Inspired by Friends

I know I am not the only one who asks themself sometimes what keeps us going, what makes us want to be a better person, and who do we look to for motivation. Yesterday I was hit in the face with inspiration. My friend and half marathon coach, Dave, competed in a Half Ironman yesterday at Joran Lake for the Duke Liver Center. What that means is he swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, and ran 13.1 miles. Can you even imagine? As I prepare to yet again just run the 13.1 miles, I can not wrap my head around those distances. Isn't the body amazing for being able to handle such activity. But...even more what I felt yesterday was the power of the mind and spirit. My spirit was swept up in Dave's desire to push himself to such a place. He didn't quite meet his goal of doing it under 6 hours. The gravel and grass run aggravated his achilles and ate away from the lead he had made on the other two legs of the race. I was in awe.

I was and am so thankful that he is my friend along with Laura and Holly who were there with me cheering him on. Who can be so fortunate to have good friends and then have those awesome friends inspire us to be better friends, parents, and athletes. I am amazed and find it very surreal that I have found a group of people to connect with on so many different levels. My sister in law is rocking out these amazing times on her runs too. I love having something new in common with her to add to the great things about her I love.

I guess having just had a birthday and not feeling older but noticing that I am getting older as my children grow in front of my eyes, I appreciate being able to push myself physically and attain such goals. I appreciate the inspiration I get from friends, my family, and even strangers. Yesterday, I got all choked up watching a boy run the last 50 yards with his father to cross the finish line. He made a memory with his Dad that was fun for him and huge for his Dad. Just an amazing day...and I got to share it with my girls who cheered for strangers, saw a friend accomplish a huge feat, and saw how important it is to support and be loyal to those most important in our lives!

Birthday Central

It's my old day...I mean birthday! It started out great last night with a yummy Bonefish dinner with friends. It is so nice to take a few hours to eat versus 20 minutes. Thankfully my birthday ends our streak of birthdays for a little while. We have Emily's and Connor's coming up next. Paige's birthday, last Monday, went great. She loves her bike and rather than going out to the restaurant of her choice, she decided she wanted pancakes with strawberries and syrup on top. I could handle that. On Friday the girls went to a birthday party for the Haskells. Scott got a night out for pizza since we had neither child for three hours. Nothing like a free babysitter for the night. I picked up Tate and Abbie after the party. They were sleeping over at our house and Paige was staying at the party for a sleepover with her best friend Jackie (her first one by the way). At home, Tate and Abbie talked about what they would do and were going to go get jammies on. Abbie ran up and Tate turned to me and like a light switch she was crying, "Mommy, I miss Paige." I was shocked. Almost daily Tate asks me to play with Paige so she and Abbie can be alone. This was her time at home alone and she missed her sister. It was so cute and something I vowed to write down so that in 5 or 10 years when they are fighting for time in the bathroom I can remember that face. I calmed her down and they had a great time until Paige called at 9pm not to talk to me or Scott but to say goodnight to Tate. It was just the cutest thing. I think as parents we don't realize that our kids have these rituals. They are so engrained into our routines that only when they bring them to our attention do we notice them. Every night Paige says goodnight to Tate right before she goes to sleep which is not always right when we put her to bed. Tate got a cracky voice but said goodnight to her. It was so nice to see them and a reflection of their bond. Just what a Mom needs sometimes.

My baby is five!

It's true. Paige turned five yesterday. Everything went great (except for when the girls cried over an earthworm Paige was trying to turn into a pet and Tate didn't want her to swish it--I swear Tate will end up working for PETA). Saturday was her party at Sonshine gymnastics. They bounced, did the zip line, jumped in the foam pit, and did an obstacle course. We do need to work on the gift deal. She got gifts Friday from her Nana, Saturday at her party and then Sunday from my parents and her aunt and uncle. So yesterday, we finally got to give her our gift--a Barbie bike that has the bike attachment for her barbie. This is what she wanted. She loves it, but did say, "I thought I would get more gifts today since it is my real birthday." Knife in the stomach. I took the time to explain that we must be grateful and helped her remember all the great things she had received over the last few days. She understands but I was surprised to hear her say that.

I just can't believe she is that old. She absolutely loves her new school. Her mannerisms are changing too. I get the head tilts now and hair flips that must come from having an older sister. It is so fun to go into new phases with them, but it is just happening so fast. Hold on!

Paige's first day of Transitional Kindergarten

Here she is...Miss TK! Paige loved her first day of TK with Ms. Laura at Sunrise United Methodist Church today. Her best friend is in her class, and she tells me she has already made another new friend named Abby. They eat lunch there too and unfortunately Scott forgot to take the candy out of the lunchable meal she took so she "got in trouble" the first day. It is actually my fault because I don't think I told him no candy. She took it great and ate the candy as soon as she got home.

Last night was hilarious. We were filling out a questionnaire the teacher had sent home at open house. It asked about likes, favorite things, dislikes. For likes and favorite things she only wanted to put KC (our now four month old cat) whom she adores. For dislikes, I told her I didn't think she had any. I used her friend Julia as an example because Julia is afraid of balloons, so the teacher would want to know in case a balloon was at school and Julia cried. She thought about it a minute and then said, "I'm afraid of tigers and haunted houses but I guess those won't be there so don't write anything." It was priceless.

Here she is playing with Linkin' Logs before Dad left. She had no problems! Yeah!

On your mark...get set...go!

That is how I feel our summer has gone...a race...enjoyable race that is. Week three of work and school has finally gotten me into a calmer routine. Since I last posted, Scott and I celebrated our 10th anniversary by going to Tybee Island, GA for a few days. Then the family returned to Kitty Hawk for another week of sun and sand in mid-August before work and school started.

Tate celebrated her 8th birthday on August 7th with a Do-It-Yourself birthday party. It was lots of fun. She made shirts, suncatchers, pizzas and decorate jumbo cupcakes with 7 of her closest friends (and her little sister who ate up all the big girl attention).

Now Paige awaits her birthday in September. We actually bought the plates and napkins yesterday. She'll be having a gymnastics party. I am so excited that I'll only have to make the cake and goodie bags for this one. I think she wants a heart. I always find their cake choices interesting. Tate had a mermaid this year.

So I promise to write more now that our normal routine of school, dance, and soccer has started again. Tate scored the first goal of the season at her first game last Saturday. We have real refs now!