La da dada da da. Da dada da da da da...

My super rad and awesome sister ended up with 2 extra tickets to see Jack Johnson because her friend was not feeling well. She calls and says "think you can get a sitter?"

um...YEAH!

So Dave and I (and Clara) went with Rach, Sean and Mae and we got to see Jack! It was so great. Even thought it was sold out, since it was outside it didn't feel crowded. It was a gorgeous, warm night. The music was awesome. (Why wouldn't it be? It was JACK!) And, well...it was kindof hilarious watching all the drunk/high people stumble up and down the giant grassy hill all night.

Poor Aria was so sad that she didn't get to go. She said "I'm SO sad because I have been waiting my WHOLE LIFE to see Jack Johnson." All 5 1/2 years of it. But she had fun staying with her friend and having a "sort-of sleepover" (we picked her and the boys up at 2:30 AM.)

Pictures!

Going in.


The venue. We were far away, but it was still awesome. :)


Sean and Mae.


Dave and Clara.


Me and Clara.


Rachel will probably put pictures up on her blog at some point too.

c25k - day 9

Things I like about running...

1. Going outside and breathing the fresh morning air.
2.

ok...so far that's it.

I could do that by standing on my front porch.

Alright, I'll admit to having a teensy bit more energy until I totally crash at night. But it's a wash because my knees, hips and other painful places negate the energy thing.

Never fear...I will continue on.

Although we missed our Saturday morning run (because I went to see JACK JOHNSON on Friday night! Woot!) So we did day 9 on Monday and now with the long weekend and out of town plans, we're going to restart next week. Maybe the break will help my knees.

Look, Gordon came out of the TV

Yup, he left Sesame Street and came to visit.

See?



But the Elmo and Cookie Monster he brought?

Seriously lame.

Gaber

Gabe is....umm...he's Gabe. He has a new thing. He wants to know how things work. Case in point.

He has this book that he really likes. He would read it to me all the time. The last page was really awesome. It was a picture of a constellation in the night sky and it LIT UP. To a 2 year old, that's AMAZING. But to Gabe...he had to know how it worked. So one day I walked in his room and he was so proud because he knew how it worked. But the book?

No more. (sorry mom...he loved it while it lasted.)



And since this is about Gabe. Another thing he loves to do lately is drag his trike up our road, turn it around, pick up his feet and fly. (Our street is on a slight hill...just enough to be really exciting.)

My Silent Ninja

That's what Nathan's karate teacher, aka "ma'am" calls Nathan. The Silent Ninja. Since he never talks. Or smiles. But he rocks.

A few pictures.

The Bow Staff.





Grappling with Ma'am.









You may not be able to tell, but he's totally proud of himself in this picture.

c25k - day 8

Dear Everyone,

My knees hurt.

The end.

Giveaway!

There's a tutu giveaway going on at Because I Said So. Go comment and maybe you'll win!

c25k - day 7

I know, I didn't blog day 6. But I ran.

So, those couch to 5k people are tricky. I knew today was going to be longer stretches of running. Let me tell you about my mental dialogue.

*when I got to the track* uhg. I'm still asleep. Why am I doing this again?

*after the brisk 5 minute walk* ok. I'm feeling pretty good, let's get this show on the road.

*after the first 200 meter run* That wasn't so bad!

*after the first 200 meter walk* This is great, I can totally do this!

*after the first 400 meter run* Nope. Not great. Bad idea.

*near the end of the first 400 meter walk* Oh, I'm feeling better, I can do this! 200 meters next, no big deal.

*after the second 200 meter run* wheeze, wheeze, wheeze...glad to be walking again

*near the end of the first 200 meter walk* Only 400 left to run! feeling good! let's go, let's go!!

*after the second 400 meter run* Nope. Not good anymore. Not fun, what was I thinking? wheeze, wheeze, wheeze.

*after the cool down walk* Huh. I'm feeling okay now. Those c25k people are tricky. I survived and it's not so bad.

So there you go. The walk/run mix is actually kinda cool.

So naughty...but strangely polite and obedient

Conversation with Gabe tonight.

Imagine you're hearing this as a very polite and sweet request from the cutest kid ever.

Gabe: "Mommy, can I please poke Clara in the eye?"
Me: "Um. No."
Gabe: "Oh. Okay."

and he didn't.

c25k - day 5

check.

We didn't go yesterday because Traci's baby was up all night. Since I was up yesterday and so was Aria...Aria and I went for a walk/jog around the block a few times. It was fun.

We did day 5 this morning. There was a lady there with a crying baby in a stroller and I felt my milk let down. lol.

How do I stretch right above my hip bones? Leaning to the side seems to do it, just wondering if there's a better way.

Is it a bad sign that I'm really dreading the coming weeks? I can do this, I can do this.

My pictures might be in a magazine!

How cool would that be???

I volunteered my time to take pictures for a local therapeutic riding program that Aria is in. I knew they'd be used in advertising but I found out today there's going to be an article written up in a local magazine and my pictures might be used with it!

SQUEEEEE!!!!

You can see them here.

This is one of my favorites.



I'll keep you posted. :)

c25k - day 4

check.

I don't have much to say today.

I did it. And apparently my body is getting used to it, because I woke up before my alarm yesterday and today.

Nathan has karate camp all week at 9, so I'm practicing getting my run in and getting him and myself ready before 9 since in a few weeks school will start.

The casualties of being the 4th child

Clara's been trying to roll over for a while now. She's been sooo close, just couldn't get her arm out.

A few minutes ago, I laid her on her back and left her alone to go help the other kids brush their teeth. When I came back she was on her tummy.

Her very first roll over and nobody was around to witness it and cheer for her.

So I made her do it again so I could clap and cheer and smile. She liked that.

Lightning Storm

I've been waiting and waiting for an opportunity to shoot some lighting pictures, but havn't really had much chance. I can't exactly go chasing storms with all my kids, so I had to wait for one to come to me.

My friend, Kristi, is in massage therapy school and came over with her table last night. (and let me tell you, if you don't have a friend in Massage Therapy school, you are missing.out. Hello! Free massages!) Anyway, I opened the door and CRACK! Lightning. It was flashing really often and there was no rain (or even thunder for a while, which was eerie) so I grabbed my tri-pod and set it up on the front porch.

Several 30 second exposures later....





A rocking summer storm followed by a massage. It was a good night.

That was an adventure

So, I've been wanting to get pictures to finish my photo wall for a while now. I have 5 from last August printed and framed and I had 4 more frames so I could get some of Clara and all 4 kids to mix in.

My friend Kristi told me about some historical gardens that she'd heard about. We planned to go together with our kids yesterday and do some pictures. So I got up, bathed all 4 kids and made them look cute. Glanced outside and saw a nice cloud cover (mid day sun without clouds makes difficult lighting to work with! And with kids you don't have time to worry about the lighting!) and was almost ready to go when Kristi texted me because her daughter had gotten sick. I figured, that's ok, all my kids are ready, we'll go anyway.

Ha.

Nobody bothered to tell me the gardens (which were beautiful) were on the side of a giant hill, and there were a million stone steps (also very cool) but a stroller was useless. I didn't have my sling with me, and I had brought a chair and an umbrella. But do I give you and go home? No.

So I'm carrying Clara and my camera, Nathan has the chair, Aria has the umbrella (in the end I ended up with everything, of course) and Gabe was running up and down the stone steps and I was yelling at him to "STOP YOUR FEET" which he really doesn't listen to anyway, so I don't know why I bother.

Guess what happened next? The sun poked out and it was immediately a million degrees. Mixed with the running and the carrying and the steps...after about 5 seconds we were all red and sweaty.

But...I was on a quest. So I set them up for some pictures. And amidst calls of "HOLD CLARA TIGHTER!" and "we'll get ice cream if you do this for mommy!" and "GABE! SIT DOWN!" we ended up with enough pictures for my wall. They're not the best ever, but they're real and I love their rosy cheeks from the heat. lol.

I do need a bit of help. I printed both of the umbrella pictures, but I still can't decide which one to hang up. Which one would you hang up?

1.


2.


Here are the others.





Clara was done by this time.



Mom, do you want any of these? Let me know and I'll send them to you.

c25k - day 3

Check.

I have to say, it's a good thing I have Traci to do this with, because I really don't think I would have gotten out of bed this morning, otherwise.

Today I felt more sluggish than I did on day 2. And I think I need to learn how to stretch. I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.

I didn't resort to any mantras today because we spent a large portion of the run hashing out the pros/cons of vaccines. (I delay my kids, she does not...and we both have issues with the chicken pox vaccine). It was a nice distraction for my mind so I wasn't thinking about running so much.

Off to feed Clara. It still amazes me that I have to wake her up every morning. Even though I don't normally believe in waking a sleeping baby, my boobs can't handle more than 10 hours without her eating!

c25k - day 2

Check.

I need a new mantra. Ever since high school, (aka: the last time I ran on any sort of regular basis, thanks to PE) when I ran I would think to the rhythm of my feet. I'd count with my breathing (in-2-3-4, out-2-3-4) or I'd chant things in my head. Today, even though it was easier than I was expecting, I still had to keep stopping my self from chanting "not fun not fun not fun" as my feet hit the track.

So give me a new mantra.

And funny story...a couple of ladies were walking slowly around the track and as we came up behind them one said to the other "watch out, there are some fast walkers behind us". We all laughed and it so happened that right as we passed them it was time to start a running stretch. As we took off this conversation ensued.

Lady 1: Show offs!
(laughter)
Traci: We're just trying to lose the baby weight!
Lady 2: So am I! And my baby is 44!
Lady 1: Mine is 21!

So there you have it. Apparently losing baby weight is a life long process. :)

Oi

That's the best word to describe camping on a lake with a 2 year old.

Oi.

I'm glad to be home with doors and locks.

See how close we were to the lake? It was certainly beautiful, but also stressful since none of my kids swim and Gabe has no sense of danger.



Luckily, MOF Melissa gave me a brilliant idea and I came prepared.



Luckily again, he didn't mind it too terribly much. He got annoyed on occasion, but for the most part, he just played in the dirt.





The kids had fun. And that's what I do all this work for, right?





Mae and Eli


I spent most of my time reading Breaking Dawn which came out the first night we were there. I went to a little release party with my mom and Gabe and Clara and bought the book at midnight. I read for a little while that night and spent a lot of Saturday just chilling with Clara and reading. (loved the book!)

In case you were wondering whether I'd make a good 1930's wife

I would not...but it was kinda fun to find that out. Good thing I was born when I was. lol

39 As a 1930s wife, I am Poor Take the test!

Bunny Ears are SO last century

So I don't tie my shoes the normal way. Back in high school, Rachel taught me a much quicker/easier way to tie shoes and I've done it that way since.

I now have a 7 year old and a 5 year old who, until today, couldn't tie their shoes yet. (it's been a big day...they've almost got 2 wheel bikes down too).

Anyway, we've been working on tying shoes off and on for a year or so and I was trying to teach them the traditional bunny ears way and it was just.not.working.

So today, I figured what the heck. I tie my shoes the cool way, why shouldn't they? 10 minutes later, I've got 2 shoes tying kids.

Check it out. You'll be amazed.

Day 1 of the C25K

I'll be checking in here. (and here...it's a neat little tool) Partly to keep me honest and partly to ask questions because I know there are voracious runners who read my blog. (side note...have you ever written a word and then had to go look it up in the dictionary to make sure you're using it correctly? I just did that.) Anyway....the run.

It was fun interesting. I did it. My legs were itchy and my feet kinda hurt where the bottom of my toes attach to my feet. Does that mean I need to go visit Mr. Running Shoe Man again?

Are you supposed to stretch before and after? Or just before?

Thanks, Traci, for doing this with me. It's nice to have someone to run pant with.

shhh....don't tell.

Remember how I hate running and stuff?

Well, guess what I did today?

Bought running shoes. Real ones. Fitted to me. That cost a lot.

Mr. Running Shoe man checked me out and then said "what size are you?" I replied "8.5 or 9". He said "um...no you're not."

Ooookay, then.

I am now a proud owner of expensive, but very comfy size 9.5 nikes. I start the Couch to 5k tomorrow. Don't tell anyone. It might jinx me.

Oh, and I'm testing a theory. I want to see if one can start to enjoy something that one has hated for most of one's life. Wish me luck.