5k and holiday photo winner!

Here's the holiday photo winner for 2009! We sent out cards recently, so I thought I'd publish it here, too. It turned out pretty well. It only took about 3 shoots this year...yeah.

And I ran my first 5k this weekend! It went well. I am still not 100% sure on my time, but I think it was around 32 minutes or so. I had to run some hills, and I'm not used to that, so I was happy I didn't stop to walk at all. Now I want to run another! I'm addicted. It felt SO GOOD to cross that finish line, especially knowing that just 2.5 months ago I never thought I could run 3 miles without stopping. My new goal is to run a few more 5k runs and train for a 10k next spring or summer. I'm going to take it slow, though.

We're leaving for Iowa in a week, so I have so much left to shop for. I'm taking the day of tomorrow from work to shop in Kansas City. I'm excited to get the shopping done and to have an entire day of shopping to myself! So far I've done most of my shopping with the kids, or over my lunch break, so it's been rushed and chaotic. So this should be good.

More later!

Christmas card outtakes on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_dierks


Our Christmas card outtakes are posted on Flickr. They were pretty good this year. Last year Gus melted down; this year it was Miss Cleo. Totally awesome. But we did get a winner and you'll see it in a mailbox near you.

More later!

NOW it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. We had a great time. Thanksgiving was spent in Burlingame with my parents, and Shana, Lindsey and Anthony (a.k.a. "Uncle Tony"). It was very relaxing and food-filled. Just how like it.

Here are some new photos taken with Andy's (early) bday gift, a 35 mm digital camera (it has a more complicated name than that, but I don't remember it). He has wanted this camera for awhile. He's going to take the Christmas card photos w/ it. He will not put it down! He loves it. The photos of Gus and his friends were taken at Eloise's 1st birthday party at Jim and Hannah's house. Gus and Cleo had so much fun with Ash, Ebi and Ollie. It is so fun to really see them interact now that they are getting older.

This month is going to be crazy and packed. This week Andy does not travel, which is wonderful. I'm meeting up with long, lost high school friends on Monday for dinner in Lawrence. I hung out w/ these girls for years in high school and after I went to KU and they went to Baker, we just lost touch, for the most part. It should be great to see them again. I cannot say that for everyone I went to hs with (not to be a bioootch about it, but it's true), but these gals are keepers. (Thank you, Facebook). I'm supposed to see New Moon with friends sometime this week, too (yay!), and Andy's company holiday party is Friday night in KC. Saturday night we're going out to dinner with Tom and Marisa to this place in Lawrence called Krause's (sp?). It's a restaurant that's not really a restaurant, held in a couple's old house in Lawrence. They are chefs and they prepare a 6-course dinner or something crazy like that for people, all fabulously delicious, I hear. They are closing it down in January to open a restaurant downtown Lawrence, so we had to get in before it closed. Should be awesome! Date nights are great.

This past weekend Andy put up the lights on our house, and we've already gone out around the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. It's somewhat early, but we love doing that, and Gus LOVES pointing out the lights! Cleo just oooooh's and aahhhh's. We're getting our tree next weekend, mostly b/c we ran out of time this weekend to do it.

Next up...Christmas card photos, finishing up with Christmas gifts (I'm almost done!)and listening to a heavy rotation of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas songs. After Thanksgiving, he's pretty much always in our cd player.

Running update: I'm on the final week of my running podcast!! I can now somewhat comfortably run 28-30 minutes, some days better than others. I *think* I'm running about 3 miles at 30 minutes, but I haven't tracked it fully yet. Now that I'm pretty much done with the Couch to 5k podcast, I've put together a running mix of songs on my iPod and plan to keep up with the 30 minutes until it becomes comfortable, so I can run my first 5k in the spring. I'm super proud of myself. Never thought I could come this far. And for me, running 30 minutes is nothing short of a miracle. And I feel awesome. I've lost a little weight (not sure how much, really, but I fit into a size of jeans that I didn't think I'd get back into!) and I just feel more energetic. Loving it. And a co-worker is doing the same podcast now, so we joined the KU rec center (the new one--Ambler--it's awesome), and run on the elevated track. I love that track, it has spoiled me. I tried to run outside Friday and it just wasn't the same...

More to come!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas???

I heard Christmas songs today on a Kansas City radio station. Come on...it's too early! It's only November 2. Give us another month, and let us enjoy Thanksgiving. I just cannot get into the Christmas mood until later in November. Plus, it's 60+ degrees outside and lovely as can be, so it's not Christmas weather right now. I hate that the consumer machine rushes us on all our holidays. We're rushed enough as it is, let's not rush the holidaze.

Here are some fun photos from Halloween weekend. It was a blast, and time flew by. Gus loved all the candy and Cleo had no idea what was going on, but she loved every minute of it, too. She just goes along for the ride, pretty much.

New developments:
-Gus can spell both "Gus" and "August" out loud, but we haven't started on how to write his name yet. He can count to 100 by himself, too. He LOVES counting. It's his favorite thing in the world right now.
-Cleo says new things every single day. Over the past few days she has said "Ouch" and "Ussy!" (Gussy) and "Ears!" and "Eyes!" (she points to them but often mixes them up).
-Gus will say "Where's my little sister at? I love my little sister so much, Mom." It's pretty delicious.
-Gus also loves to say the following at least twice a day: "Mom, Keee-o is a little girl, and she can't climb trees yet because she is too little. But I am a big boy, so I can climb trees. Right, Mom?" He says this but to my knowledge he's never climbed a tree. He seems to want to learn, though, so perhaps we'll do that this week. Oh, and I always tell him "You're right!" but I'm always thinking that with the rate that Miss Cleo climbs these days, she will learn how to climb a tree before Gus. I would not be terribly surprised (see first photo above).

A new poem by one of my favorite poets is posted above.

That's all for now. TTFN...

It's almost Halloween!!!

It's the week of Halloween, and the weather is lovely here in Lawrence. It's in the 50's, the leaves have turned and are falling...it's awesome Halloween weather! It's supposed to be 60 or so on Saturday with no rain. Yes!

Took Cleo to the doctor this morning for her 15 month appt. and she's 30", in the 35% for height, and weighs 21 lbs. 7 oz., 28% for weight. She's our little healthy peanut. She had to get 3 shots (including flu shot), which she hated. Gus got the flu mist up the ol' nose, and he was fine with that. I'm still debating whether to get them the H1N1 shots...any thoughts from other mommas?

Here are some early Halloween photos of the kids in their costumes. We took them to an early trick-or-treat event at the Lawrence Prairie Park Nature Center. The kids took a hike through the woods and met some "monsters" on the way who handed out candy. The kids even got to meet Max and the Wild Things! It was pretty cool, and Gus got to hang with his girlfriends Ebi, Suki and Ash. Ash was Alvin from Alvin and the Chimpmunks and Suki was a bear/zebra. Just like Gus was a monkey/bear! We plan to take both kids to Andy's company trick-or-treat Friday around 4pm, and that should be fun, then later Friday night we may stop by the Hegemans for an All Hallow's Eve happy hour. Saturday I'll get the candy bowl ready and send the kids out with Andy while I hand out treats to kids (and enjoy some vino!)

I love Halloween. Someday I may even start to dress up like a scary witch and scare little kids. That's what my Mom did when we were little. The Curtis house was known as the "scary house" b/c my Mom would dress up like a super scary witch (think tan hose pulled over her face so her features were all distorted, along with an awesome wig, hat and outfit) and jump out from behind bushes and scare trick-or-treaters. And if the kids were brave enough to then walk up on our patio, I would then hand them candy. A lot of kids would just take off. I always felt bad for those kids. Ha ha. My Mom was always my school room mother on Halloween. All the other kids wanted their Moms as Christmas or Easter room mothers, and I always chose Halloween, b/c my Mom would show up at school dressed as the scary witch. She did it up.

More Halloween photos later! Trick-or-treat!

Miss Lydia is in da house

Hanging with Miss Cleo

Mr. Handsome

Miss Lydia, Queen of the (hornless) Unicorns

Why have I posted a photo of a magical unicorn along with photos of my darling children? Well, this is Miss Lydia, and although she may look like a normal horse, she is in fact a magical unicorn (I found a hole under her strip of white hair that is coming unglued). I was given this toy by the janitor at work to give to Cleo, but I'm going to keep it for myself, mostly b/c Cleo will just pull the rest of Lydia's hair off and try to eat it, but also because I have grown to adore Lydia and all her weirdness. My affection for Lydia is like Kelly's affection for her doll/friend, Ellis. In fact, Kelly and I have decided Ellis and Lydia can be BFF. And when I get stressed at work, I just look at Lydia and all is well again.

Actually, when I get super stressed at work, I just look at these darlings

Or this darling...love Dwight

So, it's been a busy fall. Andy is traveling quite a bit this month, and work and other activities are keeping us rather booked up. Gus has been enjoying preschool, and has made some friends. Right now he loves to count and sing. If he's not counting in one of his many counting-themed books, he's singing "I've been working on the railroad" or some other song.

Gus is super psyched to be a monkey for Halloween, and I really need to make his costume this week. We're taking the kids to an early trick-or-treat thing in town this Friday, and I haven't even started on Gus' outfit. I bought all the materials so it shouldn't take too long. We ordered Cleo's giraffe costume online and it's awesome. So I don't have to mess with that! I can't wait for Halloween...the best holiday! I think we're going to carve pumpkins later this weekend, too.

Work has been super busy, but I'm managing. We're going to Iowa City later in mid-November to visit Dave and Sally and possibly see a football game (Iowa is super good this year, like KU!). Should be fun. Other than that, just planning for holiday shopping (already!) and whatnot. I really cannot believe how fast time flies.

More later after Halloween--should have some good photos of the little monkey and giraffe!

ek




p.s. Still doing the running podcast and so far it's still going well. I'm on week 5 and it's kicking my butt, but I'm hanging in there! I'm working my way up to running 20-25 minutes without stopping, which for me is truly amazing.

It's finally autumn!

Gus' preschool bag-the front (thank you for your iron-on decal selection, Michael's!).

One of many walks out to the lighthouse in Ludington, MI

On a hike in Ludington

My favorite season is here, and that makes me one happy little lady. Fall always perks me up a little. I just wish it wasn't so fleeting. I've already put up some Halloween decorations, and I want to do more. We will go to the pumpkin patch soon, too.

Our vacay to Michigan was awesome. We've been many times to Ludington, but this was probably the best time yet. We had so much fun, and the kids had a blast. Gus still asks about "the cabin"--"When are we going back to the cabin, Mom?" I felt bad leaving it. We rented a cabin right on Hamlin Lake this year, and it was fantastic. The front patio was huge and looked over a little cliff on to the lake. Couldn't have asked for a better view. Andy's parents were up there, as was Lindsey, and we all just had so much fun relaxing, hanging out. The kids went on hikes with us and Gma and Gpa, and Gus even got to drive his Great Aunt Ginny's boat. Good times. When we lived in Chicago we would visit Ludington 1x a year b/c it was a mere 4-hour drive. Now it's a much longer drive (12-13 hours), but we'd like to try for every summer. The kids love it, and it's a lovely break from the hot as balls weather in KS (yes, I said "hot as balls"--I love that phrase. Such a guilty pleasure).

Since getting back from Michigan, our world has been so busy these days. Let's see...quick updates in bullet points, b/c that helps me stay concise, which is hard for me (I know, shocker):

• Gus loves preschool. He talks about his teachers, who are amazing, all the time and he's slowly making new friends in class, too. It takes our little guy a bit to warm to new kids. He's a friendly little guy, but like his father, it just takes him a bit to warm up to folks. But Gus really loves school and has learned so much already. I'm really glad we put him in this year. I took him today and a little boy named Owen told him Mom, "Mom, look, that's Gus!!!" It was adorable.
  
• Cleo is like her momma...not introverted. :) Cleo is our crazy, fearless little lady. She speed walks everywhere and breaks out of most things you strap her in, including her high chair. I need to find a better high chair for her to use, b/c she climbs out of hers and tries to literally climb down it to the floor. It's stressful. I've been feeding her in her exersaucer so she's trapped. We never even used straps with Gus b/c he was content to just "be." Not Cleo! There are things to do, see, mess with. She will be a very active little monkey. She's all smiles, all the time. And still super affectionate. She's a social butterfly. The more activity and the more people, the better. I took Gus and Cleo to work the other day and Cleo walked right up to this opera professor I work next to, and hugged her for the longest time. No stranger danger here. That probably won't be so good when she's older, but it's cute right now.
  
• Work for us is still crazy, but for me it's starting to level off a bit. I finally got a little help from some students, so that has been awesome. Andy is basically traveling throughout the month of October, so it's that time when I mentally prep myself to be a single mom. I'm getting used to it with 2 kids now. Finally. It's hard when you are outnumbered! But I'm managing.
  
• I'm teaching myself how to run. I'm really proud of myself, to be honest. I NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS thought I could do this. I'm doing this podcast called Couch to 5k through coolrunning.com that teaches folks who have never run before to run 3 miles without stopping on a regular basis within 9 weeks. I'm on week 2 of the podcast, and so far it's going well. My goals with this are to 1) learn how to run 2) run a 5k after training 3) lose 10 stubborn lbs. More than anything, I just want to be active and healthy. So far I love it. And during all this, Andy is training for the upcoming KC 1/2 marathon. Hilarious...I'm learning how to run 3 miles, and he's training to run over 13 miles. A wee different, but that's okay! You have to start somewhere, right?

More later...