This & That. . .

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Brunch with our Canadian cousins, Robert and Jocelyne

Wow, it seems like forever since I posted our Christmas pictures. This blog posting with be a

hodgepodge of updates to get us caught up and then I promise to be better about posting! Date Nights & Sleepovers: On New Years Eve, Jason and I decided that we needed to go out more on dates. I also have a couple of trips coming up for work (Santa Barbara & Hawaii) so we need to get the kids comfortable with spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa's house. So, we kicked off the year with three date nights three weekends in a row which is crazy for us considering we used to go out once every few months. Then we took the kids down to Grandma Retta & Grandpa Steve's house to spend the night. This was the first time we have done this and it went GREAT!! I am sure my parents were exhausted, but everyone had fun and slept well. That night we went out for margaritas and yummy Mexican food at our favorite place and came home to a QUIET house! It was amazingly nice and peaceful to be home just the two of us. Then, a few weeks later, Jason's parents offered to take the kids for the night. This time it was the night before my run so I got a pedicure, ate Italian take-out and took a relaxing bath. Again, so great to be home with just the two of us in a QUIET house!! And, the kids did great at their house too, so it was another SUCCESS!! Family Dinners I know, what a concept, right? For 3 1/2 years, we've been eating at the bar stools in the kitchen. The problem is that we don't have room for 3 bar stools and a highchair so one of us always stands and becomes a quasi-waiter, attending to the kid's requests/spills. So it's distracting and never peaceful. So all of that changed when we decided to eat WAY in the other room (ha ha) at the dining room table. Sophie taught us her manners song so we start our meals with a song and now we are able to talk and have good quality family time together. Run Update Last weekend I ran the Huntington Beach 1/2 Marathon. This time around, I was healthy during my training and felt great the whole time. The only thing I didn't do was get in a long run. Those are particularly good to get your knees used to all of that impact and help prevent injuries. But I never found the time to go for a long run, so I was hoping that I had the stamina and endurance to finish the race. Then I was thrown a curve ball! The morning before the run, I woke up with a horrible stomach bug. I felt so sick and I lost 3 lbs in one day! I was worried that I would be too weak to run the next day- and that was hoping I would even feel good enough to be able to run. Amazingly, by mid-day I felt good and I kept drinking fluids so the next morning when I woke up I felt GREAT and ready to run!! The run went really well. Meredith ran with me and helped keep me on pace to finish in 2:05. Maggie and Jan also came out to cheer me on which gave me an extra boost of energy. I was hoping to finish it in 2 hours but I improved my time by 17 minutes since my first race so I was happy. So now I need to plan the next run with a new goal time of 1:50. Can you see how this can be addicting?? :)