Back in Business!

Our phones should finally be back in business! They went down last Thursday when we had those huge storms blow through and finally came back up (sort of) on Sunday afternoon. Since then however, it's been hit or miss. The phone guy came out today to replace the box and we're good to go again. I will admit that in the evenings, it's been nice having it not ring - no telemarketers, no surveys, nice and quiet! :)

It was definitely an interruption to naptime though. While I did get the bathrooms cleaned, I could have used another hour. I was really sleepy this morning. I get up early on Tuesdays to run with a friend. The last couple of weeks, I've had GREAT energy all day in spite of the early hours - and I think (change that, KNOW) it's because I did my biblestudy before going running. This morning, it didn't happen. Kept hitting snooze. Still had a good run, but was tired this morning. Okay God - I hear you. Something he's been telling me lately. If I'm disciplined enough to get up and run early, then I should be disciplined enough to start my day off with him. And no, I'm not trying to be legalistic and say the ONLY right time is first thing. I've never felt like that before. Just really felt convicted personally in this area recently. So I've learned my lesson today!

My kids have ruined me!!

Do you have things that you call a certain thing because that's what your mom always did? Even though it's not the proper name? For example, we say "fridgerator" in our house - not "fridge" or "refrigerator". Also, growing up, we always called granola bars "crunchy bars". Who knows why, we just did. I thought everyone did. Sort of like I thought everyone ate macaroni & cheese as a main dish, not a side dish. Because that's how our family did.

Well, as I was grocery shopping yesterday, I remembered that I had forgotten one of Jacob's requests. As I turned around to go back down the aisle I missed, I thought to myself "Shoot - i've got to go back and get some more squares with frosting for Jacob." Squares with frosting? that would be what the rest of world calls "Shredded Wheat" cereal. My boys LOVE it. They've always called it squares with frosting. And now they've got me doing it too. Sigh. They've taken over my brain! :)

Happy Monday!

What a weekend! I'll begin by apologizing to all of you - I did NOT take my camera with me this weekend. Totally forgot. And David harassed me about it all day on Saturday. There WAS a tiny piece of me relieved not to have the "assignment" of taking pictures all day. Sometimes it is nice just to enjoy and watch your kids enjoying something. Still, sad not to have pictures from all the fun.

Saturday morning began with my last LONG run before the race - 12 miles!! It was good, but...long!! This Saturday I taper down to only 8 miles, then the following weekend is race weekend! Hard to believe. The first part of my run this weekend was hard mentally. My brain was churning a bunch of stuff that I was laboring over. Got through it, and finished well.

After getting home and showering, we headed out to enjoy our "free museum day". Thanks Smithsonian!! it was fabulous! We crossed the "big" bridge and tunnel and enjoyed the Living Museum over in NN. Unbelievable. I'd heard great things, but had never taken the kids over there. They loved it!!! It was sort of a cross between a hands-on science museum and a zoo! They had a fabulous outdoor trail that we spent a lot of time on - they had animals all along the trail, and it was amazing to watch. Otters, beavers, wolves, deer, turkey, birds, skunks, foxes - it was amazing. All three of the kids were totally captivated by it. Inside the museum, the boys especially enjoyed the virtual frog dissection!! GROSS! It was a kiosk that had a touch screen, and enabled you to virtually dissect a frog. They thought it was the coolest!! We ran into Heidi & Sue with their families as we were getting ready to head home. (David was happy to see that people DO read my blog and do the FREE stuff that I always coerce him into doing!)

Callie took a nap on the way home, and we stopped by the oceanfront on our way. We just HAD to see the sandcastle competition. Once again, it was totally amazing. It was a big festival weekend, and they also held the North American Sand Sculpting competition that we like to see every year. I was worried about it this year because we had such torrential downpours on Thursday - I was wondering if they'd all been washed away! We had a great time, and enjoyed getting to play on the beach, as always.

It was quite a full day on Saturday, so Sunday was more low-key. While the kids napped, I headed to Wal-mart and BJs to shop for 2 clients and also our family. David worked on his lesson plans and school work, and I cooked for my client last night. Our house still sort of smells like onions this morning, but I suppose it's a hazard of the job! :)

So it was a great weekend. Busy, but fun. Josiah has his first field trip this week with school, and we're both so excited about that. Jacob asked if we could go to the pool soon since it's been so nice outside, so we're going to work that into the schedule too. And Callie? Well, her top molars are through, but the bottom ones are still working on it, so she's a little growly. Hilarious most of the time, but a bit growly too! :)

Oh - and the Titans are 4-0 so far! Yippee!!

Are You Fireproof?

Most of you have heard me talk about the movie Fireproof that opens in theatres today. It's put out by the same people that made Facing the Giants and we are so excited to see it!! It's the story of a fire captain who is called a hero in public but who is facing marital burnout at home. I just read an interview with Kirk Cameron (who plays the fire captain) in the paper, and it was great! They asked him about the themes of the movie, and he said one was "Never leave your partner behind" - it's apparently a firefighter's adage, and it should be that way in marriage as well - especially in times of fire. The other theme he mentioned is "Don't follow your heart, lead your heart. If you follow your heart, it can be deceptive. " does that ring any bells, you biblestudy girls? We JUST talked about this on Wednesday!!!

Anyways, I'm so excited to go see it. We're hoping to go on Monday night. The rest of you, line up babysitters and schedule a date night. Sounds like it will be DEFINITELY worth it!!!

www.fireproofthemovie.com

One happy little girl...

We came home from picking up Josiah, and it was time for Callie's nap. She had eaten before we picked him up and was ready! We took shoes off, she had her head on my shoulder and was starting to sing "her" version of the night-night song, and we went to get her blanket from the dryer. Nice and warm!!! A nice cozy nap with it raining outside and a warm blanket - it seriously doesn't get much better than that!

Running & The Weather

It's been an interesting few days with the weather here lately. Yesterday, I had to do my run in 40 mph wind gusts. Not fun. 3 of the 5 miles that I ran I had the wind right in my face. Very annoying...and makes it quite difficult!!

Today, I did my run in the pouring rain. Definitely makes it harder and sort of inconvenient and uncomfortable at times. Specifically smacking right into low-hanging (and sopping-wet) tree branches with my head, and running through puddles that are deep enough to support ocean-life. Oh, and the occasional car that drives past and splashes you a little "extra". But besides that, it's also strangely refreshing. Sort of invigorating and cleansing in a strange way to run in.

Hmmm. Sort of goes along with my post from biblestudy yesterday about "hard" not always meaning "bad" or "wrong" I suppose. Okay, that's all the deep thoughts from me for now.

A few nuggets from Beth...

...not Chick-fil-nuggets! It's Wednesday, and in our house, that means biblestudy morning! This Beth Moore study has been wonderful so far. They always are. I've never done a "bad" one. But I'm ALWAYS amazed at how I can see God's timing so perfectly in each study. About how it's the PERFECT study for me at this time. That this is exactly what I need to be studying right now. We had a great small group discussion on our homework from last week. The video this week was powerful - just hit so many things right on the money for me. She talked about how the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to know things we wouldn't. That's part of Living Beyond Ourselves, as this study is called. That we can understand things that may not be concrete or black & white in Scripture. Because alot of life is like that. Should I take this job? Is this is the right person for me to marry? (to which Beth Moore said, "If you're already married, then YES that is the man for you!" - hilarious and TRUE!) Anyways, how do we know which decision to make? That is where the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom to know. So here are a few things that stuck to me today:

* Part of spiritual maturity is to cease equating HARD with BAD. And the opposite is true also - just because it's EASY, doesn't mean it's GOOD!

* Ezekiel 36:27 says "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees..."

How I want to be able to be moved like that. To have ears to hear. To be able to perceive. To be able to know. To have that insight.

Fall is Here!

So it was the first day of fall yesterday and the weather has been SO wonderful! I love having my windows open, being able to take walks in the COOLNESS of evening after dinner - and the fall TV season has begun! Now, I don't think David and I watch a single sitcom on TV, but there are a few shows that we are hooked on for sure! And we are unashamedly reality TV fans! We just can't help it - love the psychology behind it, personalities - it just cracks us up...and of course we're naturally competitive, so it makes for great fun! Anyways, here's some TV observations from me:

1. I'll confess that as I was watching an episode of The Biggest Loser last night that I had taped, I was eating popcorn. I always feel slightly guilty to be eating while I watch that show, but oh well. David always laughs at me though. But I love it!

2. Welcome back, Dancing With the Stars!!! LOVE IT! David usually has to wait until the bad people get weeded out before he'll watch with me, but I think it's going to be a good season! I was SO excited to see one of the new professionals this season is Lacey Schwimmer...now who remembers her from So You Think You Can Dance? So exciting!!!!

Those are my two guilty pleasures for the week! :)

I Love Jet Noise!

As you all know, I was SO excited that it was Airshow weekend! We have gone almost every year since we've lived here in the area and we always LOVE it! My dad used to fly the F-4 in the Marines, so I LOVE jet noise! (Not as a child - i would cry ALL the time...but I digress) Anyways, we love going to the air show, and it gets more and more fun to get to take our kids and see them enjoy it. The boys, of course, remembered it from last year and were so excited to see the Blue Angels and get to climb in and out of the airplaces and helicopters and things. Callie was so excited to see so many airplanes all in one place - she just kept pointing to all of them and exclaiming! This was the first year we actually got to see the Blue Angels fly. They are always the last flight demonstration of the program, and the kids are usually falling apart or in dire need of naps by that time, because we've always gone early to see some of the other stuff. This year, we decided to go later, let Callie take a little bit of a nap, so we could go and see the Blue Angels. It was amazing. I am so grateful for all that these men and women to do protect our country and our freedoms. I love that my kids absolutely think that soldiers are the BEST. It was quite a day!

I'm so annoyed that my eyes are closed. Oh well. Here we were getting settled into our seats. The boys were VERY intent on their plates of food - Callie and I were ready for the show to start!
Callie liked the headphones for a little bit. Then she liked the earplugs in her ears for a little bit. Then she wanted everything off!

She clapped for all of the maneuvers - so hilarious.
One of their tricks was two planes coming from opposite ends of the sky, meet in the middle, flip around and go back. RIGHT in front of us! So cool!
Jacob...wouldn't take his hot dog out of his mouth for me to take a picture! Good grief!
And Josiah wouldn't stop eating this piece of chocolate cake for me to take a picture! What is the deal with these boys! You'd think I never feed them!

For real people - these aren't FAKE internet pictures. This was what we saw right in front of us!! I love the top picture - it shows just how CLOSELY they fly in formation. 18 inches apart from plane to plane! HELLO! They are the BEST for a reason!

After the Blue Angels were done, the boys were so excited to run around and climb in and out of everything. They loved it!

Mmmmm...

Callie VERY much enjoyed her FREE Lil' Rounder from Carvel on Saturday. We stopped by on the way to air show and they were yummy!!! Looking forward to Thursday now at Coldstone! :)

It's Friday!

Jacob, Callie, and I went to have lunch with David today at school. We finally got to see his new classroom - it's quite nice. We got to his class about five minutes before the bell rang for lunch, so Callie enjoyed saying hi to all the students!
Once the kids all left for lunch, Callie wanted to sit in all of their desks!!
When we went to pick up Josiah, we got to see his pinwheel that he made in art on display at the school. The classes all made and decorated these pinwheels, and then they will be sent to children all over the world. (www.pinwheelsforpeace.com)

Josiah's pinwheel - the one with the black and white checkerboard pattern on one of them.

FREE Ice Cream Day - Saturday!

Seriously people! What would you do without me!! I actually can't take credit for this one. My sister in Florida hooked me up with this info, but I'll gladly pass it along to all of you!!!

This Saturday, September 20 from 12-5 pm, is Customer Appreciation Day at Carvel Ice Cream!! You can get a small soft serve cone for 59 cents, and a FREE Lil' Rounder for coming (it looks like 2 cookies with ice cream in the middle).

http://www.carvel.com/

Battleship Wisconsin

After dropping Josiah off and then getting my run in, Jacob, Callie, and I headed downtown to see the Battleship Wisconsin. The last time we went, Jacob was just a baby. I thought it would be a fun thing to climb all around and get a little bit of education in too. I have so enjoyed our week together with these two sweeties - so here was another fun adventure!

Jacob spotted the Blue Angel above the museum. He said "Mom, is that plane going to fly all the way to the air show?" (We're going to the air show this weekend, and they are SO excited). He was a little bit bummed to hear that this one was just a statue.
This is how Callie walked around most of the ship - stopping every so often to smash her face up against the net railings to see the water. So cute.
Jacob loved the cannons! He also was very emphatic about wanting to climb up and down every ladder that we could, so we had a GREAT time exploring this battleship. They were having a reenlistment ceremony this morning also, so we were able to see several sailors that were reenlisting. There was one family in the elevator with us - 2 little girls that were probably 2 and 6 months or so. He was reenlisting and had his uniform on with all his medals. We thanked him for serving and for keeping us safe. I LOVE living in a military city! I'm so grateful!

Free Museum Day (Sept. 27)

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/

I found out about this one today. Go on the website and enter your name, and you will get a downloadable pass to go to a museum for free (for you and a guest) on Saturday, Sept. 27. There's a whole list of museums all across the country that are honoring this, and our local children's museum is one of them, so you know where we'll be that morning!

Rainy Day...

...but I love it! It's nice and quiet. We had a fun night last night - had the Ratz family over last night for dinner. It was a last minute thing - I was making a new recipe for dinner and realized it was going to make a ton, so I invited them to join us. We had a great time, and it was fun for the boys to be able to play since they are big school boys now. I loved getting to love on Miss Madeline - what a happy, chatty girl she is!

Started my morning off with Beth Moore and my homework. Then went for my run this morning with Stephanie. We both talked about the fact that while we don't enjoy getting up at 5 am, getting the miles done first thing and running together is so worth it! So for one day a week, it works. I felt doubly energized by the fact that I had done my homework AND run 6 miles by 6:30 AM. The kids were great this morning. No whining, no fighting (well, actually Jacob bonked Callie one time and got in trouble for that), but it just was GOOD!

Should be a quiet morning. Jacob and I will do school, and we are going to make the Magic Seven Layer Bars for dessert for small group tonight. We have storytime at 11 and then its off to get Josiah! I love today!

My 3 Superheroes!

I had to sneak in to take this picture tonight. David was reading to Josiah and Jacob from one of his old superhero comic books that he had as a boy. They love hearing these stories - or at least the snipets that David tells them (lots of it is over their heads), but mostly I think they just love being with their daddy and doing something together as "the boys"!

Whew!!! But what a GREAT day!!

Started the morning off with my long run - 11 miles this week. It was long and hard, but good. My favorite part was when David showed up with the kids and Josiah, in his jammies, ran out to give me my Gatorade. My not so favorite part? When my hands were so sweaty that I couldn't open my sport beans (they're like jelly beans, except they are full of carbs and electrolytes to replenish what you lose when running for that long...). That was frustrating, because it would have really helped to have that boost! Oh well. It was good.

Then I was off to a women's ministry leadership meeting at church. Since I'm in charge of coordinating all the biblestudies this year, it was exciting to report back to them on how the first week went. I was thrilled to share with them that we started our 5 women's studies this last week - 3 on Weds. AM and 2 on Thurs PM. And we had about 70 women enrolled in these studies! So exciting. In the past few years, we've only offered 1 women's study which has held about 40 women. I'm excited to see these additional women able to get into studying the Word, and see how God is going to use them as a result!

We laid Callie down early to get a little bit of a nap (a little more than an hour I suppose), because at noon we were off to see our high school play their first home game! Alot of David's students are playing, and the kids always love to see it (well, and play in the dirt). The school threw a big tailgate party with food, face painting, and bounce houses, so it was QUITE the event!! Although quite hot (we moms were hot and sweaty!!!), the kids had a BALL! I convinced Mandy to bring her kids, and they even saw one of their other new friends from kindergarten their too. Sadie and Callie had a ball trying to keep up with the big boys! The Seahawks (that's us!) won 28-6, so it was a GREAT afternoon!!! The kids were FILTHY dirty, but stayed awake until we got home at 5:15 and went straight to the bathtub. After dinner, they headed back to bed with David, who promised to read them a comic book story. I fully expect they are WAY asleep by now (6:49 pm) after all of that energy exerted today with no nap! But what fun! :)

Praying for those in Houston today. Heard about a lady that had evacuated to a shelter in San Antonio and gave BIRTH to her baby in the bathroom at the shelter!!! Thank heavens she evacuated!!! Praying for Beth Moore and her LPM staff. Beth Moore's family evacuated to their ranch, but praying for their staff and their headquarters there in Houston too!!

Looking forward to a wonderful day of worship tomorrow too!!! Good night ya'll!!

Things you don't want to hear your 3 year old say...

"Mom, Callie's on top of the table eating all the butter!"

Sucked In!

My sister Kelli is queen of getting sucked in by marketing ploys. And she freely admits it! Whatever commercial it is, or fancy display in the store, she totally takes the bait. Well today, I must admit, I gave it to one. I paid 20 cents more for my 8-pack of soap simply because the name was "Marathon". It was the same brand - I think it was Zest or Dial. But instead of choosing "mountain fresh" or "clean scent", I chose the "marathon" variety. I just couldn't resist! And besides, as stinky as I am after running 10 miles (or 3 miles for that matter), I rationalized that perhaps the "marathon" strength would help! :)

Here's Another One...Mark Your Calendars!

Coldstone Creamery
September 25
5-8 pm
FREE 3 oz. Make-a-Wish Creation

It's the World's Largest Ice Cream Social! We've gone to this every year for the last several years. Two kids that are a part of Make-a-Wish get to create their own signature flavors, and then all of America gets to try them out! They give away free ice cream, and have buckets available to make donations for Make-a-Wish.

Just to get your mouth watering, here are the two flavors this year:

Jack's Creation - Marshmallow ice cream with OREO® Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge

Emily's Creation - Nutter Butter® ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat® and Yellow Cake

I think i'm going to be going with Emily's Creation this year! :) Yummy!

Guess What the Biblestudy Fairy Brought Us?

Jacob's sweet little face is behind those pom-poms...
I couldn't get Callie to hold still for me to get a better picture - she kept wanting to grab the camera...but she is the CUTEST cheerleader!
I can't tell you what this picture does for my heart. These two boys. Best friends. How I love them so.

Somehow, the biblestudy fairy magically slipped a gift for my kids this morning. It came home with us after biblestudy, and was discovered while the kids were napping. Three little Titans outfits for the kids. I can't tell you how overwhelmed and surprised I was. Blessed. So appreciative. When the boys woke up and I showed them, they kept asking why someone would do such a thing for us. I had no words. So these three little Titans fans greeted David when he came home today - and boy was he excited. So my little biblestudy fairy, whoever you are, know that you made our day today! We love you and are SO thankful!!!

Crazy Morning!

Our crazy morning really started with a crazy night last night. We had our first small group last night after being off for our "summer break". It was great to catch up with everyone once again. It was SO good to see the Henson's there and get to hold Baby Caleb. What a miracle. He's so tiny still, but just absolutely precious. He is almost 4 months old and up to 8 lbs now. Terri showed me his scar from his open heart surgery at 4 weeks old - it is just a miracle that he was there with us last night. Amazing. Anyways, the kids had a ball playing in the backyard, and we had a new family visit with us last night as well. Much to Josiah's elation, it was one of his friends from school! It was quite fun to see them playing together so happily!

This morning was FULL! Along with the tired kids (and mommy), I have Carter today as normal, but was also getting ready for the first morning of biblestudy for the Fall. And since I'm in charge of coordinating all of the Biblestudies for Women's Ministry, I was trying to make sure everything was ready for all the classes. I definitely could have used another hour this morning (which I would have had if I had gotten up at 5:30 to run this morning like I was supposed to, but pushed snooze instead). Anyways, we got Josiah to school and got all the biblestudy classes set up. After dropping off the little kids in THEIR childcare classes, the fun begins for me! I so look forward to this time on Wednesday mornings. I absolutely love the fellowship with these other women - some of whom I only see at biblestudy - from all different stages of life. We always gain so much wisdom and understanding from them. We are doing Beth Moore's study called Living Beyond Yourself - it's a study on the Fruits of the Spirit. I love Beth Moore - she is absolutely hilarious and absolutely draws you in. But much more than that is her ability to make Scripture come alive. I love that her biblestudies are really that - studies of the Bible. Not just a feel good book, or some author's opinion. But an actually study of the Word of God.

So this morning ended up being fabulous. Very busy. Very tiring. But I got to see the faces of 37 women that are excited to roll up their sleeves and dig into the Scriptures with me over the next 10 weeks. I got excited learning the sign language to Galations 5:22-23. I got excited to see new faces of women that have just moved here and are getting plugged in. I'm excited to see how to better LIVE in the Spirit so that God can not only change my life, but change my DAY. because He's that kind of God!!!

Craving a Run

My friend, Heather, sent me this devotional. The "craving to run" made her think of me (I LOVE that!). I thought some of you may enjoy reading this as well!

Running was always something I told myself I simply could not do. I reasoned that I was not born a runner and lacked the physical endurance and stamina that runners possess. Plus, I had a whole list of reasons for why I could not run:

If only I had a good pair of running shoes.

If only I had more time to run without kids in tow.

If only I had an Mp3 player so I could listen to music while I ran.

Then, I reasoned, I could take up running.

One day I realized that all these “reasons” were just thinly disguised excuses to avoid the work that I knew running was going to be. I didn’t want to extend myself outside my comfort zone. I didn’t want to strain every muscle in my body. I didn’t want to take time out of my already busy days and devote it to running. I liked to talk about running someday but I didn’t actually want to do it.

Eventually, I laid all my excuses aside and ventured out for that first run. It was grueling and humbling. And, surprisingly, I loved it. As I was running the other day, I thought about how much my attitude about running has changed since I started. If there’s a day that goes by that I can’t do it, I crave it. I look forward to my runs and have even learned to include my children in my trek around the neighborhood. As I thought about all the excuses I once used to avoid running, I was so glad that I eventually stopped hiding behind them and took the plunge. What I would have missed out on if I hadn’t!

Perhaps you have been hiding behind some excuses of your own lately. Maybe your excuses involve exercise like mine did. Or maybe they involve other things like why you can’t give up a bad habit, why you aren’t able to forgive someone, or why you are continuing in a sin God has been convicting you of. Maybe you have been letting excuses keep you from a more intimate relationship with God, or maybe you have been excusing the fact that you need to accept Christ as Savior. Even as you read these words, God is impressing on your heart that there is something you need to do—but you have been letting excuses serve as a barrier between knowing it and actually doing it.

Today I invite you to remove the excuses in your life. To choose one excuse today and begin to tear it down, taking just one brick out of the wall. Over the next days and weeks, choose more bricks to remove until one day, nothing is standing between you and that scary thing you know you need to do.

I am glad I stopped listening to my own excuses and accepted the invitation to venture beyond my comfort zone. I learned that we were all born to run, as long as we grip the Father’s hand with all our might and stop letting excuses keep us from taking that first step.
Dear Lord, I don’t want excuses to stand between me and whatever You are calling me to. Help me to rely on You and not hide behind excuses as You invite me to experience abundant life in You. Lord, I trust You to catch me when I fall and to be my strength in all situations—even the ones that scare me and stretch me beyond what I feel capable of. With You I can do anything. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

So it DOES matter!

This morning on our way to school, we were driving along and approaching the campus. (We weren't there yet...) Josiah all of sudden yells out "Mom!! You haven't prayed for my day yet!!" I pray for him out loud every morning on our way to school - for him, for his teachers, for him to be like Jesus and be a friend, etc. Apparently, I normally pray before the intersection that we made it to today, because he let me know!!! I was glad that he notices (you never know) and that it makes a difference to him!!!

I love it when...

...I wash my hair for the first time after a haircut!!! Feels so good having all that hair gone! :)

Yummy!

I forgot to post these pictures last week - sorry! Kelli & Scott sent this to David as a congratulations for his half-marathon. It's one of those Edible Arrangements - chocolate dipped fruit! It was very yummy (he was very kind to share with the rest of the family...) I'm afraid it may have ruined us though. The other day, Jacob said he was hungry and I told him he could have some fruit. He said okay, but only if it was chocolate fruit! :)

Nice, Quiet Saturday

Aaaahh...it's been such a nice and quiet day. We were sort of "sequestered" for most of the day today because of Tropical Storm Hanna. We were expecting much more rain than we actually got. We did have a period of a few hours with some pretty good winds, but for the most part were really spared. But it kept us home today with nowhere to go. And it was so nice! We played games, read books, painted, played a spiderman video game (well, the boys did...) - just were together. It was great!

There were only two down things about it. One was that Callie had a low fever today. She's finally getting another tooth up top, so I'm hoping that's what it is. The other was that it messed up my long run, which was supposed to be in the morning. But since we were under tornado watch, I thought it best to wait until the storm passed. I was able to do my 10 miles this afternoon, and I felt much better than I thought I would. I'm only 5 weeks away from my half-marathon, so I was a little worried, now that it's "kick it into high gear" time...but it felt good! The wind was a little rough at times, but it worked! My 9 last week was harder, so I was happy to have a good run.

So all in all, a great day. Of just quiet, family time. David got a good bit of his school stuff done, we had fun with the kids, and the sun should be back out tomorrow! :)

Happy Friday!

Hello everyone! I kept meaning to post yesterday, but never got around to it. We had a WONDERFUL day though. I spent the morning at the beach with Jacob and Callie yesterday. It was so relaxing (it always is), although sort of strange too - it was the first time without Josiah. I am still getting used to how quiet things are...because I miss hearing Josiah and Jacob. I am loving all the one-on-one time with Jacob though - now that I don't have to share him with josiah in the mornings! We had a great time. Then in the afternoon, Jacob and Josiah played absolutely wonderfully together...for hours and hours. No fighting, no bickering, no getting hurt. They just were in their own world. It was a perfect day.

We had band practice last night for Kinetic though, and it was our first late night since starting school. Major ugh. The kids were SO tired when we got home, and were still pretty tired this morning. 2 are down for naps, with 1 more to go. I'm sleepy too from having to stay up so late the last two nights to hear the convention speeches. I thought once the Olympics were over I'd get back to my normal night of sleep. Oh well. Tonight!

We're keeping a close eye on these hurricanes too. With 3 sisters in Florida, I get pretty good updates from them as well. Hanna is supposed to be coming tonight and tomorrow, so we'll see what kind of effects we feel from that. And then Ike and Josephine...tis the season I suppose! Everyone get your batteries ready! :)

Another Free Meal!

It was another freebie day yesterday at Chick-fil-A! (I kept meaning to blog about it, but with all the race stuff last week, never got around to it. Several of you emailed ME to tell me about and make sure I know - seeing as how you all know how much I love free stuff...so I'm assuming you all knew about it too) If you wore something with a football team logo on it (NFL or College), you got a free 3 piece order of their new Chicken Strips! Yum! So all 5 of us headed out to pick ours up last night. Our neighborhood ended up doing a cookout, so we brought ours along with my Ranch Potato Salad and chocolate-oatmeal-chip cookies to share. Very fun!

Before everyone freaks out, NO our family is not divided on team loyalties. We are TITANS fans! Period! However, we didn't have enough to go around, so we had to improvise. David had a Jets jersey from when his band sang at a Halloween party last year, and Callie was wearing a Steelers t-shirt from the superbowl that someone gaves us. The boys used to have litle Titans outfits that fit them when they were toddlers, but they've grown out. So they wore tshirts of mine and David's - they were like dresses! Hilarious. I guess we need to add to our Christmas list for this year "Titans paraphenalia that FITS us"! :)

A Day of Nature

We decided to take advantage of the holiday on Monday and celebrate the day together at one of our state parks. The boys were SUPER excited for a day of hiking, and we had a beautiful day for it. (Now before you all FREAK out about me dragging David out to go hiking the day after he ran a half-marathon, remember that my kids are little so we say "hiking" rather loosely.) We did walk several miles of trails through the woods, but we all had a GREAT time!
The boys taking a break on the bench. Poor Jacob doesn't have any sneakers yet (he's been in flip-flops & crocs all summer), so he wore an old pair of Josiah's. Since they were probably 2 sizes too big, he kept getting dirt and stuff in his shoe, and we'd have to take a break to empty out his shoes. So cute.
Here's Snake #2 that we saw!! Good thing David watches Man Vs. Wild so we know what to do! :) We saw lots of little frogs, caterpillars, a lizard, and two snakes, so we had our FILL of nature! (And yes Sue, this was at the park that we camped at last year!!)
And she's out! Callie fell asleep on our hike....
We found a great little lookout pier that we stopped to watch the boats for a while.

It's amazing no one fell overboard!
We switched off carrying Callie after lunch...

And then we headed to go canoeing!!! I wasn't very happy to learn that because there were 5 of us, we had to split up and do 2 canoes. That meant I had to work!!! Callie wasn't sure what to think - we started off with David, Josiah and Callie in one canoe, and Jacob and I in the other. We switched off kids a few times along the river. Callie was crying half of the time - not sure if she didn't like seeing me float down the river away from her, or because she was hot and tired and thirsty, or not sure of the boat thing or what!!! It was an experience though!
This was probably the ONLY time Callie actually SAT down in the canoe!

Josiah was helping to row for a bit...then decided it was too much work!
Jacob and I...trying not to get stuck!


Turns out all Callie wanted to do was FEEL the water...it was shocking that she didn't fall right on out of the canoe!

This was after a kid-switch. The boys went with David and I took Callie...but I was a nervous wreck that she was going to jump out of the canoe...and it took all my concentration just to keep the thing moving in the right direction!
David and Jacob


I ended up with Callie and Josiah at the end - just happy to make it back to the dock!!!