Beautiful Weather (for the most part) and 4 - Day Weeks

November always goes by really fast at Ford because they have so many company holidays. This week marked the first of the 4 days or less workweeks for Ryan. I think there is a 5 day week in there somewhere, but he had election day off this week, and has Veteran's day off next week. We love how Veteran's Day is observed in conjunction with the opening of deer hunting season (rifle). Thanksgiving is also shortening 2 workweeks due to our planned vacation to NYC.

We were also happy to have some unseasonably warm weather this week. I was looking at friends' blogs talking about the snow, and might had been jealous if we had typical dark, gray, and rainy days this week (think G&R November Rain), but we did not. We had several days in the 70s, and were able to enjoy a lot of time outside. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was still much nicer than it could have been.

Today was probably the most gloomy day of the week. I started back running (if you call it that recently) and wanted to review the weather before determining what time I should run today. Weather.com proved to be wrong as usual. It said it was not supposed to rain until the afternoon, so I went for a run in the morning, and it was freezing cold, and it sleeted on me about halfway into my run, so turning around wouldn't have helped at all. It was very windy, but I felt pretty hardcore for being out there. Then, it cleared up. It did continue to cool off, but Ryan was able to enjoy a 40 mile road bike ride with his friends, Kent and David, in the afternoon. It worked out for the best, though, because road biking doesn't work so well in the windy wet conditions. It can be done, but it is easier and safer to run instead, so I was glad I got my run in when I did. All three of our favorite football teams had wins today, so that was also good. Here are some cute pictures from today.

Keira with blue lips from working on her ring pop that she earned from eating a good amount of pasta and is shirtless because it (pasta) stains like crazy!

Friday was super busy for me. It was busier than some days before Soren was born! I actually left the house by 9am! Go me. Soren was the only one who had to leave the house still in his jammies, but hey, isn't that what most babies wear all the time at this age? I did coordinate them with his blanket, so it wasn't as if no thought went into his appearance. I finally made it to a presidency meeting, which was great to get back into the loop after about month off. Next, we met up with Linda/Nana at the Novi Library for storytime. It was funny, there were three strollers in the storytime room, all identical Graco Metrolites, including mine. I guess that was the popular stroller of 2006, since all the children in the class are two. Keira loves being up front.

After that, we (including Linda) hit 12Oaks to grab some lunch and do a bit of shopping. We didn't get out of there until close to 2pm, so Keira was pretty much done (overdone) and it was naptime. Once Ryan got home, we chilled for a bit and then went back out for dinner to Cheeburger Cheeburger, because I had been wanting a burger all week. What a busy day!

Thursday was more restful and warm outside. Keira spent the morning playing with Lizzie, so it was just Soren and I to relax. Since it has been getting dark so early, we did errands in the evening after it was too dark to play outside. Keira had a great time playing with the leaves in our front yard. I am glad Michelle (Lizzie's mom) suggested I get some shots of Keira, because she looked so cute and the flowers on her dress coordinated with the leaves.

Wednesday was a huge outdoor day for us. We had a major playdate at the Novi Sports Park. I had made tentative plans to get together with a few people, and then got an invitation to go with another group to the sports park, so we all just went there! We had a great time, and spent nearly 3 hours there! Keira was very happy to be able to play with Katie finally. She had been asking about her friend during the week. So cute!

Keira and Katie wouldn't slide down together. Getting them at the top was the best I could do.


Can you fit another child on that swing? Ashtin, Nolan, Katie, and Keira.
Keira swinging on the big girl swings. My pictures of Keira and Katie in the same shot didn't look so good, so here is just Keira.
Here is Soren, since he didn't get photographed at the sports park. I didn't want him to feel left out!

Then, if we had not had enough of the outdoors (which I don't know that we can), we headed back that direction once Ryan got home to hit Maybury, where I walked and Ryan rode. I am not quite ready to run with my stroller, nor is Soren. I think he needs another few weeks for his neck to get a bit stronger, even though he is in his car seat and very well supported. I also need a few weeks of running on my own first before pushing a 70lb stroller when you add in the weights of both kids, the carseat, and any extraneous belongings.Here is a shot of the leaves at Maybury. It is a bit dark.

Tuesday was election day, so Ryan had off work. He started the morning with a 32 mile road bike ride down Hines Drive with his friend David (Kent had to work). Then we tried to eat at 5 Guys Burgers, and got over there, and it wasn't open yet, so we headed to Chipotle instead since it was over there. Keira and Soren both conked out in the car on the way to vote, so we took turns waiting in the car while the other voted. I was able to go for a run in the afternoon because it was super nice out again! I made it just over 3 miles, my old regular training loop (1x), only stopping to obey traffic laws. Go me! It was hard but good at the same time.

Cute shot from Tuesday! The photo at the top of the blog is also from Tuesday. Keira was looking pretty patriotic! We had to dig that dress out of the "done" pile because we didn't think it would be warm enough for it again while it still fit. She got it for her 1st birthday, so we have gotten a lot of wear out of it.

We didn't do much on Monday except enjoy the outdoors. Keira played with her stroller and chalk.

Next week will probably prove to be another busy week! I go to the Dr, get a makeover, and Ryan has Friday off so we will do family pictures. We also will probably have a few playdates in there somewhere too! I may do an extra post for tomorrow, because we have some more cute little man clothes for Soren. He is growing so fast that I need to make sure I get a shot of him in them before they get too small!