Date night

The husband and I got a date night last night, the first time in awhile, and we had a great evening.  We saw Thor 2 in theaters, had dinner at Chili's, read in bed, and then got to sleep in this morning.  I haven't slept until 7:30am for ages!  We had breakfast together, went to Wal-Mart to get a few things for Christmas/Santa, and then picked up the girls at their grandparents' church where they were playing.  I'm so happy for date nights!

L's T-ball experience (from my perspective)

L's experience in t-ball has been most comical to me.  I realize that all the kids are 3, 4, or 5, but it doesn't lessen the humor.  At practices, the coaches have learned to make the kids run the bases about three times before starting because they are hyperactive/excited to be there with their teammates.  L's throwing needs improvement - it goes about 10 feet and in the opposite direction she needs to throw it.  She's gotten to the point that she practically runs to the place where she wants to throw it (e.g. first base), and then throws it.  Her hitting is better, but she has problems holding the bat up properly before swinging.  Sometimes, she swings, misses, does a 360, and then hits the ball on the turn around.  Ha!  Running bases, though, is my favorite:  she either skips or gallops to wherever she needs to go, and does so at the most lackadaisical pace.  Most of the time, the ball beats her to the base, but she doesn't seem to mind at all - she greets the baseman with a smile, tries to hold his hand, and then sings to everyone around.

I'm so glad she's having a good time doing this, but I wonder what she'd do if the team was more serious?  :p

Damn laptop

Long story short:  I usually update this blog in the evenings after the girls are in bed, on my laptop, in bed.  My laptop's screen went out a few weeks ago, and since I only have the pad to use/type on up there now, it just doesn't work.  The "keyboard" is a huge joke on the pad - I hit one letter and get six different things happening that I don't want on the screen.  *sigh*

October 19th we went to Buckelew Farms for our annual trek to the pumpkin patch.  It was wonderful!  I love doing that with my kids and in-laws.

Pumpkin posing

Girls on hay bales

Mmmm, Eegee

E went hog wild with her Eegee, ha!

October 20th I ran my second half marathon, this time in Tucson proper.  The damn mountain in the middle was a bit tough, but I finished in 2:17:58.  It's five minutes slower than my pace in March, but I went a lot faster for the first six miles than I intended.  Oops.

The medal I earned for completing the race

Gabe Zimmerman triple crown completion = Ben's Bell with coins!

October 26th - L's t-ball game, a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese, and Trunk or Treat at the YMCA.  We were completely exhausted at the end of the day.

E with Chuck E Cheese

L with Chuck E. Cheese

October 27th - Family pictures at Reid Park.  The girls' favorite part was McDonald's afterwards, lol!

By the zoo

Playing during the shoot

October 28th was my first piano studio class here at the house.  Here's hoping it wasn't too boring for my students.

Chalk board at entrance

October 29th  was pumpkin carving.  E enjoyed it, but L was totally grossed out.  Ha!

E pulling out her seeds

L grossed out

Finished product!

October 31st - Halloween.  The girls dressed up - L as the Scarlet Witch, and E as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz.  It was fun and cute!

Finger painting their pumpkins

Ready to trick or treat!

November 2nd - L's t-ball game again, and then a birthday party for her preschool friend in the evening.

November 3rd - Hanging out with my in-laws is SO much more relaxing than running around like a crazy person!

November 7th - Play date with one of L's preschool friends, who also has a sister just slightly older than E.  It was perfect, everyone had a great time, and the amount of girly screaming coming from our house was awful (ha!).

November 8th - Hey, that's today!  I'm caught up!  E and I went for a run this morning, L has been assigned the role of Mary in the preschool Christmas play (oh my), and all I want is for E to eat her food and do so in a reasonable amount of time.  Sigh.

Problem child

E has been the worst child ever lately.  She blatantly doesn't listen (she told me this morning "no, I don't want to listen"), does things she knows she's not supposed to do, demands everything with "I WANT!" instead of asking 'please' as she's been told to do, fights with her sister, screams/cries at the drop of a hat, and is becoming this pest that I just don't want to spend time with most of the time.  When she's good, she's wonderful.  When she's bad, she's awful.  Tonight, L apparently took her toy away from her, so E bit her on the chest.  Not just bit her, mind you, but literally took a chunk out of her.  It was awful.  L was screaming and crying hysterically, E was standing there looking like "take that, you b*", the husband had to grab E to punish her and prevent her from going at L again, and I had to clean up L and calm her down.  Just...awful.  She was spanked, talked to, and put to bed early with no story or songs.  E was mad about it all.  GAH.

I know she's 2 (almost 3), but still!  This is horrid.  Maybe she has teeth coming in?  Maybe she's hit a growth spurt?  Maybe she's not sleeping well???  I hope that one of these explains it, and it's not that my beautiful wonderful baby girl is turning into a monster!  :(

Sanctuary Cove

After our run this morning, the girls and I went to Sanctuary Cove for a nice hike and look around.  They loved it all and want to go back.  Can't say I blame them, as it's beautiful, quiet, peaceful, and perfect for every imagination to run wild.  Next time, we'll bring the husband!

Running around the meditation labyrinth

Reverend L was bringing down the house this morning (she LOVED the lectern!)

The congregation was small but loud

Window into the barn/chapel

The outdoor chapel, which is my favorite of the two chapels

I mean, who wouldn't like to sit and look at THIS during a service???  It faces sunrise!

Bedroom question

Why is it that the least clean room in the house is always our bedroom, particularly my side of the bed?  It's ridiculous the amount of stuff I allow to pile up in here, and yet I can't stand that amount of piling anywhere else in the house.  Anyone else have this problem?!?

I suck at updating

Yes, yes, I know, it's been awhile.  Let me try a recap:

Saturday, October 5th - The girls and I ran a 5K in Oro Valley in the evening.  E ran 1/4 mile, L ran almost a mile, and I ran/walked the entire thing with both of them (mostly in the stroller).  We all get medals and shirts, which was a great bonus, and all it cost us was three bags of food.  Score!

Sunday, October 6th - I vegetated most of the day, and ended up reading a trashy romance novel for most of the evening.  I'm not afraid to admit that, ha!

Monday, October 7th - While teaching tonight, the husband decided to vacuum.  It's very hard to concentrate on appropriate fingering with a student when all you hear is the roar of the vacuum.  Afterwards, I had to tell him thank you for vacuuming, it's very much appreciated, but could you please not do it while I'm working?!??  Thanks.

Tuesday, October 8th - I did a yoga workout early in the morning and then took a shower.  Afterwards, I started cleaning the house in anticipation of my parents arriving at 10am.  They showed up at 9am.  Great.  I spent the first hour they were here finishing up cleaning while the girls went nuts over their visit (I never told them they were coming).  We spent the day together, had dinner at Boston's (where we saw my friend C's boys), and generally had a decent time together.  Eery.

Granddad the horse

Wednesday, October 9th - Spent the entire day with my parents.  Usually, that would mean I was ready to murder something by the end of the day, but it actually went pretty well.  I think it helped that I kind of let them do whatever with the girls and focused on other things, like making dinner, doing chores, etc.  They came to L's preschool in the morning to see it (she loved that), went to E's gym class (yay!), played a ton, had dinner together, and then the girls were super sad when they had to go in the evening (they start driving back to OH in the morning).  E cried for 20 minutes after they left, poor thing.  At least the visit went well!

A view of E's tea party and L drawing with Granddad

Thursday, October 10th - L spent the morning moping about that Granddad was missing.  Poor kid.  Maybe we can get together with them again sometime.  L's t-ball practice in the evening was good, but E had to come along so I had problems juggling both of them.  I think next time I may just sit out practice and stay with E.

Friday, October 11th - My friend N and her baby came over this morning.  That was fun to get together without our older two running around, and E loved having the baby all to herself.  Ran up A Mountain with C for the last time prior to our half marathon in the evening.  I'm doing better with it - maybe I can actually run the sucker with only one walking break on the 20th?  We'll see.

Saturday, October 12th - L had a t-ball game in the morning, which was humorous to watch, and then we spent the afternoon with the in-laws.  Exceptional fall weather!

Sunday, October 13th - Happy 1st birthday to my wonderful niece V!  I have a hard time believing it's been a year already, but so it has.  I also went for my longest run ever at 14 miles this morning.  Starting at 4:50am, I finished at right around 7:30am.  Nothing like starting when it's pitch black outside and finishing with tons of sun on you.  I fell down at mile 12 but it wasn't bad (dirt/straw surface), and the GU gels I used at miles 4 and 10 were lifesavers.  Half marathon, here I come!  We also spent some time this morning at the in-laws' church, hanging out while the husband helped cook for the annual picnic.  The girls love playing there - I just find it weird that they think of church as a play place.

Monday, October 14th - E and I went to the playground this morning while L was at preschool.  It's amazing to me how she just gravitates to sand no matter where we are - home, playground, parking lot, etc.  She wanted to make a sand castle, and I said we didn't have any water, so she took her water bottle and started dumping it out!  Argh, lol!  In the evening, we watched some old home movies from when the girls were babies.  SO CUTE, and so hard to remember those times.  :)

Tuesday, October 15th - I took the girls to the Children's Museum, the top of A Mountain, and Sonic for lunch today.  They had a blast.  This evening, I took L on a run with me, where a horse bit her.  :(  I guess you have to have some good with bad, right?  At least it's just going to be a bruise.

L in the sand box

E in the carrot car

L and E looking out over Tucson

I think this picnic table has the best view of the city from anywhere

Being silly at the lookout house on the mountain

The insanity of running FAR during the night

My friend C and I do something crazy (no, not the running itself):  we run long long distances in the middle of the night.  That's right, while most of you were snuggled up tight in bed, peacefully slumbering in dreamland last night, C and I were out sweating, pushing ourselves, and hoping that those glowing eyes in the bushes by the trail don't decide to follow us.  It's frightening to think about too much, but we basically ran a half marathon this morning (13 miles) before the sun came up. 

Things I've learned from our several night/dawn runs:
1.  It can be so quiet at 4:00am while running.
2.  There's a $hitload of wildlife out!  I've seen coyotes, javelina, bobcats, deer, hawks, and even snakes out and about.  This is in the suburbs too (outskirts, but still).
3.  Headlamps are awesome devices.  Whoever invented them should be kissed.  Repeatedly.  But not by me when I'm done running - even my husband doesn't want my sweat, salty kisses at that point.
4.  The miles go by easier when it's dark.
5.  Why aren't restrooms lit during the night?!??
6.  Why are there so many f*ing vehicles on the freeway at 4:30am?!??!
7.  There is a truly palpable temperature drop right before dawn.  I remember C and I being surprised by this and commenting on it.  It got cold!
8.  It's so much easier to run in the dark with a friend (and a headlamp!).

I wonder how many more of these we'll end up doing?  C does it before work so that she can spend time with her kids in the afternoon/evening, while I do it with her so that she's not alone, I'm not alone, and I avoid taking time away my husband "babysitting" the girls.  I'm not sure how far back we can push the start time when we start going further and further though - I'm thinking a 3:00am start time is just a touch too crazy for me!

Ah, T-ball...

I remember playing t-ball as a child - the experience was poor.  I can tell you with 100% recall that my coaches did not like me, discriminated against me, and made me feel awful about the whole endeavor.  Who was the only kid that didn't have a uniform shirt?  This girl.  Who was the only one not informed when games or practices were changed?  That'd be me.  Still, I recognize all this stuff as an adult reflecting on the memories, but I remember loving the game when I was 5.  I went on to play softball in town until I was 16 and wasn't too shabby at it, and I'd love to be able to play again sometime.

L started t-ball last week.  When she decided that she'd rather do this instead of soccer for the fall, I was hesitant.  Are you sure?  Wouldn't you rather do soccer, like most of the other kids?  You like running, you can do that LOTS in soccer!  No, no, she insisted she wanted t-ball, so I signed her up begrudgingly through the local YMCA.  It stated that registration was through September 21st, and that the first game would start on September 28th.  Okay, fine, I signed her up in early August, it's going to be awhile.

Flash forward to September 26th.  I called the YMCA to inquire with the youth director as to why I hadn't heard anything yet about L's t-ball practices or games.  Remember my story above?  I don't want a repeat for my daughter.  The youth director informs me that the coaches are at fault, he doesn't know why they haven't called, I should be getting a call that night from a man named B.  Okay then.  I've never heard of anyone having positive dealings with the youth director, and I haven't yet either, but I figured he must know what he's talking about.  Later that evening, I get a call from a very friendly woman named T.  She informs me that she is one of the coaches, L is on her team, practices start tomorrow night, and the first game is Saturday morning at 9am.  Um...okay.

The next day, the girls and I go to get her baseball glove at the sports store.  Very exciting, truly.  After dinner, we grab the glove, leave a crying E with Daddy (she wanted to come but was sick), and head off to the practice field.  We get to the location and realize there are four baseball fields.  Each are in use at the moment, we have no idea who we're looking for, and we were never told which field to go to.  Luckily for us, I spied another YMCA coach that L had over the summer for her sports program and just assumed that we'd be using the same field after his team was done (the YMCA probably only reserved one field, right?).  Thankfully, we were right.  Promptly at 6:00pm, his team disperses and L's team takes the field.  Um, where are the coaches?  Well, they were lost too - apparently the youth director never told them which field they were on, so they were blindly wandering from field to field hoping to find their group of 4- and 5-year-old players!

Now, if you know anything about early fall in Arizona, you'll know that the sun sets around 6:15pm.  Practice started at 6:00pm on an unlit field.  It wasn't too bad when the kids started, but they had to call practice at 6:30pm (instead of going until 6:45pm) because it was just too dark to see.  Brilliant planning on the youth director's part, eh?  While practice wasn't super organized, the kids were having fun and L was enjoying herself.  She's the only girl on the team of nine, so I think the coaches were giving her special attention (ha!).  Game on Saturday, see you there!  Practices changed to 5:30pm next week, see you then!  Off we went home.

L was too sick to go to the game Saturday morning, but apparently that was another fiasco.  Once again, the youth director never told the coaches which field to play the game on.  They thought it was the same field we practiced on, but it was the field furthest from that location.  Nice.  At least we didn't have to experience that first hand, but I could tell how exasperated the coaches were via the tone of their follow-up email.

Flash forward to practice tonight - still on the unlit field.  At least we knew where we were going.  We showed up late because L refused to eat her dinner in a timely manner, and I was super pissed off because of that (I HATE BEING LATE).  At 5:40pm, we roll in.  There is one coach and a few players.  Most of them showed up after us.  Nice.  There is one boy on the team that doesn't speak English!  Wth?  It's not the coaches responsibility to make sure he understands what's going on.  They tried to get the mother involved to help the boy along, but she was too involved in her cell phone to give two $hits about what was going on on the field.  At one point, I think she yelled something similar to "get off your butt!" in Spanish to him while he was just rolling around in the outfield.  Hi, lady, how about getting off your lazy tush and helping out your son?!?  This isn't babysitting!  L had fun but was not pleased we were late (maybe she'll learn????), but was happy to get her uniform shirt from the coaches.  Here's my gripe about them:  THEY'RE WHITE.  Who chooses white as a uniform color for a t-ball team full of preschool and kindergarteners?!?????

I'm hoping the game on Saturday isn't a fiasco again.  They have pictures in the morning prior to playing, so hopefully that's pulled off well.  Again, the youth director didn't manage any of this.  What is his actual job there?  I'm thinking about writing a letter to him and his boss asking that very question.  However, I will point out the good things going for L:  she has a uniform shirt (which I didn't), her coaches and teammates treat her well, and we're kept in the loop.  I suppose you can't beat that, and I'll just have to accept everything else as part in parcel of the whole.  *shrug*

Running bases with the team (in pink)

Running experiment

How did people pre-2000 do it?  I can't run without my phone and/or stopwatch.  Can't.  I literally have my phone app set to yell at me every five minutes to tell me how long it's been (e.g. "5:00"), how far I've gone ("0.5 miles"), average pace ("10:00 per mile"), and current pace ("9:45 per mile").  I feel naked without it, and it's gotten to the point that I don't have "easy" runs, per se, because I'm so obsessed with making sure I meet a certain threshold (speed, distance, etc.).

Tonight, I threw it all out the window.  I went out for a run (healthy, yay!) without my phone or watch.  All I had was my iShuffle, my ID bracelet, and a hat.  Well, clothes on too - you probably would have heard of me on the news if I hadn't (THE NAKED RUNNER!!!).  I went at a casual pace, probably around 10:00/mile, ran what I guessed to be about four miles, and even took a break after 5K to walk, recoup, and then continue. 

Guess what?  I DIDN'T DIE like I thought I would.  It was definitely disconcerting at the start - am I going to slow?  Too fast?  Something should be yelling at me right about now!  Oh no, I'm WALKING, how is that going to figure into my overall time?!?  But, after mile 2, I realized how freeing it was.  I could just enjoy my music, enjoy life around me, and run.  No, it wasn't fast.  No, I don't know how long it took me to do that run.  No, it wasn't exactly four miles (3.9 is close, right?).  However, the freedom I felt from being free of technology was great. 

I'm definitely going to do this again on short runs!

Trashy romance novels and my daughters

The husband admitted to me on Saturday night that he let the girls loose in the used bookstore's trashy romance section.  They scoured the section for the best cover art, bought their books, wrapped them, and gave them to me for my birthday yesterday.  I was laughing hysterically as he told me this, and half afraid of what they would get for me.  Now?  I can definitely laugh.  E chose a book with a heroine wearing a long purple gown ("Mama, purple princess lady!") being snuggled by a burly man, while L chose one with a heroine alone on the cover wearing a wedding dress.  Her reasoning?  "She looks like YOU, Mama!"  Oh my goodness...LOL! 

Birthday birthday birthday!

Hooray - I don't feel like death warmed over any more!  Still sick, but so much better than I was.

The husband wished me a happy birthday on his way to work this morning, and the girls were most excited (once they remembered).  Took L to preschool, went running around the neighborhood with E (thank goodness for being healthy enough to run again!), baked a cake, picked up L from preschool, and had lunch at McDonald's with my friend N and her boys B and T.  When we came back from lunch, we discovered the husband had taken a half day off from work to celebrate with me!  Best birthday surprise EVER, hands down.  After naps, I opened my gifts from him and the girls, had cake with them (YUM), had dinner with the in-laws at Chipotle, ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and a wonderful wonderful day overall.  Even with me still feeling a bit sick, it went so much better than I expected.  My family and friends sent messages, called, mailed cards, and gave me wonderful presents.  I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life! 

33 has started out fantastic.  Here's to a great coming year (and with all my family and friends in it, what's not to say it won't be the best yet?!??)

Cake!  So decadent, so good...

E's silly face after licking her cake plate clean.  LOL!

L and her cherry ice cream cone.

The husband and I

Obligatory family picture on my birthday :)

Cancel my birthday, I'm SICK.

In all the years I've had birthdays (HA!), I can't remember a single birthday where I was sick.  I realize my birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I know I'm not going to be 100% by then.  Yesterday was bad, and today was awful.  I meant to go running this morning but I slept instead.  In fact, I slept a lot.  I didn't bake a cake, I didn't do any chores, and I certainly didn't get out and about to enjoy the lovely day outside.  UGH.

If I cancel my birthday tomorrow, does that mean I don't age?  Please say yes.  I'm just going to curl back up in bed and hope this is the worst of it and tomorrow isn't horrible.

Shopping everywhere but home

This morning, I had a music teachers' meeting in Phoenix.  It was all fine and good, but afterwards, I needed to run some errands and eat lunch.  After I came home, the irony of what I had done with my traveling and shopping hit me and I had to laugh.

I drove from Tucson to Phoenix.

I ate lunch in Tempe.

I got something at Wal-Mart in Tempe for the husband.

I got something else at Target in Casa Grande for E's Christmas.

I drove home.

Not once did I do anything in Tucson today, though I live here.  How about that for shopping everywhere but home?!?  Wish I didn't feel as sick as I do though...

What NOT to do when sick

I woke up this morning feeling pretty much the same (if not worse) than yesterday:  sinus headache, clogged sinuses, stuffed-up nose, sore throat, cough, and tired, like I'd been hit by a truck.  Being the genius that I am, I decided that since E was feeling better, we should go for a run.  That should have been my first indication that sickness insanity had hit me. 

We dropped off L at school, drove out to the north end of the river trail, loaded up, and started.  I felt fine for quite awhile, even feeling my sinuses clear out.  Ah, yes, this is why I wanted to go running, to clear my head, sweat out some of my sickness, enjoy the perfect late summer weather, and get some fresh air.

Everything was fine during my run.  E chattered away at me, had her snack, pointed out all kinds of things (we saw a pair of bobcats!), and felt the need to point at every trash can too.  I purposely made it a short run so that I wouldn't tire myself out completely, so it was only 2.2 miles.  At mile 2, I started going back uphill just slightly to the playground at the end.  E was excited for the playground, and I was excited to be almost done.  Let's push a bit, shall we?  Faster!  That's when my stomach decided it wanted none of that.  I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm so glad E pointed out the next trash can, where I nicely deposited my breakfast.  E was quiet for a moment, then asked me if I was sick (yes), and then said "thank you not puking on me, Mama." 

Remind me of this the next time I'm sick and want to run.  Better yet, tie me down somewhere so I can't even go out.  Blarg.

Wait, September is almost done?!?

I realize I've missed about three weeks, but I figured if I didn't put something down now I just wouldn't come back to it soon.  September has flown by - I can't believe just how quickly the days have gone.  Here are some highlights:

September 8 - After much agonizing, we decided to move L from her car seat to a booster seat.  She loves it.  I'm still paranoid.
September 9 - Bought a single jogging stroller for solo runs with E.  We took it out on 9/13 and it was fantastic! 
September 10 - After much discussion, we agree upon a Doberman puppy with the breeder in Phoenix/Avondale.  Details to be ironed out.
September 14 - Great-Grandmother H's birthday in Phoenix.  It's always fun to go up there, spend time with family, and have a sleepover.
September 15 - After much discussion with the breeder (and their refusal to compromise at all on price for all their demands), we have decided to pass on this puppy and get one from the breeder in Coolidge again this fall.
September 18 - The husband and my ninth anniversary of our first date.  We took the girls and had dinner at IHOP, which they loved. 
September 20 - I ran 12 miles between 4-6am with my friend C.  Full harvest moon, perfect 70F, no traffic, and great conversation made it an excellent run.
September 21 - My beautiful niece V's first birthday party (her actual birthday is 10/13).  So much fun to see and attend!
September 22 - My very first sprint triathlon, as a family relay with my SIL and BIL.  She swam, he biked, and I ran.  We were last in our relay category at around 1:21:00, but it was so much fun to watch and participate.  I may have to consider doing this all by myself sometime...
September 23 - L is sick.  Yay.
September 24 - I am sick.  Yay.
September 25 - E and I are sick, L is better.  Yay.
September 26 - L's first t-ball practice.  I'm constantly amazed at how their is a youth director at the YMCA that can't get his act together to save his life.  Who schedules 3- and 4-year-old players at 6:00pm (when the sun sets at 6:30pm) on an unlit field?  All the phone calls I've received in the last two days regarding this are driving me bonkers, and it's only been the last two days that they've apparently decided to get their act together.  *sigh*

Halloween Happenings

I know it's the beginning of September, but I've got work to do!  The girls made their requests quite awhile ago as to what they wanted to be for Halloween.  L has had her heart set on being the Scarlet Witch since...last Halloween?  Something like that.  It has not wavered.

Ooo, look, a C-list Marvel superhero!

A drawing that I've been looking at a lot for costume ideas

I ordered five yards of red cape fabric awhile ago and started working on it today.  So far, so good.  My MIL has been great in figuring out a pattern to use and how to make it fairly easily.  I'm hoping to have it done soon after E's costume is done (see more below).  I'll have to make the headpiece too, but I think I'm just going to have purchase boots, a red swim suit, and gloves. 

As for E, she first started out wanted to be Super Baby for Halloween.  WTF is that?!?  Then she changed her mind to various other things, but for the last couple months, it's been all "I want be Dorothy!  I want be Dorothy!"  Ah, yes, the wonderful Dorothy from Wizard of Oz.  You remember her outfit, right? 

Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (oh, and Toto too)

A better look of the dress by itself.

I found a very easy and very cute jumper that I can make for E in the blue and white gingham material.  It's mostly made, just needs to have a zipper put on it and hemmed up.  I'll add buttons on the front, have already purchased red sparkly slippers, and will put a white shirt on underneath.  Yay!  She'll be the cutest Dorothy (without much hair) ever!

What are you doing for Halloween?

Mommy moments

L came home from school today with two things.  The first was a family tree.  Not only did it list Mommy, Daddy, E, and herself, it also listed the pets, Grandpa, and Ng-Ng.  It was so touching to see that she thought of her grandparents as a part of her nuclear family.  I bet her teacher thinks that Grandpa and Ng-Ng live with us, lol!

The second was a book of L's Favorite Things.  On the inside, I found this.  I will admit it brought happy tears to my eyes:

I really hope the giant rabbit-like drawing was just a drawing and not meant to resemble me.

Dear Babies R Us,

Dear Babies R Us,

I received his awesome flier from you in the mail the other day!  It stated that if I made purchases of certain amounts, I would receive something free in return.  For example, if I spent $50 in store, you'd give me something for free worth $10.  $100, something free worth about $40.  So on, so forth.  I read the fine print on the back and saw that you couldn't use it to buy diapers, wipes, formula, etc., and I thought "great, it doesn't say gift cards!"  I had told my brother and sister-in-law that I would get them a gift card for the car seat they registered to get.  The flier was going to allow me to get them something awesome for free that they could use - yay!  Therefore, I loaded my girls in the car and drove them to your nearest store.

I picked up a gift card and went to the register.  I gave the cashier the flier and said "I should get this object with my purchase."  She said "nope."  Excuse me?  I took the flier back, examined the fine print again, and stated "I should get this object with my purchase.  It doesn't say gift cards don't count toward this offer in the fine print."  She said "nope."  Okay, lady, can I speak with your manager then?  After the dirty look and eye rolling, she got her manager.  I explained again what I was doing:  getting a gift card for $X, which should allow me to get this object for free.  The manager looked at the register, looked at the flier, and then she said "nope, you don't get this for free."  Why, for pete sake, will you not give me this object when the flier clearly states that gift cards are not excluded toward the minimum amount purchase to get this?!??  She said "because it's a gift card."  Did you NOT hear what I just said?  Read the f*ing flier!  I CAN buy a gift card and have it count toward the purchase!  The manager just looked at me like I was an idiot and said

"would you like to buy this object?" 

You've GOT to be kidding me.  Of course not, you f*ing idiot, I don't want it if you're going to make me pay for it, I should be getting it for free.

So, I did what I had to do - if they weren't going to give me what I should clearly be getting from the promotion on their flier, I'd just make their lives a living hell for awhile.  I said no, I don't want to purchase the item.  I do, however, want to return everything I just tried to purchase with you right now.  Also?  Hey girls, see that display over there?  Go play with it.  The ensuing anger on their faces from having to do a return for me, plus the line of people waiting behind me, plus the bouncing noises that came from the display the girls were destroying, made my morning.  It's okay, you can call me a bitch, I proudly claim it just this once.  I walked out with a smile on my face.

Babies R Us, honor your promotions.  If you can't do that, there's no point in having the promotion in the first place.  I bet most of your stores just claim they're out of the free products.  You bastards.

No Love,
Me

Docile and sweet

Our dog, Belle, has to be the most docile, sweet, and loving dog to my children ever.  She puts up with so much crap from them - from being kicked in the face repeatedly during diaper changes when the girls were babies, to being dressed up, having her nails painted, jumped on, poked, prodded, and even hugged/mauled.  Belle puts up with it all, usually with her tail wagging.  She follows the girls everywhere around the house and yard, even sleeping at night between our bedroom and the girls' rooms.  The only time I ever hear Belle growl is when the girls literally land on her when they fall/jump/crash into her.  To that, I gotta say - only a growl?  Wow.  If I was a dog, I'd probably stay away from the kids at that point!

This video was at the tail end of E's escapades this morning.  She was jumping off the couch and into Belle's bed, which catapulted her over Belle every single time.  Belle just laid there, watching her play, wagging her tail every time E laughed and said "I jump over Belle!", and adoring the fact that she was included.  Truly, couldn't ask for a better dog and friend for the girls.  :)

Food OCD and food porn!

Today seemed to center around food.  This morning at the grocery store, L almost had an aneurysm because of her OCD tendencies.  Can you tell why?

Which of these things is not like the others...

She literally screamed at me to put the lime back with the other limes (because she couldn't reach it).  All the other shoppers turned to see what was going on (I know their thoughts - "why is that little girl screaming 'PUT IT BACK, MAMA, PUT IT BACK!!!!!"?) and I was just laughing hysterically.  L really did almost have a meltdown when, instead of putting it back right away, I whipped out my phone to take this picture.  HA!  I put it back, don't worry - I'm not that mean.

Then, at dinner time, I made pork chops.  I just put the pork chops on the pan as they came in the package, and then I noticed one pork chop looked rather...phallic.

Phallic pork chop on top, Africa-on-its-side pork chop on the bottom

I don't think I need to say who got to eat the yummy penis pork chop.  ;)

Saguaro National Park Labor Day 8 Miler

Woke up at 4:45am in order to be ready to go at 5:30am for our race.  We drove with some more of C's friends to Saguaro National Park East for the race.  Talk about gorgeous setting!  It's just at the base of the mountains, and the sea of cacti, desert plants and flowers, and animals were just beautiful.  The entire time I've been prepping for this race, I was warned of two things:  the hills and the heat.  Thankfully, when we got there this morning, there was a thunderstorm moving in.  That meant lots of wind on the back side of the course and rain on us for the first 1.5 miles.  The hills?  Were no joke.  A 1000-feet elevation incline over the course of 2.5 miles just about killed me, especially the head wind on the back part of the course.  However, though I walked a bit more than I really wanted to, I still finished at 1:26:49, which is just over 3 minutes faster than my goal.  YAY!  Now to continue training for the half marathon in mid October.

Going uphill between miles 2 and 3.  See the rain clouds?

Going downhill between miles 5 and 6.  I wish the rain clouds had come this way more!

Me looking like an utter dork, with the other three girls we carpooled/stayed with.  C is in blue.

Cleaning and prepping

I spent a vast portion of the morning cleaning up the girls' rooms and upstairs in general.  The place looks much better, and we rewarded ourselves by going out to lunch at McDonald's.  E started screaming and crying on the play area near the end of our time there - it turns out (once I climbed up to her) that she was upset because Daddy said we had to leave.  HA!  Silly kid.

This evening, I packed up an overnight bag and left with my friend C to stay with a friend of hers on the east side of town.  This way, we'll be within minutes of the place we have our 8-mile race tomorrow morning.  It's been a fun evening watching her friend's almost-3-year-old daughter play!  A bit nervous for the hills and race tomorrow, but it should be good overall.  My goal is less than 1:30.

C's cats Caillou (black) and Sai (kitten) eating.

The cute room we are staying in overnight

Another epic fail at consistency

Another epic fail on my part to write in here daily.  Seriously, every evening, I think "I should update my blog!" and then don't.  Nice.  I'll update here in pictures.

On Saturday, I did a 10 mile hill run.  Here was one of my views.  Lovely, no?

On Monday, E and I mailed this to my mother.  She's going to give it to my brother and SIL at their baby shower (8/31).  The card is from me, the kitty from E. 

On Tuesday, we went to play with B and T at their house.  Here, E plays on T's playmat with him.

End-of-play-date picture:  L, B, and E.

Also on Tuesday, I saw this on my evening run.  I love watching the desert bloom!

After a crap day on Wednesday of car problems and cat problems, I found out my students' family had a sick kitty.  The girls and I made this kitty head/card and left it on their front door.  I wonder what they thought of coming home to a cat head on their door?

On Thursday and Friday, I worked on a new jumper-style dress for L.  Here's the completed top (those are little green apples).

Completed dress and a very happy L.

A shot of the dress while L is standing and being silly.

E was jealous I took pictures of L modeling her new dress, so I HAD to take pictures of her modeling one of her favorite dresses (Old Navy made this dress).

Hands up if you're down to get down tonight!

Ho hum...

Prance time!

L during the monsoon storm Wednesday afternoon.

E during the monsoon storm on Wednesday afternoon.

Saturday - 10 mile run
Sunday - Playground in the morning, girls destroyed my sewing pattern for E's Halloween costume in evening.  Punishment ensued.
Monday - L preschool, me teaching, monsoon storm kept the husband from getting home for 1.5 hours (flooding).
Tuesday - Breeder's puppies born!  Will we get one?  We'll see.  3 mile run in the evening.
Wednesday - Car had a flat tire.  FIL took L to preschool, then came back to help E and I get the car to the tire store, run errands with him, and then back to the tire place.  Got L from preschool, got lunch (since it had been a crap morning), and napped.  Epic monsoon storm in evening.
Thursday - Spent most of the day on the pattern and sewing of L's new dress.  Late night (11:30 bed time!) so that I could get most of it finished.
Friday - L preschool, E and I ran errands, finished L's dress, and a 4.4 mile hill run.
Saturday - Breakfast at Golden Corral with the in-laws, a free day with the husband (girls with in-laws), dinner at the in-laws house (note to self: pumpkin pie that has been in their freezer for 4 years tastes TERRIBLE), and more damn kitty problems.  Why can't the cat just poop in her litter box that is literally four feet away from where she's pooping?!???