Every Year

on Mother's Day, since the first one I was a mom for, I have had a picture taken with each child, and one with all of them.



This year's photo shoot was particularly memorable. We were trying to line them all up after church whilst they danced about wildly (yes, even on the table).

And when we were finally ready to snap the first photo, which would have included a tantruming Princess (sometimes eye contact and done is more important than smiling for a picture with kids)...she barfed in a most amazing manner into my hands and down my leg (see previous blog post).

Post clean-up, after several shots (including one that would be great after cropping since it offers a clear shot up my dress), we got this one:


And these of my cute kids, some of whom (sadly for me) think they are too big to sit on my lap:






Ahh...traditions.

Nothing like a little barf...

to make Mother's Day extra special.

The Actress Takes on a Cause

The Actress really wanted to run the IL Marathon 5K, but alas we just didn't have enough adults to go around for all of those kids and she was relegated to the Youth Run instead.

But this coming Saturday, May 15th, she will run her first official chip-timed 5K with Mr. Bloomers.** She can hardly wait. Believe me. She went on a training run with Mr. Bloomers yesterday wearing my Garmin and clocked 2 miles without stopping in about 24 minutes. How many adults can do that, let alone 9 year-olds? I'm so proud of her.


She asked me this past week whether a person could run a 5K for a cause, as I had run my marathon for a cause. I told her she sure could, to which she replied:

"I want to run my 5K for Travis, and raise some money for him just like you did."

This afternoon the Actress asked if I would put up this blog post for her to let you know that she has a cause. So folks, if you haven't donated (or even if you have) and are able to do so, please donate something (see button on sidebar or send me a check) to support the Actress in running her 5K on behalf of Travis.

She is a great kid and I'm lucky to be her mom.

**The Actress completed her first 5K last June with me at a church fun run. We were dressed as twinners for the fabulous event.

I'm a Future Firefighter

Okay, so not really. But here's the scoop on the lovely renovated sippie cup:

On Thursdays, I drive Little Mommy and her friend K to and from preschool. Generally, K comes to our house afterward for lunch and to play.


The day before we left for the marathon I put on a pot of water to boil for pasta, a FAVORITE food of these preschool girls...with butter and salt, of course. Being the lazy soul I am about drying dishes, I had left some sippies on the counter that hadn't fully dried in the dishwasher.

And then I left the room for about three minutes.

Upon my return I was stunned to see a ball of flames roughly six inches in diameter coming up from the counter near the stove. Nice. I walked closer to it and discovered that somehow the sippie, roughly five inches from the gas flame, had caught on fire! It wasn't just melting folks, as I might have expected, it was completely flaming!!!

Although it doesn't seem like the best idea now, when I noticed that the bottom of the cup wasn't on fire I simply picked it up, fireball and all, walked to the sink, tossed it in, and turned on the water.

Ash flew into the air in a shocking quantity but the flames went out rather quickly.

Awesome.

And then I cleaned up the melted sippie puddles from the stove and floor, finished the pasta, and served lunch to four hungry little darlings.

Betcha didn't know...

Sippie cups are flammable.

Marathon Reflections

Well, the big day has come and gone. The soreness passed quickly, with the exceptions of my two second toes...probably going to lose both toenails. Awesome. Promise not to show pictures of that. :)


I've had a number of mixed feelings about the whole experience. Unfortuneately, the strongest feeling I've experienced in the last couple of days is one of disappointment in myself, as I don't feel like I put forth the best race I was capable of physically after so much training.

I've been working really hard to overcome such feelings, and focus more on the positive. Some wise friends pointed out that I ought to focus more on what I've become because of the training. I also feel good about the example I've set for my children. I received a few super-encouraging emails from others who were inspired by my goals to make some fitness goals for themselves. And I raised some money for a very worthy cause that is near and dear to me heart.


So all is not lost.

But now I'm going to have to do it all again, probably in 3 or 4 years when the kids are older. In the meantime, I'll work on getting faster on the shorter distances, running 5K's mainly, with a couple of half marathons each year.


And someday I'll run that marathon that will make me feel proud of myself with no reservations.

Look for an actual race report in the next two days. And thanks again to two very special friends for watching our FIVE little ones while Mr. Bloomers and I were otherwise engaged in running ourselves sick. (Well, at least I got sick. :)


(Also, sorry about my pasty white face and slumping shoulders in these pictures. We cleverly forgot to take any pre-race photos, so here I am trying hard not to be violently ill. And yes, I paid out of pocket to have this experience on purpose. But doesn't Mr. Bloomers look handsome?)

And at the end I got a medal

26.2 miles is a loooooong way on foot in one outing.

It wasn't the race I hoped for, but I finished and I'm still alive.

So all is well.

Even if I shuffle like a really old arthritic woman with osteoporosis.

Details to come soon.

PS Thanks for your awesome support, especially for those who made donations on behalf of Travis and Mandy. I so appreciate our wonderful friends and family.