Mulberry Street

I ran a half marathon.  Yes.  I ran 13.1 miles.  I still can't believe it myself, especially because of the frigid start and painful end.  Actually, you'd think that the below freezing start would have numbed my body enough to keep me from feeling any pain, but apparently not.  I ran a half marathon through 29 degrees and pain.  It snowed the following morning and I am grateful that I didn't have to endure snow too.  I am pretty stoked about the whole thing.    Ali and I met up just before the race.  We hopped around, clenched our fists, and rapidly shrugged our shoulders in attempts to stay warm.  It was nice to see a friendly face and know we'd be running at the same time, even if we didn't run together.  I can't recall what we talked about because, well I'll blame the cold.  We probably talked about Idaho, since she is also from the Gem State, and it was probably freezing ...

U is for Universe Did you remember that Pluto was demoted and is no longer considered a planet?  It was difficult for me to remember that tidbit when I was reviewing the planets with Genevieve.  Despite her teacher's efforts, Genevieve managed to glue the planets in a unique order. V is for Valentine The kids had a special party at Adam's house and another fun day at Isaac's.  They brought boxes or bags and delivered valentine cards to each of their friends. W is for World We learned about the seven different continents.  We used pictures cut out from magazines to study people, places, and food from all over the world.  Then we glued our favorite pictures onto our world poster.  It was interesting to see what each child selected and subsequently glued onto their paper. W is for Wind We learned that wind is the movement of molecules through the air.  We read "I Face the Wind" by Vicki Cobb and did all of the experiments inside to learn more about ...

Genevieve made an ambulance today.  All you need are chairs, friends, and imagination.  Genevieve made seats for all her animal friends, one even had a car seat.  For the ride, she provided her friends with paint brushes, sponges, paper and paint so "they have something to do."  I asked her if anyone was sick and why they were in the ambulance.  She told me they were "just coming with her." I love her imagination.

I sprung for new church clothes for Emory.  I'd estimate that 99% of his wardrobe are hand-me-downs or gifts.  Emory grew out of his last set of church clothes and I realized that I never buy him clothes (unlike his sister).  I did hesitate when I discovered that the only outfit in his size was not on sale.  In fact, very little of the boys' stuff was on sale.  What gives?  Don't they know that a woman is doing the shopping at this age? I think Emory looked very stylish in his white shirt and vest.  I might just have to buy him clothes more often.

My grandfather passed away last night.  I was fortunate enough to spend three days with him.  He died while I was flying back home.  It was difficult to see him in such a fragile state, but I will treasure the intimate moments I had sitting in his room, holding his hand.  I'm sure all my family imagined my grandmother waiting for him on the other side.  I imagined that she stood waiting in the trees with two saddled horses, so they could go for a ride together and pick up where they left off.  I am so happy that my grandfather is now reunited with my grandmother.  They were inseparable for sixty-three years and had a relationship I will forever strive to have with my own husband.  I miss you Grandma and Grandpa.  Until we meet again.

Eric took Genevieve to Home Depot for their "kids project" series.  They went to Micky-D's for breakfast and made it a date.  In fact they doubled with Lilly and her dad.  Genevieve was super excited when she got home.  She told me all about her "breakfast hamburger" and the hammer and the stickers and her certificate and pin.  Then Eric helped Genevieve make a race track for the car she made.  Genevieve set up the stands, complete with fans to watch the race. Something tells me this daddy-daughter date has become a tradition. I guess Home Depot isn't ALL bad after all.

It has taken a lot of work to ramp up my running mileage, but I have tried to take it slow and steady in order to avoid any injuries.  Saturday morning I went for my longest training run yet and it felt good.  The weather was nice.  The setting was beautiful.  The run felt good.  Actually, it felt good to log so many miles in one day.  So, I was optimistic about my training, even though I am behind schedule. I'm supposed to run my first half marathon at the end of the month.  I say "supposed to" because there is a chance I won't.  I guess there has and always will be a chance that I wouldn't be able to run a race I've trained for due to unforeseen reasons.  However, it didn't sink in until last night when my left knee felt like it was going to implode from pain.  At first, my complaints to Eric fell on unsympathetic ears.  "You're just getting old," Eric said.  Eventually, my incessant whining invoked a ...

Genevieve got a new bike for Christmas.  She loves to ride it.  The problem is - she loves to ride it in the house, but very rarely outside.  In fact, the few times she has ridden it outside have been short and/or traumatic.  It hasn't helped that the weather has kept us inside (Christmas should really be in late spring if you ask me).  We've been trying to coax Genevieve outside and finally I had an idea that worked.  I've never thought of it before, because I've been pushing a stroller, or carrying Emory in the backpack - in either case, I needed to be prepared to carry her bike, should she abandon it.  Since Eric was home to take care of Emory, I suggested that Genevieve and I both ride our bikes and she agreed.  We donned our helmets and started for the park.  The trip to the park took a long time.  Genevieve was very nervous and checked her brakes continuously.  However, the trip home went twice as fast (even with...

We we went to the park as a family on Saturday afternoon.  It was fantastic.  When Eric joins us at the park we all have such a fabulous time.  Emory has been in love with the swings for awhile, but we finally caught it on video. 

Emory likes beets.  We discovered that they stain going in, as well as coming out.  I can't decide if Genevieve was jealous of the fact that Emory's poop and pee was pink.  She does love "Pinkalicious" you know.  Emory has also tried strawberries, blueberries, graham crackers, black beans, kidney beans, refried beans, and cheerios.  He also doesn't mind gnawing on various bread products.  We've been trying to introduce more sour and bitter things now, so he doesn't develop a "picky palate" later on. You know, for awhile I was worried that Emory wouldn't learn how to feed himself, because every time he moved his hand to his mouth, his thumb would go in rather than the food. Luckily, he's realized the obstacle and uses his left hand to feed himself, reserving his right thumb for that dirty little habit of his.   We also believe Emory's next tooth will be to the right of his current teeth. Poor kid has been pretty miserable lately. ...

We really liked this book by Mitsumasa Anno.  A lot.  There are no words, just pictures to provoke your little one's interest in counting.  We counted over and over and over.  I didn't mind, because I like the illustrations.

N is for Nest   Genevieve made two different nests, an edible butterscotch nest with jellybean eggs and a play dough nest. O is for Ocean   (A water bottle, food coloring, sea creature stickers, and hot glue makes for a indestructable "ocean on the go.") P is for Pizza Q is for Quarry  and R is for Rock   Q is a tricky letter to be creative with and I was in charge.  I decided to teach the kids about rock quarries.  I baked rocks inside salt dough "mountains" and let the kids paint, then "mine" for rocks.  I think the highlight for the kids was using knives to cut open their "mountains." R is for Raccoon and Reflection We read "Little Racoon's Nighttime Adventure" when a raccoon learns about his reflection the water.  Then we pulled out a mirror to see our own reflections.  We even used a flashlight to see how light is also reflected.  Then we colored and glued paper raccoons. S is for Springtime Sha...