Sleeping Beauty's Nightmare

At 4:30 this morning, Anabelle came sprinting down the hallway to our room sobbing.

She had a nightmare.

She was wide awake from it, and wanted to lay there and tell us all the graphic details.

"Well... I was laying in bed, and then I found a skeleton playing under my bed, and he hopped out, and then he jumped on top of my dollhouse, and then, he tried to get in my bed to snuggle me and he wanted to MARRY me!, but I didn't want tooo! SO I tried to hide from him under my covers, but there was a giant octopus under there, and he started eating my blankets..."

It was the freaking cutest nightmare I've ever heard.

Oh, Shoot.

So, I'm suddenly obsessed with guns.

Well, not really. That could sound disturbing, so I take it back... kind of.

I was talking with Terese tonight, and rediscovered my overwhelming urge of late to go shooting. I want to learn to handle a gun... and do it well.

I know. I can't even believe I come from here and don't already know all there is to know on this topic and then some. I'm sort of surprised it wasn't an elective at my high school to tell you the truth.

My family isn't really a 'gun' family. My dad isn't in to hunting or anything... and my mom... lets just say she's a lover, not a fighter. Ha.

I don't want to be a fighter either, really.

I just want to try something new, and master a new skill.

I think im making this my official New Years resolution (better late than never?). Its my 'dare' to myself for 2010.

I'll keep you posted.

Two Four Tea

So.... guess who's just about four years old?

That would be my beautiful Anabelle Lee alright.

Her bff Addisen is one month and a couple days ahead of her... so this year, her amazing mother and I decided to collaborate our efforts, split the cost, and throw a double birthday bash right smack in the middle of both of their birthdays.

Kari mostly did the decorations, and I mostly did the food. We had a perfect excuse to spend a couple evenings together planning after the kids went to bed... and it was half the cost, and half the time. I would highly recommend it if you happen to be so lucky as to have such an amazing friend as I do.

I had been eying this adorable pink and green pastel plaid set of ceramic teapots and plates at Kmart since last Easter... and happened to be at the store on the day they were finally marked to $1/plate and $3/teapot. I doubt even a thrift store would have sold them at those prices, I was elated. So... that was our color scheme.

Kari made the tablecloth, and the napkins, and some adorable matching hair bows for party favors... then raided her highly organized craft bin of birthday party's past for the rest... and wha-la!:


A party was born.





Dawson was the only lucky gentlemen in attendenance. Isnt he dapper?

And our darling birthday queens:

We painted finger nails, dined on fancy finger food, and enjoyed watching all the kids practice their table manners.


Games included a home made rendition of "Pin the Spout on the Teapot,"


And musical chairs... Although some of the little dahlings (AHEM, ANABELLE!) had a hard time processing what 'you're out!' means without having a diva meltdown...


Daddy was right there offering his shoulder to cry on... literally... and a fast remedy to any case of the party blues (at any age) is, of course!... pink champagne cake from Madonna Inn!



Anabelle loves presents just about as much as her mom does, if you can imagine that...


It was a great group of guests for the girls... they both invited 2 friends, plus their siblings... and had each other of course. It felt like just the right amount of everything.

The take home treasures were dress up accessories including hand sewn hair bows by Kari... that girl has magic fingers for crafting. They turned out adorable.

What a sweet, well mannered group of friends my kids have in their lives.

They don't know it yet, but at ages 4 and 5, they have some of the most valuable assets for achievement in life... friendship and love abounding.

What a blessing.

xo

Boys

The wonder works of a boy and his dad on a lazy Saturday afternoon...

Hope you're not too alarmed.

Meanwhile, Back at the Homefront...

Sooo, my darling husband has a reputation for being a pretty laid back guy.

Its pretty true... case and point follow:

I got a call from Ty mid afternoon on Saturday. He was working that day, and the kids were at their Grammie's house until he was supposed to get off. I cant remember if I was at the expo center in Phoenix getting ready to load my pockets with free crap, or standing in Chelsea's kitchen moments after arriving... but either way, the phone rang, and I remember thinking it odd that Tyson would be calling me in the middle of his work day, when he knew where I was and what I was doing...

He asked what we were up to, and I told him half anxious to get off the phone... it hadn't been that long since we'd talked, and its not like him to be needy... I was trying not to be rude as he was shooting the breeze...

Aaand, then he manages to casually mention that he was wounded on a job... and maybe, possibly, fraction of an outside chance of needing stitches.

"...say WHAT!?"

Evidently he was on his ladder and attempted to steady himself with his foot on some particle board shelving that was dry rotted. He ended up crashing thru a couple layers of the shelves and gashing himself down the back of the leg almost all the way down to the muscle with some rusty screws that were holding the unit together.


Yummmmm-o!!

He is such a trooper... 12 stiches later.


I have to say... its so nice to be home. I was only gone a couple nights, and while any haggard mom would love an indefinite time to getaway with her bff... it was really nice to come home to this:

He even vacuumed. (!?!?!?)

The kids missed me too... I think? ("Hi, Mom! Back so soon? WHATDJA BRING ME!??!?!")

Dawson DID ask me this morning if I was going to miss him as much as he missed me when I was in Arizona when he gets on an airplane to fly to Washington to visit his auntie Carly without me.

I guess that's love?

(Over my dead, cold, rotting corpse~! If HE gets to see Carly... then I get to see Carly...)

And speaking of love... I am kind of obsessed with my little running shrine that is slowly growing inside my closet.

I really don't run for the glory... more for the therapy, as I mentioned earlier... but the mementos really are inspiring to remind me to keep working hard on days I just don't feel like continuing on in my exercise regimen.


Keep em comming!

Im running another half marathon next month. Boo-ya!

13.1- Been There, Run That.

It.Is.Finished.

It feels kind of like passing a test... or a graduation of sorts. I'm SO glad the anxiety of this blessed event is gone, but I'm still left wondering what more the future could hold, how much I could improve, how much further I could go.

Its SUCH a love/hate relationship, this running thing.

It hurts. Its inconvenient. It smells bad. It takes time away from my already too short day and attention starved family.

But it adds such quality to my life, makes me a better mom and healthier and better looking wife, strengthens my friendships, and its basically free therapy.

This weekend was a huge pay-off for all the downsides.

The PF Chang's Rock and Roll marathon event in Phoenix, Az was absolutely amazing (there were over 40k participants, and probably at least another 40k spectators cheering us all on.

I asked my brother KJ to run with me on a whim a little over a month ago. He laughed it off at first, but eventually came around, and worked his tiny heine off in training almost daily. I can't believe the little snitch actually even ended up beating me in overall time... by exactly 55 seconds!!!

You better be lookin over your shoulder next time, little man! It is SO on.

There were 5 of us friends participating in total: Me, KJ, my best friend since high school Chelsea, her husband Wady, and her brother-in-law (and our friend), Robert.

Our times are as follow:

KJ: 2:12:01
Beth: 2:12:56
Robert:2:13:41
Chelsea: 2:29:39
Wady: 2:51:52

My sweet Dad (our event sponsor... ah, who am I kidding. He is my every-event sponsor), funded some sweet new shoes for KJ and I... pretty snazzy, eh?

The day before the race, we picked up our packets and loaded up with all the free stuff we could carry at the expo center:

That night, Chelsea's sweet sister had us all over for a carbo-load feast. I was already feeling the nerves.

The next morning, we set our alarms for 5:30am so we would have plenty of time to wake up, hydrate, caffienate, meditate (ha!) and fumble out the door by 6:30am to make sure we caught the shuttle. We were pretty close to on time schedule, and we STILL almost didn't make it to our starting corrals in time. As it turns out, its quite a project to navigate from one point to another in a crowd that large!

Talk about nerves.

But then, the race started, and it was ahhhhh-mazing.

The longest training run I had done before hand was 10.7 miles, and it hurt. Bad. I wasnt sure I was prepared. But I didn't account for the adrenaline rush you get from being in a new city, people you don't even know screaming and cheering you on, and of course, the anticipation of the blessed finish line.

There were all kinds of inspiring things to behold over 13 miles. People wearing wigs and/or tutus, old women with cottage cheese thighs who were running their little hearts out (if THEY could do it, then I didnt really have a choice, right!?), spectator signs that read "FREE BEER AHEAD!! (oh, and the finish line)," or "GOOOO, (insert your name here!!!)."

At one point, I passed a gorgeous blond with legs up to my chin. That felt good.

At another point, I passed 2 giant black guys. That felt good.

Later on, I found a group of runners holding a 2hr30minute marker sign, and I thought "I have GOT to pass them, I do NOT want my time over 2.5!"

I could almost see the finish line when I coudnt help but scream aloud "AHHHHHHHHH IT HURTS, IT HURTS, MAKE IT GO AWAY!" (mostly for dramatic effect), and this adorable little older lady in front of me looks over her shoulder and goes "C'mon honey! You can do it, you are ALMOST THERE!"

It melted my heart so much I forgot to whine the rest of the way (which really wasn't far from that point at all!).

All 5 of us had different start times, so we didn't see much of each other during the course. I started with Chels, but we got separated a couple miles in... and Robert and I saw each other once at the beginning, and then re-met a couple miles from the finish.

Victory for us all could NOT have felt sweeter.

Well, actually, maybe it was slightly sweeter for some of us more than others.... BwAhahahahah, Chelsea!

Chelseas family is SO sweet, I just love them all SO much. It feels like coming home every time I get to visit her and hang out with them.

Her sister, Ashley, has 2 young kids, and still seemed thrilled to lug them out into the elements in a crowd of 80 thousand+ people, find parking, skip nap times and eating schedules, and stand at a spectator point indefinitely just to take pictures and cheer us on. I'm thinking that sounds ALMOST as exhausting as running a half marathon itself.

Also on the cheer squad was Chelsea's mom, Jeri, who drove 2 hours to be there, and Robert's mom and Dad who came all the way from New Mexico to be supportive.

Maybe its silly, but it really means so so SO much that everyone in my circle and around my life is so encouraging. The day before I left, I posted on facebook about packing, and I seriously got chills reading all my friends voicing their little comments of well wishing. I actually even teared up a little (I know, I'm a baby)!

************************************************************************

The road trip with my brothers was looooong, but fuuuuuuun.

We found little ways to entertain ourselves as the miles passed.

Just when I thought I had gotten out of traveling with small children... I was wrong. ;)

Other highlights of the trip included simple pleasures such as the particularly lax pool surveillance at our favorite luxury resort in Scottsdale... thanks for the pre-run soak, Phoenician~!

And of course, food. With best friends, and family.

KJ said this picture was payback for the nose picking shot. But I kind of like it... so there!

Thanks for a fun trip, brothers. And for keeping me accountable to a hearty training regimen, Bethany Sobraske! And for the shoes and gas, Mom and Dad! And for the time away, husband and grandparents!

I have so much and so many to be thankful for.

TO LIFE, HEALTH, AND HAPPINESS... and MANY MORE EVENTS TO COME!

xoxo

First Post in 2010!

Whoa- did I fall into a time warp somehow? How the heck is it 2 weeks into the new year already?!

As I said before, I have a gooood feeling about this year. And, I like to think im pretty intuitive.

We're already off to a great start.

Tyson and I rang (rung?) in the next decade at home, in bed, asleep by midnight. Well, I was asleep, he was finishing the movie I didn't make it thru. Rawr.

We've had Ty around more than usual lately, which has been heavenly. He had a couple days off work over the holidays, and we made no plans at all and did nothing besides just everyday doings. He spent a lot of time with Dawson, playing with all the new Christmas loot. They boxed, played video games, and built this here robot from card stock cut outs inside a book Dawson got for Christmas.

I have been keeping busy with the kids as usual, and managed to take on a couple new little ones that are starting any day now (YES!). One of the newbies is a teensey tiny 3 month old (awe!), and one is Andy, who I already got to spend a fabulous day with. He is such a snugly little character, and its the next best thing to fill the toddler sized void that his sister left in our home when she moved on to the land of big kid.

When I'm not chasing babies, I'm still running. Literally. I feel like its all I do lately. On Friday I'm off to Phoenix for the PF Chang's Rock and Roll half marathon with the brothers. I'm SURE there will be pics soon to follow... IF I survive to tell about it. I did my longest ever run this weekend, alllll the way to Santa Margarita, 10.7 miles. And then, I collapsed into a puddle and woke up 4 days later. Not really, but the aftermath was NOT pretty. And it was still 2 miles shorter than I need to do in just six days from right this moment. Im pretty on track with the training schedule I've been following, but I'm still a bit apprehensive. Wish me luck!

Aside from that, we've just been chillin! Having the time of our lives playing at every park in town, enjoying the GORGEOUS 70 degree winter weather, and counting our many blessings of 2010.

Speaking of which, you will never guess who is turning four years old in a couple weeks, despite my repeated requests against it....