A Proud Wife

On Saturday, December 18, 2010, I had one of the most fun mornings of my life! Now I have had some great experiences, as a child, woman, person, wife, and a mom. This one is on the top of my list right now.

Back in October, after my girls and I ran the Half-Marathon in B'more, my super duper amazing husband gave me tons of accolades! To which I was most grateful! He then became inspired, YIKES! So he decided to run a 5 miler with myself and Kelly in December. He started running about 6 weeks before the race. The race was in Baltimore and Maureen and Wade said they would watch the kids for us. So on this particular Saturday in December, under a sunny (about 30 degree) sky in Druid Hill Park we ran together in the Celtic Solstice 5 mile race. It was so awesome, I can't even explain it. I was so proud of him! He ran the whole time without slowing or stopping, for 51.45 minutes! That's about 10 minute miles (because the course was 5.14 miles long).

By far, the best part... we came around the loop on the lake and there standing in the wind and cold were our 2 beautiful kids, Aidan and Clare. Maureen and Wade and Ellie brought them down to cheer us on. When we hit that turn (which was about .2 miles from the finish) and saw those two standing there cheering us on, words can't even describe how incredible it was! I feel like I won't ever be able to tell them how much it meant that they did that for us.

Another great day in my life!

A Silent Night

On Christmas Eve, after all the Santa madness subsided, Sean and I actually got a chance to spend (some much needed) time together. The kids went to bed and we sat on the couch with Christmas music playing and talked for awhile, in peace and quiet. Nothing serious, but a chance for us to steal a few moments alone enjoying our own Christmas moment, uninterupted. To me, that was my best Christmas gift!

Merry Christmas Sean, my original favorite person in the whole world, Love you!

This Christmas....

Santa has arrived! And boy, oh boy, we must have been good this year.

Sean and I got an iPad and it's pretty cool. Aidan got a bunch of star wars stuff, including the highly coveted AT-AT Walker. This thing is AWESOME, it's bigger than Saddie. Clare got a camera, barbie, and a fully stocked art table, needless to say, she's been painting since 7:00 this morning! All in all a great day so far.

Oh and did I mention it's snowing! YEAH! It can't get any better than this.

Who knew?

This Christmas we have been talking a lot about the true reason for the season. The kids know all about the first Christmas, the night Baby Jesus was born. They have made art projects at preschool depicting that night, sang songs and read tons of books. They know that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in a stable and placed in a manger. His Mom (Mary) and Dad (Joseph) were there, along with the Shepherds and their sheep. They know about the 3 wisemen who followed a star to find Him. Good little Catholics, aren't they!

Now, last Christmas I bought them each a little nativity scene for their rooms. (Actually, they keep them on their nightstands all year.) Just the basic little stable, Jesus in a manger, Mary and Joseph, the Shepherd, a sheep and a donkey. Today while I was dusting in Aidan's room I noticed he made two additions to his nativity scene, a little dinosaur and an army guy kneeling down with a bazooka on his shoulder. Maybe they were omitted from the historical account of Jesus' birth.... who knew?!

Sunday Surprise

Today Sean had to work so the kids and I were going to clean the house and run some errands. It was a a rainy, gloomy Sunday so I kept all the Christmas lights on all day just to have something pretty and sparkly to look at. We decided that we'd go out for pizza before we ran our errands. And to our surprise, Momo and Ellie decided to drive down here to meet us for pizza.

Now in my mind there's nothing better than eating at a pizza place and ordering a whole pie that they bring to your table on a big round silver pan with a spatula. Oh and of course, a side of fries! When we were driving there, Aidan asked, "Mom, can we get the big pizza that they bring to the table on the silver circle thing?" My response, "YES!" And it was YUMMO!!!

When we finished eating I ran into the grocery store and Momo took the kids out to her car so they could get another surprise.... pillow pets from Clairey and Uncle Matt. They were so happy that they finally got a pillow pet.

What a great day! I mean it is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year right?! What better way to spend a rainy Sunday than to fill it with surprises.

Ninja Turtles meet Strawberry Shortcake

Tonight while I was cleaning the house up after dinner, I could hear the kids come running down from Clare's room. They were talking a mile a minute about how they would play with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. They were going to go shopping. They got all of Strawberry's clothes and shoes and got the Barbie house. They decided they needed another house for them, the Ninja Turtle Lair too. Aidan got the turtles and the battle wagon too.

They set it all up in the living room and were playing together. (It was precious!) I can overhear them from the kitchen. Aidan was loading all the turtles into the battle wagon and said, "The turtles are going to Target to buy pizza for the girls. We're going to bring it back to Strawberry's house for dinner."

They had so much fun together and I had so much fun listening to them.

Santa Stop Here

Tonight after the bath, I got Aidan and Clare dressed in their jammies and put their socks, shoes and coats on. We jumped in the car and drove over to the new neighborhood, where we anxiously awaited the arrival of Santa. The fire truck pulled in a few minutes later. They jumped out of the car and ran right over to Santa. They were so excited I wished I had a camera to capture the looks of pure joy on each of their faces. They said hello, told him their names and what they wanted for Christmas. I love that it only takes 5 minutes to make their whole day and another wonderful holiday memory for me!

Christmas in NY

This past weekend we went up to NY for our McDonough Christmas. When I was telling the kids about our trip and that they were going to give and receive some Christmas gifts they were screaming with excitement! Aidan told me on Friday morning, "So today it's Christmas Eve!" (Well i guess it kind of was.)

When we arrived Saturday morning they got a bunch of awesome gifts from Nana and Papa. That evening we headed into town for the Christmas Tree lighting and to greet Santa as he drove in on the fire truck. Then back to the house for a fun-filled night with the whole family. All in all this Christmas season started off with a BANG! I bet the rest of the month will be just as fun.

New Look

I have to give a shout out to my personal Art Director... Thanks to my super crafty, super talented, super artsy Twin Sis for the totally cool new header I have on my blog!

You ROCK Maureen!!!

The Nightmare continues

Today was the day! Aidan and I went to the NEW dentist (who I absolutely LOVE) to get his tooth pulled. The plan was to do an awake sedation and pull the tooth, measure for the spacer and on the tooth next to it, do a pulpotomy and place a stainless steel crown on it.

We got there at 8:45 to administer the meds and wait for them to kick in. He bumped the cup and spilled some of the sedative on the counter so the Dentist wasn't sure how much he'd gotten. We got in and he was a little woozy, they put on the laughing gas and gave him 2 hits of Novocaine. Even with all that, he could still feel them pull the tooth. Since that was the case, we decided to wait in the rest. He really was a champ though. I'm so proud of him!

Next stop, the Operating Room for the rest of the work. Updates to follow.

You're so vain!

Tuesday night at dinner, Clare was bouncing all over the place and would not sit still. After several reminders to sit and eat, Sean finally raised his voice and said, "CLARE knees or bum!" As he's talking she's staring in the window primping her hair and totally ignoring him! We both busted out laughing.

Isn't she only 3!

Thanksgiving

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. In lieu of us travelling to NY (because it's our year) Mom and Dad and Mick traveled south instead. The Hughes' came down too. It was a cloudy, chilly November day this year, perfect Thanksgiving weather, in my opinion.

It was such a great day. Everyone just hung out, snoozed on the couch, watched football, stood around the kitchen cooking and talking, all the while the kids ran circles around the house. PERFECT! Exactly how I hoped it would be. Sean and Wade deep fried a turkey breast and we had a traditional bird as well. We laughed at dinner about old stories and old traditions we're glad have been broken. And Sean made us all say what we were thankful for.