Christmas

Christmas was so fun this year with Will. It was so exciting to watch him be able to open his own presents this year.  He loved his toys and wanted to play with them all day.  He was one spoiled little boy.

                             

Will loves to vacuum. He loves to vacuum so much that he has already worn out two vacuums.  Grandma got him another one and he has been playing with it non-stop. I am still hoping that his love of vacuuming will survive into his teenage years.

Joe and I got Will a basketball hoop because ever since this summer when he saw daddy playing basketball int the backyard, he has loved "hoops." He was so proud that he could play basketball too.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I was so glad that we could spend it with our family. I hope everyone else did as well.

Las Vegas Ragnar

Better late than never right! This is one of those memories I do not want to forget so I even though it was all the way back on Oct 22 and 23, I am going to write about it right now.

It was one of those experiences where it was definitely challenging, but even more rewarding.  There was moments where I realized why some people hate running and even wondered if I ever wanted to run again myself.  There were other moments that I felt so incredible when I was running.  One of the best things about this experience, however, was meeting and sharing the experience with everyone on my team.  Our team was amazing.  They were so supportive and inspiring. I especially couldn't have asked for a better group of people in my van!

Girls of Van 2

 

Guys of Van 2

Here are just a few reason why I found our team so inspiring.  We had people running even though they didn't feel good.  There was one who hurt his knee pretty bad and kept going and even ran his second leg backwards! We decided with the knee injury that he shouldn't run his last leg (did I mention that he had the hardest route). Another person who only had two weeks to train picked up the extra leg and did four legs, and other people running a different last leg than was expected.  Another person ran through what we considered a river bed in the dark, and fell a couple times along the way. So many people where willing to help each other and offered much needed support.

                    
I was runner number 11 out of the 12 runners.  My first route was 2.5 Miles and considered easy.  This route definitely had more of an incline than I expected and so even though it was considered easy it still had its challenges for me.  It was a nice run and I even got a kill (a kill is where you past someone). I didn't count how many times I got killed though ;).  

My second run was 7.2 miles and considered hard.  This was my favorite run.  It started at 4 am and even though I could barely keep my eyes opened during runner 10's run, once I got going it felt amazing and I felt so energized.  It was so peaceful running at night and for the longest time I could barely see the flashing lights of the person in front of me.  I kept going and eventually caught up to someone and then another one.  I am pretty proud of my five kills during that run, the last one being in the last couple of feet.  It was during this run that I couldn't wait to do another Ragnar, I knew I was hooked.

My last route was supposed to be 4.8 miles and considered moderate.  My last route, however was changed to 5.6 miles and considered hard.  Unfortunately, I was not quite prepared for this route and its steady gradual incline.  I had told myself that I was not going to walk at all, and up to this point I had done great.  I started this run off and I was doing fine. Then a couple miles in the wind and incline started to get to me and I finally broke down and walked and took support from the van.  It was so hard to keep going after that, I just wanted to keep walking. Along my route I even saw a tarantula which kept me running for a little bit.  And through the tears of frustration and disappointment of walking so much, I finally finished my last leg.  It was this leg that was my biggest challenge.  It took a little bit to get over my frustration of that last run, but now I am just proud of myself and hopefully next time I will be a little more prepared.

Waiting to start my last run



On my last run



Support from a wonderful team



Finally finished!


I am so glad that I had this opportunity, I think the only thing that could have made it better was if my husband could have been there.  Now that I have finished and experienced how much fun and accomplishment it brings, I can not wait to run another one. 

Happy Halloween

Will was Peter Pan for Halloween this year. We took him to a trunk or treat and had a blast even though it was cold.  It was fun to watch him run around in his costume, he was such a cute Peter Pan! I got the instructions on how to make his costume here.



Peter Pan trying to fly



Adventures With Will

It has been so much fun this summer, especially with Will being a little older.  Unfortunately, I must be older too, because I kept forgetting the camera everywhere we went.  Thank goodness for cell phone cameras, some pictures are definitely better than no pictures at all.

We went to the State Fair and went through the little hands on the farm.  Will had so much fun "planting" and "picking" the food and looked so cute in the little apron that they had for the kids. Here is a picture of us at the end in the FFA cut outs. 

                      

My brave little boy also went on the yellow slide with Joe a few times.  He didn't even seem scared!  He is like his daddy and loves rides. 

Every year Joe's aunt, uncle and their family comes and visits.  It is always so good to see them and it is so much fun when they are here.  When they are here we always have our annual Lagoon day.  I was especially excited this year since it was Will's first time.  We got there and immediately Will wanted to ride the carousel.  We then took him on Puff.  The first picture is Will and Joe waiting in line and the second picture was the best I could get with them on the ride.  On Puff, Will was glued to Joe's side, but it seemed as if he enjoyed it.  Later I took Will again on Puff and he was holding onto the seat restraints and was ready to go. I think that was probably his favorite ride.  I loved taking Will on the rides and can't wait for next year.

This past week we took Will to Gardner Village. What a fun place.  We took him to the petting zoo and he had a blast.  His favorites where the giant pig and the goats.  He didn't want to leave.



It is just fantastic being able to experience these places with Will, it makes them just that much more fun!

Project Time

It has been awhile, but here are a few of the projects that I have been working on. First I made a diaper clutch.  It has been so handy to keep in the car so we don't have to always bring the big diaper bag. I found the tutorial here.

I also made Will a backpack. This project took me a little longer than I expected because I could not find the slider that goes on the straps.  Thanks to the D.I. I was finally able to find the elusive slider to finish this project. I found the tutorial here.

I made a Boppy cover for my brother-in-law's new baby. The patterned that I used was simplicity 3561.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly, which is shocking, I know.  I changed the closer to a zipper rather than Velcro.  It looked good, but I am pretty sure that they will never be able to get the cover off, whoops.

I finally started working on two different projects that I have been a little hesitant to attempt.  The first is a skirt.  I was a little nervous to sew an article of clothing in case it didn't fit.  Luckily it turned out even though the pattern was almost too small (note to self, patterns run smaller than store bought clothes). The pattern was McCall 5591.

The second project that I was hesitant to try was a quilt, but I really wanted to learn.  I am not done yet, but thanks to two amazing friends I have it sandwiched together now and I have just barely started machine quilting it.  Here is a picture of where I am at right now.

I took a little break from my sewing projects and started the Hunger game series, and can I just say that I loved them.  I couldn't put the books down. If you have not read them then I highly recommend them.  Another book that I have read recently was the Maze Runner.  It took a little bit to get into, and I enjoyed it once it got going. I am still up in the air about the ending, I guess I will just wait to see where the second book takes it to make my final decision. 

It has been a great summer and hopefully I will not take so long to post again.

14 Months

Will turned 14 months two days ago. He is such a silly boy. He is understanding so much more than I give him credit for. If he wants to get out of the house he will bring us his shoes and then sit on our lap so we can put them on. He still doesn't want to talk very much. After I say fishies he will repeat his own version and he is trying to say different things. Will has also gotten several teeth. He now has 12 teeth and I think he might be getting some more. I just feel so bad for him because I can tell that his mouth has hurt so much lately.

He loves to cleans. We got him a play vacuum and he loves it. It has been the main toy he has played with since we got it. He also loves to sweep. It would be great if he still liked to vacuum when he got older.



Will loves pancakes and so tonight we took him to IHOP. He just makes me laugh, he had a lot of fun. I think he was trying to make friends with all the other tables. He would stare in a tables direction and if they wouldn't pay attention to him and he would give his happy screech to get their attention and then he would smile at them. I am pretty sure that by the time we left he had successfully gotten the attention of all the tables around us.

Missing

Missing- one small green sandal. The sandal has been missing for more than a week now and hopes of a recovery are disappearing. Last person to see the missing sandal is suspected to be it's 13 month old owner.

Will is growing so quickly and I can tell that he is understanding so much more than he use to. He is such an active and happy boy. Will has discovered that it is fun to put things in different places. For example I have found shoes on the t.v. stand and in the cupboards. A toy in Joe clothes drawer. Toys in the diaper champ waiting to be dumped inside. My socks in the garbage, and who knows what I haven't found! Sadly I have a feeling that the missing sandal is no longer in our house, but has been thrown away. I can't help but smile when I find random items around the house, I love his inquisitive mind. Here is a picture of Will caught in the act of misplacing something.



I came home from work today to find Will "helping" daddy with the sprinkler. It was so cute.







Not only does Will love to help daddy with the sprinklers, but also cleaning up. I love to watch these two together.