crazy week

I can't believe this week is already over.  Monday and Tuesday I worked for my friend's market research company.  On Monday, Love Bug and The Mayor stayed with Mamie and PopPop; The Mayor went to work with PopPop and Love Bug and Mamie had a girl's day.  Tuesday, D stayed home with the kids...which they loved having daddy home and all to themselves.  Wednesday and Thursday we had our friend's kids staying with us.  The Mayor and Love Bug LOVED it...the 4 of them played so well together and they just thought it was great having friends go everywhere with us, eating meals with us and spending the night.  And I loved it because the kids all entertained each other and no one fought.  It was an actual miracle.

We spent all day Thursday at the pool and I was so proud of The Mayor because he started "swimming" under water.  He will go completely under now.  We are making huge strides and hopefully within the next couple of weeks, he will actually start swimming.

This morning we were up bright and early.  Actually it was dark and early since we were up before 6am.  We had family pictures this morning at 7am at a local park and as tiring as it was getting up that early and all of us bathed and dressed, it was totally worth it after I saw a sneak peek at some of the pictures today.  Hopefully our photographer will have them all up in a few days because I am so excited to see them all!  After pictures, we came home to eat bribery donuts since the kids did so well and then went to the tennis courts to watch D play (and win!) his tennis match.  After tennis, we watched a movie and then took 3 hour naps.  It was quite a necessity considering we got up so early and were staying up late tonight.

Our church had their annual church-wide picnic and fireworks show tonight.  We missed it last year because Aunt Jennifer was in town but we really wanted to try and go this year.  Since everyone woke up happy from their naps, we loaded up, ate a quick dinner and then went to church.  The kids had their faces painted, ate cotton candy and snow cones and bounced on inflatables.  And the best part was all of it was free!

At 9:30, the fireworks started and the show was amazing.  It lasted about 20 minutes and the kids were so excited to be outside in the dark.  They knew it was way past their bedtime so it was a special treat for them.  We got home a little after 10:00 and they are fast asleep.

D has a century ride tomorrow, so after me and the kids go to church and eat lunch, we are going to head to the finish line to see him finish.  Hopefully, if he has the energy to go, we will hit the pool tomorrow afternoon!

what's a slumber party without a movie night?

going under

going under again

she is so cute

he wanted fireworks painted on his face

sitting patiently

a cupcake!

Aidan and The Mayor waiting for the fireworks to start

Love Bug and Emma

every year...next year we bring ear plugs!

Mr. Gary, Emma and Love Bug

i'm a runner

My dear friend Cathi gave me this "runner girl" magnet at the finish line of my 5K last night.  I did it!  I ran my first 5K and ran the entire distance...no stopping and I stayed at the pace I wanted to stay at and finished 20 seconds ahead of my goal!  I am so thankful D ran with me because this course was hillier than I had expected.  Almost the entire last mile was uphill...and I just didn't train on hills.  I could see the finish line and D was pumping me up and telling me I could do it and I could just only focus on putting one foot in front of the other.  Because I literally thought I might throw up.  I totally get why runners get sick on courses now...pushing yourself takes a toll on you!

I just kept telling myself "you can do this", "you will feel so good when you cross that finish line" and "you can not stop"!  It was a great feeling crossing that finish line and concurring those hills and still running the fastest I have ever run.  I actually want to do it again...and I think I want to start training for a 10K now.  

Our friends Gary and Cathi and their girls came to support me.  Which was amazing since they had been out of town all week and literally came back into town and straight to the race.  If felt extra special having some support there.  

We went out to dinner afterwards and then D and I came home to shower and literally fell right into bed.  He was exhausted from his race in the morning and then running the 5K with me and I was exhausted from my tennis match I had that morning and then my race.

Today was a great day.  We went to church and then had a pool party and cookout with some of our friends from Sunday School.  The kids had a blast playing and wore themselves out.  Everyone left around 8:15 and the kids were asleep by 8:20.  The Mayor was falling asleep while we were saying his prayers.  Hopefully they get some good rest tonight because tomorrow they spend the day with Mamie and PopPop!

Done!!

the best support I could ask for

Cathi and me

safety town is over

Today was the last day of Safety Town and there was actually a "graduation" scheduled.  Seriously?  It is a week long camp...doesn't really warrant a graduation.  A certificate of completion that is handed to me at pickup will suffice.  But, as much as a rolled my eyes when picking him up on Thursday and was made aware of the graduation, I wasn't going to miss it.  It was kind of cute, and super short, so it wasn't too bad.  They just introduced the teachers, volunteers and asked the group of kids questions about what they learned during the week and they just yelled the answers out together.

After "graduation", we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then to the playground to play and enjoy the gorgeous day.  The Mayor and Love Bug had a blast playing with Nicholas and Nathan and I had a blast hanging with Theresa catching up and enjoying the amazing weather.  You wouldn't know it was summer with the weather we have been having this week.  I could have sat outside all day today.  Unfortunately, we had to get home because we had someone coming by to look at our gutters but fortunately D came home early and he had the kids were outside playing from 4:00 until after 8:00 with only a break for dinner in between.  I had an event and dinner planned with a girlfriend so I had a nice break and D and the kids had some nice quality time together.

Tomorrow morning D has a race south of Atlanta and tomorrow night I have a 5k!  I am actually really excited about it and looking forward to running a race without stopping.  I have been training and have run 3.1 miles nonstop 3 times so I am confident I can do it again tomorrow night.  And I am really excited that D is going to pace me so I will have him supporting me the entire way.

the "graduation", he was in the pink group and had to stand when they introduced his group

The Mayor and Nicholas 

our princess

orange belt

Today was The Mayor's Tiny Tiger orange belt testing.  He has been diligent about going to class and practicing at home so he was ready for this test.  The testing was pretty intimidating.  All of the black belt instructors from the DoJo were sitting at a long table and each student had their own sheet of paper the instructors wrote on tracking their scores and performance during the test.  This round of testing was for all white belts (Tiny Tigers and the Kids/Adults).  Tiny Tigers are 4-6 year olds then you graduate into the Big Kid program (where he will eventually go back to the white belt but then test for a full orange belt, etc).

Anyway, all the white belts warmed up with their exercises, worked on kicks, jumping jacks, punch jumps, splits, squats...a lot!  Then the Tiny Tigers had to perform their Basics (which is a series of high blocks, punches and front kicks) then sit while the Big Kids did their basics.  Then the Tiny Tigers had to show their Stranger Danger moves, then had to sit while the Big Kids did their Stranger Danger moves...then it was on to Songahm 1 (this is a series of blocks, kicks, punches with movement they are required to know to earn their belt).  He did amazing on his Songahm 1!  He performed his perfectly and waited patiently for the others to finish (he finished first).  He received high scores for his form and memory on his skills but still needs to work on his focus and sitting still.  Not new news for us...we were expecting to hear all of that...especially since focus and sitting still is the main reason we signed him up for karate in the first place.

The actual belt ceremony was great.  The Big Kids from today (and all of the other kids and adults testing this week) receive their belts on Saturday at a Belt Ceremony, but they know how impatient the younger ones can be so Tiny Tigers receive their new belts immediately after their test.  The Mayor won the attendance award too!  You only had to have 11 classes and he had 15!  He received a stripe for his new orange belt...he was very excited!

D and I were on the mat with him for the belt ceremony and had the honor of taking off his white belt and putting his new orange belt on him.  We couldn't be happier of our boy!

sitting like a black belt in front of the panel

working on his splits

warming up with some front kicks

Stranger Danger portion of the test

his punches

part of Songahm 1 

waiting patiently, while still in form, for the rest of the Tiny Tigers to finish

all done!  He earned his belt!

Our orange belt with his daddy

my favorite orange belt and me

Our proud orange belt

safety town

Today The Mayor started Safety Town at his elementary school.  It is a week long camp where they teach the kids Stranger Danger, Bus Safety, Playground Safety, Fire Safety, etc.  He is attending the camp with his best buddy Nicholas and there are a few other boys from his preschool and church that he knows as well.  He had a great day and is really excited about tomorrow considering they get to drive "cars" through a miniature town tomorrow in the gym.

After we picked the boys up at noon, we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and to let the kids play and then went to the gym so Theresa and I could work out and the kids could play in the kids gym.  After the gym, we hit Publix for some much needed grocery shopping and came home to eat, played Hullabaloo (a great game) and we just put them down for the night.  We had been letting them stay up until 8:00 but they have been so tired lately.  So tonight we put them down at 7:00 and they both fell fast asleep.  No point in them staying up late if they are just going to be dragging and miserable!

The Mayor and Nicholas

playing in the rain while we unloaded the groceries

happy father's day

So this year I decided to let the kids pick the gifts they wanted to give D for Father's Day.  The cabinets for the basement kitchen arrived this week so that was his real Father's Day gift but I needed to let the kids pick something for their daddy.  Friday night while reading to The Mayor, I asked what he wanted to get daddy for Father's Day.  Without any hesitation, he sad "a pinata".  When I asked if he was serious, he said "oh yes, it is the perfect gift for his father's day".  OK...who am I to argue with the perfect gift?  So yesterday the kids and I went pinata shopping.

They picked a red Hot Wheels pinata and we loaded up on all of D's favorite candy to fill it up.  On the way home I told them they had to keep the gift a secret...and shock of all shocks...they actually kept it a secret!

Of course, the kids also decided that donuts would be the perfect breakfast for Father's Day so this morning The Mayor, Love Bug and D enjoyed some donuts together and then the kids brought in the perfect gift.  It was hysterical seeing D's face...I am sure pinata is not what he thought his gift was going to be.  But he loved it and the kids loved that he loved it.

After church and a yummy lunch out with some friends, we came home for a nice afternoon rest.  D and the kids all had a little cat nap and then we went to see PopPop for Father's Day.  After our visit, we came home and loaded up for a run at the greenway.  D paced me again for another practice 5K.  I improved by over a minute!  Looking forward to next Saturday's race!

After our run, we went to Publix to get ice cream.  Yes, D and the kids had ice cream for dinner.  I watched them all with some jealousy but hey, I didn't just run 3.1 miles to put those calories back on with ice cream!  It was already past bedtime so after ice cream we went straight to getting the kids into bed.  They were asleep before we shut their doors - they were so exhausted from the day.

The Mayor has Safety Town this week (a week long camp that talks about Stranger Danger, Fire Safety, Poison Control, etc); I'll miss my boy but I am looking forward to some one-on-one time with Love Bug.

my loves

seeing his pinata for the first time

so proud

can't wait to break it open

he actually cracked the pinata

giving her best effort

getting ready to crack this baby open

one swing...success!

summer is here

Today the kids and I went to the gym and then over to Meega's house so the kids could play.  They played for about an hour inside and then were getting loud so we moved them outside.  They had a blast playing in the baby pool and sprinklers, but man, was it hot!  Meega had to take Walker inside because it was so hot and I was sitting under an umbrella watching them play.  Summer is definitely here.

There is a chance of rain each day for the rest of the week so tomorrow I am taking the kids to an indoor playground with one of my closest friends from high school and her three boys.  She is in town for the next two weeks so I am excited the kids can play together.  After they wear themselves out at the playground, we will then go to the gym where they can wear themselves out some more.  They should sleep quite soundly tonight!

worn out and playing games

3.1 down

So today I did something I have never done before...I ran 3.1 miles WITHOUT STOPPING!  And the best part is I feel really good right now.  I can tell I worked out today but I am not overly sore and I am looking forward to running again.  My 5K is in 20 days and now I know I can run the distance, so now I can work on my time.

After we finished our run, we were still about 1 1/2 miles from the car (we were walking on the greenway) and the rain came.  And it came...wow, we got stuck in a nice downpour.  But we made the best of it, it was actually cute seeing the kids cuddled up together under the canopy on their stroller to try and stay dry, and we got back to the car as fast as we could.

soaking wet but happy!

I'm pretty sure it is a written rule that if you get stuck in a torrential downpour your reward is ice cream.  So we headed home to put on dry clothes and then went up to the local frozen yogurt place.  The kids loved their reward.  The reward occurred right at dinner time so we came home and ate a light dinner (nothing wrong with dessert being the main course) and then got into a fun game of hide-and-seek.  It started with D counting and Love Bug putting her face in the chair (as if to say "I can't see you so you can't see me) obviously we are still working on how to actually play hide-and-seek.  Then The Mayor wanted in on the action and we paired off.  D and Love Bug would hide and The Mayor and I would seek and vice versa.  The kids had a blast running up and down the stairs, looking under beds and in closets...and the kids were pretty good about being quiet during the hiding.  We played until past our bedtime and promised we would play again tomorrow.

This was a great weekend and I am sad to see it end but looking forward to another great week of summer!

impromptu get together

D had some friends that were racing Ironman 70.3 Kona (Hawaii) today so we were originally going to have some people over this afternoon to hang out and watch the guys race online.  Some of the people invited had local races of their own, so we ultimately decided not to have the get together.  Well, one of our friends didn't get the message the party had been canceled so when we got home this afternoon at 1:00 from our busy morning, our friend Gary and his two little girls pulled in.  We got a good laugh that they showed up to a party that wasn't even scheduled anymore but we just went with the flow.  I made a quick trip to Publix to gather some snacks and food for grilling out and we had an impromptu get together.

Although unplanned, it turned out to be a great day.  The kids had a blast playing with Alli and Emma and we had another water fight in our front yard.  Love Bug still likes to squirt people but does not want to be squirted herself.  Baby girl needs to learn you can't do one without the other.  After the water fight, we dried the kids off, got them out of their bathing suits and they played in the backyard.  They played until well after dinnertime, ate some pizza and then played some more.  At 8:45 we were taking quick baths and putting them to bed.  I love summer time where there is no schedule.

Tomorrow is church and who knows what else.  We will take the day by the seat of its pants and see where it takes us.