Our Little Runner

After Finn had such a good time running part of a 5k with me the other week, I knew he would be excited to run in his very own race so I signed him up for a kids' race that took place yesterday. It was part of the "Warriors for William" event which is a very sweet Superhero themed race against childhood cancer. All proceeds go to childhood cancer research and the race is held in honor of a local boy who passed away recently from a rare form of leukemia. 

I have a very wonderful friend, my oldest childhood friend, who had leukemia when we were young. She is a fit and amazing new mama now, but these causes always tug at my heart a little extra because of what Bridget went through when we were growing up. I was excited to get to support this cause and to put the kids in matching Captain America shirts for the event. And Finn was thrilled to see so many other Superheroes in attendance.

I told Finn to stand by Mary for a picture. 

He said, "but she's sleeping" to which I replied, 

"I know, this way she will cooperate."

Speaking of cooperating. . . 

Picture taking aside, Finn was really cooperative when it came time to his race. There were at least thirty kids, Finn and a few others being the youngest in the bunch. I was kind of worried about him getting trampled at the start, but fortunately the big kids made their way around the littles with no incident.

Thor was stretching next to him and Batman was in the zone, 

but he didn't let that get in his head.

There was a 5k for all ages as well as a half mile kids' race, though I think it was closer to a quarter mile as it felt pretty short and Finn had no problem running the whole thing all on his own. Because it was advertised as a half mile I assumed I may have to jump in and run along side him or see if he needed to walk for a bit or hop in the stroller, but instead I would run up ahead and watch him just keep on running, not stopping until he went through the finish line and got his very first finisher's medal to which he said, "I won the race, mom!"

The picture doesn't show how sweaty he was. 

I'm so proud of the little guy. He is still so young that racing with bigger kids could have gone either way - he could have seen people running faster than him and had a meltdown (as seen when I wanted a pre race picture), or he could have just refused to participate. But instead he just ran and kept going and it really will be something I'll carry with me when I do my next long race.

This is why I wanted a picture while she was sleeping. 

Because Lord help me if I want a cute picture of them both looking at the camera!

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Microblog Monday: Get Off Me, Mary!

There have been WAY too many incidents involving bodily fluid from members of the family over the last couple weeks to include Roscoe. Damn, lovable, disgusting Roscoe. Last weekend I was hit with a very sudden and very vicious stomach bug that caused me to vomit every possible thing that was in my body for a period of five hours. Then I proceeded to lay in the fetal position for the next 24 hours leaving the TV and Roscoe responsible for babysitting. I was so grateful that the kids were spared, though Mary's diapers were not, until this weekend when Finn got sick. This morning by 7:30 I had already done two loads of laundry, changed one set of pajamas and sheets, and cleaned up far too much vomit. I won't even get in to Roscoe's latest antics because gross. Just so, so gross.

Anyway, what I am grateful for (and totally jealous of) is how quickly kids recover. There was no lying in the fetal position for Finn. By breakfast he wanted waffles and he was acting just fine throughout the day, though he would tell me that his tummy would like some Gatorade (sure it would you little liar). He was tired (understandably so) and at one point late in the morning I hear him saying, "Mary, get off of me." "Mary, I'm trying to sleep. Get off of me, Mary!" 

This girl. She's a sassy little one. But we sure do love her. Even when she squishes us.

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Finn's First 5k

Yesterday we ran the Tunnel to Towers 5k which is a race that happens all over the country in honor of Stephen Siller who was a New York Firefighter killed in 9/11. He ran back to the towers (via the tunnel systems as the roads were blocked) in full kit after his shift ended. The firefighters and Rangers wear full kit which is what Miles' did for last year's race, but unfortunately he's away for this year's race so Finn was my running buddy instead along with my good friend Michelle who was nice enough to capture these pictures for me.

Local boy and girl scouts wear pictures of all the fallen first responders and line up along one of our big parks during the half way point of the race. During that very powerful stretch of the race I let Finn get out of the stroller and run with me. He was thrilled. He gave high fives all along the way and the louder people would cheer the more he would pump his little arms and hustle those little legs. He ran again at the finish and while participating in this run is already so special, seeing him run his little heart out really made it that much more memorable. 

Look at those little arms in action.

Michelle with our little runner. I love that even the kids got bibs.
Finn felt so official.

I purchased that headband on zulily a few months ago
never thinking I would get as much use out of it as I have! Murica!

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Playing Hooky on The First Day (Not Really. Sort Of)

So technically Finn was supposed to start school today. But at the last minute I've decided (I think!) that I'm going to send him three days a week instead of five and I think that means he will be on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, but I could be wrong and he could be on a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday schedule in which case he missed his first day today. Oops! But if he did, we had a great reason (not really) to play hooky; the beach!

After we ate breakfast I just thought, "we should go to the beach" and asked Finn if he wanted to go, to which he replied, "yes, I'm gonna go get my suit on" and sprinted out of the room to get ready. So that was that. We packed a lunch and headed to the beach. And we had SUCH a good day out there. The weather was perfect - warm but not too hot, cloudy at times, with a tiny sprinkle at one point that left as quickly as it came in (we just sat under the umbrella but it was pleasant to be in regardless), cool, but not too cold water. . . really, I couldn't have asked for better weather conditions. And there weren't many other people there and no other kids (most of them are probably going to school on time). 

Sometimes the beach can be overwhelming and exhausting, but today it was just lovely and the perfect way to end our summer.

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I Cleaned the Keurig (and Other Small Miracles)

I have about an hour before I need to force myself to go to bed and when I get in bed, I can read or fall asleep. I'm trying to forbid myself from any screen time when I'm laying in bed. I've read how it makes it harder for your mind to wind down and of course the real problem for me is that it just makes me stay up later than I intended. My sister-in-law and I were texting last night and trying to think of ways to encourage one another to actually start doing some of the things we say we are going to do (like go to bed earlier). I am not very good at keeping on top of a lot of the little things on my to-do list and eventually my list is overwhelming and I find myself just thinking about all the things I need to do and not actually doing them.

Today I decided I needed to do it, just do it. I had a pretty busy day scheduled already, but knew I could knock out a couple big (and little) things on my list. I watched a friend's kids for a couple of hours and we are also dog sitting this weekend for two friends, so for part of the day I had three dogs and four kids in the house. As a result "clean the playroom" was added to my list of things to do.

A lot of little creatures up in here

 After half the kiddos left I had to take my car to get an oil change which is only about 1.5 miles away. So I dropped the car off and ran back home, pushing the kids in the stroller where I came home to the most thoughtful care package of Trader Joe goodies from my friend Brandy. We don't have Trader Joe's here (SUCH a tragedy) so I was especially thrilled for all the treats!

Then after the kids' nap I ran back to get my car. I put MA's hair up real quick so she wouldn't get her lollipop stuck in it (because that's right dentist, I give my kids' suckers!) and she gave me this look which I fear I may see a lot of during the teenage years:

Then back home for more cleaning and taking care of things I've been putting off for too long like changing out burnt out light bulbs and even washing out some lights that had dead bugs in them. Gross! I cleaned two bathrooms, put away clothes (though not all), did one load of diaper laundry, and prepared one bag for Goodwill. 

Safety First. Make the kids do it!

My biggest accomplishment of the day was cleaning the entire kitchen. I let the counter creep take over far too much recently and it was long overdue for a good cleaning. I even wiped down all the appliances and cleaned the Keurig! I pretty much feel like a rockstar and the sad thing is I think most people are actually really good about keeping up with most of this stuff on a regular basis. For me, it's blog worthy when it actually gets accomplished.

What's on your to-do list or what have you been avoiding? Next up for me is applying another coat of touch up paint to the stairs that Miles recently installed, cleaning my bathroom, get a long run in, and download and organize pictures. I probably will spare you another blog about such boring accomplishments.

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Almost the End of Summer; Or, When Does Finn go Back to School Already!?

Yesterday the kids were driving me NUTS. Finn wasn't too bad though he struggled with listening on and off most of the day, but Mary was just difficult! She's rounding the corner to two and becoming quite the sassy little lady. Everything was an ordeal - putting her in the carseat (seriously I feel like I'm hurting her forcing her in the darn thing!), changing her diaper, putting her in the high chair, not letting her give Roscoe a bone for the third time, etc, etc. She was such a pill so combined with Finn's poor listening and inability to follow directions and combined with the fact that we had just gotten home from a trip to Florida and the house was (still is) a mess, laundry needs to be done, baths need to be taken . . . I just was crabby and short on patience.

But, we've got less than a week until Finn starts school and while that will mean packing lunches and hustling out the door in the morning, I'm looking forward to getting back in a routine (and pawning my kid off so I can have some Mommy and Mary time at Target).

This really was a quick summer, even though some days (like yesterday) were longer than others. We finished our summer with a trip to Destin, Florida to visit my Aunt and Uncle. I wish I had more pictures to share from out time there, but seriously most of the pictures I took were of my poor swollen ankle that was stung by a wasp just before getting in the car. The bugger wrecked havoc on my foot - not only did I have an allergic reaction (fortunately not affecting my airway) and my foot and leg swelled up all the way up my shin, but I also got cellulitis from the wasp infecting me! I ended up going to Urgent Care to get a steroid shot in my hip and a round of antibiotics. Here's the lovely picture I posted on Instagram of my ogre looking foot:

With summer coming to a close it means Finn won't be at my stroller class in the mornings. I'm a little worried Mary won't be as entertained with brother gone and therefore try to escape (this child seriously does not like being restrained):

I also am a little worried that Mary will miss Finn during the day. I feel like they've really started to play together and they are so used to spending all day with one another, I'm curious what it will be like when Finn isn't around as much. Her adoration of him is pretty cute and I've enjoyed seeing them interact.

"Helping" me unpack some throws for a fundraiser

They may drive me up the wall some days, but I I just need to remember that it's not me, it's THEM! And then look at cute pictures like this before I go to bed each night so I can reset and get ready for another day:

Though I shouldn't look too closely or I'll worry Finn was actually choking her

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