Thursday, April 29, 2010

1.2.3 strikes you're OUT

at the old ball game!!!!
It's that time of year. Dirty cleats. A mom who cheers a bit too loud (not me?.....and no one stares at me either...I PROMISE). Baseball pants impossible to keep clean. Baseball gloves which serve more than one purpose.....duh they're hats too. Bleachers. Possibly more dads on the field than kids. PLAY BALL!!!

I must say I wasn't sure these kids of mine would have anything to do with baseball since they are in fact girls and dancers! BUT we do have a dad in this house and baseball was a HUGE part of his childhood. So it was a must try and there has been NO twisting of these ladies arms to continue playing! They LOVE it! In fact both girls were hitting off a tee last year (Kayden hitting some without but not consistently) and with just 2 games played by each so far they are BOTH hitting WITHOUT a tee! They are quite pleased with themselves and I think their dad is quite PROUD! It's proving already to be a great baseball season......even with tutu's and ballet slippers flying off and being replaced with dirt and balls and cleats and gloves!
Have I mentioned it's near impossible to get these girls to keep still long enough for me to capture a moment?! Emery did make me laugh none the less with this "what in the world pose"!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

1/2 Marathon

This last weekend I ran a 1/2 marathon, not my 1st but 2nd. I was just as excited as last year yet not as nervous......good combo! It was, however, my 1st in being able to run with my husband, twin sister, younger sister, and mom......and to top it off being surrounded by a group of 100 runners who had, together, raised over $100,000 in support of fighting childhood cancer (Emily's Power For a Cure). WOW cannot even begin describe my weekend. We've been training for the last 3 months, sometimes together but for the most part alone and it was awesome to see our hard work pull us each through this race. Some of you knew the weather we were facing (a tornado or 2, lighting bolts here and there, a bazillion and two rain drops) and to say we begged God on hands and knees for ceasing of rain (even if just 2-3 hours) was an understatement!! Some of you even prayed for us.....and hey what can God say to thousands and thousands of people asking for NO RAIN???? NO RAIN......for the most part. Some of the full marathoners were diverted to the finish line around mile 20ish and some 1/2 marathoners ran/walked in rain the last 3 miles or so. But we (Jon, my mom, sisters and myself) finished!!! Finished with smiles and tears and hugs and a HUGE sense of accomplishment! I cannot say enough how proud I am of my family......they each set out with different goals and accomplished those!!!

friday night pasta....i'm not sure it helped me run faster but it was good
night before race prepping
everything ready.....jon said i had everything laid out like the easter bunny left it!!?
runners with Emily's Power For a Cure
RACE DAY
SOOOO proud of this guy!
4 strong women!
post race
back in the room and a bit wet.......if you could only see the torrential down pour that hit the minute we walked into the hotel
saturday night heading out for FOOD
i highly recommend family exercising........it's good for all!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Great Strides

I don't know what it feels like to have my child diagnosed with a life long illness......maybe some of you reading this know. I KNOW that Jon and I are blessed with clean bills of health on both our girls. I DO. NOT. TAKE. THIS. FOR. GRANTED....as we know several families who do know what it feels like to have their child be given a "diagnosis". I pray I do not ever have to know this feeling.

This past Sunday we joined our friends Mike and Bridget Lane in support of their precious daughter Mary Alice who has Cystic Fibrosis at the Great Strides Walk.

We joined them in walking
along with hundreds of other people to raise money so "they" can find a cure
which will allow their daughter (the beautiful blondie in the middle) to live a LONG HAPPY LIFE!!
(what are my girls doing by the way???)
Cause I know for a fact if one of these babes of mine are EVER diagnosed with ANY type of life long illness I would want the world to walk with me.
It's the least we can do......we love this couple. They are more than amazing. You would NEVER know, by being in their presence, that they wake up everyday with that heavy feeling of "will my child out live me or not", "will I walk her down the isle", "will I see her graduate from high school and college".....the list is endless. YET they do not sit back and wait they fight and FIGHT hard in hopes of the BEST LIFE for MARY ALICE!

(My flower child after the walk)

Monday, April 19, 2010

I've learned a thing or two from those who have traveled the parenting road before me. DO. NOT. over. schedule. your. children. This is just as much for the child's sake as the parents! An overscheduled child leads to crankiness and often boredem then in quiet times.....which then leads to CRANKY parents. The girls take dance through the year with a summer break and the only summer activity we have scheduled is baseball. BUT for about 4 weeks these 2 activities overlap. Like today we went from school to dance to baseball......one uniform being replaced by the next!!

WE ARE HURRIED THESE DAYS


Meals aren't always made from scratch (i.e. below: carry out pizza with a salad from home), we don't always eat around a table, and post meal we have VERY DIRTY feet

BUT I want to keep us grounded even if just 30 minutes here and 15 there

to talk and laugh and just BE in the here and now

and ultimately be reminded that even though we are busy we ARE BLESSED by that GREAT MAN above!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

This will be the wrap up of our week in Blue Ridge.....the "doings"! We stayed at the cabin for the most part....visiting, exploring our surroundings, and letting the kids play and be free but a few times throughout our week we did venture out!

My uncle treated everyone (excluding the fisherman!) to a train ride one afternoon and you can only imagine that this was a highlight to a certain girls week (if you know Emery Hughes!)
we got lucky and were able to ride in an open car so it was a relaxing trip with a beautiful view and the kids LOVED it
the conductor came by and even punched our tickets which the kids were quite please about

we ended up in a small town in Georgia.......or TN depending on which side of the line you were standing for a 2 hour break
we stopped long enough to eat a picnic lunch
and a quick stop in a 50's diner for milk shakes and juke box tunes
and then hopped back on the train for the 1 hour ride back home......it was soooo relaxing some of the gang fell asleep
another day we visited a fish hatchery.....they raise fish and once they are big enough they are transferred via tanks to various rivers
that same day we hiked
down to a swinging bridge which is also part of the Appalachian Trail
we got in the water a bit and played as it was a HOT day.......both of my girls ended up "accidentally" getting soaked and Emery hiked out pantless!
one afternoon we (just the 4 of us) drove to a river to play on the banks
make pine cone people
and houses for them to abide
practice some fly fishing
only 1 fish was caught.....a tiny one at that! BUT Kayden was excited none the less
one evening we were delighted to find these signs hanging around the house and tickets being sold for a "show".........it was the BEST! To see 4 girls work together to bring an actual "show" together was great! VERY creative and funny......lets just say these girls have some MAD hoola hooping skills!
AND on our departure day we stopped by a store to let the girls do some mining for gems
It was an ENJOYABLE trip.....definitely to be repeated! It helps when you have GREAT company, GREAT cooks, GREAT weather, a GREAT cabin to stay in, and NATURE!!!

Monday, April 12, 2010

This is where we spent our week
in the this cabin
with beautiful views from both inside and out
the girls were able to get in and out of the hot tub ALL day long....and they took FULL advantage of this amenity
while the guys did this several times
on a couple evenings we ventured down a trail that took us through the woods
and dumped us out on to a country road
with beautiful sights to view along the way

listening to birds chirping and trying to spot them......our MOST spotted bird this trip was the pileated woodpecker
there was as much relaxing as "doing" for everyone
and each evening we experienced colorful sunsets which brought out several bats
see it was a good week!