Sunday, November 14, 2010

Is it September or is it really November?


This week was fairly low key. It was a lot of the usual, storytimes, library, Maybury, ect. The best part of this week was that the weather was very mild. The kids are still having a bit of trouble adjusting to the darkness/time change, so we had an excessive amount of complaining this week from the kids, so much so that I actually took Keira to the Dr on Thursday thinking she was ill.

On Monday, it was school picture day for Keira. Of course, she wouldn't agree to any of the cute fall themed outfits I had chosen for her to coordinate with the fall props that they were using. After much deliberation, Keira finally chose something that we could agree on, and pink dress with a brown shawl to tie it to fall. The worst part of the morning was that I really should have cut her bangs last week. We didn't have any matching hairclips, so Keira's bangs looked less than spectacular. It will be interesting to see the proofs. We spent a bit of time after school outside. We spent a little too much time outside, and it took me a while to get everyone ready to go running. It was such a fabulous day, I didn't want to waste it. We ran before Soren's naptime. As a result, he didn't get the sleep he needed and was sad and whiny the rest of the evening.





On Tuesday, the main goal for the daytime was to get haircuts. Keira made a huge mess in the bathroom and while I cleaned that up, Soren made a huge mess upstairs. It pretty much killed about an hour of the morning between the two incidents. We hit the gym just so I could stay sane, even though I wasn't really planning on it for the morning. After the gym, we got haircuts from Kasey, and Soren completely melted down at the idea. We had to stop in the middle, cut Keira's, and then return to finish his up as well as bribe him with McDonalds. This was actually a really bad idea, because Keira melted down at McDonalds over the lack of "girl toys" since the theme was Mega-mind, and was for both genders. We ended up getting 2 different toys and Keira and Soren argued over those the rest of the day.



Once Ryan got home, we went to do a spin class as guests of Tom from TIA at Lifetime. Ryan and I had never attended a spin class before, and were looking forward to it. There were several others from TIA who were also in the class, and it was going really well until I got paged because Soren was sad in childcare. He was excited to go initially, then got upset once he realized he was being left, and then eventually cheered up for a short time. He didn't really cry for them, but he just was not happy and was asking for me over and over. He was probably just tired and a bit hungry. It had been a long day and he still wasn't adjusted to the time difference.

On Wednesday, we had a better day. I took Soren to the library for Storytime, and he really enjoyed it as always.



Keira had a good day at school, and was happy to see Soren at the end.

Once we got home, Keira wanted me to take some twirling pictures. I opted to put Soren down for an earlier nap today so that I could be sure he got the rest he needed, and went for a run after he woke up.




On Thursday, Keira had her third accident this week, and I was pretty much at the end of my rope with this. She has been potty trained for over a year, but this week she has really put up a fit every time she needed to go. I was convinced that something was wrong, and made an appointment for the dr. We got a late morning appointment, and were able to go to Kindermusik first thing. Keira and Soren enjoyed it as usual.




After the class, we had time for a few quick errands at the mall. I nearly ran up to a complete stranger who I thought was my visiting teacher because I couldn't see her face, and stopped once I noticed that the children weren't hers, only to really run into her a few minutes later! I really had no idea that she would be there today. Keira and Soren were pretty devastated that they couldn't play because they had to go to the dr instead. The results from the dr's office were good and bad. Keira did not have an infection or anything, she is just being fearful and stubborn, so we had to re-institute a toilet schedule and reward chart. The number of stickers she earned today was staggering, as we were instructed to just take her into the bathroom once per hour and reward her with a sticker just for sitting and another for actually going. We were to continue this for the next 3 or 4 days to hopefully make it easier. That evening, I had arranged to go swimming at the gym with Kristel. Kristel decided to join my gym, which means we can swim together a lot more often now!

On Friday, while Keira was at school I met up with Valerie, Katie, and Luke at the mall for a little bit after my workout. It was a really fabulous day, so instead of bringing Keira back after school to play with Katie indoors, we went home for a quick bite to eat and then went over to Lakeshore Park to play.




That evening, we had time to squeeze in a quick workout as soon as Ryan got home. We had to wake up Soren in order to go. It was pretty dark by the time we got done. We had dinner at Bagger Dave's tonight. Keira and Soren picked it, because it has a train that goes around the restaurant. Soren ate pretty well, but Keira didn't and colored the whole time.

Saturday morning, Keira woke up super hungry from not eating dinner. I needed to get up anyway so that I could run with Valerie. Valerie and I got 8 miles in around the neighborhood. It was really a great day to run. Ryan left to ride 40 miles while we were out. Once we got back, Keira and Soren had a BLAST playing in the leaves. I took a TON of pictures trying to capture the sheer joy that Keira and Soren had with the leaves. Here are just a few of my favorites.














That afternoon, we watched football while Soren took a long, much needed nap. Michigan and OSU both won their games. We did a few errands and got dinner at Pei Wei this evening, where Keira and Soren did a much better job of eating their dinners.

On Sunday, we went to church and then just hung out at home. It has been nice to be able to go and attend Sunday School and Relief Society. It has been a long time since I have gone, and I really feel like there is so much I need to learn.



Here are a couple of Keira's projects from the week:


Up for next week: Ryan has the day off tomorrow and will hopefully get some work done on our sole bathtub/shower while Keira is at school. I will also be running in the Hines Drive Lightfest run on Tuesday, and we have our family pictures scheduled for Thursday evening. The lightfest for cycling is on Wed, so perhaps we will attend that too!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Election Day & UM vs Illinois Game


This week wasn't terribly huge. It was nice to have Halloween over with. It was pretty cold this week, but we did have some fun outside. Ryan had election day off on Tuesday, and we went to the UM/Illinois game on Saturday.

On Monday, we had moderate temperatures. I swam 1.2 miles again today in the pool, and improved a lot with my time. After school, Keira worked on some homework, and Soren enjoyed coloring as well. They both were huge fans of the silly bands that they received trick or treating.




That evening, we went to Maybury and Keira got a quick ride in after my run. She and Soren both really loved playing in the leaves at the park. We didn't even make it to the playground today. Ryan had a tough fall today, and got a little banged up.





On Tuesday, Ryan had the day off for election day. I got the Halloween decorations taken down and our non-Halloween fall decorations out last night. Keira and Soren noticed right away.

I took both kids to the gym in the morning while Ryan cleaned up our trees in our patio. They had been scratching the siding on the back of our place, and it just sounded horrible at night. There was this huge spider on the back patio that was wrapping itself up in a leaf.

We went voting together, and then stopped at McDonald's for lunch, per Keira and Soren's request.


I rode the tree farm that afternoon with Kristel and her friend, Irina. We had a blast. Ryan was able to get in a road ride today without too much discomfort.

On Wednesday, we went to storytime after the gym. Soren held onto his Maisy train board book the entire time. He always has fun at these.





After picking Keira up from school, we came home and worked on some more coloring. They really played well today with each other.




On Thursday, we met up with Cortnie, Avery, and Ella at Erwins Apple Orchard. We had wanted to go much earlier, but between our vacation, their vacation, and our kids under the weather a bit when we had planned before, it just didn't happen. We didn't get the full experience of going out on a wagon to pick apples and pumpkins this time, but we did get to enjoy warm, fresh donuts and apple cider. It wasn't the greatest day to go, it was cold and damp, but the kids still enjoyed playing outside with each other, the straw maze, and goats.

On Friday, we had a pretty busy day. I took Soren to a free Kindermusik during Keira's school. It was right in the middle, so it was a bit challenging to get much else done other than a few quick errands before and after. Soren enjoyed the class as always, I was glad we didn't skip this.




That afternoon, Keira and I had dentist appointments. Linda watched Soren over at Laurel Park. I met back up with them there, and stayed so that Keira could play. Keira was not happy to go to the dentist at all, but got through it eventually. She deserved some fun time at the mall. Keira and Soren really enjoyed playing with the Thomas train set at Von Maur. Soren loved playing with the Thomas trains, and I had to pry them out of his hands to leave.




On Saturday, we had a big day. I got up early to run 10 miles before leaving for the game. I had been looking for my windstopper headband all week (since Monday) and was nearly convinced it was lost at Maybury. I had put on my old one already and was getting ready to get my shoes out of the closet when I found my headband, on top of a pair of shoes! I was so excited! I had been praying I would find it before today's run (as it was only 28 degrees this early) and I really didn't want cold ears to give me a headache during it. The 10 miler felt pretty good, and I think as long as I don't have trouble with too much ice/snow on the roads, I think training for a spring marathon is doable after this run. I got back just in time to get cleaned up and get the kids packed up and over to Kris and Linda's for the day. I am so grateful they were able to help out, because otherwise we would not have been able to go together. Hiring a babysitter is not an affordable option. The game was all offense. Lots and lots of touchdowns. UM had several turnovers, and the game went into overtime. Michigan won after the 3rd overtime. They had gone first, and scored on the 2 point conversion. They were able to prevent Illinois from the 2pt conversion for the win. The halftime show was very entertaining, and had fun with all the teams in the Big 10.




Keira and Soren were happy to see us when we got home. We had some pizza for dinner, and I did errands after Keira and Soren were in bed. What a long day!

On Sunday, we got up and went to church. With the time change, Keira and Soren got up on their own in good time to get to church without rushing. I bore my testimony today. I didn't share the actual finding of my headband experience, but instead just said I had a testimony of prayer and scripture study, which I feel contributed to me finding my headband when I needed it. After church, we had a great dinner with Kris and Linda as well Greg, Ellyn, and their children. Keira and Soren love playing with their cousins. These shots are from at home before Soren took his nap.





Up for next week, Keira has picture day at school tomorrow, Ryan and I are going to spin class on Tuesday, and I am not sure what else!