The Sandy Sprint

Let me paint a little picture for you mmmkay. I am not one of those people that can say "yeah, I remember being seventeen and being able to run for miles without feeling a thing." No, in fact, while I was being forced against my will to attend gym class, I would do everything I could to skip the day that we were to run the dreaded mile. However, when I wasn't so lucky to evade it, I was almost always one of the last ones to finish at an impressive seventeen minutes. Oh how I hated to run, and...well, move in general.

So, you NEVER could have convinced me that ten years later I would be willfully signing up to run a 5K without being dragged, drugged or forced in any way. However, I have been working really hard to get in shape and challenge myself physically, so I thought this would be a fun way to start.

I could have trained harder, but I still feel really good about how I did the day of the race, and now I have a good base for how I'll do for the many races that I will hopefully run in the future.

I ran with Banna and Stacey, who were so much fun to enjoy the occasion with. When I woke up at 6 in the morning that Saturday all I kept doing was asking myself "what the heck am I doing, I have no business running a 5K!" But, when we got there, the energy was so high, there were a ton of people, and I was very happy that I went. It was really cool putting that number on and taking stock of all the different types of people running the race. Some were serious runners there to compete and best their times. Other people were there for the cause, and supporting family. I was also surprised to see some people running it in jeans and shoes that were clearly not designed for running! The race was for Ovarian cancer, and we saw a lot of runners who were either survivors, family of survivors, or running for someone that they had lost. It got me thinking that I really want to find more races to run for a disease that has touched our family. The weather could not have been more perfect for the occasion and we finished in well under an hour, I was so surprised at how much of it I was actually able to run. It was definitely one of the coolest things I have done in a while, and I was on a high the whole rest of the day. I can see how people who run marathons really look forward to the next one.

I have a picture of the three of us before the race with our t-shirts on, but for some reason I can't get it on my blog. I'll work on it.
We're in the distance sprinting towards the finish line. When I finished Jayda gave me a hug and then asked me why I was so wet and sweaty.

Wooo Hooo, I finished! It was so cool to see all three of our husbands and kids waiting for us at the finish line.



The race went through such a pretty part of Fairmount Park. The Please Touch Museum is right behind us.

After the race we checked out some of the festivities which included free food and drinks, face painting, sand art, tattoos etc. Lots of fun.

Pomp and Circumstance

Even though Glenn isn't quite finished with his first year, I really felt like Jayda's preschool graduation marked the end of our first year in Philly. I have been SO happy with Jayda's preschool, she has grown up so much from her experience and has had so much fun learning. She has loved Miss Annette, and Miss Jamie, who has moved away, and will be very missed! I don't know why, but I felt myself getting rather emotional during several parts of the night. I think it was a combination of Jayda getting older, the sweetness of the young kids showing off their hard work, and knowing we're going to be saying goodbye to friends who are graduating. It could also just be that I'm a big sap who can't help but cry when watching an extra touching commercial!

The pictures are completely out of order, but laziness has won, and I'm not going to worry about it. The program was all based on being a ROCKSTAR, and each child had a line in the show. Jayda's class, the three year olds were in the front, and the 4 year olds were in the chair behind them. They sang a lot of songs and made us laugh and smile. It was a really sweet evening.

Jayda and Miss Annette right after she received her cap. During the graduation they shared the child's favorite color and what they wanted to be growing up. Jayda's favorite color is pink and she wants to be a Peace Girl collecting all the flowers when she grows up. I had no idea that I had such a hippy!

"I'm Jayda and I'm a ROCKSTAR. My favorite secret friend is Reggie the Rooster, his name starts with the letter R."

We also learned that Jayda is a total FLIRT! They were supposed to pretend to be sleeping, so she cuddled up next to her little classmate!

Skyler and Glenn watching the show!

Jayda and her cousin Brannon, what a stud!

Visitors

A few Saturdays ago Glenn and I set out to finally clean off our balcony. Our work was quickly cut short when we realized that in the depths of our disaster zone, a little bird couple was building a nest (that's what was keeping you awake Heather!). We took a few pictures and showed the kids. I think our overbearing presence freaked them out though, because they left and never came back. I can't say that I'm sad, we really needed to get some work done, but I will miss having their company around!

My Budding Photographer

Jayda has once again found the camera. I honestly have no clue when Jayda took these, but I'm guessing I was probably in the shower, as that is when most shananigans are pulled. All I know is that one day I'm flipping through the camera and find almost twenty random pictures of the living room. Here is a small sample.

Visit from Heather

I met Heather when I was twelve. We had just moved to Idaho from Minnesota and I was a scared little girl who really needed a friend. Heather completely took me under her wing and we've been best friends ever since. We, and our group of friends, have seen each other through the awkward pre-teen era, dating and HS scene, young adult and newly married life, and many of us are now having our third or fourth kid (not me though, don't be getting any ideas). Heather is basically a non-biological sister to me who I could call out of the blue, after not talking to her for months, and pick up right where we left off, I love her!

So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that she is moving out here, just a few hours north of us to live while she works to become a Physician's Assistant. Since she wanted to find a place herself, me and the kids were able to go on a little three-day trip with her to hunt for apartments in Bloomsburg, Cattawissa and some of those surrounding cities. It was the first time I'd ever gone on any sort of trip with the kids sans Glenn. Despite the fact that we were apartment hunting and not exactly vacationing, we really had a good time. It was a bit of an adventure finding her a place, but she was still able to leave with a signed lease and I was able to soak in three days of Heather all to myself. We were also able to do some fun stuff like visit the COOLEST children's library I've ever seen, have breakfast at Cracker Barrel and a ton of siteseeing. PA is quite beautiful. I was SO impressed with how well my kids did, especially considering all the time they spent in the car. I'll see you and your family soon Heather!

Noodle-rific

A few nights ago I made a rather delicious fettuccine dish with filled with all sorts of flavors that apparently the rest of my family hates. Gah! So, to get my kids to eat even a few of their noodles before succumbing to corn dogs, we thought we'd have a little fun.

Check out Jayda in the background, makes me laugh for days.

Springtime!

It's so cool to be in Spring because even though we haven't lived here for quite a year yet, we have now seen every season in Philly. I do have to say that I think I like the falls and springs the best here. The fall for the brigh colors on the leaves, and the spring for the cherry blossoms and gorgeous warm weather. So far it's done a lot of raining, but on days that it is sunny, we've had a lot of fun taking walks around the property. And since Skyler is such a wondering explorer, he has graduated from the stroller and gets to walk too, and just loves it. The best part is that after an hour or so of walking around outside, they take the best naps. Ah, I love it, I can't wait to spent most of our days outside!

Pushing baby B in the swing, so cute!

Skyer, who was once fearless and used to fly down the slide head first, now climbs to the top of the slide and hangs on for dear life. It's so weird how he has inhibitions all the sudden! So, to save himself the embarrassment, he just climbs UP the slide. It's much more manly then chickening out at the top!

We've also started eating outside, Jayda loves it, Skyler only loves it if I'm out there with them. The second I go inside for anything, he grabs his plate and follows me. I would complain, but I know I'm going to miss the days that he was so attached to me, so I just enjoy it!

Skyler could spend HOURS just going up and down this set of stairs by the cherry blossoms. He loves to find sticks and bugs, and plays really well by himself. Jayda depends much more on other friends to keep her company, but she is also learning to be happy just playing with Skyler.

Easter Week

I'm noticing that when you have kids, holidays don't come and go in a day, they usually last for at least a week. And sometimes with big holidays, like Christmas, they can last for a good month. I like it though, it spices up the everyday and gives me a reason to bake, plan and decorate! Easter was no exception, we had a few different Easter celebrations, and they were all a lot of fun.


The first one was Jayda's preschool Easter Egg hunt. I can't say enough good about her preschool and how much Jayda loves it. They made these adorable Easter baskets and got to hunt for eggs right after school. Jayda had a lot of fun, and was so sweet to share with her brother on the way home.

Then the Saturday before Easter we enjoyed a fun Easter Egg hunt at the park, thanks for planning it Kim! It was raining, but I was really happy to hear that they were still holding it because rain just made it more of an adventure. It was really fun watching all the kids hunt for eggs, and this was the first real time Skyler got to experience an Easter Egg hunt while kind of understanding what he was supposed to do!

This is probably the first time ever I have seen Skyler sit still in a park. He was so focused on cracking those eggs open, how he loves his candy! So he was not happy when we got in the car and he didn't have total access to his goods, and he was sure to express him the whole way home! So, when we got in the hallway of our apartment I gave him one egg to hold on to so that he might have a glimmer of hope yet for him and his candy...
Just look at that smile, sheesh!

That same day I boiled up a bunch of eggs for the dying. I don't know why, but dying eggs has always been a highlight for me during Easter, we did it before even having kids! Jayda really got into it this year, but it was tough for Sky, he just wanted to be able to do more then he can really do right now. However, we still got a beautiful end result.




That night after the kids went to bed, the Easter bunny set out the kids' baskets on a new table and chair set that we've been wanting to get for the kids for a while now. The kids also hunted for their eggs. Since we were up earlier then normal we were able to enjoy a relaxing morning together before going to church and soaking up the real meaning of Easter. It was a great Easter week!

Yes, Skyler is wearing Jayda's cutoff pants...partly because money is tight and we're improvising jammies, and partly because it totally amuses me, and drives Glenn crazy!