To be the best Wife, Mom, Daughter, Sister, Friend, and Runner I can be...God willing!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I love taking pictures at church!

Our church has a beautiful Labyrinth.    I have never actually gone there to pray or mediate or anything like that.  I am afraid that I would get dizzy walking in circles again and again...ridiculous and laughable I know!  I do love to go there to take pictures and I "force" my family to go there for that purpose at last several times a year.  Sunday was no exception.  Family in town and at church means cute pictures will be taken after church.  It is my rule!

With four children getting a quality family photo is something that I rarely expect to achieve.  Getting four children to stand for a picture and look generally pleasant is all I ask at this stage in our life.  Coming to this realization has reduced my stress greatly when trying to take pictures.

With that said the family photos are not great. 



The individual pictures are AWESOME!!!!

Running around like a crazy fool!
Just watching...
What mom?
I will pose for you!
Wait for me!  Here I come!!
Oh, pictures...wait I might not come!
Okay, I guess I will come over.

Let's get out of here while we can!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Mammy and Pappy part two

Okay, so more park pictures of some of the sweetest faces ever!!

She likes to hang over the front of the swing just to make me nervous.



Sweet boys!
And my two favorite from Collins park are....

Sweet girl watching the bigger kids
Hi Mammy!

Mammy and Pappy's visit

Mammy and Pappy were here for the past week and lots of fun was had by all.  I did not take as many pictures as I should have, but the ones I got are pretty good.  We, of course, went to some parks.  The first set of pictures (thanks to Mammy) are from North Shore Park in the The Woodlands.  It is a small, but fun place to play and to watch ducks.  Samuel also liked watching the small boats (he thinks we need one just like Drew does!).








and my favorite from that day is of two brothers who really do like to be with each other....




They could not be happier!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

It has been one year of....

RUNNING...one year of running!  One year ago Saturday I ran the Masterpiece Fitness 5K.  I was so out of shape just having had Elena three months earlier.  It was hard, but it re-ignited my love for running.  Only this time around my love for running took on a whole new life.

I was a braver runner.  I was a runner who wanted to really learn about running.  I was a runner who wanted to push myself more, run farther, and run faster. 

I started reading running magazines.  I found running blogs (I am now slightly addicted to them!).  I read anything online I could fine.  I learned tons and was slowly becoming braver.  And, the best part of running besides all the obvious health benefits was the time by myself.  I did and do not care if I have to run in the dark because those few precious minutes or hours to myself make me a better mommy and wife!

Since I started logging my miles at the end of last July I have run 768 miles...crazy!  I have run 11 competitive races.  I even convinced Emma and Jonah to run a one mile race.  I have bought more sneakers than any other type of shoe...sad I know.

I am so thankful that Drew is beyond supportive of my running.  He is the best daddy/husband in the world to watch the kids while I log long runs each Saturday and run races.  It is a lot of work on his part.  I am so thankful for my kiddos who cheer me on each time I run.  I am also thankful that my running can support larger causes.  I can't wait to see where my legs carry me in the next year!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

To the park...again!

I take my kiddos to the park a lot.  It is free, it is fun, and there are so many choices.  I really don't understand why parks are not jammed packed full all the time, but I am glad they are not. 

Burroughs Park is one of my favorites and we really should go more often.  It is sad that driving 30 minutes to a park is too far on most days, but it is.  Anyway, the weather was perfect.  It was not crowded.  We were joined by friends.  It was just a wonderful morning.  Enjoy....













I love these pictures and I love them!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The rodeo

Every year the rodeo is in Houston for about a month.  The kids have never actually seen the rodeo, but they have seem lots of little animals and big animals.  It is a fun experience for everyone and this year was no exception.

We saw piglets born two days ago, lambs born that morning, and calves born the day before we were there....precious little babies.  Perhaps, the cutest is the newly hatched chicks.  They are so tired from all the pecking that they just lay there.  It is just so cute.  Of course, no trip to the rodeo would be complete without BBQ.  Jonah said at lunch time,  "I want whatever that smell is!"

A little tractor ridin'
   
Emma was overjoyed at the sight of sausage on a stick.  She said it was the best lunch ever.  

We passed these cool statues on the way out of the park.  Of course, I had to have pictures!

Elena was less than happy that I was not holding her...still cute!
See, she was happier when I was holding her!


Ten minutes into the drive home, I see this and had to have a picture.  

Out cold!
Samuel was asleep within the next couple of minutes, but he was too far away from me to get a picture.  The rodeo was super fun, but super tiring for all!

the rest of our cousin visit

Kristen, Miriam, and Aunt Lara were here from Friday afternoon to Tuesday morning.  We had four jammed packed days.  We went to the park, did lots of playing at the house, painted pottery, baked cupcakes, and went to a parade.  I don't have any pictures from the parade, but I got the goodies on all our other activities!

The big kids went painting.  This is the girl side of the table.
The boy side of the table.
Finished painting and enjoying some popcorn!
Baking helpers!
Kristen and Emma putting icing on the Red Velvet cupcakes...yum!
We had such a fun visit!  Everyone was sad to see them leave and we are so thankful they gave their time and energy to visit us.  Next time, we are heading to Shawnee!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A cat...oh my!

On Saturday night we decided to have a marshmallow roast.  It is necessary to have s'mores when cousins visit!  As Drew was doing this...


a cat came into our yard.  Well, when it was dark and time to roast some yummy marshmallows, Yuengling spied the cat.  Lucky for us, Yuengling chased it up the tree and then the cat was stuck.  Yes, stuck!  After the kids were in bed, we tried for about an hour to get the cat out of the tree, but no luck.  We decided it would come down some time during the night....wrong!

On Sunday after church, Drew climbed the ladder again...this time our bigger ladder (we had to get it from a neighbor) to retrieve the cat.

Drew made friends with "Socks" as she was named by the kids and finally he was able to get her safely out of the tree. 

I thought he was so smart for wrapping her (I guess she was a her...I don't really know!) in a towel so she could not scratch him.  "Socks" was very sweet, but I very sweetly informed the kiddos that we were not keeping her.  After making herself comfortable under the trampoline for well over an hour, "Socks" finally left to return to her home.  Yeah, to Drew for rescuing her and yeah that she left!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Park

Oh, how we love the park and we especially love it when the weather is gorgeous.  Yesterday is was breezy, sunny, and beautiful.  So, off to the park we went with our visitors....Aunt Lara, Kristen, and Miriam.

The kids are having a blast together and they did at the park too!  Pictures of my babies first.

 Cousins pictures....

Emma and Kristen
Emma, Kristen, and Miriam

Finally, my favorite picture...

Elena peeking out of the tunnel....so cute!