Marathon Training Update

It is now the end of February, and Bill and I are running 7 miles in an hour. It's hard to stay motivated to run in the winter since we're running inside on the tredmill, but we're trying. Bill, especially, is doing a great job. We can't wait for Spring!

Snowball, Valentine's Day, Sarah, and The Choo Choo

February has been a busy month! For the 2nd year, I went with my friends to Snowball, a Children's Memorial Hospital fundraiser ball at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom. It was a lot of fun - the fundraising team raised the same amount of money for the hospital as they did last year, which is great considering the economy. Megan added significantly to that by having the winning bid for an auction item -- accidentally under the name "Erin Broderick." Hopefully Erin wasn't there during the announcement of the winners!

Also, before Snowball, I went to my friend Jennie's baby shower for her daughter-to-be Adelyn Joy. The shower was beautiful, Jennie and her family are so happy for the arrival of her daughter, and it was really great to be a part of it. We can't wait to meet her, Jennie!

Bill and I had a low-key, romantic Valentine's Day, celebrating with dinner at Francesca's for the second year in a row. Bill brought home some of my favorite flowers, pink calla lilies and blue hydrengeas. I love celebrating holidays that celebrate love. Even if it's a Hallmark holiday, why not celebrate love?

The day after Vday, I had a wonderful 3 hour lunch with some of my great high school friends, Sarah, Kelly, and Kate. It was so great to see Sarah again! She's living in Washington DC, and it had been forever since the last time we'd seen her, and a ton of things are happening in her life right now. It was great to hear about everything, and to have a long, leisurely lunch with some really great friends.

On President's Day (which I get off! I love the teaching schedule!) Bill took a half day, and his sister Stacey, her husband Ross, and our nephews came out to visit us in Des Plaines. We went to The Choo Choo for lunch, which is a great place for kids (and Bill)! The Choo Choo has to be 40 or 50 years old, and the main attraction is a train that carries your lunch to your table. There's a line out the door, a half hour time limit for lunch, and a million kids all trying to order as many things as they can so the train keeps coming to their table.

After lunch, Jackson, Cooper and I sat in the window seat in our apartment and watched all of the planes flying around waiting to land at O'Hare and the trains that kept coming and going through the station. The boys were so excited everytime they saw a plane (every 5 to 10 seconds), and the three of us had such a great time together while Bill, Stacey and Ross hung out in the other room. They're a couple of really cute tartar sauces.

Bill is 27!

Bill turned 27 this February 9th. Bill's birthday is usually the time of year that we get sick, and this year was no exception, but luckily we had been on the mend long enough to have a good time. Bill's parents had a family party to celebrate. I make Bill a carrot cake (his favorite) and even though he got lots of awesome presents, he says the cake was his favorite gift. I love him and I hope he has a great year being 27!

With Cooper blowing out the candles, there must have been spit allll over the cake

Is there anything up there, Bill?

The boys always get so excited to open Bill's presents, then get so disappointed

It is SO hard to decorate cakes! The frosting is never smooth. I need to take a class. But it's kind of pretty!?

Lake Geneva Trip

For Christmas, Jami gave all of us a long weekend getaway to the Grand Geneva's Timberridge waterpark. It was a BLAST! Jami, Stacey and I were treated to a spa day, the waterslides were huge and so fun (!!!), and Jackson was even brave enough to go down the biggest one (though he and Ross fell off the tube in the middle, so he refused to go anywhere near the slide again). On our second day, we noticed Bob had been missing for a while, only to find that he had been riding the waterslides solo non-stop for 3 hours. Jackson and Cooper love Spongebob Square Pants, and they spent the whole weekend calling each other a "tartar sauce" as if it were a bad word. It was so funny. You're such a tartar sauce!

*I finally got some pictures!*

Jackson's 5th Birthday

Jackson's 5th birthday, on January 28th, was an exciting celebration for our family. I can't believe the tiny baby I used to babysit in the summer is already FIVE! Jackson, who loves construction tractors, trucks, and all of those huge machines, got an enormous ride-on escavator (a word I never knew) from Bon-Bons, Bob-Bob, and Aunt Jami. It was assembled and waiting for Jackson in the garage, and Jami had the great idea to wrap the huge (empty) box it came in so that he could have a huge present to open. Happy Birthday our sweet nephew!

Us with Maddie - she's obsessed with Bill and wouldn't leave his side all night

This picture only shows half of this huge, favorite toy of Jackson's


Uncle Billy and our favorite JJ

Jackson's 5th Birthday!