Missions Half Marathon

So who has the most amazing husband in the world? Me! Aaron decided in January that he wanted to run a half marathon. I was planning to run one at the end of February so he said he would train hard and run it with me. And train he did. He worked hard and put in long miles. He trained on weekends and on the road and a lot of miles on the treadmill. I was so proud of him. Then race week approached. I got the flu and felt awful, the weather was horrible - cold, wet, icy, windy. The forecast for the race was freezing cold, rain and wind. The trifecta of awful. I told him the day before the race that if he wanted to back out I would understand and find him a new race. But he was determined and said he wanted to do it. So we drove to San Antonio in the rain, Aaron's parents were the best and came with us and kept the kids, and we got up early, put on lots of layers and we were ready to go. Here we are waiting for the race to start. The guy behind us was very cold. 

We said good bye at the starting line so we could run our own races and I was so confident in Aaron that he would do awesome. Here are some shots from the race. 

The course was nice and in nice weather be a lot of fun to run. 

I felt great in this race, strong all the way to the finish. 

Here is Aaron bringing it home! 

I was so proud of him for finishing. He was totally worn out at the end and had given it his all. He did amazing and in that weather too! It was so much fun to run a race with Aaron, I may be slightly addicted. 

It was too cold for kids to be at the finish line, too cold for awards to be handed out but I did get first in my age group and a lovely hat to show for it. :) 

FLU

Unfortunately I came down with the flu this weekend. It was nasty, I felt awful and it was no fun. The tender mercy... it was a weekend and Aaron was home to take care of the kids. Oh my goodness what would I have done if he was out of town?? I literally spent the whole day in bed on Saturday. Aaron saved the day by taking the kids to the park, juggling coaching basketball, getting in a long run, taking the big kids on their date they had earned, going to the grocery store, and going to a party on Saturday night for a friend of ours who just became a citizen. Phew, that wore me out just typing it. He did it all, without a single complaint and beautifully. Then today he took the big kids to church and helped me do some meal prep for the week. He really is the best dad in the whole world, I believe that with all my heart. 

Friday night trip to the park. I heard a rumor that Camilla did the monkey bars all by herself, I don't know about all this. 

Date with Dad, the kids were looking forward to this all week. He took them to Chick Fila for ice cream and then to Hobby Lobby to pick out a craft to do with them. They came home afterwards and each made their craft. Carson painted some trucks and cars and Camilla got those beads that you put in and then bake. They both turned out adorable.... I need to get pictures of them. 

They were both so proud of their work and I was very proud of them for working so hard to fill up their sticker charts. Dad always delivers big time on their dates and so they work very hard to get them filled. 

Chinese Parade

The Kindergartners at Carson's school had a little parade on Friday for the Chinese New Year. Carson was so excited and his class was the first dragon. All we could make out was his feet but we sure loved cheering for him and watching all the kids make their way through his little school. Most of the classes came out and cheered for them.  

It was cold and windy but me and the girls followed that parade around the whole campus and got a video. I even stuck my head under the dragon to make sure we got that smile we love more than anything in it. 

When your husband travels

When you have a husband who travels for work you take pictures of everything so he won't feel like he's missing everything all the time. We have of course gotten very good at this as Aaron is gone almost every week. So here is our week of highlights that I sent to Aaron.

Carson has a loose tooth. His bottom two teeth are starting to wiggle. 

Our little, non walking, non climbing, non doing anything herself really climbed the ladder up to the top of the bunk bed.

She was very proud of her little self.

Carson is reading to Camilla at night. Their favorite book this week was The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. Oh man we read that book a lot of times. 

We had a little party at our house for my friend, Jamie's birthday. Camilla helped me get the decorations and she was soooo excited for everyone to come over.

Camilla is in a new phase and it is wearing this dress and her church shoes EVERYWHERE.

We color pictures and and send pictures to Daddy.

We went on the world's longest walk. Serious I just had to document it because it took so long. 

We spend a lot of our time doing this with daddy.

A very fun after school trip to the park. The kids love this park. Afterwards we picked up Chick Fil-a on the way home and my kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. Carson wewnt on and on and ON about it being the best day, best dinner ever. 

Our week in a nutshell. :) 

NYOS Fun Run

Our Valentine's Day started off with a fun run to raise money for Carson's school, NYOS. It was a very small, no frills race but the Cs didn't seem to care or notice. They both did the 1k and sweet Camilla finished even though she fell on a manhole cover and scraped up both knees. 

Getting ready to start. 

Afterwards we played at the park for awhile with our friends. Aaron couldn't come because he had to coach basketball so he took Brooke and I got to spend the gorgeous morning with these 2. 

Valentine's Celebrations

I really love Valentine's Day. I love so many things about the holiday and I love celebrating it with my kids and husband. I don't need chocolates or special gifts but I love the idea of a holiday where we celebrate the people we love. Our friends, family, and special loved ones. 

This year I went all out on the Valentines and had so much fun making them. Millie and I worked on them every night during our late nights and she loved helping. They turned out so cute. 

They say, " you blow me away Valentine" and they're bubbles. Carson's were green and blue. 

Brooke was loud and bright in her Valentine's outfit and we even styled her hair. :) 

Millie wanted me to do two braids for her Valentines dance class. She was so excited to hand out valentines to all her friends in her class and to her teachers. 

Friday was Carson's class party. Aaron went to the party and said Carson had a lot of fun. He made this about the things he loves right now:

And he made a Valentine for his Dad...no surprise.

He has such a sweet class. 

Carson with a few of his friends. 

I sure love my Valentines. Valentines Day was spent relaxing all afternoon. Yep you heard that right. Aaron gave me the afternoon and evening off and I took a nap, layed in bed and relaxed while he took care of the kids, made dinner and picked up.

The kids made me this on our driveway:

 It was wonderful and I enjoyed the most amazing dinner with Aaron after the kids went to bed. I sure love my man, he knows how to treat me right I am one lucky girl. 

Gorgeous Days

We've been enjoying some gorgeous February weather. It sure changes our whole attitude when we can get outside and play. All 3 of my kiddos love to play outside. Brooke just follows her big brother and sister right out the door and I don't hear a peep from her until she starts whining when they want to come inside. They are so good about helping her outside when she needs to get up things she can't alone. 

Brooke spends most of her time in our little play house. How big is my little girl?? This playhouse, it has been through the grind with 3 moves and barely hanging on now that the kids climb on its roof too. I'm not sure if it will make it through another move but we sure have enjoyed it. 

My girl going down the slide all alone. She can't be this big. 

Family Fun Night

On Friday nights we try to do fun stuff as a family and the kids look forward to it all week. As soon as Aaron is home from work we head out for fun (as long as the weather cooperates :). This week we went to this trail about five minutes from our house... 5 minutes! I love that we live so close to so many beautiful places. We hiked the trail and the kids loved exploring and Josie really loved exploring. 

I'm kind of obsessed with this picture. 

Along the trail is a small park that is hardly used at all. The kids had a lot of fun and especially loved taking Brooke down the slides. 

Then it was home for pancakes, eggs and Frozen. The kids were so excited to eat together in the living room. When did my little fuzzball get big enough to sit with the big kids and eat??? 

She made a HUGE mess. Luckily Josie had no problem cleaning it up for us in about 2.5 seconds. :)