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!