stink'n skinny legged people

When Brandon was in college, a roommate convinced him to run a marathon. To prepare, they ran a couple times (literally) and watched running movies like Prefontaine and Chariots of Fire. A week later, Brandon ran a marathon. Fellow fat people, please say you grimaced like I did upon hearing this.

Brandon's built like a antelope. I'm built like an anteater.

However, I am determined to become a runner. So when a friend of mine asked me to run a 5K with her, I (hesitantly) obliged.

I ran it on Saturday. When I arrived at the starting line, I immediately began scoping out my competition (like I had a chance at winning). There were a lot of skinny legged people with nice running shoes. Darn. In order to keep my nerves down, I tried to find the people in the crowd I may be able to beat. I searched and searched. Eventually, I had to focus on the under 10 and over 80. I'm pretty sure the majority of them still beat me. Oh well... I did beat this one chick with an orange shirt - that's saying something, right?

I am happy to say I didn't die. It went way better than I had hoped. But the best part was having my own little cheering section at the end whom I didn't think would even be awake yet.
Maybe for my next 5K I'll have to take a page out of Brandon's book - training by watching other people run. Anyone own a copy of Prefontaine?

green machine

I think our neighbors regret the day they ever gave us a key to their house. You wouldn't think so, but it's a well-used key. We borrow things all the time: sour cream, DVDs, their firstborn, and this:

my favorite machine in the world - the Bissell Little Green. I affectionately call it the Green Machine.

Today I had to borrow it again.

We have been potty training Zach. It has been going quite well. He even got a Spiderman scooter for going poop in the toilet. Just as a teaser for the rest of this post, let me just say this - his scooter is getting put on the shelf for a little while.

The story:

I was upstairs feeding Halle when Zach called from downstairs.

Zach: Mom, I need your help.

Me: Honey, I can't. I'm feeding Halle.

Zach: Mom, I pooped in my Incredibles (his underwear). I need help.

Me: I'm feeding Halle. Come upstairs and I'll help you.

Zach walks upstairs with his legs spread apart. He points to the poop running down his legs. *jaw drop*

As I am cleaning him up in the tub, I begin to think: If this is all down his legs and he walked upstairs *gasp*... my carpet!

After finishing feeding Halle and banning Zach to his room to play cars, I inspect my stairs. All the way up the stairs is a trail - kind of like Hansel and Gretel left - except Zach didn't use bread. This is partly my fault, as I made him walk up the stairs even knowing the problem. Then at the bottom, he also left me a nice gift.

Patience, I think.

Zach explains: I pooped on your carpet. He understands. It's not the carpet, it is my carpet.

Then, the icing on the cake: when I go back downstairs after cleaning dirty underwear (I didn't throw it away this time, Mom), Zach has sprayed the walls, doors, and his toys with Resolve.

It was definitely naptime.

NOTE: The Green Machine did clean it up. Feel free to use my stairs without worries.

chalk it up

Sidewalk chalk at it's finest.

Thank goodness for local morning news because otherwise, I would have never heard of the annual Chalk Art Festival held at Gateway. It was so sweet! I could not believe some of the drawings. And to think, we almost did not make it because of a crying children fiasco only moments before in Applebees. I could seriously see the hip young couples that hang out at such establishments as Gateway shaking their heads and thinking, "this is why I don't have kids"... but I digress... the Chalk Art Festival was amazing!

Below: Brandon and Zach at the Festival. Zach was less than impressed as he could not understand why he could not walk on the drawings and use their chalk. Because of this, Brandon had to carry him most of the time. Below: Halle conked out. She woke up later, sucked on her hands and enjoyed some of the chalk art.Some of the other amazing art we saw:We were a little disappointed to have gone Friday evening (instead of today) because a lot of the pictures were not done and many were covered up with plastic for the evening so we couldn't see them. However, after having a rainy day today, I consider ourselves quite lucky to have seen the pictures before they turned into colorful piles of goop.

Zach also had a wonderful time playing at the splash pad. I felt bad at first because I hadn't come prepared with a swim suit and towel like other parents, but it turned out not to matter because he watched the water more than he played in it.

walmart attire

When Zach, Halle, and I go out on the town to run errands, Zach typically has a list of items he requests to bring with him. Sometimes it's a rubber snake. Sometimes it's mismatched shoes. Sometimes it's a ball. Today it was his sunglasses, a sweatband, a green paperclip, and an empty wrapping paper tube. It's fine with me. He is always dressed (though he has requested otherwise) and so I figure go ahead, express yourself.

So... armed with his sunglasses, sweatband, and green paperclip (I made him leave the paper tube in the car), we headed into Walmart. People couldn't help smiling and laughing when they saw Zach. At first, I didn't get why they were laughing - I am used to my creative kid - but when I stepped back and looked at him, he did look pretty cute (and funny). These are priceless photos he will be super embarassed about when he's older.

What do you think?

Also, unfortunately, Zach lost his green paperclip in Walmart, so if you see it, Zach would be thrilled to get it back. He was quite distraught when we returned home without his prized possession and a plain silver one just couldn't replace it.

crazy, crazy weekend

It has been a crazy, eventful weekend. My sister, Michelle, got married yesterday and we blessed Halle today. I can't think of anything clever to say so I'll just post some pictures... wait... I thought of something. It's not clever, but it does make this post more interesting. It is an I Spy. See if you spot cars in all the pictures of Zach.

twinners?

I've been told that Zach and Halle look a lot alike. Besides the same male pattern baldness, I'm not so sure. What do you think?

One thing I thought was funny about these pictures is that they capture Zach and Halle's personalities perfectly. Zach is chill no matter what. Halle is only chill when she is asleep - she must be more sensitive about her receding hairline.

I think I am finally past the panicked, how-in-the-heck-do-people-do-this stage with having two kids. I made some priorities - I must brush my teeth before Brandon gets home from work - and changed some of my thinking - cooking dinner is a good idea in theory but not a necessity, PB&J satisfies a hungry stomach. I think we're going to survive.

Halle is three weeks old and pretty adorable. She has two noise levels: 1) quiet, and 2) my-arm-is-getting-ripped-off loud. Don't worry, both her arms are still intact, but she screams like the world is ending when she is mad. Because of this, she pretty much gets what she wants and is a content baby. She even has an entire laundry load devoted to her clothes. I laughed the other day when I sorted and had whites, darks, colors, towels, and pinks. We love her to death.

Zach loves his little sister - honestly, he does. He loves to help bathe her, change her diaper (less-than-helpful most times), and entertain her. The other day, she was crying and I heard Zach calmly tell her, "It's okay, Halle. Mommy coming soon." He doesn't seem jealous at all. I've been very impressed with what a great big brother he is. Zach loves to lay down next to Halle and sing the ABCs and Halle loves it as well.

On an unrelated note: This past Friday it was finally time to dust off my Lifetime Goals List and place a checkmark next to one of my goals - obtain a Master's degree! Oh... it feels so good to be done. Below is a picture of me with my parents.