Running

I've got a little issue with belly fat. Looking at me, you'd probably find it hard to believe (unless you're just being nice and you've noticed all along) considering I wear a 00 petite, but it's there. It's pretty much the only part of my body that has any fat, and it's stubborn. Someone once said that once your baby is 2, you technically can't call it baby fat anymore. Well, my baby is 7, so mine is just plain fat. Granted, that fat wouldn't be there if it weren't for my two kids. It's a reminder of the months spent growing them. I'm OK with the saggy muscles, those can stay, but I'd like to get the fat off, at least a little bit.

A week ago, I decided that I'd like to start running. It's always something I've enjoyed on the rare occasion that I actually ran. I knew that if I was going to start doing some exercise, it would have to be something I liked, and it had to be free, because I'm just too cheap to go paying for a gym. So I decided to take up running. I might add that I conjured up this idea when it was in the 70's for a high, so taking off and running was a piece of cake! The kids and I went to the walking trail Wednesday and walked. I tried to run some, but wearing slip-on tennis shoes doesn't aid running too well. Saturday evening, the kids went to Keith and Dee's for a bit, so I decided to take advantage of no kids and cool temps and ran/walked 2 miles! I'm still hurting from that one! Tonight, the kids and I headed back to the trail and walked/ran a mile. The humidity was terrible and even though it was the same temperature as Saturday, I was a mess and couldn't go another mile even though the kids begged to make another loop. Got to get some workout clothes...

So far, I'm loving this! I love how great I feel once I'm done, even though all I want to do is take a shower and collapse. Hopefully this is something I'll keep up. I have a feeling, though, that once winter comes and it's cold, I'll fall off track. I"m a bit of a wimp when it's cold.

Cars 2 review

The kids had been excited about seeing Cars 2 for quite a while now, and we went and saw it tonight. It was so, not like the first Cars, and quite disappointing.

We went with my mom, and took my nephew, Glen with us. Glen is crazy about Cars, and came decked in his Cars shirt, jacket, hat and shoes. The kids asked if he had on Cars underwear, and he told them he did. He could hardly contain himself! Mom and I had our doubts that it wouldn't live up to the hype, and we were right.

The movie was nothing like the simple story of the first Cars. This was pretty much James Bond, Cars style. Basically, Mater gets wrapped up in plot to destroy the world grand prix and becomes a spy. There was so much action from the very beginning that it was very hard to keep the story line straight. It lost me toward the end because I'd disliked it from the first 15 minutes. Glen, who is 3, got scared halfway through when the action really picked up and it was all we could do to make it through the movie for my two. They'd lost interest in it as well. The people behind us left before it was over.

So our overall impression wasn't great. Kate really disliked it and Preston was too excited about having Glen with us to even give his report. It won't be a movie I'll be wanting to see again- ever.

Another great game

Tonight was Preston's last scheduled ball game and they have improved SO much over the last month. They won again tonight with their largest lead to date- 13-3! It reminded me of the old Popeye cartoon where they're playing baseball and he pops his can of spinach and eat pitch resulted in a hit and a base. Those boys were rolling into home like nobody's business! Preston made a good hit, too! He did strike out twice, but got hit by the ball on his 3rd at-bat and got to walk to 1st. Four boys got hit tonight. I know those boys have to start somewhere, but at 8, they really don't have much control over their pitches. Preston does his best as shortstop. He played there again tonight and three times the ball came right to him and he launched it to first in time to get the runner out, but each time, the 1st baseman got scared and ran away from the ball. Frustrating to see. But overall, those boys have the best team I've seen and really do well and have fun. Tuesday is their first make-up game and they have a double-header make-up next Friday and the season will be done. It's sad that it's over already. I could do this all summer!

New do

So I completely forgot to blog about Kate's new haircut. She needed something shorter for summer that would be easier to take care of- it's already so high maintenance. So here is her before, and please, do excuse how horrid it looks. It had air dried without product and was curly and frizzy. Of all the genes she got from me...
And here is her after picture- MUCH better! And check out those shades! She finally got some prescription sunglasses.
She had been begging to get a hair feather for about a week before her cut. All of her friends have them and of course, she wanted one, too. Actually, she wanted a blue one and a yellow one, but I told her she ought to start out with one that didn't say, "Look at me! I have a neon feather in my hair!"

My sister, Ali has two and she was telling me about them a few weeks before this and I swear that she said they cost her $40. So when Kate started begging, I knew I wasn't paying that much for a feather, so I looked online. I finally found a kit on Etsy that came with 3 feathers, the beads and the tool to "install" them for just $10! So after returning from the salon, we put the feather in and it was SO easy! We've even taken it out and moved it and still was able to use the same bead. That feather is in there TIGHT! So Kate is pretty happy with her feather and it does look really cute. We still have the other two if this one gets bad or she wants another (which she does- a blue one...)
And I just noticed that it totally looks like her new glasses are taped on the side!

What's new

It seems that with summer and the kids home, there's less and less time spent online. I'm just too busy. I've spent my free time the past few days trying to navigate At&T's site to upgrade my phone with much frustration. I swear that site is run by the devil himself. I can't view more than two phones before it knocks me out and won't let me log back on until I clear my history and start from scratch. Hopefully tomorrow, with Christopher home, I can get something ordered. We leave for vacation in 3 weeks and I would like to get this done before.

And yes, the big vaca is just three weeks away and I am beyond unprepared. I am excited to be spending a week at the beach, yet I am dreading the twelve hour drive and preparing. So, not, ready... I did get our pedi appointment scheduled today, for the day before we leave, and while our nails will look pretty for the trip, the day before we leave might not have been the best choice with everything else I'll be trying to get done. I am a glutton for punishment... I have a big photo shoot lined up while we're there (actually, two), and by some miracle, the dress that I ordered in April that was too big for Kate, now fits, so that eliminates the need to scour the web for a white sundress at the last minute. I'm so glad I hadn't returned it yet! I still need to buy myself some new clothes for the trip- something I haven't done in a LONG time.

It is only the third full week of summer break and already, the kids have been around each other too much. WAY too much. They are fighting and bickering with each other constantly, from breakfast to bedtime each day. The only reprieve we've had were two hours on Saturday while they sat nicely at the table and made father's day cards. It has been stormy and cool the past week, so swimming hasn't happened too much, and they even fight when they swim. Aaaaaaaaaaa! I dread school starting back up, but man, I'm afraid this will be a LONG summer.

My sister, Ali has been having a health scare lately and could use some prayers. Early Friday morning she was taken to the ER for severe abdominal pains. They couldn't find anything wrong and after several hours, they sent her home. Later that day, they took her back again, and this time they did a CT scan and still no clue. She was going for an ultrasound today to look for anything and goes to a GI dr. Thursday to see if they have any clues. Were praying that this is nothing serious and that she'll be able to get some answers soon.

Slugger

This little slugger played his best game tonight and he was beyond thrilled! His first time at bat, he made a good hit and made it to first. He even made it home! He walked his second at-bat, all the way home! He scored two runs! But the best play of all was his big catch and throw to first base to get the runner out! He was so excited that he raised his arms in the air! It was really neat to watch because it looked just like a play the big leaguers would make. He struck out his last at-bat and that ended the game, but he played so well and it was really fun. His team won 10-5, their biggest lead yet.

He's got two more scheduled games and two make-ups for rained out games. It's kind of sad that his season is almost over. I've really enjoyed having games to go to!

Sooooooo...

What we've been up to lately.

We have started our weekly picnics again this summer. We had so much fun last year deciding where to go and seeing new places. Hopefully this year there won't be four picnics in the same Effingham park because we had to make so many trips over there for ear infections. We had our first at the park here in town last Thursday and although it was blazingly hot, we had a good time, and cooled off afterward at Grammy and Pa-pa's pool.
Grammy and Pa-pa always have cats around and they tend to keep multiplying. This is the newest bunch of kittens to have my children absolutely smitten. An interesting tidbit for ya- the mother of these cute kittens is our cat Nonnie's sister from the same litter. However, the father of these kittens is also Nonnie and Oreo's (the mom) dad. So there's a little cat incest going on at the farm.
Floppy, Lucy, Blackie, and Nonnie.
Kate holding Floppy and Blackie. Floppy was named because she flops over every time you scratch her neck. Blackie, for lack of a better name, was named after her pure black coat.
Preston and Nonnie Jr. This cat looks exactly like our Nonnie, hence the Nonnie Jr.
And the star of the litter, Lucy (as in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds). I SO want to bring this one home, and have resorted to begging to no avail. Christopher says 3 cats in one house is too many. Sigh... This little kitty looks just like the dad (who is also Nonnie's dad, remember?). We're pretty sure the dad is a Birman, although I don't know why one would be running loose in the country. It has all the Birman markings and so does this kitten. And it's funny to see the same markings on Nonnie even though he's black and white. But this little sweetie is going to have the most beautiful long coat when she gets bigger. She's one of the rare kittens that aren't either completely black or black and white. Hopefully she'll add some variety to the mix once she has kittens.

Kicking it old school- laundromat style

This morning, Zipper puked all over Kate's bed. A lovely switch thrown into our morning since her queen-sized quilt is way too big for our washer. I gathered the youngins and told them our plan, which they weren't too thrilled with. Now, we have a brand-new, fancy laundromat in town with flat screen tvs and comfy chairs (at least they look that way), but it costs almost $8 for the colossal washer, so we headed across town to do our wash old school (and for only $3.25). I'm pretty sure that everything in there was older than me. Just look at that wallpaper! But you know what? The kids acted like they were in Disney World! And I did have to tell them there were security cameras when they kept trying to climb into the dryers (there weren't any, but they were none-the-wiser). And I'm glad there were no other patrons there! Now, they're begging to go back and Preston has asked countless times when I'd have another giant load to wash!

Apparently...

Nothing is wrong with our car. Apparently, there was very little gas in the tank. Apparently, that could be the cause of it dying in the middle of the road.

Yes, I am serious. After being stranded all day at home with no car, my father-in-law called at 4:00 to say that they'd found nothing wrong with it. There diagnostic thingy showed no problems whatsoever. They did take a look inside the gas tank and found almost no fuel. We find that odd that our gauge said we had 1/4 of a tank, and they were able to drive it to town, around their lot, and the dealership drove it 4 miles, then I had to drive it to the gas station with not so much as an issue. If it had almost no gas, how could we drive it that much? Apparently, it might be the fuel pump going out, but there's no way to test it until it is absolutely, completely dead. So this might happen again. Lovely! They told me to put just a little gas in it and go from there. They don't want a full tank if it is the pump because then they'd have to drain it. So I picked it up after Preston's game tonight and put $15 in the tank (I remember when $15 would fill my tank, now it barely moved the gauge). Tomorrow we'll go to town and drive around and see if it leaves us in the middle of the road again.

And apparently, we can just mail the bill in instead of going in and facing the guy that had to call and tell Keith that our problems could have been because we ran out of gas. Way to save face!

What a week

Tuesday was the kids' last day of school. I had them point to the last day for our picture of the day! It's been a whirl wind of a week ever since. The very next day, Preston started basketball camp. He really enjoyed his three days at camp and says he wants to go to the one they have during the winter. You can see him in all his blurriness dribbling the ball across the court.
That night, he lost his other front tooth and was so proud! It took a while for him to get his speech back on track, but it was cute hearing him say words with an "S" in them. The tooth fairy has been busy around here lately- four teeth within 2 weeks between both kids!
Thursday night Preston had his second baseball game and got a really good hit. Unfortunately, the ball made it to first before he did, but it was a good try! His team won 7-3, and he was pretty excited! He's batting in the below picture.
Then there was Saturday... We had stayed home indoors all day because it was just SO hot- 97 degrees. We had plans to see Kung Fu Panda with my mom after dinner, so I was planning on starting dinner early when Christopher asked if the kids wanted to go see the kittens at his mom's. Of course, they did, so we all got in the Explorer and went and saw them. I SOOOOOO want to bring little Lucy home, but Christopher isn't budging...

Right as we were getting home, I had to stop and wait for two cars to go by so I could pull into our driveway. At that exact moment, right in front of our drive, the car died. It would not start for anything. Not a pleasant experience when you live alongside a highway. I got in the back and Christopher tried to start it with no success. We had to get the car off of the road, so I got back in the driver's seat and he pushed it off into our neighbor's ditch. By this time, the neighbor was outside and two cars had stopped, so four guys pushed the car across the road and into our driveway. There was no way they could push it up the incline, so we left it parked at the road. Sigh...

And it God wasn't trying to tell us something, I don't know what His plan was when we woke up this morning to this...
Oh, the joy of marble-sized hail falling on your car that's stranded in the driveway for five minutes. I guess it could have been worse. And this was from a "very small chance of rain." We got that very small chance... So right now, the guys were able to start the car this afternoon enough to get it to town to the shop. We'll see tomorrow what the verdict is. I'm praying it lasts another 2 years until the other car is paid off. But this car is 12 years old. Maybe God sent the dying car and hail to tell us it's time to get rid of it. Ugh.

So that was our week. This week we have nothing planned except two baseball games, which is good since we don't know how long I'll be without a car!