And I think I might be happier than the kids. For the first time, as a parent, I have had teacher issues. There was one teacher who simply refused to work with me to educate my child. She wouldn’t answer calls or e-mails, wouldn’t meet with us outside of school hours. And pretty much welcomed us to leave the school. But, we made it through! There was learning done and amazing progress in spite of her total lack of professionalism.

I am so glad that the fight is over!

And, if nothing else, it had made me appreciate the good teachers! I gave extra gifts to the good ones & left the naughty one out. 🙂 Not too diplomatic of me, but I can only fake my kindness for so long. Ha!

I took photos this morning, but we have a full house (Nana & Papa are in town) and I anticipate bring extra busy… So, look for them in a bit.

Hope you are enjoying the beginning of your summer, too.

The conversation I had last night with d in the car.

d: Mom, I want to say a bad word.

me: What bad word do you want to say?

d: The F word.

me (after slight hesitation as to what I *should* say in this situation & deciding to take away the power of the word): O.K. Go ahead and say it.

d: No.

me: What? Why not?

d:… giggle… I don’t know. You’re going to get mad at me.

me: No, I told you I wouldn’t. Go ahead and say it if you really want to.

d: No, I can’t.

me: No, really, I told you you could.

d: No, you’re going to tell Dad.

me: Yep, I’m definitely telling Daddy about this conversation….

 

And we were both giggling at that point.

The kid cracks me up. I don’t get his obsession with “bad” words and the such, but it is what it is. And I’m pretty glad that the urge to say bad words left as quickly as it came.

With B losing all of that weight, he’s now running like me. And our kids, obviously, have tons of energy. So, a month or so ago I was looking at races that I wanted to try and I came across a new one in Phoenix. It’s the Firefly Run. I showed D the photos and asked if he’d like to try to run a 5k with me. He said he was interested, but then nothing more really happened. And I *always* hesitate when it comes to actually registering for a run. So, I sort of wrote it off thinking that D didn’t really care so I’d just save the money and not run it.

But, I was pleasantly surprised a week ago when he brought it up again out of the blue. So, I registered D and B and me to run in our first night 5k and D’s first 5k 🙂

Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the rest of the kids on Saturday night and we went down to the run. It was pretty chilly by Phoenix standards (65) so D was shivering, but we layered him with one of the race shirts and he did fine. The theme to this run is “chasing the night” so they encourage costumes and anything that lights up or glows. So, we made sure that we dressed the part.

 

I knew that the biggest challenge would be pacing. I am *much* slower than B. And D doesn’t really “get” jogging… he only knows how to run full out and there’s no way that he can keep it up for 3 miles. So, we ended up starting somewhere between my pace and B’s pace. D had a hard time going that slow–sometimes he was power walking, and when he’d go to run, he’d push ahead. And after a mile or so, he was ready to be done. He also needed a bathroom (whoops!). We stopped and walked a bit at the halfway point where there was a water station. And then he was ready to keep moving. Just before the 2 mile mark, D & B slowed down to try to look for a place to go and I went on ahead. I started off going slower so they could catch me and then after a quarter mile or so I just got into my comfortable pace.

Later B told me that D kept asking him how much longer (time wise) the run was and he told him that it depended on how fast they went. So, D ended up powering through.

I finished with a sprint and walked back to find them, but I was only a minute or so ahead of them.. and I finished for a second time with them 🙂

Our chip times were:

Me 32:48

B 33:37

D 33:36

As soon as we were done, D admitted that it was a bit of a challenge. And he looked at me like I was nuts when I asked him if he could do another 10 miles, like my half marathons.. But, by the time we reached the car, he was over that & said that it was easy 🙂 Gotta love the youthful enthusiasm.

I loved running with my guys and am so happy that they’re willing to go along with old Mom and do that sort of crazy stuff!

I started this post *months* ago, but it still applies 🙂

 

So, I alluded to the huge life change that B has done over the weekend.

For those of you who don’t see us/him on a regular basis I wanted to share his huge accomplishment. B has lost over 80 pounds in the last six months. He did a very calorie restrictive diet to drop the pounds so quickly. Now he’s slowly transitioning to a low calorie balanced diet with exercise to maintain. He would still like to lose a little bit of weight, but he’s working on maintaining for a little while before he drops the last few. What I love the most is seeing the new man he is. He has more energy and life. For Valentine’s we did our first 5k together. And in a couple weeks we’ll be doing another local run (4.2 this time–see you all at the Tillman run!).

I asked his permission and he says I can, so I’m bragging and showing him off!

 

 

 

 

Aren’t I a lucky girl?!? For our 9th Anniversary, I got to be married to a whole new man!

I’m so proud of you, Baby-baby!!

 

 

 

Man, I used to be a better blogger.

Things are going here.

Busy as always. Crazy as always. And, I, am in the midst of more sinus issues–as always! These really knocked me out for a couple days this week though.

But, having to be “down” made me think of all of the things that I need to get done and blogging is on that list.

I don’t truly have much time today.. there are eggs to prepare, goodies to bake and cleaning that needs to be done. But, I will pop on and share a few photos 🙂 Those are the best thing about this anyhow!

 

Again, I have been away too long…

We are wrapping up Spring Break. We didn’t go anywhere. Instead, we had as much fun as possible here. We went to the zoo, the movies, the park, the pool, the museum, Chuck E. Cheese, Amazing Jake’s, the bounce place…

It has been quite a break.

V lost his first tooth. And the puppy was spayed. Oh, and B has been working 7 days a week.

I, for one, am ready for school 🙂

I have a bunch of blog post ideas, but they will wait for another day.

It’s amazing how quickly the kids turn from babies to toddlers to real life kids!

Bean just lost her first tooth tonight!

She is very excited and has informed us that the Tooth Fairy is going to bring her $1,000,000. I think that would be pretty cool, but I find it highly unlikely.

 

I still haven’t posted about B’s huge life changes, but I promise I will get around to it at some point. However, those huge life changes are what’s making tomorrow possible 🙂 Brian and I are going to run our first race together tomorrow. He’s been traveling a lot for work lately so our time together has been extremely limited. And when he has been here, I’ve been sick. From the sound of things, it seems that we have traded places and he’s now going to be the one not feeling well. But, I’m hoping that he’ll be able to hold it together for our run.

http://www.skirtsports.com/skirtchaser5k/tempe/

If you’re local and want to join us, I think that you can click on the link and still (barely) have time to register. It’s a 5k with a Valentine’s twist… The girls get a head start. So, Brian will be sprinting to catch me (although, I think it should be fairly easy for him!).

Do you have anything romantic planned for your sweetie?

 

So, right now there is laundry waiting to be folded, dishes to put away, floors to vacuum and mop, clutter to be busted, paperwork to fill out… and on and on and on.

Instead I am stuck in this chair. Not distracted my the lure of the Internet as usual, anchored, instead, by a snoozing pup. Mags is snoring away.