Hello!

Just checking in real quick to let you know we are alive!

Oh, and to show two things that sum up my life right now very accurately.

Happy rainy Tuesday everybody!

Summer So Far

Somehow it is the middle of June already. I don't know how we got here already. I am already panicking that summer is going to disappear too quickly. I have a confession to make: I love summer! I know both my kids are home full time and I am "supposed" to be totally stressed out about what to do with them, and counting down the days until school starts... But I'm not. I honestly love the fact that we have no schedule at all. The only thing I signed Noah up for was VBS this week in the mornings, and that was only because he had some good buddies who were going to be there with him. Otherwise, I am perfectly content to wake up at our own pace, leisurely eat breakfast, and concoct our plan for the day spontaneously. Here is a little bit of what we have been up to....

1. We have been staying up a little too late. Not every night, but enough. It is so nice to be able to let the boys play without having to worrying about hurrying them inside for bath and bedtime. We have spent many a night at the pool, or outdoor concerts, or at friends' houses without a care for what time we finally head home. Now, I will say, I can enjoy this because I am lucky enough to have boys who will (for the most part) sleep in the next morning. One morning they both slept until 9:15 - and so did I! It was everything I thought it could be :)

2. The weather has been pretty great here. Aside from several days of rain - and a storm so big that Noah and I spent one whole morning cleaning up the debris in our yard - we have enjoyed lots of time outside.

We even enjoyed a morning play date complete with water balloon fight. Noah loved that one!

3. In the interest of full disclosure, our summer has not been completely care-free so far. Last Saturday Liam developed a 102 degree fever around 4pm and was so completely lethargic I was ready to jump in the car and head to the ER immediately. Him being sick is bad enough, but it just so happened that was the night my Mom was in town to keep the boys while sending us out on a special date for our anniversary. She had booked us on a sunset sail around Charleston Harbor and then was sending us out to dinner afterwards. However, instead of boarding a sailboat at 7pm that night, I was on the couch holding my youngest child who felt like he was on fire. And I was not all zen about it either - I was pissed. First because he was sick - I hate when my kids feel bad - and secondly, because I had really been looking forward to a night out with Wes. We needed that night. Plus, it was the only actual thing we had planned for our 10 year anniversary - and we didn't even get to go. Not to mention that the tickets are non-refundable/non-rescheduale-able. (Is that a word??) I tried to keep reminding myself that a 10 year anniversary does not require a special activity to be important, but I'll be honest, I mostly think that it does! Maybe for 11 years we will do something special. (Or maybe by then I will have miraculously matured into one of those very patient, humble women who don't need material things and special outings to feel content. Right. I am sure that is how it will turn out...)

4. Anyway... back to the positive. I am newly recommitted to working out. After my half marathon last month I somehow lost all motivation to do anything. I looked back at my calendar and saw that I only worked out 3 times in 4 weeks. And two of those were ballet classes. Yikes! I guess my body needed a break. But I am back in the saddle and excited to work up a sweat daily. Hopefully my new running shoes will help. My old pair were 2 years old (!) and the tread on the bottom was completely worn down. (I have a sneaking suspicion that helped contribute to my sore hip/knee during last months race.) I kept saying I was going to get a new pair but hadn't gotten around to it. So, Wes finally just went to Dick's Sporting Goods and found the brand/style I wear and purchased a pair for me. They feel awesome and I was very excited to break them in with a run the other day. Of course, Noah is convinced that his new running shoes are way cooler than mine. Whatever, they probably are!

5. And to wrap it up, here are some things I have been enjoying this summer:

     ~ The new reality show on the CW called Breaking Pointe. It is about a ballet company and follows the lives of several dancers in that company. We don't have cable so I can't enjoy all the really good, trashy reality shows - this is as close as I can get. When 8pm on Thursday rolls around, I turn it on and make Wes promise not to talk to me for an hour while I watch my new guilty pleasure.

     ~ Orange Sorbet. Yum! It is the perfect after dinner treat on a hot summer evening. I have also been enjoying my new favorite drink - Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade - but I am going to limit that to special occasions in order to support my recommitment to working out. (Don't worry friends... Play dates are always considered a special occasion. Ha!)

     ~ White jeans. I don't know what it is, but they scream summer to me. And they make any outfit look special.

See, Duchess Catherine shows us how to make it work. While white will always be my go to classic, I am also loving all the skinny jeans in bright colors. I have a pair of purple ones and my next purchase may be bright green.

     ~ My new Ray Ban Aviators. I love that my husband is in a profession that allows him to buy me cute accessories at cost! I have built up quite the sunglasses collection thanks to him :)

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully it won't be 10 days in between blog posts again. But it might be. You never know - I may be so distracted playing outside with the boys while wearing my new sunglasses that you may not hear from me anytime soon :)

Bye Bye Kindergarten

Before we made our short trip to see friends in Columbia last week, we had one final, very special, school year event to participate in. Kindergarten graduation.

I did not realize it, but they make a pretty big deal about graduating kindergarten. There was a whole ceremony and everything! The last day of school, all the kindergarten parents gathered in the cafeteria and watched as the students walked down the aisle and onto the stage.

The four kindergarten classes sang several songs and then the teachers got on stage to hand out diplomas.

Wes and I watched and we couldn't stop smiling at how cute Noah looked standing up there. He looked very grown up all of the sudden! Liam was there too of course - and he sat very nicely during the ceremony next to his buddy Caleb.

After the ceremony was over there was a reception and all the students handed out gifts to the teachers and said farewell to friends for the summer.

Here is Noah with his teachers, Mrs. Blanton and Mrs. Elsey

Noah also got some pictures with the fam...

....And a few shots with his friends. Here he is with Abby Grace. They have been in the same class for 3 years in a row now. She is moving this summer and I know Noah is going to miss her next year!

And here he is with his buddy Addie. Her Mom and I were cracking up at how much they look alike in this picture.

And I think this last picture of Noah with Abby Grace, Addie, and Ben is my favorite one of the whole day!

I think that pictures sums up two very important things. #1 - The difference between girls and boys, and #2 - How much fun Noah has at school each and every day. It was a great year in Kindergarten!

A Quick Visit

Okay, so I have about 4 and 1/2 seconds to spare this morning so this post will be quick!

Last weekend we drove up to stay with Wes' parents near Columbia, and took the opportunity to visit with some dear friends who were also in town visiting family. Our friends the Bedenbaughs live in St. Louis so we don't see them nearly as much as we would like, but we sure do enjoy our time together when we get it.

Thursday night we met Jeremy and Amy at a restaurant in Newberry, SC (we were assured it was Newberry's finest) where Jeremy promptly frazzled our poor waitress with his big city questions and we spent all night laughing our asses off. Some things never change. After our meal we went down to the basement of the restaurant where they have a wine and cigar bar. It was very cute. And completely empty so we were free to be as obnoxious as we wanted. I used that freedom to snap a picture of this.

Love it! We had such a fun time catching up while we drank wine and smoked cigars. Jeremy was kind enough to remind us that we would enjoy the cigars that night, but the next morning we would feel like the "shit elves had taken a dump in our mouths". Like I said, some things never change :)

The next day we grabbed the boys and headed over to Jeremy's family place so that all the kids could play. Noah and Jude had a blast together - I so wish they could play all the time. And Liam enjoyed some time with Sam on the go cart.

At the end of the day we hated to say good bye. Here's to hoping we can see them again soon!

Scenes From Memorial Day Weekend

Hanging out at Freshfields for music, food, and relaxing outside on a (pre) summer evening.

Celebrating Noah's birthday for the 3rd time... And BTW. If you happen to realize that there are no candles for the birthday cake, don't worry. There is every chance your husband will come up with the most ridiculous idea of wrapping a pencil with a napkin, sticking it in the cake, and lighting it on fire.  You will argue it will never work, challenge him to do it so you can watch him fail, and then curse yourself when it DOES work and he stands there prouder than if he had cured cancer. Thank goodness Noah muttered, "That was weird." after blowing out the "candle".  And now back to the pictures....

Shopping with my Mom and my sister. You must always start any shopping trip with a big, lunch, a drink, and a picture in a bathroom.

Playing at the park - and sweating like we were in the seventh layer of hell. Welcome summer!

Wrapping up the weekend by initiating a back yard water fight with my boys. Noah never saw me coming!

The Longest Race Report Ever

I don't know if anybody remembers, but this past Sunday was my half marathon. (The Divas Half Marathon in Myrtle Beach to be exact.) If you didn't remember that's okay - I very specifically refrained from talking about it on the blog because I knew I was going to run it very under trained and it might end up a disaster. I was kind of right. Part of it was the best race I ever had, and part was a disaster. (And warning... This post might be kind of long and boring to anyone but me.)

I will start by saying that I really got lazy with my training. The heat hit early here, and the thought of long runs in high temperatures was so unappealing. (Also, Wes works two weekends a month so a weekend long run just doesn't work out sometimes.) When I did manage to do a long run I was having major issues with my stomach when I tried to take in calories on the run. It got to be that I dreaded going long because I knew my stomach would revolt and I would feel terrible the rest of the morning. So... The longest I went before the race was 9 miles and that was ONE time. Oops. A couple weeks ago, I gave up any ideas about running a good time and decided to take it for what it was: a fun weekend away with friends and a really cute race with a festive atmosphere. I figured I would run the best I could, and I decided not to eat anything at all - no gu, no gels, no nothing - to avoid an upset stomach. I was just going to cross my fingers that my energy would last to the end. I predicted a 2 hour 30 minute finish.

My plan started out well. Fun was had right from the start! We road tripped it to Myrtle Beach in Brandy's car - and managed to survive her Nascar driving maneuvers. (Hehe! Brandy, I kid!) We got through all the traffic caused by Bike Week, picked up our packets at the expo, and checked in at the hotel. Then we were starving so we headed out to eat. We ended up at PF Changs. We also ended up allowing ourselves one drink. I figured that went right along with my plan to just have fun. No shot of PRing means go ahead and have a drink!

Adrienne and Rachel.

Me and Brandy. Please ignore the fact that my jean jacket/scarf combo makes me look like a linebacker!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and went to bed early. Sounds lame but we were expecting a 4:45am wake up call! My sweet tea vodka and Benadryl combo (and no baby monitor) made for a fabulous night of sleep and I felt ready to go early the next morning.

We made our way to the start in a sea of pink and tutus. It is a (mostly) women event and everybody was feeling free to embrace their inner girl. Except for me. I don't have a ton of pink running gear. Red is my go to color when I run/race. I figured I would grab my promised pink feather boa on the course and then I would fit right in.

Brandy and Rachel were aiming to run under 2 hours, so Adrienne and I (who were expecting to be about 30 minutes slower) cheered for them when the gun went off and watched them take off into the sea of pink tutus. I made Adrienne promise to leave me if I was holding her pack - she said ditto - and then I put on my head phones, turned up the volume on my top 40 play list and started running.

The course was good. Even though it was Myrtle Beach at the end of May the weather was a perfect 65 degrees and we spent most of our time running down shaded streets. My body - so used to high heat and humidity and a hot yoga room - felt like it had been given a gift. Running felt absolutely effortless. Adrienne pointed out that we were going a bit faster than she had planned - the 10 minute mile pacer was actually behind us - and I tried to pull back a bit. But I just couldn't.

Mentally I was having the best race I have ever had. People always act amazed when I say I have run 13.1 miles. The truth is, that it is not all that amazing. Anybody who is reasonably fit can do it. If you can run 3 miles, you can run 13. The deciding factor is always the mental game. Are you mentally tough enough to go that distance? I hate to say it, but a lot of the time I am not. I let anxiety about my stomach or the distance or my breathing get to me, and I convince myself I have to hold back. Or take a walk break. I tell myself that there is no way I can run that far. And once you let yourself back off - take that walk break or whatever - you are done. Sure, you'll finish. But not well - not strong.  On Sunday though, my mental outlook was different. Maybe it was the fact that I had taken all pressure off myself by deciding the race would just be for fun - who knows?!

One of my all time favorite books ever is Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. It's kind of obscure unless you are a runner, and then you might have heard of it. The main character, Quenton Cassidy, is a perfect 'flawed hero' (my favorite literary figure) and I have read the book a million times. The action all builds until the end where Cassidy runs a race, attempting to go under 4 minutes in the mile. One of my favorite aspects of the book is the examination of the mental side of running. Cassidy explains about how he is prepared not just physically, but mentally. He descries an "orb" that hovers above him during the race. He talks about how, "The orb now floated gently in his mind, glistening, peaceful. hard as spun steel. It would hold all grief, all despair, all the race-woes of a body going to the edge; it would allow him to do what he had to do until there was nothing left."


That's how I felt on Sunday. Like I had decided to run for real, without holding back, and every worry, every concern, every pain, was being shoved up into the orb. Acknowledged and then pushed away - stored for later. I wasn't thinking, I was just running. I reached mile 6 - where I would usually panic about having to run 7 more miles - and it was fine. I felt good. It reminded me of Cassidy's description of his orb as it "...bobbed gently, taking it all in, retaining it, keeping it quiet inside the steely interior and allowing him to think. He concentrated on his task." We climbed a slight incline and I felt Adrienne fall off my shoulder. I looked at my watch. I was on pace to run 2 hours and 10 minutes. A time that I did not deserve based on my training but I was going to snatch the opportunity whether I deserved it or not.

I had just reached the 8 mile mark when I rounded a corner and felt a strong, sudden pain in my right knee. I had to stop - it had literally stolen my breathe away. I tried to start again but my leg had totally locked up. I knew what it was right away. My IT band was obviously inflamed, and I knew from experience that I was done. You can't stretch something like that out and have the pain go away. The repetitive motion of running - and walking - only makes it worse. Stopping is really the only cure for it. But my orb was still in tact  and I kept going. Running until I couldn't and then walking. Then doing it again. Adrienne caught up to me and tried to rally me. She was like, Let's run for a whole mile and not stop! We got this!  I tried, and ran until my leg literally collapsed under me and I waved her on. I spent the last 5 miles of the race run/walking and being slightly pissed as I watched my PR fall away.

In the last mile there were tons of people cheering and encouraging the runners as we made our way to the finish. My leg was in so much pain at that point that I decided to just run as fast as I could - which was not fast - to just be done with it. I started moving and that's when my orb burst, "...letting all the poison out..." and my emotions were let loose. I passed the race volunteers handing out the pink feather boas a half mile out from the finish line. Everyone else seemed carefree and celebratory, and I couldn't summon the energy to be that way so I passed by without grabbing one. I rounded the corner, saw the finish line, and finally crossed over it and stopped running. My tank felt completely empty. The clock read 2:28:xx.

I know what you're thinking. All that ridiculous intensity and work - all for the time you thought you were going to get in the first place. I know. Why didn't I just hang back, relax and run easy? I could have - it would have ended the same. But I am so glad I didn't. I may not have gotten a PR but I finally got to experience what it feels like to let everything go and focus on the run. To have the mental clarity and focus that I have always wanted to have during a race. If my knee had not locked up I have no doubt I would have run that race 20 minutes faster. I was in the zone. And I hope it's like riding a bicycle - once you get the feel for it, you always know how to do it. I hope that in the next race I run I will be able to recall what it feels like to put away all worries and distractions until the very end and then use them to fuel me across the line.

I found Brandy and Rachel and they excitedly told me they had finished just under 2 hours. I had known they would - they were ready. Adrienne had finished 5 minutes in front of me - a PR of 20 minutes for her! It was very fun to celebrate everyone's accomplishments together. We decided we needed Bike Week tshirts, a hot shower, and a Bloody Mary ( in that order!) and so we headed back to the car.

It was a great weekend. Good times with friends and lessons learned through running. (I don't know why I continue to be surprised by this. Running is the ultimate metaphor for life. I think that's why I continue to do it.) And if I ever forget those lessons... Well, I have a big, tacky, pink Diva medal to remind me :)

Noah's Weeklong Birthday Celebration

Yesterday Noah turned 6. His birthday is always an important day for me because it is the anniversary of the day that I became a mom. I can't believe it has been 6 years already! I love my oldest boy so much. Here we are together last night after a low key birthday celebration.

I say low key because his birthday celebrating is actually be dragged out over the course of a week. For his actual birthday yesterday, we shared dinner and cupcakes to celebrate with our small group from church. Liam especially was a big fan of the "cakecups". See....

Last Friday we had a celebration with friends up at the pool. I spent the whole week beforehand working on decorations for his Mario theme. I bit the bullet and found some ideas on Pinterest and made most of the stuff myself. Of course,  on the day of the party our sunshine and high temperatures disappeared and were replaced with wind and the threat of rain. The wind made hanging all my tissue paper puff balls a bit of a pain in the behind....

It also kept knocking over all the decorations I had made for the food table.

I had a bit of a mini-stroke about it while Wes looked on helplessly... And then I had to pull up my big girl pants and get over it. I can't control the weather. 

Turns out I shouldn't have stressed too much. Noah's friends showed up and they all jumped in the water. The rain held off long enough for the kids to decide that the water was freezing and they should just play on the playground instead.

Thanks goodness for the neighborhood playground! After the kids put on dry clothes, their blue lips disappeared and they enjoyed running around like crazy people.

Pretty soon it was time for pizza and cake.

Here is a picture of us singing to Noah. We had to pretend he had candles to blow out because the wind would not allow us to even get them lit! Thankfully he thought it was funny and did a fabulous job of blowing out his fake candles.

After cake we endured the present opening frenzy, then some more playground, and before we knew it, the celebration was over!

Despite the weather I think a good time was had by all - even the adults!

Most importantly, Noah really enjoyed it. And now he is counting down the days until Saturday when we will celebrate for the third time with my side of the family.