Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Snowballs and Carousel Rides
What's one of the best ways to cool off on a hot afternoon? Getting a snowball, of course! This was Buttercup's first snowball and Oliver's third time to get one (although they're called "shaved ice" where we live in Texas).
Then we went to the mall and rode the carousel.
Buttercup liked the carousel so much that she screamed when it was time to get off, and she screamed for about 15 more minutes after that. Poor girl!! But I'm glad she had fun for a little while!
Then we went to the mall and rode the carousel.
Buttercup liked the carousel so much that she screamed when it was time to get off, and she screamed for about 15 more minutes after that. Poor girl!! But I'm glad she had fun for a little while!
Carnival!
Yesterday afternoon, Grammy, the kids, and I went to a carnival! The weather was so nice, and we had such a great time riding the rides and playing games.
Oliver wanted to ride the bumper cars first, so we headed in that direction. Unfortunately, Oliver didn't see the end of the metal railing sticking out and he ran right into it and gave himself a black eye. :-( He was tough though, and jumped right up to ride the bumper cars!
Buttercup really liked this bumble bee ride. She threw a major tantrum when the ride stopped, and the very kind ride operator let us ride it 2 more times for free!
Grammy and Oliver played a water gun race and won a stuffed animal!
Oliver got to go fishing for sharks, and won another prize!
This was so much fun, and such a great way to spend Mother's Day!
Oliver wanted to ride the bumper cars first, so we headed in that direction. Unfortunately, Oliver didn't see the end of the metal railing sticking out and he ran right into it and gave himself a black eye. :-( He was tough though, and jumped right up to ride the bumper cars!
Buttercup really liked this bumble bee ride. She threw a major tantrum when the ride stopped, and the very kind ride operator let us ride it 2 more times for free!
Grammy and Oliver played a water gun race and won a stuffed animal!
Oliver got to go fishing for sharks, and won another prize!
This was so much fun, and such a great way to spend Mother's Day!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Oliver the Creative
Of course, every mom thinks their kids are the best, smartest, most imaginative beings ever to walk the earth. But seriously, check this out! Oliver is something else. I picked out this set of blocks for the kids to play with at Grammy and Granddaddy's house:
Oliver has a similar set at home, and he loves to make tools out of them (like the jackhammer in this picture). Well, this set has instructions on how to make several different types of bugs, plus a crab and a lobster. So far, we've made a fly, a scorpion, a caterpillar/centipede type thing, and a snail.
This morning when I was getting lunch ready, Oliver was sitting on the floor playing with the blocks and putting them together. I assumed he was making a nail gun or a paint sprayer, but then I looked over and he had made a really cool scorpion-type bug all by himself!!
Seriously, God has really blessed us with this wonderful little boy. I am so looking forward to seeing what great and mighty things He has planned for my Oliver!
Oliver has a similar set at home, and he loves to make tools out of them (like the jackhammer in this picture). Well, this set has instructions on how to make several different types of bugs, plus a crab and a lobster. So far, we've made a fly, a scorpion, a caterpillar/centipede type thing, and a snail.
This morning when I was getting lunch ready, Oliver was sitting on the floor playing with the blocks and putting them together. I assumed he was making a nail gun or a paint sprayer, but then I looked over and he had made a really cool scorpion-type bug all by himself!!
Seriously, God has really blessed us with this wonderful little boy. I am so looking forward to seeing what great and mighty things He has planned for my Oliver!
Happy Mother's Day to Me!!
This morning after the race, Oliver, Buttercup, and I were at my parents' house by ourselves, when the doorbell rang. Max was barking and growling like crazy, and I was having trouble shooing him away from the door, so I picked him up. I could tell that the visitor was a kind of short older man, and I thought it was my parents' neighbor. I opened the door, expecting to see him, but instead it was a delivery man from a local flower shop -- Dennis had sent me Mother's Day flowers for a surprise! I think I stood there with my mouth open for a couple of seconds while Max tried to lunge out of my arms and the poor delivery guy tried to figure out what to do with the flowers. He ended up setting them down outside so I could pick them up safely later, after he was no longer in danger of being bitten by the Attack Chihuahua.
Thank you for my flowers, Hubby!!! I love them, and I can't wait to see you!!
Thank you for my flowers, Hubby!!! I love them, and I can't wait to see you!!
The PR that almost didn't happen -- Wellness for Life 5k race report
Hebrews 12:1b, 2a
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus . . .
This morning I raced my first 5k in Baton Rouge in over 4 years. I found the race online a couple of weeks ago, and decided to run it to test my speed. (There are NO hills in Baton Rouge!) :-) But as the week wore on, I started to talk myself out of it. "Too much of a hassle," "legs feeling sluggish," and "I'm tired," were a few of my complaints. But, my biggest cheerleader (thanks, Mom!) talked me into it yesterday morning. "I really want to be there to see you run," she said. And after I tried a couple of speedy intervals on the treadmill, I figured that my legs were up to the challenge, and I decided to do it. It was going to be fun! And the weather was supposed to be nice, and the kids would have fun looking at the trains, seeing the old State Capitol, and watching the fountains at the Shaw building.
I did not sleep well at all last night and woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, and my legs felt really stiff. But I was ready to not only beat my 5-year-old PR (20:30), but try to finish under 20 minutes. Eeek! [FYI: a sub 20 5k = running 6:26 minute miles back-to-back for 3.1 miles. And speediness is not my strong point. It was going to hurt!] But, above all, my goal was to run the best that I could and have a good time!
Mom and I got the kids up early and they ate their breakfast in the car on the way to the race. I missed pre-registration yesterday (oops!) so I left the kids and Mom and jogged down to the registration booth. This was an inaugural race, so there were very few people there. I got my race number, and found Mom and the kiddos. Buttercup is teething and doesn't like being separated from me, so Mom whisked her and Oliver off to look at the freight train car on the Capitol grounds while I did my warm up. It was a very humid morning (Texas summers have made me weak!), so I picked up a water bottle to carry with me and splash on my face while I was running.
Then I looked around, ready to go, and . . . there was no activity anywhere indicating that there was going to be a race any time soon. I talked to another woman near where I was stretching, and she said she didn't know when the race was starting, what the course was, or where the finish line was. So we chatted until one of the runners said, "Hey, runners, over here!" and motioned for the crowd to follow him. There were only 4 people lined up in the front -- an old guy, a man in his 40s wearing bike shorts, a college-age guy with an iPod, and me. Then someone said, "Okay . . . runners, GO!" And we were off.
My first goal was to not go out too fast. I wanted to PR, and, as I've discovered through trial and error, the best way to not PR is to try to run with the big boys for the first mile of the race. However, this race was so small that I was one of the big boys, LOL! Bike Shorts Guy was in the lead by several seconds, and I ended up in step with iPod Guy. Old Guy dropped back immediately. I kept my eyes glued to my Garmin to make sure that my pace stayed around 6:25-6:30. I felt like I wasn't going too fast, which seemed about right, because I knew that I would definitely be feeling the pace in the next mile! There was a slight incline at the end of mile 1. I was the first woman and third runner overall at this point.
Mile 1: 6:36
My second goal was to keep my pace consistent. In other 5ks, mile 2 has been the toughest. But in this race, we had a slight downhill in mile 2, which helped me make up some time. IPod Guy dropped back around the middle of mile 2, so I was the second runner overall. The guy on the lead bicycle started cycling around me, giving me pointers and encouragement. At this point, I kind of thought that I could not only get a sub 20 5k, but I might also be able to beat Bike Shorts Guy and win the race overall.
Mile 2: 6:06
My third goal was to finish under 20 minutes. But, I think I went through mile 2 too fast and my legs were just d-o-n-e. And I was h-o-t. Bike Shorts Guy was picking up speed, and I was slowing down. The guy on the lead bicycle noticed me falling behind, and he said, "Hey, hand me that water bottle! Use your arms!" He grabbed my water bottle and I started working my arms, hoping their momentum would pull me faster across the finish line. But I was tired, and I gave up. The guy on the bicycle said, "Okay, half a mile left, you can do it! Here's your water!" and then he dumped the rest of the water bottle on me, LOL! It was hilarious because I was expecting him to hand me the bottle, not dump the water on me. But it was definitely what I needed at that moment!
Mile 3.1: 7:31
Finish time: 20:13. First woman overall, 2nd runner overall. So, I didn't get my sub 20, but I have a new official PR!!!! For the first time in over 5 years!!!! Thank you, God!
And thanks, Mom, for motivating me to run this morning!
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus . . .
This morning I raced my first 5k in Baton Rouge in over 4 years. I found the race online a couple of weeks ago, and decided to run it to test my speed. (There are NO hills in Baton Rouge!) :-) But as the week wore on, I started to talk myself out of it. "Too much of a hassle," "legs feeling sluggish," and "I'm tired," were a few of my complaints. But, my biggest cheerleader (thanks, Mom!) talked me into it yesterday morning. "I really want to be there to see you run," she said. And after I tried a couple of speedy intervals on the treadmill, I figured that my legs were up to the challenge, and I decided to do it. It was going to be fun! And the weather was supposed to be nice, and the kids would have fun looking at the trains, seeing the old State Capitol, and watching the fountains at the Shaw building.
I did not sleep well at all last night and woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, and my legs felt really stiff. But I was ready to not only beat my 5-year-old PR (20:30), but try to finish under 20 minutes. Eeek! [FYI: a sub 20 5k = running 6:26 minute miles back-to-back for 3.1 miles. And speediness is not my strong point. It was going to hurt!] But, above all, my goal was to run the best that I could and have a good time!
Mom and I got the kids up early and they ate their breakfast in the car on the way to the race. I missed pre-registration yesterday (oops!) so I left the kids and Mom and jogged down to the registration booth. This was an inaugural race, so there were very few people there. I got my race number, and found Mom and the kiddos. Buttercup is teething and doesn't like being separated from me, so Mom whisked her and Oliver off to look at the freight train car on the Capitol grounds while I did my warm up. It was a very humid morning (Texas summers have made me weak!), so I picked up a water bottle to carry with me and splash on my face while I was running.
Then I looked around, ready to go, and . . . there was no activity anywhere indicating that there was going to be a race any time soon. I talked to another woman near where I was stretching, and she said she didn't know when the race was starting, what the course was, or where the finish line was. So we chatted until one of the runners said, "Hey, runners, over here!" and motioned for the crowd to follow him. There were only 4 people lined up in the front -- an old guy, a man in his 40s wearing bike shorts, a college-age guy with an iPod, and me. Then someone said, "Okay . . . runners, GO!" And we were off.
My first goal was to not go out too fast. I wanted to PR, and, as I've discovered through trial and error, the best way to not PR is to try to run with the big boys for the first mile of the race. However, this race was so small that I was one of the big boys, LOL! Bike Shorts Guy was in the lead by several seconds, and I ended up in step with iPod Guy. Old Guy dropped back immediately. I kept my eyes glued to my Garmin to make sure that my pace stayed around 6:25-6:30. I felt like I wasn't going too fast, which seemed about right, because I knew that I would definitely be feeling the pace in the next mile! There was a slight incline at the end of mile 1. I was the first woman and third runner overall at this point.
Mile 1: 6:36
My second goal was to keep my pace consistent. In other 5ks, mile 2 has been the toughest. But in this race, we had a slight downhill in mile 2, which helped me make up some time. IPod Guy dropped back around the middle of mile 2, so I was the second runner overall. The guy on the lead bicycle started cycling around me, giving me pointers and encouragement. At this point, I kind of thought that I could not only get a sub 20 5k, but I might also be able to beat Bike Shorts Guy and win the race overall.
Mile 2: 6:06
My third goal was to finish under 20 minutes. But, I think I went through mile 2 too fast and my legs were just d-o-n-e. And I was h-o-t. Bike Shorts Guy was picking up speed, and I was slowing down. The guy on the lead bicycle noticed me falling behind, and he said, "Hey, hand me that water bottle! Use your arms!" He grabbed my water bottle and I started working my arms, hoping their momentum would pull me faster across the finish line. But I was tired, and I gave up. The guy on the bicycle said, "Okay, half a mile left, you can do it! Here's your water!" and then he dumped the rest of the water bottle on me, LOL! It was hilarious because I was expecting him to hand me the bottle, not dump the water on me. But it was definitely what I needed at that moment!
Mile 3.1: 7:31
Finish time: 20:13. First woman overall, 2nd runner overall. So, I didn't get my sub 20, but I have a new official PR!!!! For the first time in over 5 years!!!! Thank you, God!
And thanks, Mom, for motivating me to run this morning!
Friday, May 7, 2010
I will give THANKS!
Psalm 138:1-5
I will give you thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your lovingkindness and your truth; for you have magnified your word according to all your name.
On the day I called, you answered me; you made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
I will give you thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your lovingkindness and your truth; for you have magnified your word according to all your name.
On the day I called, you answered me; you made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord, when they have heard the words of your mouth. And they will sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
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