Hailey's District Cross Country Championships

Hailey finished 8th overall at the District Cross Country meet. I think there were almost 100 runners from about 10 middle schools in our district. She finished 1 1/2 miles in 9:53.

Getting ready to go. Look at that focus.

They're off!

Landon's Haircut

For Landon's first "official" haircut I took him to one of those special places where you sit in a cool chair and watch a movie. It cost extra but is worth it because they are usually still and focused so the person can cut their hair easier. Well....Landon ended up in my lap, in a normal chair, hating the experience. She actually did a good job, despite almost cutting off her finger or his ear numerous times.

Hailey's 13th Birthday

Wow, my girl is in her "teens", and I'm proud to say, "I still like her." Many moms complain about their teenagers (I know we are in the early stages :) ), but I am very proud of Hailey. She is smart, fun, honest and has a lot of integrity. I am glad to be her mom and enjoy being with her.

She had a "flag football" party with a group of her school friends. She has a great group of school friends. They are athletic, smart, respectful, and fun kids that we enjoy having in our home.

We also played "Center, Left, Right" with candy. The winner went home with a large stash!

Silly Putty and Hair - Sydney's Experiment

Sydney was curious if Silly Putty would stick in her hair. So, instead of just asking me, she decided to conduct her own experiment. Results are below.

Let's just say I wasn't too thrilled with Sydney as I was soaking her hair in "Goo B Gone" and trying to comb the gunk out. Once I got it out she asked, "Can I still keep it and play with it". I had seen all the Silly Putty I could bear for a while, so in the trash it went.

ITALY!!

Eric and I were able to visit Italy this past January. It was incredible. Eric left for a conference on Sunday and I met up with him a few days later, on Thursday, and then we traveled around for a week. It was amazing. I'm embarrassed to admit I wasn't very excited about Italy. It has just never made my "top 10 places to visit". I wasn't sure I'd get into all the old statues and art. I felt like I would just walk quickly by and be like, "that's nice". Wow, was I wrong! I was addicted. It was so interesting and just incredible to see and walk among things with such a history. We traveled to Rome, Florence and Venice. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

Our Hotel in Rome (still on Abbott's tab!)

Leaving our hotel room. It was winter, so we had to bundle up to stay warm!

Our trip to the Vatican and the Sistene Chapel. This was an amazing tour. The Vatican was very interesting and the Sistene Chapel was gorgeous. What a masterpiece! We were not allowed to take pictures inside, so I don't have any pictures of inside the chapel.

Inside the dome of St. Peter's Basilica

The Colosseum - what an incredible sight. One of our favorites!

Famous statues and monuments in Rome

The Pantheon

There's some kind of story with throwing a coin in the fountain. It has something to do with throwing in one coin for good luck with love. More coins have all kinds of different meaning, so we stuck with "good luck". So, "when in Rome", Eric and I tossed in a coin!

On the train to Florence!

I was very surprised by Florence. What an incredible and fun energy in this city. Here is our hotel (now on our tab!...actually it was small, but nice).

Our continental breakfast.

Florence is a city with a lot of energy! It is here that I bought my Italian leather boots. Florence is also where we saw the statue of David, which was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. Okay, remember how I said I wasn't too excited about Italy because, although I like art, I'm not that "into" it! Well, I'm embarrassed to say that I did not know that THIS statue of David was THE David from "David and Goliath". I seriously never knew that. I tour guide was amazing as she had us really examine the statue (which is huge!). It felt like we were right there and could feel the tension, yet determination, of David as he prepared to sling that rock. I never even realized David was holding a rock in his hand and a sling over his back. I guess that would have been a clue, but I just never noticed that in pictures. The hands were one of my favorite parts. You could actually see the veins popping, as he held the stone tightly. Amazing art! You are not allowed to take pictures (because you exit by a nice gift shop selling all kinds of stuff), but somehow, my camera captured a couple :)

Next, we were off to Venice, pretending to look more European in my boots!

Okay, another embarrassing moment to share about myself. Did I previously mention that my geography and knowledge of the world is pretty bad? I knew Venice was surrounded by water, but I didn't realize there were NO streets at all. That literally there were only walkways all throughout the city, and very narrow at that. If you wanted to travel you went by a water taxi. It was amazing. I don't think we've ever walked so much in our lives. And I crossed an item off my "bucket list"...riding in a gondola in a romantic place!

Our hotel in Venice

Since the only transportation in Venice is by boat, we walked a ton. It was amazing, but a little difficult to navigate, as there are hundreds of narrow alleys and not many signs.

This was one of the things on my "bucket list", one down, many things to go!

More incredible sites from Venice...

You may wonder why my post ends with this picture of a bathroom. After going through airport security and almost to our gate, I decided I would go to the restroom before we boarded our flight. Eric decided he would continue onto our gate and I'd be there in a few minutes. Trying to hurry a bit, I decided I would go into the Handicap bathroom, since it was open and I didn't see anyone close with special needs. I would be quick! While sitting on the toilet, I noticed the handle looked a bit "messed up". I thought to myself, "how horrible would it be to get stuck in here." After washing my hands I went to let myself out and I was STUCK! The door handle would not turn. I kept turning the lock back and forth and tried jarring the handle. No luck. I tried not to panic as I worked on it a few minutes. Finally I started knocking and saying, "help". Surely someone would understand me. A couple of women tried speaking Italian to me, and then one arrived with a little English. But nothing she suggested helped open the door. It was going on 13 minutes and I was starting to sweat, thinking, surely Eric will get worried soon? Finally they got maintenance and they had to take the door off and let me out. I contemplated limping as I strolled out, but just decided I'd already learned my lesson. At that point, I had had a great trip but was ready to get safely home!

Bon Jour!