Time to get out the running shoes!!

With the weather starting to warm up I have had a little more motivation to get out and run....but signing up for sponsered runs definately adds that little extra push I need.

My first run for this year was the Shamrock the Ville 5K on March 12th. It was suprisingly nice and warm that day (in the 60's). My finish time was 29 min 23 sec.  

A couple weeks later on March 26th was the Run the Ville 10K. It was cold and rainy but ended up being a really nice run. Most of it was on the pathfinder which was more fun than running down the streets. I finished with a time of 1 hour 1 min and 45 sec.....not too shabby for 6.2 miles!!! 

What's wrong with this picture??

Someone once told me that when you have kids you loose brain cells. Well, I'm starting to wonder if this might be true!! Shortly after Mikayla was born, Craig once found the milk cartoon in the cupboard. At least this time the cereal was still edible. Maybe I really am loosing brain cells.....either that or else it's just exhaustion!

Touch of Spring Weather

After 2 weeks of snow and cold weather things took an 180 degrees turn and we have been enjoying temps in the 50's-70's. We have enjoyed getting outside and have been to the parks, to Sonic, out riding bikes, and to the Tulsa Zoo.

 The petting zoo

 

 Feeding time for the turtles

Austin was looking at this snake and I pointed out to him how the snake was sticking out it's tongue (slithering). So Austin started mimiking the snake and got really close to the glass. The snake snapped forward at Austin hitting the glass with its head. And boy did it scare Austin!!

 We enjoyed watching this parrot crack open a walnut to eat

 And the pics on the train at the playground

 

 Klayton was telling everyone that they were on the Polar Express and going to the North Pole!!

 Watch out---Kayla's driving!!!

We usually don't get to see the rhino's very close but this time we did and noticed how dirty these animals are....and I couldn't help but think how sometimes my kids are just like those rhino's!!!

Friday February 18, 2011 

More Snow

On Wednesdy February 9th, just one week after the last snow storm we got hit again!!! I'm not sure the official total but it was somewhere between 13-20 inches depending what area of town you live in.  We still had several inches of snow on the ground from the storm last week so with all the the new snow piled up on top, it is a winter wonderland outside!!

 

Our dogs could barely get around in the backyard with the fresh snow.

On thursday morning, reports were that the temperature dipped down to a - 28 degrees (that's NEGATIVE 28 just in case you didn't catch it....and that is REAL temp). BRRRR!!! In fact, at the time it was - 28 degrees in B'ville it was warmer at the South Pole (only - 23 degrees there).  This is some crazy weather!!

 Once again we were shut up in house for 2 days trying to find what entertainment we could. The snow provided some. We also spent lots of time pulling out toys we don't play with very often. It has been nice spending lots of time at home with the kids.....but (not gonna lie) it does make for some LONG days.

  
Friday we headed back out to the hills to do some more sledding. These opportunities usually don't come along often during the winters here so we are trying to take full advantage of it!!

Some spectacular ice-cycles from the neighbors house.  Austin is always sure to point them out and likes for us to break them off so he can eat them. But the funny thing is that he calls them "ice pickles".....HA! I had briefly thought about correcting him but it is just too funny to here him say "look at those ice pickles!!"

 Isn't this snowman just hilarious!!!
( It makes me LOL everytime I drive by it)
Happy Winter Everyone!!

Snowed In

So if you haven't already heard....we got some pretty intense snow last week (something common for many northernerns I'm sure but not as common around here).  On tuesday morning, Februrary 1st, we woke up to everything covered in white and the snow kept falling all day long.

We got about 16 inches. The whole town pretty much shut down for like 2 days.....although the hospital doesn't so I had to go into work that night. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it out of my neighborhood without getting stuck but the hospital was kind enough to send around drivers to pick people up. It wasn't until thursday afternoon when the first snowplow came through our neighborhood and packed down the snow enough so that driving was possible, though still difficult. So with nothing much else to do we tried to enjoy the snow as much as we could.

Austin had to "rescue" his mowers that were almost completely burried in the snow.

Our dog Abby could barely get around in the snow which came all the way up to her neck. It was hilarious watching her try to "run" around in the backyard.

I had to post this pic because it is so typical of Abby.....just sitting out there chilling in the snow. She enjoys wierd things like that.

We had a fun time making snow ice-cream (thanks mom for the idea). It actually didn't taste too bad especially once we added some chocolate sprinkles!!

We made snow angels

And a snowman

And the kids have fun on the porch while daddy threw snowballs at them. Kayla was laughing hysterically.....

Until she actually got hit with one!

On Friday we even got a couple more inches of snow. On Saturday, the weather warmed up to the 30's so we took the opportunity to do some more sledding!! It was perfect and we were out there for 2 hours having fun!!

Kayla and her Grandma Reid

Austin's cousin Connor and his Aunt Kristi

Austin and his cousin Klayton

It has been a week since the snowstorm and our yard is still covered with snow that is now hard and crunchy and the streets still have chunks of snow/ice on them. And even now as I am typing it is - 7 degrees wind chill and snowing again (we are estimated to get up to 8 more inches). YIKES!!!

We are definately getting a good taste of winter this year! 

Good-bye Sippy Cups

One of my goals for the kids this year was to get rid of the sippy cups. A 4 year old really doesn't need to use one anyways!!! 

Actually, it just became an issue of convience and habit for them both. In the morning they like to watch cartoons and drink from their sippy cups (Kayla always wants pink milk and Austin always wants apple juice in a BLUE sippy cup). But lately I was noticing that everytime they would watch TV (which happens more in the winter) they would want drinks, not because they were thirsty but just because that is what you do when you watch TV...right? (kind of like me watching TV at night and eating ice cream...it's just what you do). So it was time to ditch the sippy cups. I knew Austin wouldn't have a problem with it since he is old enough to understand but suprisingly Kayla didn't seem to mind either. Wheww!!

Siesta Time

Kayla has a ritual that happens at naptime and bedtime. First we sit in the rocking chair and read books. The trick is to have a few books already there because if you tell her to go get some books then she will HAVE to bring in ALL of them to read. And if I am lucky I can skip some pages to get through the pile of books faster. After the books we sing a few songs and then she lays down in her bed with the books which she reads to herself until she decides she is tired and ready to go to sleep. Sometimes this only takes 10 minutes and sometimes it takes 30 minutes. On this particular night she wanted ALL the books to read. I'm sure she tried so hard to read them all......

But apparantly fell asleep while reading "Where Is The Green Sheep?"

Goodnight!!!

Bounce U

We have gone to Bounce U a couple times in the last month and had a blast!! They have two big rooms full of inflatable FUN!! 

Here is Austin going down the big slide. All the kids love this one and do it over and over and over again!!

However, Klayton might have easily broken the record of the number of times going on the slide in a row. He didn't leave the big slide for at least an hour. This is one happy kid!!!

On the other hand, Kayla is NOT a fan of the inflatables. As soon as we enter this place she tightens her grip and protests every time we go near them.

Kayla does however love the trampoline spiderweb toy.

Connor loves it too and can climb his way up to the top.

Here's a kid group shot

(with an extra kid who I guess wanted to be in the pic too)

And after 1 1/2 hrs of fun and exhaustion, nothing tastes better than an McDonald's ice cream cone.

YUM YUM!!!