Rare Moments...

Snuggle time is such a rare moment anymore with a toddler on the run constantly.

After an action packed 3 day weekend with lots of family around, we all crashed Monday afternoon/evening. I savored the feel of my heavy "baby" in my arms as she snuggled so closely! What a blessing!

Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon

So today was a milestone-I finished the Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon! After 14 weeks of training it was nice to finally be at race day. It was a chilly morning, about 45-50 degrees and pretty windy-especially along the lake shore parts of the course-but the rain held off and all in all it was a great race!

The special part was that my sister, Jenn, celebrated her 35th birthday by walk/jogging the race. She smoked the time that she was anticipating and finished in 3 1/2 hours!
Chris and Karsten cheered me on along the race course. I was so happy to see them 4 times along the route...what a way to keep a good hop in my step!

This says it ALL...the final stretch about 15 steps from the finish line. I even took my headphones out so I could hear my name called!

Nothing like a little post-race love from the family!

I have to say that I have NEVER experienced anything like this in my life. What started after Christmas was a goal to get the last 10 pounds of baby weight off and it turned into completing a half marathon! My goal was to finish in 2 hours, which was a pace that would push me the entire race, and I crossed the finish line at 2:00:32.

I admit that this was a selfish goal of mine, but it actually turned out to be a huge life changing event. It taught me so much more about myself than I ever dreamed, and I have to thank Chris and Karsten for allowing me the time to be away while training.

I am quite simply amazed at what a mental game training and exercise are. Just when you think you have nothing left, your body gives you more. Your brain can push you FAR beyond what you believe you are physically capable of.

Lesson learned, my friends, each of us are MUCH stronger than we think we are-mentally and physically.

Spring School Program

Karsten had her school Spring Program this week. Although she is still in the youngest class for a few more weeks, she walks around her school like she owns the place! She was Miss Independent and a ham throughout the program. She played musical chairs with herself and tried to keep climbing up the stairs to the stage where the big kids were. She loved to shake her noisemaker and clapped along with the audience at then end of each song. What a crackup!

Weekend Hike

With spring in the air on Saturday, we ventured out to hike Mineral Ridge on the east end of Lake Coeur d'Alene. The trail is a couple miles long with great views of the lake. One of the spurs we took off the main trail was aptly named elk trail, as we saw elk tracks and could definitely smell that they had recently been in the area. On the way back down from the ridge, we saw and then quickly felt the dark rain cloud lingering overhead. We quickly sped up to a slow jog in an attempt to get Karsten out of the rain, and boy am I feeling it in my legs today. As you can see in the picture, Karsten loved being our tour guide as she read a book and/or talked the whole way up to the ridge.

Why we LOVE Craigslist!

"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Who cannot get excited about a great deal on a gently used item?

We are big fans of Craigslist and have sold and purchased many items from the website.

One of which is our "new" Kelty Kids backpack-move over stroller,

we are on to bigger and better things-WAY FUN! Geared up and ready to go! Trying it out for the first time.

Didn't need the sun/rain flap yet-just the trusty hat.
And their off...daddy and his girls headed on a walk to the lake.
Nothing like a good Daddy Day!

Pitfalls of Learning to Walk

It is simply amazing to me how two very capable, aware and ever present parents can miss the opportunity to catch a falling child.

When her feet cannot yet keep up with her body it makes for some pretty nasty falls...thank goodness this forehead gash did not split open-stitches averted! And by the way, this picture does NO JUSTICE for how nasty this thing was in person. Now, onto the next bruise...

Mother's Day Weekend

What could be more fun than being tossed around as the feather bed gets fluffed?!

The squeals and smiles are the simple moments that make you cherish your children.
Made to order kabobs-YUMMY!
The Towerys are practicing up on their dutch oven skills before a big rafting trip in June.
A few times a week something new is prepared via dutch oven. The pineapple upside down cake was a hit (minus the partly burned side), but hey, practice makes perfect!

Mother's Day Tea

HOW EXCITING-my very first Mother's Day event! I was invited to a Mother's Day Tea at Karsten's school. There were snacks, activities, and yes, tea-one of my favorites!

Mmmmm...first bite of Vanilla Wafers.
Hand-made flower arrangements from the kiddos for mommies.

Oh, and then there was the piano-that trumped our activity time.

All she wanted to do was play away!

"Though today I am small
And always leave my fingerprints

On furniture and walls

I'm growing very fast

And soon I'll be so tall

That all those little hand prints

Will be beyond recall
So here's a little hand print

For a Happy Mother's Day

To help you know exactly

How my fingers looked this day."

Cutting Molars...

Don't we all feel like we just want to pull our hair out sometimes...well Karsten literally does it! This is the picture of my sweet angel when she and daddy picked me up from work the other day...what a disaster! Cutting molars makes her all sorts of wacky.

New Adventures in Curiousity

Between walking now and an insatiable sense of curiosity, everything is an adventure-inside and out. Karsten, like every child, explores with every body part, but the favorite is the mouth! Mommy finally made one drawer in the kitchen totally available to play in-yahoo for the plastic container lids and water bottles! Who knew this could be so much fun?

Learning to WALK!

Well something finally clicked in Karsten's brain and she GETS IT! She is walking :-) Look out world-we are off to bigger and better things! We had a chance to see some family and cousins over the weekend and boy did they ever help Karsten out.

Marley making sure that Karsten stayed upright.
Lenae and Marley trying to manhandle Karsten back to a standing position...what big helpers!

WOOOO WEEEE, look at me!