Christmas at it's finest!

What a Christmas season!  It went by way too fast.  I have a bit of catchup to do, so here goes ...

The boys did their school performance a couple weeks ago singing "Gloria!"  After the show they played with their friends in the church including their buddy Lily.

We had a gingerbread party with 7 little friends (and 2 very little friends - identical twin 2-month old boys).  After "trying" too much candy, the boys turned the party into a dance party.


Last week, we enjoyed a bout of snow in the morning one day.  By afternoon unfortunately the snow was completely gone.

This past weekend Matt's parents got into town for the holidays.  We went to see Santa for a third time ... he's a nice dude, and the boys like catching up, what can I say?

Christmas Eve was a nutso day in the house with too little sleep and too much sugar.  Christmas day was awesome!  Too many presents, too much lego building, and lots of family fun.

The boys even tried out "real golf" for the first time - Cole is amazing.  Wilson likes golf, but prefers the slide.

After dinner, the boys called Uncle Gabe and Auntie Amanda and serenaded them with their new ukalales courtesy of Grandma Lucy:


All in, a great holiday season!  Now time to get more fiscally responsible and slow down a bit.

Whew!  I'm winded just from typing that all up!

Race report: Seattle half marathon

This is overdue ... but here goes.  Last weekend I ran the Seattle half marathon for the 4th time.  On the down side, I ran my worst half marathon (boo) coming in at 1:40.  On the up side, it was a beautiful crisp day and was another fun half. 

Matt and the boys brought me to the race starting line which was awesome.  I got out and bee-lined for the porta potties at the finish line.  Little known trick - potties at the finish line are typically a shorter wait than those at the starting line, also, much cleaner. 

When it was time to line up I made my way to the start with thousands of other runners.  Crammed in, I was reminded why I hate a) people who wear strong smelling deodorant while running, and b) BO.  I took off at a decent pace logging sub-7min miles.  After two miles I decided to pace a bit and found myself slowing down for a couple rolling hills.  Somehow I managed to pull a 5:35min mile on a downhill slope but then more than made up for it with a 10min mile going up through Leschi.  Throughout the race there were gusts of cold wind that made pushing through hard at times, but no rain.

All in, good times.  Next time I'll run faster!

Weekend roundup: Thanksgiving, trains, race, Santa - oh my!

What a BUSY long weekend!  It started on Wednesday when Wilson had the stomach flu and I picked him up from school early.  That entire afternoon was spent on the couch with my sleepy flu-y boy (poor guy).  That night Matt came home complaining of an "ouchie stomach" with Cole in tow who seemed fine. 

Thursday miraculously everyone felt better (thank goodness!) and we went out for a bit of soccer fun before we hit the kitchen.  Thursday afternoon was spent cooking cooking cooking.  We had an amazing feast (with enough food to feed a village) with Max, Laura, and Sasha.  The boys and Sasha dressed up for the event:

On the menu we had turkey, bacon brussel sprouts, baked local vegetables, bread and local cheeses, salad, mashed potatoes, warm bread ... and then 4 kinds of pie.  So much!

Friday I went into work in the morning but as it was dead quiet I made my way to the Seattle Marathon race expo - always a good time.  Friday afternoon was pretty mellow which was nice.  Saturday was another lazy day - Matt climbed and the boys and I played in the house.  That night we made our way to Laura and families new house for dinner - a feast of leftovers made into new and awesome dishes.

Sunday I rose early for the Seattle Marathon (race report to come) then walked home from the finish line to play legos for a bit with the boys.  After hours of legos, we bundled up and made our way to Snoqualmie for the Santa Train.  This was a double whammy (in a good way) - the boys first time on a train, and getting to see Santa.  Both were awesome - on the train neither Cole nor Wilson could stop smiling.  I'll admit, Matt and I were pretty giddy too.

When we finally got to see Santa, the boys plunged into deep conversations with him about why legos need proper stickers for eyes and how fun it would be if the boys could ride with him in the sleigh.

All in, a very busy and very fun weekend!