We are alive!

I just realized that I used to have a blog! Okay, I just had time to keep my blog up to date. Much has changed in the last 10 months, yes, that is what it said, it has been 10 months since I have updated. Not sure if anyone even checks this anymore. Anyway, if anyone is looking for an update here we go. Last May, My husband lost his job of 16 years, they let many people go that day and a few days following. The good news is after a crazy summer, a few poorly paying jobs, he got a job that he likes last August. In the meantime, when he was looking, I started looking too. I interviewed for a few teaching jobs, and got them both. It was hard decision to make, but I ended up taking one that is about 6 minutes from my house. I love being back in the teaching world (I hadn't been a full time teacher since B was born 8 years ago). I miss the time at home with kids and just time to relax. It seems we are always really busy. The kids (the twins) have adjusted pretty well. My mom is watching them a few days a week and they are going to day care the other days. L and B just turned 4, they are doing really well. Brenna is a girly girl who loves to play dress up, but she can really throw a ball too. She will be doing t-ball again this summer. Liam is my little walking encylopedia, the things he comes up with are hilarious. He says he wants to do t-ball again this year, but last year he didn't like taking the field. B is now 8 and in 2nd grade. He is doing well, he loves to play basketball and planning on doing baseball again this summer. He played chess for the first time this year and did really well. He was 1st place in the K-2 grade division at his school and place 3rd place in his age group in the district. The bad thing is that I have no idea how to play chess and he is now beating his dad and grandpa. And, I almost forgot, he will receive his First Communion next week. Okay...there's the update for now, maybe I will do it again before another 10 months go by.

Crim Kids

That time of year again and we had a pretty nice day for the races.  Liam and Brenna moved up to the 1/4 mile this year. We decided to have them run in separate heats so I could get photos of them both. 

Brenna went first, she loved running and had no problem running the whole thing.  She loved it and when she got to the finish they were playing the song “That’s the way I like it”, she stopped at the mat and started dancing, it was pretty funny.

Liam started off and fell a few minutes in, he cried but as soon as he got his kisses, he was back off.  He even gave the Crim Bear a high five.  As he neared the finish Brenna wanted to run him in, it was pretty cute because usually in the big 10 mile race, my dad will run my sister and I in.

Braeden was back to the mile race, which is the longest race at this event.  At the end of the summer he wants to do the 5K, but there are some timing issues that will probably keep him at the mile, unless Ed or I start running 5 minute miles for the 10 mile, not enough time to go back and get him….still working on a solution, but not sure if there will be one.

Braeden broke his old record again, his new time was 9:38, I don’t think I could run with him anymore, pretty soon we are going to have to say….see you at the end.  And that is why I didn’t get many photos, I couldn’t get to the finish before he did.

Chillermania

We have had a busy few weeks with playdates, walks, picnics, etc.  The weekends have been packed.

Last weekend we headed out to a kids Expo to see one of Braeden’s favorite authors.  If you have boys 7+, you may want to check out these books.  The first set was based around Michigan cities (Michigan Chillers), but now there are books for the states too (American Chillers).

It was interesting to meet Johnathan Rand, Braeden even learned that he writes adult books under a different name.  He did have to wait 1.5 hours in line, but got the new book and a poster.

Thank goodness there was other stuff for the little kids.  Cinderella was on hand, a local photographer took portraits of the kids with her.  They took my email, haven’t seen any pictures yet though.  There was also a Cinderellla castle bounce house and an ambulance they were able to play in while waiting for Braeden.

Easter Vigil

We had an extra special Easter Vigil this year.  I have only been to Easter Vigil two other times.  The first ten years ago when I became Catholic, a few years later when I sponsored a friend who entered the church.  This time was as godparents to two of my nephews.  The whole family (four children plus mom) are “official” now, although they have been attending the Catholic church for many years.

We had my parents watch the little ones, as the celebration didn’t start until dusk.  Braeden came with us and was the official photographer.

He said he felt like the Statue of Liberty….this is the first time he has ever held a candle.  Here are some of the pictures he took……

Brenna and Liam’s 3 yr old update

I’ve been slacking (AGAIN!)  We are usually a bit late on the yearly appts because of the way our insurance and the year to date appointments.

Up first…..the oldest by one minute anyway.

Liam, age 3   Weight 36 pounds  Height 38 inches

Liam is doing great, he is still very talkative and loves to sing just about any song he has ever heard.  I am happy to say he is TOTALLY out of diapers.  He has been pee trained for about 6 months, the other part has been a challenge, but about a week after his birthday he “got it” and also decided he didn’t need them at nighttime either.

He loves to read books, he will look at them by himself, but loves to sit on someone’s lap to read.  Right now he is really into the Max and Ruby books.  He also likes books that rhyme.  When I read something that rhymes, he will say the two words and then say….”that rhymes”.  He loves to watch Team Oomie Zoomie on television and likes to make patterns with food and toys.  He is learning his states and knows 21 states.

He is still a pretty happy kid other than when other kids take his toys….which with two siblings does happen.  He usually is polite and has good manners.  He does come up with the funniest things, I need to start writing them down.

Brenna, age 3    Weight 26 pounds   Height 34 3/4 inches

Brenna is doing well too.  She is a very girly girl.  She is into her princesses and thinks she is a princess.  She loves to play with her dollhouse and princess dolls, whether they are big or small.  It’s funny to listen to her talking to all the dolls, she has a great imagination and lives in the world of make believe.

She is a bit feisty and does have a temper when things don’t go her way, we are working on this.  She has been potty trained during the day for several months now.  When the pull ups run out we are going to see what happens at night….I am dreading this, she sleeps with a water bottle….going to have to swipe this too.

She does like to read, her favorite story is Pinkalicious.  She loves to play with playdoh and paint.  She has quite an arm and seems pretty athletic, she loves to jump really high on the trampoline, and has no fear.  Her favorite food is peanut butter, she would eat it all day if we let her.

 

We are hoping to sign them both up for t-ball this summer along with VBS.  I have been looking into three year old preschools and hope to have them in a two day program for a few hours in the fall.  We are looking forward to having fun this summer.  We are heading to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend and trying to rent a house on the lake in Traverse City for a week, something new, we usually stay at a hotel for 3 nights. 

The weather is getting nicer and even the kids are getting excited.  Every day they ask if the weatherman says they can play outside.  This is who I blame when I don’t want to go outside….I say the weatherman said “no”.

Princess Weekend

Mom and I headed out on Thursday evening, arriving into Orlando airport a bit after 9pm.  The Magical Express was at the airport and we were able to get right on.  We arrived at Port Orleans and went to the online check in counter and were checked in and off to our room pretty quickly.  We put our things away and headed to the hot tub before going to sleep.

Day 1 – Magic Kingdom and Expo

We were woken by Stitch on the phone and caught the bus to Magic Kingdom.  We headed out early so we could redeem our “Give a Day Get a Day” vouchers.  We still had about 40 minutes before the gates opened, so we hopped on the monorail to get mom a coffee at the Contemporary before the park opened. 

We headed straight back to the “mountains”.  We were the first ones on Thunder Mountain in the first seat, mom didn’t realized all the curves, etc.  She was shocked and it was so funny to watch her about to pee her pants!  I told her it was paybacks for all the rides they made me go on as a kid.

After we were finished we did Splash Mountain, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Small World within the first hour the park was open.  I am used to having to do Fantasyland first thing with the kids, was nice to try something different. We ate an early lunch at Pinocchio Village House and waved at all the people on the small world boats.

 

We headed over to Tomorrowland doing some more rides over there.  Then we caught one of the small street parades and then headed to get me my Dole Whip….yum!  We took the monorail to the Polynesian and then caught the Expo bus to the Wide World of Sports to get our race packets.

Mom getting some Pixie Dust from the Bibbidi Boppity Boutique booth.

We dropped out stuff back off at the hotel and headed back to Magic Kingdom for some shopping and fireworks.

Day 2

This morning we were woke up by “It’s a Small World” on the phone.  We took the bus over to Epcot and were at the rope drop for Soarin’.  We made our way over as we were almost plowed a few times, we still made it on the first ride.

Epcot Flower and Garden Festival started this week, we were able to see many really cool displays.

 

The fairy garden was my favorite.

 

As we went around the world showcase, I bought some candy from each country to take back to the kids.  It was fun to hunt the stuff down. 

I also bought a Venus Flytrap plant for Braeden.  We recently have been reading “Attack of the Monster Venus Melon” which has been in the paper every Friday.  Generally he read the books, but this was recently put in weekly installments in the local paper, so I have been reading it too.  (Johnathan Rand also writes the Michigan and American Chiller books)  Anyway, he got a kick out of it and brought it to school the next day.  I just hope we can keep it alive.

We to Innovations West and made a video game with me as the start which we were able to email to the kids at home.  They had fun making me jump and run, I was horrified with the result.  We headed back to the hotel and stopped at the Riverside Mill for the pasta dinner.  My sister Amber popped by to pick up a few things and they hung out for awhile.  We packed our suitcases and set everything out for the race in the morning….called to get our 3:00am wake up call and then hit the jacuzzi before heading in for an early night.

All ready to go!

Day 3 – RACE DAY!!!

Started off early, I woke at 2:55 on my own, Stitch woke me with a wake up call a few minutes later.  Got ready and then followed many other freezing princesses in the dark to the bus stop.  Took the bus to Epcot where we were dropped off.  Amber called a few minutes later and told us she was there with a warm car, which we were happy to find.  We hung out in the car about 45 minutes before heading back into the cold for the 20 minute walk to the starting line.

 

Everyone was very friendly and excited….with the exception of the crazy volunteer standing by the bathrooms yelling at everyone that we were going to miss the race, poor mom was just trying to go to the bathroom with about 1,000 others.  She was quite annoying and over the top…..she would never make it as a Disney cast member, lol!

We headed on to the start line, we were in corral C.  There were 13,500 runners, so in the middle corral was perfect for us. They did fireworks at the started each corral and the fairy godmother waived us on.

It was dark and cold and about mile 2-3 it started to get light out.  I was tempted to take my coat off, but decided to hold onto it until mile 5.  They had really pretty mile markers and lots of entertainment on the sidelines.

We needed to take a bathroom break before entering the Magic Kingdom, the lines were still long and I told them to wait and I had a spot in the Magic Kingdom.  We took a back entrance into the park which was cool, then rounded the corner and headed down Main Street.  It was a great experience, the crowds were cheering and we could see the castle at the end of the street.

This is what running down Main Street looks like.

We headed up towards the castle and made a right into Tomorrowland and then through Fantasyland where my secret bathroom spot was at (you may recognize it…but I’m not telling).  Nobody else was in it and it we were quickly in and out until Mom realized she left her camera in there.

We then ran through the tunnel that led out of the castle.  The last few times I have been to Magic Kingdom the tunnel was closed for one reason or another, so that was exciting.  We headed through Liberty Square to Adventureland and then another private exit out of the park.  We stopped for several characters along the way.

 

Once we hit the ramps which were banked and on an incline, mom started to get tired.  We stopped for more photos to give her a rest, I think the last few miles were pretty slow.

Isn’t that the prettiest mile marker you every saw???

We did it!  My first half marathon was finished…I honestly had no clue what time we got until I looked it up when we got home.  I was just happy to finish and not get picked up.  Our time was 3:24, right about what we estimated it would be.  This was only 20 minutes longer for my mom than her last half marathon.  Considering all the stops, that is awesome!

I felt great afterwards, I honestly could have did a few more miles.   I normally push myself when running alone, but the goal was to do it with mom without landing her in the first aid tent.  I can’t decide if my next marathon if I want to do it alone and go for time or do it with my mom again.  I think with a fun race like this, its just better to do it for fun and not worry about the time.  It was a fun experience with my mom and sister that we will never forget.

After the race we headed back to the jacuzzi at the hotel, we soaked ourselves and just relaxed for a bit.  Amber came by with Lochlan who wanted to go down the waterslide.  We went back to the room and showered and then checked out and then took the boat to Downtown Disney while waiting for evening flight. 

We did some shopping and ate at the Earl of Sandwich which was really good or we really were just hungry.  Did some more shopping and then took the boat back to the hotel.  On the boat I was seated next to Santa!  He was a really nice guy, but he was talking my ear off about Santa Claus school and and I was exhausted….been up since 3:00am and ran 13 miles.  Mom pretended like she was sleeping so she didn’t have to talk to him…thanks mom!

We came back the the hotel and took the Magical Express back to the airport, a bit of a bumpy ride but back home a little after 11:00pm.  I was happy to be home, the kids and Ed were all sick and I was happy to be home and I had been missing everyone.  No place like home….