Happy Memorial Day!

We kept our tradition and went to the Memorial Day Parade on Monday. Natalie had the perfect shirt for the occasion:

A cute shirt for a cute girl.

We met up with Aubriella and her family. While the girls were waiting for the parade to start, they decorated some bags (for the parade candy) - and shared some secrets, I'm sure:

"Psst - have you heard..."

In previous years, Natalie was mostly sitting in my lap for the parade. Now, she's big enough that she wants to hang out with her friend instead. It is awesome to see her grow into such an independent and confident person.

Parades are serious business.

But, she's still kid enough to have a great imagination. She also brought some of her "friends" to the parade, and they got to sit and watch the parade with us:

Max and Frosty, watching the parade. They were very well behaved!

Clean-up time

The other day, Natalie and I were sorting thru her stuffed animals. She has a big bin for them, and the rule is that she can only have as many stuffed animals as she can fit in the bin (and that is quite a few). The bin was starting to overflow, so it was time to clean up a bit.

After we were done, there was just a little extra room in the bin for this:

So nice and soft!

Natalie insisted that I put the bin back in the closet:

Where's Natalie?

3.1 done!

I took part in the Cellcom Green Bay 5K! I had set myself that goal back in December - I wanted to prove to myself that I could run all the way. And my good friend Jenna joined me in what was the first 5K (3.1 miles) race for both of us.

 

 

We made it! We both ran all the way! It felt pretty good to be able to do that. The last part of the route was thru Lambeau Field. It was really special to get to run there.

 

And my results: 38min, 09 sec. That's a pace of 12:17 minutes per mile. I know it's nothing fantastic, but I think it's pretty good for a first-timer!

 

Of course, Natalie wanted in on the fun, too! So she took part in the Kids Run, which was one kilometer (0.62 miles). She as a little scared, but she wanted to do it all by herself, and she did! Her route also went thru Lambeau Field, which was pretty cool. She was super fast. We watched her start at the start-line, and the walked over to the finish line. After what seemed like an impossibly short time, Karsten said "There she is!" At first I thought he must have been mistaken, there was no way she could have run it that fast. But he was right! I was so proud of her!

 

And she even got a medal!

 

 

 

Runway for Life

On Thursday, I was modelling for Runway for Life. It's a benefit for The American Cancer Society. They put on a fashion show with cancer survivors as the models, showing off fashion from local stores. I was selected to model a handbag.

They went all out with fashionable hair-do's and makeup:

 

 

We were two cancer survivors from my company that modeled for the event, and our company sponsored a corporate table. I was so fortunate to have Karsten and Natalie in the audience, cheering for me, along with some great friends and colleagues. One of them even recorded a little video of my "5 seconds of fame"..

 

 

 

I don't usually consider myself modeling material, but it was a really fun event, and I'm glad I could take part in it. Not only was it for a good cause, but it was a total blast to do hair and make-up and hang out with the other models behind the scenes. And I think it was a great way to show Natalie that sometimes it's okay to do things you are not so sure about - and to not take yourself too seriously...

 

Soccer Mom

I'm now officially a Soccer Mom - and proud of it! Natalie started practice on Monday:

 

You go, Girl!

 

Happy Mother's Day

We had such a great Mother's Day! We spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing - like playing games, playing outside, flying kites, etc. And we did a lot of baking:

 

Yep, that's my daughter - wearing a pretty dress, an apron, and blue latex gloves. She DOES NOT like getting her hands dirty or sticky. But she's smart enough to just do things her own way. Gotta love it.

 

The best part was how happy she was to share "my" day with me. I think this video says it all:

What a Wonderful Day.

The Mother's Day Fairy

Did you ever hear about the Mother's Day Fairy? Well, she came to our house this morning (one day early, I guess...).

I was sleeping in, while Karsten was watching Formula One on TV this morning. Natalie must have gotten up sometime without me hearing her, and I think she snuggled up with Karsten on the couch for a while. I also know they played some Junior Scrabble, since that game was on the coffee table this morning.

While they were playing, they said they heard the Morther's Day Fairy out in the kitchen. Later, they came to wake me up, so I could come see what she had done:

Sorry, I was so busy enjoying it that I didn't think about taking a picture until after breakfast, but you get the point. The table was so nicely decorated, and the Mother's Day Fairy had made homemade waffles and coffee. Awesome!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there!

PS: I've been somewhat absent from this blog for a while. I plan on being more active here in the future. I'll also fill in with posts from November 2012 until now, so please keep scrolling back to see the "new, old" posts.