Playing Catch Up and Catchin' Some Rays

Here's the last two months in review:

On April 25th, I completed my first 1/2 marathon. That's right - 13.1 miles of running. My goal was to finish in 2:40 (not a fast time but steady and in keeping with the pace I'd been training at). The race was AWESOME!!! Here are some photos:


The first 8 miles were absolutely a piece of cake. The most challenging was probably mile 11, but that's because my running partner and I missed the flag for it and I thought mile 1o was just lasting forever. My final time was 2:34:43, which was a pleasant surprise. Aaron and the kids, his parents, and my sister and bro-in-law were all there to cheer me on (my parents were in Kansas City).


Here we are at the finish line. Sorry the pic's so small - I took it off of Facebook. It was a pretty chilly day for late April but great for running. We enjoyed some cheeseburgers and chocolate milk at the finish line then a champagne toast back at the hotel. Also enjoyed a ice cold beer while in my ice bath, figuring I was already freezing so what was a few more degrees of cold!

The weather quickly warmed up and we've spent lots of time outside. Here's Harper G running around (does she do anything else!?!) with a mower Caleb loved to play with at her age. Apparently, he wasn't quite ready to part with it, as seen by the expression on his face.

In April, Caleb had some major dental work done - 4 fillings and 2 crowns. Before you can ask, yes, we do brush his teeth religiously, and no, we didn't fill his bottle with Dr. Pepper when he was an infant. The dentist recommended being completely under for the procedure. He did a great job and is very proud of his silver teeth. We're just excited that the crowns are on teeth that he'll eventually lose.

As the school year came to an end, both kiddo's classes had what Riverfield calls "culminating events." Caleb's class had been on a yearlong investigation to learn more about the school's mascot, Big Blue. They planted a garden outside their classroom with blue flowers and worked with the school's art teacher to construct a bird bath and other garden ornaments out of clay that they formed, glazed, and fired. Big Blue's Garden Party celebrated the end of this investigation, complete with an appearance by the mascot, autograph signing, and popsicles. Caleb's in the grey and navy striped shirt (the one that's about a half a head taller than everyone else).

Getting some love from Big Blue.

Harper and her other Butterfly friends celebrated with a Garden Party of their own. Families came to school on a Sunday afternoon to plant shrubs and flowers and create a butterfly-shaped mosaic stepping stone for the Butterfly garden. They also got to explore the Toddler classrooms, which was great because Harper's older infant class moved into a vacant Toddler class for the summer so they're getting a jump start on next fall's experiences.

Another end-of-year event at Riverfield is our Street Party, where the 5 student rock bands (we have Oklahoma's only school rock band program) perform on a stage on our back field with some original, classic, and current rock songs. Caleb and I went - here's his game face.

Caleb and his BFF Anthony rockin' out.

Alissa, April, and I ran the Full Moon 5k a few weeks after the 1/2 marathon. I cut quite a bit off my time, which was nice, and the free beer and live concert afterward were fun too.

The weekend after Mother's Day, Caleb and I ran in the Oklahoma Aquarium Fun Run. It was just a few miles from our house on a rainy morning. Caleb was awesome! With the exception of a few walking steps, he ran the whole mile!! The thing he was the most unsure of was pinning his racing number to the back of his shirt. Grandma and G-Dad came to cheer us on.

Caleb received a t-shirt and ribbon but was most excited about the chocolate milk at the finish line.

Later that day, my girlfriends and I got together with our moms for a "Moms and Mimosas" brunch. It was potluck-style with some super tasty dishes. My mom wasn't feeling all that well but did make an appearance. It was a fun way to celebrate the best moms ever (well, my mom being the best and the others coming in a close second). Also, you might notice the blonding and chopping off of my hair. I was tired of in-between, not long, not short hair. So Tara, my hairdresser, chopped it off and made it a fun summer color.

The kiddos on the last day of school. Since we go to Riverfield in the summer too, our schedule isn't too different for June, July, and August.

As a point of reference, here's the first day of school last fall.

We've been working on letters and letter sounds with Caleb. Apparently Harper's picking up some of it too :)

We've had a great summer so far. Here's photo of Harper, Ellison, and Landon at a concert at a local park. The big kids didn't come prepared for the splash park section of the park, but that didn't stop them from getting soaked!

Caleb's new favorite hobby - urinating outside. This was the first time we caught him. He asked Aaron, who was inside, "Dad, can I make the grass yellow." Aaron thought he said, "Does it make the grass yellow?" to which he responded with an affirmative "yes." And here's the result. (Wonder when he'll realize he doesn't have to pull his pants and underwear all the way down?)

We've enjoyed lots of time in the backyard with our little pool; it's just big enough for a raft for me to float in while C and HG nap. And now...you know why I've been a blogging slacker: I spend potential update time vegging in the wading pool.

Harper's not exactly sure about the water in a bigger pool- she doesn't want to spend time in her float but isn't content with me holding her. She loves our little one though.

Owen, Aidan, and Caleb swimming at Aidan's grandma's house. Caleb has really turned into a little fish this summer and is making great progress at swimming lessons too.

Both kids are loving summer at RCDS! They come in water clothes each morning, play in the water on their playgrounds then change to regular clothes. Here's grown-up Harper Grace and a classmate playing in the home living area of their new classroom.

My friend Mary-Catherine teaches Spanish at school and is working most of the summer in Caleb's class. As a result, he's picking up lots of Spanish and is pretty proud of himself.

Last weekend was Father's Day. Aaron's big present was a Hasty Bake Oven. Google it if you've not heard about it. Trust me, you don't want to ask him about it or he might not stop talking for a few days :) I think we'll really get a lot of good use out of it; you can grill, smoke, and even cook (yep, as in bread, pizza, and cakes). Hopefully the temps will not be too unbearable this summer so we can break it in nicely. We celebrated later in the day with my parents and Morgan and Brian. Shout out to Dad and Aaron, two of the best Daddides in the world!

Our friend Charity taught a cake camp this week and saved a special Tow Mater-shaped cake for Caleb. Note the patronizing "Mom, hurry up and take the picture so I can eat this ASAP" smile. And, you'll see that Harper G destroyed her piece of cake too.

Harper is certainly coming in to her own. Her vocabulary expands daily and she's getting to be quite the drama queen.

She's also learning lots of songs. This is a little hard to get at first, but I promise it's Twinkle Twinkle.

She mastered naming and pointing to various body parts awhile ago but this is the first time she's cooperated on camera.


OK, the end of this post is a little Harper-centric. However, overall, she's gotten a lot less blog time than Caleb. So here's little Miss Thing working on her jump jump jumping.

Other items of note:

• Congrats to our friends Ashley and Kyle, whose baby Kate arrived a few weeks ago. She's beautiful and I can't wait to get to OKC to squeeze her (and you guys)!
• Also, way to go, Damaris, on making Top 10 at Miss OK yet again. This was the first year for me to not help with the teen pageant. It was very nice, though very odd, to not live at the Mabee Center during pageant week.
• If you want to order some Pampered Chef or host a party, contact my sister. She is now a consultant and would love to sell you something!
• And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our god-daughter, Ellison! She turned one last weekend and had a fabulous party the weekend before (if you can judge fabulous by having enough candy to make a certain 3 1/2 year old puke!).

Hope you are each enjoying your summer. We're off to the beach in a few weeks. Or, should I say, we're scheduled to be off to the beach but the oil spill could alter those plans. We'll figure it out, I guess. Stay cool out there!!

Hello Out There! Running, the Big 3-0, Easter, Etc.

The Olympics were wrapping up about the time that I posted my last post. Bedtimes were forgotten for all 4 of us as we watched the most Olympic coverage possible. Here's my favorite three people crashed out.


It didn't take Caleb very long to pick up on the Olympic theme.

As I've mentioned in past blogs, I have been training for the OKC Memorial 1/2 Marathon, which is next Sunday. Since I last updated, I was diagnosed with a small tear in my meniscus (knee) and couldn't run more than a mile for about 3 weeks. I was quite concerned that I'd not be able to do anything but walk the 1/2 (and, of course, I'd already paid the entry fee for the race). After much PT, rest, and prayer, I am happy to say that my knee is just fine with little to know pain and swelling. Here's a picture of part of the group that I run with. We're slow but steady :)


As you begin to add miles, one common recommendation is to take an ice bath after your longer runs. After a particularly grueling 9 miles of hills (the toughest in the history of the Fleet Feet training program, according to most), I bravely attempted the ice bath. I think Aaron and Caleb got a very sadistic joy out of adding more and more ice cubes to the bath!


Harper talking up a storm. My personal fave phrase:


Caleb and Harper working on "parallel play" (aka not screaming and fighting while in the same room).


One thing I love about Riverfield is the concept open-ended materials. For example a piece of plastic birthday cake can really only be a piece of plastic birthday cake but an empty spool can be a number of things. And apparently, so can an empty tampon box :) It is very handy for carrying around his Cars.


I signed up for e-mealz.com to help with dinner planning and grocery budgets. Some people (hint hint, Aaron and Caleb) are too picky for about 1/2 the week's suggested menus but they are super simple recipes, like this pizza roll that Caleb helped me with.


We finished another season of soccer, this time with several friends from church. Very fun, especially now that the moms (and dads) can sit on the sidelines and chat instead of being out of the field with the kiddos.


One thing that became clear during soccer is that Caleb will probably not be a champion sprinter. The odd thing is that I swear he's faster at home when I tell him it is time for a bath. Maybe he'll be more of a distance runner like me!


One day after soccer, several of us went to Incredible Pizza. Caleb and Owen loved the simulator ride.


A new experience for us - finger painting. And, shocking, Caleb wanted to use only the yellow and green paints.


The same trip to Michael's that produced the finger paints also included this special hat for Harper G.


Caleb has picked up an eclectic mix of "favorite" songs - Benny and the Jetts, All You Need Is Love, Life Is a Highway, We Will Rock You, and this little gem:

Caleb demonstrates his "cranky face." Funny when he does it when you ask; not so funny when
he's trying to be a real cranky face.


For as cautious as Caleb was in his younger years (like 3 is SOOO old!), he is growing more and more brave. Aaron was grilling out and came back out to the back porch to find Caleb climbing along the outside of the decking.


Harper chatting it up:


Well, I survived my 30th birthday and lived to tell about it! The day itself was great - shopping with mom and the kids, then dad joined us for sushi lunch. That night, we were going out to dinner with my family and, much to my surprise, Aaron had coordinated to have a group of friends join us. This was no easy feat, especially since I didn't decide where I wanted to eat until about 3:00 that afternoon. He called everyone to invite them that day, decorated with lots of balloons, and even found a bakery in town that would make a truly black cake (not just dark brown). It was beautiful! And it was a mess for adults and children alike.


The weekend after my birthday, a group of girlfriends headed to Edmond for a girls night out at a place called Nothing But Class. As you can tell from the picture below, the evening included dinner, a few margaritas, and a pole dancing class. It was a lot of fun!


What those pictures don't show is that I actually was fighting a stomach virus. Aaron and Caleb were down with it as we left town. I hadn't been feeling great but was thinking "mind over matter" (thanks, mom, for that hint growing up). Unfortunately, my stomach didn't get what my mind was trying to say and I threw up several times in my friend April's Land Rover on the way to OKC, recovered enough to enjoy dinner and some dancing, then threw up again on the way home. It was still a blast of an evening though!

Many of Caleb's church friends have spring birthdays (crazy that his friends are FOUR years old) so this is the start of birthday season for them. One of them was a super-hero birthday, complete with handmade capes and masks and a special super-hero name for each attendee. Caleb was Shape Fire. He wasn't too sure about the costume at first, then really got into it. And, I'll admit we've worn the mask to Walmart - it just wasn't worth the fight.


Easter was great this year, with wonderful weather and healthy family. We woke up and checked out our Easter Baskets. Incidentally, is the Easter Bunny the one that brings the basket of goodies, like Santa and stockings, or is that from parents and the Bunny hides the eggs?

One tradition is for our community to have an Easter potluck breakfast and everyone brings their children. After all, you've paid good money for their cute clothes and you have to show them off to more than just the nursery workers :) Caleb and his buds had lots of fun, even starting a mambo dancing line through the class at one point.


Our god-daughter, Ellison, who is getting soooo grown up.

Caleb waiting oh-so-patiently to take family photos before he can go hunt for eggs at my parents' house.

On the hunt:

Harper initially wasn't aware that there was anything inside the eggs. Once she figured that out, she switched to the "find an egg, open it, eat what's inside, then go find another egg" method.


Harper G is a total parrot. Our friends Bob and Mimi taught Caleb this when he was about Harper's age. She loves to do it now.


Trying to get HG to wear her sunglasses since it is full-on spring time now.

Caleb wears his glasses all the time - at school, during nap, in the car, etc.


Harper is perfecting many animal sounds. But her cat impression gets the most requests by us and everyone else.

Yesterday was my sister's 1 year anniversary. Happy 'Bershrey, Mo and Brian. To celebrate, I'm posting this photo taken at their wedding that I just found on my FB photo page today. I am pretty sure it's the last photo taken of just the two of us in like the last 6 years - ha!

This morning, Caleb goes in for extensive dental work. Turns out the one cavity we could see was only a part of the problem. By noon, he'll be the proud owner of 2 silver caps and at least 3 other fillings. Thankfully, he'll be out under an anesthesiologist's care and all teeth involved will fall out at some point. For the record, I did not put soda in his baby bottle or anything. He rarely even gets juice! The dentist says it could just be genetic; perhaps I should take Harper in before it gets out of control. I'm sure she'd be sooo cooperative!