Trip to the sandbox!

My lovely family and I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my in-laws and my nephews at Orange Beach. I was hesitant at first to make the trip because of the oil spill, but I was pleased to find that the beaches were oil free and cleaner than ever. Baz could hardly wait to (as he said) play in the sandbox at the beach. Both children loved the sand and had fun running in the shallow waves. I was pleased and shocked that my dear, sweet husband had a good time looking for shells and he actually wore shorts for a change. I didn't run on the beach, but I was committed (crazy) enough to bring my laptop so I could do my P90X workouts on the balcony early each morning. We toured the Gulf Shores Zoo, went go-cart riding and swam in the pool a lot. The only thing we could not do was take a dolphin cruise because the bay was closed.

My baby bumble bee!

Tara Beth had her first dance recital Saturday. As you can, see she was an adorable little bumble bee in Missy Crain's recital. She greatly exceeded my expectations with her performance, because I didn't even expect her to get on the stage. Tara Beth and all her little bee buddies were as cute as pie!

Nothing like a little motivation....

Yesterday evening after I ran 3 miles and rode my bike for about 3 1/2 miles, I decided to attempt some dreaded abdominal work. As I lay on the floor struggling to complete my second set of crunches, my dear little boy said "mommy, what are you doing?" I told him that I was exercising to get rid of my fat belly. He got down on the floor so that my stomach was at his eye level and proceeded to tell me that "yes mommy, you do have a fat belly, you do!" Only he could get away with saying that. I hate to think what would happen if it his been his father who uttered those piercing, but true words!!!

This isn't the first time that Baz has interjected his opinion while I was (as my children say) "taking exercises." One of my favorite workout videos is a Cindy Crawford workout that I used a lot during my high school days. I was trying out the dvd version recently when my children decided to pull their lawn chairs into the living room and watch. After viewing my attempts to emulate Miss Crawford, Baz said in such a sweet and innocent voice "mommy, I want you to look like her". I told him that I bet his daddy wished I looked like her too!

Sometimes pure honesty is refreshing, but sometimes it is not, even if it is from a three year-old!

You know you're a runner when ....

You know you are a TRUE runner if you have to consciously fight the urge to run while wearing dress flats and work clothes during your walk at the park on your lunch break! I will admit that I did jog for just a moment as I passed two ladies pushing strollers on the trail, but from the weird looks they gave me, I figured I needed to stop!

Easter Egg Hunt #1

My two kiddos got to enjoy their first egg hunt of the year on Palm Sunday at the little church I attended as a child. Baz was satisfied with finding one or two eggs, while Tara Beth was a serious egg hunter and did not give up until the last eggs were found. With Baz, it's all about the quality of egg he found (e.g. camo, football design, etc.), but with Tara Beth, it's all about the quanity (e.g. who found the most)!

Changes!!

I found these photos while browsing through my mom's computer files and thought they showed how fast my little ones have grown. Tara Beth previously was a lot larger than her little brother, but now Baz is just about to overtake her in size. Despite the change in size, Baz still knows that his sister is still in charge!

Lions, Tigers and no bears, but OH MY!

These are a few photos from the trip we recently took to the Zoo in Monroe. The tiger was the highlight of the visit, until my nephew took a spill head first into a hole full of ZOO MUD! Yes, the nastiness was as bad as you can imagine. I'm envious of the calmness that my
sister-in-law showed during the ordeal. I would've been a basket case, not just b/c of the funk, but b/c of the lack of wipes, clean clothes, etc. I even apologized for capturing the fall on film, but it will be a priceless memory for him later in life.

Personality Differences

It is amazing how different my two children are, even at the young ages of 3 and 4. Tara Beth is Miss Prissy all the time. She is enjoying her first year of dance class. By the looks of things, I believe (thankfully) she is going to be a lot more graceful than her mother! Her brother is taking after his daddy and is a Mister Fix-it. I am excited by how mechanically oriented he seems to be. The only problem so far is that I never can find a flashlight when I need it because he always takes them to his room to disassemble and examine the parts. At least he is able to put them back together. He just forgets to put them back where he found them. I guess I should be glad that he is not the one interested in learning the fine are of ballet!

Winter Fun!

Just a couple of pictures of my kiddos having fun in the snow. The funny thing is that I had planned for us to take a trip out of town over this President's Day weekend to find some snow for the kids to enjoy, but God just brought the snow to us. Even though it melted as fast as it arrived, my family had a great time building a snow man and riding bikes in the snow!

Not a baby anymore!

It is amazing how fast times passes and how little I realized this truth until I became a mother. Today is my little baby boy's third birthday! It seems like just yesterday that we held our breath as this tiny little fella joined our family and spent time in the NICU at Glenwood. Thankfully his stay in the hospital was brief and by three months there was no signs of his premature (scary) beginning. God really answered many prayers, especially from my husband, for a healthy little boy. A lot of time has passed since by last blog, so I'll give a quick update. My sweetie earned husband of the year for going with me to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon. He was very supportive (okay, somewhat supportive and enthusiastic) during the trip. He even braved the traffic and cold temps for several hours to cheer for me as I crossed the finish line of the Marathon. The St. Jude Marathon is the best marathon in which I've ever competed. I'm not being funny, even though it was only my second marathon. I'm a changed person as a result of this race. The support from the crowd along the course was phenomenal, but the most impressive part was passing by the St. Jude campus twice during the race and having the pleasure of seeing/hearing cheers from some of the pediatric patients. This race raised several millions of dollars to fund the wonderful care/treatment for patients at St. Jude. I am now so much more conscious of how fortunate I am to have 2 healthy children. Less importantly, I improved my time by a whopping 3 minutes! I was hoping to cut about 30 minutes off my time, but it just didn't happen. This is all for now, but I've got lots of funnies to tell later.

Great Fall Weather!

Saturday morning, I was scheduled to do a 16 mile training run in preparation for the St. Jude Marathon. I was really nervous b/c the 14-miler a few weeks ago was horrible due to 100% humidity and 80 degree temperature. It took me about 2 days for my body to recover and my pride is still sore. I asked Lee's great aunt and my great aunt to pray for us doing our early morning gaunt.

I am proud to say that my trusty running buddy and I were able to complete not only a 16 mile run, but we added an additional 2 miles to finish a total of 18 miles! The colder fall weather made our 4:30AM run easy and breezy! As sick as it sounds, I felt revitalized and great all weekend. Thanks to God for answering all our prayers and extra strength Tylenol for relieving my ankle pain!

Toddler Tales

Funnies from my little ones:

A couple of days ago, Tara Beth came rushing into our bedroom at 5:30AM calling for "daddy". After finally waking, Lee asked what was wrong and Tara Beth announced that she had a big old "booger" on her arm. Confused, Lee asked her again what was wrong and she said "daddy, I had a huge "booger" on my arm!" Lee told her to throw it in the trash and she stated that "she already had!" She then promptly went back to her room and was quickly asleep. I guess it must have been some kind of "booger" to either terrify her or amaze her like that at such an early hour!

Apparently, the older my son gets, the more he is like his father. The other morning I was trying to brush Baz's teeth, but he kept closing his mouth and making noises, so I told him to stop b/c it wasn't funny. He proceeded to make a few more noises and stick out his tongue and then he said "yes Mommy it is to funny!" I couldn't help but laugh at how much that sounded like something Lee would say. I kind of dread what the future might bring!

Giving up out of fear!

Long time no post, but life has gotten in the way! I've had to give up my pre-dawn run due to the delayed sunrise. I tried running various days with an assortment of headlights, flashlights and any other illumination tool I could find, but nothing helped me determine in the pre-dawn darkness what was a pothole and was a snake. A couple of mornings after giving up, I saw a huge, huge, huge, cotton-mouth in the middle of the road on my way to work and said a quick prayer of thanksgiving that I hadn't encountered it while running! Yikes!

Here's a quick funny from my baby boy- During bath time I relentlessly quiz my kids about colors, shapes, American history, and other important facts that all 2 and 3 year-olds should know. Tara Beth usually excels, but Baz usually takes a dive during the color portion of the quiz. He always responds that everything is "pink" and then dies out laughing. I didn't know until recently if he really thought everything was pink or if he was just teasing his mommy. Apparently he was just being funny, b/c I made the mistake of giving Tara Beth his bath hat and he promptly corrected me by stating that "Tara Beth's hat was orange and his was the blue one!" I just about fell off my little stool with amazement! There's no telling what else he knows!! Only time will tell.

Watch out PETA!

Yesterday at lunch if became official - my children are definitely adjusting to farm life. Lee grilled steaks from a yearling that we recently slaughtered. As we sat down to eat, he proudly announced to the children that they were going to eat one of daddy's cows for lunch. I, being the all-knowing mom, figured he had made a big mistake. I knew that neither one of them would touch the steak after he shared the news that they were eating one of the beloved cows to whom they had helped feed corn and such.

Tara Beth was the first to surprise me when she proudly asked "Daddy, is this the black cow that I named Tinkerbell or the one named Race Car?" She then proceeded to ask for a piece of steak with the bone in it like daddy had. My little princess continued to quiz her daddy about how the cow was butchered and wanted to see it with its back cut off, all the while munching down like it was the best meal she had ever eaten.

Then Baz got caught up in the excitement of eating daddy's cows. He told me that he was eating "cow food" . Like his sister, Baz really enjoyed his lunch.

At supper, I tried to get Tara Beth to eat a pulled pork sandwich with me, but she insisted on eating more of daddy's cow! Of course their daddy couldn't be prouder and I couldn't help but laugh when I thought about what the PETA people would say!!

He may have a knot and a bruise, but he's still Superman!

Tara Beth's and Baz's latest obsession is with super heroes. They love to run around after bath time wearing their hooded towels as capes. I bought a pair of Superman Pajamas for Baz, but apparently that was a bad decision. Last night I came into Tara Beth's room after hearing someone's cries. It turns out that a two year-old Superman can't fly after all!! Baz thought it would be a good idea to fly off the top of a rubber made container with the hopes of landing safely and softly on his toddler bed; however, sometimes things don't go as planned. He miscalculated his trajectory and hit his head on the bookcase. Superman now has a bruise, knot and a scratch on his forehead. At least he is able to protect his pride because his bangs cover his wounds!!

Here are some lessons that I learned from this experience: 1. put away all rubber made containers. 2. teething fish from the freezer make great ice packs. 3. it doesn't matter if you crash land and get a huge gash in your head, as longs as you pull down your bangs, straighten your cape and get up to fly again!!!

Not in the grass!

Over the weekend, my daughter went shopping with her BE and bought a new pair of running shoes. She was so excited to have running shoes just like mommy. I reminded her that the new shoes were to help her run fast on the soccer field. Yesterday after nap time, I told Tara Beth that she could wear her new shoes to practice soccer. She was extremely excited until I mentioned going outside to kick the ball. Tara Beth became tearful and said "Mama, no, not outside in the grass!". She was terrified of getting dirt or grass stains on her new running shoes. After calming her down, I explained that we could wash the shoes in the washing machine just like Mommy washes her shoes when they are dirty.

Well, my little soccer team and I proceeded outside and I set up the goal made of a sturdy cardboard box. We each had our own ball to kick around for a while. Baz was interested in the game for about 2 minutes, until he decided to climb on his daddy's tractor. Tara Beth's interest lasted a little longer, until I told her that she could not use her hands. She then became frustrated and decided that riding a princess bike was more fun.

So much for our first soccer experience. Maybe things will improve after our first team practice on Tuesday! Yeah right!?!

Sign of trouble to come?!

Today it finally happened. I received the dreaded "he's been naughty" report at school. Apparently until today, Baz managed to fool everyone at his daycare into thinking he was the perfectly behaved child. Mama and Daddy have known the real truth for a long time, so I really wasn't surprised when his teacher asked me if Baz has been misbehaving at home lately. She said that during the last few days, he has decided that he doesn't have to do things that his teachers ask. Baz seems to believe that he can get his way if he whines or blinks his big brown eyes and pouts. Maybe he is hitting the terrible twos. Even though I expected this day to come, it doesn't make it any easier to know that my baby boy is misbehaving at school. I can't help but feel that it is a poor reflection of his parents. Then on the other hand, it sounds like we may be in for a long sixteen to eighteen years if he acts like his daddy did growing-up!!! His mama was a little angel, though, so maybe there is some hope.

Only time will tell.

OJ Simpson in Goodwill?!

Yesterday morning I was too lazy to get up and run before work, so I was punished by running in the 100 degree heat at 4PM! Today, I was a little wiser and energetically awoke at 5:20AM to run in the "cooler" humidity. As I run, I am always aware, watching and listening for anything unusual, scary or maybe even funny. This morning I encountered all three. The unusual thing I found on my return trip was a big, black glove laying on the side of the road. The scary thing is that is wasn't there on my run out. I just tell myself that it was there and I didn't see it b/c I can't really imagine a one-armed man hanging out in the woods on my road and throwing down a glove just to freak me out! The funny thing is the thought that crossed my mind - what is OJ Simpson's bloody glove doing in Goodwill!?! Who would've thought?!

Under normal conditions, I am a pretty rational person, but in the pre-dawn hours, the scariness and humor in things are greatly distorted! If you don't find this funny, maybe only a runner who also has a collection of roadside treasures can understand!

Talk about breaking my heart!

Last weekend before bedtime I tried to prepare the children for the upcoming changes in our schedule as I headed back to work after summer break. I told them that we would all be going to bed earlier b/c we had to get up so they could go to daycare and mommy could go to work. Surprisingly, Tara was only concerned about wearing her princess outfits to school, but Baz, on the other hand, brought me to tears. He said "Mama, you not work. Daddy work!". It is amazing how a 2 year-old's words can be so piercing. This is the first summer that I haven't looked forward to going back to work.

I know things will be easier in a couple of weeks after we get back into a routine, but I don't think I'll ever forget how I felt hearing those words from Baz as I looked into his big brown eyes!

Somewhere in Arkansas

The following story is true, with no fabrications: I am writing this blog as I sit in the parking lot at some former roadside attraction with bar-b-q and old train cars that you can rent as
"cabins" for the night! Lee is shopping in the souvenir shop while I sit in the car with the children so they can "finish out" their naps before we take a scenic horseback trail ride over looking the Lake Ouachita. Vacation sure is different with toddlers, especially in Arkansas.