First Santa of the Year!

The kids saw their first Santa of the year at Pamida Thanksgiving weekend (and I say first because we know will see him few more times before Christmas!) Chloe said she wasn't going to be scared this year and tell him what she wanted for Christmas and she held true to her word! It was the first time she didn't reach out for us or cry! :) She was still a bit nervous, but she did really well. Caiden of course was fine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our traditional Thanksgiving is a lot different than most people and some think we are crazy, but it has been our tradition since we moved to South Dakota and I don't see it changing anytime in the near future! We start off at the Turkey Trot 5K in Rapid City, which is a race put on by the Black Hills Running Club. This year, I ran the race as my November race and Chris decided he would push the kids in the stroller for fun. We all ran together for a few minutes and then we the people with strollers and dogs and the walkers went one way and we went another. The race started off well for me, but I had to many layers on this year (the temp reached to 60 degrees later in the day!) and I got pretty hot. The course seemed to be a little long too, and for every .1 of a mile that the course is long, it feels like you are running an extra mile! So, my time was pretty slow (32 something) but Chris ran a 24 something pushing 80 pounds! After the race, we all stood and listened as they called off the 350 names of the people who had won pies - we were not one of them. Which makes for 2 years in a row. The first 2 years, we did win one, therefore, we will win one next year for sure! It was a fun race and I got see some of my "running friends" - most of who I only see at the local races. After the race, we headed to The Golden Corral for our Thanksgiving dinner. I know, I know - a buffet at the Golden Corral for Thanksgiving?! But it's actually really good and the kids don't like turkey and mashed potatoes anyway so it works out for us because the kids can eat whatever they want :) And they have some really good desserts too! So, we were stuffed and headed home to watch some football and let our food digest. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you who read what is going on in our lives!

Halloween Through the Years

I thought it would be fun to look at all of the pictures from Halloween past and post some pictures here! It's so fun to see how much the kids have grown! This starts with Chloe's first Halloween in 2005 as I have no idea where the 2004 pictures are! But Caiden was a lion and a really cute one! :)

2005 - A Tiger and a Duck

2006 - A Monkey and a Bunny

2007 - Mickey and Minnie Mouse

2008 - Sleeping Beauty and a Seahawks Football Player

2009 - Dorothy and Bumble Bee

I thought it would be fun to look at all of the pictures from Halloween past and post some pictures here! It's so fun to see how much the kids have grown! This starts with Chloe's first Halloween in 2005 as I have no idea where 2004 pictures are! But Caiden was a lion and a really cute one! :)

Sweet Tooth 5K

Chris literally found this race on Friday afternoon on a flyer in a Starbucks in Rapid. I was all set to drive to Gillette, WY for another race, but opted to do the one in Rapid because it's a lot closer and I would be able to sleep 2 extra hours by going to the race in Rapid. The race was put on by the Dental Hygienists Association with the proceeds going to Breast Cancer so it was for a great cause too. Since it was on Halloween, there was a costume contest and I knew I needed to come up with something cool. I decided on a road with double "no passing" lines and cars pinned to me and 2 runners on my shoulder as we run on the shoulder of the road. I also had two signs on my back which you will see in the pictures. I have had a cold for a good week now so I wasn't feeling 100% going into the race, but I figured it was only 3 miles and I would just go slow if I needed to. The first mile was great - 9:42 - but that was the only great thing about this race. I started coughing soon after the first mile and had to stop and walk a lot to cough. At the turnaround, there was some water (thankfully!) and that helped a little, but I was still going really slow and my next 2 miles were in something like 11:21 and 10:45. So, it was a slow race with me finishing in 32:06. But I was happy with that after being sick and not being able to breathe for most of the race! I won 2nd place in the costume contest too and got a really cool medal so it was all worth it! There was Starbucks coffee and Halloween cookies afterwards too! It's definitely a race I hope they do again so we can continue to go!

Halloween 2009

Halloween was SO much fun this year! Caiden wanted to be Bumble Bee from Transformers (mainly because he is yellow and yellow has been Caiden's favorite color his whole life!) Chloe was Dorothy and I have no idea why she picked this costume because she had never seen the movie. So after we got her costume, he watched "The Wizard of Oz" and loves Dorothy even more. :) Halloween started on Wednesday night with a Trunk or Treat at our friend's church and the kids had a blast playing games like pumpkin bowling, decorating cookies and bags and of course getting candy :) On Thursday, the kids both had parties at their schools with even more treats! On Friday, we had a Day Care party and did crafts all morning and then got into our costumes and had a costume party. Oh, and MORE treats! On Halloween, we went up to Rapid for the Sweet Tooth 5K(that will be a separate post) and then went to the parade in town and got to trick or treat at the downtown businesses. Then we headed up to the Rec Center for lots of games and more trick or treating. After a couple of hours of trick-or-treating in town, the kids ended up with 10 pounds of candy (yes, we weighed it!) and probably a couple of cavities! :) We picked our friend, Avryl, for a slumber party and came home to watch "Monsters vs. Aliens" and eat some of that candy (but not a whole bunch!) Click on the link below for pictures of all of the fun!

Bronc Football Fun

The kids love going to the football games and we have been to all of the home games plus an away game in Deadwood. I think Chloe loves to go the most for the popcorn and the cheerleaders. We have a fun time cheering for our Broncs! Tonight, they play in their 2nd playoff game and have to beat St. Thomas More who already beat us in the regular season. But hopefully they can pull out the W and continue their journey this season. Here are some pictures from our fun at the games!

A Visit from Smokey the Bear

For Fire Prevention Week, Smokey the Bear came to visit the Day Care and the kids loved it. Well, most of the kids loved it anyway! :) A few were afraid (Chloe!) but everyone had a great time giving him hugs and getting a whole bunch of goodies from him!