Christmas Eve

We had another fun Christmas Eve with Doug's kids. Ten kids came and we had pizza, presents, and fun on the trampoline! They are a great group of kids, very polite, appreciative, and nice to one another.

 Charlotte was in her gift, a doll crib, perfect for her too

Happy Girl

Emily's beloved and favorite teacher, Mrs Duhaime, retired at the end of last school year. I have been in contact with her and she came back to surprise Emily for her class party day. Emily could not have been more thrilled and I think Mrs. Duhaime was pretty happy too!

The Violin

At Webster School the students can start playing a string instrument in 4th grade. Emily chose the violin. She is really enjoying it and last week they got to use the bow for the first time.

Missing Emma

We went to Breakfast with Santa at The Y last Sunday. Emma joined us, but only for a short time..she got sick while waiting in line for Santa. Emily had a good time crafting her heart out!

Opening Day

Yesterday was opening day at Pats Peak. We went to get our passes and to take a few runs. It was almost like spring skiing, it was almost 50 degrees! Welcome to the ski season!!

Tree Snobs

We decided to get our tree a little early this year and that cutting it down would be our best chance for it to last longer. We went to a tree farm in Litchfield and the trees were small and skinny. Not a decent tree to cut, terrible really. We then tried a tree farm in Deerfield and it was amazing. Many fat and tall trees to choose from, thank heavens!

Happy

Rick put his Craigslist skills to work and before we knew it we had a trampoline and no rototiller! A perfect swap! Emily could not be happier!!

The Leclerc Girls

We had a great time with Charlotte and Avery last weekend! THey slept over on Saturday night and then we all went to Aunt Janet's 80th birthday party on Sunday!

 Avery getting a mani/pedi in Emily's nail salon

 they all loved the tub, especially Charlotte

 Emily is trying to get them to look at the camera and sit up!

 a good car nap!

School Fun

Emily's class had a little party before halloween. She has a very good class and an amazing teacher!!

Trick or Treat

Good stuff on the hill last night!

Halloween Party

 We had our 4th Annual Halloween Party yesterday with Emily's best pals! We had a scavenger hunt, art projects, and trick or treating!

Chicago

Kathy White can get me to do a lot of things I don't want to do. I wasn't planning on doing another marathon this year, until she "sold" me on running Chicago with her and 2 other girls from LA. She sold it as a fun girls weekend and of course, as usual, she was right! We had an amazing weekend!!!! Dinner with 2 Manchester friends Friday night, EXPO and Athleta shopping on Saturday, race and deep dish pizza on Sunday. SO FUN!

I was hoping to have my best time ever in this race (anything faster than 3:49:54) and I was sort of confident that it might happen. Well, it wasn't meant to be, for reasons still unknown to me. I had to walk every water stop from mile 18 on, leaving me with a time of 4:10.

Oh well, it wasn't my day. There will be another one next year, I can't deny it, I love running marathons!