Catching up ... and that never actually happens

It's been a busy three weeks since my last update.  I told David, if I only had the house to keep clean and meals to fix, I would be a busy woman.  But, don't-cha-know, it's great.

We made a trip to the emergency room last week with little Alayna.  Running around on the slippery splash pad with our friends was super fun until she bit it, literally.  Poor thing bit right through her bottom lip.  Instead stitches we get to pay $400 for super glue.  But, hey, well worth it ... except that I have super glue in my kitchen junk drawer!  Oh well.  Fast, nice doctors and nurses and my shaky hands didn't do a thing. :)

The kids were super-impressed at my play-doh sculpting skills.  I love it when I can amaze them.  I'm an incredible lego engineer as well as a superb artist ... according to all my babies.  ;)

We celebrated Mother's Day (the Wednesday evening after Mother's Day!) with just the big sisters and mom by the fireplace and the pool.  Relaxation at it's best - what all mom's want for Mother's Day!

I date my husband every other weekend.  I highly recommend it.

We finally bought a family zoo pass and we've put it to good use, while it's cool enough to go enjoy the animals.  This was the scary carousel ride.  Poor girl was so scared and I was laughing so hard!

The boys visited OKC to hang out with Granddad so the girls and I had a girl day.  We went to the zoo again, McDonalds (southwest grilled chicken salad - I can stomach it every once in a while!). And rented a girly movie that the boys wouldn't want to watch.  We spent lots of time with Mimi and even got to play with our cousins.  Fun times.

Alayna gets herself dressed in this sequin belt every day with every outfit.  She was playing "Security Guards" with Pierce this time.

These are a few Sunday morning shots in the front yard:

Alayna - almost 4!

Adelle 2

Hudson 7 1/2

Pierce 5 1/2

Daddy and the kids one movie night.

This girl turned 2.  Oh boy.  One of these days I'll finish potty training her.  She's my little tornado and we love her so much.  Amazing what a year will bring!

Adelle at 1 year!

This is memorial day weekend.  We have no major plans.  Yard work, flowers, house work, pizza on Monday with the big family.  And we love it ... and we sleep good!

OKC Half Marathon

David and I have completed the first leg of what we hope will be a long journey.  We started our weekend dropping off the kids with my awesome parents and heading to the great Oklahoma City.  David grew up there and still loves it.  God blessed our weekend from the start. In the midst of 27,000 race participants picking up race packets and walking through the expo, we ran into some long-time friends and were able to spend some significant time with them over the weekend.  It's always nice to see people that I only keep up with through facebook.

We met a couple of fellow Owasso-ites for dinner in Bricktown and enjoyed some pre-race calories. Thanks Nicole and Steven for a fun night! Sunday morning we woke up early and got ready for a 6:30 race start.  It was amazing to see so many people in the starting coral.  Swarms of racers as far as I could see in front of me and behind me.  Incredible.

David and I wished each other well and took off with the throng.  Racing was super-exhillarating.  Passing and being passed, so many people on the sidelines cheering for us, lots of high-fiving, lots of racers talking to themselves to keep going through the last miles, and lots of cheering for and encouraging each other.  I was amazed at the girls running and chatting away like they do this every day ... the probably do.

One poignant moment for me was around mile 10 or 11.  My stomach had been cramping up really bad since about mile 4.  I don't know if it was related to dehydration or oxygen levels or what, but pushing through the pain was getting tougher.  One guy standing on the sidewalk could see it in my eyes, stuck his hand out and said, "You got this, you're almost there."  An amazing surge of energy just from that one word of encouragement.  After that I looked for encouragement and took it from the people cheering on sidewalks.  Several groups had rigged up speakers and music.  Some were passing out shots of beer, etc.  One guys had bacon and snickers.  I passed, but there presence on the sidelines was awesome.

Crossing the finish line was incredible and such a relief.  I got a medal, a plastic/aluminum (whatever) blanket, grabbed some food and water and stretched, then went back to the finish line to wait and cheer for David.  Big, Huge, Fat relief to see him cross the finish line.  There's nothing so exhilarating or exhausting as running a race like that and crossing the finish line (child-birth may top that, but you get the idea)!

I finished in 2:13:56 with a 10:13 pace.  That's very accurate with my training and I was super happy with that for my first big race.  David finished in 3:15 - pushing it for over three hours is a major accomplishment and I'm so proud of him!

Future running goals are, of course, bigger, better, farther, faster!

One fun side note - David and I stayed at the Character Inn in downtown OKC where we both used to work for Character First! before we knew each other.  We stayed on the 6th floor which was the "girls floor" when I worked there.  Kind of crazy. :)

My Two Cents

This kid is awesome.  Reading lessons on the teacher's shoulders?!  Who gets to do that?

We've had a busy week, as usual.  I think I would be busy if all I had to do was make food and keep the house clean.

Monday's are super crazy. We drop the girls off at Mimi's and the boys have Classical Conversations until 1pm. The kids all rest at Mimi's house while I go for a run. We get ourselves together and head home for a big snack like smoothies and popcorn before we head to the Y for my body sculpt class. I run the kids home for dinner with daddy and I head back to mom and dad's to train. I get home in time to clean up dinner, play for a few minutes and jump into the bedtime routine. Then I crash. No other day is quite this crazy, but this one requires supernatural energy.

I had a lady tell me to get off the meth last week. :). So, just to be clear, I'm not super woman, I'm not on meth, and I don't frequent the Starbucks drive thru (I do have a great coffee pot that brews fresh every morning. Here's the deal, good fuel is important on every level. When I'm running and cross training, homeschooling and wrangling children, in constant pick-up mode and feeding these bottomless pits that are my growing babies, I need quality nutrition.

Yup, this about sums up my life!

Over the weekend I ate poorly.  Pancakes for breakfast (whole wheat with agave syrup, but still), popcorn and m&m's for lunch, sweet potato chips with a diet DP and a movie.  Bad.  I felt really weak on my Saturday evening run because I had no good fuel in my body.  Race day is coming so I'm buckling down on my nutrition.  Veggies and protein baby.

Parallel that physical nutrition with spiritual nutrition - How in the world can I raise four kids, love my husband, and help provide a nourishing home environment if I'm not nourished myself?  I honestly don't have time for a weekly women's Bible Study right now.  As soon as I sit still in front of one of those videos (as entertaining as Beth Moore can be!) I fall asleep.  So, I got The Message on my Kindle so I can read it by myself or with whatever child happens to wake up at the crack of dawn.  It's awesome and so important for me to start my day off like that!

Anyway - eat good and read your Bible!  :)

A couple of cute videos

Alayna singing with her stick guitar

Adelle singing Twinkle Twinkle

Fixed it ;)

Wedding Weekend and more

My sister, Angela, finally married Robert Alexander Hurt, aka, the Bobinator (that's what my kids call him).  We're so happy for them and it was one of the funnest weddings I've ever been to. 

Adelle and me in the bride's room before the wedding.

Alayna's gorgeous hair and my handsome boys.

The boys loved their striped ties and Alayna's little bubble skirt dress was gorgeous.

Adelle was a cutie too.  Speaking of cuties... Pierce asked me what a "cutie" was.  I said it was those little oranges we buy at the store.  He said, "No, mom, it's something gooles (girls) give you."  Cooties!

Fred and me out on the deck - perfect night!  There are so many more pictures on facebook.  We got a Cherry Berry gift card for being in the wedding - best treat ever!  Thanks Ange and Bob!

 In other news, last weekend (two weekends ago) I didn't have time for a whole long run because of the wedding and I was subbing pilates at the Y.  So I decided to run to the Y, teach pilates and run home.  Brilliant really, except that I forgot to eat breakfast or hydrate properly.  The run home was fairly brutal.  But I made it, 7 miles in all.  So this last gorgeous Saturday I completed an 11 mile run and felt great.  I ate breakfast, drank plenty of water, carried water with me and felt good at the end.  Amazing!  I'm almost there.  Race day is April 29th.  I should have a few more miles under my belt by then.  I never thought I would say running is fun, but ... Running Is FUN!

Freddy School

My sister is getting married this weekend so we've been practicing wedding hair do's.  Isn't this great?!  these are called Bantu Knots .  I really don't think they were intended for little white-girl hair, but we tried it anyway.  She said she looked like an alien.  ;) 

Turned out super curly and cute, but with such fine, baby hair it was a rat's nest by the end of the day.  She's sleeping in sponge rollers tonight.  Can't wait to see if those do better.  I'll let you know.

Men at Work

Here's Hudson working on a paper about his monkey using lots of similes.  He wrote, "My monkey is brown and calm like a day without wind.  He makes me feel calm too."  I'm going to remember that the next time I have to send him outside to run laps! Pierce mastered his addition facts and is moving into the world of subtraction.  He's awesome.

I always loved those Jane Eyer movies ... er ... um... books!  Where the men get an education and the girls learn the piano forte, and drawing and painting, etc.  That's what my mornings look like right now.    I get the boys going and oversee their work while the girls flit about.  Here's Adelle, still in her cute little cherry jammies (I think these have made it all the way through the Weber cousins and Alayna - Adelle's the last!), playing something lovely.

This cute little blur in leggings is dancing to Adelle's song.  Love it.

Just had to capture a typical reading lesson with Pierce.  By the end of the day I have been wallered (is that a word?!) 1/2 to death!

Projects. Serious projects.

Well, hello again!  We're celebrating our anniversary this weekend by eating too much, staying out too late (we saw The Artist - incredible!), sleeping in (until 8 am because I'm the weirdo who can't sleep in! - so I blog), running an insane number of miles (9!!! Only 4 to go!), and menu planning and grocery shopping together ... with no kids.  See, it's all fun and doable with no kids.

So, we're not watching TV anymore, which is great.  The kids are more creative and more focused during school.  I'm more intentional, even when I'm tired, about playing with them, engaging them ... or just letting them make movies of themselves with my phone!  They're pretty funny.

Anyway, I've been a little bored at night.  I read my devotional, write in my journal, read my book while I sip my hot tea ... do I sound like an old woman yet?!  Just wait!  Because I've been going through my Pinterest boards to pick out new projects.  Might as well fill my evenings with some DIY projects that will rock your world.  Maybe not, but I lean toward exaggeration.  :)  I thought I would link a few of my latest projects here so you can check them out yourself.

Pillow Case Dresses - How cute are these?!  My little girly girls will love them!


Little Boy Ties - My sister, Angela, is getting married in a couple of weeks.  I'm going to venture out and make a couple of these in Kelly Green for the little ring bearer and junior groomsman.



I'm re-doing the girls' room pretty soon too.  Here's some of my inspiration:

Color Scheme

Flower planter toy storage

 Paper Birds on canvas
Love the framed fabric window and the multi-fabric pendent ceiling border.Lot's of fun work to do with modge podge and the sewing machine.

And I think I'll make a couple of these for good measure.  That'll keep me busy for a while.  :)