Friday, March 19, 2010

Days 2,3,4 and 5 Spring Break 2010

I had great intentions of posting every day during Spring Break - you know like old times?! Well there go my good intentions - I was out of town and that made it difficult to post. So here's the scoop:
Day 2 - we relaxed, cleaned and prepared for our trip to Houston. Here's the proof:


Day 3 - we arrived in Houston late on Day 2 and then headed out late on Wednesday to go to ...... the Houston Rodeo! We played on the midway, looked at animals (and smelled them) and then enjoyed the show that night. Hey guess what - I got proof!!

"Woo Hoo G'pa!"


The Fearsome Foursome


Helping out on the farm.


Picking a tomato!


They are so cute!


Milking cows!


The best ride on the Mid-Way!


Hmm... hardly seems fair, nap time for A and ice cream for Z?!


"Mom, look a piece of my cone broke!"

Getting ready for the show.

Day 3 - slept late and then headed out to Johnson's Space Center (NASA)... we were all very tired but had a good time. Let's just say that it was very busy, very crowded and there was a lot to do.


Future astronauts





Day 5 - home... relax... do laundry!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Monday - Spring Break

Remember those good old days when I took pictures of my kids and posted stories on my blog? Yea - those were the days, huh?!


Well today was Day 1 of Spring Break 2010. We started the day by making a quick appointment to the doctor for A - who woke up with gunky eye. The "feel good" dr. thinks that she has allergies but wanted to be on the safe side so he prescribed an antibiotic to cover all the bases.
After A & I got home we loaded up the van and headed out to McKinney Falls State Park - we went a few years ago but this was our first time without a stroller!! Wow! I am still the pack mule, carrying our lunch, snacks, diapers, etc in my backpack. We had our "lunch" (granola bars, raisins, apples, bananas, crackers and dried fruit) then headed out on a 2.8 mile hike. We had a great time. BKZ&A were troopers - the best part was how much they helped each other.

Oh and when you see Z walking around with a hunting knife don't stress out - it is plastic and I gave him that in honor of his G'pa John. I could hear G'pa John taking him on a hike and teaching him how to use his pocket knife on making stuff, getting a fish to eat or telling what direction he was traveling (I'm really not sure that anyone would say any of those things - but guys have the weirdest reasons for carrying around knives so it makes sense to me). Jason was shocked that I would give a 4 year old a knife but we went over the ground rules - no pretending to injure any of your siblings or other people - and Z did a good job of following directions.


B - "I want to jump in this water!!"

K - she's just so funny & photogenic

I'm not sure what he's doing here - but you can see he's keeping his hunting knife to himself. Ha!


Taken right after A wiped her wet hands on her sister - such a great big sister!


"Wait up!!"


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

New Sassy Do!

A got a new sassy look this evening. She looks so cute!!!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Tough Cookie

Today I participated in the Tough Cookie Duathlon! It was tremendous fun and I am excited to share the story with you all. Here it is:
First of all, one of my Tri-club friends mentioned this duathlon and I looked it up then convinced my friends Eileen & Joy (from work) to do it with me. Eileen talked her daughter and daughter-in-law into doing it too. Since the venue was 1 1/2 away we decided to get a hotel Saturday night.

We all loaded up our bikes and headed out late Saturday afternoon. I was excited but nervous, as expected. This was Eileen and Joy's first multi-sport event so I was concerned as well about their experience. FYI they had a good time and are glad they went, although Joy told me that mid way through she was thinking of ways to "get me back."

We started the race and I was not warmed up so it was a little hard to get a good run (or for me jog) going. I went as fast as I could and tried to get warmed up. I was feeling pretty low as lots of people passed me but pressed on! When we got to our bike Eileen scooted ahead of me at transition but once the cycling started all I can say is - Wwwweeee!!! I found out today that the words, "passing on your left" are some of the sweetest words! Since when I rode my mountain bike I NEVER got to say those words. Today I got to say them... a lot (not bragging, the bike is awesome!!). I got ahead of Joy and Eileen and rode hard the whole 10 miles - felt great!! Several times thought to myself, "man if I wipe out it is going to hurt, cuz you are going fast!"

As I got off my bike and began the second run I could not get a good run (jog) going again. My legs felt like they had been replaced with jell-o (watch it wiggle, watch it jiggle...). I ran/walked the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the second run (Shelly - Eileen's daughter cheered me on at one point, she finished 4th overall) and then I said to myself, "You have to RUN! You have a head start on several women and they will get pass you if you don't get moving." So I looked at my watch, made a personal goal of finishing in 1 hour, 30 minutes and took off at a nice jog. I jogged the rest of the way and as I got close to the finish line I looked up and saw the timer, 1:30:30... awww!!! I visualized BKZA running next to me and took off at my fastest run. I made it over the marker at 1:30:55 - BUT it didn't register!! Needless to say I'm very disappointed about that. I know I did it, my friends know I did it and I'll have to live with that until (if) they can fix it.
Now I know that I am one Tough Cookie! Yea for me! I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Crazy side note:
Tonight as I was talking to my favorite in-laws, just after sharing this story I heard a weird puff noise... my back tire just went flat! I heard B say, "good thing that didn't happen earlier." Uh - yea that is right!!! Guess I will get to learn to fix a flat now.

Monday, March 1, 2010

My best day!

Today I had the pleasure of walking into my school with all four of my children. I would love to continue to be a stay at home mom but since that isn't in the plans this was GREAT! Z started pre-Kindergarten this morning and he had a wonderful day! He loves that he writes his name on the white board with a marker to identify that he is present and I see him several times a day as they skip, jump, spin, march or simply giggle their way down the hall past my classroom. Peace! That is the best word to describe my state of mind today as I went about my day. Please don't get me wrong - I know that Z was happy and well taken care of with his babysitter and our friends, however I knowing that he is so close is comforting.
Little girl A also seems happy with the new set up. Today when K went to play with them at the end of the day she said that Z&A were holding hands with another friend and playing happily. Love it!!
B rides to school with us in the morning and takes the bus from there to the middle school.
Z is especially happy with his new Batman backpack and his favorite thing today - "eating."