When it's raining outside...

There's no better time for a carpet picnic! Love these three...

Sunday Night View

A Sunday night view from mama's new iPhone... Moving up in the world = more posts for you! ;)

Yahoo! It's 2014!!

I've really done it this time--going almost 2 months with nary a post!  Yikes!

Suffice it to say, we are well.
We had a wonderful, joy-filled Thanksgiving and Christmas, complete with family (mine at T-giving, Geoff's and my parents at Christmas!), good food, and cheer.  It seemed like one holiday rolled right into the other, which meant despite my best anticipation, I was still very busy right up until the end.

Thanksgiving: My sister and her family traveled from Ohio and my parents from Florida to all be together under one roof for four days.  It was so great and we all reveled in time with one another.  Everyone had his own space, so we thankfully didn't feel on top of one another and the kids had a blast.  Turkey started off with the annual Turkey Bowl, held across the street from our house in an open field. Afterward we cleaned up and headed over to GG's parents' house, where we feasted and merried and rolled home many hours later. We can't wait to do it again. ;) Talk is already underway about making Virginia the permanent T-giving location.  Yahoo!! Bring it!

Advent: We blinked and it was Advent.  Then we blinked again and it was almost Christmas! One fun tradition we started this year was taking all the girls to see our city ballet's Nutcracker performance.  MG, Mimi, and I dolled ourselves up and went to have lunch beforehand at a fancy hotel.  The show afterward was so fun and MG did great and surprisingly did not wiggle too much or fall asleep! I always have such fun with GG's mom--she is a gift to our whole family ;). Love you, Mimi! We can't wait to bring V along with us one of these years.  We thought we'd make it a girls-only tradition, but then T asked me why he didn't get to go? Oops! Maybe we'll allow the boys to come once or twice ;).

Birthdays: Mimi and GG both celebrated birthdays on December 22nd, which meant we had the fun of going out to dinner to celebrate them.  This year we had the added bonus of having GG's bro, C, and my new SIL, M, with us.  They are so thoughtful, warm, and loving toward one another and all around them.  It was a real treat to have us all together.

Christmas Whirlwind: We headed to Mass Christmas Eve at 4:15 for a 6pm service. Yow! It was beautiful, though, and worth the wait.  My girls were also pretty well-behaved, which meant I was able to enjoy the whole Mass.  Thank you, baby Jesus!  Mimi made a delicious dinner and the kids performed a most tear-jerking Christmas Eve performance that night. It had been M's idea as a gift for GG and me.  He conspired with Papa and the two of them put together the re-enactment.  The boys processed out in shepherd costumes while Uncle C read scripture and Mimi played piano.  The rest of us sang along with carols.  GG and I had no idea what to expect, but as my sweet boys processed out to the tune of Angels We Have Heard On High, I didn't know whether to cry my eyes out or laugh at how precious they looked. I think I ended up doing a lot of both…  It was so precious and a true gift to us.  Someday if my sons are reading this, you really did a fantastic job and stole our hearts.  We love you and thank you for making us feel so loved.

Christmas morning began at our house at 6:20am *sharp!  The kids were not allowed to be out of their beds until then (we had to make this rule hard and fast after hearing the boys conspiring to wake each other up at 2am!!!) They were allowed to come wake us up no earlier than 7am and then we were all to open stockings at 8am after the family Christmas photo. Mimi, Papa, C, and M were to arrive at 8:30am sharp when the opening would begin… and for the most part, that's how it went.  The excitement was palpable and the kids were pumped too ;).  They really make the day so fun.  We ate ourselves silly all day and had a Christmas feast that night. Many thanks to my mom for all her help in preparation! We had such a nice time cooking together as mom and daughter.  Even though she doesn't love to cook, hopefully our time spent together made it just a little bit more enjoyable;)!

New Years: On a whim we drove to DC for the new year to see friends of ours from our law school days.  They were opening their home to our whole family.  It was grand fun for all of us and we had the surprise of seeing another dear family we love that night too.  I drank it in, it was so heartwarming. Seeing all of our oldest children together who had once been in a baby playgroup was totally surreal and amazing.  Gosh, I love those families!  R family in Alabama--we are Fedex'ing you all to the next gathering. I think I would fall over from happiness. :)  We all stayed up way too late playing a fun game, woke up early the next day, and headed to Mass.  Our drive back was joyful because we had such a nice time.  What a wonderful way to usher in 2014!

Since then, we've been cherishing our final days before school started. We've had some really great family moments of late, where I stop and say, "I think we really like each other." lol. One of our recent goals has been to get through the big Disney classic movies so that the kids are more familiar with them when we trek to Disney in Feb.  Snow White and Beauty And The Beast are next on the list.  All the kids are now enjoying listening to the Tangled soundtrack at bedtime. Very sweet. ;) That's a whole other post to get to...

For now, thank you, Lord, for blessing us with all the moments, all the in-betweens that shape our life and remind us to always look to you.

God bless,

*pictures coming...

Success!

I did it.  1:35:10
Goal accomplished and thank goodness it's over!

The race went just like I imagined, despite the early rain that fell just minutes before the starting gun.  A friend and I managed to find a dry spot in a local hotel, use their potties, and warm up under their carport.  Perfect.  I easily found the 1:35 pace group at the start and worked with them until mile 6.  At that point we entered a midway park that had a lot of rolling hills.  The pace group began to spread out, but I stayed with them, would fall back a little, and then reel them back in again.  We were at mile 8 when we exited the park and I was feeling it.  I am not a very strong hill runner and hadn't been doing much (if any) hill training.  Yikes!  I was also feeling like the pace we were going was one I couldn't maintain.  Then I looked down at my watch--6:47min/mi pace!!  Double yikes!  I was supposed to be running an average of 7:15's and knew I had to slow it down.  I let the pacer go and started running right around 7:15 and much to my relief, I felt an immediate difference and SO much better.  Whew!

At that point I was at mile 10 and felt empowered that I was going to run the race MY way and probably do a better job than the pacer.  That idea gave me spirit and it was a great mile… which I then paid for during mile 11. :)  By mile 12 I knew how close I was to finishing and knew I just needed to hang on as fast as I could.  And by the end, a sloping downhill carried my tired body into the finish.  Awesome!  I knew I was done and my legs were totally shot.  They gave me a fleece blanket and a medal and immediately I saw my sweet family there to greet me--never a sweeter sight!  I had tears in my eyes seeing my babies and so grateful for a successful race, goals accomplished, and a family who supported me so.  Thank you, dear ones!  It was a euphoric high for the rest of the day...

At mile 12.5

12.5--my friend took me by surprise and brought a smile to my face!

My wonderful groupies--best husband ever and 5 charitable children, who came out in the rain to cheer on their mama (even if it was slightly begrudgingly so, I appreciate it!)

My legs were beyond sore on Sunday, but the satisfaction of good race kept the smile on my face!  Now maybe a marathon in the spring??  We shall see.  I need to make sure GG is on board. ;)

Thanks for your support!
God bless,

Pre-race Jitters!

I feel like I'm back to my old cross country days.  I would start getting nervous mid-week and it wouldn't let up until after the invitational on Saturday…  I remember my dad would always offer consolation--"Your nerves help to get you ready to race and get your adrenaline flowing."  Good dad. ;)  I repeat that to myself often!

The reason for the jitters this week?  I am running the Richmond half-marathon on Saturday morning!  This will be my first legitimate race in years.  By "legitimate", I mean the first race for which I've trained and set some real goals for my performance.  Darn goals!  If it weren't for them, I would be coasting right now. ;)  My former PR for the half is 1:39:45.  Saturday I'm planning to keep pace with the 1:35 pace group (7:15min/mi).  I'm going to go out with them and see if I can hang for the 13.  My training has gone pretty well and I've been doing sub 7 tempo work and a few long runs at a 7:30 pace. We'll see…

Of course the kids have been wrestling with a horrible head cold this past week and I've been trying, trying, trying to stay healthy.  I have a bit of a runny nose and sore throat, but am hoping I've staved off the worst of it.  There's no telling how things will go on race day, but I'm hoping to have good news to report!!

Cheers to motherly aspirations!!  You can do it, mamas!!
God bless,

Happy Veterans' Day!

 Last Friday T and his fellow first-graders dazzled us with a sweet Veterans' Day performance.  I enjoy chances like this to highlight one of the kids particularly.  So often they are part of the mix and don't get special recognition!  Not on Friday--T was the star!

 T was so excited to see us in the audience--Mimi, Papa, Daddy, Mama, and V, all there to see him!

T had a special role in the performance, getting to say some lines about our nation's flag.  "Our current flag has 13 stripes, 7 red and 6 white.  These stripes represent the 13 original colonies that created our country." He did a fine job and said his part well.

Afterward, the kids sang a military medley with each of the branches of the military represented.  Mimi, Papa, and GG all stood and were recognized when the Army portion was sung.  Family military pictures played in the background on a powerpoint--it was really special!  I am so proud of our family's military heritage!

T and his teacher, Ms. Johnson

Thanks for the special day, T!  Love you!

October In Review

Golly jeepers!  Has it really been over a month since my last post?  I am failing in epic proportions these days…  Time marches on, yet motivation to get on the computer after a full day is just about the last priority on my list.  No worries yet, I still love having the blog and won't be ridding us of it anytime soon!  How else can I keep my peeps across the country updated of our latest and greatest (and not-so-greatest?!)  Here's a re-cap of the fun we had in late Sept/October:

This little lady is becoming quite the personality.  She is a talker (wonder where she gets that from?? ;), a lover, a drama queen (what 18mo isn't?), a caretaker, a keen observer, and a contributor (in noise, opinion, etc.)  She will not be the forgotten baby! ;)

Case-in-point: take a look at our little photo bomber, crashing her big bro's first Cub Scout shot!  We are excited M has committed to Cub Scouts this year.  So far, so good.  He has been camping with our Eagle Scout Papa as his escort, has earned his Bobcat Badge and a few belt loops!  It has been a really cool opportunity for him.

The weather here has been so beautiful and the boys have been playing oodles of football and soccer games in the backyard.  Occasionally they'll swing too.  This is what happens when three boys are left to their own devices.  lol.  Mom to the rescue, but only after I snapped a pic and J uttered a few cries! ;)  These boys are silly beyond belief, especially when they're together.  I love it.
 

And the girls go along for the ride.  It's cute to see these two begin to emerge as friends--that's if one isn't stealing something away from the other.  They speak the same peaceful girl language and will most likely become best frenemies.

Did I mention she's a ham?  Oh Lordy, she kills me!

Here is another fun sibling game in the works--lightsaber LIMBO!  J is not making the cut in this shot.

To see the games they come up with…  I love it.  Fun is always to be had in G-Ville!

M conducted his first big science project for class.  He was curious which would taste more sour--a lime or a lemon?  This involved polling our whole family and having us taste Sample A and Sample B (mom knew which was which!)  The final tally was 4 in favor of lime to 2 (Mimi and J) in favor of lemon.  M seemed to really enjoy the project and seems to be a budding scientist.  (This thrills his mother, the dormant science teacher!! :)

J learned to ride a 2-wheeler!!  It helps that his best buddy learned a few months ago.  J was bound and determined to join the neighborhood kids riding without training wheels up and down the block!  He spent an afternoon or two learning to coast without pedals and then added the pedals and was off!  Way to go, J!

October was not without a pretty fall Sunday trip to the pumpkin patch.

MG and I were in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin.

Here's Daddy and his sweet girl

And another nice one of Daddy and the middles

We got this fun family pic--notice anyone missing?  M was at his Cub Scout campout with Papa.  We were sad to be without him and definitely felt his absence.  4 is not nearly as flavorful as our 5!

The next week the boys participated in their annual Golden Shoe Competition in gym class.  They run for 6 minutes and try to log as many laps as possible.  Here was M with some buddies.

He ran well and achieved 4.75 laps.  I was impressed that he never stopped and just kept up his steady pace even when others were getting tired.  Mama and little sisters were cheerleaders extraordinaire!

Later that week we had the chance to root on T in his class' race.

T was determined...

and victorious!  He beat his personal best with 5.6 laps.  It was a great effort and he was so relieved to be done.  Definitely a chip off the old block of nerves here!!

I was able to capture a few shots of J and his best bud, Cooper, who is our neighbor and also his classmate.  These two are peas and carrots.  They argue like brothers and play like they've known each other since birth.  Cooper's mom, Christy, and I enjoy catching up during preschool carpool.  She saves my sanity many-a-day!  We talk and the boys get to play…  Aren't they cute?

Speaking of cute, here was our little love after spending some time at Mimi and Papa's house one afternoon.  Daddy was out-of-town seeing college buddies, so the crew and I landed on M/P's doorstep that Saturday evening.  We ate pizza and the kids enjoyed playing trains and legos.

The next week was spent in preparation for Halloween.  The kids all designed their pumpkins...

but left the gooey grunt work to mama.  Yuck!  I seem to always get stuck with the cutting.  Next year, it's Daddy's turn!! ;)

The outcome was worth it, though.  Our original plan was to have 3 Duck Dynasty brothers and two girl ducks.  We ended up with 2/5 following the plan.  T was Uncle Si and V was a duck.  J decided last-minute he wanted to be Spiderman, so I scrambled to find a costume that would fit (hello pajama section at Wal-Mart on Halloween?!)  M chose to don an old ninja costume from years prior (we've gotten SO much use out of those ninja suits for any and all occasion).  MG switched with 10 minutes to go to trick-or-treating--thankfully I have an upstairs closet pretty much devoted to old costumes.  A purple butterfly, it was.  As I've said to some, she's lucky she's cute. ;)

My littlest lover has a hankering for sweets.  Not surprising in the slightest!

So does her big sis!

And with that, we wrap up a wonderful October 2013.  

It was a great month and was exceedingly full.  I look back at these pictures and am humbled God has given me such a bountiful life of goodness and blessings.  With the good, comes hardship too and October was not without a little of everything.  As I mentioned before, at the beginning of the month we lost the boys' piano teacher.  He was a 40yo father-of-three who contracted a virus during a dermatological surgery and didn't catch it in time.  The boys handled it surprisingly well and we all attended his viewing to pay our respects.  The piano stood still for a good month in our home and has just started making music again.  M and T began lessons last week with our former teacher's brother and we are seeing God use this new start to help inspire their love for playing again.  Our new teacher is encouraging 6 days/week of playing, so I'll let you know how that really goes in a few… ;)

Blessings to you,