**Magic Shoes**

I found some super cute sandals at Gap for Cam the man.  I find it impossibly hard to find cute sandals for little boys with big fatty pads on the tops of their feet (meaning flip flops are out). 

They turned out to be an amazing purchase because not only are they cute but they are also MAGIC! As soon as we put them on his feet he started doing THIS:

They transformed my "why walk when you can carry" baby into a little walking machine.  I KNEW he had it in him but the lazy little son of a gun wouldn't do it.  He wouldn't even try, which was the most frustrating thing.  I would stand him up and he would immediately latch on to my legs like a little leech.  He took his first steps April 3rd but hasn't done a whole lot of walking since UNTIL we got these magic shoes.  Now he's all over the place.  I better watch out because now that I don't have to lug my little heifer everywhere I may just end up with Relief Society arms!

Cam loves his new shoes, it's his new favorite word.  He'll find them and bring them to me saying, "shoes, shoes."  It's the cutest thing in the whole world!

Funny Kid...

Carter was listening in on a conversation Jared and I were having this morning about the recent squirrel invasion we seem to have had.  Upon asking Jared what we can do to get rid of the squirrels Carter responds, "Put nuts in the neighbors yard!"
That kid cracks me up!

Columbus Half

A few weeks ago Jared and I ran the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus, Ohio.  This was our first big race together and consequently Jared's first half.  Despite the rainy weather it was really fun to run together and we ALMOST met our goal.  We were shooting for under 2 hours.  (12 minutes faster than my PR)  Our official time was 2:00:20.  Seriously!?!  TWENTY-ONE SECONDS slower than our goal.  We were so close I could taste it!!  We were using our GPS watch as our guide and we were actually on track to finish in 1:59 and change... well according to our GPS watch 13.1 miles turned into 13.26 which put us just over 2 hours.  {sigh}  Oh well, that just means I get to drag Jared's behind out there again so we can do another one and meet our goal.  I think next time we'll give ourselves a little bigger window.  We were lucky the rain didn't start pouring down until mile 10.  The forecast said rain all morning.  At first it was a welcome coolant but after being completely saturated (my toes were little raisins when I took my shoes off) I was ready for it to let up.  It was an adventure and tons of fun.  We also got to visit some friends from med school who are doing residency in Columbus.  They were gracious enough to watch our boys while we ran and even took them to the zoo.  Thanks Sandberg's!

Ready to run!

Soakin!!  But we're still smiling!  I had a friend tell me to smile while we were out there running because runners never look like they're having any fun.  I was sure to smile really big the whole way.  I wanted people to know I was having fun!  Well around mile eleven I stopped smiling... NOT because I wasn't having fun but because I couldn't quite muster the extra energy required to lift those cheek muscles.  Debbie, if it weren't for the energy expended smiling that whole time I may have been able to finish 21 seconds faster!

j/k :)  

Just a couple of fun pics of my goof balls on Saturday afternoon -

A few pictures from the Columbus Zoo, I love zoos! 

It was fun to see Emelie and Carter together, they spent a lot of time playing together our first 2 years of med school.  

Simple Pleasures...

MUD PUDDLES!

On the way home from school the other day we decided to take full advantage of the puddles that spotted the sidewalk along our way.  Gage found every single one on the way there.  We took an alternate route on our way home and found some even bigger {muddier} puddles.  All of the parents looked at me like I had lost my mind letting my boys indulge in such a thing.  The truth was that I was this close to joining them.  By the time we got home they were soaked from shoulder to toe.  You can see in this last picture how much water made its way into  the boots.  Ah, simple pleasures!

Gage Cut My Bangs...

...Not really, but the job that was done looks about at his skill level.  The timing for a hack job was impeccable.  I  had a work dinner with Jared on Wednesday, a formal for the Josephine Ford Cancer Fundraiser on Saturday and we're leaving for Austria in 4 weeks (there is no chance they will be grown out by then).  They were down to the tip of my nose and I asked her to take an inch off.  Perhaps she thought I meant I wanted them an inch long?!?  Not only are they short but they are totally hacked and uneven {sigh} at least I didn't let her cut all of my hair. YIKES.

When she showed me the mirror I gasped {in horror} and then said, "Wow, thank you" in the nicest voice I could muster.  It was no use getting upset {I will never see her again}.  Surprisingly I didn't cry... instead I laughed about it ALL day.  So this is what I have to live with for the next four months until they grow back out:

Yes, this is my attempt at a smile

Don't be surprised if every picture you see of me for the next four months looks like this :    

Fly aways and all!

It's been 2 weeks and I am already SUPER sick and tired of this look, oh well, it's just hair right?!?!?

My Looth Tooth's No Longer Looth

Carter has been waiting and waiting and waiting to lose his first tooth.  He has watched as his friends have lost tooth after tooth and his first one FINALLY came out. {not without a little tug, pull and a big twist}  I love the little lisp he has and let's face it, that toothless grin is adorable! 

He's Nuts!

i haven't come to a conclusion yet
but I think he may have been trying to kill himself
we had a gardener friend come over and look at our
massive silver maple tree
it probably hadn't been pruned in 15 years
he took one look at it and referred us to a company called "dangerous tree removal and pruning"
jared laughed
like he's going to pay for that
so, he borrowed some tools from a friend
and went to work

{i couldn't bring myself to take pictures of him with the extension ladder on the roof for fear that i may quite possibly capture him falling to his death}

after spending every evening for a week and half of two Saturdays he was done pruning
two weeks later he was done cleaning up all of the branches

he likes to call himself Master Pruner
i like to call him Stupid

well, we're set on firewood for next winter

thank goodness no one was dismembered during the process... although I did look out the window one evening while cooking dinner to see the neighbor boy holding a large pair of pruning shears right over my baby's head, aaaah!  i opened the window and screamed at him.  i really don't like to yell, especially at other peoples kids.  but seriously!?!  apparently he was trying to cut his hair.  oh, sure.  that makes me feel sooo much better, you're going to attempt cutting my baby's hair with a pair of shears larger than you!  and where was jared while this was going on, where else?  in a tree.

Pinewood Derby

Carter had his first Pinewood Derby.  Although he had a sweet looking car and won the award for "most detail" he only won one heat.  He didn't seem too disappointed and had plenty of fun goofing off with his friends.     

Carter with his buddies Kaiden, Spencer and Justin. These boys are all the oldest boys in families of all boys.  Between our 4 families there are 10 boys... it was a pretty rowdy night!

Carter decided to stick with the shark theme.

He started out fast!  Maybe next year we won't wait until 30 minutes prior to weigh in to finish the car...

yah right!  That's just the way we roll. 

Or maybe we'll get some pointers from some of the seasoned derby racers in the family.  

Or we could always cough up $150 for a guaranteed winner online.