my little valentines

Last week the children had their school Valentine parties. As we did the past three years (you can see them here, here, and here), I used photos to make Valentines for Hannah and Joseph to hand out. With scissors, a hole punch, and ribbon I got to work.

This year we attached gummies, their absolute favorite things. We've done M&Ms and lollipops in the past.

When I showed Hannah the two photos I picked out for her so she could choose…well, she couldn't decide. So we went with both.

I took two pictures of Joseph playing in the backyard and one was perfect for this purpose.

When Hannah got home from school, she wrote the names of her classmates on the back of each photo (and added a heart sticker).

Thursday was a busy day. It was show-and-tell day for the letter of the week: X. I can think of two things that begin with X. It was either printing out a picture of an X-ray of Daddy's leg or taking the xylophone from the playroom. We went with the latter.

As previously mentioned, it was Valentine parties. I didn't get a picture of Joseph at the preschool, but he went with us to the "big school" in the afternoon for Hannah's party and I got a picture of both of them there:

Thursday was also the start of soccer. Hannah was very excited…

…and very disappointed when they didn't get to practice because of the cold/wind and it just ended up being a parents meeting.

Better that way, too, because Monkey has been sick. She had an ear infection and was put on antibiotics a couple of weeks ago, but then Friday started complaining of pain in her other ear. Turns out there were infections in both ears and she is on her second round of antibiotics. She was in a lot of pain this weekend and I was thankful for a long weekend being lazy at home.

Joseph and I did get out on Saturday for a birthday party. This little friend lives on a farm and between the awesome sand box and getting up close and personal with the cows, Joseph had a big time.

Joe and I had a lovely night out on Friday with friends of ours. We drove to Augusta for a delicious meal at Edgar's Grille, a place we first went for our anniversary in October.

The rest of our "stay-home" days we watched movies, did some small house projects and ate Valentines candy:

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to you!

tybee half marathon

This past weekend we were in Savannah for the Critz Tybee Run Fest. We drove into town on Friday afternoon and then, a bit later, on out to Tybee Island to pick up Joe's race packet. Hannah wanted to come along and I'm glad she did…

We got to have a few sweet moments on the beach with our girl.

Saturday morning started early, but both kids were up and dressed in a hurry. Obviously, we had to stop at Krispy Kreme on our way to the beach. I was very disappointed that there were no hot doughnuts ready, but we settled for some of these:

The race website advised us to arrive before the 7:00am start of the 10K due to parking and street closures, but we decided we'd take the risk. The half marathon start time was 8:30 and we were going to take advantage of a little extra sleep. We got out there around 7:40, found a great parking spot on 13th Street, and bundled up before heading over to the starting line.

Contrary to what we were expecting, it wasn't too cold. Hannah shed her coat almost immediately and I soon followed suit. The weather was incredible and both kids were so excited!

Love this video of them warming up with Daddy:

I had my phone in one hand taking pictures and Joe's phone in the other taking a video of the start. Hannah's cheering is awesome…

While we waited for Joe to run the first half of the course, we took a walk down the pier with Gran Gran and Poppy who also came to watch.

There were a bunch of surfers out in the water which was fun to see.

We found a spot on Butler Avenue to see Joe at the 7 mi mark. I encouraged him to wear his new (loud) neon singlet that I got him for Christmas and so glad he did - you could see him coming from a long ways off. No missing Daddy!

Now, let me tell you about Hannah. If you don't already know, she gets really into these races. She loves it all and is Daddy's biggest fan. She chose her outfit - three different layers. At the bottom was her favorite t-shirt which states "RUN FAST OR BE LAST". That's what she's showing Joe in the photo below.

One of the other runners said to Joe, "I don't know whose girl that is, but she sure is cute." To which he responded, "She belongs to me. Did you see her shirt? It says 'Run fast or be last'. You gotta train 'em early."

Another runner that passed by us at one point called out "I hope my daughter cheers like that one day!" Hannah is such a good supporter and encourager. I love that about her. So enthusiastic and animated. And Joe loves it, giving her a thumbs up and calling out as he passes by. {Joseph cheered mostly from the stroller but he gets a shout-out, too.}

Just by walking a few blocks, we caught Joe at the 7, 9.5, and 11 mile marks. Tybee is a great race, both for runners (it's flat!) and for spectators. The only wild card is the weather. Thankfully, the cold, wind, and rain of years past was not an issue this year.

That's him running into the finish on the left. He beat his goal of 1:25:00 finishing with a time of 1:23:13. Yay!!! With that time he qualified for the New York marathon! {As has been the case lately, he also ran with no pain!}

So excited and proud of Daddy!!

We wrapped up our morning on Tybee with a short playtime on the beach. It was chilly but sunny and Hannah and Joseph had a ball playing on the sand.

I wrote "Momma (heart) Hannah + Joseph" and then Hannah followed with her own message in the sand, x's and o's and stick figures:

What a fun morning and a great race!

the pink boots

Hannah's beloved Minnetonka pink fringe boots have finally bit the dust.

I received a text message from her teacher last week asking me to bring her another pair of shoes at school because one of her boots fell apart. She is very sad, and I have to admit that I am too.

Joe and I gave them to her on her 4th birthday:

I was so excited; I couldn't wait for her to have them. It was love at first sight. Most days, it was hard to get her to wear anything else.

But these favorite shoes have adorned our Monkey's feet for the last time. So before we say goodbye, let's relive some memories and see some of the things that the Pink Boots have done…

{In chronological order}

They've played at a pumpkin patch…

Went for walks in the cold winter months with Momma…

Co-starred in the 2014 Christmas card photo…

Waited at the end of the driveway for Daddy to get home…

Tested out the bicycle Santa brought…

Spent countless hours driving the Jeep in the backyard (she's wearing them, trust me)…

Provided a great addition to Hannah's Valentine ensemble…

Fetched the mail and carried the recycling bins to the street…

Pumped high in the swings and climbed all over the swing set…

Surveyed all the damage from the ice storm…

Climbed through a maze at the Boston Children's Museum…

Went to birthday parties…

Coordinated well (and posed in pictures) with many outfits…

The Pink Boots have scaled a hay bale tower, walked through a corn maze (and gotten full of corn kernels) on a farm…

They have played on numerous playgrounds…

Gone down the tubing slope in the mountains of North Carolina…

Toured Christmas light displays…

And various other outings and adventures.

The Pink Boots have walked, run, pedaled, climbed, pumped, driven, slid, danced, ridden…and been carried all over the place. We got our money's worth out of those things. They owe us nothing…though it is sad to see Hannah's days with them are over.

Hannah asked me if I could send them back to the company to be fixed. I assured her that, even if they could stitch them back together, the boots really have gotten too little for her feet. {I think she was squeezing in them towards the end there.}

Goodbye Pink Boots. You were well-loved. Fancy and fun and absolute favorites! And we might just have to buy some more of you one day…