My jaw dropped and I was speechless ( and you know that doesn't happen to often) My sweet boy was only letting me sing songs to him because he thought it would hurt my feelings if he didn't. Well he was right, and I told him he was going to get songs from me until he was 18 years old and then I just hugged him tight. I got up off the couch and we went in and sang songs. How could I miss out on such a special memory between my sweet boy and myself. It is one I will cherish forever.

My first 5k

At the beginning of October I was in serious need of exercise and my friend Leslie invited me to come walking with her one fine, crisp morning. I went, mostly for the social conversation, but also to get some much needed exercise. Well- she happens to walk faster than I do and I found that I needed to do a little jogging to keep up. We ended up running a bit and found that we liked running. We decided to get together 2x a week to keep up our efforts. After a few weeks of running I found that I loved being outdoors. The feel of the wind against my face and breathing in of fresh air (sometimes mixed with the fumes of passing cars) was invigorating. I began running every day- after I drop the kids at the bus or before david left for work. I told Leslie that I was doing the Turkey Trot 5K and she said she would do it too. When I first started jogging a mile killed me. i was winded, sore, and dreading how much further I had to go. Now 2 months later and a 5K behind me I am longing to do more. I can run up to 5 miles and am aiming at doing a 10K and possibly a 1/2 marathon. Running is my time to be alone, to think, to process my life, no one needs me, no one wants anything from me and I can think and act for myself. I'm still a bit sore but it reminds me I am active and living. Here are my before and after pics at the Thanksgiving day/Turkey Trot 5K. It was extremely cold and by the time it started my toes were a little numb and my nose was frozen and in spite of it I'll do it again next year.