The Lucas Zoo

Did I really just run that?

>> Saturday, January 2, 2010

Back in October I posted about starting to take the girls for walks in the mornings. It was nice and we have a lot of fun seeing all the neat things that our area has to offer (vultures, hawks, horses, goats, hens, and donkeys top the list). I would walk on my own Sundays when Matt was home and started to sort of jog part of my route. With Matt being home for the time being I am able to get out on my own a little more often and jog a little farther each time. I decided to make myself a goal so I emailed a friend of mine that runs with her family and told her that I thought I might like to try a 5k around the 1st of the year. Ha, she quickly emailed me back about a race that was just a week away - ack! I agreed but unfortunately it was postponed b/c of the "blizzard" we had that weekend. Well, now it was going to be after the 1st of the year just like I had hoped. I had all these grand ideas I would "train" for this, before this morning the last time I actually did anything was before Christmas lol :) This morning as I was getting ready I was thinking of every excuse that might work to get me out of running. Besides a head cold and never sleeping b/c of the all night breastaurant that I manage I didn't have any good excuse. Off we went. I love that Matt brought the girls. They watched a movie b/c it was like 29 degrees out but there they were at the finish line when I came through. Thank you for that Matt. Anywho, 1st race and I finished 84th out of 117 runners with a time of 31 minutes 35 seconds AND I won a Lancaster's BBQ gift card as a door prize. Money went to a local fire department so woo hoo - everyone wins today!

Happy 3rd Birthday Violet!!

>> Thursday, December 31, 2009

What a lucky little girl to have her birthday on such a fun day, she just doesn't know it yet :) This morning we let her open 1 of her presents sent to us from family in Ohio. It was a finger painting set - woo hoo - Color Wonder even so no messes :) I tried to get her to wear her favorite little tutu given to her when she turned 2 so that I could get some cute 3 year old birthday pictures but she wasn't into it at all!

Funny though that she is probably the sickest out of the family but still insisted on coming with me to run some errands. Crazy girl! We picked up some steaks for supper and a little something for Piper so she wouldn't feel left out. Next came naps,

making cakes,

do NOT get stainless appliances if you have kids under 4. They are clean for about 3 minutes and then the hand prints magically appear :)

decorating,

OPENING PRESENTS,

I think she will LOVE this!

supper,

and CAKE!!

Happy Birthday Violet!!

Her Cross

Piper started preschool this year at a baptist church near our home. Since going there she has an infatuation with crosses. The other day while going through some boxes Matt came across this cross that was his when he was younger. She doesn't want to take it off :) I imagine seeing many pictures of Piper in the future with this particular piece of jewelry.

Wordless Wednesday - Thank You Santa

>> Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I received this beautiful poppy necklace mysteriously in the mail right before Christmas. The card said it was from Santa. I love it, thank you so much Santa!

More WW @ 5 Minutes for Mom

Looking at this shot of me I wish that I would not have greased myself down with baby oil in my teens and twenties. If this isn't an ad for sunscreen I don't know what would be :)

She's getting excited...

>> Tuesday, December 29, 2009

for her birthday! Violet is the last birthday of all her friends so she has had to go through probably 8 parties waiting (im)patiently for hers to come and FINALLY it is almost here! We were invited to a playdate today but I had to decline b/c the girls are all still sick. I sure hope that they are over it before Violet's party on Sunday. Today I decided to tackle a few things around the house. I am washing my kitchen floors and stuffing gift bags. You know you can't do too much before hand when you have 3 little mess makers around. I can clean their playroom but it will be trashed before bedtime again. We already took down all Christmas stuff inside the house but will leave the outdoor lights up until next week. I love those! I love having my tree up longer but there are going to be a bunch of people here and our little house can use all the room we have.

Anyway, I have to take advantage of baby Ruby sleeping and start stuffing. Maybe I will get these 2 sweeties to help me. Without bribes though it is unlikely :)

Here is a picture that the girls took of their dolls on Christmas night (ish). They were using the remote control to do them and thought they were pretty darned cool. Most of Violet's babes were resting on her bed. This is Taylor Swift and a loaner babe, Sally. Grandma lent it to her on our last visit to Ohio. Also shown are Kit (Piper's gift from Santa) and Lilo. The animals pictured are Coconut the dog and Licorice the cat given to them from Matt and I. We figured that their dolls needed pets too right?

The Zoo (2009)

>> Sunday, December 27, 2009

We debated if we should actually go this year b/c of illnesses with Ruby & Violet but in the end we decided to venture the 2 hours and see what happened. The girls weren't running a fever anymore and pretty much just had snot noses and coughs. They handled the zoo great and all in all it was a wonderful day!

We got to see so many cool things while we were there. The handlers were feeding both the gorillas and the elephants so we got a front row view of that. They have the elephants do "tricks" while feeding them their snacks to make sure they are ok. It was neat b/c we have never seen elephant tricks before :)

The gorillas are a stubborn bunch. They are too aloof to even look our way. In fact the big one of the bunch sits with his back towards us most of the times we've been there so we see a giant butt crack (excuse my french lol). No pictures of that even though I have probably made it seem so attractive :) Here is the only one that would give us the time of day lol :)

The girls rode the merry go round and we saw our favorite koala bears. Next to the koalas are the Lorikeets. Previously the girls have been quite afraid of the colorful birds but not this year. I am just so proud of the both of them! After a few minutes they sort of freaked Violet out so she quit holding the cup of nectar but not Piper.

Way to go Piper!

I think that Matt had the most birds on him out of anyone there! It is b/c he is so sweet :)

I love our now annual "Day After Christmas Zoo Trip"!

Ahh, Christmas (2009)

>> Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas is always such a fun and magical time of the year. If you are unlucky enough to be out and about the day or two prior however you might disagree with me. Some people are so focused on the items that they "need" to get that they forget common courtesy. By no means am I saying I am perfect and haven't been one of them but this year I promised myself to concentrate on the holiday and not the gifts as much. I ventured out to Walmart at approximately 4 pm December 23rd to food shop and met a lot of those crazy people but also many, many extraordinarily nice ones. Lesson learned though - don't go to Walmart the week prior to Christmas lol :)

A quick look back on the holiday shows Ruby still struggling with a bug. Her nose runs the worst in the mornings but a cough is making it very difficult for her to sleep at night. Violet getting a bug. Last night she swapped beds with her Daddy and slept with Ruby and I b/c she needed to be near me. Matt thinks he is feeling the beginning of an illness coming on - ugh! It won't stop until it makes it's way through our family I am sure but hopefully won't prevent us from heading to the zoo in the morning for our annual "Day after Christmas Zoo Trip" :)

Here is our baby with her runny nose yesterday - bless her heart :(

Last night we opened our pj's, drove and found a new place that had fabulous Christmas lights (thanks Dana), spread out our magic reindeer food (thanks Steph), and decorated Santa's cookies. He asked for chocolate chip but I already had made the sugar dough so we gave him a few on the side.

Violet & Piper's cookies

There was happiness all around this morning. The girls got the present that they asked for, I got a pedometer, Matt a new jacket & hat - life is good. Check out Piper pointing to her new doll Kit in both pictures - do you think she LOVES her much?