OBX 2008

Yeah, Yeah, I know...........haven't posted in over a month. Well no excuse like the truth......

I'm Just Plain Enjoying My SUMMER!!!

No summer school for Ceito this year, and the kids are now done with activities. And we are just enjoying each others company. I'm not gonna lie, we are still busy it seems, but our motto is "SIMPLIFY"!

So, I guess I'll let ya in on what's goin' on.

We just returned from vacation in the Outer Banks. We are in love again. We haven't been there for 4 years and we loved it then, but life got in the way and we never made it back. So when the opportunity to go came up with some friends we jumped at it.

We rented a great house in Corolla (north beaches). The house was good, not one we would use again only because it was in a club with amenities that we never used.

We will go again. Corolla has sunk into our hearts! We also went with a great family. Enjoyed their company and our kids had a blast together.

So here's a recap...........

My boys pool side at the house.

The wild horses..........gorgeous. We rented jeeps the last full day we were there and turned the corner onto the 4X4 beach (a few jeeps here and there, not many people, fresh sand, beautiful views) and saw this..........oh my..........yep, I cried!
After I dried the tears I ordered us out of the Jeep and had our friends take some pics. I planned the matching outfits and I'm glad we wore them this day! Just beautiful!
After the "formal picture" We all stripped down and drove up and down the beach and played on the dunes. It was just breath-taking!
Another "formal" picture. This is my favorite! Serene, can't you hear the waves??
Ask the kids, "what was your favorite thing about vacation?", they ALL said Mini-golf.............arghhh, I could have taken them to mini golf at Geneva on the Lake and saved a few grand!!!!

Yeah.......he's just HAWT.............and I got to take him home!!
Winks had some eye issues at the beginning of the week. Salt water, sun, chlorine........all his enemies. He has VERY sensitive eyes, and some other eye issues that compound the sensitivity. On the 2nd day, I bought him a real pair of goggles and they kept the water, sun, sand, chlorine out and we got our happy Winker Bean back!
They loved the ocean!
They loved the pool too!

Yeah..........ummm.........The Bug and Zach...........they were just cute all week long. Other than the fact that he's 11 and she's 5 I would consider an arranged marriage in the future! They just adore one another. She followed him around and he tolerated it very well.

She's just adorable!
You can't see the face, but he is in the process of spitting out salt water. He forgot he wasn't in Lake Erie, and took in some big gulps at first! Poor guy!
Um..........................yeah................
My kids, just the way I like 'em.........confined!!

This is the house. Pretty, nice, cute, it worked.

Shooting sling shot airplanes.
Rained the first day there so we went to the Currituck Lighthouse. Climbed it for $7 each, yikes! Then I remembered all the race fees I've paid to do much worse to myself and sucked it up and paid the fee!
At the top of the lighthouse.
Lots of stairs for all those little legs!
It went way too fast. I loved every single minute and cried when we left. I miss it already, and know that I want to go back soon...............OBX marathon is in November! Yes it is. If I had the cash I would jump on that pronto. But, alas, I stimulated the economy with the purchase of a new camera, since mine got hit with a big wave...........busted bad, so no marathon. Oh well.

That's it. That's a short re-cap. I have much more, but will share in person to those of you who care at all!!

On a training note...........Columbus marathon is the next big event. October 18!

I'm out!

Beach, Baseball and some training

Last night the kids and I went to one of our favorite places...............The Beach!! Yep, it was a bit chilly and windy and the lake was kickin', but we just wanted to say helloooo to a friend. We really missed that beach this winter. It was a long cold winter and we are really ready to get to that beach in our suits and with the buckets and shovels. They wanted to take the buckets and shovels last night, but I was not ready to dig 'em out yet, so we grabbed the pup and our jackets and headed out.

The kids did a great job introducing Sophie to the water. They threw rocks and she stepped in after a few, but was a bit timid when the waves came rolling in hard and loud. Still cute though!

A little beach running!!
Getting a pretty good work out!


One of their favorite things about this particular beach is the tire swing. It twists and swings at the same time and makes for a great laugh for them. They are still small enough to fit in one together which is fine by me, those things are hard to push!!
Throw your head back and laugh kinda fun!! Ahhh childhood!!
Running down the "boardwalk". The beach is pretty dirty right now. Lots of winter stuff laying around. I can't wait until summer...........ahhh...........they use a beach cleaning machine on this beach and it makes the sand so soft and thick! Can't wait, oh yeah I already said that!


A great night with two great kids!

Bug's first tee ball game was last friday. Winks played at the same time on a field right beside hers. It was crazy! I took a chair to sit in, but never sat down. Too worried about what was going on in both games. Winks had a great game. He continues to hit the ball well. He runs harder to first base now that he knows he might get out! He's come a long way in one year.

Bug's game was just plain cute. Those little kids are clueless, but they are so darn cute. She hit the ball well. The first time up the coach forgot she was left handed and had her hit from the right side of the tee. She still hit it, even with us yelling from the outfield, "she's left handed!" Oh well, switch hitter training!! I think she was bored in the field. One of her preschool friends was throwing dirt at her, so she threw it back!!

Here she is in the uni. Lookin' like a real slugger!

Warm up time. She just started throwing with her right hand so she is confused about which hand to put the glove on. She hits everything (baseballs, golf balls....) with a left hand stance, so we thought she was purely left handed for sports. Well, after Ceito saw her throwing again a few weeks ago his coaching skills came out and he said he thinks she's a right hand thrower. Well I already bought the cute pink left handers glove!!! Now she has to use Winks' old glove, and come to terms with putting the brown thing on her left hand!! Poor confused child!
There's Winks grinning through it all!
Then on the other field Bug got hit in the head with the ball during warm up. Poor child still can't figure out to put that brown thing on her left hand and catch the ball with it. She was okay. Daddy fixes everything!!
There she is throwing with her right hand. She talks to herself....."step and throw, step and throw"..........ahhh cute, even with the ugly brown thing on her left hand!
On a training note...........got back to running on Wednesday. Planned on getting started on Tuesday but the 1/2 mary really knocked out my left leg. My left calf really was pretty angry with me until yesterday. I forced myself onto the treadmill on Wednesday morning and did 2 miles. First 1/2 mile was painful, but after that I felt fine. I was tight, even after stretching for 1 hour each on Monday and Tuesday. I did a very painful cross friction massage on Wednesday night followed by some ice. Ran 3 miles last night on the treadmill again (at 6.0 to 6.3 mph) and felt really good.

Christi called right when I was getting started and I talked to her during my warm up. She also said that she had been tired this week too. Wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that she went to the Cleveland Zoo right after running a 1/2 marathon would it??? I thought I was crazy. She makes me feel sane!!!

I feel really good this morning. It's the first morning I haven't felt stiff and tired. I think all the added stress I've had in my life in the past few months added to the fatigue I felt after the race. This race really ended a whirlwind month for me. I finally feel relaxed! Even got on the scale this morning and smiled!! Stress, fatigue really gone for now!

Will run in the Lift Bridge 5K on Monday, followed by a few 5K's here and there. First Triathlon??? Looking for something in the beginning of July. 2nd will be July 20th right here in Ashtabula. Still looking for 1-2 triathlons in August and September. I believe I will run the Columbus 1/2 marathon in October. That was a fun race. Cleveland was fun too, Columbus just feels like home! It reminds me of my childhood and going to work with my mom and looking at all the beautiful buildings...........and COSI trips too!!!

That's all for now!!

What did you do on Sunday May 18th??

I don't know what you did yesterday, but my day was packed full of fun things to do. Ceito and I got up at 4am and prepared for getting our fam out the door for a rainy, cold drive into Cleveland. We picked up Christi and her family on the way and headed for the marathon. We had a great race and finished in 2 hours 11 minutes.

Up above is a post race pic. We got no pre or during pictures due to the wet conditions. Yes I blocked out my number after realizing that anyone within seconds can find me online. I'm not a freak, I just know that there are some real freaks in the world.

After the race we then jumped in the van and got home in time for a shower and a brief sit down......no pictures of that!!

We then headed over to Bug's school for her preschool graduation. It was much less emotional for me than I expected. I had a few times of "Oh no don't lose it now girl", but I held it together.

Here are Ceito and I awaiting the Pomp and Circumstance. Winks actually took this picture. What a good little photographer!

This is her class before graduation. She is first row on the left. That cap became a really funny item during graduation when it would not stay on her head.

Here's Winks waiting for the arrival of the graduates.My big boy. I still remember the day that he went through the same graduation. Seems like just yesterday he wore the little cap and gown that Bug now wears.
They finally came in. I got more of a picture of the girl in front of her. But can't delete it 'cause it's the only one I got. Not such a good action photographer!

Bug and a few of her girlfriends from her class.
The Graduate! She practiced her smile in the van on the way to graduation. She decided on the closed lip one! It says I'm happy, but not thrilled to be leaving preschool! She kept her arms tucked inside that gown too!
After the ceremony they sat and had a little snack. Ever since I became a mom I've really wondered why every single event in a kids life ends with a snack. They play 1 hour of tee ball, they get a snack; one hour of sunday school........snack; one hour of sitting on a stage.....snack. EEIIYYIII...........stop with the snacks already. Actually most of these events are really followed by a "treat", not a "snack". These are 2 words I have tried really hard to differentiate with my kids and anyone who feeds them on a normal basis. Okay I'm off my soap box!
We had a great day. We worked hard to make it all happen and it went really well.

After graduation we had dinner at Eddie's grill. Now I NEVER have eaten a burger at this place. For the most part I eat pretty clean. I try hard not to eat very many processed foods and I very, very rarely eat red meat. I prefer fish and chicken over red stuff. But, earlier this weekend I decided to try a cheeseburger at Eddie's. I thought about it a lot during the 1/2 marathon actually. I was looking forward to it, and I ordered it with fries. I gotta tell ya...........it was soooo worth the wait. I really liked it! It was melt in your mouth good. I'm watering up right now just thinking about it.

It will be a long time before I have an eating evening like that again though because after the burger, fries, rootbeer, and a DQ blizzard I was miserable! It's okay to go off track every once in a while, and it's a quick reminder that your belly just can't handle food like that anymore. I'll be working on getting my innerds back to normal for several days I would think.

This is what Crazy TriMama looks like after going crazy for several weeks in a row. I hope she gets her eyebrows back down where they belong very soon!!!

Whooo Hoooo

Cleveland Rocks! I'm really, really happy with the outcome of the 1/2 marathon today. I had a great time running with a new friend and I actually beat my Columbus marathon time by 1:30, and beat my goal of finishing before the full marathon first runner!!! Wow, he was smokin' down to the finish chute!

Unofficial time..........2:11:10.............in the cold rain!!!

Yeah! Very happy with that!!

Had a little cramping in my abdomen (same as in Columbus) around mile 8. Just really tried focusing on something other than that and was able to just forget about it. The finish was fun, since my friend Christi had never run a big race before, so she was beaming!

I will say that I really think the Columbus marathon was much more enjoyable from the stand-point of spectators and entertainment. The people were just amazing in Columbus, many, many, more than in Cleveland!

I have pictures to post from the entire busy crazy day, but for now I'm heading to bed. I ate at Eddie's Grill, and just finished some ice cream, and I'm feeling really tired. Couldn't be all the junk food could it??? Nah!

The week in review

It has been one crazy week! I finished a very stressful semester, and it seems that my kids activities and schedules have really ramped up as well. Ceito is really just exhausted with all of the running around and it seems that a lot of these schedule issues should be over with after the marathon on Sunday.

So I decided to do a bit of a review. I took pictures all week, so I might as well share. I'm jumping around a little, because I downloaded the pictures wrong! Oh well, I'll keep ya on your toes!!

Last night.................

Winks was honored as an award winning author!

He entered the Reading Rainbow Young Authors and Illustrators contest, and was chosen as a runner up for First Grade. This is a program that he saw advertised on PBS last year and he entered then as well and won 2nd place last year in the kindergarten division. This program received over 300 entries and of those his book was chosen as a 3rd place winner in 1st grade. The PBS station is in Pennsylvania, so our school does not enter it, he just entered on his own. Pretty cool kid! We went to the "writer's party" last night in Edinboro, PA. He read his book called "The Climbing Cat", and received some prizes. His favorite prize is a gift card to Borders.

This is a picture of Winks with his teacher who came to the party with us. He looked so cute and grown up in his little suit.

A picture of the program!

Reading his book into the microphone.

No party is complete without cake! Enjoying sweets with dad!

All of us with our little author!

Sunday.......................

Mother's Day at our church is full of kids programs. The little preschoolers (Patty Cake Praisers) do a short program full of silly little things and cute little kids, then the big kids do a musical that they practice for months. Both programs were great and Winks even had a solo this year!

There's our Bug being a Veggie Tale!

Winks' musical was called "Livin' inside out in an Upside Down World" It was very nicely done and had a very strong message about living for Christ in a world that lives for the flesh. I love learning from my children!

Monday...................

Winks had his first coach pitch baseball game.

It was a good game in which he got his very first ever OUT. In tee ball the kids never get out, but in coach pitch they do. He hit the ball each time he got up, but the first time he hit he got out at first...........ran too slow. He was pretty upset and the picture below is he and Ceito talking about it. Ceito said Winks started to tear up, but held it together pretty well. It took some explaining to him for him to understand what happened and that he needs to beat the ball to first base when he hits it.

Winks only played 30 minutes, then we loaded back into the truck and headed back to the church for another musical performance. The picture below is not one of my peeps....he belongs to a friend. He was the M.C. and did a great job. I thought it was a picture of Winks when I downloaded it, but decided to keep it in anyway!

That is my guy below. He was soooo tired by this time. He did a great job! What an amazing kid!

Last Friday..................

The Bug's Mother's Day Tea at preschool.

Every year the preschool does a Mother's Day Tea. Last year Ceito actually went to it, because I had a final exam to give that day. He had fun, but I was not going to miss it this year. I did have a final to give, but I explained the situation to my boss, and he offered to give the final for me! What a great boss!!

The Bug's class getting ready to sing us a Mom's day song, then give us those cute little paper flowers!

So stinkin' cute!A little chocolate pudding makes a good skin mask!
Me and My Bug!

Earlier that same day...............

The Bug had her 5 year Physical. 40.5 pounds and 41" tall. Yep, she's a peanut!

Up above, she gives us her 5! Down below the arm squeezer!
The medical student checked her out first......yep, heart beats good!
Then our favorite doctor checked her out. See the 5 again? Think she's proud?

So that's a little bit of what we've done in the past 7 days.

The next 3 days will be just as full. Tomorrow will be Bug's last day of school, with a picnic by the lake, then she and I will go to dinner and the ballet with friends.

Saturday morning will be a coach pitch game again, then marathon packet pick up in Cleveland.

Sunday is the BIG DAY!!! I can't believe it's here! Marathon starts at 7:00am............run, run, run some more...............jump in the van, drive home and go to The Bug's preschool graduation!!! Then folks, I'm going to Eddie's grill in Geneva On The Lake and I'm havin' me a burger and a lemonade! Then I'll go home, play with the greatest family and the greatest dog, then put 'em all in bed, and probably drink a glass of wine with me Ceito!!!