Projects

We've been working on a few house projects these past few weeks. We, being Colin mostly...though I have been a good design consultant =)

This shelf used to be in my Grandma and Grandpa Boyer's house. My Grandpa made it several years ago. It sat in my parent's garage for a while, and then in our basement. Colin refinished it recently, gave it a new coat of paint, and wa-la, a cute new shelf for Emmit's bedroom!

We also elevated the 'big boy-ness' of Emmit's room by taking out the rocking chair, taking railings off the bed, and changing the dresser and bed around. A few new accessories too, and it's a whole new room!

Another fun project in our unfinished part of the basement. We primed the wall with magnetic primer, and then painted with chalkboard paint. This has been a fun new addition for the kids, and one I think they'll enjoy this winter. They have so much fun coloring the driveway in the summertime - in the winter, it'll be the wall =)

And the last one, the big one! Our kitchen! My parents came down a few weekends ago, and Mom, kids, and I went to a fun show (post to come) while Colin and my Dad tiled. They got about 50% of the job done that one night, and then Colin and I finished it up over the course of the next week. We also just painted this week so it is ALL done now. I love, love, love it!

September/October 2012

Just a random summary of things we had going on this Fall. It's hard to believe it's November already. I officially started my Christmas shopping yesterday, but have A LOT more to go!

Sadly, Colin's Uncle Mark passed away in early September. He was newly retired, and had lots of life left in him. Unfortunately, his heart was weak, and though he was on a donor list, his body couldn't wait any longer. His service was sad - he was loved by many people. The weekend of the funeral, Wellyn, Sue, and the boys came to stay with us. The kids had fun with a babysitter one night while the adults were at the funeral, but then we had a fun weekend all together after that. That Saturday, we took the kids to Quarry Quest (aka a 3 year old boy's dream!) The kids loved it, Brendan and Aiden more than Ellie and Emmit...the long waits were a bit much for E&E. We probably won't be venturing back to Quarry Quest until the kids are a few years older!

We had a bonfire one night too which the kids thought was fun. Ellie got a new Barbie doll from Auntie Susan and Uncle Wellyn. She is sure in love with Barbies right now.

Emmit having fun on his 4 wheeler with Brendan and Aiden

Colin went to San Diego for a conference in late September. He really liked it there and thought we should go back for vacation someday. I've been to California several times, but never to San Diego, so that sounds good to me! =) This was the beach near his hotel.

The weekend after his San Diego trip, he had his annual 4-wheeling weekend with the Pomeroy boys. They went to the northern UP at peak color time, and despite camping out in the sub-thirty nights, they had fun as always.

While Colin was gone, the kids and I kept busy at home. We spent one day up in De Pere with Auntie Sara. We went to a little local festival, and the kids enjoyed petting the animals, playing in the bounce houses, and picking gourds.

This little goat's name was Ellie too =)

After the festival, we went home and made sugar cookies. This is totally an Auntie Sara, Ellie, and Emmit activity! =) This Mama is not a baker!

The finished product! Sprinkles, sprinkles, sprinkles!

On October 17th, my Grandma turned 89 years old. We had a family party for her, so we all traveled home. Love her so much!

The night of the party, my Mom, sisters, Grandma, cousin Danielle, and I stayed up late into the evening, just sitting around the kitchen table talking, and drinking wine. This was such a fun night, and I had SUCH a headache the next morning. The boys were taking care of all of us (and the kids) the next day. Colin had a quiet ride home with his sports radio while the kids and I all slept =)

Swimming Lessons

Ellie and Emmit have been enjoying swimming lessons these past 8 weeks. Ellie takes lessons with an instructor on Tuesday afternoons, and Emmit and I have been going on Thursday nights together. Emmit recently 'graduated' from his parent/child class and can go on to classes with just an instructor now too. On one hand I can be sentimental about my baby growing up, but on the other, I'm not too disappointed with not having to get in the cold water on Thursday nights anymore! Emmit starts his instructor class with his friend Eli on Monday mornings now, and Ellie will keep up her Tuesday afternoons. I skipped out of work for a bit to watch one of Ellie's recent classes. Parents are only allowed to watch certain days and this was one of them. She did such a good job...here are some pictures and videos of her in action. It was just her and one other girl in this class, so they both got lots of attention from the teacher which is really nice. The pool is only 3 feet deep =)

And while Ellie is in swim lessons, Miss Kim is a trooper and usually takes Emmit and Eli swimming in the big pool. Sometimes they just play in another area, but they've gone swimming a lot this Fall. They are wild boys! Here are a couple videos of Emmit too, Mr. Showoff =) He is totally fearless in the water - I'll be glad when he can swim!

Marathon Weekend

We had a full Fox Cities Marathon weekend again this Fall. Ellie and Emmit ran the kids run, and I ran both the 5K and Marathon Relay. We had events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

On Friday, we headed to the kids run with our neighbors. The kids had a great time running all together, even though it was cold and RAINY by the time they actually got to run. Unlike other runs we've done with them, parents weren't allowed on this one, so the kids went all on their own! After the race everyone came back to our house for pizza.

Emmit and Eli waiting patiently before the race (in the middle holding hands) =)

Ellie, Sydney, and Palmer waiting too. These 3 were holding hands almost the whole time too.

Here comes our whole crew!

Ellie and Emmit after the race - all wet!

Everyone together after the race: Emerson (6), Eli (3), Ellie (4 1/2), Emmit (3), Sydney (5 1/2), and Palmer (4)

The next morning the Moms got in on the action running the 5K. It was a beautiful morning for a run and a bloody mary afterward!

We wore our flowers in our hair =)

Aunties, Uncles, and cousins arrived later on Saturday since we were running on Sunday together. The kids loved this of course!

Crazy boys together

Ellie getting some lovin' too

The next morning we were up at 5:30 am to head to the Marathon start line. Ellie came along for the ride with us which she thought was so cool =) We ran a good time, taking 8th in the female division. After the relay, we headed to the Betkers for a post-marathon bbq. Perfect ending to a fun running weekend!

Our relay team - me, Sara, Shannon, Steph, and my friend Julia. And our cheerleader Ellie too! =)

And a big group shot with our male rival team! Matt, Mike, Tim, Kraig, and Brett ended up beating us but we met up at the finish line for a post-race shot!