We Are Fam-i-ly...

Look, I finally posted a picture that has me in it too - not just kids... I love our family (and I am fairly fond of the pictures we got done last night too), there are roughly a million more pictures, but I'm going to spread them out over several posts instead of doing them all at once... and maybe (someday) I'll even update my header and my sidebar shots (and include Thundar in them)... hmmm, anyone know how to make cute headers?

5k... take two

So, back when I did my last 5k, I looked ahead to doing another one (weird, I know)... and I knew there was one at our zoo in November - so that was sort of the one I had my eye on.

Since I did the last 5k on my own (aka I didn't know anyone else running it), my running mentor had convinced me it'd be more fun with friends - although unfortunately she lives super far away. But that's okay. So I somehow convinced my mother-in-law and two of my sister-in-laws to try doing a 5k with me instead, really.

I just have to say, out of all of us, my mother-in-law deserves the most props, since she totally trained for it most and worked hardest to do this... SO impressive!

The day BEFORE the 5k I found out that BOTH of my sister-in-laws wimped out. Okay, so one was sick and the other had a friend unexpectedly come visit from out of town (maybe out of state, I'm not sure)... so they had semi-legitimate excuses. Also, people at our house were sick - including me. But, let's face it, I already paid for the 5k, so OF COURSE I was going to do it.

But.

I was sick.

So I started thinking I probably would not get my best time ever (and yes, I know this was only my second one)... and that made me start thinking about the two already-paid spots we had reserved, that weren't going to be used.

Long story short - I decided to ask Edelweiss if she would like to run with me. When we did a two-mile race back in October she kept being frustrated by the fact that we had to stay together, and with Godzilla being slower than her, we kept having to slow down for him. So I thought if I took JUST HER, that it'd give her a chance to really try and do her best.

Um, too bad I thought of this the DAY BEFORE the race. Oh well. So maybe she wouldn't do as well as she COULD have, if she had more time to prepare - but it'd give her a chance to try doing a 5k anyways, without having to constantly be told to 'slow down'.

So, that was my plan. And yes, I knew there was a good chance that taking an eight year old would mean I'd have to deal with a kid who didn't want to run the entire way... or who got tired before we were done... or whatever.

So, I asked her - yes she wanted to do this - and we got all ready on race day.

Dun, dun, dun.

She did SO GOOD!!!

I think it surprised her that I really COULD run faster than her (muhahaha, at one point she was telling me she was so much faster, so I full-on sprinted past her... just for a minute... she told me I had to slow down)... and sometimes she'd want to 'slow down' for a break when I could have kept running/jogging for longer... but she really did a lot better than I expected. I had a harder time with the slow down - speed up again thing than she did, I think... like I could have KEPT jogging/running more of it, but to slow down and then speed up so often was tougher for me.

We started out jogging, with the huge crowd of people 'starting' off the race... and we'd slow down to a brisk walk sometimes... then go back to jogging... and running, off and on. I expected her to be able to keep that up for maybe half or a third of the race, but she did better than that - she basically was able to do it the entire race. Towards the end (the last 1/4 maybe) I had to be the one to suggest we 'run again' every time, and she'd want to 'slow down' more often - but I talked to her about, when you're tired, finding a spot ahead and to keep pushing until then (like okay, when we pass that tree, THEN we'll slow down)... and she did really well at pushing through things like that, when we had a goal. AND she didn't complain or whine AT ALL. Not once! She also spent probably the first half of the race with a constant chatter about how running was going to be her new hobby and she was going to do it all of the time, and we could run together, and it was so much fun, and she was going to be the best runner ever. It was cute.

We even finished the race (which totally ended with a HILL... uphill... right before the finish line) running together - in just under 43 minutes. Slower than my last time, yes, but I still think it was worth it to include Edelweiss with me.

Also, on a fun note - I was 'number 1' - really! My race 'bib' (the number you wear) was ONE... like other people had '276' or 538' or whatever, and when we got my packet my number said '1'... awesome!

Nighty-Night

So our bedtime routine usually goes something like this...

Send all kids to brush teeth and floss... and mouthwash for Edelweiss (it says age six and up... Godzilla is actually really excited about turning six and using it too)... and yes, I brush Thundar's teeth (although he LOVES teeth brushing and would happily do it all himself, but yeah, he's only one...)... and have them all get into pajamas... you know all of that regular 'getting ready for bed' stuff.

Then after that's done, Edelweiss usually runs off to read in bed before 'lights out'. I read a story to Thundar (he'll pick out a book for us) and then I deposit him into his crib with several 'board books' (thicker pages) that he looks through - light still on in his room. After Thundar is in bed with his books -- Godzilla reads me a book, then I read him one. When we're done reading together, he gets sent to bed... that's when the light turns off in the boys' room (although he takes a couple of books to bed with him and uses his (very bright) nightlight to look at them for a little bit longer before he falls asleep).

See, nice plan - right? Sometimes Edelweiss will decide she wants to read with us - and she comes and joins us for reading, or asks me to read her a story too... it's all fine and dandy and happy... bedtime usually rather easy around here.

Um, but not so much last night.

Thundar has figured out how to climb out of his crib. He even CLIMBS down the outside, not just dropping to the floor when he gets over the edge...

So last night, I read him a story and put him to bed with his books.

Godzilla reads me a story, I'm reading a book to Godzilla... and Thundar comes out.

I figure it won't hurt for him to join us, so he sits with us as we finish the book. Godzilla thinks we need to RE-read the book, so that Thundar can hear the entire thing. Um, okay... they are all cute and cuddly and bedtime-ish, so we read it again... sort of... Thundar keeps flipping pages too fast. Oh well, send the boys to bed.

Thundar gets back up.

Put him back to bed.

Thundar gets back up.

Ask him if he wants to sleep with Godzilla (who thinks this is a FANTASTIC plan)... so both boys are now on Godzilla's bed.

Thundar gets back up.

Also, he is keeping Godzilla up and awake.

Put Thundar in the playpen in Edelweiss' room (she's already asleep, for some reason she fell asleep super-fast last night, and it was already set up from when I'd watched a friend's kid not too long ago).

Thundar gets back up (apparently he can climb out of the playpen too).

Put him back in the crib.

He gets back up.

Put him back in the crib.

He gets back up.

Um, I think you get the idea... right?

It was almost 11pm before we got the little stinker to STAY in bed (well, the playpen in his sisters' room) and go to sleep!

I am sooooooooooooooooo tired, and will apparently never be able to shower again (since I usually sneak that in during nap time)... *sigh*

Happy Halloween!!!

Last year we really didn't do any dressing up (lame, I know!)... even if we did make 'pumpkin stew'... this year Godzilla REALLY wanted to be a jedi -- like he started talking about how much he wanted to be a jedi back in June and has never ever asked about anything so consistently in his entire life. So despite the cost, I figured we should let the kid be a jedi, and we'd just go less-expensive with the costumes for the other two (Edelweiss was totally into the idea of a punk fairy princess costume we sort of put together ourselves with things we had, Thundar couldn't care less, so some skeleton pjs made life easy for him), since as much fun as it would have been to coordinate all of their costumes (seriously, Thundar as a darth vader to Godzilla's jedi?! It'd be hilarious! Edelweiss could be Padamae or some cute girlie jedi (she was less interested in Leia or being 'Queen Amadala')) it would have ended up costing WAY to much -- then I found a jedi costume at a consignment shop (score!), so that made it even better.


He has worn his jedi costume all over town at this point - grocery shopping, pta meeting, running errands... and everywhere we go it makes people smile (even if he does NOT get to take his light saber everywhere we go)... it's been really fun... they didn't especially mind NOT doing any dressing up last year, but it's been fun to have them SO excited about their costumes and dressing up - five year olds SHOULD be thrilled to pretend, and live out their fantasy, of being a jedi, I think.


Anyways, we are excited about fun halloween plans here (we already did 'trunk or treat' at church, and a 'party' at home so that DH could be involved (since he has to work during all of the other fun halloween times - we decorated cookies and watched halloween movies together as a family last night)) and we're going to a 'zoo boo' tonight... we hope your halloween is super-fun too!

Saddest Baby in the World

Thundar is crying like his little life is over.

And I ran over his favorite puppy.

Twice.

And, on top of everything else, maybe there are no more crackers or bananas in the world...

Yup, he is THAT sad.

He really (really, really, really) wanted to put a mickey mouse sock and a pair of plaid shorts in the dirty clothes... unfortunately he was taking them OUT of the laundry basket I JUST unloaded from the dryer. Um, I don't like doing laundry enough to do the same laundry over and over all day long (and yes, I know it feels an awful lot like I do that anyways - but LITERALLY over and over again was a little too much to ask).

So now he is sad.

Oh so very, very sad.

I think it's nap time.

Vegetarian

Edelweiss has decided that she is going to be a vegetarian, except for holidays or special occasions (really, that's what she said).

Is it just me, or doesn't she seem sort of young for that?

I'm not really super-surprised she'd want to try it, but I would have expected it in a couple of years... not at 8.

Oh well.

So I talked to her about how to get vegetarian meals at school, and what things are/are not meat (she wanted to know which things she should/shouldn't eat).

I am pretty sure it is very much related to her love of 'eragon' and 'eldest' (the dragon rider becomes a vegetarian, I think specifically except for holidays and special occasions - although I haven't read them in years, so I may be remembering wrong)... but I figure if she wants to do that, that she can try it out for herself.

She told me I can just make her something else to eat, if the rest of us are having meat - and that I told her "um, no"... but I did point out that there were things at our meals she COULD eat - even if she didn't eat the meat. Like if we had a salad and some sort of meat, she could just have more salad... or whatever. She seemed to think that was a good idea.

Honestly, we don't eat meat all that often anyways, so we haven't even run into anything like that yet (um, although this is a fairly new pronouncement of hers).

I'm curious how long she'll stay with it.

barf...

Thundar has been SOOOO grumpy lately.

I was trying to decide if he is just getting frustrated because he doesn't have all of the communication skills he'd like to (although he IS totally snowballing in the new-word-department lately - so many new words!)... or what his problem was.

Until he woke up sad last night, and when I went in to see what was wrong - he barfed all over.

Ew.

My poor baby.

I got him all cleaned up, stuff in the washing machine... cuddling with a sad baby... and he barfed again, all over me.

Double-ew.

It takes special skills to be barfed on by a little one, since you can't freak out - it'll only make them more upset.

*sigh*

Now, today, I am trying to keep his 'diet' fairly easy on his poor tummy - and he doesn't understand why he can't eat whatever he likes/wants... and that makes him sad... my poor baby, life is so hard.