Welcome Little Birds!!!

They have finally arrived!!! I've been waiting for about 3 weeks for the yellow Finches to arrive. I've had my thistle strategically placed in two different spots. Yesterday morning I saw 3 of them in our maple tree. I really enjoy bird watching as I've gotten older. I just wished I would have cared more when I took Ornithology. I still have my guide book, and my dad gave me binoculars for Christmas. I'm set. I also saw a bird yesterday that I haven't been able to identify. I have my guide upstairs ready to go but hadn't gotten my binoculars out yet. I need to bring them up, so I am prepared next time he visits.

Marathon Weekend

Exciting, anxious, discouraged, proud, miserable, loved. These are just a few of the adjectives I could think of to describe this past weekend.

The last couple of years, I haven't been able to fully participate in the pre/post marathon frenzy. I was so excited this year because my mom came down to take care of Alex, so I could be involved. Friday turned out to be a bit of a bummer. It was cloudy and gloomy. I wasn't as pumped about the race due to the route change because of flooding. I couldn't see how cheering would as much fun. Three people I was looking forward to cheering on were injured, and I wasn't able to to attend the dinner we were invited to due to the flu going around at that household. To top it off I started getting a nasty headache. Also, Paul figured he wouldn't attempt to qualify for Boston.

Saturday, pre-race, wasn't much better. I had gotten little sleep due to my headache, and I was worried the alarm wouldn't go off. Things quickly turned around. As we got to our first cheering location, I started to get pumped. I had my cow bell and air horn ready to go. Paul figured he would start out the race slow. He was so far ahead of schedule that we just about missed him. By mile 5, his was on pace to qualify. I couldn't believe it! We made several more stops. By mile 20, he was still on pace and looking good. The course turned out to be a lot of fun. After mile 20 we headed to the Dome to watch him finish. My anxiety started to set in. Things usually take a turn for the worst around mile 22. I would have loved to have been around the last few miles, but we wouldn't have made it the finish line. The 3:10 pacer came through....and NO Paul. I knew then something had gone wrong. Of course, I was disappointed for him. So much time and and hard work is put in to training. He finally crossed at 3:24. He ended up cramping at mile 24. So close!! He said the weather couldn't have been more perfect for qualifying. I know he was upset. He will attempt again in Sept at the Bismarck marathon. It was neat to see his running buddies come over and take care of him afterwards.

We attended the annual post-marathon party at HBH. It's always fun to hear every one's experience. There were blisters, black toenails, and stiff legs everywhere. All I had to show for my day was a blister on my finger from ringing the cow bell like crazy. :) One of the ladies at the party qualified for Boston that day. She talked to Paul about taking salt tablets. I think that will be his new strategy for Bismarck.

Sunday morning I was still feeling kind of cruddy, but I was showered with love. My mom had helped Alex make me a card and had taken him out to get flowers. I had two sets of flowers and 4 cards. Paul and Alex had also gotten me some goodies. After lunch we headed to the nursery to get flowers. It was nice and relaxing being able to pick out flowers and getting them potted. We ended the day with steak and baked spuds. We were going to get ice cream, but I was too stuffed. I crawled in to bed at 8:30 and was out by 9:15. Can't ask for a much better day than that.

Baby

Alex seems to like baby dolls. When we go over to this friend's house to play, he seems drawn to her doll. He likes to feed it and carry it around. I started thinking about getting him a boy doll. This last weekend while we were visiting my parents, we took Alex to Alco. Of all the toys, he was fascinated with the dolls. My only stipulations were that it couldn't look girly and that it had to have a bottle. Nothing really caught my eye. Once we got home I started looking through stuff I had as a kid. I came across a bin of troll dolls. Back when trolls were popular, Russ came out with baby like trolls. Pretty much Cabbage Patch dolls with a troll face. I had gotten a boy troll baby. His name was PeeWee.....and he had a bottle. I thought this would be perfect for Alex. Not the least bit girly. Alex thought PeeWee was great. While making lunch, Alex disappeared and the house was quiet. This always spells trouble. My mom found Alex in the bathroom dunking PeeWee in the toilet!!!!!! We had a quick lesson on how to properly treat one's baby!

Puzzling Diaper

Alex has quite a few things he sleeps with. Last night he had a little extra! I noticed while he was playing before bed that he was tugging on the back of his diaper. He does this sometimes when his eczema flares up. This morning when I changed his diaper I found a surprise. He had a puzzle piece in there. It was a sheep! Thankfully the knob was facing out, so it was the smooth wood against his body. Poor little guy...that couldn't have been comfy. We aren't quite sure how it got there because he had zip-up pj's on.

If you get a chance, check out Susan Boyle on youtube. She was on Britain's Got Talent and sings the big one from Les Miserables. It's beautiful!

Easter Fun

Easter egg hunting ended up being more fun than I had anticipated! On Sat. night Paul and I filled about a half dozen plastic eggs with candy and Cheerios. We weren't really sure if Alex would get the hang of looking for eggs, but we were pleasantly surprised. We pointed out the first one and after that he was an egg hunting maniac! Once he found them all, he thought it was fun to "hide" them again himself and put them in his basket. Next year we will know to hide more.

(checkin out his goods) (Paul's loot)

(my goods)

We were lucky...the Easter Bunny visited all of us. I even got a bottle of sparkling French lemonade!

I keep waiting for the sun to stay out today. The forecast was 60 and sunny. I'm hoping as the afternoon progresses that the clouds will float on. I couldn't resist taking this picture. This is a sure sign of spring. We have more in the flower bed, but I think they are buried under mulch. Hopefully we can clean out our beds this week

Easter Weekend

I'm excited about this weekend. We don't have any plans or places to go, but long weekends are always nice. I've got a serious case of spring fever. I can't wait to wipe down the walls, clean the window screens, and purge the house of junk!! The weather looks like it is going to be beautiful. Plus, when I look out the window in the basement, I can see my tulips popping up. I'm guessing the crocus are under the snow somewhere, too.



We might take Alex to Yunker Farm tomorrow for the Eggstravaganza. We haven't decided for sure. I think we are going to skip egg coloring until next year. He just has little too much energy for that sort of thing. Of course, once the Easter Bunny arrives, he will be on a sugar high. At least it should be nice enough to let him out of the house to burn off some of that energy.



Alex now has a 2 year molar. I had no idea it had come in. He was on my lap yelling, and I was able to peek in and was shocked. Maybe those won't be a problem after all.



Have a Happy Easter!

Slowly losing hope

We got bad news this afternoon. The river is now projected to crest at 41ft. This means that volunteers and crews must increase the sandbag dikes by another foot. Unfortunately, the dikes broke in Oxbow which is south of town! The colder weather is such a double edged sword. It slows the melting but causes the sandbags to become more rigid. I watched the press conference this morning at 8 and again at 1:30. I found that what bothered me most was the mayor's body language. He was confident this morning. This afternoon you could tell he was extremely nervous. He was very fidgety...rubbing his chest, his hands, and the buttons on his shirt.

It sounds as though the high crest will continue for 4-5 days. During that time, there is the possibility of more precipitation. I just don't know how long the sandbags can hold. I guess only time will tell and what will be, will be.