Family Run!

Neeley's school had a race day and we decided as a family to participate in it. The first race was a mile and we all went. Kate and Lilah in the stroller with me and Kayla pushing them. Kayla was diligent and loved passing the next person in front of us. She ran most of the way and loved every minute of it. Neeley was determined to try and run the whole time so she and Jer went ahead. If it wasn't for a brief side ache she would have! It was really fun to see them get into it!

Next was my race. I ran the 5k. I had two goals: run the entire time and make it in about 33 minutes. Just before I hit mile 2 I was beginning to doubt myself and wonder why I chose to do the mile before this, but then I just kept telling myself that it is 90% mental and 10% physical so I kept going and ran the whole way. I was surprised to hear my time was 29 minutes.

It was really fun and gets me excited to run more. I think I will just stick with 5 k's for now though!

Cost Benefit Analysis

Sometimes as a mother I have to stop and ask myself, "Was 2 hours of peace and quiet while the girls played worth it????"

2 hours of play

-

1 hour of complaining about clean up

-

20 minutes helping clean up

-

10 minutes of sweeping

=

30 minutes of pure heaven!

So I guess in this case, it was worth it!

As you can see we are having a bit of a lazy day, especially when you combine the facts that 2 are in cloths from yesterday, one has no cloths on at all and I am still in my robe at 10:50 a.m.

BIB

Neeley and Kayla got up this morning and instead of coming in to wake us up, they went straight into the kitchen and were busy for at least a half an hour. Then they came tiptoeing into the room with a breakfast in bed tray complete with muffins, cereal, grape juice and a cute card. The cereal was missing the milk because Neeley said the lid was to tight and it was too full for her to pour. I have to say that was the best tasting breakfast ever! Thanks girls for being so thoughtful!

Vacuuming the Lawn

The first time Lilah saw Jer out mowing the lawn this season she kept running from window to window hollering "Daddy's vacuuming the grass! Daddy's vacuuming the grass!!" This has now become the highlight of our week. The girls love to sit in the front doorway and watch. I too can't resist the smell of fresh cut grass and the view of my favorite man walking behind the mower!

Now if we could just figure out the weather this spring we would be in great shape! Here are the girls having an indoor picnic after we discovered it was too cold for it outside.

Love to Give

The following is a note I got from a friend of mine who has been trying to adopt for some time now. They are an awesome family who really want and deserve more kids. They have two beautiful girls but feel that their family is not yet complete but are unable to have any more children of their own. Please pass the following on:

As some of you know, our family is trying to adopt. We were told that the best way to having a baby placed with us is by word of mouth...so we are giving you the chance to be apart of our adoption story. Please pass this message on to all your contacts in your email address book and ask them to pass it on to all their contacts, etc. You never know who may know someone who is considering placing a baby for adoption.

Our Adoption Link:

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22156129/ourMessage.jsf

Our Adoption Blog:

http://carlandstarla.blogspot.com

Thank you all so much for your support!

Love Always,

Carl & Starla

Perspective!

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Today the girls insisted that I upload their pictures from their cameras. It is interesting to see what things they think are picture worthy as well as their perspective with them. Here are a few samples:

Countless pics of the T.V. This one just happens to show their favorite: Little House on the Prairie.

Cute outfit set out for the next day.

I see diva. They see cute lil' sis!

You don't think about what the view from down their is like.

I think this is to show how their glitter toes match the purse.

Kayla loves Grandma's Christmas village.

I see a mess!! They see beautiful colors!

I guess we could all use a new perspective once in a while.

Make New Friends!

Old Friends: Mikelle, Alexis, Neeley and Kayla

New Friends: Neeley and Naomi

Back in my girl scout days I learned a saying that has stuck with me all these years:

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other is gold.

Since moving the girls have been busy keeping up with their old friends and making new ones. As we were discussing new girls in our neighborhood that we could call to play, Neeley was hesitant about having one little girl over. I sensed her hesitation and began to quiz her on why. It finally came down to the fact that this little girl had some physical differences that Neeley was apprehensive about. It was a great learning experience to be able to talk about how we are all different. I asked her if she wanted someone to treat her differently because she had brown hair or for her blue eyes. Of course her answer was no. I explained to her that the color of our skin is just as simple of a difference as the color of our hair. We would never want to judge anyone for how they look, we always have to look inside a person to see how they really are. Isn't it funny how sometimes we, as people, shy away from the unknown? If we fail to really get to know about something, we can miss out on some really wonderful things in life. Neeley agreed to meet this new friend and give it a try playing together. I told her that if after 1 hour she wasn't having fun, we could be done playing. Well, as I suspected, 3 hours went by and Neeley came and said, "Mom, can Naomi stay for longer than one hour?" I am so glad for teaching moments in our lives and for a new friend!