WE DID IT!

A funny thing happened a little less than 5 months ago on Memorial Day weekend. We had a little cookout with the Hughes' and the Murphys. A couple of drinks in Kelly says to me, "Hey, I'm thinking about running the Half Marathon in Baltimore this fall. Want to do it with me? All you have to do is be able to run for 30 minutes straight before you start the training." Foolishly my response was, "Let me try see if I can run for 30 minutes straight first then I'll give you an answer."

Well, that Wednesday morning I got up at 5am and ran, for 30 minutes straight. So I emailed Kel and told her I'd do it. Now we just had to "get Maureen on board." Well it was actually easier than we thought! She agreed and we were off running- literally!

Our official training didn't start until the first week of August but we ran on and off all summer trying to psych ourselves up for the 10 week training schedule. Needless to say this was one of the hottest summers on record- and we trained in it. Some runs were good, some great and some terrible! Super humid, super hot does not make for good running weather- at least not for this girl. We tried to do a couple of long runs together, for support and peace of mind, we even ran a 15K a couple of weeks ago to get in the racing spirit.

Saturday, October 16, 2010 we DID it! We started around 10am by the time they got to our heat and Maureen finished in 2:15, Kel and I finished in 2:18. All in all it was pretty awesome! For the better part of the race I felt like someone was stomping on my feet and kicking me in the back. Today, my whole body HURTS! But the crowds of spectators and supporters were incredible in Baltimore. The course was very hilly and I struggled a bit from time to time but pretty much ran for the whole 2 hours and 18 minutes. It is a huge accomplishment for all 3 of us and I'm so glad we did it together!

Pool Party

Last Thursday we had a huge rainstorm. I mean torrential downpour for HOURS. The rain began overnight and by morning our sidewalk in the back was underwater and the pool was almost overflowing.

As I stood in the kitchen making a pot of coffee, staring out the window at the rain splashing in the pool I noticed something dart across the shallow end. I thought, "What the heck was that?" Saddie and I went outside to investigate. To my surprise, the local frogs and toads decided to host a pool party in my pool that morning. There was about a dozen of them swimming around in there. Well, in case you didn't know, if these guys are left to fend for themselves (with no way to get out) they will be totally bloated with water and floating on their backs in no time.

So the kids and I began our rescue efforts. Aidan was the scout, his job was to locate them and NOT scare the away before I could scoop them up with the net. Clare's job was to get the little kick boards we have and put them in the pool. In the event that we missed one, he could jump up on there and float around safely until we returned home to rescue him. We all had to make sure that Saddie didn't scare them after we got them out. All in all a total victory. We were able to remove every frog/toad from the pool and up to the grass to safety.

I did learn something from Aidan that morning. I was not aware of the difference between frogs and toads. Aidan did a lesson in his class last year about the differences. So when we pulled this big, fat, ugly one out first he told me it was a toad. He kept an eye on him the whole time and when we were packing it up to get inside he told me the toad was making a sound. When I stopped to "listen" he informed me that he makes that sound "because he's calling a girl." HA HA! When I asked his teacher from last year about it she laughed and said, "Yup, we told them that they make this sound when they want to find a girlfriend or boyfriend." Too funny! So he doesn't know his letters or numbers yet but he knows a toads mating call.

PS: Aidan asked if he could jump in the pool to swim with the frogs. I actually contemplated it for a minute but then decided against it because we were running late for work as it was!

Front Yard Party

On Sundays in the Fall we have every TV in the house tuned into FOOTBALL! So in order to keep the troops busy this weekend I pulled a few tricks out of my hat.

First, the kids and I walked down to Sam's Market for an ice cream cone. Then I pulled the cars out of the driveway so we could ride bikes out there. (Since we live on a pretty busy street we don't get to do much bike riding in our neighborhood.) While we were out there Aidan and Clare decided to climb the trees too.

It was a great Fall day as I watched the kids play around the yard and driveway and listened to Sean and his Dad yell at the Redskins!

Ballerina school

Today was Clare's first day of Ballerina School. Although she gave me a hard time before we left to go there she was very excited with the outcome of her first hour long class. We purchased her ballerina shoes and tap shoes today. (We're waiting for the tap shoes to arrive til next week.) She dressed herself in her black leotard and her pink tights and I did her pony tail. When we got there she was sized for shoes and one of the nice ladies walked her back to her class. We left her there for an hour and when we got back she was a little shy but super excited about it. Today's class, she learned how to be an ice cube, how to tip-toe around in a circle and how to sit like a butterfly. It's all coming out in pieces, as she decides when she's ready to share it, but all in all it seems like Ballerina School was the right choice for our little ballerina!

9/11

This morning as I pulled out of my driveway and down the street, I noticed that my neighbor had lined his half acre of property along the street with little American Flags. It brought tears to my eyes. I got on the internet and saw some pictures of that day 9 years ago and cried to myself (luckily my 2 precious babies were not paying attention to me).

I pray and hope that all people in the USA are as sorrowful, respectful, hopeful and remembering of what happened 9 years ago today all over this wonderful country of ours. One day I'll be brave enough to share my experience of what happened 9 years ago today to my family. In the meantime, I hope and pray that my children will never have to experience this type of hatred in their lives.

God Bless America...NOW and always!

Where's the BEEF?

We recently purchased a half a cow along with my in-laws. It's been fully butchered and is all sitting in a deep freeze in the basement at the Daycare Center. I finally got down there this afternoon to look at all the meats and it looks GREAT! They had some burgers made from the ground beef this weekend and said it was yummy. Evidently, sometimes when you butcher a cow they get anxious when going to slaughter and that can make the adrenaline stay in the muscle tissue afterwards, making the meat taste not so good. So it sounds like we lucked out. YUMMO!

Labor Day

Yesterday we had the Murphy's and Hughes' over for the final hoorah at Club Healey for the summer! Crabs, body painting, ice cream pie, swimming and tons of laughs!