State Fair 2011

As I write about the State Fair from August, I really miss the shorts and short sleeved shirts. I am so behind in life, but I've got to start catching up this blog somehow.

This was Adde's third year at the Fair, and Eleanor's first. The girls had a great time. We tried different foods this year - no Sweet Martha's cookies. On my list was a pretzel dog, deep fried pickles with cream cheese inside, and a sweet dream peach. I succeeded in sabatozing the plans to visit each of these stands. I think the peach was my favorite. Aside from food, we saw lots of animals, watched the parade, sat on lots of different farm and yard machinery, went into the campers (one of Adde's favorite things to do), and did some crafts and coloring. Mark was a spotter this year for work, so we looked for other people wearing the bright orange shirts and handing out gift cards. On a side note, this was the first year we took Adde to the cow milking station and she had no questions about this process...hmmm.

Look Who's Driving!

 

We're back...

but I don't know for how long.  Have to be honest, time to blog seems to not exist anymore.  I did find this album I meant to share earlier, but the computer was having problems.  So here's to our own Etsy shop (for those of you who haven't been introduced to the world of Etsy, it's fabulous.  Handmade items to buy or sell.  Even better than Etsy is Heartsy - selected deals for the day on Etsy).  Anyway...

Our next little diva...

who is one today! Happy Birthday sweet baby Eleanor Jane! More to come later on the birthday thoughts...

My First Half Marathon

and I will entice you to read something about me by inserting pictures of my adorable fan club!

I ran my first half marathon this past Sunday. This has been on my bucket list for years. There is always an excuse. This year I got connected with some people from my church who were running with Team World Vision to raise money and awareness for kids in Africa who don't have clean water. I decided to join the cause. Then the famine hit East Africa, and it seemed like there were reminders every day in the paper about the realities across the globe. I cried one morning reading about the babies in Kenya and seeing a picture of a baby boy - so starkly different from my healthy baby girl. God once again softened my heart to the reality of the rest of the world.

I signed up to run this race because it was something I've always wanted to do, but I know now that God wanted to make me more aware and give me an aching heart for His kids. It truly was exhilirating to run. I felt great (until that night...oh boy). Hopefully I can do this again. I finished in 2:02:44. Now my goal is to finish under 2 hours if there is a next time.

(Eleanor just can't seem to focus on the camera for anything:))

Guesses?

Notice the mark on her cheek? Any guesses as to what caused this?

New Wheels

The girls have found new wheels this month...

Eleanor's Dedication

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ." Philippians 1:9-10

Our Game

Eleanor has a few games she enjoys to play. This is one of them. The other is handing objects to you expecting that you will say thank you and return them right away. This game does not work so well with other small children.

10 & 11 Months

Taking Eleanor's growth pictures each month has been an adventure.  She does not sit still at all and seems to not smile for the camera at all.  I also learned that involving Adde in the process involves a whole new dimension.  I learned and did the 11 month pictures while Adde was napping.  I'll just let the pictures tell the story.  They are in chronological order.