Cousins

We are blessed that Steven's cousin (Irby) has in-laws in town. So every now and then they stop by for a visit and we are blessed to benefit from this too! This time they were in town for 10 days, so Katie and I got our boys together twice - and they were able to come over for dinner as well.








It has been SO nice to spend time with family in the midst of our crazy lives. Katie and Irby have 3 boys.... Irby is the oldest, and then there are identical twin 7 month olds... Griffin and Charlie. I always wanted twins.... but watching Katie I'm not quite so convinced. While they were fussing I asked her, "how often do they cry at the same time" (thinking of the times mine do this and wanting to punch walls) and she responds... "well this isn't crying, but... everyday." I'll be honest... the dinner wasn't exactly what I'd call relaxing... but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

left - Charlie right-Griffin

It was cute to see their own little personalities!

A makeover... for two

Let me just start by saying my husband is RIDICULOUS! He "relaxes" by doing things around the house.... yard work, handy-man activities, etc.

Last weekend in an afternoon he pulled up the majority of the MASSIVE hedges that lined our deck and replaced them with small azaleas and gardenias.... AFTER we ran the mud run and went to a gala the previous day. Then this weekend he cemented a wall, dug and moved plants, pressure washed our deck and side walk, sanded the deck, painted the front door, and then stained the entire deck (a "honey white) - all virtually single handed! I luckily get to benefit from my husband's workaholic tendencies! I think it makes our house look SO much better!

make over one:

make over two:


Luckily this happened the day AFTER his 18 month pictures! He was walking (either on the sidewalk or the driveway... bad mom? she doesn't even know! I was helping Steven Edward in the garage) and fell. I heard the crying from a distance and didn't rush because, as great as Sam is, he is known as a bit of a drama king. But when he rounded the corner bleeding I quickly picked up the pace! Then I pulled back his hair to reveal a slightly smaller than golf ball sized blue bump (still slightly covered by hair in this picture too). Nice. We watched for concussion signs, but after a few tantrums and refusals to eat veggies, we deemed him normal.

All in a Day's Work

Today was a rather funny mix of our lives - we started with a Mudrun. It is a USMC sponsored boot camp type run. It was a 4 mile trail run with 32 obstacles ranging from 4 foot deep mud pits, to an 8 foot wall, to a 15 foot cargo net, or a piggy back ride across the finish line. You had to start and finish in teams of 4 (and I would never have made it over the 8 foot wall without my team!). It was more fun than I anticipated and a LOT muddier than i expected - there were 4 mud events (to see list of events click here). It was an absolute blast and I have already started searching the internet for another one! I do understand now why they recommended long sleeves and pants - and therefore why the army/military doesn't wear shorts of tank tops!










After seeing these pictures, Steven Edward looked at his Daddy and said, "Daddy, next time you run through a mud puddle, please don't hug me." It was cute.... and a little telling.


Then we rushed home (after multiple showers) and got ready to go to a Gala to support Veritas. It was fun of a different kind. They had both a silent and live auction - and if you didn't look too closely at my ankles (which I failed to scrub quite well enough) or noticed the scrapes on my elbows you would have had no idea that we were swimming in mud that morning!


All in all it was a great day! My boys were great for my parents and my husband and I had a great day full of fun and events! Would totally do the whole thing again!

Veritas Spring Fever 5k

Steven and I signed up for and ran our second race together this morning. It was a 5k to benefit his school's athletic department and for this one, we both ran at "our own pace" - which meant Steven left me right at the start line and we paced by ourselves. I will say, running by yourself is not as much fun as running with someone, and next time I will have to bring my Ipod. But nonetheless, we both ran well. The race was a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. The last mile was all a slow, uphill climb, which proved challenging for everyone. In fact, I did not add one picture of me at the finish line that looks as if I had just been tortured (potentially today I may have described it that way!). The boys waited at the finish line with our ever faithful babysitter Alexandra. Steven finished 11th overall at 22:14 (which is a 7:10 mile pace) and I finished 35th overall at 25:04 (an 8:05 pace).

waiting for mom and dad
Just after the finish line
Steven has just passed (the grey shirt and shoe on the right) and as you see the clock says 22:16! Unfortunately for Steven he finished 3rd in his age cagtegory (the 30s are actually the most competitive category for runners) so he failed to get a sugar cookie.
I however (because I am a spring chicken just shy of that 30s group) finished 1st in my age group and was able to come away with a fondant iced sugar cookie with a one on it. Nice.

Two people failed to stay to claim their prestigious sugar cookie prize.... and our boys benefited greatly. Thank you Anthony!

How are they so weird....

.... with such normal parents?!







On their own volition our boys found plant pots.... placed them on their heads... and spent at least 30 minutes gleefully running around our driveway. It was a great memory. And to top it off Steven Edward has fallen in love with any form of water.... more specifically the hose and sprinkler. It is going to be a fun summer!

Buku

This is my shameless plug for the restaurant where my sister-in-law Ellen Breedlove works. We were able to go this past Saturday with our good friends John and Alanna and the food was amazing. Their theme is global street food, so they have different food from all over the world. Their head chef puts his own spin on things, but overall the place was great and I would recommend it to anyone who is in Raleigh or happens to be passing through. Here is their website if you want to check it out. It has only been open a couple months and I was uber impressed. Way to go Tony.


Here I am making them begrudgingly pose with me as they should be hard at work.


And then here are several shots of us at the WNC Nature Center last week. We had a great time in Chapel Hill, but it was a bit of a whirlwind so I failed to get any pictures other than our night out on Saturday.

Don't they look old in that picture!

We're so thankful it is warm!

My Boy is Three!

Steven Edward turned 3 on Saturday, April 3rd. There are plenty of things I could write about him here... the tens of funny sayings he has... or the clever ways he gets what he wants... or how he is like his father.... or his newest tantrum or loving thing he's done for his brother... but instead I'm just going to put a bunch of pictures. I couldn't really capture him here anyway - enjoy the visual.
Our first present of the day... still in pajamas.

We decided to have a party for him (which was a larger undertaking than I thought it would be... Thanks Mom and Dad for all your help!). It was a lot of fun. We started with a scavenger hunt....


... and then headed towards a painting activity... some people went with chance leaving clothes intact... others went with the Father's undershirt theory.... while others abandoned all stainable objects and resorted to painting in the nude.




... then headed to lunch, cake, and present opening... sadly my camera died at this point... so I will be relying on the photography of others!



Upon Steven Edward's request I made him a bulldozer cake. I followed the example of one I found on someone else's blog!