Delano Mile Run 2012

Blondie got the first Delano Mile Run of her elementary school career behind her as of this morning.  I can't explain to you how much Towns was looking forward to it. And after hearing talk of how this is one of the most fun events of the school year, I was excited about it too!  The kids have had the opportunity to take part in a marathon of 26 miles that they completed both on their own and at school during PE.  Today was the mile run for the physical fitness test (that I refuse to tell Towns I despised when I was in school - our mile was four laps around a track on the playground - no hype, no event, no nothing) as well as their 26th mile needed to finish their marathon.  Some kids did more than that over the course of the school year, but we were doing good to log 25.2 before the run today.  Trust me.  Bethany was so sweet to take her to Delano last night and do a practice run with her.  Sister of the year award is coming your way, Bebs!

It was an event, no doubt about it.  It's a 5k atmosphere on an elementary school level which was beyond exciting for all the kids!  It was at the track in Delano Park a few streets over from our house, and with us being the newbies I was amazed at how big of a deal it really was.  Parents, teachers, kids all lined up around the track cheering on the grade that happened to be running at the time.  So fun!

It was pretty official stuff, you know.  They had these...

And these fancy timing chips...

Mrs. Propst's class was the first one to the starting line and they were all smiles...
But poor Towns and Emma, they've both had ailments in the past week and I think they were a little nervous...
When the 1st graders were all lined up, Coach Q went over the rules in hopes of preventing a major stampede...
They listened intently, and then they were off...
J and Cate ran over to get a spot where she'd be sure to see them cheering her on when she ran past...

She was struggling a little, bless her heart.  She's missed PE for the last week which means she's also missed running the mile a few times for practice.  She hasn't done much in the way of physical activity since her surgery so I was worried about her.  She kicked it into high gear when she saw us, though...
Two boys in her grade raced each other the entire way around the track and both finished in just over seven minutes with a huge crowd yelling for them...
At this point, it kind of hit me that this is one of the signs that the school year is almost over.  I'm ridiculous, I know.  But it took all I could do not to lose it right then and there.  I was standing with a friend who was also trying to hold it together, so I didn't feel so bad about being a major sap.  She just had a baby, so she has an excuse whereas I have nothing to blame my emotions on!  But then I saw Towns coming down the hill and around the bend and went into crazy, screaming mom mode...
In all the commotion I totally missed her crossing the finish line so I have no idea what her official time was.  And I missed the picture I'd been waiting for all morning of her running under the banner...
I could kick myself for missing it!!
One thing I definitely wasn't missing...
Let's try that again (there always has to be a second try when J's behind the camera)...
I love that little runner!
Her daddy had to have a turn with her, too...

All she really cared about at that moment was us leaving her alone to let her finish her popsicle and Gatorade!  Buggy found her way to the class cooler and helped herself, naturally...

She and her friends had a fun time cheering on the 2nd graders once they recovered from their own race...
The funny thing about that one is that I asked the four of them to get together so I could take a picture of them.  Tyler and Bo looked at each other and immediately moved two feet further away from the girls.  So I settled for an action shot.  Got to love 1st graders!
They all had a ball for the next little while before loading themselves on the school bus to head back to school...

Class picture full of hot, sweaty, precious kiddos...
And with that, we said adios to our first ever Delano Mile Run...
As with most everything at this age and stage I love, it came and went way too fast!
But Buggy couldn't wait to get her hands on her new baby Annie (who looks so real it's scary), so we came on home...

 If we can't have the real Annie P., this is the next best thing!

A Weekend at Home

For the first time in a long time we had a weekend with everyone home and no place we had to be.  Do you know how good that feels?  Pretty great, actually.
If we went anywhere, it was by bicycle.  And if we did anything, it was outside.
That pretty much sums it all up.

Friday afternoon the girls pulled out the moon sand.  My inclination was to redirect them to something a little less messy.  But it was Friday.  And Fridays usually do something to me.  So we played the afternoon away on the front porch and enjoyed the sunshine...



Saturday morning we were up bright and early as not to let a second of the day get away from us.  We rode our bikes to breakfast.  Let me try that again.  J and I rode our bikes while the girls had the luxury of riding a battery operated scooter and Escalade.  Talk about the stares we got as we pulled into the parking lot.  It looked like the circus had come to town.  That's not too far off if you want to know the truth about it!
After our breakfast date, Towns picked some flowers from the yard and decided she was going to try her hand at flower arranging...
We pulled out the tiny little Easter tree from last year and decorated it while we were in the decorating mood...

I thought it would be fun to try an Easter egg crafting project I saw in my Martha Stewart Living magazine.  The idea behind it is to paint hard boiled eggs with glue, cover them in translucent glitter, and then dye them once the glue has dried.  After just trying the glue and glitter part of it, I'm convinced that Martha wasn't prettifying her eggs with help from children.  Thank goodness we were once again on the porch for this little project.  Otherwise the kids would have painted the walls with glue and covered the house with glitter.  It was everywhere.  The good thing about crafting outdoors is that you can sweep it off the porch and it looks as if the glue/glitter malfunction never happened!  The girls thought it was fun, though...
We haven't dyed them yet.  I'll report back on that once we've tackled it!  Wish us luck...

 While we were busy going crazy with glitter, B was prepping for her JUG Spring Date Night.  As I've said before, I dare not pick anything out and buy it without her seeing it first.  So shopping for an outfit consisted of me texting her a picture of a cute dress I found and me crossing my fingers!  She gave it her seal of approval, so I made the purchase and it was a done deal.  As always, she looked beautiful...

Towns wanted a picture with her sister, but the hair in the face sort of threw me off...
And this one, well, Cate jumped in the middle of us nearly knocking us over when Towns snapped the picture....
Anyone surprised by that?  I didn't think so.
Bethany and her date...
Who might still lose a limb if I see him after he left her
to find her own ride home.  She had fun anyway, so in the end he didn't rain on her parade.
What's wrong with boys these days?! Moving right along...

 After church and a family lunch yesterday, J being the sweet and fun daddy that he is decided that we should go fishing.  Fishing with little girls is quite the experience.  I fully expected Towns to be the one to sit it out and Cate to be the one to enjoy it.  They always surprise me, though.  Towns loved it and was determined to catch the first fish...

She caught the only fish of the day!

Buggy was perfectly content with her iPod touch and a baby doll...


She did give it a go, but it only lasted about .5 seconds...

I kept her entertained with worms while the fishermen did their thing...

We tried to catch tadpoles but had zero luck.  That might have something to do with the fact that tadpoles don't hang around when a 4 year old is stomping around in the shallow water in her rain boots while screaming, "there's one Mommy, get it, get it, get it"!

The afternoon ended with climbing trees, church, and a nighttime bike ride around the neighborhood...

And it's Monday again.
Why do Mondays come around so fast?
If it's got to be a Monday, at least it's a hot and pretty one!

The Patient

The patient fared well yesterday.  I'm beyond glad that it's behind us for her sake.  I know without a shadow of a doubt that this was much harder at Towns' age than it was for Cate when she had the same surgery as a baby.  It physically hurt my heart to see her apprehensive about it since she was old enough to know what was going to happen.  At ten months old, Cate didn't know what was going on before, during or after.  It's been a different story this go 'round, but she's doing good and getting loads of TLC and attention!

We were up around 4 a.m. and on our way to Huntsville to get the much dreaded show on the road.  It didn't take long to get her admitted and back to the pre-op area.  I could tell she was feeling uneasy...

She watched Netflix for a little while...

That's when I asked if she was ready to get into her "sunshine bag" from her precious friend Mary Bibb.  She gave her a bag full of individually wrapped goodies for her to open while we were waiting.  It worked like a charm and kept her mind off of everything...

She really loved her teen heart throb magazine and told us that she's "going to Hollywood, dahling" in the most dramatic Zsa Zsa Gabor voice while raising the roof.  Hilarious doll face...

When we were first called back to pre-op, we found out that she had been moved from the 1st case to the 2nd case.  That wouldn't be a big deal had she not been begging for something to drink and couldn't have it.  That, and the fact that the longer the wait meant the more worried she'd be.  I prayed so hard that somehow she wouldn't have to be the 2nd case.  Low and behold, when Dr. Gilbert came in he told us he had no idea why the order had been changed and told the nurse to move her back to the 1st case.  Praise the Lord!!

She was given the option of walking back to the OR on her own or driving a purple princess car.  She chose the car, naturally, and a sweet nurse came in and gave her her very own drivers license...

Finally, it was time.  This was gut wrenching for me.  She hopped in the car and everyone helped get her situated...

And off she drove not really realizing that where she was headed was to the operating room...

At this point I was a puddle.  I stayed calm and held it together while she was with us, but as soon as I saw her turn the corner in the purple car and was out of my sight I completely lost it.  Now I know what you're thinking.  Dramatic and overboard.  Yes, I probably was.  But even though this was a minor surgery and all, it's still my baby.  My baby whom I wanted to hold and never let go of!  I tried so hard to keep myself occupied while she was in surgery.  They have a "flight board" that lists the patients by their assigned number (a number that's burned into my memory) and tells you where they are.  You know what's not fun?  To see:

1466872    OR

For about 45 minutes straight.  I know it was that long because I looked at it every other minute.  I must have worn a path in the carpet between my chair and that flight board.  Meanwhile, J had found a Starbucks in the hospital.  He knows me well.  I was thrilled and relieved when I saw:

1466872    PACU

Which meant she was finally out of surgery and in recovery.

Shortly after, Dr. Gilbert came out and told us that she'd gone through it beautifully.  It was funny to hear him say, "we gave her a big slug of antibiotics while she was under."  Made us feel right at home with the slang!  A nurse came to get us and told us she was awake and eating a popsicle.  We were prepared for her to be out of sorts which is how the girls have been every time they've ever had anesthesia.  Alas, not this time.  The nurse said she'd told them her life story.  She told them she had two sisters and a cat that was sort of ours, but not really ours because it roams the neighborhood.  Sweet girl!

When we got back to see her you couldn't have pried us off of her.  I don't think I've ever been so happy to see that little love!  Her daddy fed her so she wouldn't have to lift a finger...

The first thing she asked for was her peace sign fake fingernails that Mary Bibb had given her.  Who was I to tell her no in a time like this?  So right there in post-op I put those fingernails on.

She was not so thrilled to have to ride in a wheelchair when it was time to go home.  She fully expected to be able to walk (one day she'll kill me for this picture)...

And I fully expected her to crawl up in the bed with me when we got home and sleep for at least an hour or two.  Cate had stayed the night with her friend Ella (and was convinced she was the biggest, baddest four year old on the planet because of it) so we had the house to ourselves for a little while.  No nap for us, though.  She was wide open and for the rest of the day was determined that she felt good enough to do whatever she wanted to do.  So we made brownies (her friend Conner brought her that bunny along with flowers and sweet card he made that said she was his "rainbow of colors" - precious)...

And maybe, just maybe, I let her lick the bowl!

She rode her scooter (against my better judgment) and ended up chasing down the ice cream truck...

Today she's paying for it.  I'm trying to make her stay in one spot in the bed or on the couch, but it's a tough job.  She's walking hunched over because it hurts too bad to stand up straight.  And she's 100% against taking any medicine.  Bless her little heart.  She thinks she's going to be back at school tomorrow.  I'm praying that she feels that good, but we shall see...