Hey guys!

What's up? Gemma has been working hard at sitting up for the last 2 weeks and she now has it mastered well enough to have me take pictures while she is doing it (and I'm not afraid of her sustaining a head injury)

She loves being upright and being able to see what is going on around her. She is so sweet and fun! How can you not love all the rolls on her legs, dimples on her arms, and those fat cheeks?

Mom's night

Snow White (Amelia) and I attended her presshool's Halloween themed mom's night last week. She and I danced, sang, played games, crafted, listened to stories and had a great time. My girl certainly loved the attention! She doesn't get to be center stage very often lately OR have one parent all to herself. Both of us enjoyed the night out very much!

More marathon

Some more pictures from the marathon weekend!

Amelia and Hank drove the digger at the magic house.( picture #1)


The next day, Jessica and I took the kids to the park while Chris ran his marathon. Amelia and Hank rode the swings together for quite some time. Amelia was quite the little mama to poor Hank....he got more mothering than he needed. Amelia was very concerned about where he was and what he was doing all the time. It would have been sweet- but she was not as gentle as I would have liked! We have some work to do before Gemma gets to be big enough to be mothered around.

Chris finished his run around lunchtime and we all met up at home before heading out to the pumpkin patch! I'll be honest, this wasn't my best idea ever. It was close to 90 degrees and we waiting in a line for close to 30 minutes to get a parking spot. It was very crowded!

So: whiny kids plus hot weather plus tons of people meant we didn't stay for very long. But, it was long enough for me to get our annual pumpkin patch picture for our family calendar! Sadly, all those pictures are on the big camera and none on my phone.

After the pumpkin patch, we hit up a restaurant for dinner. I took a terrible picture with my cell phone to show what a trooper my husband is! He somehow ended up sitting with William next to him and the 2 three year old girls across from him. Then, while I was trying to get my food set up to eat, he held Gemma (and then I took her back). What a guy!

It was wonderful to have our friends here for a visit and to catch up! Thanks for making big trip!

Happy Halloween

William: "Hey Mom, who is the boogie man?"

Mom: "He is a pretend monster that comes and boogies in your house."

William: "Is it a monster that comes and leaves boogers in your house?"

Sad

It comes and goes. When we first moved here it was an adventure. I'll admit the adventure is gone and in the process we have found many wonderful places in our area we love.

It was never my intention to settle here permanently. Yet, here we are rapidly approaching the 10 year anniversary of breaking ground on our house. Unbelievable. It was always in our long term plan to return closer to our family before the kids started school. But, it just isn't happening for us.

I'm still sad every time we leave Minnesota behind. When we get in the car and drive away from our family, I feel like a piece of my heart has been left behind.

I'm sad when I go to a school/church/community event and I see other families together. Grandparents and cousins cheering a 5 year old at a turtle paced tee ball game have reduced me to tears at least one time this year (will admit, baby hormones were potentially involved here).

I'm sad when I know I'm missing important family events. This weekend was a bridal shower for my sister in law to be. I wanted to attend. Badly. However the distance is too great for a weekend trip. Other times we have missed graduations, birthdays, confirmations, and other celebrations. Everyone is so understanding. Everyone knows we can't be there. When we can make it, people are so appreciative.

We've built ourselves a great little community. Our kids happily call several women at church "grandma" - Relationships that delight both my children and the "grandmas". We have had "aunties" and an " uncle" step in for events when the need arises.

The grandparents do a great job of making events when possible- even moving around busy schedules to attend pumpkin outings with preschoolers. Even though we are hundreds of miles away, our children have managed to see their grandparents once a month for their entire first year of life (still a work in progress).

Yet, I'm still sad. I still long for my family to be available and to be more involved with then. As the holidays approach, it's harder to be away from them. I will most likely miss the annual lefse cook with my mom and auntA. I am missing more of my niece's first year than should be allowed. When your sister has a child, you should be able to kiss the baby's cheeks at least on a weekly basis, more if possible.

Waiting for the right opportunity is hard....


Sent from my iPhone

Marathon weekend

Our friends from the cities were in town last weekend so Chris could run the in the St. Louis rock n roll marathon. As a bonus, he brings my best friend and their kids when he comes for running.

They arrived Friday afternoon and we just relaxed and had some dinner.

When Saturday morning rolled around, we hit up one if the kids' favorite places : the magic house!

Gemma Kicking