Steve ran (and finished) his first half marathon. He came in at 2 hours and 8 minutes. The race was at Thanksgiving Point and since they gave all the participants and their family passes to the gardens for being in the race, I made him walk around for a good 3 or 4 more hours later that day. I know, too bad he didn't marry a nice wife. Of course it was the busiest Saturday we have ever had starting with his race at 7:00am, which we wanted to see him finish, so we got over there at about 9:15 and waited to see him come in about 15 minutes after we got there. Then, I had to get back to the community center where I work twice a week in trade for Mikayla and Zachary's gymnastics tuition. Next, it was back to back soccer games for the 2 older kids followed by the trip to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point, The Dinosaur Museum and Farm Country. What a fun-filled day of stress. We had a great time with the family, but I hope some Saturday I wake up and say "Hmmm, what should I do today?"

Strawberry Jam

I made strawberry jam and preserves this year for the first time. There was a great deal on strawberries, so I thought "Why not?" So with my mom's help, I was able to put up 16 jars of jam and 6 containers of preserves. Why, you might ask, do I need so much jam? I have one PB&J lover named Conner and I think Luke is following in his footsteps! Between canning, crocheting, sewing, gardening I have become quite domesticated - I know, I've come a long way since high school. I guess that's what happens when you "get" to stay home all day. But, I wouldn't trade my stay-at-home mom job for anything!

Suddenly, I have no time to blog anymore - life is too busy, i guess - so just a quick note that Luke had his first birthday last week. He tried to touch the candle on his cake, so I calmly moved his hand, but everyone else screamed "Luke, don't touch that!" causing him to cry for the rest of the evening until I put him to bed early. Sundays are so long for him with church to interrupt his nap schedule. So, needless to say, I got very few pics of him and his birthday party.

Peek-A-Boo

Luke's favorite thing to do is climb stairs. Ever since he learned, he has done nothing but crawl to the top and then crawl back down again. Every step he crawls up, he stops and puts his head down and looks at you on the side or between his legs. It is his own version of Peek-A-Boo. He makes us laugh on a daily basis.

9 kids + 4 adults = one amazing time at the play "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". We first took the kids out do dinner where we let them get all their energy out so they would sit still at the play. I know - we're brilliant - and it worked like a charm. The kids loved every minute of the play and had a great time being on the front row. It was really cute and they loved getting to meet the mouse and boy afterward!

Luke's First Haircut

Well, it finally got long enough for a hair cut. Luke was somehow managing to grow a mow-hawk all by himself. He had this crazy long hair right in the middle that kept growing and his sides just stayed short. It was so cute, but it was time to cut. Now he looks like a big boy and we just can't get over how handsome he is.

Zachary has been in basketball for the last couple of months and has really had a lot of fun with it. He got his very own basketball for his birthday in December from his Grandparents and loves to bounce it everywhere around the house (at the expense of his mother's sanity). He has 2 of his buddies from his neighborhood on his team and has so much fun with them! His jersey is number 23 (Micheal Jordan's number) so we told him he has some big shoes to fill.