Update

We are alive, just passing around, and fighting a wonderful stomach virus for a little while now. I'll update soon with pictures and stories from Christmas. Hope everyone else had a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and if you are local hope you enjoyed a beautiful white Christmas!

A Rainy Cold Sunday Afternoon

It really isn't unusual in our home to still be in our pajamas at dinner time. Not every day, but lots of them.I realize there are people out there who think this is lazy, or unproductive, but I could care less, it works for us. This afternoon, however, would have been a complete waste if spent in anything other than p.j.'s. We took advantage of a very cold, very dreary, rainy day and took a day off. We stayed at home, just the four of us and it was the best! First of all, we have never done it before, but Mckenzie recently acquired a bead set from my mom and so we made bracelets. This is mine:
Mckenzie did not want words on hers so she had a heart and color bead bracelet (far left), Konnor wanted a super hero bracelet, yes, we were shocked too, so Aarik had to have a Captain America bracelet (3rd from left) and Konnor has Iron Man (far right).

This was our first "family" art/craft project in a VERY long time and it was frustrating and fun all at once.

Then it was that time of day when, if we've been locked in all day, I start baking. This almost always happens just before I should be making dinner. Must be that 3:30 crash. So today we made a pound cake. One of our favorite pound cake recipes. Unfortunately I did not have any whipping cream on hand to make our favorite fresh topping :( It was still a yummy treat. Of course we only had taco soup for dinner by the time we put this together, but, hey, it was perfect for this day.

The kids with all of our creations.

AND, I had to throw in one from last weeks "snow" because it's fun to see your kids get so excited about snow.

So grateful for afternoons like this when we get our "excuse" for relaxing, not-so-productive family time.

Inspiration

I shared this link awhile back on Facebook but I love it so much I wanted to share it again. For anyone who thinks they can't accomplish something bigger than themselves or who feels like they may not be adequately equipped, I present to you my newest hero.
http://www.good.is/post/homeless-running-hero-tackles-his-biggest-goal-a-full-marathon/

He finished and he finished well ( 3 hrs 48 minutes). It's never a bad thing to find something you enjoy and use it as a vehicle to get past something in your life that you may not know how to work through otherwise.

Where do you find Peace?

I mean, aside from the Temple or other holy ground. Is there a place you can go, in your every day, not so planned life where you can find your thoughts, or feel like yourself again after a long day of lock down in stay at home motherhood with freezing cold temps outside, or sitting in front of a computer all day at work? Anyone who knows me knows my "place". I found this quote about running and I love it so I'm sharing it and asking you to tell me where you go to find your kind of PEACE.

"I run because it's my passion, and not just a sport. Every time I walk out the door, I know why I'm going where I'm going and I'm already focused on that special place where I find my peace and solitude. Running, to me, is more than just a physical exercise... it's a consistent reward for victory!" -Sasha Azevedo, Model and runner

What happens after your kids watch "Barney's Christmas Star"? This...

I tried to load this directly from my computer and it would never work so I finally just did the youtube thing(first time for everything, right?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpcMNp4GXf0

Today I thought....

Dear Father in Heaven, thank You for my blessings, all of them, and the ones that are disguised as trials, please help me to endure them well (much better than I do now) so that I can see them for what they really are. Thank you for my sweet little family, the true friends that are always there, even when we've taken a break. Thank you for giving me legs that can run, lungs, a strong heart and the desire to run so that I can attempt to keep my sanity. Also, thank You, Lord, for Shrimp n Grits, because how else is a good Southern girl supposed to make it through this weather?! Amen.

I also wondered why it is that I can't upload the cute video of Mckenzie decorating the tree to this dang blog! It loaded on Facebook, so what am I doing wrong on here?!?! Anyone who knows, feel free to answer this one. Thanks- Me

My Daughter Is Beautiful

...and nurturing, and kind hearted, and smart, and driven and OH SO BOSSY! She reminds me of myself at different times in my life. The hardest part is when she reminds me of me at 16. ugh. But we are blessed that it's a rare occasion. She is the only person in our house who can find all of Konnor's tiny little superheroes. She loves to cook (not quite as much as Konnor), and she loves to eat. She prefers to wear her pajamas, but when called upon to wear normal clothing she is very opinionated about what is acceptable. She can bring out the best, and sometimes the worst in every member of our family. I sometimes remember how scared I was when I was pregnant with her, that I wouldn't be able to love two children equally, or that she would take away from Konnor somehow. During that time I received a blessing in which I was told how important she would be for Konnor. How true it was! I see it more every day, I think about what his life would be like if we had waited until later and not been able to give him a brother or sister and how lonely he would have been. She has her daddy wrapped around her little fingers. Today she made him sit in her room for at least an hour playing some game where you go to sleep and wake up. Bless his heart. I'm so grateful for my kids. Even when sometimes I think it would be nice to have something else to blog about! :)

Are You Mad (too)?!?!

So I realized the only thing I really ever blog about is the kids. No, there isn't anything wrong with that, but I thought it might be fun to try something a little different. Thing is, when you are a stay at home mom of two kids that aren't school age yet, all you do is, well, kids. So I thought it might be fun to see if anyone out there is half as crazy as I am. Maybe it will just prove to me that I need a "mental health day" ;)
Does anyone else watch the show Parenthood religiously every Tuesday night and laugh and cry the entire time? Have you ever run for so long that you forget your running and lose yourself in your own thoughts (whatever they may or may not be) and when you find yourself again you say a prayer of gratitude that you weren't hit by a car or more lost than you actually are? Please tell me that I'm not the only person that finds pretty much any excuse I can to eat cream cheese. Does anyone else bake ridiculous desserts, you know, the ones you spend hours on, just because? I used to think it was a snotty old southern woman thing, but lately I find myself unable to eat most things unless they are homemade. Or is that OCD? I realized Saturday after an ALL day long trip to IKEA and Concord Mills that if shopping were a sport, my mom and I would kick some serious rear, what about you? Do you ever catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror or a picture and think "Man, am I really getting that old?!" and then there's my shoe problem. It started with pumps and boots, and now that I'm a runner has manifested itself in sneaker form. Shoes anyone? or do you have another not so secret addiction? BTW, the kids are great. Not so surprisingly for this time of year they have runny noses. LOL

Hand wash cold seperately

For the past two months Konnor has been in costume. For the first month he was Spiderman. I let him wear his costume around the house a day or two out of the week and on his birthday I let him wear it all day, to stores and even to dinner that night. No big deal right? We aren't forming any ridiculous habits or anything... Since about a week before Halloween he has been War Machine (Iron Man's friend or assistant or something that he saw on an Iron Man cartoon DVD that a friend let us borrow). K, so it's not just a day or two a week now, it's been most every day. He will wear normal clothes out in public (this does not include my mother's house- that is War Machine territory), and he sleeps in pj's at night but as soon as his feet hit the floor he's off to get his costume. Well let me just say, it was starting to show that he was wearing it that much. The stitching at the waist had torn on one side and, to be honest, it was starting to smell. Aarik and I had just held onto hope he would outgrow this phase but, alas, it seems this will last longer than Spiderman. So tonight while Konnor was in the bath I sewed his costume up and after the kids were out of the bath I handwashed it in the bathroom sink. Konnor stood there watching and finally asked what I was doing. I told him I fixed the hole and I was washing his costume. I dunno what type of reaction I did expect but it wasn't the one I got. He looked at me with his sweet little angel face and said "Thank you Mommy" in the most sincere way I've ever heard a 5 year old say Thank You. I'm so glad we didn't throw it away while he was sleeping.

Once Upon A Warm Fall Day

This past week was a gorgeous autumn week. Beautiful leaves, perfect weather and of course I've been sick. But, we still got outside to play one afternoon. We went over to play with Lindsey and Jade at Nana's house so I took a few pictures.

Mckenzie refused to change out of her pj's that day and since I wasn't feeling well I didn't put up too much of a fight. The kids played a game where they have to find a shape, number or color and stand on it.

Jade, Mckenzie and Stuffer got pulled around in the wagon, in their pj's.

Konnor drew pictures of War Machine and Iron Man and he wrote all of the kids names so that the girls could see them. He is really into drawing right now.

This last one is Mckenzie with her dog (and BFF) Stuffer. She sleeps and eats with this dog. Stuffer even has to sit in the bathroom when Kenzie goes potty or takes a bath. We love Stuffer and since he is an important part of our family I thought we should blog about him too.
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the Autumn...

The Tree in Our Front Yard (this morning)

What I Needed to Hear Today

‎"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before." -- Jacob Riis, Photographer and Journalist

Myrtle Beach Half Marathon

This past weekend we loaded up the kids and headed down to Myrtle Beach for a race Aarik and I did. 48 hour trip consisting mostly of driving and running! First of all, Konnor has been sick with what appears to be a milder version of what Mckenzie and Jade had for a month. So the idea of doing the longest trip we have done with two potty trained kids was made even scarier by that. HOWEVER, the kids were amazing! We made great time, had perfectly spaced potty breaks and except for a little trouble finding a decent place to eat at a decent time the trip down was really fun. The kids were SO excited to play on the beach and in the ocean. We got lots of fun pics of this but unfortunately our camera was misplaced from our hotel room. Long story that I won't go into right now, needless to say I'm a little peeved. LUCKILY my mom did get some pictures of the weekend and so that's what I have to share! I hadn't been to Myrtle in years and had forgotten how crowded and touristy it is. Again, finding dinner was interesting but finally accomplished, we spent a little time in the hot tub and then got in bed. Luckily Aarik slept well I did not sleep at all and the kids slept until a little after we left for the race the next morning. The race was a lot of fun one really big hill followed by a mostly flat point to point course. For an inaugural event it was well organized and laid out. We finished on the new Myrtle Beach boardwalk and so the last 1/2 mile was literally running alongside the beach. The medals were HUGE and HEAVY. This was Aarik's first half and he did amazingly well. He finished in 1 hr 47 min 55 sec. I did 6 minutes better than my first half and finished in 2 hrs 1 min and 45 sec. I missed my goal time by 1 min and 46 sec but am happy to have a new PR. We had a lot of fun and I'm excited to start doing more races with Aarik!

Pumpkin Patch

Mom found a cute little pumpkin patch where thay had an area to take pictures while you pick your pumpkin, so we took the kiddos over and tried it out. If Konnor wasn't desperately in need of a haircut these pics would be even better, but they are still pretty cute! Not only did this place have cheap pumpkins and a place to take pics, but they also had lots of different looking pumpkins and we loved it. Mostly because the kids loved it. I was sure we'd come home with one of the greenish-black ones, or a misshapen one or the warty reddish one they both kept gravitating to. In the end they only picked $1.50 worth of pumpkins between the two of them and both were almost too normal after all the fun ones we had seen! Yay for fall!!!

We ARE Alive (just busy! :)

Can't believe I haven't updated since March! We have had a busy year doing lots of fun and new things. I'll try to remember as much as I can and try to get caught up. March was our 5 year anniversary, so Aarik and I went to the beach for a weekend. Between March and June I got a little more serious about running and Aarik came along for part of the ride (he is MUCH faster than me)! I did the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston (10k), Aarik and I did the Hope for Hospice Run (A did the 5k and I did the 10k), the Susan G Komen 5k and I ran my first half marathon in Hickory (Charity Chase). In May I got to go with a group of girls to Hilton head for a mother's weekend get away. I can't even put into words how much fun I had. Mckenzie turned 3 in June Konnor turned 5 in September. They are both as fun and as funny as ever. We've also started new things. We have added a few things into our weekday schedule and are just keeping up with life! I hope to be better about blogging again and now that I can remember how to sign into my blog I'm excited to catch up on what is going on in blog friends lives!! Also: One day I will figure out the picture thing a little better so that they are in the right place and the right order. For now this will do. :)

What We Did With Playdough Today Part 1

Another icky day. We had to get a little creative so...

Four little speckled frogs, sitting on a speckled log, eating the most delicious bugs "yum yum!" One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool, now there are three speckled frogs...

Part 2

Four little monkeys swinging in a tree; teasing Mr Alligator "Can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Along comes Mr Alligator, quiet as can be and SNAPS that monkey right out of that tree... :)

Mckenzie's First Hair Cut :)

Today I took Mckenzie to get her first haircut! We have been talking about this for awhile. I introduced her to Tiffany (the fabulous girl who I've recently started going to) a few weeks ago. She has been talking about her since that day. When we would see pretty girls in magazines or out somewhere she would say "Look! It's Tiffany!" We have all been excited. So today we went over to the salon and Kenzie threw pennies in a fountain while we waited. When we went back she sat in the chair and Tiffany put on the cape (see picture). For the first several minutes as the back was being shaped up she was fine and sat (with a confused look on her face) quietly and mostly still. But after the back was neatly cut and stacked, and while the front was still quite long, she decided that she was over it. First we had to take the cape off b/c she didn't like it. Shortly thereafter she went from sitting quietly to a complete Mckenzie meltdown. "I don't want my hair cut anymore! Tiffany, don't cut my hair!!" Yep, seriously. I'll have to say I just sat, like an idiot, and waited for Tiffany to tell me what to do. This woman is a pro. She pulled out everything from chocolate, to sparkles and finally even a picture book full of High School Musical actors whose hair she had done. With a book full of High School Musical Mckenzie finally (somewhat unknowingly) allowed the haircut to be finished. Although getting her to be still for a good picture has been impossible, I have a before during and after for now. More pictures to come.

Art

The kids have really had fun with painting lately so I took a few pictures of their work. I also should mention that Konnor is really into the Red Hot Chili Peppers right now so they are getting their "inspiration" for this particular day from the By the Way album. :)

Just so you know

If you are craving McDonald's fries and ketchup, it will not make you crave them any less to eat a Morningstar Black Bean patty on a sandwich thin. That is all. :(

It's Been A While

Yeah, it has. The end of the year was filled with ups and downs (as seems to be characteristic for year endings in our family) So here is a summary of the past several months and a few pictures to go along with some of this post. In October our van broke down, that week we found out I was pregnant again. The van was out for two weeks, Thanksgiving came and went and other than me being sick and exhausted, was nice. About 2 weeks before Christmas I had another miscarriage. I'm sure we all know we don't need to go into details here. Let's just say this has been really hard for Aarik and I, but that the past couple of years have made our family firm believers in the fact that God knows better, and more, than we do. Christmas was actually much better than expected under the circumstances. The kids had a great Christmas and Aarik and I did too. We all enjoyed spending time with family and got to have a very low key Holiday season. It's amazing how much LESS stressful, and MORE fulfilling, holidays can be when you have less commitments. We rang in this New Year being VERY glad to say "good bye" to the old one and excited for something new. We accomplished several of our goals last year and decided that we should try a few new ones this year. NC has had a crazy winter, this of course means you have to spend at least a few hours without power. We got to spend almost two full days without power. It was kind of fun though once the kids got the hang of the flashlights. We had a campout in the big bed. Right now the kids favorite things are board games and a show called Caillou. I dont think that is spelled right.They are always doing new and exciting things. They are hilarious and smart and we are never lacking for entertainment. They're really grasping holidays at the ages they are at now and so Valentine's was really fun. We got to make LOTS and LOTS of Valentine's cards (most of which are still sitting at this desk as I type) and a few fun treats. We have a lot of fun things to look forward to this year. Hopefully lots of fun things will happen so we will have something to blog about!