Week 5.

I had to do my long run from my parents house this week. I think having a completely unknown route helped keep my mind off the distance. It was my favorite run to date! The only thing that caused me a little stress is that my parents live at the top of a ridiculous hill. I took these pictures on my way back up to their house.

I didn't run up it, but I did run down it. : ) And then after running 4 miles, I had to walk up it and even walking it was a killer. (That was me, casually mentioning that I ran 4 miles)...

I don't know how my friends who have trained for 1/2 marathons did it without blogging every step of the way. This has been such a cool experience for me and I'm only training for 5 miles! On my last run, I was even able to think about something other than trying to convince myself I can do it or checking how far I'd gone since the last time I checked a minute ago... It was kind of fantastic. I'm definitely hooked and will be keeping up with running even after Beat the Bridge is done.

pioneer woman

Kristi introduced me to the Pioneer Woman a while ago and I've been in love ever since. I've only made a few things (they're delicious but not low fat at all) but every time I make something it's instantly a favorite. I make her sour cream pancakes fairly regularly because we all love them and it's one of the few things Andrew requests. He calls them 'cowboy pancakes' - I love it. Anyway, she's on tour to promote her new cookbook and we went to her book signing! We waited over 2 hours to get our books signed -  it was a little crazy, but we had a lot of fun and it was totally worth it! If you don't know who she is yet, I highly recommend getting to know her!  

Here we are waiting in the crazy crowd to hear her speak.

 I got nervous when it was finally our turn. I guess that's why I decided to put my arm on my hip for our picture??

We were in group E. Each letter before us had up to 50 people in it (which explains our long wait). We had a drink while we waited and found out the people at our table had M. All of a sudden our ticket didn't look so bad.

And now I can check 'book signing' off my list of things to do, I guess.

spring

Mason loves umbrellas right now. He was very (very, very) excited to be able to use it the other day. I love this time of year... raining like crazy one minute, beautiful and sunny the next. I think I just love the seasons as they change, it doesn't matter what season it is, I'm usually ready for the change.

just dance

We have a new favorite game!! Just Dance for the Wii - it's fantastic.

73 degrees, we'll take it!

Today was beautiful!! The boys played with their water table and ended up getting soaked. When I got Mason a towel, he chose to relax a bit before drying off and getting into dry clothes. : )

a friend from school

We haven't done much with Andrew's friends from school in the past, but that is changing a bit because he has a pretty good buddy now (and his buddy has a mom who actually plans play dates!). Last night they invited all of us over for dinner and she set the boys up with a pretend happy meal. She even got a little prize for them - it was pretty cute.

This isn't a great picture, but it's too cute not to post. Matching pj's! I love it.

we pulled out our shorts!

It was so nice out on Saturday! It didn't even reach 70, but it was warm enough for shorts and the boys even asked for their pool. I love the pacific northwest!

Andrew thought it'd be fun to stand in a little bucket of water. Then Mason joined him. I wasn't ready to get out the pool, but I figured I could at least get out two buckets. : )

rookie mistake : )

Week 4
3 1/2 miles is a long way, too long for me apparently... I was bummed today when I couldn't finish my long run. I do, however, blame it mostly on the fact that I wore pants today (on the hottest day of the year - about 73 degrees) and I was dyin'!! I hope that was the problem, anyway. I had to push pretty hard to make it to 3 miles and decided to call it a day. It probably didn't help that I had a fair amount of wine last night, but I'm not that committed to this running thing. : )

The normal me would say 3 miles is where I belong and would plan to just walk the rest of my 8k. Seriously, I would normally not have tried twice - how lame was the old me?! I'm not giving up that easily this time! Anyway, this week is really busy including an all day meeting on one of my usual days off. But, I have rearranged my workout schedule to take the crazy week into consideration. Here's hoping I can pull it off. I can't fail 2 weeks in a row, that would be discouraging. Even for the new inspired me.

Some success... This was the first week that I was willing to run a little farther than needed. I misjudged my route and rather than walking a lot longer than I had intended, I ran over a tenth of a mile more. I usually stop the second I step over my mile goal. And, even though I only went 3 miles today, I did it 2 1/2 minutes faster than the last time I did 3 miles. I wasn't trying to run faster, which makes it even cooler.

cutest ring bearer in town!

Stephanie & Tim's wedding photographer posted about their wedding today! They got some adorable pictures of Andrew. They got one of him during the ceremony that makes it look like he was totally into what they were saying. I love it!

If you'd like to check out the blog post, go here.

PS. They were fantastic! If you're looking for a photographer, especially in the Bellingham area, I highly recommend Evantide Photography!

thank goodness today didn't suck

Tuesday was a bummer of a day - it's a long, boring story but basically all three of us were in bad moods for most of the day. Mason is definitely getting ready to turn three - Tuesday was a nice reminder that I need to load up on patience if we're going to make it through. : ) Anyway, today was great. I think it was due to a mix of me not letting Mason's whining get the best of me and being able to spend a lot of time outside!

Mason has decided (again) that he doesn't want to use the toilet. He was still using it for #2's for a while so I wasn't too worried about it. Then he gave up completely. Today we were going to try again, but it didn't go so well so I think we're on hold for a while.

Even though it was a little frustrating, he made up for it later in the day. Andrew came out of the bathroom and told me his underwear keep getting wet and he hates it. Then Mason, in a similar sad voice said "my underwear keep getting poop in them". It took all I had in me not to burst out laughing. In fact, it's still making me laugh, hours later. Who doesn't hate it when their underwear keep getting poop in them!

balloons!

We learned something new about our friend Darin tonight - he knows how to make balloon things! He gave Matt a little lesson and sent our boys home with a ton of balloons.

nice outfit

I can't handle Mason's fashion choices these days. I can't help it - I care how my boys look. They don't have to be super stylish, just nicely put together in clothes that fit. Andrew has never cared what he wears. He was 3 or 4 before he ever had his first clothes-related request, and it was to wear shorts. He didn't care which pair, just shorts. Mason on the other has been picking out his own clothes for a long time. He used to be okay with just picking out his socks. But now, most days he likes to at least be involved in his whole outfit. I am trying to give him that freedom because I realize it technically doesn't matter, but seriously?! Now I think he's doing it on purpose.

On Sunday he grabbed a pair of warm up pants and a tuxedo shirt (luckily the shirt was too small so that was an easy fix). Today he chose suit pants and the ugliest t-shirt he owns. Then to top it off, he wanted to wear socks and sandals. He's killin' me! : )

Here's Mason, rocking his rad outfit, at story time at the library today. Even when he's ridiculous, he's cute!

someone sign me up for a 5k!

Week 3.

I've thought about signing up for a 5k for at least a year, maybe longer, but never have. I have this thing with wanting to be able to run the whole race whenever I do finally do one, and 3 miles has always seemed like too much. As of Sunday, I now know I could do it!! It's exciting. I must say, if I wasn't training for an 8k, I would be content sticking with 3 miles for a while, maybe for the rest of my running career. But, I can't stop now! It's crazy to think that in about a month I will run 5 miles. It kind of makes me want to puke. But I guess that's the whole point behind gradually increasing the distance. So I don't puke.

I'm running this race for our friend Zane. Even though he doesn't care at all if I finish, for some reason it is giving me the push I need to train. I like it. If you'd like to support the cause - to find a cure for juvenile diabetes - or to sign up to run on my team, just go here. Thanks!

sunshine changes everything

I'm like a broken record, sorry. But the sun has been so wonderful. We've been enjoying the heck out of it here!

I have to be sneaky when I take pictures of Mason these days. It's hit or miss if he'll smile or stop what he's doing and tell me 'no pictures'. Today he asked for his baby and then took her out for a bike ride. : ) It's funny to me - Andrew is such a sensitive little guy, but he has never (not even as a 2 year old) been willing to even look at a doll. Mason doesn't do it very often, but every once in a while he grabs our one doll and takes care of her.

a good day for a game

Matt, grandpa Mel and the boys went to the Mariner game today. I hope this kind of stuff makes good memories for the boys. At the least, it will be a fun memory for Matt and Mel. : )

out of the house

On Saturday, while Matt and his dad replaced our fence, we headed to the zoo to get out of the way. It was a beautiful day! The only problem with beautiful Saturdays is the whole world goes to the zoo! Other than having to start with lunch (because it took us forever to find a parking spot) the crowd didn't really matter.

Before we left, we decided to stop in and see the penguins again. It ended up being the best part of the day. This little penguin seemed to love Mason. There were other kids around but it kept going to Mason. It was really adorable!

our new fence

The fence fell down along one side of our house. Matt and his dad replaced it this weekend with this beauty. They do some nice work!

booster

Andrew is down to just his booster seat. I took the back part off - the part he used to need to make sure his seat belt was positioned right. But now he's tall and doesn't need it. And just like that, he got a little bit older...

score!

For some reason, switching out clothes for my boys is an emotional time for me. Pulling out Andrew's old clothes for Mason is surprisingly hard. I'm simultaneously sad that Andrew is too big for them and that Mason is big enough for them. It's awesome. Anyway, once I get over it and pack up the clothes that are too small for Mason, I have no problem giving them away (it helps that I get to give my favorites to our little friend Landon).

However, I now know that the giving away part is hard on Mason... We dropped off some clothes for Landon today and Mason noticed one of his favorite old vests in the bag. He was pretty sad until Lisa saved the day by giving him an old vest that no longer fits Zane. I'm pretty sure it made him happy for the rest of the day! : )