preschool fun

L-man goes to a preschool at a nearby church and I cannot say enough good things about this place. Oh my word it is perfect for us. Teachers, staff, program, extra outside-of-school activities, parent involvement, etc. All of it I love and it has been a major blessing in our lives since he started this past January. Since this is our first Fall experience in school we have had tons of fun with activities offered through the school. 

 First up was a Fall Festival put on by the actual church the school is run through. Completely free, with a fun animal petting zoo area, hayride, balloons, bounce houses, and lots of fun carnival games for kiddos to play in. Lady-LE doesn't smile for pictures on demand very well still, but she really was enjoying herself.

 That is until her balloon flew away into the sky. It was after L-man had already lost his because of his refusal to tie the ribbon onto his wrist, and I was warning Lady-LE about the very same thing as she's pulling her string off. I didn't offer much sympathy for her, and instead took pictures of her sadness. I guess I'm not very sensitive!

 After a while she was alright. We played their cake-walk game for probably 20 minutes. Dancing to all sorts of songs along the path. They had enough spaces for 90 people to play the game at the same time. This thing was huge!

A bat ring was a perfect game prize for this little guy. 

 And the Titanic bounce house slide was a huge hit as well. 

 We ended the outing with delicious samples of dessert crepes and snowcones while we listened to a really cute brass band played by the senior members of their church. Oh my heart melted and the kids loved clapping after every song. 

 The next family event the preschool did was their annual Fall Fiesta fundraiser, and Ry guy was able to come with! What a treat! We took advantage of the gorgeous trees on the church's campus and played in the leaves for a little while before going inside for the activity. 

 Love it when her genuine smile is caught on camera!

 These leaves! And these babies! Oh my word I'm a lucky mamma. 

 Inside the fun did not stop. There was this 'Bubble Man" who the kids adored. The goal was to try and blow the bubble around the room without popping it. That goal always lasted maybe 20 seconds before the kids couldn't stand it any longer and had to pop it!  

 L-man was completely entranced by it all. 

 I didn't time the picture right for Lady-LE, nor did she really even like it that much. But she still likes to do whatever L-man is doing, so it was worth it. :) The night included a yummy dinner and some auctions that I helped out with trying to raise money for scholarships. Cute! I just love family activities where our entire family can actually be together! :)

 The month of October was definitely busy for preschool fun! They did a really cute Halloween activity where all the kids did a costume parade. 

 They announced each child's name as they walked around this little circle patch. It's so funny for me to people-watch the mom's of the kids. But of course I'm right there in the middle of it all with my own camera thinking that my child is the best in the world. I love this stage of life!

 Not a bad spot stuck in between all these princesses, eh L-man?

They had three four-year old classes, and here's L-man. After pictures they did a trunk or treat, and some of those trunks were decorated so perfectly! It was a perfect start to our Halloween weekend! 

I love this preschool. Have I already said that?

race for the cure

We {at least me, and I'm dragging Ry-guy along for the ride} have a goal to run in a Race for the Cure every year. Find last's year run here. 

 Here we are after the Race for the Cure 2012! 

Hooray for happy pictures, because it helps us remember the good. 

It doesn't take away the bad, like how 2 weeks ago I ran 15+ miles and this day I couldn't even run 3. Or how my knee was hurting so bad that I was literally hopping while I ran/jogged so I could propel myself farther with my left leg to make up for the lack of motion in my right. Or how I was experiencing so much frustration and pain about the fact that I couldn't do a measly 5k and wanted to run for the sake of running while Ry was determined {to the stubborn point} that we were sticking together and he was not going to run without me. He kept saying the point was to be together as a family, even if we were walking. And I was just mad that I had to walk and tried to push him to run and get a good time {literally, I did push him. Still didn't work}. Eventually I tried my best to stop being such a grouch and make the most of our time together and focus on the cause we were supporting. It hurt to walk the rest of the day. This knee injury has certainly messed up my game plans. 

So no, the happy pictures don't take away the bad. They just help us focus on the good. And I am grateful for that. 

 The kids played in a Kids Zone area afterwards and we made our rounds for bananas and free pens. :)

And yes, this is how family pictures normally turn out. At least you can see the top of their heads to confirm they were there. 

Just like last year, our neighborhood put on their annual Oktoberfest the same night as the race. The kids loved the dinner and bounce houses, and we all enjoyed seeing neighbors and playing together. 

While we did finish the race together as a family, next year I'm running the whole thing again with strength and gusto. That is unless L-man is too big for that stroller and runs with us. In that case I guess I might as well get used to the family pace and taking lots of breaks. Hopefully I'll be in a better mindset to appreciate it next year. :)

post-ragnar dc fun

After the race ended my family and I drove to our hotel in Maryland. D & A were able to hang out for another day, and we wanted to take advantage of being together! My rockstar brother, who just ran 20.6 miles with the largest increase of elevation gain on the team, still wrestled with the kids on the hotel bed. Seriously?! There's nobody like him. He's awesome like that.

AND we celebrated the completion of the race by visiting Cafe Rio. How lucky are we to eat this yummy food on the east coast! Loved it. Oh, and I still wasn't able to finish my burrito. 

Sunday we chose to hit up the National Zoo, since it would appeal to the kids. For roughly the first five or so years of my life my family lived south of DC in Virginia. My dad worked at the Pentagon, so we frequented the area, and it's always really fun for my parents to come back to visit and realize how much has changed in 20+ years. 

 It really is such a beautiful zoo, and the kids loved it.

 This little miss was all over the place. Crazy hyper and full of energy. But still continued to win me over even after throwing tantrums on the nasty, dirty floor. Yuck.

 We found ourselves at a fun little amphitheater space and the kids loved climbing and posing for pictures. It was cracking me up how much they wanted their pictures taken. 

 Sweet little M didn't seem to agree. He was on the move, and did not want to be interrupted. :)

 B and L-man were in charge of the maps, and were quite the tour guides. 

Lady-LE would strike this pose every.single.time I put the camera on her. My mom and I were dying laughing from it, and even the memory of it makes me laugh. 

 I think Grandma B was completely wrapped around her finger, and Lady-LE took full advantage of that. 

Pure happiness.

 It was wonderful having a few more hours to play with D&A. We never thought this would happen when I originally talked to D months earlier about joining our Ragnar team. It was a complete fluke that it all came together as it did, and what a major blessing that was. 

 My parents and I ended the day by visiting the temple that night. It was a perfect way to end our trip, even if it was really cold! 

And yes, we did eat an entire bag of peanut butter m&ms on the drive home the next day. I had totally earned it. Apparently so did Lady-LE. 

running the ragnar

What we saw first thing Friday morning. This gorgeous lake covered in fog at the starting line.

Back in September {yes, I'm going that far back. A little embarrassing.} I ran in the Washington DC Ragnar race. It's a team relay run, 12 people, 200 miles, within a 36 hour time zone. They have these races all across the country, and I was shocked to be asked to join a team of people from my church. But when we first started putting the team together I got excited and super scared. I started running, and trying to train for it. I knew some people on my team were serious athletes - one ran at the college level, a couple others do triathlons and other crazy races all the time, and practically everyone else had been in various running races and my pace was much slower than theirs.

These first couple pictures are professional ones by Ragnar.  If you look closely, you can see my profile behind the girl in the blue shirt. ha!

Training was awesome for me. I loved having a personal goal to reach, one that made me sore and physically tired afterwards yet at the same time gave me more energy. Yes it was inconsistent at best. I would often miss a run here or there, and I was often second guessing myself all along. But I kept going, and thankfully felt positive peer pressure to step up my game. My training hit a peak when I ran in a 10k at the end of August with a pace of an 8:56 mile. I was on cloud nine for improving that much! The race was towards the end of September, so I felt like I could seriously maintain and maybe even slightly improve that time within the last month of training.

That's when frustration and pain took over. During one of my daily 3-mile runs a couple weeks before the race, my right knee starts sending me searing pain signals. I push through as long as I can, but eventually stop and walk home. Completely taken off guard. My knees have always been easily irritated, but I was doing what I needed (I thought) to deal with it and the pain hadn't increased until that day. I rested a couple days, and tried again with the same result, but this time the pain started earlier. Mad and unsure of what this meant, I didn't run for a week. I missed my longest pre-race run, and hadn't accumulated enough mileage under my belt like I wanted to. I tried one more run a few days before the race, and it only confirmed to me that I was in serious danger of failing. I could not run a mile before the pain in my right knee was unbearable. The pain moved around, wasn't in the same place twice it felt like. I figured after reading a few things that it was my IT Band and I was stuck with something that wasn't going away any time soon.

Gorgeous scenery through Maryland.

The week of the race I was an emotional wreck. My knee hurt to use the stairs. My knee hurt simply standing up. My knee hurt by walking on it. And I was supposed to run 15.1 miles in just a couple days. Oh I was scared. I was so mad that all this effort, all these months of training, and it was all ruined in a matter of days. I was convinced that it was my lack of cross-training that initiated the pain, and was mad that it was my own fault. I was terrified of letting my team mates down. Especially after my brother was able to fill the most challenging spot on the team after another guy got injured and I was so looking forward to running with him. I was scared of the pain I was going to endure, and the consequences of what would happen if I had to stop half way through. Seriously - I was a wreck.

A friend of mine and her family along the way. If it weren't for this gal I probably wouldn't have done it! 

But I was committed, and no matter what anyone told me I was stubborn and determined to at least try. Miracle after miracle happened, thanks to my parents help and bag balm of all things. My father has been trying my whole life to convince me of it's wondrous powers, and I have always held my doubts (or jokes). No more. I am converted.

Proof that I got at least one road kill as they call it when you pass someone. Felt good! 

In all seriousness, I did see and feel miracles happening. The pain and knowledge of it was always there. But I was able to run and ultimately finish my race. I wasn't as prepared as I had been before the injury started, and my pace was slower than my best. But I was at least able to maintain my predicted pace and not slow the team down. I felt wave after wave of gratitude for this small blessing that meant so much to me. The timing of all my runs was perfect, mid-day, late evening, early morning; and even the location of these runs felt like tender mercies from God. I was able to finish and feel strong even though I was completely spent and exhausted. I was compensating for my knee which then led to other pain throughout my body.

Medals at the finish line on Saturday 

 But I finished. And my team finished. And I have the best memories of it all.
Oh it was so fun and exhilarating!

The people I ran with in my van were a complete inspiration to me. The greatest support staff in the world, and I learned many lessons from them. My brother was sadly in the other van, but I got to see him at the major exchanges and touch base with him every once in a while. He seriously rocked it, and I was so proud!

Waiting for our last runner so we could all cross the finish line together.

Throughout the entire training and race experience, I learned countless lessons - both physical and spiritual. I would do it all over again in a heart beat, doing everything in my power to eliminate that awful knee pain. It is a goal of mine for Ryan to join me for another Ragnar race someday. Maybe even this year! He still needs a lot of convincing, but I think with the right kind of peer pressure I can get him.

D's whole family came down with him and they played with my parents and my kids while D and I ran. It was so fun to see them at the finish line!

My heart burst with happiness when I saw these kiddos! I felt so strong and capable as a person, and I couldn't wait to wrap them in a hug and cover them with kisses. It felt SO good!
What an awesome experience - one that dozens of people helped with to all make possible. I'll never forget it.