Happy Birthday to Mommy!

I turned 29 today and it was one of the best birthdays I have ever had. Today was a wonderful day, but the celebrations began yesterday and will continue all week.  My birthday is also a kind of warm-up for Emmeline's birthday; she is getting good practice at blowing out candles and opening presents.

To kick-off my birthday weekend, yesterday I ran my first road race since the fall of 2005 (I DNFed the Philly Marathon and dropped at the half - 13.1 miles).  Today was only a 5K but it was still plenty hard for me.  I have really only been back into running for about a week and a half and I signed up for the race because I wanted to keep myself motivated.  The race was for Girls on the Run and ended up having 1,300 registered runners.  The program is for girls 3rd-8th grade and has a ten-week training season that leads up to the 5K race, while also teaching them about motivation, healthy living, and positive self-esteem.  I thought it would be a fun way to get back into the running mode and it turned out to be a great road race with a challenging course.  Emmeline had fun dancing to the live music, eating cookies and watching out for me on the course.  Paul prompted her to yell "Yay mommy!  Go mommy!"; it was so adorable.  I think that next year when I turn 3o I would like to run another full marathon.  We are hoping to do a half marathon in September to see how our old geezer bodies hold up.

Yesterday evening we went to Jessop's Tavern in historic old New Castle.  It is one of our favorite restaurants and is famous for their sweet potato fries.  Our babysitter, Christina, was with Emmeline so that we could linger a nice, long time over our scrumptious food (I had roasted duck with apricot sauce) and wine.

Today Paul and Emmeline cooked me a wonderful brunch and we skyped with my parents while we ate.  I took advantage of our beautiful weather as I worked in the yard and got some more things planted while Paul and Emmeline napped.  Then we went to the Birth Center picnic and fundraiser.  TBC is celebrating their 10 year anniversary and new water birth suite.  Their celebration/fundraiser included a silent auction as well and I had the winning bid on a few baby items that will be great gifts for all of those preggos I know!  They also had a clown show, music, and crafts set up for the kids.  Emmeline had a lot of fun making a "jellyfish":

Go easy on the glitter!

Putting on the tentacles.

Ta-da!

The park had these cement tubes (old culverts?) for the kids

to play in; I think Emmeline and her little buddies look

like little criminals plotting their next move here.

Whoa! The big kid slide! This really

made my heart jump...

Tons of fun!

While we were at the picnic, some friends of ours (Martha and Mamar) invited us over to their house for an impromptu dinner and birthday cake.  They live only five blocks from us and Emmeline and Ezra, their son, have become great friends.  We try to get them together once or twice a week.  It is so nice to have regular play dates to look forward to during the week, now that our babies are too old for the Mom's group meetings at the Birth Center.

Martha, Mamar and Ezra just came back from

France on Wednesday so they had some really

yummy cheese to share.

What a spread!  I felt like we were at a little French

bistro!

Wow; what a yummy cake!  The wine was great, too!

I have also never heard anything more sweet than

my little daughter singing "Happy Birthday

to mommy!"

Practicing eating very nicely for her own

birthday cake...

...but being a little bit silly, too.

Handsome Ezra

My mom is arriving on Wednesday and I have it on good authority that she is bringing birthday goodies for me in her suitcase (is it wrong to still be so excited about birthday presents from my parents?).  On Thursday we will be going to Wilmington's annual Greek Fest with my mom and a group of friends.  Kate is making my favorite (carrot cake!) so that we can belatedly celebrate in proper fashion.

I truly am one lucky lady.

Nohk-e-nohk

This afternoon I was holding Emmeline on my hip as I was closing the curtains in her nursery for nap time. She grabbed hold of the Pinocchio marionette hanging in her window and says, "Good night, nohk -e-nohk. Kiss on the nose (she kisses him). Xylophone in his belly!" (because he has stripes on his belly). Isn't that cute? Just thought I would share.

"Spring" in North Dakota

Emmeline and I ventured to North Dakota March 28-April 5 (yes, I know I am posting out of order.  Just chalk it up to editorial privilege).  We had all sorts of fun, but stayed pretty close to my parents' house.  It was so nice to relax, eat someone else's cooking and spend time with my family.  Unfortunately, the Red River crested on March 29 and parts of the city were closed down.  It brought back a lot of memories from the 1997 flood when Paul and I were juniors in high school.  That year the dams broke and about five weeks of school got cancelled.  Hundreds of houses either suffered water damage or were a total loss.  It was a very sad time.  Thankfully this year in Grand Forks the flood seemed to be safely contained behind the new dikes and concrete retaining walls.

Snow was in abundance there and I had made sure to pack Emmeline's warm winter clothes and boots.  She, pa-pa and Uncle Nathan had fun building a snowman outside.  Well, actually, Emmeline wasn't thrilled about the snow, but humored us long enough to take pictures:

There is nothing better than a cuddle with

grandma on a snowy day.

Emmeline and auntie Jacy playing the piano

together

Emmeline was thrilled to meet Paul's cousin's new son:

Caeden Michael

We made a trip to one of my favorite childhood spots in

Grand Forks: the public library

I don't know what this pirate ship is doing in the library,

but she had plenty of fun walking the plank!  Yo-ho-ho!

My dad enjoyed spoiling her every chance he

could get; here she is eating peaches and

cream...

...and here they are sharing cake and ice cream!

(I think these two pictures were taken on the

same day.)

For some reason on this visit, Emmeline

was hesitant to sit with my grandma Alice.

My grandma figured that the best way to

get Emmeline to cuddle with her was to

bribe her: it worked.

A new Elmo! For me?!

Emmeline cuddling with her great-auntie Darlene

Emmeline playing wii with Jacy and her

"friend" Dan. Emmeline was not sure what

they were doing but that did not stop

her from mimicking them!

Na-ma had fun dressing Emmeline up in

hats and all sorts of girly things...

...but she soon lost interest.

Emmeline is sitting in the passenger seat of auntie Jacy's 

new car; yikes!