My Runner Girl

I run, but I don't consider myself a runner. I'm not fast and I don't have that runner's physique. Whenever I run a race, I feel out of place amongst all those "real" runners. I think that some people are just born with a special something that makes them a good runner. I do not have it. My daughter Carolyn, on the other hand, does.

Over the last several weeks I have been training with Carolyn and four of her friends from church for a 5k. All of the girls worked so hard. During our practice runs, I would stay with the slower girls while Carolyn and a couple others ran ahead. I had no idea what kind of times she was getting.

They made their matching tye dye t-shirts to wear for the race.

Today was race day. I was near the back of the pack at the starting line and Carolyn and her friends were closer. After the race began I gradually passed her friends. I thought surely Carolyn would start walking sometime and I'd catch up to her. Turns out I never did catch up to her. She came in at 28:52, her PR by several minutes. I am still in shock at what an amazing time she got. I am so proud of her!

Now she has her sights set on the "So Long" run at school. They have it at the end of every year for the fifth graders. The top three boys and top three girls are awarded with a medal in front of the entire student body. With her determination and her mad running skills, I don't doubt that she'll be able to place in that race. I keep asking her and she keeps telling me that the parents don't come and watch, but if I can find out what time it is you better believe I'm going to be there to cheer on my baby!

(I also got my PR today, 29:51. I wanted to break 30 and I did it...barely!)

Molly Moo



Molly next to the cabbage she is growing for a school project

This year was the first time Molly got actual letter grades on her report card. I could tell she was nervous about this, as we had a few nights of her coming to my room in tears because she had a test the next day and there were some things she didn't understand. She has worked so hard all year. When she brought home her report card she had all A's and one B in writing. Even though I told her it was a great report card and I was so proud of her, she didn't want anyone to see it. Poor thing has always had to live in Carolyn's shadow. To say that Carolyn is an overachiever would be an understatement. Amongst all of her many accomplishments, she has always gotten straight A's. Molly felt bad about her one B because Carolyn has never gotten a B. With determination in her voice, Molly told me, "I think I can get straight A's next time." I am pleased to report that SHE DID IT! She brought home straight A's on her last report card! I'm so proud of her.

More Sister Love

Translation:

Dear Molly, Happy birthday. I love you.

Roses are red violets are blue

I could never have a better sister than you.

Because you are amazing Molly.

From Audrey to Molly.

Now let's get this party started. Whoo.

You will be amazed what I got you.

Open it up it is amazing.



Love Note

I love it when I find things like this.

Living Room Drapes

Here's another one of those house things that have been floating around in my head for a while. I have been dying to have curtains in here. I finally decided that I definitely want ivory colored curtains. I figure they'll always go with the couch and they'll always work in this room, even if I change the wall color and accessories. I also decided not to stencil the walls, even though I bought the stencil and the paint to do it. It just seemed like so much work and gray walls seem so trendy right now. I'd hate to invest so much time into something that might be out of style in a couple years. I read an interesting post today on Hooked on Houses about gray walls. I've been thinking about painting my bedroom gray too, but a lighter shade. Now that I read that post I'm having second thoughts. I've always thought of my style as more classic than trendy. So... that'll have to be something that brews in my head a little longer.

Anyway, back to the curtains, I looked all over for some to buy. I just couldn't find any that were long enough, the right shade of ivory, and nice-looking with a reasonable price tag. I found some fabric at JoAnn that I liked. I waited and waited for them to be 50% off when I had and extra 20% off coupon. Finally the day came and I went to buy the fabric and they didn't have enough (pfff). Then they said I could special order it but I'd have to pay $15 shipping. What? I have to pay for something to be shipped to the store that you normally keep in stock but ran out of? I don't think so.

Ever since then I've been watching that roll of fabric to see if they've gotten more. They haven't. I know from past experience that JoAnn doesn't reorder fabric until they're completely out of it. Ugh.

So the window of opportunity has opened again. I have a 20% off your total purchase coupon and the home dec fabric will be 50% off next week. I think I just might have to give in and shell out an extra 15 bucks so I can have my curtains already.

Mudroom Thoughts

I LOVE home improvement/decorating. I always have several house projects brewing in my head. I have to let them brew because it takes me a while to decide what I want. Then it takes me even longer to decide that I'm ready to spend the money and make a permanent change to my house. This process usually takes a year or more. We'll be coming up on three years in our new house this August. All this time I've been trying to come up with ideas for our mudroom. I've been seeing mudroom makeovers all over the blogosphere and Pinterest but none of them work for me.

via bhg.com

First of all, where are they really putting their coats? I know I have an unusual obssession with outerwear, resulting in what is likely an above-average number of coats for our family, but come on. Those hooks just won't do it in our house.

Second, I like to hang my coats on a hanger. It keeps the shape of the coat better, especially if it is tailored.

Third, where are the rest of their shoes? I keep my heels in the closet in my bedroom, but the everyday wear-type stay in the mudroom. They're too dirty to go anywhere else in the house. And there are several pairs of them. For each of us.

So here's what our mudroom looks like right now:

It's only about five and a half feet from the hall door to the garage door and seven and a half feet from the left wall to the back of the closet. There used to be closet doors but we took them off because they were just getting in the way. When guests are here we shut the hallway door to hide the ugliness.

I'd love to have hooks on the left wall for the kids to hang their backpacks and a place for them to put a pair of shoes. I was about to buy these RETUR Recycling bins from IKEA, which I thought would be perfect for storing shoes, but then my local IKEA decided to stop carrying them (sigh).

This isn't even all of our coats. Feeling optimistic about warmer weather, I took some out and hung them in a wardrobe we have in the garage. The cubes are working okay for our shoe storage. We each have one, which is nice, but they are constantly falling out and we have to keep out of season shoes somewhere else, which is kind of a pain during transitional weather like we've been having.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are a couple feet of unused space above this shelf which I would love to start using.

I'm thinking we'll take out the wall that held the closet doors so it's all one big open space. I'd love to have a place to sit to put on/take off shoes. I need the full length of hanger space. And a place to keep the vacuum and other cleaning supplies would be great. And I want it to be pretty. Anyone want to draw me up some plans?

Orlando Vacation, Part II

Emma with her souvenir of choice.

The next day was our magical Magic Kingdom day. Thanks to smaller January crowds and fast passes we were able to do just about every attraction in the park. The weather was gorgeous. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.




Audrey was able to wow the crowd with her mad hula hooping skills.





Proof that I was actually there. This is the only picture I'm in
out of the few hundred we have of the trip.



The last thing we did was visit Mickey. With a stroke of luck, Minnie was there too.

Orlando Vacation, Part I

As a Christmas present to the girls, we took them on a trip to Orlando. They had two days off school in January and we thought that would be the perfect time to go. When we first started talking about going, we were planning on driving. But then Greg figured out that his frequesnt flier miles would cover five of the six of us (yes, he has been travelling that much lately) and it was a no-brainer.

It snowed the morning we left. It made going to Florida
in the middle of winter that much sweeter.

It was Emma's first time on a plane. She was so nervous but she ended up loving it. When we landed she was so mad and confused that the plane didn't take us to Disney World.

We had dinner at Steak 'n Shake

 then went to Downtown Disney, where the kids tried on just about every pair of ears,

got a sprinkling of pixie dust,

rocked out at a dance party,

and rode the carousel.

The next day we went to Clearwater, a beach on the Gulf coast. It was a little chilly to be swimming at the beach, but it was fun anyway.

We spent the rest of the day warming up at the heated pool and hot tub at the resort.

 

In Case You Missed It

Here is our appearance on The Nate Show.

 

Yes, that is a shot of just Nate and me. You're jealous, I know.

Happy Valentine's Day

Formula for a Perfect Day

One thoughtful Christmas gift from a loving husband

Two awesome grandparents to watch the kids

A short drive up to New York City

Lots of walking around and seeing some sights:

Columbus Circle

Central Park

Broadway

Times Square

Watching dancers through the windows at Alvin Ailey

Two tickets to see the Nate Berkus Show

Dinner at a tiny and most delicious Thai restaurant

Fantacizing about what it would be like if we didn't have kids and lived in New York City

Sightseeing in D.C.

Ahhh... Do you hear that? The quiet, peaceful sound? That's the sound of my kids back in school. I really did enjoy having them home, but it's just so nice having my quiet daytimes back. Greg took off work for the whole break and it was awesome having him around.

On Friday the 23rd, we took a day trip to D.C. There are so many places there that I haven't been yet so our theme for the day was "Sights We've Never Seen." We started out at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It is closed on the weekends so we figured this was the perfect chance to go.



Probably the closest Greg will ever get to $1M.



After that, we ran (literally) back to our car then drove and parked near our next destination, Ford's Theater. We managed to get tickets for the last tour by just a few minutes. This was our favorite site of the day. We had an awesome guide who told so many details from the days leading up to Lincoln's assassination that you don't hear in history class. We even got to go right up to the booth where he was shot. Then we went to the Petersen house across the street and saw the room where he died.

Outside Ford's Theater



Next, we went to the Old Post Office Pavillion. I had never even heard of this place until a few days before. They have a food court where we had lunch and there is a bell tower that is the second highest point in D.C. (The Washington Monument is still closed because of earthquake damage.) We went to the top of the tower and had a very windy and cold 360 degree view of the city.

Then we went to the National Archives and saw the the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. They also had an exhibit going on called "What's Cooking Uncle Sam?" It explored the government's effect on the American diet. It was interesting.



Next, (Are you tired yet? Our kids were.) we drove to the temple to see the lights.