Thursday, March 22, 2012

Ruby Falls Field Trip

Field trip....love them! It's the one:one time I get with each of my girls! Those days are limited so I appreciate a good old field trip! The 2nd grade class went to Ruby Falls.....Kayden has never been so it made this day a little more exciting!
{a few of her classmates}
We traveled 1000+ feet underground via elevator....a little unnerving but giddy kids keep things exciting!
Once underground you walk through the cave.....learning about stalagmites & stalactites! They've named some of these formations.....can you spot the "Donkey" above?? Me either! But anyways VERY cool none the less!!
Before you know it you've entered a huge open space where you will see the BREATH TAKING waterfall! They've set it up with various lights going off & if you're not listening to your guide you can find yourself stuck behind the falls in the complete pitch dark!
The kids had a blast.....running in circles around the waterfall....stopping quickly for a photo!
After a quick sack lunch we said good-bye to Ruby & her beautiful waterfall & headed to the Nature Center!
We learned about several birds & saw some wildlife......kids included!
FUN DAY! Love these times for I know all too soon field trip are going to be a VERY distant memory!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Top Of Tha Mornin' To Ya!.....a day late!

So we don't really celebrate St Patty's day huge around this house.....although we could cause I do have a wee bit of Irish in me!

Bebe {Emery's blanket & #1 consoler....I come in a close 2nd!} is always up for a holiday.....being green & all he fit right in!
GASP!! YES PLEASE GASP! SUGAR CEREAL! It's true!! The best clever last minute thing I could come up with for a breakfast idea was "Lucky Charms"! .......and they LOVED it!
A favorite mug.....one I turn to often for my morning-get-me-going's!
My little leprechauns.....mini green hats & ALL!
Even Hilda donned her green hat for the occasion!!
Although that was the extent of our Irish Celebrating {cause we all forgot to wear green.....well unless undies count!!} we must have captured a bit of luck to bring to our Garage Sale this mornin'! $200!! Maybe you've done way better but this was the most we've made in our Hughes family garage selling history!! Even our Lemonade Sellers brought in a whopping $5.75!! Hoping that we still have a bit of luck on our side & that this house sells SUPER DUPER fast!! Watch what you wish for huh?!.....I may be mad at myself come SUPER DUPER fast packing time!!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Much needed fun day......

I have yet to blog about my sister's delivery & all the happenings of that very scary January 17th evening. I know I will at some point....when the timing feels right. For now I'm relishing in the goodness of her recovery & all the miracles God has performed in my sister & my niece's lives!! On day 9 of Karlie's recovery my uncle {who I've mentioned before....he's more like a dad to me but really he's my cousin but I call him uncle!! are you still with me?!!}, my aunt, & cousin drove 11ish hours from Michigan to come & see Karlie & Mackenzie......and just come to support us however we needed support! They drove ALL that way to be with us less than 36 hours cause they're just awesome like that! My mom & my uncle are super close.....he had every intention of just being a rock for her during their short time in town....whatever she needed he was there. My aunt planned to take the girls & have a fun day to give Kristi & I a break. BUT what I really needed was a day with my girls.....my full attention on them & only them! I needed to know that my mom had someone to lean on & that I could be hospital free & cell phone free for many many hours. My girls needed it.....I needed it! It had been a very rough 1 1/2 weeks for all of us.....my family was in dire need of some mommy/wife time!
What better place to be carefree & kid-like but at the Children's Museum!
We ate up every second of that day......
digging for bones.....
swinging & swinging & swinging....
soaking up the wonders of color......
attempting an intellectual game of chess.....
mimicking bee's.....
racing up winding stair cases.....
pretending to be Asian dancers....
self-face-painted
colored.....
found that inner artist each one of us holds {but do not tap into enough!} & got lost in drawing....
stopped for some cheesing....
then promptly returned to blowing our faces off!!
We literally shut the place down.....we were asked to leave! We were all sad to go....who doesn't love a day devoted to FUN, NO CARES, NO WORRIES, JUST SIMPLE PLAIN FUN! We each have our "thank you's" to give Uncle Rolly & Aunt Nanc....mine is THANK YOU for not being grossed out by our nasty dirty house you had to spend the night in not once but twice....but MORE than that THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for driving 24 hours round trip to give me a FULL DAY of uninterrupted time with my girls {including your daughter & my niece!}! AND thank you for being such a HUGE rock in our lives.....we'll never be able to repay you for that! I LOVE YOU BOTH!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Berry 1/2 Marathon

Several weeks ago I met up with my 2 running buddies {who have become more than running buddies.....they are very special friends to me!} & headed to Rome......Rome, GA that is! It was dark when we left but the reward of leaving so early was seeing this gorgeous sunrise! I needed this! I was nervous about this run.....between the holidays, my girls' birthdays, & the situation surrounding my sister's delivery my training was extremely minimal! AND I MEAN MINIMAL!!
We arrived & picked up our packets....ooohhhhing & awwwing over the beautiful campus of Berry College! WOW!
It was suppose to be raining & cold but as you can see God had mercy on us!! It was a bit chilly getting started but nothing but blue sunny skies baby!
GO TIME!! We got off to a very fast start which left me quickly out of breath.....I kept waiting for that feeling I get of..."ok here we go I'm feeling this now" which usually occurs around mile 2 or 3! It never came....at one point we all just started running our own race which left me trying hard to keep up but I failed!
I did have 3 people to look forward to seeing at some point along my run but I didn't know when that would be!! Jon & the girls drove down to cheer me on!
Brooke
Teri
At one point I was really struggling.....trying to focus on something to keep me going....I started thinking about Karlie & how far she has come & that YES I could keep on running! NOPE didn't work!! Anxiety swept in & I quickly felt like I was breathing through a tiny straw!
Seeing the girls did help a bit & having them run along side me helped!
UGLY PURE STRUGGLING FACE!!
For the record & kind of funny to me now because I do believe that Jon is my biggest fan!! BUT as I was running towards him I'm saying "I am struggling so bad" to which he so supportingly says...."yes I can tell"!! Ummmm ya thanks! Not what I needed to hear at that point!
I did cross the finish line.....not best time but not my worst BUT I crossed. I finished!! I was happy about that!!
I SOOOO love these girls.....I'm pretty certain we've never had a running date were we haven't laughed our butts off!!
My mini supporters!! LOVE these 2!! Actually the 1st race they've been able to come to & cheer their momma on!
AND my biggest fan!! He can make me feel like a million bucks....well minus previous comment!!
I later laughed at this photo as I should have put a thumbs down....for the fact that I just felt crappy the entire time!
On our way back to the car the girls were doing cartwheels to which Jon told Teri there was no way she could do one {you know that mind playing tricky stuff we adults like to pull!!}! My friends....after 13 miles of running this chick did not 1 but 2 or 3 cartwheels....my camera never did capture the actual flipping of her body but I LOVE this shot.....her love of life!!!
We do have a trail race that we are running next weekend but our next major feat together will be our 1st FULL MARATHON!! Hoping to be running that January 2013! Thank you girls for making running FUN!