Marathon!

FINSIH: 4:46:02


Here we go!




Mile 23. Hitting the WALL....


Almost there!


Carolyn and I. Oddly enough, she flew in from Houston just to run with my partner Jennifer. Jennifer ended up falling back due to dehydration, so Carolyn and I became fast friends! Nothing like the misery of 26 miles to bring two people together!


Jennifer, Me and Carolyn

BLOGAPALOOZA!

These last few weeks have been the busiest I can remember in a long time! I'll start with Michael's Tball party, but be sure to keep scrolling down b/c there are tons of posts to read!

Michael's T-Ball season ended with a team party at Triple
Play. It's a bounce house place with party rooms. The team rented it out and ended with a pizza party. All of the players got a trophy and a medal. We were so so lucky to have ended up with this group. The coaches were so great and all the parents made it a good experience.

Dad and Wendy visit FL!

Dad and Wendy came over Halloween weekend and shared in all the fun! Sunday we stayed home and fished out back. It was a nice break from all the craziness!

Halloween x 3!

Halloween this year was the BUSIEST one we have ever had! We started our festivites on Saturday morning and weren't finished until Monday night! Mike was a pirate, Hank was a bullrider and Clare was a busy little bee!

Halloween with the Neighborhood

My friend Lisa puts on quite a Halloween party for the kids in our neighborhood. Everyone dresses up and meets at her house. She makes food for everyone and then her father in law pulls everyone around the neighborhood on a hay ride. He stops along the way and all the kids jump off and run to all the houses, collecting all the candy they can get their little hands on! Clare got right into the spirt of things. She would run to each house yelling "yaaaaaay!" and then run from each house saying "nexxxxt hooouusse!" She was trying so hard to keep up with the big kids, she fell 3 times, ripping the knees out of her tights. Although she ended up with some bumps and bruises, it wasn't anything a little candy couldn't fix!

Halloween

Sweet Seasons Farm is a place where the kids can go through a corn maze, go on a hay ride and play on their play ground. We went with my friends and we all had a good time. My dad and Wendy were in town for all of the Halloween festivites too:)

Marine Corps Ball!

Finally, after 3 yrs, Joe and I got to go to a ball again! Although we don't know too many people here, we still had a good time. We had a great sitter that the kids really loved. So having a night out was really nice. The Commandant was the guest speaker but as far as I could tell, the pageant was exactly the same as it was when we went to this ball 5 yrs ago:)

The Tooth

Last week I noticed that Hank's tooth had gotten a shade darker. After further inspection I found a "bump" on him gum. The dentist had been warning me all along to look for something like this, and bring him in asap if I ever saw one. So, we got him in with the pediatric dentist here. Her treatment plan was to strap him in the papoose, which is a flat board with velcro(sp?) straps, give him the shots in the gum and take the tooth. I was really worried about this. They weren't going to use any nitrous and he would be fully awake and aware of the whole thing. I stressed and stressed about what to do. I finally asked Mike's baseball coach (an orthodontist) what he thought. He said this particular dentist was great, but he thought it was odd that she wouldn't use the gas. So he called her himself. She still gave no real answer as to why she wouldn't use the gas. As it turns out, Mike's other Tball coach is also a dentist, fully experienced in treating kids, and had no problem using the gas. I can't tell you what a difference that made. Hank watched tv the whole time, used the gas as he was instructed, didn't even flintch when he was given the 3 shots and didn't care at all when they took the tooth. I was so happy we went another route. And how lucky are we to have ended up on a tball team stacked with dentists?!
5 stars for this experience!

Pre-K pics

Center Time



The class with Father Michael



His teacher Ms. Grassman



Recess



Grandparent's Day


Because Michael's class has two teachers, they have the extra set of hands needed to take pictures of the kids during the day! They post them on the class website for all of the parents to see. I think they have a good time!

Put me in coach! I'm ready to Play!!

Michael's first season of T-ball is in full swing now. He's doing great. He's already hitting the ball farther and fielding the ball better than when he started. Their team is the "Cubs". His favorite part of the practice/games is when the team puts their hands in and they shout "Cubs!" on the count of three. Hank really wants to be out there. He spends each practice/game hitting and playing catch with Joe. He's pretty good. I think he'll be giving the other guys a run for their money once he gets out there himself. We have another game tomorrow so we'll post the play by play!

HANK TURNS 3!!

We had a fun birthday celebration for Henry yesterday. He's already 3 yrs old! Ironcially enough, we are smack in the middle of a big tropical storm just like the one the started the day we got home from the hospital with him! In fact, I remember we were released early so we could get home and beat the storm. We had a super fun dinosaur party with all of our friends. After the party all 3 kids enjoyed the loot he was sent from Indiana. He got TONS of presents from everyone. Thanks a bunch!









The whole crew at the birthday party

It's T-ball Time!

Mike started T-ball practice last week. His first game is on Tuesday. He plays for the Cubs! He's getting better every practice. Joe has been working with him at home, teaching him the "the alligator" for cathing grounders and the step and throw. Hank is paying close attention. Everytime we go to practice he gets a full hour of one on one catch time with Dad.
More pics to come after game 1!



He's in the grey shirt, #8

Big Day!

Today was Michael's first day of school at St. Paul's. He was so excited. He woke up at the crack of dawn, ran to the car and sang the whole way there. A quick kiss and hug and he was off playing with the other kids. I hope everyday goes this well!

Fishing!

Joe bought the boys their first fishing rods. They have been going out back everyday and catching quite a bit. Mike and Hank both got their first fish! Mike got his and reeled it in all on his own:)