big girls

my girls are getting big! pictures these days are a battle. here's a couple on logann's first day of school. notice all the ponies and the puppy she had to take along with her. luckily she's been doing great and mommy is loving her alone time.

Florida

We went to FL a couple weeks ago for a family vacation. If you can call it that. This picture of Logann pretty much describes the week, lots of whining and crying and little sleep. There were some moments of enjoyment, swimming and playing in the white white sand at Siesta Key.

there is a God!

my prayers have been answered. they've found a spot for logann at preschool. no more waiting list! starting monday logann will be in the 2 yr.old class (she just misses the cut-off for 3s here). logann will go mondays and fridays from 9:15-12:15am. sophia goes m,w,f. so that'll leave me with 2 childless mornings a week. what will i do with myself? maybe absolutely nothing. at least for a day or two!

America the Beautiful

Did you guys see the series the Today Show did recently on the top 10 most beautiful places in the US? I was hooked on it probably because a travel editor/photographer was the only appealing job to me growing up. Maybe I'll contact some of these travel mags. and see if they are hiring. I could use some weeks/months away from my family. Our trip to FL last week was not much of a vacation. Too much whining and fighting! : )

Anyway here's the list they came up with.

1.Grand Canyon 2. The Gulf Coast 3. Yellowstone National Park 4. Hawaii 5.Pacific Coast Highway 6.Amber waves of grain' 7.America's historic ballparks 8.Arlington National cemetary 9.Charleston, S.C.
10.Niagra Falls

What do you think? The Gulf Coast includes several states including FL, LA, MS. I would have to agree it is awe-inspiring sitting in the pure white sand in such a natural setting looking out at the blues and greens of the gulf. The Sarasota/Siesta Key Beach area of Florida is a must if you haven't been.

What happened the mountains of the US though? The Rockies or the Grand Tetons or Mt. Rainier(Seattle area)? They would make my list. And what about ALASKA? Of course I can't comment first hand but the photos I've seen of Alaska are amazing.

Now Niagara Falls is pushing it don't you think? It is a sight to see but the surrounding areas are not that impressive. Same with Charleston is it worthy? I also think the monuments of D.C. would make my list over Arlington Cemetary.

What are your top places? How many of these ones have you seen? I still need to get to Yellowstone and Charleston.

The Grand Canyon I was supposedly at in June of 1978! Can't quite picture it though. Thinking of visiting again in Jan. when we go to Phoenix for the marathon. Hopefully!

My Boy Brady

OK time for some less serious posts..... saw these photos of TB (my boy) on SportsCenter while we were in FL. Was dying to find them online so I could post them for all of you, and me too! If I were back in highschool I'd tape them in my locker so I could drool over them all day : ) But since I'm almost 30 and all grown up I will just post them here and look at them every now and then : )
By the way I don't care if he left his baby's mama. he is freaking hot! And yummy, and what does he see in that Giselle chick,anyway! She's too skinny : ) How about that wet t-shirt,nice,huh So girls who would win your wet t-shirt contest?

Women drivers! - today's pet peeve

So this morning I had to get up early and get in my 75 min. run before John went to work. Short on time I decided to do my run from the house rather than get in my car and drive to my usual long run spot.
The course I ran today is basically country road running, no sidewalks! Unfortunately the people that designed the roads in NC way back when, failed to include shoulders for the roads. This has driven me crazy the last year and prevented me from biking too! Anyway so when you run these courses you are pretty much running in the road or right on the white line. On the side of the road is high grass, they don't seem to mow the sides of the roads here either. I wouldn't mind running in the high grass if I wasn't aware of the vast amounts of ticks that seem to live around here. Or if I hadn't spotted a dead snake 2 mins into my run. Obviously I was not stepping foot in that grass!
So here's where this all comes together, yes I am long-winded! Ok the road I ran today is really busy even at 7am on Sat. morning. I'd say I was probably passed by at least 30 cars today. Bored with my running I started playing games in my head as I began noticing patterns in the oncoming cars.
What I calculated was that the cars with women driving never seemed to move over for me. It was almost as if they wanted to plow right into me, pissed that I was running 4 inches into their lane. Or they were just such cautious drivers and wouldn't dare touch the double yellow. Although that theory doesn't make much sense as people down here don't seem to know the rules of the road very well.
Now the men on the other hand went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. As soon as they spotted me they proceeded to drive in the opposing lane well after they were around me. It was actually amusing, I could tell 99% of the time what gender was driving the car before I could even see the driver.
So to all you women out there don't be afraid to swerve into the other lane to save a runner's life, even if it means breaking a rule or two!

Belated Bday party

Well I got talked into a Chuck e Cheese party this year for Sophia. We kept it pretty small just inviting 6 of her closest pals. So much more manageable than previous parties. And actually a lot of fun.

First day of school, first day of school!

Its finally here! We've been counting down the days or should I say the weeks til the start of school. I don't know if Sophia was more excited to go or if I was more excited to drop her off. After reading some of my other friend's blogs about all tears that went along with the first day of school, I feel bad. Sophia and I were both wearing smiles. Couldn't get a photo of her in front of her new school. It was really hot out and we had a long walk from the parking lot so by the time we got near the school she was whining and dying to get into the A.C. Gotta love the 95 degree fall days here in NC.

Her teacher is a friend of mine and really into arts and crafts and music so Sophia will be in her glory this year. Something mommy can't help her out much with!

Logann on the other hand is still first on the waiting list for the two year old class. She will be the oldest kid by far in the class so I'm wondering if she will even benefit from it, but I know I could use some "me" time with them both in school.

On the morning of the first day of school Logann came downstairs carrying her My Little Pony backpack. I got a little nervous wondering how I was going to explain to her that she couldn't go to school too. I went ahead and asked her if she was going to school today to see what her reaction would be. Crocodile tears started flowing and a really loud "I DONT LIKE GOOL (school) MOMMY. I WANT TO STAY HOME WITH YOU!"............... Phew luckily they change their minds overnight.

Sophia was the one that struggled. All the way to school she kept saying "I'm gonna miss my Logie" And when I picked her up the first thing she wanted was a rundown of what Logann did while she was gone.

its cold here!

We finally had a cooldown here yesterday. At least for an hour while we were at the park. When we got there at 10am it was a chilly 78 of course by the time we left at 11:30 it was 87. Let me tell you how nice that 78 felt though. The girls and I were finally able to go to the park without being soaked in our own sweat.

This is their favorite park,it has a huge sand area, that we seem to spend most of our time at. Instead of building with the sand like the boys do, S & L put the sand in buckets and stir it up with sticks and call it icecream. Yesterday Sophia made me my favorite ice cream - raisin bran, blueberry, chicken, tomato, icecream with rainbow sprinkles. Sounds delicious huh! The creative mind of a 4 yr old.

fresh and clean

someone once told me the best smell in the world is your children after a bath. all lotioned up and soft as ever, i think i have to agree! my girls get kinda silly after tubs especially when they have their favorite towels on. i couldn't resist snapping a few the other night. of course they are not always as cooperative as i would like especially when pretending to be puppies. but the smile on logann's face in the first photo makes me melt.