Honoring Howard Cole

Matt's grandfather passed away yesterday while surrounded by his family. Grampy will be sorely missed by both of us, and by his entire family. Although we're not related by blood, he was the only grandfather I have ever known, and he and Matt had a very strong relationship and many, many memories together.

Grampy would have celebrated his 93 birthday this May. He lived a long and full life, and he and Nanie frequenly counted their blessings. His passing, although very sad, was relatively quick and without struggle... what Grampy would have wanted.

We will miss him very much, and are so happy we all got to spend a lot of time with him. He added a lot to our lives, and touched the lives of many others.

Spring - FINALLY!

We are so excited to finally be experiencing some beautiful spring weather. Yesterday it was only about 70 degrees and people were wearing shorts and flip flops. Yes, it's been a long, long Maine winter and everyone's ready for some nice warm weather! I guess that means I need to start shaving more than once a week - a tradeoff I'll have to live with.

So, the past week or so has been extremely busy, so I wasn't able to keep up with my weekly minimum blogging schedule. The next week looks less busy so I'll be back at it again soon, hopefully. The week was busy mainly due to work. So, with extra hours it was really hard to fit in my exercise goals, but better luck next week. I did get out for a fun, muddy run on the trails Thursday - in shorts, no less!

Payson has started to get really interested in shoes. Check out this cute picture of her in her little red crocks!

Our weekend (4/12-4/13) was fun - Saturday we started out the day by attending a multi-family consignment sale in Wells, and then we hung out with the Smiths at our house. It was supposed to rain all day, but luckily the meterologists have been wrong more lately than ever! It was gorgeous, and we spent a lot of time outside - Alison taught Payson how to puddle stomp, and we took them for a walk in the wagon at the local Moutain Division Trail. The girls even enjoyed an alfresco snack on the deck!

We discovered Alison & Payson have learned how to hug each other. It is the cutest thing I have ever witnessed.

Sunday we went to Windham High School to celebrate Owen's third birthday. Owen is the son of our daycare provider, Nikki, and she hosted a soccer party complete with custom made t-shirts for all the kiddos! Payson and Alison wore their shin guards we found at the Wells consignment sale the day before. Pretty funny! Payson had a great time running around, although I was a little concerned she'd get bonked in the head with a soccer ball. A couple close calls, but my fears weren't realized. Will I always be such a worry wart? (In my defense, she was the littlest, newest, wobbliest walker there...)

All the kiddos lined up for a picture (Payson kept running out of it!). Owen's holding the soccer ball.

Here's a couple more cute pictures from our week:

On Monday I took Payson to our local library, not really thinking there'd be much for us to read or do. I was wrong! They had an entire board book section, toys, easels... and we happened upon a story time! It was geared towards older kids but we were told we could join anyways. Payson did pretty well; she was mesmerized by the other kids. I wish there were more activities for kids her age on Mondays; they have a 6-24 mo. story time on Tuesdays, but I'm working then. I'm surprised at the lack of stuff to do on Mondays, in general, around here. You'd think that there'd be lots to do as most moms who don't work full time probably take Mondays or Fridays off. There's lots on Fridays, and hardly anything on Mondays! Oh well. We always manage to find something to do!

We spent lots of time outside Monday, too - here, Payson encourages the daffodils to come out to welcome spring!

As for other news, I was notified about a week and a half ago that I am the recipient of an Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Merit Award! This is a once in a lifetime award that I, along with several other longstanding committee members, am receiving for my eight year involvement as an organizing committee member on the Southern Maine Children's Water Festival. I am so honored and humbled by the recognition, and Matt and I will be heading down to Faneuil Hall in Boston on Earth Day (April 22) for the awards ceremony. I'll let you know how it goes!

Fat Ass Victory!

I have finally come in first at a road race. Below was my esteemed prize.

On Saturday, April 5th we attended the Steep Falls Fat Ass 5K at my friend Christine's - they think this is the third or fourth year. Her husband TJ is the race director - he puts on a great race for a free entry fee! All the free tap water you can drink, and prizes like the one above. Actually, I am pretty sure Christine passed the finish line before me, but for some reason she didn't want the prize.

All kidding aside, TJ did measure the 5K (=3.1 m for you non runners) with a wheel, and although Christine and I ran together and talked the entire way, our first mile was around 7:35 adn we finished in about 23:40. I was really suprised that I can still run that fast with what little I am doing. Unfortnately, I didn't bring my camera so I don't have more pics of the day - the pancake breakfast was great and it was wonderful to see some of my old running buddies again.

Saturday afternoon we just hung out and played outside, which is getting to be more and more fun. I even completed the inaugural poop patrol, which is quite necessary now that Payson is roaming the lawn.

Sunday was supposed to be nice weather, but it was freezing. Before we knew that, we decided to meet the Smiths and the Haniskos at a local playground. We called the Kramers, too, but it was poor Leah's weekend to be sick. We still had fun, but couldn't stay too long. Brrr!

Brady & Payson. ("Hey, don't our parents know it's freezing out here?!?!")

We went back to our house with the Smiths to warm up! The girls had a ton of fun jumping in Payson's crib! They are making us laugh a lot these days. What wild girls!

Payson's new thing is opening her mouth wide when she gets excited - here, she "talks" to Mimi on the phone. Pretty cute!

Payson and I went to another playground on Monday and enjoyed the swings. Other than that, I think I've come to the conclusion normal playgrounds aren't great for toddlers. Oh well.

That's it for now! Hope everyone is having a good week.

First Hair Cut!

Payson's feeling all better after her sickness last weekend, thank goodness. On Monday we went on a relatively long run together - 45 minutes! Payson fell asleep, but I was pretty excited I ran that long, with a baby jogger to boot! I felt badly leaving Zoe at home, but I didn't think she'd do so well on the roads considering her recent road running behavior, and that, a stoller, and a toddler were too much to contend with. Yoga was cancelled Monday night, so I'm looking forward to it for next week.

Here's Payson before our run, in trusy old BOB (no, we're not so lame that we named our stroller, that's the name brand. Matt thinks it stands for "Baby on Board.") She doesn't look too jazzed - I think it must have been because she was tired. She fell asleep soon afterward.

Tuesday was busy, considering it was during our already chaotic work week. Payson's 15 month appointment was at 3 p.m., and I was excited to go considering her recent sickness and still low appetite. As I had suspected, she had lost a lot of weight from Shirley and Ray's measurement on the prior Friday, which was 20 lbs. 4 oz. She was down to 19 lbs. 7 oz., which made her growth curve plateau. Not good, but they said it was most likely due to the illness and her increased mobility. We are, however, going for another weight check in about a month. We also held off on any shots (yeah!). I still hate those, for a variety of reasons.

Next, we were off to Envy with our favorite stylist, Marcie, whom we have followed to 3 salons over the course of nearly 4 years. She's amazing. First she chopped my shoulder blade lenght hair to about chin length. Then she gave Matt a mohawk (below) before she gave him his nearly buzz cut. Then it was Payson's turn! She did a great job for her first cut - really just a trim in the back to even things up a little so the rest can grown in straighter.

Matt's fleeting mohawk.

Payson's first experience with a cape!

Getting the cut. Marcie gave Payson her water squirt bottle, which worked wonders.

All done! She really doesn't look too different, thank goodness. She's growing up way too quickly these days, and I don't need a older-looking hairstyle to reinforce the fact that she's not a baby anymore. :(

As you can see, I'm writing this on the weekend and will soon post pictures and exciting commentary (ha ha) from our weekend. Check back soon for my debute in the Steep Falls 3rd (or 4th?) annual Fat Ass 5K Road Race!