link for memory book for sylvia

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbtGjFszbuGjjQ&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Christmas in the Heartland

Finley in her snowsuit

All tuckered out

Eli's house lasted about 2 weeks. Asher and Brandt's houses lasted about 2 hours.

Right before the present opening on the Eve

Eli made me the lovely, soft bracelet at school and gave it to me for Christmas.

She looks so cute, but too old in this one, I think.

New hats!

Patiently waiting to go up and see what Santa left

Putting on my new claws (thanks Seb!) before my Christmas day run!

My new Christmas get-up.

Several things I've thought of blogging about but haven't

We live in the lower half of this and are very grateful for it.

"Okay guys, I'm ready to play in the snow!"

Me going for a run in the blizzard last weekend. I think I went about 3 miles and it took 35 minutes. It was SLOW going. And painfully windy.

Brandt the cutie pie bundled up for the elements.

Me after my run.

Here we are in the land of cold, Sioux City, Iowa.  It is also the land of some of the most friendly, genuinely kind and helpful people I have every been around. We have felt very warmly welcomed by new friends,  new neighbors, and total strangers.  We are in temporary housing awaiting the sell of our home in Alabama, and though we miss having more room, we are very happy to be together, especially during the Christmas Season.


Interesting things we've discovered so far in Sioux City:

• We travel out of state almost daily. Several families at church live in South Dakota (to avoid income tax). South Sioux City, Nebraska, is about 10 minutes away and is where we go for one of the library storytimes I take Asher to and the YMCA.
• LOTS of deer and wild turkey roam the neighborhoods. One house we have looked at and like had 3 big wild turkey in the backyard when we took the boys to see it. We hoped they were a good omen that we would be able to get that house.
• Sioux City is home to Palmer Candy Company, creators of the Twin Bing. If you don't know what this is, you are missing out. They are delicious, and the Palmer store is a confectionery wonderland.
• They don't have a TJ Maxx. Or a Marshall's. Or a Ross. This discovery kinda burst my bubble. I guess I'll live.
• When I run at 5:30 am in 5 degree temps on snowy streets, I do see other runners. Almost as many runners as deer. I'm not the only crazy here.
• On a more personal note, I've discovered that my skin responds well to the cold weather--the skin on my face, anyway. I've been moisturizing regularly and don't look all sweaty at the end of the day, like I did in AL. 
• A recent discovery that has nothing to do with Iowa: Biotin (the dietary supplement) WORKS for keeping your hair from falling out. I started taking it just before we moved b/c I was losing so much hair since Finley's birth. Now my brush and the shower drain are much cleaner, and new little hairs are coming in. And my eyebrows are filling in nicely, too.  I'll probably take it the rest of my life!

So much

Many changes happening here:
Eric accepted a new job in Sioux City, Iowa. He will be leaving soon to start work there and I will be here waiting on our house to sell. Hopefully the wait will be short. Prayers are appreciated.

Finley is growing and becoming quite a little social baby. She loves to talk and look from person to person smiling and making eye-contact. She still wakes up about once a night, which I hope to break her of soon since I'll be a semi-single mom.

Asher is still Asher. When he is good, he is very, very good, and when he is bad...well you know the rhyme. He tells everyone he meets about moving to Iowa. I wonder how he will adjust when we actually do move.

Brandt broke his arm in a bike wreck. He had a terrific soccer season, and scored his first goal in a game the morning before the bike wreck. I wish I had been able to record his excitement when he scored. He jumped up and down with hands in the air and a huge grin across his face. Definitely a scene I will always remember.

Eli's football season is still underway. His team just made the play-offs, which will occur next Thursday. If they win their game then, they'll play Saturday in the Championship. Thankfully, Eric will still be here for all of that. Eli has improved alot since last year, and his understanding of the game has increased immensely. He is also doing really well in school. He made straight A's on his first report card of the year. Brandt is also making good grades and loving school. One of Eric's tasks while in Sioux City without us is to check out the schools. There seem to be many good elementary schools, but the scores drop off dramatically for middle and high schools. Hopefully we can feel as good about our children's education there as we do here.

We feel very thankful for Eric's new job. It is just what he was hoping for professionally and is what we needed financially. We weren't aiming anywhere near Sioux City in our search, but it is a good-sized city (about 90,000 people), with a low cost of living and an airport. So much of what was on our minds for the past year can be put to rest, but now a new chapter of selling our home and buying a new one. SO MANY unknowns that we really have very little power over.

A typical day for Asher

Today he...

• Lit a stick on fire in our garage
  
• Decided to take the plunge and do a #2 in the backyard--just peeing has become too commonplace, I suppose
• Announced, while holding a kitchen knife, "I'm not a kid anymore!"
• Peed in the middle of the field during Eli's football practice

But he also...

• Took turns nicely with Mommy during a game of Animal Bingo
• Worked steadily and put every wooden bead on two shoestrings, then successfully tied the two strings together to make a long, beaded masterpiece
• Didn't overflow the kitchen sink, barely.
• Didn't pour the ENTIRE bottle of dishsoap into the afore mentioned sink
• Threw away one of Finley's dirty diapers for Mommy
• Saved Mommy the trouble of putting the soap in the dishwasher the next time it's ready to be run
• Slept in until 8:30am
• Complemented his brother on his Lego creation, "That's really cool, Brandt."
  

Getting there...

A little workout update--
I've been running 50 min to an hour Monday, Wed, and Friday, then doing a longer (60-80 min) run on Saturdays. I ride the stationary bike Tuesday and Thursday for 50-60 minutes and do weights. I have been recording my workouts--but just on a piece of cardstock. Maybe I'll scan it so I have a digital record.
Today I had a little personal victory. I didn't get speedwork in last week (Jessica, my running partner, and I have been doing it on Fridays, but we did a killer hill workout instead), and this morning I got started a little later and was alone AND the temperature was perfect--I think about 55 degrees--so I decided to do a tempo run. I jogged a 10 minute warm up, then I pushed the pace for 24:40. I wanted to end at an exact spot (hence the reason I ended 20 seconds shy of 25:00) so I could map it afterward, because I didn't wear my Garmin. I went 3.48 miles in that amount of time--a 7:05 pace. I'm planning to run in the Vulcan 10k in November. Training runs like this one give me hope of a good performance at that!

Growing Finley

She had her one month check-up yesterday and has gained 2 lbs since birth. She is now 9 lb 9 oz and 21 inches long. Still a tiny woman, though.