Our first time...

This past weekend, Matt and I ran in our first race together. We had never run together and we had so much fun. The weather was a bit cold, but we warmed up by the end. My mom and sister watched the kids so we could have some fun running. The race ended on the 50-yard line of Camp Randall Stadium (home of Wisconsin Badgers) and we were joined by about 18,000 other runners.

Wyatt was so proud and wanted his picture taken as well--but he was disappointed that he couldn't run across the finish line with us. Maybe in the future.


We'll definitely be running more races in the future together----it's just a matter of having the time to train for them. This one was a short race---8K--so it didn't require much training. But maybe I can convince Matt to do a half-marathon with me!!

Fun Times

We spent some time this past weekend at my parents house and the kids had a blast. I took lots of pictures from the weekend and thought I'd just include a few that really capture my kids' lives these days.

Sadie loves to pretend that she's talking on the phone. She was walking around my parents house with a phone in each hand (notice the phone dropped on the floor next to her).

In the post I did on Wyatt's birthday, I mentioned that our pediatrician thinks he is ambidextrous. I took these pictures of him within about 5 seconds of one another. Whenever he colors, he switches between hands when one gets tired. And he really colors and draws equally well with both hands. Wish I had this talent! Hopefully he doesn't lose it.

Of course, Sadie had to do whatever Wyatt was doing. It's amazing to me how many things she picks up just from being around him.

The kids thought it was hilarious that Nani opened up some windows and still didn't have the screens on them. Wyatt was climbing in and out of the windows.

The kids were running around on my parents deck without shoes on and they thought it was just hilarious! And I have to say, it was freezing outside. But the kids didn't seem to care!

Sadie loves peaking around corners and playing peek-a-boo

The kids---ready for blankies and naps in the car.


The kids love being at Nani and Pops' house because Nani and Pops will do all kinds of crazy things with them---like running around outside on a freezing cold day and throwing balls off the deck. We are really going to miss living so close to them come next year, but we're enjoying it while we can.

Boys will be Boys

It has been way too long since I last posted on here and many of you have actually called or emailed me to make sure everything is ok! So sweet--and yes, everything is wonderful! Just very busy. But I am trying to catch up on a few old posts that I have had waiting to finish.

A few weeks ago the kids and I made a short trip over to MN to see our friend Jessie and her kids. They went through residency with us and have graduated into the next stage of life---i.e, owning a house, having a 'real' job, possibly staying in one location for longer than a few years, etc. They moved in January but thankfully we have been able to see them often as they don't live very far away and have come back to La Crosse about once a week. We had a GREAT time at their house---we stayed until 4pm which is huge for Wyatt. He has only gone without a nap once in his life and it took him about 3 days to recover. But he had such a blast with Jackson and Caleb and they got along great. Of course this would happen once they move away!!! We miss having them here so badly and Wyatt talks about them constantly. Here are a few pics from our day there......

The boys eating lunch...

....playing in the dirt.....

....climbing fences and teasing the neighbors dogs (easily done when the dogs are in cages)...

.....laughing hysterically while having a snack.....

Their home backs up to a horse pasture and it was a beautiful day to go out and see the horses. As I mentioned in a previous post about the ducks, Sadie loves animals and wants to touch them--no matter how big they are. She was trying to climb the fence while Wyatt wasn't even sure if he wanted to get on the fence at first!


I just love this picture of the boys! Wyatt, Jackson, and Caleb got into all kinds of boy stuff---dirt, climbing, running, hitting balls, grunting....you name it! Wyatt was definitely in his element with these boys.

And while the boys were doing all this outside, Jess and I were able to spend some great time together inside catching up. And sweet Sadie loved exploring inside as well.

We are excited to be moving in a few months, but until then we'll be trying to maximize our time with these guys!!!! It was such a great day and the kids had a great time---and were absolutely exhausted that night.

The Week in Review

Well, I've been saving up several of these pictures until I had more to blog about. So now I think I've gotten there----I at least have several little things to put on here. Doing a "week in review" on Sundays allows me to put all the little things that happen during the week on our blog--very useful for many of these little things that don't necessarily warrant an entire post on their own, but things that I think someday will be fun to look back and remember what our lives were like at this stage in our lives.

Sadie has discovered her belly button and loves to try and find it. We'll say, "Sadie, where's your belly button?" and this is the response we get. (She also loves to find Wyatt's belly button, which he readily shows her!)

We got quite a bit of rain this week and Wyatt loved playing in it. It was so cold outside, but he stayed out until he could no longer feel his fingers--what a trooper. (Sorry the quality is so bad on these----I'm dying to get a new camera. But you get the idea.)

Another note about Wyatt: This week he was playing at his friend Leo's house and Leo's mom was trying to tell him to stop doing something. Wyatt looked at him and said, "Leo Matthew Sorensen." Matt and I still laugh just thinking about it. Maybe I use his full name a bit too much!!

One night while I was making dinner, Sadie got into my gym bag and proceeded to empty out my entire makeup bag. She was so quiet that I should have known. But I just had to take a picture of her surrounded by all my makeup on the floor---and then she found my toothbrush!

Sadie is always dying to get at any computer and Matt had left his laptop out on the coffee table while the iPod was charging. Sadie wasted no time getting some "work done". What is it about things that are off-limits to kids that they desire them so much?? Cell phones, keys, computers----and the toy version just will not do. They somehow know!

This was what I woke up to this morning. Matt let me sleep in a bit (instead of getting up with Wyatt at 6am, I got to sleep until 7:30am) and when I came downstairs, both kids were sitting on Matt's lap. I love being married to such a great Dad whose kids adore him.

Sadie walking---her latest thing. She walks everywhere now and hardly ever crawls. An answer to my prayers as I was dreading taking her outside this spring in the nice warm weather (whenever that comes!) and having her crawl around on the concrete and dirt. But I'm not worried about that anymore!!

Take time to stop

Doesn't this picture just melt your heart? I know I'm their mother, so I'm a bit biased (ok, a LOT biased) but it is just so precious! We were on our way to the Y and I was trying to get out the door in time for me to go running before Wyatt had gymnastics. And you moms know how hard it can be to actually get out the door! But we finally did, only to see these ducks. I thought about just getting the kids in the car, but then thought twice and pointed out these ducks to the kids. Of course, Wyatt had a million questions---Where did they come from? Why are they here? Which one is the mommy and which is the daddy? Will they get us? I ran in the house and grabbed a piece of bread for the kids to give them and we sat and watched the ducks eat it. I quickly forgot about running and just enjoyed this moment with my kids experiencing God's creation. I'm not sure why, but I could just stare at this picture for hours. Wyatt--complete outfit with his cowboy boots and "gymnastics pants" as he calls them, was quite concerned about the ducks and wanted to make sure they weren't going to get us. Sadie--ready to go grab the ducks if I hadn't held her back! Both kids standing on their own--they just seem so independent--sharing in this experience as I watched them.
It was a great reminder to me to slow down and see life through the eyes of a child. I think my kids teach me more about life than I teach them! What a blessing they both are.

growING

Wyatt ate 4 waffles this morning for breakfast......4!! I don't think I could even eat 4 waffles. He's only 3 yrs old, 36 lbs, and 40 inches tall...how does he do that?? He must be growing!

Everything's bigger in Texas!!!

My SIL Cammie and I spent the weekend in Austin, TX for a cousin's wedding and we had a great time. Matt was on-call and it was a last minute trip, so my in-laws offered to watch the kids. On Thursday morning, as Cammie and I were getting ready to go, Wyatt hopped in one of the empty suitcases and said we could take him with us....what a sweetheart!!

Cam and I

We got into Austin on thursday night and met up with the cousins. Neither Cammie nor I had been to Austin before, so it was great to see some live music while we were in the "live music capital"--even if we didn't know who Shooter Jennings was!!

Our ride for the weekend......we had so much fun in this car!!!! I'm sure people in TX wondered why we kept the top down even when it began to sprinkle and was chilly at night....but we had just left a snowstorm in WI, so the fresh warm air felt great!!!

The beautiful bride and groom....and the rain held off for their outdoor wedding!

(L to R--Trent, Annie,Whitney, Taylor, Cammie and I)

I took this picture of their first dance and love how it turned out!!

The wedding was on friday night, so on Saturday we decided to head downtown and check out Austin.....we got to the University of Texas-Austin campus (which, by the way, is the largest public university) and the gates to the Longhorns football stadium were open. I was so excited that we'd be able to go it and then we realized that it was their inner-squad spring scrimmage!!! I kept saying, "Cammie, I'm so excited!" The 2005 national champs and we just walked right into the game---what are the chances?!

I love college sports and all the great traditions--after each quarter and each time the longhorns scored, they would fire off this canon.....we didn't know it was coming, though, and it scared us half to death!! Another great tradition--they have an actual longhorn at each game (click on the pic to enlarge).

We walked around campus for awhile and found this "art" thing---you know, the type of thing that you have no idea what it is or what the purpose, but it's "art". These plastic things basically looked and felt like spaghetti and we thought it was hilarious!

We had to do something ultra-touristy!!!

Everything in Texas really is bigger...just check out the size of this star!! (We are the little dots standing underneath it). We walked through the state capital and went to great restaurants. I went for a great run on a biking/walking path along the Colorado River. It was just a great time and I can't wait to go back. (Oh, and some AMAZING shopping!)

Of course, I got some little gifts for the kids while I was in Texas. Wyatt kept saying on the phone, "Are you going to bring me back some cowboy stuff from Texas?" So I couldn't come home without cowboy boots for him. I wasn't sure if he'd like them or not, but this picture tells it all. He hasn't taken them off since I got home---you've got to love the hockey helmet and stick, Favre jersey and cowboy boots!!