Marathon Weekend

Our girls participated in the local marathon! I cannot begin to tell you how cold it was on Saturday morning. 35 degrees with a stiff 15 mph wind - in the shade of downtown buildings!!! Bravely, our girls bundled up and ran mile 26 to complete their kids marathon. Russ ran with Lizzie but Anna Claire ran with one of her friends.

I was amazed at the thousands of other crazy parents who came out in the cold to let their children run in the race! Our friends would say that they would expect Russ and I to take our kids out to a road race in inclimate weather. In our defense, we were certainly not the only ones!

In the middle of Lizzie's mile she asked Russ why this race always had to be in winter!!! Great question!

Cracking me up

This has been a crazy weekend! I went to a women's retreat and spent Friday night away from home. Russ had the girls and they had a fabulous time together!
The girls never have weekend homework so imagine my surprise last night when I was putting the girls to bed and Anna Claire said, "Mom, I'll do my homework in my bed before I go to sleep." What??? She had to read 2 chapters in a book then write a short summary. I told her to work on it and I would check on her soon. I started cleaning the kitchen and she came in about 10 minutes after I put her in her room. She said, "Mommy, can I take a pause from homework? I need to potty." I said, "Sure." Then she said, "My bottom interrupted my homework time, that's all."
I thought I might pass out laughing! Where does she get this stuff from?

Finally...

I realized I haven't posted anything since Halloween. But tonight Anna Claire said the funniest thing and I wanted to pass it along. We were having our family prayer /bedtime story time. Anna Claire said, "Daddy, please don't make this a long prayer. You know, I might fall asleep."
She is too funny!

We saw a set of twin girls at the store tonight and their dad said, "So you have twins too?" Anna Claire yelled, "We're NOT twins! I'm almost 8 and she's only 6." Then the dad said he and his wife are expecting another set of twins in August! They will have 4 kids under 2 years old!!! Russ stared blankly in the distance for a LONG time then said, "I can't imagine what that's gonna cost!" Lizzie said she was happy being the baby! No more babies for her or me!

Happy Halloween!

We have had a fun day! Lizzie had a pumpkin parade at school today. She had to decorate a pumpkin based on a book character. She chose Snowball from the Annie and Snowball books. Making a pumpkin-bunny was fun!

We all watched Charlie Brown tonight while eating our dinner. Then we hit the streets to do a little trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is not a Halloween destination - people don't drop their children here in droves. We think it's because it is too hilly! You have to really want some candy! We all enjoyed a chilly cardio workout and the girls got plenty of candy.

Anna Claire dressed up as "Super Girl." She is a great Super Girl! She is not very familiar with Super Heroes so she could only come up with "saving the world." That was her campaign slogan as she went door-to-door.

Lizzie, who loves options, had two outfits. The first was a ballerina outfit that she wore to Trunk-or-Treat last week. Tonight she wore her footie pajamas and added bunny accessories: rabbit ears, a nose & whiskers, & a tail.

They were both very cute!

Mini Vacation

We took an impromptu trip to Chattanooga this past weekend. Reserved our hotel Friday and left Saturday morning. We went to the Aquarium when we arrived. The girls loved seeing all the fish. Anna Claire's favorite was the penguins and Lizzie loved the river otters. We crossed the river on the walking bridge and the girls played in the fountain at Coolidge Park. Our hotel had an indoor pool so we swam after supper!

Sunday morning we drove up to the top of Lookout Mountain. We can now say we have seen Rock City! It really was beautiful! The rocks are amazing! I could live without the swinging bridge but the girls thought it was "so cool."

We had a fun trip! Lots of good food and family-friendly activities!

Hanz and Franz

"I'm Hanz and I'm Franz and we're here to pump (clap) you up!" SNL 90's

Big School Girls!

Don't they look so big???

Anna Claire is horrified at the thought that Lizzie is almost as tall as her. We are often asked if they are twins and Anna Claire will say, "No! We are 16 months apart!" Then she gives them a look that clearly demonstrates her seniority.

We bought new shoes this past weekend and Anna Claire asked the saleslady to re-measure her foot after Lizzie's was half a size bigger. For now there is still an inch difference in height...