The Perfectly Imperfect Parent

Life Lately….

2012-02-23T22:58:00.001-06:00

So besides my Project 52 posts (that I am usually late on) I haven’t blogged at all lately. I want to, really I do, it’s just organizing all the thoughts and voices in my head into one clear blog post is somewhat difficult.

So here is our life lately…..

I will start with me, because I am the Mama Bear, and because I am writing this: I am training for my 2nd half marathon. Wha-at!! I really didn’t think I would do another half until next fall, but a couple girls in the running group twisted my arm and talked me into doing the Johnston’s half in Wichita on April 29th.

Yesterday, I ran with my girls and we had hill training. I got a text the night before saying that we were going to run the “bad ass” hill. It was in a new location, so I was already nervous about that, but I was ready to tackle that B.A. hill.

I pull up to the parking lot (at 4:30 a.m.) it is still dark out, we are at a “not safe” location, we are lit-er-ally the only people awake at that hour, and it is a little scary (and by that, I mean TOTALLY scary).

I see the other girls there waiting for me so I pull up and roll down my window and say “are you *bleeping* kidding me!?!?!” They laughed at me, they know that I have a huge fear of wild animals, dogs, and sasquatch (I don’t care what you say, they exist).

They inform me that we will be running on the old highway through the country (uh, ok sounds like a GREAT time!!)

We start running, the road is pretty well lit the first 1/2 mile, then all of a sudden there are NO lights, we are running on an abandoned highway, in the middle of B.F.E. and I am TERRIFIED!! We can only see about a foot in front of us, and I keep thinking a mountain lion, rabid dog, or a squatch, is waiting to attack us in the darkness ahead.

The girls thought it was hilarious, me? I wanted to cry, I kept looking from side to side and behind me and just knew that we were going to make the local news that night:

“4 RUNNERS DISAPPEAR DURING AN EARLY MORNING RUN.”

Well, obviously we made it (Big Foot must have been sleeping), but it was seriously the scariest run of my life. I was so scared of the darkness that I barely noticed the 2 hills that totally kicked our asses.

So I conquered my fear of the dark, sasquatch, and killer hills, all in the name of training for another half marathon.

Running my 2nd half marathon in April means that I can say that I have officially ran 2 half marathons before I turn 30!

Speaking of the big 3-0, it’s happenin’ (in June) in a big way……. Vegas baby!!! Well technically we are celebrating it the weekend before my actual birthday, but still…..baller!! (yeah I said baller, don’t judge me) I am not scared to turn 30, I am totally cool with it. 30 is the new 20 so bring it!

Paxton: Let me just give you some examples of what this kid is like on a daily basis-

Sitting at the table eating lunch:

P: “Mom! What is going on in my belly with my blood and bones and food?”

Me: “Uh…what? Where did that come from?”

P: “From my mouth!!”

I still have no idea what he was talking about.

We went on a walk the other day and I pointed out a bird in a tree-

P: “Mom! Is that a pecker?”

Me: laughing uncontrollably because I am super mature like that.

P: “well is it Mom, is it a pecker? Have you ever seen a pecker?”

Me: hunched over the sidewalk trying not to wet my pants... “Why yes, yes I have.” And then we moved on and left the “pecker” in the tree.

He got in trouble the other night and had to go to bed early. I put him in bed and was walking out-

P: “Mom, I’m sorry!! Do I have to go to bed?”

Me: “Yes Pax, I warned you once and you still didn’t listen so you have to go to bed now.”

P: “But I am sorry! Sorry is a nice word and so is please….so I am sorry and can I please stay up?”

Me: (Laughing) “those are nice words, but they aren’t going to work in this situation, goodnight!!

So I had the moment every mother fears….I lost Pax at Wal-Mart!! He was walking with me (we were in the women’s dept.) and he was mad because I wouldn’t buy him anything, so he was whining. All of a sudden I noticed I didn’t hear him whining anymore and looked down and he wasn’t there!! I started running all around, yelling his name, looking in the racks of lingerie (ha!) and could not find him. I was just about to go to the front to report him missing when I saw him standing in an aisle crying. I wanted to hug him and beat him all at the same time!!! I hugged him so hard, then yanked his hand and went straight to the check-out. All the while he is still throwing a fit and yelling (loudly), and people are seriously staring at us. I am avoiding all eye contact and just want to get out of there as fast as I can:

P: “You left me Mom!!”

Me: “No Pax, I didn’t move, you left my side, which you are never supposed to do!!”

P: “You lost me and you don’t even care!!! You never let me do anything!! You won’t let me do the dishes, you won’t let me fold my clothes and you never let me cut up my steak!!”

Me: at this point I don’t know whether to laugh or cry….so I just laugh. What do you even say to that?!?!

So that sums up Pax lately. He is a curious child, he wants to know about everything!! He also (apparently) wants to help with chores (and cutting his steak)….hey you don’t have to twist my arm little fella, knock yourself out!!

Harper (26 months):

Still my wild child. Still my stubborn child. Still my independent child. Never a dull moment with that one….no siree,

She is sleeping in a big girl bed now. Night time she does great….. naptime? Not so much. She gets out of bed and will shove toys, and books and pretty much whatever else will fit underneath her door. Her bedroom is right off the living room, so I will look over and see the toys being pushed under her door. It’s like she is saying “hey Mom, I am still in here, and I am NOT napping!!” The past 2 weeks she has only taken a nap about 50% of the time, the other 50% of the time she just plays in her room for 2 hours (she can’t open the door, we put a child-proof knob on the inside). Hopefully this is a phase and naps return 100% of the time SOON!!

She is fully potty trained, and in underwear all day and night. One night I was sleeping on my side and opened my eyes and her little face is inches away from mine, and she is just smiling. I screamed, and jumped up. She just looks at me and says “I need to pee Mommy.” No idea how long she had been there staring at me!! Weirdo!! She was getting up every night about 2 a.m. to go to the bathroom (it was like having a puppy!!) so we finally cut off all liquids after 6 p.m. and now she can go all night without having to go. Luckily the transition to underwear was really easy, and she has never wet the bed.

She has to get herself dressed, do NOT even try to do it for her! And it takes FOREVER!! And usually results with her underwear on upside down, pants on backwards and her being stuck in her shirt, and then (and only then) are you allowed to help her.

Even though she can make me want to pull all my hair out, there are moments when she melts me. Like at night when she folds her hands to pray and says “Amen” really quietly when we are done. Or when you do something so simple for her, like pick her fork up when she drops it, and she gasps and says “thank you much Mom!!” like she can’t even believe you would do that for her. That’s when I know that underneath that tough exterior of hers, is still a soft little girl. She IS sugar and spice, that’s for sure!!

I love these kids. They drive me completely batshit crazy sometimes, but they also make me laugh and remind me not to take myself too seriously. They force me to relax a little more, and not care that life may not always be perfect………but it’s a lot more fun with them around.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Project 52- FIVE & SIX

2012-02-17T20:21:00.001-06:00

I am still a week behind on this project, every other blogger is on week 7, but hey I like to be different so I am going to be a week behind. Yeah, let’s go with that, mmmmmmk?

How spoiled have we been this winter?!?!? 50’s and 60’s in January and February? Hello….love it! We have this awesome bike path a couple blocks away from our house, so the kids and I try to go for walks on there as often as we can. Thankfully we have been able to do that a lot lately. One day, I just took Harper with me on a walk, we needed some alone time together. She loves that she doesn’t have to ride in a stroller and can walk on her own. She will run and run, then stop and look at every stick, rock, bug, bird, etc. I don’t mind though, when we are out there, time doesn’t really matter. We are in the fresh air, it’s quiet and peaceful, and hopefully I am creating memories they will always remember….I know I will.

And then in the midst of all this nice weather, we get our first true snowfall of the year (it wouldn’t be Kansas if it wasn’t 60 one day and snowing the next!) As much as I love the warm weather, I wanted the kids to have ONE good snowfall this year so they could play in it. I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen, I didn’t even know snow was in the forecast!! Then we woke up on Monday to a world covered in white!! I think I was just as giddy as the kids. We went and played in it twice that day, and they loved it. The next day, Harper woke me up by walking in the room with her gloves and saying “Mommy, I play in snow now?” But of course, in true Kansas form…..it had already melted. Oh well, one day of snowy magic was worth it for us.

Project 52- FOUR

2012-02-03T23:55:00.001-06:00

This one makes my heart melt:

Such a rare moment of affection. I knew as soon as I snapped the picture that I had captured something that I would cherish forever. They fight so much, but I also know that they are each others biggest fans. I have 3 siblings, and growing up we had our share of ups and downs but to this day they are my best friends. I knew before I even had kids that I wanted them to have the relationships I have with my brother and sisters. We fight hard but we love harder. There isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for each other. My biggest wish for my children is to have the relationship that I am so lucky to have with my siblings. It is so rare to have 4 siblings that truly love and care for each other and WANT to be together. I miss Tony, Amber and Sarah all.the.time. When something good happens in my life, they are the first people I can’t wait to tell. When something bad happens, they are the shoulders I cry on. If my kids have half the love for each other as I do for my siblings….then they will be the luckiest people in the world.

Project 52- TWO & THREE

2012-01-26T07:45:00.001-06:00

I have one word for myself….SLACKER!! I have done good about TAKING pictures for project 52, I have been BAD at uploading and editing them! Whoopsie daisies. So you get week 2&3 together. Lucky you. I switched up the layout of the photos after looking at some other blogs. I hope this will make it easier when making my book at the end of the year.

I struggle with this daily, because I don’t want to seem hard, or un-caring with my children, but I want them to be tough, and strong. When they fall, I don’t gasp or run to them, I let them get up and keep going. I don’t freak out over every cut or bruise, and I don’t get mad when I see other kids push them or hit them. I know that they are independent little creatures and that they can handle themselves. I DO worry about them, I DO cringe (inside) every time I see them tumble, I DO hold my breath when I see other kids shove them, but I DON’T let them see me freak out because then they freak out and it only makes the situation worse. It has always been important to Josh and I to raise tough kids, not un-kind or mean kids, but strong kids that can pick themselves up when they fall, and that can keep going when things get rough.

I love Harper’s eyes, they are just like my sister Sarah’s eyes; they change color depending on the color of shirt she is wearing. I love that she has a part of my sister in her. That means that no matter how far apart I am from Sarah, my daughter carries a piece of her always.

So now I have exactly 1 day to get picture 4 up. Any bets on if that is going to happen on time?

Mom Guilt

2012-01-22T00:12:00.001-06:00

Who hasn’t had it? I have it on a daily basis. Do I spend enough time with them? Am I too hard on them? Do they know how much I love them? Am I doing enough? Am I teaching them everything they need to know to survive in this world? The answer is no, probably, hope so, who knows, and yes. It is all of those answers and it changes all the time.

I know that there are days that I don’t earn my Mommy badge. There are days that I totally rocked it as a Mom. There are days that I just did my damn best and tried to survive until bedtime.

I read this article the other day and afterward I was thinking “Amen Sister!!”

I was so glad that I am not the only one who doesn’t LOVE every moment of Motherhood. I hear Moms who say that they “absolutely love every minute of being with their children” and I think “what the hell is she taking and can I have some of it?”

But seriously. I love my kids, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t love every minute of being with them. Sometimes it just downright SUCKS!!

When the kids are fighting for the bajillionth time over the dumbest toy that neither of them cared about 2 seconds ago. When Harper is throwing her food on the floor, Paxton is doing cartwheels off the couch and I have 10 piles of laundry that need washed, dried or folded. When bath time feels like WWIII, or bedtime is still 3 hours away and both kids are in full meltdown mode. Those are the times that I think “nope, not enjoying this right now, can someone please come tag me out?”

Unfortunately, parenting is not like a game of basketball. You don’t get a sub, you can’t call a time-out and nobody wins or loses. It’s survival of the fittest.

And then there are times that Harper will come up to me out of the blue and give me a kiss and say “love you much” or Paxton says “you look beautiful Mommy” (that’s his new thing, I am diggin’ it, big time), those are the times that you know you are doing something right.

My favorite quote in the article was:

“Anyway. Clearly, Carpe Diem doesn't work for me. I can't even carpe fifteen minutes in a row, so a whole diem is out of the question.”

Word.

So I am making an effort to be less hard on myself and just try to enjoy the fleeting moments of pure joy that happen every day. Playing soccer with Pax in the backyard, tripping over him and falling to the ground laughing; Harper coming over to sit in my lap and snuggle when I am in the middle of folding laundry; an impromptu dance party in the living room with both of the kids. Those are the moments that you think “ah…. this is why I do it, this is what all the hard work is for, this is what makes being a Mother one of the best jobs in the world, this is my carpe diem.”

And I will seize those few minutes, I will tuck them away in my memory, and save them for a bad day. And we all know the bad days outnumber the good, but the good days are SO good!!

So if you can carpe 15 minutes a day, then I say you are doing a pretty damn good job and I tip my Mommy hat to you!!

Random Ramblings………..

2012-01-11T23:52:00.001-06:00

Seriously, believe me when I say RAN-DOM, because I haven’t really blogged forever so I have a bajillion things going around in my head. Please forgive me. (PS- all pictures are from my phone because my big camera has been in my car for a week with an un-charged battery- winning!!)

Let’s begin with kid updates, shall we?

Paxton:

He is back to school now….vacation OVER. I think this is harder on me because I am the one that has to get him (and Josh) up in the mornings and it sucks.

He started basketball. After his first practice we were driving home and I said:

“you did good buddy, you just need to practice on…”

then he interrupted me, sighed and said:

“I know, I know, my dribbling.”

So apparently the coach told him the same thing, ha! Shooting he has down, dribbling, not so much. It’s pretty much just running with the ball. That’s called traveling son, and it’s not legal.

We were driving home (do you see a trend here? all of our deep convos happen in Swagger Wagon) after a preschool board meeting the other night and I told Pax that I got to hold a baby the whole time. Thus ensued a discussion of babies, and what tummy every family member came out of, and what tummy Harper and him came out of and then………..wait for it………….THE dreaded question………..

“Mom, how do the babies get in there!!!”

Screeeeeeeeeeech!! Slam on the brakes!!!!!! Wha-at!! I thought I had at least 3-5 more years before I had to tackle this question. So I did what any other Mother would do………….laughed nervously, turned up the radio, and pretended I didn’t hear him. Duh.

He informed Josh yesterday that he needed a new basketball goal and a cell phone. Josh told him he already had a Tranformers cell phone, and he said “yeah but that only calls Optimus Prime.” Well played Little Man, well played. You still aren’t getting a cell phone though.

He wanted to go downstairs to help Daddy and Papa Long in the basement and this is the getty-up he dressed himself in to go down there. Keep in mind it was 50 degrees that day AND the basement is temperature controlled, so yes this was a bit excessive.

Papa Long has come up twice now to help us with the basement (ok when I say us I mean Josh). He helped us (Josh) out soooo much with the trimming and all the doors. The kids also loved having him around and constantly fought for his attention!

K-State @ the Cotton Bowl- his face says it all. I feel ya Buddy, I feel ya. (Shut it B, you have gloated enough. Wanh, wanh, wanh). My BFF is a Razorback fan (in my defense I did not know this until she had already trapped me with her mind powers) so this loss was especially hard for me!!!

Harper:

She started a dance class for 2 year olds, and the cuteness of it about slays me. Unfortunately, the class is on Fridays during my staff meeting so my friend takes her for me (parent participation required since they are so little). I did sneak up to the studio during my meeting to take a peek (it’s literally upstairs from where my meeting is) and she was doing so good! My friend said that she listened very well to the teacher (I’m sorry, you are talking about Harper right) and did everything she asked her to (are you sure!?) and loved every minute (ok that’s not shocking, girlfriend loves to dance). 2 year old dance class today…..Dance Moms tomorrow (tell me you watch that show, it’s great!!)

I love technology, and technology keeps my kids super quiet so I can watch a bowl game. Thank you.

Still potty trained. Doing great, no problems at all. Except…….

Josh calls me at work yesterday to inform me that she tried to pee in her dollhouse!!

The dollhouse has a little toilet in it that flushes when you close the lid. Soooooo she decided that that toilet would be sufficient for her non-doll size bum!!! Not so much. The result: a tiny amount of pee on the dollhouse, a large amount of pee all over Harper and the carpet. So happy that happened on Dad’s day home with them!!!

She punched me square in the jaw the other night cause I was in her face telling her she was cute. Like, lit-er-ally pulled her arm back and punched me!!! She goes straight for the face these days when she is mad. She was throwing a fit the other day and Josh picked her up to put her in time-out and I said “watch out for your…………”

SMACK!

“face.”

Too late, she went for it, and she got him good. So now when she is throwing a fit and going to time-out we have to pick her up and face her AWAY from us.

I texted this picture to my sister the other day, and I joked that I was practicing her side swoop and bump early. Ha! I was only half kidding. However. these days she is rockin:

A ponytail, woot woot!!!! Fist pump, fist pump, fist pump.

Where do I start with this picture? Ok….1. These are the superhero capes and masks that “Santa” brought. They love them and they DO look pretty stinkin’ cute in them. 2. Harper’s hair, it’s post nap, that’s how we roll sometimes….. go with it. 3. Harper’s outfit…….this is where it gets interesting. She took off her pants and underwear, and pulled out 2 SHIRTS from her dresser and put those on like skirts (still sans underwear). Next Project Runway designer? That’s for you to decide…….I won’t hold my breath.

Love my kids, but man there is never a dull moment with them!!

So………….. I had full intentions of blogging about our basement renovation and have not done it at all (I am sure you are all SUPER sad about this). I didn’t even take before pictures and NOW I am really kicking myself in the a#$ because it has come so far. It doesn’t even look like the same house!

Before: Storage room- a.k.a. throw anything you may or may not ever use again down there and then run away fast!!!! It was dark, it was smelly, it was dirty and YES it was scary. That is where our washer and dryer was/is and I would always do laundry while looking over my shoulder every 2.2 seconds. I was afraid a spider, a ghost or sasquatch was going to jump out of the shadowy corners and get me.

Now: It’s glorious. Even without carpet, it is a 150% improvement. I heart it in a big way. It’s bright (thank you canned lighting, you might have cost me an entire kidney, but damn you light up my basement like the 4th of July), it’s not smelly, it IS still dirty (stupid sheetrock dust, will you EVER go away!!) and BONUS it has a fully functional bathroom!!!! We are this close to being done, all that is left is a little trim and carpet.

This is the little doorway that will go into the kids “clubhouse” it will eventually (read, hopefully) look a little somethin’ like this:

Or this:

Yes!!! This makes ME want to go in there and hang out (and I probably will, don’t judge me).

And here is 2 more random phone pics! This is before Willie’s Christmas party:

Ok, I will stop now. If you are still reading this then: CONGRATULATIONS, you have no life either. I am kidding!!!! But seriously, why are you still reading this? I put myself to sleep 10 minutes ago.

Peace suckas!

Project 52-ONE

2012-01-07T12:20:00.001-06:00

1/52 PLAYING:

“It is a happy

talent to know

how to play”

I stumbled across this blog and saw a project she did last year (and is doing again this year) called Project 52. It totally inspired me to do something similar.

Basically you take a photo each week and post it on your blog. At the end of the year, you will have 52 photos that capture your year and can be made into a coffee table book. On it!!!!!!

This picture goes along with one of my New Years Resolutions (the ones I never really blogged about, but they are all there in my head). I want to play more with my children. Many times I watch them play or hear them playing but how often do I actually sit down on the floor and play with them? Not as often as I should.

I am afraid that one day when the kids are all gone, and the house is all quiet (and clean), I will miss their shrieks and all the small toys scattered everywhere (the ones that ALWAYS find a way to get under your feet and cause you to hop around on one foot saying the most ridiculous non-cussing words you can think of). I will miss the dirty floors with cheerios stuck to them, and the tennis shoes thrown carelessly by the front door. I will miss the baby dolls and dinosaurs the crayons and the sippy cups. So now, while I am still living amongst all this stuff, I need to take a deep breath, put down the laundry (or close the laptop) and get down on that messy dirty floor and PLAY with my kids. Because I will miss this when it’s gone.

PURPLE PROUD TODAY!!

2012-01-06T16:15:00.001-06:00

Today is the day that every K-State fan has been waiting for since they announced the bowl games on December 4th…………..It’s COTTON BOWL TIME!!!

I have been a loyal and faithful fan since I was very little. Growing up in Manhattan, I didn’t have a choice (not that I would have it any other way, I wouldn’t!!) I always joked that in my family instead of a dinner prayer we said the K-State fight song (it’s a joke, but I wouldn’t have put it past my Mom).

We have been through some VERY ugly football seasons, but K-State fans never stopped believing……believing that one day we would get the recognition we deserved, believing that we WERE good enough and talented enough to hang with the “big dogs,” believing in our team and Coach Snyder.

So, even if we don’t win tonight, I am so happy that we made it this far. We should all stand up proud today and show our Wildcat spirit!!

“Faithful to our colors, we shall ever be, fighting ever fighting for a Wildcat victory, GO STATE!!!”

Love my Wildcats, love my Bill, love all the K-State fans…………..We Believe!!!

Goodbye 2011…..

2011-12-31T20:07:00.001-06:00

It was a good year!! I can’t believe how much the kids have changed in one year. Harper was a BABY last January and now she is 2 going on 16 (don’t believe me? spend 10 minutes with her).

In honor of the year that was 2011, I have compiled a recap of pictures from our biggest events. Mainly because I have no life, so this is how I spent my Saturday and also because……..welp can’t think of another reason, basically I have no life, that’s all.

{The words in red have a link to that blog post.}

JANUARY-First snow!! ~ First day of school!! ~ Harper is 13 months and gets hair!!! (ok peach fuzz, whatevs).

FEBRUARY- Valentines Day!! ~ Trip to Kansas City’s Union Station!!

MARCH- Went to Manhattan, saw Bailey for the last time, she passed away 2 days after we left. So glad we had that last visit with her ~ Starting to warm up, yeah for getting outside!! ~ Trip to the zoo.

APRIL- Papa Hall retires ~ Josh and I go to Vegas with our good friends DJ and Leslie ~ Easter ~ Sarah’s bachelorette party (how did I NOT do a post on this? It was such a great time!!!)

MAY- Sarah and Derek get married (top 3 pics are all from wedding) ~ Mothers Day ~ Memorial Day/ Sarah’s birthday celebration at our house!!

JUNE- Annual Long family trip to Milford, where the kids enjoyed sunbathing in the lake and chowing down on s’mores (I never did a post on that!!) ~ Pax starts t-ball ~I got mono ~ My 29th birthday ~ 5 year wedding anniversary.

JULY- Paxton’s bible school show ~ 4th of July ~ Paxton’s first plane ride to Denver ~ Paxton’s first time seeing the mountains ~ Meeting Baby Jackson ~ Started half marathon training.

AUGUST- I took a photography class ~ 1st day of school ~ Butler and K-State football starts!

SEPTEMBER- I got nothin’ for this month. Basically I was runnin’ runnin’ and runnin’ runnin’. So here is just a random post from that month.

OCTOBER- Derek’s 30th Birthday party ~ K-State game with Josh (same day) ~ Annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch ~ HALF MARATHON!! ~ Halloween

NOVEMBER- Paxton turns 4! ~ Dino Dig Birthday Party ~ Thanksgiving ~ First visit to Auntie Sarah’s and Uncle Derek’s new house.

DECEMBER- Harper turns 2, Aiden turns 3 ~ Breakfast with Santa ~ Christmas!

Holy shiznipp that post took all freakin’ day to do!! Note to self: never do a year in review post again. Ridunkulous!

I would give you my New Years resolutions but I don’t have them yet. Lose weight and run another half marathon. That’s probably it. That and don’t sell my kids on e-bay, think that may be illegal anyway.

Happy New Year everyone!!! Here’s hopin’ 2012 is as good as 2011……………..and that the world doesn’t end like they say it will on December 21st…………yes I worry about that kind of stuff (read, obsess) don’t you? Oh.

Christmas….Part Deux

2011-12-30T21:18:00.001-06:00

I think there are only 2 reasons Paxton would get up on his OWN before 7:30…..the house is on fire or Santa came. Sure as shiznipp he was up at 7:20 a.m. Christmas morning. We made him wait until 7:30 before we all went out to the living room together. Poor Harper, I had to wake her up, she was so confused. Once she figured out she had a crap ton of toys under the tree, she got over it.

Check out that bed head on Harper, bahahahaha!! Cracks me up!!

Pax got a barn and tractor set (just like Papa Hall), Transformers (duh), game cartridge for his V-Tech reader, giant dinosaur, slippers and a superhero cape and mask.

Harper got a Little People dollhouse, game cartridge for V-Tech, baby dolls, bracelets and her own superhero cape and mask.

Their stockings had practical stuff in them like toothbrushes, hand soap, band-aids, etc.

After checking out the Santa presents, they opened up their gifts from Josh and I……. more Transformers, more dolls, shocker.

And there are only 2 reasons why my living room would ever look like this; we were robbed, or it was Christmas morning.

Somehow we got everything cleaned up, everyone dressed, car packed up and were on the road by 11:30 (all with no fights, BONUS!)

The rest of the day consisted of food, more food, family and even more food. And presents, lots more presents. And a tearful “congratulations on your engagement” to my brother and Tara by yours truly. We had brought some champagne and my sisters were both like “no way I can’t do a toast, I will cry” and I was all like “pshaw, wussies, I got this shit!” and then 2 seconds into the speech I was all like “blubbering blubbering love you blubbering blubbering (loooooooooooong pause to try to stop blubbering) so happy, blubbering blubbering, cheers.” Yeah should have just stuck with CHEERS or CONGRATULATIONS. The Long girls are all a bunch of emotional cry-babies when it comes to that kind of stuff. His poor fiance probably thinks we are this close to having to be committed. Wait till you see us at the wedding girlfriend, it won’t be pretty.

We got to spend the day with my Dad’s side of the family, which was great. It’s hard for all of us to get together, now that my siblings and I all have families/husbands/fiances of our own now. So it was nice that it worked out and were were able to spend Christmas with them too!

Harper is ob-ses-sed with the dogs!! She is in “dog heaven” (ha ha, good one Amy) when we go to Dad or Sarah’s house.

She played in this closet (a closet!! wha-at!!) forever that day. I think she was probably just trying to hide from the 2 crazy boys who went around the house calling each other “poop heads” all day. Guess what Harper calls everyone now? Yup, poop head, awesome.

Have I ever mentioned my love for my Dad’s house? I freakin’ love that place!! Can you see why? What is there not to love?

The kids (and the dogs) FINALLY fell asleep and the adults had “adult time” and played poker until (ahem) 4 a.m.!!!! That’s just crazy talk!

And now, a little funny face photo montage. Sorry family, I couldn’t resist. I got a kick out of them and thought others would too. Who am I to deprive other people of laughter and joy?

Amber, you knew these would come out to haunt you right? She found this old Starter jacket in a closet at my Dad’s and was joking that she was going to wear it to the Cotton Bowl next week (that’s a separate post coming soon to a blog near you).

And now I have probably been dis-owned by my family. Love you guys!!! (Sarah, you got lucky, couldn’t find any funny ones of you).

We had an awesome Christmas, the older I get, the more meaningful it becomes.

Happy New Years everyone!!! 2011 was a great year and here’s hoping 2012 is even better.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T08:48:00.001-06:00

I decided to break Christmas up into 2 posts so that you don’t fall asleep at your computer, you’re welcome.

I am so bummed Christmas is over. I remember being sad as a kid that Christmas was over, but I still had a crap ton of new toys to play with, so it wasn’t THAT bad. Now, as an adult, Christmas is over and I DON’T have a crap ton of toys to play with, just a crap ton of decorations to take down. Total bummer. I hate the way my house looks after I take the tree down, depressing.

Moving on………..a couple days before Christmas (Thursday?) we got our first snow of the year!!!! And I declared it a snow day (we literally got a light dusting, but hey snow is snow). I really didn’t have anything pressing at work to do anyway, so no biggie. THIS seemed like a better way to spend our day:

It was a messy ordeal, SUPER messy!!! But the kids loved it, so I sucked it up for the day and just went with the mess. And no these cookies were not edible after the kids got done with them. Each cookie had about a pound of sprinkles on it, gag me!!

Onto Christmas Eve (cause I know you are just on the edge of your seat with excitement!!!)

We have had Christmas Eve with my in-laws at our house for the last 3 years. This year Josh smoked (SHOCKING!) a prime rib all day.

Pax got a treat that day, a friend of Josh’s drives a semi-truck and brought it over so Pax could take a ride in it. Pax thinks every semi-truck is Optimus Prime, so he was pumped, but he told me “Mom, don’t worry, it doesn’t transform.” Thanks buddy, I had no idea.

He looks so tiny compared to the big truck.

He sat in the drivers seat while Josh put his booster seat in the truck. Guess who DIDN’T like the truck:

Bahahahahahaha!!!!

Deb, Dave and Justin came over around 5:00 that night and the kids were going batshit crazy waiting to open gifts.

Deb and Dave got these bean bag chairs for the kids to go in our basement (which NOW has electricity AND a working bathroom…….next up? CARPET!!!)

After presents were opened, Harper had a little dance recital for us in the living room. She LOVES dancing, and starting in January she will start taking a 2 year old dance class on Tuesdays. I die just thinking about little baby 2 year olds in their little baby leotards and little baby dance shoes.

Next up: family pictures (the group shot was taken using my self-timer, hence the odd angle) then Christmas Eve mass at Church, then home. Pax sprinkled “Reindeer food” before he went to bed. I am pretty sure Harper was terrified of the idea of Santa coming. Every time we talked about it, she got this super stressed out look on her face.

Check out Paxton’s RAD Transformer socks!!

Josh and I were up until midnight getting everything ready. Santa doesn’t wrap in our house, he gets everything out of the boxes and sets everything up so the kids can just start playing in the morning. I think Josh wishes Santa would wrap the presents, but unless Josh wants to be Santa’s helper and wrap them all for him……..SANTA IS NOT WRAPPING…….mmmmmmk?

Santa came, Jacob left. Sad.

Santa ate most of his cookies, and then he may or may not have ran to the trash to spit them out. I don’t blame him, they were 2 days old and had a pound of sprinkles on them!!!

Christmas morning came bright and early the next day, and then we were off to Manhappiness to go to Papa Long’s house where we had MORE presents, a teary champagne toast (by yours truly), lots of laughs and a SUPER late night (er morning?). Stay tuned…..

Untitled…

2011-12-21T14:17:00.001-06:00

Because I just can’t come up with a catchy blog title and I have a slight headache and don’t really want to try.

You know you have done a good job getting your kids in the Christmas spirit when your son walks up to you in the middle of your holiday baking and sings “I’m in a store and I’m singing…….I’m in a store and I’m siiiiinging!!” That’s my kid. Can you tell we have watched our fair share of Elf lately?

Sooooo I have been trying to do some fun stuff with the kids before the holiday season is over. Saturday we had an entire day with no plans!! It was glorious, and what made it even better was that Josh took the night off and hung out with us. That, my friend, never happens.

Here is what we did Saturday day:

Oh yes, that is a hot mess right there. We declared it pajama/onesie/ladybug headband day!!!

So the kids spent some time reading books (aka dumping all the books out as well as the crayons and sitting amongst the pile) while I did some cleaning.

Harper needed a tissue at one point, and by tissue I mean the entire roll of toilet paper!! Still rockin’ that headband.

Then it was dance party time! The kids think this new floor puzzle is a dance floor…..we just go with it. Please don’t be jealous of baby girls white legs, I made her a spray tan appt. for next week.

Mid-way through the day I got the urge to bake (shocking, I know!) So we all headed out to the store. Please don’t fret, I did dress my children before we went, and the headband stayed at home.

I gave the kids their own pretzels and chocolate to dip, why you ask? Well see picture below:

You KNOW these kids are all about double dipping and lickin’ tho fingers, and you KNOW this girl is not about to let those pretzels get mixed in with my germ free ones.

Who doesn’t like to sport a straight up mullet on a chilly Saturday afternoon? I sure do.

Oh this picture is so classic them. Harper looks pissed and Pax looks annoyed. Please be entertained by the following series of pictures:

Dirty hands? Problem solved.

That night we drove around to look at Christmas lights and watched Christmas Vacation with Pax. It was a good Saturday, I feel I earned my Good Mom badge that day (other days….not so much….but that day, yup!!)

So this is a repeat story from Facebook but have to share anyway. Josh was home with the kids on Tuesday while I was at Teen Club. He was in our room and all of a sudden Pax comes running in and told Josh that Harper had opened one of her presents from under the tree. Josh went in the living room and sure enough Harper is CRADLING the box with her doll in it and says “yook (look) Daddy, baby.” Josh took it away from her and she got in trouble, yadda yadda yadda.

Fast forward to later that evening. I am home from Teen Club and went into the kitchen to get dinner started, open the fridge to find this:

Oh yes, Harper hid the wrapping paper in the fridge! I laughed so hard when I saw that. I am not even sure if she was hiding it or went in to get a snack and just left it in there. It could go either way knowing her.

Speaking of Harper, I never did post any pics from her birthday (wow Mom of the Year right here) so here are a few that I took after she opened her presents from us, her favorite thing is obviously the cat:

Future player Coach Morrell?

AND did you know that my other child, Pax, had his first Christmas recital? Well you wouldn’t would you because I haven’t blogged about that either. Honestly I didn’t get any good pics from that because he was on the opposite side of the stage from where I sat and was all the way up in the corner. I did my best:

Someone just came through the door to surprise the kids…………

It’s Santa, in case you didn’t know.

Pax did ok at the recital. He kept playing with his sleeves and making faces at me. He would do so good practicing all his songs at home with me but I don’t think he is much of a public performer.

This is as close as Harper would get to him and Paxton wouldn’t sit on his lap either. He said he already told Santa what he wanted at Tony’s work. I am pretty sure he is still traumatized by this from 2 years ago:

Oh-em-gee this still makes me laugh so hard when I look at it, never.gets.old. (PS-do you die at how tiny Harper was, cause I do).

And we conclude this completely random blog post with even more pictures I have forgotten to post.

These all turned out super grainy, but when a rare photo opp. occurs and both children are willing to participate, you DON’T have time to mess with the settings on your camera and you just go with it!!! Especially because the last 3 pics are a rare display of affection from both of them and I am so glad I got that caught on camera. So one day when they are screaming at each other over who ate the last pudding pack (ahem AMBER!!!) I can bust these out and say “kids, you used to love each other and one day you will be best friends so please don’t hit your sister over the head with your backpack!!” (I may or may not have done that when I was little).

I may blog again before Christmas, I may not…… I’m not sure, I dunno if I’ll have enough time (name that movie) but if I don’t then Merry Christmas everyone, hope yours is filled with family, fun and wine, I know mine will be (especially the wine part)!!!

Oh yeah and one more thing……….congratulations to this cutie-patootie couple:

My Brother, Tony, and his FIANCE Tara, they just got engaged on Sunday (oh girl do you even know what you are getting yourself into with this family?) You know what that means? ANOTHER WEDDING!! I freakin’ love weddings!! Love you both!

I am a slacker…..

2011-12-20T19:26:00.001-06:00

I never could figure out how to PRINT my Christmas cards with my new digital scrapbooking software (they always came out only half printed, grrrrrr) so this is how I am sharing my cards…………via blog and facebook. Gotta love social networking!! And yes, I said cards, as in plural, as in more than 1. Mainly because I had fun playing around with my new software but also because I am completely awful at making decisions and never could choose.

So here you go:

Card 1

Card 2:

Card 3:

There you have it, pretend I slapped a stamp on it and mailed it to you. You’re welcome.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year………….Right?

2011-12-15T14:30:00.001-06:00

Life has been business as usual around here, and by that I mean completely batshit crazy!! I always think to myself “just get through THIS week and next week will be easier” then next week comes along and it is just as busy as the last one!!

My list of all the fun stuff I wanted to do for Christmas? Not.getting.done. Christmas cards? Nah, maybe New Years cards……..maybe. Fun Christmas crafts with the kids? Nope. That would require driving 25 minutes to the nearest craft store and who the hell has time for that? Fun Christmas baking? Hell to the no, I had to bake 6 dozen cookies for a cookie bake last week and I was in the kitchen for an entire day! Over it. (Ok so that one we might still do, only because we are running low on sweets in the house and Momma needs her chocolate therapy). Cute homemade (Pinterest inspired, damn you Pinterest for AGAIN making me feel like an under-achiever) Christmas gifts for family and friends? Un-unh, store bought all the way this year folks, hey I need to contribute to the economy right?!?!? So although I would like to channel my inner Martha Stewart, I am settling for Roseanne this year.

I have even failed a couple nights with my Elf on the Shelf. However, in my defense, the first time was because I had the stomach flu (yeah that sucked!) and the second time was because I had taken Nyquil and went into a coma. Pax was cool with it, I told him even elves get sick and Jacob had to take a couple nights off. Jacob came back with a bang, though, and dyed our milk green one night……that made for some interesting mashed potatoes that night for dinner. Whoops, didn’t think that one through very well.

Our basement is slooooowly coming along. Josh is almost done painting, then the tile will get laid, then trim and doors, then carpet!!! Funny story:

Our sheetrock (is that how it is spelled? I have no clue) contractors name is Josh as well. He was at our house A LOT while doing the sheetrock and sometimes would come up to ask me a question or use the kitchen sink, etc. Well Harper and Pax always said hi to him, and would talk to him. One day he came up to ask me something and Harper yells “Hi Daddy Josh!!!” Whaaa-aat!! He was so nice about it………….I wanted to die.

Potty training is still going really well. No accidents, sleeps in underwear at nap and SOMETIMES at night. It still makes me nervous to do night time without a diaper. I know I should because she still wakes us up and makes us take her potty in the middle of the night and that SUCKS when she has a diaper on!! I guess it wouldn’t even be considered potty training anymore, girlfriend is trained, bam! Too bad underwear is just as expensive as diapers, sheesh. Forget the bar business….panties are where the money is (that sounds REALLY bad doesn’t it?)

She does talk to her pee and poop (sorry if that is TMI, I think it’s hilarious). When we flush it, she will say “bye pee/poop, love you much!!” Things that make you say hmmmmmm.

Paxton is getting stir crazy already. He is starting basketball after Christmas, so that should help get his energy out. Some nights he is all over the place!! Our house is not big enough for all that energy (neither is my patience). He is way more into Christmas this year than any other year. I love seeing him get excited about things I used to get excited about. It’s like being a kid all over again. Except I am the one paying for Christmas….it was way more fun when I wasn’t.

He has been sleeping on his floor lately, in his sleeping bag. No clue why, he says it’s comfy. Uh…..ok? Not sure how a sleeping bag can be more comfortable than a full size bed, but I will go with it. Whatever floats your boat little man.

So to sum it all up, life is crazy; my daughter calls a stranger Daddy and talks to her poop, my son has more energy than that stupid energizer bunny and prefers a sleeping bag to a bed and I am buying stock in wine and panties. Yup, I would say we’re pretty freakin’ normal!!!

Happy almost Friday everyone!!

PS-This post should have been titled “a bunch of random pictures from Thanksgiving and decorating the tree that I am just now posting.” My bad.

Happy Birthday Harper!!

2011-12-08T22:07:00.001-06:00

I am also blogging over here today!! Ashley asked me to do a day in my life (aren’t you SUPER excited for that?) so go over to her blog and check out that post.

Harper turns 2 tomorrow!!! 2 going on 16!! It seems like yesterday that I wrote this post the night before I went to the hospital to have her and this post about her birth. Where does the time go?

What is Harper like these days?

She is finally talking more!! She can communicate pretty well with us, which is nice because it was so frustrating when she couldn’t/wouldn’t talk and we had no idea what she wanted. Her favorite saying this week is “I go Papa’s house?” she even said as we were LEAVING PAPA’S HOUSE!! Like literally we had just walked out the front door. Also she has learned to say “pretty please” she will use it if we tell her no, like if she adds “pretty” onto please then we will let her do/have/eat whatever it is she is asking for. Sorry sister, doesn’t work that way, but kudos for the cuteness of it!!

She loves drawing and if you ask her what she is drawing it’s always “a puppy……..no a titty tat (kitty cat)…….no a puppy.” I would love to be in her mind to see how that little thing works. She also loves puzzles, she will spend an hour doing the same puzzle over and over (boring!!)

Her hair……….it’s a mullet………….but on the plus side it fits in ponytails!! Josh brought her to my work yesterday to drop her off and she had pulled her ponytail out and was rockin’ a mohawk. She straight up looked like Jim Carrey from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!! Note to self: start carrying around hair bands for emergency mullet/mohawk situations!!

She is potty trained!!! Yeah still can’t believe that has happened already. She is even sleeping in underwear for naps and bedtime, and is always completely dry when she gets up. Yes I realize how lucky I am, believe me I thought she was going to be 10 before she was potty trained because she is so stubborn!

If she is happy, she is so good but if she is mad………..yikes, watch out!! She can throw the mother load of fits, girlfriend is DRA-MA-TIC! She is not afraid to fight back either, she doesn’t take any crap from anyone!! She is one tough cookie, I think this is from having a big brother around that picks on her. She can be a bit of a bully and I hope we grow out of that phase SOON! I want my kids to be tough but I don’t want them to be mean!! There is a big difference………right now she is mean. We’re workin’ on that.

This is actually her throwing a fit. No clue what it was about, probably food. She threw herself on the floor and kept crawling away from me every time I went to pick her up (we were late for work!)

All diva-ness aside, I love having a girl. I love dressing her in cute clothes (I’m sorry boys clothes are just not as fun!!) and putting bows in her hair and buying her dolls. I am a total sucker for all that stuff!!

Gah!! Cheese!!!!!!

Harper Ellison,

You may have been a bit of a surprise, but you have added so much life and laughter in our home. You keep us on our toes on a daily basis and annoy your brother all the time, but we wouldn’t change you for the world.

We love you so much baby girl, thank you for making our days brighter and our lives fuller with your smile, kisses, and personality!! You were the missing link in our family and now we are complete. I hope you are always spunky, and independent and that you always love your brother as much as you do now and that you always know that no matter where you are or what you do in life, Daddy and I will always love and support you. Happy Birthday Little Miss!!

PS- You can stop growing up now mmmmk?

What Up?

2011-11-18T14:15:00.001-06:00

Hi, remember me? Blog slacker here, I have been bizzee, don’t hate.

Life has been a little crazzee (I am likin the double z double e, go with it). I am not complaining, whose life isn’t busy? That’s just the way it goes, and ya gotta roll with it or it will bulldoze the shit out of you.

Finishing the basement has consumed our lives lately. Last Thursday, Josh and I went to Lowe’s to get a new bath vanity, tile, light switch COVERS, electrical COVERS (buying COVERS for light switches and electrical outlets is right up there with having a root canal). Don’t be jealous of our exciting life. However, we rewarded ourselves for accomplishing that mind numbing shopping trip with sushi afterwards. Sushi makes everything better, right?

Pax had to get shots on Monday, he took it like a champ. I let him pick where we would go eat lunch after shots, Subway! Really kid? I was banking on Mickey D’s but whatev. I had told him before we went that he was getting shots, I didn’t want to hide it from him or sugar coat it. I told him; “you’re gettin' shots, it’s probably gonna hurt, but it will be over super fast”. He was being really brave and had accepted his fate until……….

The nurses had him pinned down on the table.

I was holding his arms down and he looks right at me and says “Mommy I changed my mind, I don’t want shots.” Waaaaah! Yeah I started crying and told him it was too late. So awful to look at your child and know they are about to be in pain and you have to hold them down while it is inflicted on them. He cried, I cried (probably harder than him) but he was done crying by the time we had his pants pulled up. Tough dude, fist bump my little man, Mom is proud of you.

All was good after that, we got Subway (I pretended it was a cheeseburger) and he was back to normal, until……..

That night, midnight to be exact, when he wandered into our room crying and burning up. Our kids always react badly to vaccines; swollen legs, high fevers, pain, tears, you get the point. He got into bed with me and tossed and turned and fevered all night. The fever finally broke about 4 a.m. and that’s when I finally went to sleep. I just can’t sleep when my kids have high fevers, scares the bejeezus out of me!!

Potty training………..we’re doin’ it. And not because I chose to, but because Miss Harper apparently thinks it is time. I was totally ok with waiting until she was 2 or older, I am good with being average, Missy Poo is the one who wants to be the over-achiever. Brown noser. The other night I had JUST changed her diaper, and put on her pajamas and not 5 minutes later she looks at me and says “pee!”

Gah, really? I just put on a new diaper and pajamas do we really need to take it all off?

Yes.

She runs to the bathroom, so I follow her, take EVERYTHING back off, put her on the toilet…..and we sit. And sit. And sit. We sing some songs, point out things in the bathroom (a TOWEL!! How exciting!!) and then she starts grunting and………..ok I will spare you the deets but it ended in her dropping a deuce in the toilet. I clapped, I cried (yup, cried) and maybe even danced a little. If you are a parent, you know how awesome this is! Potty training sucks. Getting your child to go #2 on the toilet sucks even more, so when your child pretty much does it on their own………..yeah that warrants a happy dance in the bathroom. And of course a picture taken on the phone and sent to Daddy at work who screamed when he saw it and showed it to his employees (he doesn’t get that NOBODY else wants to see that shit, LITERALLY!) Ok Harper, you’re a big girl now, go ahead and grow up and turn into a sulken teenager and hate me.

Thanks Paula Ridgway for knitting BOTH the hats in these pictures. I about die from the cuteness of them!!

Paxton has been a little “temperamental” these days. One trip to Walmart included him going batshit crazy because he couldn’t get a toy, and I had to leave after only getting bananas and apples. I had to drag him out of the store kicking and screaming and shove him in the car (he wouldn’t get in!). I was just waiting for someone to turn me in for kidnapping, but I am sure they realized nobody in their right mind would kidnap that hot mess. I will NEVER judge that parent in Walmart who has a screaming kid. Been there, done that, I feel like I am part of a secret club now, the: “my child has thrown the mother-load of fits in Walmart” club. I was quite ok NOT being in that club.

Just a couple random thoughts, cause no blog post would be complete without them.

Transformers! I hate them! I am convinced you have to have an engineering degree to figure those stupid toys out. Pax will bring a jumbled mess of plastic to me and ask me to turn it into a car. Say what!!! How the hell am I supposed to do that? I try my hardest, I really do, but they just piss me off. And I never can actually do it. Thus, the reason I hate Transformers. Well that and because they cost a fortune.

Breaking Dawn……….I was one of the peeps who went to the midnight showing of it. As I was walking out the door at 10:45 I looked at Josh and said “I am too old for this!” HOWEVER, totally worth it, loved the movie! And I have decided I am Team Charlie now (Bella’s Dad). I mean he is so freakin cute and funny and won’t suck your blood or claw your face off, win-win!!

Facebook……..I am annoyed by it on a daily basis.

1. Because it will never be as cool as pinterest and 2. I am sick of peoples drama and boo-hooing all the time on it. Wanh wanh wanh people, nobody cares……..hmmmmm maybe I am just getting old and grouchy? Rhetorical question, rhetorical question.

And to finish off this post? A few funny Paxton sayings:

The other day it started snowing. I got so excited!

“Pax come here!! It’s snowing!!”

Pax wanders in nonchalantly…. “are you serious?”

Why would I lie about that!?!?!

I told him the other day that he was so smart and he walks away shrugging

“yeah, I’m 4.”

Yeah? Well I am 29, so there.

The other night I put him to bed, he whined and stalled, and whined and wanted me to lay with him (no sir, I have tv shows dvr’d that are calling my name!). I went out to the living room and hear him say:

“Mom! Mom!”

“What!”

“Why do you and Dad get to sleep together” I totally remember asking myself this question when I was little. I remember thinking that of course parents are never scared, they get to sleep together!! Not fair!!

“Because we are married, and when you get married you can have someone to sleep with.” Pretty sure my parents said the same thing to me when I was little. I still didn’t think it was fair.

2 minutes later:

“Mom! Mom!”

“What!”

“Is God telling me to be brave right now”

“Yes, God is telling you to be brave……..and He is saying to go to sleep!”

It worked, he fell asleep about a second later.

Ok that’s all folks.

Happy weekend……. Go Cats……….wish me luck on our potty training bootcamp that will commence all weekend. Be jealous, be VERY jealous!

This & That….

2011-11-08T13:46:00.001-06:00

Omigoodness, 2 posts in 2 days?!?!? I just fell off my chair! No I didn’t, but that would be funny, admit it, you would laugh at me.

I have had a heck of a freakin day! It’s one of those days where you just want to just raise your hand and scream “RE-DO!! Can I get a re-do on this day?!?!”

It all started at the early hour of 5:30 a.m. when I FINALLY (after a month of “rest” prescribed to myself by me) got my butt out of bed and went to the gym. I met B there, we had to run inside since it was cold and drizzly, have I mentioned how much I loathe the treadmill? I do.

The first sign that the day was going to be batshit crazy was when I pulled into the parking lot of the gym and there are 2 cop cars in front and a man (who resembled Santa Clause, except maybe Santa on meth) was handcuffed in the back of the cop car screaming “God bless America!!” I should have just turned around then and crawled back into bed. But I didn’t.

So B and I get on our treadmills and she looks at me and says “an hour?” AN HOUR!! It’s my first day after my month of “rest” and you want to run for an hour, guuuurl you lost your mind. But you don’t tell B no. I tried, I shook my head no, I put in my ear phones and pretended not to hear her, I wouldn’t make eye contact, but wouldn’t you know I still ended up running almost an hour? I swear that girl has some kind of crazy mind power. 50 minutes to be exact and 5 miles. GAH! 5 miles after my month long hiatus? Sheesh, so much for easing back in.

So then I get home, have a cup of coffee and eggs, chill for a bit then start to get the kids ready for Paxton’s doctor appt at 10. Of course the kid decide to go WWF and were wrestling, and yelling and crying.

We managed to get out the door at 9:45 and we are on the front porch and I realize I forgot to put a coat on Pax.

Run inside and get coat.

I go BACK outside put the coat on him and am tugging on Harper’s hand and she will not budge off the porch. She keeps yelling “shoes!!” I say “yes you have shoes on, now lets go.” Only to look down and realize she DOESN’T have shoes on!!

Run inside and get shoes.

I put Harper in her carseat, put her shoes on her, get in front seat and proceed to back out. I am watching in the rear view mirror as I back out and see Harper bailing over the backseat!!! I hadn’t buckled her in!!

Slam on breaks, yank open door, buckle my child in, get in front seat, go to call Josh to tell him how shitty my day is………no phone.

Run inside and get phone.

FINALLY drive to the doctors office, unload kids, get up to the doctor office only to find out our appt. was at 9…….we had missed it.

Put a fork in me, I am done. (Still don’t know why I thought the appt. was at 10, whatevs.)

On a lighter note, here are some more pics from Paxton’s birthday WEEK. Yeah we celebrate birthdays in week long increments around here.

Birthday morning, opening his present from Harper. He kept saying “Thanks Babe!!” to her.

Making cupcakes for his class.

I told Harper not to touch the mixer that it would give her a boo-boo so she did this………..

Sat on her hands…..until it was time to lick the batter, then she just sat on one hand and ate batter with the other. Yes, I let my kids eat raw batter, I won’t rob them of a childhood memory just because of a little salmonella. What kind of Mom would that make me!

Birthday dinner with the supper club…..at Willies!! Duh. Josh had to work so we went there so he could join us when he wasn’t busy.

Harper even scored some new goods……crayons and paper so she could draw her “puppies.”

“Texting” on his new play cell.

This is what baby girls hair looks like after pig-tails and nap-time. GOO!!!

Big brothers are hilarious.

Painting Dino eggs for the Dino egg hunt at Paxton’s party.

And now, to make my day EVEN better, I get to listen to Josh and the electrician hammering and sawing away in the basement while Harper tries to sleep. Explain to me WHY you need to hammer and saw while wiring a basement? That doesn’t sound too reassuring to me. My husband is not the handiest guy, so forgive me if I am a bit nervous about him helping the electrician. I tease him and say that I won’t be surprised if I go down there when it is all finished, flip on a light switch, only to have the washing machine come on and a toilet flush. Except I am only HALF joking, half of me could totally see this happening.

Happy Tuesday, hope yours is better than mine, and if it’s not……….well that is why wine was invented. Grab a bottle and head over this way.

Rock N’ Roar!!

2011-11-07T15:20:00.001-06:00

Saturday was Paxton’s birthday party.

This was the first year we had a “kid party”.….ya know, one with FRIENDS!!

This is the last year I will do a “kid party” at my house. Too stressful, too small of a space, too much…..period.

EVERY year, I say “oh this year I am just going to do a small party, and not go crazy on decorations or planning. They are kids, all they care about are the presents anyway!” And EVERY year, I go a bit overboard! This year I blame it all on Pinterest. That damn website kept planting little ideas in my head and the next thing I know I am at Party City blowing $100 on party stuff………for a 4 year olds party!! Ridunkulous I tell ya!

Not to mention that my husband saw this party as an excuse to “smoke some shit” (food people! get your head out of the gutter!) so he spent quite a bit at the grocery store. Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Geez.

Paxton had fun though. About 10 minutes before the party started, I got texts from 2 different parents saying their kids couldn’t come, so I was SUPER worried that nobody was going to come and I was going to have all these party favors with no kids to take them home. But it turned out well and all party favors got taken home, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. I am so glad the weather was “nice-ish” it was a little chilly and pretty windy but the sun was out and as long as the kids had jackets on, they were good to play outside.

Every year I contemplate ordering a cake and saving myself a lot of time (I CANNOT bake cakes, I LOVE baking but cakes are my nemesis!!) but I like the special touch of baking the kids cupcakes every year for their birthday. So every year I bake 50 cupcakes. Maybe after I take a baking class I can conquer the dreaded cake.

Made this! Bam!! Hand-stitched………..I REALLY need a sewing machine!!

The little archaeologists ready to go on their “Dino Dig!”

Dino Egg hunt!

Uhhhh can you see who Pax might have a little crush on? He followed Addison around all day!

Check out the little girls feet, both are crossed, I die from the cuteness of it!!!

I wanted to get pictures of all the guests who came because one of their party favors was a dino picture frame. I PLAN on getting them printed and sending them with their thank you cards. That’s the plan at least, we’ll see if it ever gets done. Just sayin.

Briley

Nathan

Gavin

Wyatt

Aiden

Birthday Boy!

Addison

And of course, Eleanor!

Hell the party was such a success it caused the earth to move later on that night…….oh wait, no that was just the earthquake we had. Crap, one more thing to add onto my long list of fears. Earthquakes! Who’da thunk it?

Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to celebrate with Paxton. As stressful as it was, it was a great day and we are so happy you all could celebrate with us!!!!

Halloween and a Photo Shoot

2011-11-03T13:56:00.001-05:00

What’s that you say? Halloween was 4 days ago? Yes I am aware of this, just a bit delayed in posting this. Besides EVERYONE posted a Halloween blog the day after and I like to be different….yeah that’s the reason I am doing it 4 days late, lets go with that mmmmmmmk?

This was the first year that Pax didn’t want to be what I wanted him to be (a Hamburger, hi-la-ri-ous!!, he said it was weird) and he wanted to choose his own costume. Optimus Prime, whoa ORIGINAL!! I am pretty sure I saw no less than 50 Optimus Primes on Halloween. Harper was a Bumblebee, also not original, but only cost me $8 so we went with it. Next year we are bringing the smack down on originality, just you wait!!

I had to work all day on Halloween getting the haunted house set up at the Y, then I had to work IN the haunted house (I love scaring kids, when they cry, I giggle, I know I am a bit twisted) so I missed Trick or Treat Down the Street with them but Josh was able to go.

I got home about 7 and ate dinner super fast and then we were out the door to get ~~Mommy~~ the kids, some candy!!

Harper cracked me up! We put her in the wagon and it only took her a couple houses to get this trick or treating business figured out. “Wait, you’re tellin me we walk to the door, knock on it, look super cute, and get candy? BOO-YA!!” She would literally BAIL out of the wagon when we got to the next house and run up to the door. Forget her stranger danger phobia, these strangers were giving her candy so she turned on her best smile and milked it for all it was worth. We would be chatting it up with our neighbors and she would be taking handfuls of candy out of their bowls and dumping it into her bag, then she would take off running for the wagon, Dukes of Hazzard it in (forget the wagon door, she tucked and rolled), and would just look at us like “c’mon, times a wastin, we have more houses to go and more candy to get!!”

And we got lots of candy!! It speaks to me from all the way in the kitchen, and I yell at it “damn you candy, quit talking to me!!! (shaking fist).” Majority of the time it wins and I eat some. I have no will-power.

Halloween day, we had just got home from work and I was locked out of the house, so what do you do when locked out of the house?………Take pictures of course!!!!

Double-fistin the goods!!

And now onto a picture overload. Don’t say you weren’t warned!! I needed fall pictures of the kids, I just love the leaves right now and I know soon (probably within the next 5 minutes) they will all be gone and the trees will be bare, it will be freezing and I will be wanting summer back. It’s a vicious cycle peeps, a vicious cycle.

A lot of these are of Harper, I already posted the ones of Pax on my last post. So don’t get all judgy with me thinking I favor one kid over the other….cause that changes on a daily basis!!

And another thing, I made her headband, yeah I am cool like that. Thank you pinterest!! Although you suck the life out of me and make me waste hours of my day on you, you are actually good for some things. Now if I could only do the other 5 million projects I have pinned I would be like Martha freakin Stewart!!

Alright, that’s it for now. I am off to Wichita to get all the stuff (literally EVERYTHING, I haven’t got one thing for it yet) for Paxton’s birthday party that is in 2 days. Nothin like waiting till the last minute to do it all! I work best under pressure though, and I gots this unda control yo!!!

4 Years Old!!

2011-11-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

That’s what Paxton David Hall is today!

From day 1 Paxton has been strong-willed and a bit stubborn. I wanted a Halloween baby SOOOO bad, and wouldn’t you know my contractions started at MIDNIGHT on November 1st, a few minutes after Halloween was over. I wanted a normal birth; contractions, epidural, pushing, baby…….nope he decided to scare us all to death and warranted an emergency c-section.

Happy Birthday to my Little Man, you have given us so much joy during these last 4 years. You love school, you are super protective of your sister, you think helping Daddy and Papa is the best thing ever, and your paper hoarding (as annoying as it is) is just a quirk of yours that I wouldn’t change.

Your energy wears me out most days, I have no idea how you go all day being THAT rambunctious!! You rarely take naps, so you are going, going, going all day! You exhaust me just watching you.

You love sports, you can’t wait to play football for the Wildcats, you watch ESPN all the time with Daddy and some days prefer football highlights over morning cartoons (every guys dream kid right?).

However, you are also quite sensitive and get embarrassed easily. I hope the sensitive part doesn’t change as you get older, I think the world needs more sensitive males who are in touch with their feelings…..believe me women will LOVE that!! Wait, maybe I shouldn’t encourage women loving you because I don’t want you to ever leave your Momma and I know that happens once girls come into the picture.

Right now you love dinosaurs and Transformers. When you go to the farm with Papa, you scour the fields for “dinosaur bones” aka COW BONES, then you bring them home and I gag and tell you to take them outside and wash your hands!! Papa thinks this is hilarious.

Your favorite foods are chicken nuggets and hot dogs, mmmmmmmmmm healthy! Don’t worry, you also love broccoli, green beans and any fruit. You do not like any kind of potato, I have no idea how you are my child and won’t touch potatoes, that’s not even right!

When you go to bed at night, you make Dad or I put down a blanket on top of your sheets because you don’t like cold sheets. Whaaaaat?!?!?! Cold sheets are the best! You would stay up all night if we let you, you are a night owl just like your Dad. You also like to sleep in and we have a hard time getting you up for school most mornings. Even with Harper banging on your head and screaming “Dax!!!” (she hasn’t got her P’s down yet) you still sleep through it!

I love you so much Buddy, I am sad you are getting older, but I also enjoy seeing you grow up and become your own person. I love going on dates with you and having movie nights on Fridays. You test my patience, you talk my ear off, you make me laugh and sometimes cry but most importantly…… you make me proud to be your Mom.

Happy Birthday Paxton!!

Random Ramblings and Photo Dump…..

2011-10-15T01:17:00.001-05:00

This is my first Saturday night in 12 weeks that I have not went to bed before 10, whoop whoop!!! I feel like such a rebel! Oh look at me, it’s 10:55 and I am still awake, woooooo crazy girl over here, livin on the edge!!!

However, I feel a little lost knowing that I am not getting up to run early tomorrow morning. Next week my running commences (yes I took a week off, what of it?) and I plan on running Saturday’s starting next week.

Why? Because I already have the itch to run a half marathon again. It’s like childbirth…………during it you think “OMG this is the worst thing EVER, I am NEVER doing this again, why would anyone put themselves through this? This is hell on earth!!” Then 2 days later as your holding your bundle of joy (or your medal…….yes I cradle it sometimes…don’t judge me) you think “oh pretty baby, I want to do this again!!” So there will be more races and who knows, maybe (huge stress on the word maybe) a full marathon is in the cards. Don’t get your panties in a wad B, I haven’t committed to anything yet.

My child (Paxton) is apparently hard of hearing lately…….he doesn’t listen at all!! It drives me completely nutso. I sure don’t like hearing myself on repeat all day long, plus who wants to be a nag? Not me. But what do you do? He.won’t.listen.

“Pax get dressed,” nothing, nada, just sits there, staring at me with a blank look on his face.

“Pax go to bed,” gets up 8 bajillion times, needs water, needs to pee, needs to poop, needs to comb his hair.

“Pax pick up your toys,” gets out MORE toys, needs to pee, needs to poop, blames his sister.

“Pax put your shoes on,” plays with his Transformers, watches tv, needs to pee, needs to poop.

You get my drift. What do I do? I hope this is a phase, however, I believe this is just the beginning of a lifetime of nagging on my part and ignoring on his part. YEAH!!!!

Harper, Harper, Harper. She now has to wear a sweet getty-up when she goes to bed which consists of tight pants with a onesie buttoned over it, so she won’t get butt ass naked in the middle of the night. All those cute pajamas I bought for her? Nope, can’t wear them, they will last 2 seconds in her crib before she strips nekid.

Today, I had to get a babysitter while I went to work. When I got home Harper was still sleeping and when she woke up I went in to get her. She looked right at me and said “where’s Chelsea?” (ok it was more like “where’s titi?” but I knew what she was saying). I told her Chelsea went home and she started WAILING, put her head down, threw herself on the pillow, pulled the covers over her head, and refused to look at me……….ummmmmm dramatic much?

Yesterday, she climbed up on the built-in cabinets in our living room, I looked over and was like “Gah!! Girlfriend you are going to break your leg!!” and proceeded to get her off of it. She looked right at me and said….wait for it….."mean Mommy!!!” Then she walked around repeating it over and over. Ok…..I get it…….I am mean……quit rubbing it in my face!!! But truth be told, I wasn’t sure whether I should be mad that she was calling me mean, or happy that she was putting 2 words together since we continue to struggle in the speech department.

The other day (ok like 2 weeks ago, I might be a little behind on posting this, whatever) we made homemade play-doh. It was a BIG hit………….the kids liked it too.

Do you die over their aprons? My friend, Brandy, made them. Check out her website here (click on it, now, do it!!) to see all the super cute things she makes!! The kids love wearing these….and I am a little jealous and might have to have her make me one too.

Yeah!! Play-doh is so much fun!!

Ok, I may or may not, have been super possessive of the things I made with the play-doh. I have to admit, I rocked some mad animal creations and all Paxton wanted to do was squash them. I am pretty sure he was jealous of how awesome my animals were.

Have I mentioned how Harper loves to get into the fridge, the pantry, the cupboards, EVERYTHING!! Well she does.

I was getting ready in the bathroom the other day and noticed she was quiet….too quiet…..that’s never good.

I walk out and see the fridge door wide open….ruh-roh…what did she get?

Hummus and pita bread. Phew!

At least she was nice enough to offer me some. I just went with it………I mean at least she got a healthy snack…….she could have chose the Bud Light in the fridge (that would have been my pick) so kudos to her!!

Practicing with the tri-pod and self-timer on the camera…….apparently I didn’t bother with the focusing part of the camera since these are a little blurry……. Hey I don’t claim to be a professional.

And just in case you didn’t think this post was random enough…….here are pictures from the poster party at the Y a couple of days before my run…..it ended up being a disaster that included lots of glitter…….lots of crying on Harper’s part due to so many strangers wanting to talk to her (how dare they try to speak to her and be nice!)………and a fit thrown by Pax because Harper kept trying to write on his poster……….good time were NOT had by all!! But, give girlfriend a water bottle and apparently all is right in the world!

Ok, enough randomness and rambling……..I am done now. You’re welcome.

2011-10-13T09:03:00.001-05:00

it’s pumpkin time!!

We have a pumpkin patch outside of El Dorado that kicks a**!!! I am not kidding, this place is completely amazeballs!! I get giddy with excitement every time I drive by it (mainly because that means I am going back to Manhattan) but also because it truly is the bomb diggity.

This weekend was our first (we usually go about 3 times each October) visit to the patch because my sister, Mom, and nephew were in town for my run (half marathon…..did ya know?………yeah probably, so I should shut up about it now). It was 80 degrees when we got there and 64 when we left………hello Kansas weather, you are a real schizo!!

Pax, Harper and Aiden are all at really good ages to appreciate the greatness of The Patch (yup that’s my new name for it, that just happened, lets go with it mmmmkay?)

Look at them ups that Sarah has……rock on with your bad self girl!!!

There is so many fun things for me the kids to do. Jumpy pillow thing, train ride, hay bales, corn maze (we skipped that…..Sarah and I did that 2 years ago and got completely lost………I was pregnant…….it was scary…….never again!)

Oh yeah, look at Mr. Superstar showin off his mad skills at hay bale jumping….show off.

The kids loved the train ride……….ok I lie, Pax and Aiden loved it……… Harper was scared.

Yes doesn’t the train just SCREAM scariness? I have no idea where she gets her fear from……….I am fearless (unless it is tornados, waves, pool vacuums, aliens, ghosts, sasquatch………….well you get the idea). So she didn’t actually ride in the train…….. scaredy cat.

My favorite part of The Patch? The concession stands…..duh!!! Hot dogs, nachos, homemade cookies, Bierocks, bbq sandwiches….. the list goes on and just makes my mouth water thinking about it!! I had to keep it plain since I had a run the next day and just had the bierock but it did not disappoint!

Have I mentioned how IMPOSSIBLE it is to get a good picture of 3 kids 3 and under? No? Well it is!! How hard is it to LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND SMILE?!?!?!? It’s very simple kids, I am not asking you to perform open heart surgery……….just look and smile. That’s it. Sheesh!

The swings were a HUGE hit though!!

As were the rocks and creek……….ok those aren’t actually a MAIN ATTRACTION of The Patch, but these kids sure thought it was.

The bikes are one of the best parts of The Patch……….doesn’t Aiden look thrilled? He hated having his picture taken all day, he would get so mad when I pointed it at him.

Oh you didn’t think we would leave without having a little fun ourselves did you? It’s not ALL about the kids. The one of my Mom cracks me up, check out the old dude in the background, it’s like he is thinking “ok Lady, enough of those shennanigans.”

And of course no trip to the patch would be complete without standing next to the growth chart pumpkin.

Paxton’s first visit……he was almost 2 in this pic. Aaaaaaw!!!

Good times were had by all.

2011-10-10T00:16:00.001-05:00

today was the day…..

I did it…. I finished my first half marathon….lets all pause for a moment of silence………….and done.

I won’t sugar coat it. I won’t say it was easy. I won’t say it was fun. I will say it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

I had some “issues” at the beginning (I won’t go into details but thank goodness for nice spectators who let me use their bathroom), low blood sugar in the middle, and then I just ran out of gas at mile 9. My running partner had been with me up until that point but she was feeling good and I told her to “GO!! don’t wait for me, just finish, I will be fine.” It wasn’t OUR race after all, it was her race too. Then it was just me, myself and I after that.

I was tired, I was alone, I was feeling awful and wanted to give up.

With a mile and a half left to go I was crossing a bridge and saw my best friend and running coach, Brandi, running towards me. I completely broke down and started to cry. I was so happy to see her, I needed her so bad at that point.

She ran up to me and I said:

“B, I can’t do this, I want to quit.”

She said:

“No you don’t. You’re doing awesome Amy, you have come so far, a year ago you couldn’t even run a mile and look at you now. You have run 11 and a half miles, you got this girl! Paxton and Josh and your family are waiting for you and in a mile you will see them!!”

She knew exactly what to say to keep me going. I couldn’t have done it without her. I was in pain at that point, I had no more energy left. She stayed right by my side and didn’t let me quit.

As I came over that bridge and saw people I worked with yelling for me, then I saw my family and my kids and husband yelling for me………and I just started crying and running harder…….and I crossed that finish line and felt like a rockstar!!!!! I turned to Brandi and just hugged her and hugged her, it was the perfect ending to a race I never thought I could finish. I can’t imagine it ending any other way.

I can’t explain that feeling, as my whole family came running up, embracing me, and crying with me…….best.feeling.ever.

It was worth the 12 weeks of training; it was worth all the sacrifices I have made, it was worth all the Friday nights I went to bed early to get up the next day at the butt crack of dawn to run, it was worth setting my alarm for 3:50 a.m. during the week to meet up with my girls to run……..it was worth it!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am NOT athletic. I prefer a book to sports, I am not competitive and I rarely finish anything I start. T-ball? Nope I quit, too scary to have balls flying at my face. Basketball? Uh-uh I had no idea where to go or what to do. Dance? Puh-lease, I am about as coordinated as a baby deer learning how to walk. I don’t do sports! My motto when it came to running? I don’t do it unless being chased.

So for me to finish a half marathon, it was nothing short of a miracle. Except it wasn’t. Why? Because I had an amazing running group to back me up, I had trained for 12 weeks, I had an amazing running partner Paula, and even more amazing running coach, Brandi. I also had a supportive husband and family who completely believed in me and never doubted me for a second, even when I doubted myself.

Thank you: To Paula Ridgway for always cheering me on, and being the best running partner a girl could ask for. To Brandi Lane for pushing me to do this and for being by my side every step of the way (literally). To Jan Taylor, Chris Oliver, Ben & Tricia Coffey, and Jess Morrell for sacrificing your time and weekends to coach us, help us, and never giving up on us. To Mary Gaffey for organizing our 4 a.m. runs and always believing in us and motivating us. To all my fellow El Dorado runners for making me feel like a part of a community and giving me motivation. None of these people HAD to do it, they did it because they are good people and they have a passion for helping others. You all will never know how much you inspire and change people.

I am so lucky to be part of a running community who believes in each other and supports EVERY runner regardless of skill or time. I am lucky to work at a place that encourages people to do their best and motivates you to be better and do better. I am lucky to have a family who believes in me and will stand in the cold rain to watch me finish a race I never thought I could do.

To anyone who thinks they can’t do this……..you can.

I saw a shirt today during my run that says it perfectly….

“Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE, because even in the word IMPOSSIBLE is I’M POSSIBLE”

and it can be….possible. You just have to want it bad enough, try hard enough, and work hard enough to achieve it. Regardless of age, body type, or athletic ability. It’s all mental……….and if you want it bad enough….you will do it.

And I did.

Pre-run peptalk courtesy of our fearless leader, Brandi.

4 a.m. running crew!!! You never know dedication until you get up to run at 4 in the morning. Couldn’t have done it without them.

I love this picture!! I am so happy and B looks like a proud parent………..this is right before I crossed the finish line. I am channeling Princess Diana and milkin it for all it’s worth.

This was my motivation the entire race……….my family holding these signs for me and waiting to cheer me on!!

I have the best sisters ever!!

“Where’s Mommy?”

There she is!!

Not the time I wanted, but I will take it. Just happy to finish.

Best running partner ever!

My biggest supporters! Love these girls.

My family. Wet and cold but cheering me on!

Half marathon? Check. Onto the next one?…………………… Yup, probably.

2011-10-04T21:19:00.001-05:00

it was epic……….

That is the only way to describe our weekend. It’s quite fitting, ask anyone who was there………that is if they can remember it all.

My sister did an awesome job organizing a tailgate for Derek’s birthday and Janice and Freedom were so nice to let us use their house. There was lots of food, beer, and of course lots of friends and family.

~Beware picture overload below. My siblings kept calling me the paparazzi, but hey someone has to document these times. Just call me the memory maker, yo!~

To make the day even better? A certain team (ahem, K-STATE!!) beat Baylor!! Happy freakin birthday Derek, that is a bomb diggity birthday present right there!! Josh and I had some good seats minus the old lady behind us who apparently thought that she was Coach Snyder’s assistant and kept screaming out plays (that weren’t even right, she had NO idea what she was talking about!)

I have no idea why, but I get choked up at the beginning of every K-State, and by choked up I mean I CRY!! I can’t help it, I just love those Wildcats, and Captain Bill, and Willie, and Manhattan, and football!! I bleed purple peeps, I bleed purple.

We decided to forego Aggieville and just hung out at our old stomping ground Willies and The Pub. We MAY have gotten a little crazy and there MAY have been dancing on the bar (I claim no responsibility in this, I blame the juke box for playing some mad jams all night!!)

Yes there was Man in the Mirror action (shocking isn’t it?), of COURSE there was Don’t Stop Believing, and pretty sure there was some Cupid Shuffle thrown in there, and it all ended with a Tiny Dancer serenade on top of the bar to a cute couple who got up and 2-stepped while we sang to them (yeah that happened, we are THAT COOL, people!!!)

The day after consisted of sleeping in late (no kids, remember?), getting up, showering, laying BACK down for a mid-day snooze, late lunch at Chipotle, then of course the drive back home to get the kids and back to reality.

All in all it was a fun weekend, there was a little drama, but that is to be expected in a group that size with personalities as strong as we all have. I love my family though, and we were all laughing it up the next day as we recalled some of the highlights of the night. Like when……….oh wait you didn’t think I was actually gonna dish that dirt? Uh-uh my friends, what happens in Manhattan, stays in Manhattan.

Happy Birthday D-Rock, glad I was able to celebrate with you (ps-did you know the bartender at the Pub thought we were married since we were playing Mega Touch together? Ha!)

2011-09-28T14:52:00.001-05:00

Fist pumpin over here!!!

Why you ask? Because it’s almost the freakin weekend and I have some stellar fun plans!! It’s the bro-in-laws 30th birthday (ha! old man!) so the hubs and I are going to Manhappiness (sans kids) to celebrate with my siblings and their significant others!!! Picture this if you will: my 3 siblings and I, no kids, K-State football game with LOTS of tailgating, the Ville, and glorious sleep (again with no kids!)………….fun freakin times!! I can’t wait! Oh yes…ahem…..I WILL miss the kids, but let’s be honest here, I am more than ready for a night off!

This was me and the sibs last year after one of the games………..I love you guys! Get your game faces on for Saturday, cause it’s ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!

We aren’t leaving until Saturday morning (so we will miss Friday night festivities, sad face) BUT it is our last Saturday group run for the half marathon and I really wanted to be there for that. Mainly because it’s group picture day and sorry but the group picture just wouldn’t be complete without my mug in there (kidding people!!) It’s only 5 miles on Saturday too, holla holla!! And then…..next weekend…..as in a little over a week away……is my race!!!! I can’t decide if I am nervous, I don’t think I am, but ask me a week from now and I will probably be a wreck!

Ya know what else is super exciting in my life right now? We are FINALLY finishing our basement……..what? you didn’t just get super excited for that? Loser. Ok so maybe it’s just exciting for me, and maybe my family so they can have their own guest room and bathroom now and won’t have to sleep in Paxton’s room. Construction should start in about 3 weeks, right now we are cleaning out the ~~shit fest~~ boxes and clutter down there and moving it all to a storage unit.

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Ok I may have gasped when I saw this…….it’s a kids nook UNDER the stairs! We have a space exactly like this under our basement stairs and originally it was going to be storage……until I saw this. Then I was like “oh no you di’nt just show me this adorable little nook” and then I was all like “it has to be MINE……….er, the kids I mean, it’s FOR.THE.KIDS.” However, if you can’t find me one day, I might be holed up in there, reading and drinking wine….. hey it can have dual purposes!! Play nook/Mommy Time Out Spot!! I dig…big time. Here is another example:

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Oh be still my heart, it is all just too cute!!

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This is kind of what I am thinking for the basement, pretty neutral with lots of color pops! NO dark colors cause it will already be so dark down there. Doesn’t this just scream “come on down and cozy up in the love shack and watch a movie…….ignore Mom who is giggling like a mad woman in the kids nook/wine and reading room, she is still a bit excited about it.” Yeah I thought so too.

What’s that you say? You want updates on the kids? What kids? Oh MY kids, that’s right, I forgot I had those since they are both currently sleeping and thus not yelling, crying, drooling or destroying the house!!

Paxton:

He is ob-sess-ed with Dinosaurs, he LOVES Dino Dan and learns all these long named dinosaurs that even I can’t pronounce! He will be hiding in his room and I will ask him what he is hiding from and he will say:

“Constanopus, MOM!!”

What the h-e-double hockey sticks is a Constanopus and how do you even freakin spell that?

check out Baby Girls crazy nap hair….don’t be jealous.

I think I need to buy him a pet. Poor kid STILL talks about King, the fish that I killed (not on purpose, I swear!!). Then the other day in the yard he was digging in the dirt and found a worm and he carried that worm around and talked to it and was so gentle with it. A WORM…..A WORM!!! Yes I do believe I am traumatizing my kid by not allowing him a real pet and thus forcing him to have a worm as his pet (and no wormie did NOT come inside, I told Pax he had to be an outdoor pet). I just can’t think of any pet that doesn’t shed, poop, make messes, smell, etc. A pet rock? That would be ideal.

helpin Papa mow our yard……..look at what the hot summer did to our once lush yard………I am pretty sure Josh cries whenever he looks at it. No worries though, they already planted new grass…..duh.

We were talking in the car the other day about what will happen when Pax is all grown up with kids of his own:

Me: One day buddy, you will live in your own house and have a wife and kids of your own. Until then you have to live by my rules (holy cow I have turned into my Mother!!)

Pax: Yes I will have kids Mom, but not a wife, I am allergic to girls. I think I will live in Kansas City with Aiden instead. But Mom you HAVE to tell him he has to share his toys with me!

Me: So you won’t ever get married then?

Pax: No, Harper can be the Mommy and clean the house while I go to work at Willies.

Oh child there are so many things wrong with that sentence. First of all never marry your sister, that’s illegal. Also I MUST get it through your head before you are older that woman are NOT just put on this earth to clean up after men (finger snap!) and let’s explore medical school before going the sports bar route mmmmkay? It will pay better and Dr. Paxton Hall has a nice ring to it don’t ya think?

his hair is getting long, think we may let it grow out a bit. Summer IS over after all!

Today when I put him down for his nap:

Pax: Mom, you can’t leave your heart chained up, you have to give it away.

Me: Uh……….what?

Pax: Give your heart to God, don’t keep it chained up.

Me: Oh!!!! Yes Pax, giving your heart to God is good, do you give your heart to God?

Pax: Yes he is in my tummy right now.

Hmmmmmm….

Harper:

She continues to uphold her reputation as my difficult child.The diaper issue is about to put me over the edge!! I walked in her room the other morning and she just holds her diaper out to me and smiles all innocent like and says “hi Mommy!” while standing in the crib stark ass naked!! Gah!!

Yesterday Josh was home with the kids all day and he informed me that she went poop in her diaper, then took the diaper off so the turd fell out. He scrambled to pick it up and went to throw it and the diaper away, walks back into the living room and she is peeing on the carpet!!! Ha! So glad he gets to experience those glamorous moments of staying home with the kids………….see dude? It’s not all bon-bons and soap operas (are soap operas even on still?)

She has also went all Jersey Shore on me and goes around the house yelling “MA!” at me.

Uh yeah……we were at an outdoor wedding on Saturday and Harper started throwing a fit so Josh took her around the corner so she wouldn’t interrupt the ceremony. After it was over, Josh brings her back………..looking like this!!!

One day she kept yelling “hoo hoo hi” at me. I had no idea what she was saying and she was getting so mad at me because whatever “hoo hoo hi” was she wanted it…..NOW!! She walks in the kitchen and pulls open the kitchen drawer where we keep paper and pens, and she pulls out a pen and says “hoo hoo hi” and smiles. Oh duh (smack my forehead) of COURSE “hoo hoo hi” means pen!!! It’s so obvious isn’t it? What the hell?

The other day I walked into the living room and she had gotten the kitchen towel and was putting it on the ottoman. She jumped when I walked into the living room and looked all guilty so I went and moved the towel and she had wrote all over it with the “hoo hoo hi” and knew she was in trouble so she was covering it up with the towel! Shneaky shneaky little lady! (the pen came right off, thank goodness)

So wow that post just turned into a novel…………my bad! Have a good Wednesday, only 2 more days until the weekend (fist pump, fist pump, fist pump).

2011-09-13T20:26:00.001-05:00

Picture day….

The pictures in my last post had some new pictures I had taken of the kids last week.

I decided not to work on Thursday since I had Kids Night Out Saturday night. It was so nice out that I thought I would get the kids dressed in the morning and go to a few spots I had seen around town that would make for cool pics.

I hurried up and made a headband for Harper to wear (yeah I made that, wha-what!!) Can I just tell you how all sorts of out of control her hair is these days? It is….. in a major way. It won’t be long before it’s a full blown mullet…..can’t tell you how excited that makes me (sarcasm people, SARCASM).

Soooooo we drive to the first place and I get the kids to stand by each other and then Harper sees a bug…..and freaks out.

Sooooo we drive to the next stop, get the kids to stand next to each other, Harper hears a truck go by……..and freaks out.

We move to the other side of that house where there is less traffic, I get the kids to stand by each other, Harper hears a train in the distance…………and freaks out.

You can see the trend here can’t you? So I got a few pictures of Harper crying, and quite a few good ones of Paxton. Not sure how I managed that since I had a little monkey screaming at my feet and trying to climb up my leg. Not to mention that I was an idiot and wore a baseball cap, well it’s IMPOSSIBLE to use my camera with a hat on because the bill gets in the way. So I had to turn my hat BACKWARDS!!

Can you picture this? Me rockin the backward hat, squatting on the ground and even falling over a few times because Harper was still trying to climb up me, all the while screaming at Pax: “smile!” “look at the camera!” “no a REAL smile, you look like you are pooping!” It’s ok if you laugh, I am sure anyone watching us was totally laughing, AND pointing, AND possibly taping it for youtube.

I gave up, I threw in the towel, the kids won. We went to the park.

I got a couple of cute pictures there, Harper was a little more in her element…………..until a fire truck went by……..and well you can guess what happened next. SIGH.

Here are the rest of the pics from that eventful day, if you didn’t see the other pics I took scroll down to the post before this one (and shame on you, just kidding, sort of):

see that tiny speck on the corner of the brick that Pax is staring at? Yeah that’s the bug that Harper freaked out about. Terrifying isn’t it?

2011-09-12T15:23:00.001-05:00

That’s life………..

What happens when you let your 3 (almost 4!) year old wash his own hands before dinner?

A flooded bathroom, that’s what.

He usually washes his hands by himself, it never crossed my mind to check after he was done, I should have suspected something when he came out of the bathroom and closed the door. He NEVER closes the door behind him.

Nope, didn’t think about it, I was too focused on the homemade apple crisp I was going to be tearing up after dinner (you can see where my priorities are).

I went into the bathroom to get something out of the closet, and I hear water trickling in the sink behind me. Not full on gush, just a slight trickle.

I think to myself “silly Pax, he left the water running a little.” I turn around and see that the water is up to the top of the sink! He had pulled the plug up when he washed his hands so it didn’t drain.

I screamed and shut the water off and drained it. The water hadn’t spilled over the sink, so I laugh and tell Josh how lucky we got, it could have been a disaster!!

Or so we thought…………

I go in a couple hours later to wash my face for bed and step onto the rug in front of the sink and hear a “slosh.” The entire mat is soaking, as is the baseboard and the linoleum.

“What the………” I think to myself.

I call Josh in, we are trying to figure out where the water came from. It is not in the cupboards or the drawers, it is all UNDER the vanity, and UNDER the floor!

“Josh, the basement!” I said. This only occurred to me because one time when we were little, my sister and I decided to turn our bathroom into a slipper slide thinking my parents would never know……until water started dripping on them downstairs in the living room.

We run downstairs and sure enough there is a huge puddle on the floor underneath the bathroom and the insulation is all soaking wet(the basement is un-finished).

Luckily it leaked on the side where we don’t have anything stored so nothing important was damaged.

So now we are going to have to rip out the vanity and linoleum (can someone say mold?) and assess the damage. I HAVE been wanting a new vanity or at least to paint the one we have, so maybe this is a good excuse to finally do that.

When asked why he pulled the plug up when he washed his hands, Pax replied: “what else are you supposed to do with it Mom! It will never get used if you don’t!”

Of course……why didn’t I think of that?

2011-09-11T02:32:00.001-05:00

Remember…..

I was 19 years old, I was sleeping peacefully in my bed in Tri-Delt, no class that day, only work.

My roommate bursts through our door, breathless and crying. Nothing new….she could be a bit dramatic at time. She is mumbling something about her Dad, about a plane, about a fire.

That gets my attention…..I sit up straight in bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

She is not making sense, something has happened….something bad…..something bigger than we could ever imagine. She walks out of the room. I follow her.

I walk to the pledge lounge, it’s one of the only rooms in the sorority that has cable.

There is a huge crowd in there…. I think to myself “why isn’t anyone in class?”

My roommate is still crying, still on her cell phone, people are trying to comfort her.

I look at the t.v. I see a plane crashing into a building, a plane crashing into another building, and the word TERRORISM being said over and over.

“What is going on!” I think to myself

I listen to what is being said: 4 planes, 3 buildings hit, 1 plane crashed into a field, many deaths.

I watch those buildings collapse, over and over, the panic in the reporters voices.

Our world will never be the same.

My roommates Dad worked at the Pentagon, she kept calling him frantically, not knowing if he was ok.

I had to go to work, life had to keep going, I was the assistant manager after all, I had no choice.

I drove to work, looking up to the sky and thinking how odd it was not to see planes up there, not to hear the sound of airplanes that I was so used to hearing every day.

Instead silence, in the air, in the streets, everywhere.

I remember, how can you forget?

It takes on a new meaning now.

I have children.

I have a husband.

What would I do?

What if it was my husband? My child? My loved one?

When you are from Manhattan, Kansas, not Manhattan, New York you can separate yourself.

But can you?

Little Apple; Big Apple; we are still Americans; we are still connected; we are still impacted…….. it could have been us.

Terrorism was a new word to us that day……. now? It’s a word my kids will grow up being familiar with, knowing that it could apply to them at any minute.

My roommates Dad was ok, he survived that fateful day. But I am sure it changed him, just like it changed all of us.

That is why I remember today, I remember every day, and I will never forget.

We may be the land of the free, and the home of the brave, but we are not invincible, bad things happen to us too. So don’t forget that. Love your kids every day. Love your husband every day. Love your family every day.

Today, remember that day, as hard as it may be. It is a true testament to the greatness of our country. To the brave who sacrificed their lives, to the families still dealing with the pain, to the ones we owe our freedom to.

10 years ago they tried to break us…………. Today we can stand up and tell them they never can.

I remember…..do you?

2011-09-07T13:48:00.001-05:00

I see skies of blue…..

“Clouds of white, the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night, and I think to myself what a wonderful world!”

Don’t you think we all need to be reminded of this sometimes? I couldn’t think of a blog title, and I was thinking how easy it is to let life get you down sometimes but you can’t let it……ya gotta keep on keepin on peeps!!!!

It’s hard not to feel happy with the weather we are having, it’s fabuloso, fantastico, magnifico, beautifico, and downright glorious!! I had to run this morning in pants and a jacket (fist pumpin!)

Our labor day weekend was good, nothin too exciting: A short little 10 1/2 mile run Saturday morning (yes Brandi it IS important to throw that 1/2 in there, leave me alone); a little K-State football action Saturday night (Cats, we gotta pull ourselves together, that game wasn’t pretty); a night out with friends Saturday night (holla holla holla); Sunday family grocery shopping trip (H.E.double hockey sticks…just sayin); dinner at a friends house Sunday night (yummo!);and work on Monday for Josh and I (boo, yes you CAN feel sorry for us). That was our weekend in a nutshell.

So I finally remembered to write down funny Paxton sayings this week, so in no specific order, here they are:

At the bank drive-thru:

P: “Mom what would happen if bunnies jumped into our house?”

Me: (looking all around for a picture of a bunny or SOMETHING that would have sparked him saying this, there was nothing) “Uh, then we would have bunnies in our house, why do you ask?”

P: (looking out the window) “Oh just wondering.”

One day while I was working on computer and Pax was playing on the floor:

P: “Mom! Do you think it’s ok to get off the couch and just leave without giving your kids hugs and kisses!”

Me: (Racking my brain, wondering if I had done this lately? I NEVER leave without giving the kids tons of hugs and kisses) “No Pax, why would you say that?”

P: “Just sayin…… it wouldn’t be nice.” (never once did he quit playing during this conversation, odd.)

Note to self: DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT GIVING KIDS HUGS AND KISSES, APPARENTLY PAX WILL BE PISSED.

In the bathroom the other day, I am getting ready and Pax walks in and starts going to the bathroom while CLAPPING his hands!!

Me: “Gah!! Pax do NOT clap while you pee!! Keep it in the toilet!”

I only write this because I NEVER thought those words would ever come out of my mouth. EVER.

I like to pretend my kids are always like this:

“Oh look at us being all B.F.F on the front porch, havin a nice little chat.” (yes this pic was taken through my glass front door and YES those are finger prints all over the glass, don’t judge me.)

Or maybe they could always be like this:

“Here we are posin in our purple getty-up before the K-State and Butler game. We LOVE each other!!”

But……….remember in my last post when I talked about Paxton’s issue with respecting personal space, mainly his sisters? Well let’s just see what happens shall we?:

Here is he is, getting closer, she is eyein him like “boy don’t you even think about it!! Doesn’t this drool all over my shirt deter you at ALL?!?!?”…..

Nope apparently big drool spot does not deter him so he goes in for the kill and………….

“Bam! Sucker punch in the face! I warned you fool!!”

“What? I didn’t do anything. I am perfect, I am a princess, don’t you see my sweet smile?” (and more drool, seriously teeth COME IN ALREADY!!)

Oh pity me, this is so my life these days. I really should wear a black & white ref shirt all the time, I bet I could go pro with it. How much do refs make these days? I should look into that.

But sometimes (really stressing the word sometimes here folks) I turn around and catch them doing this:

And I think “ok good, they DO love each other!” Literally I was in the kitchen and they were sitting on the floor watching cartoons and the next thing I know I look over and he is holding her. Awwwwwww.

And 2 more pics of my little “princess”

Ha! Doesn’t she just EXUDE orneryness (is this a word? it is now). She is still getting naked in the morning, and apparently she took her pants off in Kid Zone today……..yup totally lady-like, that’s how she rolls.

Happy Wednesday all!!

2011-08-31T14:20:00.001-05:00

Midweek randoms…..

It’s Wednesday, it’s Wednesday! Doin a little happy dance because that means 1 more day of running before REST DAY!!! But then the day after is the big 10 miler (insert pathetic girly scream here).

K-State football starts this weekend, holla!!! My family is all traveling to Manhattan for the game, but we decided to stay home this weekend. I have my run Saturday morning, we have dinner plans Sunday and I have to work on Monday (boo) so it didn’t make sense to travel (alone) with 2 kids for a short visit. If Josh would have been able to take off and go with me, we totally would have gone. I will miss my fam, they will have so much fun together. Josh will have the game on at Willies here, so at least I can watch my beloved Cats first game of the season (insert Wabash Cannonball song here).

Is it Fall yet? I am over Summer, she and I are no longer on speaking terms, she has been brutal to us this year. I miss my Fall, he is so much nicer to us, and he smells better too (what YOU don’t think the seasons have a gender? Well they do.) I am over Summer’s clothing too, bring on Fall and his cute sweaters and fun boots (note to self: go buy cute sweaters and fun boots).

The kids: Some days they play soooo nicely together and the next day it’s like WWF in here and I have to pull Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin off each other every 2 seconds. Paxton has some pretty awful battle wounds this week courtesy of Harper’s nails to his face. I tell him over and over to stay OUT of her face, to leave her alone if she is in a mood, but does he listen? Noooooo he gets right back in her face “hey baby you want to go to my room?” “baby can I have a kiss?” then…………whap! Her little hand makes direct contact with his face and holds.on.tight. The end result is a pretty nasty bruise and a a cut from her nail (she literally has a death grip on his face). This has happened 3 TIMES this week! I really hope his teacher doesn’t call SRS on us, how do you explain to them that the bruises and cuts are from his 1 YEAR OLD SISTER?!?!?!?

Paxton has been helping Josh put in our sprinkler system the past couple weeks and last night we were standing in my friends yard, talking, and all of a sudden Paxton yells at us (pointing at the ground with a stick) “hey guys I think this is a good spot for another head (sprinkler head) and probably another one right about there (points with stick again).” He was so serious too, ha! So if anyone needs help putting in sprinkler heads, Pax is your guy!

Harper’s new thing lately is saying “uh-huh” and “yeah” after EVERYTHING you say! She says it in a little high pitched voice and it cracks me up. So I mentioned that she has been taking her diaper off in the morning before we go get her out of bed, well Sunday morning when I walked in she was COMPLETELY NAKED!!! So I have been putting onesies on her at night and that has deterred her a bit because she can’t get the snaps un-done. Ugh, baby girl is a mess. She also has been showing some interest in the potty, she will sit on it but so far nothing has happened. She also tells us when she needs her diaper changed and apparently that is a sign that they are ready. I know this sounds bad, but I was in NO rush to potty train her, 1. because she is not even 2 yet and 2. that means she is officially not a baby anymore. Waaaaanh!

So I am going to conclude this exciting post (sarcasm there peeps) with some pictures I took from Papa Jim’s farm a couple weeks ago.

Little background story to this one: we (Papa, Pax, Harper, Nana, and myself) took the Gator out to the fields to see the cows. Well it took us forever to find them and when we finally did Deb nonchalantly says “won’t they think we are here to feed them” Dave says “yeah probably” I say “what the heck does that mean!!” Well apparently it means they will ALL RUN RIGHT TOWARDS YOU (hence the photo above)!!!! OMG I was freaking out as this large herd of cattle came charging at us and we are in this tiny little cart with no doors or windows to close!!! So we turn the Gator around and then what do they do?……….follow us!! RUNNING!! So now we have a large pissed off herd of cattle running after us!!!

(Hence the following pics:)

Dave barely got out of the Gator and got the fence closed before they caught up with us. THAT would have been BAD if he hadn’t got the fence shut in time, I think we would have been herding cattle the rest of the day……….and I know NOTHING about herding cattle.

The farm got hit by a wind gust a month ago and it destroyed the barns. It ripped the roof right off of this one!!

And of course no visit to Papa Jim’s would be complete without petting Hall-E and some fun on the tire swing (Harper would take Hall-E home with us if she could…….she can’t)!!!

Have a good rest of the week!!!

2011-08-29T20:48:00.001-05:00

Move it monday………..

Linkin up with Ashley again for her “move it monday” series. I feel a little guilty though because I haven’t moved it today, I missed the 4:30 group run this morning and am not sure I will have time to squeeze in a run during the hour Josh is home before he goes back to work. (edit: I DID go get a quick 3 miles in, I only had 30 minutes since Josh had to get back to work, and my schedule called for 45 min today, but something is better than nothing right?)

I had a hard run on Saturday though and I feel like my body is still making up for that. We had 8 miles Saturday morning with a HILL REPEAT thrown in. At about 4 miles we ran down a hill then ran a bit farther to hit the 4 mile mark, then turned around and had to run back up that hill, turn around, run down it, then turn around and run back up it before we could run the 4 miles back in. Holy freakin moly!!! That was AFTER running up the hill I have named “killer hill” which is about 3 1/2 miles into our run. THAT hill is a bad mamma jamma and kicks my butt (whenever I make it to the top of it, all I can hear in my head is the Rocky theme song and I feel like jumping around and pumping my fist in the air………ok so maybe I DO jump around little and pump my fist)!! So needless to say our run on Saturday was the farthest I had ever gone and had a ton of hills in it. Our trainer assures us that hill training is one of the best ways to condition your body for a run, even if the race you are doing is relatively flat, the hills build up your endurance to make you a better runner. Whatever!! I think she just likes to torture us and watch us suffer, ha! She has informed us that we better like hill repeats because every Saturday from now until the race (Oct. 9th) we will be doing them! This Saturday we have 10 miles. Eeeeeek.

(this is the view after we get to the top of the “killer hill” the lake at sunrise, so it kind of makes the hill worth it to see that at the top. Sorry for the crappy pic, it’s on my phone and I was all shaky from running up the hill.)

(my running buddy, Paula, happy after conquering the “killer hill”)

One thing I am NOT doing that Ashley is really good at remembering to do is strength training! I know I need it, that running is not enough by itself, but after running at 4:15 a.m. the last thing I want to do is go inside the Y to do weights. I know I just need to suck it up and do it, but it’s hard. All I want to do is go home, shower, and lay down for a little bit before the ankle biters wake up. Plus I am easily intimidated, so if there are guys in the weights area, I usually turn around and walk out. I work there for crying out loud!! I should not be intimidated or embarrassed but I totally am. I wish I was more confident or had more of a “I don’t give a s*&#” attitude, but I really lack that.

I am still trying to figure out what foods work best for me to run the next day. In other words: what food won’t make me need to use the ahem restroom. I am sorry if this is T.M.I but it totally stresses me out on a daily basis. I have had 2 incidents now where apparently I did NOT eat the right thing and halfway into a run it catches up to me. I live in a small town, I run at 4 a.m. translation……NOTHING IS OPEN, THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS!! The first time I just turned around and got in my car and went home, the second time I went into a nursing home. A NURSING HOME!! AT 4:45 A.M.!!! I fully expected the cops to bust down the bathroom door and arrest me for trespassing. At that point though, I didn’t care. Saturday was a good run and I had pasta the night before so maybe I should stick with pasta before my long runs, it made me SUPER tired though and I was in bed by 8:30 on Friday night…..lame.

This is my Saturday running crew, and this isn’t even all of them!!

Tomorrow is cross training day and we can either walk or swim instead of running. I pretty much only drown when I try to swim laps so I am going to walk with the group tomorrow morning then doing yoga afterwards. It should be a nice easy day, pretty pumped about that!