Thanksgiving

Ally and Grace visiting GiGi on the day of the Mother Goose Parade.  Natalie did not come, she said she was too old for a parade :(  Boo!  We left everyone at home working on dinner....

Here is Ally showing off her crafts from preschool.  The amazing Turkey Hat that only 3 looks good 3 year olds and the famous placemat...this year Ally is thankful for Indy...Not mommy, daddy or sissy but our four legged friend.

Our Thanksgiving table.  The girls  made the pilgrim placecards...

Our kids table is left to just two...all the "kids" are now grown up...

Here is a great shot of Mother Goose herself, coming down the main street....with the Girl Scouts leading her down.

One of my favorites, Grace and allison watching her go by.....it was a very lame parade but the girls didn't know.  It was incredible to them!

Turducken = yummy!  The Farsetta's had us over for a Thanksgiving feast also but a few days before the big day...then they headed up to Big Bear....

Jenna and Sue

Another shot of the table set...we used crafts from Natalie's 1st grade class to add to the fun!

And then we ran.....

and ran and ran and ran....13.1 miles each...totaling a FULL marathon split of course between our awesome team of two!

It all started when I suggested we do a half marathon and Ben had a few naysayers claim he could never run 13.1.  Well all you need to do to motivate Ben is say "can't".

We started off with good intentions, we downloaded a running app that was suppose to keep us on track to train and be prepared. We went for a few treks and covered 5 or 6 miles.  (I did sneak in weekly 3-5 mile runs) We hit the treadmill a time or two and that was apparently all that was needed.

We first planned to do the Humbolt half and then had to simplify to the Silver Strand.  It was familiar and easy to manage.  We spent the night at Nicole and Jamey's, they kept the kids while we woke at 6:15 and walked to the start line.  I enjoyed seeing Ben's reaction to his first race.  It is a simple course and a simple race in Coronado.  The horn blared and that signaled our purpose.  We were there to complete 13.1...we weren't sure what the best plan was but we knew we were in it to win it and away we went.

One mile at a time, in the beginning I had terrible stomach cramps and the only relief I had was a good jogging pace.  Funny that they subsided with running, maybe the pressure helped who knows...but I wanted to follow my 5 min/1min plan.  I just couldn't!  I was pumped to run and the cramps were terrible. I tool pity on all my girlfriends, I never get cramps and this was no day to start.  I ran mile 1, 2,3,4,5 enjoyed the DJ and the small overpass "climb".  Then I took a brisk walk, relief!  The cramps were pretty much gone. Then the pressure went from my gut to my knee. By mile 9 my knee was very angry with me, apparently it preferred a training schedule...
I was "speed walking" thru mile 9,10,11 still passing the occasional 3:00 pacer then I saw mile marker 12 and I felt like I started to run again...not sure it was any faster then my walking but in my mind I was running...wow I would love to catch a glimpse of what I looked like going for the finish line.

In that last mile my ipod acted up, in all my finish line anticipation, random songs ended and began.  I feel like this was part of the plan which is odd seeing that the whole event was lacking any planning at all.

A few highlights:
Right at mile 5 my fav running song - Linda Ronstadt When will I be loved came on!  Ghetto Rap got me through mile 8 or should I say 8 mile? The 1980's running remixes available through itunes that are set for certain pace times are REALLY cheesy until mile 11 and "Hot Child in the City" comes on!  It was an experience...running with your husband is awesome! On the drive home he claimed he never had to run again but I hope he will.  That was my favorite part!

Back story for those who enjoy my playlists....I was poorly prepared for that also:(  The girls lost my phone 15 minuets before we left.  I had a carefully selected my playlist and now I had no music device...I was ready to quit before the race even started.  I ended up cramming 3 hours of tunes on Ben's phone and running with that...how do people run without music?  It is the REASON for my running!

Do I regret not training and shaving a half hour maybe 45 minutes off my time.  Not really, I am hopeful that with more preparation I would rock a half marathon not sure I'll find out though...however I do think I'm ready to show a 5K or a 10K who's boss!  I am amazed at the body...my machine did not let me down today - remarkable! This isn't the first time I've run a half unprepared I thank my legs, my knees, my lungs I'm quite surprised at 35 I was able to pull off such silliness.

There it is folks - just another Sunday.  As I was watching the fire truck and the ambulance not far behind me feeling like I was the loser of the day...my motivation was that I was not sitting on the couch!  No!  I was running (and walking) 13.1 miles - so there!

San Francisco Trip with Friends

Ahhhh....what a fantastic two spent in San Francisco!  Jess and Mike, Chris and Wendy and their little Kendall.  We flew in the Pilatus and stayed in Union Square.  We rode more public transportation then in a year spent here in southern CA.  We flew, we shuttled, we taxied, we cable car'd, we bussed, we BARTed, we did it all!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was our visit to Alcatraz!

A MUCH need two days spent with Ben, who makes it all happen:)

When discouraged....READ THIS POST!

This is one of those mommy rants that doesn't make a lot of sense in the here and now but in 20 years will hopefully make me smile and remember what life was like when they were little and Ben and I were lost in the throws of parenthood.....

This month a Natalie's alter ego has not left her side.  She visits from time to time and each time she does I am overwhelmed with motherhood failure!  Ugggh it is the WORST feeling to feel like you are failing the single most important thing in life - raising a person....I know the alter ego will leave soon, with out a good bye or any fanfare but in the midst of it, I feel like I am in battle with a newly turned 6 year old!  Each night when I go to bed I formulate my strategy for the next day...here are some affirmations I need to recite when I feel like I am failing in every way!

1.  I make my kids breakfast everyday!  I actually cook most mornings...cereal is a rarity and a treat!  What prison inmate can say their mom cooked breakfast 9 out of 10 mornings....
2.  I NEVER let my kids wear clothes that are missing buttons or underware or socks with holes.  What CEO, or at least a Nordstorm personnel shopper would go to work with such sloppiness?
3.  I pack an exciting lunch full of healthy delicious food everyday unless the kids are sooo excited about the lunch offering that we celebrate and they get to "buy" lunch.  
4.  I pick them up everyday with as smile, either from their classroom, or right in the loop after school.
5.  Dinner is on the table at 5:30 consistently.  I cook different things and family favorites and include the girls in my cooking regularly.  They don't eat much but are not really what I would call "picky".
6.  We eat as a family!
7.  Almost EVERY night there is bathtime and book time!  Sometimes reading over 100 pages a night!  These girls are book fanatics! I dream of them becoming a librarian.
8.  They get to celebrate their birthday's with amazing parties and homemade cakes.
9.  They get to camp, fly, boat, hike, swim, craft, bike, often.
10.  They get to choose any activity, soccer, softball, dance, gymnastics, swim team, etc. they would like to attempt.
11.  I make  homemade Halloween costumes, help with school projects, sit down for homework, chaperone field trips, host playdates, plan summer fun, lead girl scout troops, and join mommy and me groups.
12.  I censor what TV is watched, movies shown, and websites visited.

I hope this helps....and why oh why did I think the baby stage was so much work?  I'd take a baby any day!  Ooops was that a slip???

Blue Dolphins....an attempt at softball.

Here are the Bad News Bears.....season has taught us that Natalie is more a softball girl then a soccer girl.  She is quite the hitter a slow runner and she loves to draw in the dirt...The coach's daughter makes Natalie look like an angel and being team mom is more work then I thought it would be!  

We have 4 games left and I can't wait to be FREE Friday evenings and Saturday mornings again....of course then we'll have swimming...we are in the midst of team sports!

Busy Bee Natalie

Softball was a hit...literally.  From the very start of her first practice hitting the ball has been Natalie's favorite part of softball and it continues to be her strongest asset. Her first season was played on the Dolphins and with 5 other girls they often brought more laughs then wins but without keeping score and without any outs these girls were all winners!  Lexi's dad, Issac was the coach and I served as Team Mom!  We decided as a family this is our sport!  Natalie enjoys it and so do mom and dad... 

 Another sport we tried this year was competitive swimming.  TMEC starts at 5 years old and you must try out at the Chaparral High School pool.  See the swim lane just above Natalie's head, she swam there and back without stopping.  That was the requirement for 5 year olds!   Both Natalie and her friend Jillian made the team but after a few months of sunny warm days of practice, once the weather got chilly and the time changed both girls decided they weren't as hard core as they thought....

Daddy the Pilot

Ally's preschool had a bring your daddy to school day...other daddies were chefs, firemen and policemen...but this day was a pilot and Ally was so excited!