Just the Start!

This weekend was quite eventful.  To begin with, I started my Christmas shopping with the opening of ToyLand at Farm and Fleet.  I was shocked at the amount of people and the amount of toys in their carts.  It was madness!  It was Black Friday shoved into five aisles!  I got some things for Paisley and left. 

While I was at Farm and Fleet, my mom called.  Paisley was with her because Jordan had class this weekend.  Paisley went potty in the potty for the first time.  She had no idea what she did, but we made a big deal out of it.  Paisley was standing in the middle of the hallway doing her thing, and my mom asked if she needed to go potty.  Paisley said no, but mom put her on the potty to finish her task.  She usually tells us "potty" after she has went potty in her pants. 

Other than that, it was a beautiful weekend to be outside!

Busy Labor Day Weekend

We had an amazingly busy Labor Day weekend at the Williams Ranch.  On Saturday, Jordan and I both ran in the UW-Platteville Cross Country Alumni Run.  I was the oldest female alumni that ran, but I did rather well...beating several people.  Jordan did a great job ...especially since he just started running again on August 9!!  Paisley and both grandparents cheered us both on.  It was so great to see old friends again.  We attended the Alumni Picnic, and got ready for Sunday.

On Sunday, we had several people over to our house for games and food.  It was a great day, and fun was had by all!  We had a food boil.  We cooked shrimp, potatoes, sweet corn and brats outside in turkey fryers.  We had tables and chairs set up outside with brown paper covering all of the tables.  When the food was done, the guys dumped it on the tables.  Everyone pulled up a chair, and dug in!  That's right...no plates or forks.  Ketchup, ranch dressing, butter, and shrimp sauce all just was squeezed onto the table.  It was quite a sight!!

On Monday morning, I ran a half marathon in Dubuque.  I had a goal of averaging 8:00 miles for the 13.1 miles.  If you know anything about Dubuque, you know it is hilly, and I knew the last 7 miles were going to be tough.  I went too fast during the flat first 6 miles, and the hilly miles 7, 8, 9 were tough.  I was in rough shape near the end, but I did manage to beat my goal.  I ran the race in about 1:42:00!!  I also placed 3rd in my age group!  Jordan, Paisley, and both my mom and dad and Jordan's mom were there cheering me on!

Following the race, we came home and power napped, as we were all pretty tired.  We picked up the house from the previous day, and made two batches of cookies.  The UW-Platteville cross country team takes scenic runs on Mondays, and one of their runs just happens to go right by our house.  Each year (this is the 3rd year) we have them over to our house after their run for cookies and lemonade.  Jordan and I don't really know any of the current runners, but we enjoy doing this.  One of the girls (Ann Tank) fell in love with Paisley and Paisley really enjoyed her energy and enthusiasm for playing.  We actually got her number to possibly babysit sometime!!

We are definitely ready for bed, so pictures will have to wait for a couple of days to be posted.  We need to go back to work to rest from the weekend!

Door County Vacation!

Last week we spent the week in Door County with some friends and their families.  We rented two houses and loved every minute of it.  We biked a 10 mile trail at Peninsula State Park twice.  One day it was just Jordan, Paisley and me, and the next day it was 11 of us.  Paisley loved the biking. 

We also visited Whitefish Sand Dunes Beach.  It was gorgeous!  It was quite the hike to the beach, but it was definitely worth it.  The water was cooler than what we're used to at the pool, so we didn't actually do a whole lot of swimming.  It was shallow enough for us to walk out pretty far without getting too wet.  This was also Paisley's first experience with sand and her bare feet.  She wasn't sure what to think at first, but she enjoyed playing on the beach with her sand toys. 

Every morning I went for a run with a different route that I had found.  The "backroads" were filled with beautiful vacation home that had amazing views.  Every day I would come back and tell Jordan about a new house that I had found.  It was a great change of pace.

We were able to spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying good company.  Paisley played really well with Charlie and Halle.  Halle is 4 months older than Paisley, so there was a good amount of playing, as well as a good amount of fighting over toys.  Charlie is 5, and Paisley loves him.  Whenever she needed to be calmed down, Charlie as well as Griffin were right there.  Paisley even learned to say, "Charlie."

All in all, we had a great time.  It wasn't so busy that we felt like we were running all over, and it was also filled with a lot of memories.  We plan to go again next year.

Ferryville Cabin 2010

For the 3rd year in a row, we spent 3 nights with two of our favorite families.  We always have a blast together, and the kids seem to get along also.  This is a weekend in which the females battle the males in many different games...board games and lawn games.  However, our favorite and most comical is always Sing Star...a type of karaoke game in which you battle against another person.  The past two years we have brought babysitters along so that we can have some fun without the kids.  We are also able to spend time with our kids too.  As always we had a blast, and the time went too quickly. 

4th of July

Unfortunately there were no fireworks on the 4th of July, but we managed to have a good time at the parade.  Paisley even had her first freezie-pop.  She must have had too much fun because she ended up sick at the end of the night.  Luckily it didn't last too long.

Staying Organized

We have a new addition to our living room.  Jordan's uncle Reuben has made many things for us.  He is the one who made Jordan's gun cabinet, my quilt rack, and our garbage bin.  He just finished a beautiful toy chest that can also serve as a seat.  We can finally have most of the toys put away, and our living room only looks like a small toy store.  Paisley really enjoys it...she actually thinks it is a toy itself.

Fun at the Park

Yesterday afternoon we made a stop at a different park in Benton.  This park had a lot of different "rides" for Paisley to try out.  Her favorite is still the slide...even though she couldn't make it down the big twirly slide by herself.  We tried, but she ended up twisting around and hitting her head.  She really does enjoy being outside.  She will look out the window and say, "Side...side."

Her newest fascination is that she tells stories and then laughs at them.  We have no idea what she is saying, but she thinks it is pretty funny.  We laugh along with her, and she loves it.  She also will put a bag over her shoulder or put our shoes on and say, "Bye!  Bye!"  She then will come over and try to give us a kiss.  It is adorable!!

First Day of Summer!!

Since today is the first day of summer and the humidity made it feel really sticky, we decided to visit the Shullsburg pool for the first time this summer.  Paisley wasn't too excited.  She had a death-grip on me, but she did start to relax after awhile.  We made it back to the shallow end, and she actually sat on the first step all by herself.  She actually seemed to be enjoying herself at that point...the point that we were going to leave.  We decided that we just need to take her more often.  It should be a fun summer!!

Smore Fun!

Sunday night was the Cuba City fireworks, and we can see them really well from our house.  We had a few families over for a cookout, bonfire, and fireworks fun.  Paisley was loving life!  She was just in awe of all the kids playing with her toys.  She was running all over with everyone...until 10:30.  At one point Jordan said to me, "I think Paisley can party longer than you can."  However, Paisley was falling asleep while eating supper tonight.  She can party, but she needs her beauty sleep too!

Big "Mini" Golfer

Jordan's basketball team had a mini-golf outing this week.  Paisley and I came along for a night filled with mini-golf.  Paisley loved it!!  She immediately started chasing the balls, and she needed to have a club in hand.  I got a lot of exercise chasing Paisley.  We had to keep warning the girls that Paisley would steal the ball.  Hey...if no one was playing with it, why couldn't she take it?  It kind of defeated the meaning of golf!  She had a great time!

When she wasn't chasing golf balls, she found the perfect ride... a school bus.  She is going to be quite the driver someday.  Watch out!!

Hot Weather Solutions

It has been extremely warm, especially Monday.  We decided to show Paisley how to cool off in the summer heat.  We hooked up the sprinkler, but Paisley was not terribly excited about getting wet.  I don't blame her too much...the water coming out of that sprinkler is probably 50 degrees.  She thought it was pretty neat, but not quite brave enough to go through the sprinker herself.  However...it isn't summer for me yet.  Jordan is officially done with school, but he starts his summer school classes soon.  Oh how I envy him being done!! 

Race Day!!

Today was Paisley's first road race that she participated in!!  We can't start early enough.  About a month ago I had a co-worker die from brain cancer.  Before he passed away, his wife and the Senior student council decided to put on a run not only for him but for brain cancer research.  It was a 5k race, and Jordan, Paisley and I all participated.  Jordan walked and carried Paisley in a backcarrier while I ran  (21:30...3rd place in my "old" age group).  It was a great race, and there were tons of people there...almost 500!!  Jordan said Paisley was clapping at all the passing runners and trying to give them high fives as they passed.  She loves road races already!!  It was for such a wonderful cause, but as you can see...Paisley was ready for a nap by the time we were done.   

It's Been Awhile!

Let's see...it has been quite awhile since I posted anything here.  As always, things are always happening at our house.  We are winding down the school year, and it can't come fast enough.  Jordan only has 9 days of school left!!  He has summer classes, but I am free for the summer...not until June 11 though.  Oh that is so long away!!

I have become a garage sale addict...I think I've had my fill though.  Paisley has enough clothes for two little girls!  I can't resist a good deal though.  I picked up a infant swing, and Paisley loves it.  However, we don't have anywhere to hang it outside.  We've been hanging it in the garage which has worked great with all of the rain.  We back the vehicles out, and she is good to go. 

We are getting ready for the swimming season.  My cousins were in Darlington a couple of weeks ago, and we all met at the hotel.  We tested the water, but it was past bedtime, so it wasn't a huge hit with Paisley.

Paisley is all over.  A couple of weeks ago she was in the nursery at church, and the ladies commented to us afterward that she is "quite the monkey."  So true!!  She has no fear and will climb on anything.  The Friday before Mother's Day, Paisley was running through the patio door and fell.  However, her face hit the slider.  It bruised so quickly.  It is looking much better, but for a week I felt like a terrible mother.  At breakfast on Mother's Day a man saw Paisley and said to her, "You have a dirty face."  I just smiled and shook my head!!

Jordan gave us a great surprise by purchasing the largest chair known to man.  It is hideous, and he thinks it is great.  I can just imagine this chair around a campfire.  The whole campground would need to walk by the campsite just to see this monster.

Lastly, I just wanted to share that Paisley really is alot like me.  She loves her pancakes just like her mom.  When Jordan isn't home, this is what we eat.  We don't care if it is breakfast or supper!  As you can see, she like the bigger pieces!

Springtime Fun!

Paisley loves the outdoors.  With the beautiful weather, we have been spending a lot of time outside.  We can't wait until summer when we can spend much more time outside together.  She really likes going to the park, and she loves her slide in the yard.

The Garage Is Done!!

We can finally park in our garage after two months of parking out in the cold.  We get spoiled so quickly, and we don't even realize it until we have to go outside to get in the car when it is raining or cold out.  The garage project has been a vision of Jordan's for quite awhile.  At the end of February, Jordan's cousin came down and they drywalled and insulated the garage.  A couple of weeks ago, we had someone come and paint it.  Jordan bought storage last weekend, and this weekend we finally put the finishing touches on it.  I have to give Jordan all the credit.  I didn't do a whole lot except hold things when needed and keep Paisley from getting into everything.  It looks organized and fantastic!!

Updates from All Around

     Today was a little bit of a sad day.  Ruger and Wetherby were officially moved outside.  Twice this week they have peed on things.  This is not the first time.  They don't really like Paisley, and it is finally warm enough.  I feel guilty, and I hope they do okay. 

     Paisley has officially started to brush her own teeth.  Okay...it really isn't brushing, but she really enjoys putting the toothbrush in her mouth and pretending that she is brushing.  We think it is cute.

     Paisley is definitely in the stage of taking things out of drawers and throwing them all over the floor.  One of her favorite things to do is to take all of her clothes out of her dresser.  I can't tell you how many times we fold her clothes in a day.  Another favorite drawer to empty is under the stove.  Fortunately, she will ususally put the cookie sheets etc. back.