Hello again all. Not much new to report, we're just trying to get into a more consistent routine. (Hopefully that will help with my time-management issues!) David is still making progress at school, we're still working on his ability to pay attention but I'm starting to feel better about that now that we're working with the school counselor. David is really excited about starting his basketball class at the Y in January! I think he may have found his sport.

Lauren is working on potty-training, and she was the one who initiated it! I was going to wait a few more months before I even attempted potty-training but Lauren loves to sit on the "big" potty and gets so excited when she actually goes! We've gone once at Target, two or three times and Smokey Bones and several times at home. We keep a stash of M&M's or Reece's Pieces for rewards. Her tummy is a bit upset today so she hasn't quite been making it to the potty and she's upset that we had to give up on the pull ups for tonight.

I had a fun evening and morning! I went to a Christmas cookie exchange last night at my friend Deb's house and it was great fun! All the kids ran around and played (happily, for the most part). There were tons of yummy cookies for tasting and swapping and good coffee and company. This morning I had my "run with the girls" at 6am. I never would have thought that I'd be headed out my door at 6:50am in the middle of December to go run in 17 degree weather but I love it! It's so much easier to get up early (in the dark and cold) to go run when it's with other people. I think that's why I've been trying to sign up for so many races lately, motivation! I'm trying to get Chris (and his new running shoes!) to run the "December Dash" with me on December 27. It's a 4.2 mile run in Maumee. We'll see :oD

Miley has been a naughty girl lately, I think she's trying to let us know that she's upset that all of her playmates keep going home after their play dates are over. Her new habits are begging (she's always trying to stick her nose in the refrigerator!), eating toys, puzzles, gloves that the kids leave on the floor, and eating the baseboards!! Yesterday she spent most of the day in time-out because I woke up to find her chewing off a corner of the wall and the baseboard at the top of the stairs! She's always kind of had a wood-fetish, she'll chew anything that even remotely resembles a stick in the back yard (but won't touch dog bones!) We've even had to chase her away from our firewood pile a few times but now she's moved her bad habit indoors!

Chris is finally (after two days and nights) back from his GM meeting in Pennsylvania. I normally bake something yummy for him to take with him, I was so stressed out at the beginning of the week that I just kind of threw something together and made some cookies that I don't normally make. The one time that I make yucky cookies, the president of the company shows up at the meeting!! Apparently he wasn't going to have any cookies because he thought they were "hotel" cookies but Chris said "here, my wife made them"! The Pres. was not a fan, now I'm going to be making (good!) cookies for everything on the off-chance that he might show up again! I'm sending some yummy chocolate-peppermint cookies that I made yesterday to work with Chris on Monday because his director (another poor victim of my yucky cookies) will be there and at least I can make up for her bad culinary experience!

I've got to run, I've got laundry, dishes, etc. etc. before bed! I am excited about tomorrow, I'm going to an instructor training for Bosu at the Y from 1-3pm (after the 10am-1pm shift that I picked up!) I'll let you know what it's like and how it goes :oD I hope that you all have a wonderful winter weekend!

Love,
Megan

Hello all :oD Well, I don't have a whole lot to post today but I thought I would put up few pictures while I've got a minute. We are in the crazy "getting ready for Christmas" hecticness here. I am signing the kids up for their next session of classes at the Y, swimming for both, basketball for David and maybe soccer for Lauren.

I ran the Jingle Bell 5k with my sister last Saturday and we had a good time visiting and catching up (and eating!) I didn't run my fastest race, but it was snowing and slippery (tip - don't run over manhole covers in freezing weather, run around them! My butt almost got an introduction to the pavement several times! Slick, slick.) I finished 10th in the F/30-34 group out of 131 with a time of 26:57. My sister (little speedracer that she is) finished 7th in her group out of 116 20-24 yr. old women with a time of 23:59. She even got a shiny medal that (we think, due to lack of organization, and the use of our staggering deductive reasoning powers ;oD) put her as the 28th overall female finisher! Go sister! I didn't get a medal (sigh), but I did get Mary Lou Retton's autograph on my race number! Go me :oD

It snowed pretty heavily on Saturday night as I was driving back from Columbus and Chris said that they had a pretty good snow here in Perrysburg as well. Daddy got some adorable pictures of the kids playing in the snow while mommy was gone. They both love to play outside and have been eagerly awaiting the day when the ground is covered and we can build snowmen and go sledding (or snowboarding, David is asking Santa for a snowboard for Christmas! I hope he remembers to ask for a few hills, too!) Today it rained all day so the snow is gone, hopefully we'll get more soon!

The kids shoveled the deck, Lauren had a picnic,

David checked out the slide, and the grass,

Well, apparently David was having issues standing up :oD Silly David!


On Sunday there was a "lunch with Santa" at Smokey Bones so the kids and I went to get some yummy food and give Santa our Christmas lists. Lauren wouldn't go near "Santa" until I told her she could sit on MY lap. Then she rattled on about the mermaids and ponies and baby toys she wants for Christmas. (The little mermaid, my little pony, and toys for her dolls :oD) David was not too sure about "Santa", but then I really couldn't blame him. This was not the most santa-looking Santa I have seen :oD I think David decided to just stick with mailing a letter to the north pole, he wasn't really into talking to Santa at all on Sunday.


I think that's probably it for now,I'm sure there's more but Chris is in Pittsburg for the next few days and I'm taking advantage of my opportunity to go to bed early! Goodnight and we'll talk to you all soon!

Love,

Chris, Megan, David, Lauren & Miley!

Thanksgiving :oD

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and had a great time! Deb came on Wednesday to help me get ready for my first time hosting Thanksgiving. We had grand plans for all of the extra desserts and breads and yummy things we were going to make, but then the day kind of got away from us! We did make a very yummy pumpkin cheesecake though!

Thursday morning Deb and I ran the "Smoke the Turkey 5k" in Toledo. We had to get there around 8-ish to make sure that Deb could get her race packet and we could be ready to run. Dad and Lauren met us there (Lauren was running too) and they brought a surprise for Miley - Oliver (dad's great dane/shepherd mix)! Oliver was not too crazy about all the people at the race! He kept hiding behind dad's legs and trying to get back in the Explorer. It was chilly, but I warmed up quickly once the race started. I kept up with Lauren for about a minute, then she sped ahead and I didn't see her until after I crossed the finish line. Deb was sad because by the time she registered there were no shirts left, and then Lauren and I kind of took off without her. If I can talk her into running again next year, I will run with her the whole way (I promise!). I was pretty proud of my time, I came in 458th out of 1058 people total, with a time of 27:10 and finished 16th in my age group out of 68 other 30-34yr. old women.

Thanksgiving was great fun, besides me, Chris and the kids we had Dad, Deb and Lauren (and Oliver) and then Aunt Jodi and Jamie and Kara. Miley and Oliver had great fun playing and running around the yard (until Miley wore Oliver out, then he tried to get away from her to sleep!) There was so much good food! I ate enough for 5 people! I can't wait until next year!

We were not very good this year at picture taking, this was the only Thanksgiving picture with people in it! Kara, trying to hide in the chair, and Jamie not hiding on the chair. The other 4 pictures were of the dogs sleeping. We didn't even get any pictures at the race! (Dad thought I just wanted him to hold the camera, he didn't realize it was for taking pictures!) Oh, well. There's always next year. . .

Last night I ran the Holiday Hustle in Maumee, OH. It is a 5k race that they do every year and it was so much fun! The race started at 5:15pm and if you beat Santa or Mrs. Claus you won free movie tickets to the Maumee Indoor Theater. I missed Mrs. Clause by about a minute and Santa flew past me about mile 1. I was happy though, I did beat a giant lit-up Christmas tree :oD I finished in 26:05 and finished 6th in my age group out of 26 30-34 women. (I missed fifth place and a prize by 40 seconds!) I have no idea how I did overall because they didn't post an overall list. I do know that there were over 1000 people, though! After the race we stopped inside the Maumee Indoor Theater for some bagels, bananas and hot chocolate and then headed outside to watch the Maumee Christmas parade. The kids had a blast! David said he wants to run next year, maybe Chris and I will put Lauren in the jogging stroller, put a leash on Miley and all run. that would be great fun!

This is the finish, the tree/present that I beat (Chris just missed me!) and me, after the race (with a lady walking in front of me.) Photographer is not Chris' favorite role. Maybe we'll get a few more next year!

Not too much more to tell right now, the weather today is pretty nasty, it's been going back and forth between rain, snow and sleet. I'm resting up and getting ready for the Jingle Bell run in Columbus next Saturday. It is another 5k, it benefits the Arthritis Foundation, Central Ohio Chapter. It looks like it should be a pretty big race and it will be fun because all of the participants wear jingle bells on their shoes :oD I'll let you know how I do. I've got to run, Lauren is trying to climb up storage shelves in the basement!

Love,

us!

Update . . . take two!

Wow :oD This one has a lot of pictures! (But then again, there was a lot going on and I haven't posted in a while!)



We'll start with Lauren's 2nd birthday party. It was on September 27th and we had a great time! All the Fletchers came and it was so nice to see everyone! Chris' mom Mischel came to visit as well and we had such a great week with her! My friend Stefanie and her family came as well. Our kids always have so much fun playing together. Stephanie decorated Lauren's cake and it looked so amazing! Thanks Stef!

On September 28th I ran in the Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure" in Toledo. I had a great time and finished in under 30 minutes so I was happy with that. I am definitely running it again next year!

I don't remember when this was, just a dinner out at Chili's one night but the kids were so cute I had to share the pictures.

We had some beautiful fall weather and took advantage of it while it lasted!

Lauren is my little yoga buddy. Every chance she gets, she gets into my pilates and yoga stuff so that she can exercise like mommy.

We had a great time at the pumkin patch patch. It always takes us a while because the kids and I are so indecisive. Poor Chris has to stand around and wait for us to try to make up our minds!

David was very excited to help Chris with the leaves in our yard! Lauren was not quite sure what to think at first, but she wants to do anything that David does so she helped out too. They had a ball playing in the leaf pile once it was all mounded up! I don't think Chris minded having to rake it up several times :oD

Both kids are still in swimming lessons and they both love being in the pool! Lauren gets so excited when she realizes that it's swimming day! All day long on Tuesdays she talks about her favorite pool games. (She also walks around saying "no poopie pool! Poopie pottie, right mommy?" We haven't gotten too far with the potty training yet, but at least she understands the pool is not a place to go potty!)

David is getting better in the water and is also becoming more comfortable being underwater too. He's still working on his strokes and trying to figure out how to float on his back. The poor child got my (lack of) coordination AND my inability to float on my back! (I sink!)

In October (I think the 26th?) I ran the Red Ribbon Run that was sponsored by the YMCA. They had two different events, a 5k that I ran at 9am (sans costume) and a 1 mile family fun run that we all ran. It was a blast, David is going to be my new running buddy :oD

After the Red Ribbon Run we went home to carve/play with our pumpkins! Chris tried to convince David that pumkin was good to eat raw, David didn't really buy it.

Lauren didn't really want to play in the mushy inside of the pumkin at first, but once she saw how much fun David was having, she couldn't wait to join in!

Silly kids :oD

Once we finished the pumpkins, it was time for dinner, baths, storytime and bed.

We had great fun on Halloween. Lauren was very excited to be "Abby Caddabby", she is Elmo's friend from Sesame Street. David was a skeleton, and very camera shy! We were lucky to get the one or two pictures of him! Chris went as Clark Kent/Superman and Wonder Woman made another appearance.

I celebrated my 30th birthday on November 6th and Chris surprised me the weekend before by renting a really fun car and whisking me away to the MGM Grand in Detroit! It was the most fun birthday!!! I actually had a reason to play "dress up" and wear fun, pretty clothes and we got to hang out with each other, just the two of us, for the weekend! We had a great dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, walked around and browsed the shops in the casino and check out the different lounges and clubs to relax. Our room was amazing, I now know how I want to do our bedroom/bathroom at home when we redecorate! The view was so pretty, we could see the lake and the skyline. Sadly, we had to get home on Sunday, but I definitely want to go back!

David turned 7 on November 4th (my mom's birthday too!) and we had his party the following weekend. He wanted a Star Wars themed party and I decided to take a crack at decorating the cake myself. I decorated it the day before the party. I think it turned out pretty well, but I've still got quite a bit to learn :oD David loved the cake so I'm pretty proud of myself.

The morning of David's party he had a basketball game at the YMCA, he loves basketball! The season for him is over soon, but I think I'm going to enroll him in our basketball skills class because he is really good and he wants to keep playing.

The party was great fun, and very loud! Eight 7yr. olds can make a lot of noise! My mom was here to celebrate with David, and Dad, Deb and Lauren were able to come too. We had a full house, but it was so much fun!

Poor Lauren did have a few not-so-fun moments (like getting her hair stuck on daddy's button) but cake makes everything better!

It was so good to have friends and family here! I love having a full house :oD

Strike a pose, Stef!

After pizza and cake and ice cream, it was time to open presents. David loved everything he received and it was so cute watching each little boy get all excited as David prepared to open his gift.

On the 15th we had our first snow! David couldn't wait to get outside! Miley was so funny to watch, she loves snow and kept jumping up and trying to bite it! We didn't have much accumulation and it didn't stay long, but it was fun while it lasted!

We happened to be dog-sitting my friend Stefanie's dog Riley that week and she and Miley had so much fun playing outside together! Lauren didn't get to go outside that day, now we're just waiting for more snow for her to play in!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I apologize for the delay in getting this posted, From September on, it is pretty crazy around here with so many birthdays so close to the holidays! Now that we're past birthday parties and I've got a week or so to breathe before the Christmas crazyness begins, I hope to post more pictures and get you all updated on the rest of our November!

Love,

Chris, Megan, David, Lauren & Miley