Oh what a night...

Tonight we ventured out to downtown Minneapolis to Target Center to see Sesame Street Live! It was actually a lot of fun, both Aspen and Titus had so much fun. We all enjoyed dancing and the singing. At dinner Aspen was talking non-stop about it (as were we).
After the show however, as we were driving our van...our van completely shut down, luckily it kept restarting, but we were very confused (and scared) as to why this was going on. Mostly because this morning we took our van into the shop to get a routine oil change and they also put new air filters in. Our van before this morning was driving great, had no problems at all....until this evening when we left the show. We made it to Perkins, ate our meal, and then when we were on our way home...at a stop sign, the van died again. This time though, our van did not restart. Zac kept trying and trying, and finally it did start, but the engine light was on the whole way home. Needless to say...we will be calling the shop where we took our van for a routine oil change...I have a feeling they did something to trigger this problem and hopefully we find something out because it makes us very unsettled about driving the van. Until we know what is going on, we will be driving our car, Praise the Lord for a second vehicle (let's just pray that nothing goes wrong with this one too).
A funny moment while we were stalled at Perkins:

Aspen (what we thought she said): "Can I have some more of my cookie?"
Me: "No! I told you in the restaurant that you could have only half tonight."
Zac: "You weren't supposed to have a cookie in the first place!"
Aspen: (Crying) "But I don't want the cookie!"
Zac and I: (Looking at each other) We just began to laugh because we totally misunderstood what she said in the first place.
*Sorry Aspen that we didn't understand you!

A New Year!

First of all, wow! It has been a long time since I have posted, and I apologize (not that too many of you read my blog, but for those that do...I'm sorry)

We had a wonderful Christmas...it was so much fun watching Aspen open up her many gifts and Titus celebrate his first Christmas. They truly got way too many things, but we love all the gifts that they got because they play with every single thing they got! On Christmas Eve we were with Zac's family in Stacy, MN. Christmas day morning we slept in, had a yummy breakfast, opened gifts with just the 4 of us and then we ventured to my parent's home and enjoyed a fun weekend there.
*Pictures to come, hopefully sooner than later*

We celebrated the New Year at the Anderson Home. We had such a great time and it was nice being able to bring the kiddos along, and we are very thankful that we were able to stay overnight (thanks again!) We enjoyed yummy tacos, bean dip, veggies, and brownies with ice cream...played lots of games...and rang in the New Year!

With the New Year in full swing I have made some resolutions that I am sticking too:
*Draw closer to my Lord and Savior, growing more in my personal relationship with Him and devoting more time in prayer
*Spending more quality time with just my husband...I feel that we spend a lot of time together as a family, but not with just the two of us...so we are going to work on going on more dates and having more us time.

*I am not drinking pop, or eating sweets...and honestly, this has been very easy and because I am not eating sweets...it is helping me to not snack as much.
*Working out at the gym 5-6 days a week...daily with my dear friend Erica, and then Saturday mornings with my hubby

Those are just a few of my resolutions, and so far so good!
God Bless everyone in 2009, may you have a wonderful year filled with many blessings!

Titus just wants to say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My first homemade pizza!

So I have made pizza's before, but never have I made the dough from scratch like I did today! It was so much fun and I am definitely going to do it again. It was so easy and really the bread machine did all of the work...it turned out and it was SO YUMMY to eat! Here is the recipe that I found off the internet, you must try it!

Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 T. olive oil
4 C. flour (all purpose or bread)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 C. parmesean cheese
1 T. italian seasoning
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

*Add all ingredients to bread pan in the order given
*Select dough cycle
*Add water, if too dry, a little at a time
*After dough cycle is complete, roll dough or stretch to fit pizza pan
*No need to let dough rest again, just start loading up with sauce and toppings
*Bake pizza at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes
*ENJOY!

I finished!

This morning, bright and early, my husband and I ventured to our friends house to meet up before heading downtown for the Lifetime Fitness Turkey Day 5K!
Never in million years (ok, so maybe since junior high) would I have thought that I would've been able to run over 3 miles straight, but today...it happened! For three months I have been training 4-5 days a week on the treadmill running 3 miles at least once a week, but would stop quite frequently. Today, however, was different. I ran the WHOLE thing! I was so proud! It was so much fun running with thousands of people, being encouraged by other runners around me, and just having FUN!
Coming up towards the finish line it was real cute. My husband was holding a sign that said, "Great Job running Traci, I love you!" It was great and made me smile and push to the finish line. Thanks Zac for being such an encouragement during my training and being there the morning of the race.
My friend Misty, thank you SO MUCH for encouraging me to run with you! It was so much fun and now I cannot wait until the Race for the Cure! Love you girl!

*More pictures to come*

What a fun day!

Today has been such a wonderful day!
This morning I woke up and went to the gym at 5AM! I know, it's crazy! But it was the only time that I could fit it in today and I needed to go today because I did not get to go yesterday. Anyways, that was wonderful...I did not want to go (trust me because it was really cold outside), but after my run I felt so wonderful and energized and ready to go today. I honestly think that I am going to run that early in the morning at least once a week. It has been such a great thing since we joined our new gym and I enjoy going more often and also meeting new faces there. I have also enjoyed meeting my friend Erica there, we have met at the gym quite frequently to motivate one another on the treadmill!
Today has been such a wonderful day because we had spa day at MOPS this morning, where we enjoyed yummy chocolates, cheese and crackers, fruit, sparkling cider...YUMMY! We also enjoyed massages, time to chat around the table, making bath salts, facials, and doing our nails. It was such a great morning and a wonderful time to get to know the other ladies in our group. MOPS has been such a blessing in my life and I am so looking forward to what God has in store the rest of the year with our group.
Tonight I am looking forward to listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree with my family and ending the night with a Christmas movie! I am really looking forward to ending the night with my family...what a wonderful ending to a wonderful day!

Titus' first halloween!

I know that I am a week late, but here are pictures that I took of the kids on the morning of Halloween! We had so much fun...Aspen could not wait to be Tinkerbell and Titus was not so sure about being a ladybug, but they both looked ADORABLE!

That morning we ventured over to our gym where they had a Halloween party for the kids. They got to play fun games, eat yummy treats, and do a parade (where they got TONS of candy). *Now every time we go to the gym Aspen asks, "Do I get to wear my costume?*

After the gym we went to visit daddy at his school, Aspen loved showing off her costume, Titus was still not too sure that he wanted too, and I was just not thrilled about dressing up at all (I never have been - so on our errands I was just a "mom")

We then came home, had lunch, took naps - well tried at least, and then went to the Y so that I could go to work and both Titus and Aspen got to play in Kids Stuff.

After my shift we then went to a Halloween Party and that was so much fun. Great food, great fellowship, etc... We definitely had a fun time and loved celebrating Titus' first Halloween! Next year hopefully Titus will be a little more thrilled about dressing up (or maybe he will be like his mom).