Foot Lake 4 First-timer!

Jesse ran the Foot Lake 4 this year instead of me.  I wasn't up for pushing the stroller 4 miles (and up hill at the end!), and really haven't been running as much as I should.  Anyway, he did it.  And did it really well too! 

I tried to get a picture of his time as he crossed the finish line, but I think it was just under 29 min.  Wow!!!!  Less then an 8 min. mile consistently for 8 miles!  And he doesn't run all that much either!  I was teasing him (well kind of, if he would do it, I would!) that we should train to do a 1/2 marathon.  I want to go to Vegas for my 30th b-day and I said we should do the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon!  Anyone else up for it?  But back to Jesse.  He did so good he got a medal!

Of course that is the OVER 30 age group now!  Haha!  He got 3rd!  I am really proud of him and so is Allie.  She has been wearing his medal around!  You can see all the race results here.

Friday = Appt. Day

I love Friday's when Jesse and I both have off.  I can actually get some things done.  Today we all 3 had MD appts this morning.  Allison had an ear tube re-check (she has them every 6 months until the tubes fall out), Jesse also had an appt. with ENT, he has been having trouble with his sinuses this Spring - she thinks it is mostly allergies.  And I had an appt. with dermatology.  Ugh.  I dread these.  I have a lot of moles.  My regular dr. wants me to see a dermatologist 1x/year, so basically I they are looked at every 6 mo. between my regular check ups and dermatology.  Anyway, I ALWAYS get a tan/sun lecture.  I knew it was coming.  I know I need to quit indoor tanning - and outdoor, but we'll start with just one hurdle.  Anyway, I wasn't planning to tan this winter, then we decided to go to Mexico...well I couldn't go there blazing white!!  So I have vowed, and now put it on my blog too, that I am NOT going to tan this winter.  I love the look of tan skin (not overly tan, just right), I don't feel very good about myself when I am "white".  But I really don't want to die of skin cancer either!  But enough of that depressing talk!  Where it the SUN??  :)  Happy Friday Everyone.  Off to continue with laundry and maybe try to get in a nap while Allison sleeps!!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Summer officially arrived on Tuesday.  Kind of bittersweet.  I am always sad when the longest day of the year has come and gone and the days start getting shorter.  But we are really just getting into the "dog days" of summer.  With all the hometown festivities coming up, starting with Willmarfest this weekend, followed by the 4th of July, Cornchaff days (Hector), BL Days, etc.  It should be a lot of fun!  I am looking forward to more evenings outside by a fire and more days at the lake and pool.  It always seems to slip by way to fast!  But we will try to make the most of it!!

Daddy's Girl

How fitting that right around Father's Day Allison became quite the Daddy's girl!  She talks about him all the time.  "Daddy?  Daddy work."  Or the other day Jesse was mowing lawn and she was very concerned about him.  This morning I talked to her on the phone (she was at my parent's, I worked nights this week and with Jesse having to be at work at 4 a.m. and me not getting home until 7:30, we have to figure something out...we are so grateful to have such wonderful and willing babysitters!) and she kept asking for Daddy?!  This is a bit of a change as she used to be such a momma's girl, but I am ok with it.  I think Jesse is a wonderful father and I don't blame her for wanting to see and talk to him!  They have so much fun together.  He plays rough with her, but she loves it.  "Daddy tickle".  I love both so much and am so proud of both of them!!  Happy Father's Day!

And here is a pic of Allison and Grandpa Bruce from Father's Day.  Unfortunately I don't have one of Grandpa Mike...Allie really loves her "Pappa's" too!!

A little Reading Material

Yup, this is my monthly reading material!!!  Yikes!  The sad thing is I haven't read ANY of it for at least the past 2-3 months.  I have the best of intentions when ordering and a couple of the subscriptions were gifts from my grandma, and one I ordered from a gal at work whose daughter was selling for school.  And the VS and One Step Ahead are advertising catalogs.  Although I think I get a VS catalog every couple weeks!!  It all just keeps piling up, becasue of course I am going to read it!!  Plus on top of this I try to read the "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" for whatever it's worth and lately I have had a couple good books going(I wanted to read "The Last Song" before I saw the movie - GREAT book!!  Now I can't wait to see the movie).  I love to read books, and choose that over magazines anyday.  I get all these with good intentions though. 

Glamour: I want to be at least somewhat fashionable and feel young yet, I like the hair and makeup stuff, but I think I might be outgrowing it...not too into one-night stands, and I don't know how much advice a person can take on how to give/get the best orgasm!!

Everyday with Rachel Ray:  I love her show and thought I would enjoy the recipes, etc.  Unfortunately a lot of the recipes call for things I have never heard of, or that are hard to get.  Plus her 10 min. meals take me an hour!  And the magazine has lots of travel stuff in it, great if I could afford to travel all these places!  Maybe one day!

Shape:  Well, I wish I was in shape!!

Reader's Digest:  I do find this one rather interesting and good for a laugh.  Plus it is more informative. 

Parenting:  I want to be a good parent.  I usually like it when I get time to read it, but have to take it with a grain of salt.  Sometimes I feel they are only speaking to the stay at home mom in the metro. 

Country Woman and Reminisce: Well, these were gift subscriptions (along with Reader's Digest) from my Grandma.  Now getting these make me miss her tons!  I think she got them for me because I looked at them at her house growing up and they do have lots of recipes in them too.  And ones that an average, simple cook can make!

Saturday In The Park

Isn't that a song?  But it was actually Sunday for us.  Yesterday we took Allison to Ramsey park in Redwood.  We met Mandy, Dave and the kids there.  It was fun, and afterwards (probably  my favorite part) we had supper at the Dari King!!!  I love those old fashioned ice cream, hamburger places that are only open in the summer!  We used to have one in Hector (although I can't think of what it was called now!!)  Anyway, it was a great day and so much fun!!

Everyone's favorite part, the water fountain!

Laura and Allie in the swing, it was a pretty cool swing!Miss Maddison on the "zip line"

Sleeping Woes

So in recent blogs I have complained of Allison's troubles sleeping away from home.  Apparently this isn't a problem only we have.  Sometimes I think Babycenter.com reads my mind, but then again, it is more likely that we are just going through the normal issues parents of children this age go through.  It seems they always bring up things that are on my mind in their weekly "Your child at 20 months, 2weeks" (etc).  And this time was no different.  One of the headings this week was Your child not sleeping well away from home.   But to be honest, it wasn't that much help.  Most mom's that responded basically just said it is a phase kids go through around this time.  And most of their suggestions we already did.  We send her blankets (her favorite and the one that is in her crib), and her paci (that is for another post...when to take it away, and how) and we do her usual bedtime routine.  The only thing we didn't do was let her cry it out and go back to sleep because we didn't want her waking everyone else up.  My parent's are going to brave it this weekend and take Allison to the lake, hopefully all goes well!!  I know it will, if nothing else she and everyone else will just need more daytime naps!

Summer Nights

I absolutely LOVE nights like last night.  It was so beautiful out.  We went to she opening night of the Little Crow Ski Show with Brad and Jodi, then went out to Brad's parent's cabin on Henderson Lake by Willmar for a bonfire.  I love a bonfire, especially next to a lake.  It ws so still.  My camera does not do this justice, but it was gorgeous.  I love sitting around a bonfire with friends talking.  Hoping for many more nights like it!

Brag Spot

I feel the need to brag a bit.  I figure since it is my blog and I am a mom, that is my right :)!  So, here it goes...  The other day I was holding Allison on my lap after work, and she counted to 5!!!!  She is 20 months old and she can count to 5!  I had NO idea, I said to Jesse, did you hear that?  I guess he had been working with her on it!  What a good dad!  We count to 3 a lot, but not 5!  However, since that first time, she seems to usually miss a number, usually 4, but still, I am impressed.  She also knows all her colors, and is getting most letters down.  She is so curious and really wants to learn.  Whenever I am wearing a shirt with writing on it, she will point to the letters and say the ones she knows and wait for me to tell her the ones she doesn't.  I don't even know how many words she knows, and she is constantly saying new ones!  She is starting to put 2 and 3 word sentances together.  Yesterday her Grandma Nancy was over and she gave her more of her snack and she said "Thank you".  Without being prompted!!  I am so proud of her! 

On another note, I was thinking the other day about the fact that I have to work, and barring we win the lottery, I will be a working mom forever!  Allison has been crying when I bring her to daycare, which makes it sooo hard.  I know she has fun when I leave, but I still wish that I could stay home with her most days.  But I do also love my job.  And I think I value the time we spend together more because of it.  And I hope one day she knows that everything I do, I do for our family.  But sometimes things sneak up on me, like a few weeks ago she found her shape ball.  Prior to this when she played with it we had to help her find the right spot for each shape.  I gave it to her on this day though and went to the bathroom and to do something else, I came back and she had it all done!  She had put all the shapes back in all by herself!  Oh, I love that girl!

Memorial Day

I got an email from a friend with a bunch of these cartoons and a poem about veterans and it really touched me.  It is easy to forget in all the rush of going to the lake, grilling, getting together with friends and family what the day is really about.  I am eternally grateful to the men and women who fight for our freedom and our rights in this country.  I am grateful to be born in a country where it is ok to be a women and women have rights and are respected.  I am thankful I get to raise Allison here too, and we need to remember these things didn't come without a price. 

Saturday at the Lake

Last Saturday after the race we went up to Maple Lake, where  my parent's have a place.  Boy was it HOT!  The lake is very deep and is spring fed so it takes a while to warm up and even then doesn't ever get really warm, but I did throw in a swim suit and one for Allison too, I didn't really think there was any way we would actually be IN the lake...I guess I was wrong!  My little water baby wanted to be in the lake right away!  And it the cold didn't bother her a bit!  I of course had to be in with her, brrrrrr!  But to be honest it really felt good, and granted I was only in up to mid calf, but I didn't think it felt that cold either!  But it was really hot in the sun!!  And I remember being a kid and going up to the lake for the first time of the summer on Memorial Day weekend and if it was above 65, we were in the lake!  Unfortunately I have no pics of this, we were in the lake and on the dock having fun, and I wished I had my camera, but didn't want to take the time to leave to get it, I didn't want to miss a moment!

Boat ride!  Putting on more suntan lotion!

We also went on a boat ride and Allison got to play with Emma!  Allison's new sentance, "Emma SHARE".  It was a concept neither one got the hang of quickly, but Allison repeated that EVERY time she saw Emma. 

It was a great day, however as in previous post...we had a bit of a rough night.  NOT even close to as bad as last time, but still not good, and we ended up coming home at midnight.  Allison was tired from her big day, and went to sleep good (and early 7:30), and slept until about 10 p.m.  Emma started crying and that woke up Allison, but Emma went back to sleep, and Allison thought it was time to get up and play.  She WOULD NOT go back to sleep.  Had her almost sleeping and Emma cried again.  So, it was time to come home, it just wasn't working.  Allison goes to sleep SOOO good at home, and sleeps so good.  If she wakes up at night at home, she goes back to sleep on her own.  I think when she heard Emma she thought Emma was awake and having fun, so she needed to be too.  It was rather frustrating.  Not sure what to do about this, but for the most part they will probably not be at the lake at the same time very often, and we might chicken out and plan to come home or something for the night.  (Luckily it is only about 1 hour for us).  You hear every little noise in the cabin (which is a really old trailer house with paper thin walls and doors!).  Plus it was still hot in there at midnight and she might have had trouble sleeping b/c she was hot too.  The consolation that we had to come home Sat. night though was that Sunday was really NOT very nice last weekend.  I think she is going to go to the lake with my parent's next weekend, so hopefully all goes well!!