The week FLEW by… swimming went pretty well.  There were some tears and whining, but we made it through all 5 days, and Analise did fairly well.  I won’t say she can exactly SWIM yet, but she’s definitely more comfortable in the water, and we’re well on our way to swimming.  Somehow we were super busy all week long with storytime, school, playing with friends and errands.  And naptimes were huge, as we were all tired from running around and swimming 🙂

We celebrated Brian’s dad’s birthday last night – Happy 62nd today, Tom! – and we got up really early (before 5) to leave for the Alabama State Championships road race this morning.  FANTASTIC race for Brian today.  He got 3rd in a well-fought race with the other top 2 cyclists in Alabama.  They both have had some great races and very big wins in the Southeast and nationally this year, and Brian definitely proved he is right at their level.  It came down to a super close sprint finish.  I’m so proud of him.  It was a smart, well-ridden race.

We drove to Guntersville, AL to visit our friends Russell & Lyndsey McCrory and their dauther, Claire.  It’s been a fun, relaxing afternoon of naps, the kids playing, splashing in the pool and sprinkler, running laps around the yard with the kids to wear them out for bedtime and collapsing into bed (by everyone but me!  I had a sweet nap).  Dinner was amazing… as good as an expensive steakhouse.  Grilled steaks, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, salad with strawberries and candied pecans in a balsalmic vinagrette and homemade strawberry shortcake.  Lyndsey and I just played around with Photoshop and favorite websites on our laptops with the Food Network in the background.  It’s been a fun Saturday! 

We’re joining them for church tomorrow, and then we’re off to the races again.  The kids are both doing a race in the morning, and Brian’s racing a criterium in the afternoon before we make the short 1.5 hour drive tomorrow evening.  Hopefully, we’ll have some more good results for you then!

This morning has been busy!  Analise started swimming lessons with a friend of mine.  She’s been hot and cold about doing it, and I was really worried she’d be too teary and not do what she needed to do.  There was some crying, but Miss Rena is super patient and just kept swimming her around.  She did really well.  4 days left, and I think it’s going to be a good investment!  I, personally, can’t handle the two of them in a pool unless Analise gets more comfortable in the water and learns to do some things herself.  Hopefully, these lessons will make us able to go to the pool with friends of ours. 

Then we headed off to storytime at Brian’s parents’ church.  Josiah and Grandma Beverly were already there.  After the stories, they had inflatables for the kids to bounce around in.  I’m tired just from all the running around.  I don’t know how my kids aren’t napping yet!! 

I’m pretty proud of myself… I realized as we drove home that today is a pick-up day for a local charity, and I managed to get 4 boxes of toys and clothes together in less than 15 minutes.  Whew!  Feels good already to have less stuff 🙂

We had a good quiet weekend.  My leadership retreat was nice Friday evening, and we got a lot planned for our upcoming year of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).  I got to sleep in and relax by the pool before coming home to the craziness of kids.  Brian raced a time trial yesterday, and he did AMAZINGLY well.  Go check out his race details here…

Off to naptime!

Kristine picked these up at the store today because she knew that those would be the ones I would buy for her if I didn’t ride my bike everywhere!

No explanation needed for this website.  It’s just the perfect blend of pretty food photos, yummy recipes and new content stuff added like every couple minutes.  It’s my favorite place to click for mindless surfing.  I’ve found countless new recipes to try.  Without further ado..

• Tastespotting.com
• And my favorite link that was on this morning… Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream dessert

I had a morning to myself on Wednesday, and so I jumped at the chance to get my hair cut.  I was really pleased with the stylist and how she did it.  It’s got lots of short layers in it, and I was able to just blow it dry.  I love how short it is.  And Brian liked it, too… he called it "hip"! 

Excuse the bad flash lighting, taken in the bathroom…

Yep, Brian got home safe and sound at 1:30am on Tuesday. It’s sure nice to have him home! Nothing too exciting has been going on here. Analise got over her Sunday fever in 24 hours. Just when I was thinking we’d passed the chance of Josiah getting sick, he started feeling hot when he woke up from his nap yesterday (Wednesday). Sure enough. Motrin kept him cool at 4hr intervals, and this afternoon he was back to his lively self.

Someone emailed asking how Analise’s shots went last week. She was so worked up for the doctor’s visit. She cried all the way in, cried through the weighing, measuring, blood pressure. She sat on my lap crying. She did quiet down when Dr. Stone came in and showed off some of her sweetness and charm. But when she heard we needed to prick her finger to check her iron and do 2 shots, she cried and cried on my lap and through it all. As soon as the shots were over – and I mean, IMMEDIATELY – she sat up, said frantically, "Are we done? Are we done? Can we go now? Please, Mommy?" And the tears were done. Two princess stickers soothed the pain, and she never mentioned anything about her leg being sore, except that she didn’t want to look at her band-aids. She was quite relieved when they came off. I’ve promised her if she stays healthy we don’t have to go back until she turns 5. She’s quite happy to hear that.

I’m off to a Mother’s of Preschoolers leadership retreat tomorrow afternoon through Saturday afternoon. We’re also squeezing in a Vacation Bible School meeting tomorrow evening. Busy times! Brian will have a great time with Josiah while Analise stays with Grandma. I’m ready for my time off!

Brian’s heading home.  He’s got a long journey ahead of him, and I don’t expect to see him until the middle of tomorrow night or Tuesday am.  His race went well today.  He finished 71st in the huge main group sprint, and ended up 55th overall.  I’m sure he’ll post more details on his website when he gets home.

We had a quiet day with church, lunch at Brian’s parents, and a big long naptime.  Unfortunately, though, Analise woke up from her nap blazing hot.  Her temp shot up to almost 102 in the next hour, before she finally gave in and took some Motrin.  She rested on the couch and a pile of blankets all evening, and I let the kids stay up to watch Cars for the umpteenth time.  Everyone went to bed easily, and I’m following soon, hoping there’s no more sickies to deal with during the night. 

Life continues quietly here. We’re still – always – missing Brian, but he’s doing great in Massachussets at his big race… all the gory details on his cycling blog: http://toonecycling.wordpress.com. But we’re one day closer to him coming home on Tuesday!

Analise was at Toone’s last night (lucky for me… she was up at 5:15! Josiah slept in until almost 6:15.) Josiah and I got up and out of the house early for a long-anticipated trip to the farmer’s market. We’ve not been in town on a Saturday in weeks and weeks and weeks, and I’ve been itching to go. Unlucky for us, it started raining soon after we got there, so we were WET. But we got some tasty stuff! Now if I could only figure out what to do with it all…

• fresh organic tomatoes (though I didn’t get avocados, this Avocado Basil Mayonaise would be tasty on my tomatoes! or on anything, as I could eat guacomole every day)
• 3 herb plants – basil, dill and parsley (I’ve made Cottage Cheese Dill Bread before… It’s so yummy! Definitely need to make it with my fresh stuff!)
• cherry tomatoes (Yum – this chicken dish would be tasty with the tomatoes and basil!)
• yukon gold potatoes (I’m thinking these Cracked Potatoes would be tasty! and I could use my fresh parsley! Or these are another version…)
• baby cucumbers  (Any suggestions??)
• fresh Chilton county peaches (What should I do with these??? I love peaches!!)
• (And I thought about sweet potatoes… I really really wanted them, but Brian doesn’t like them, and they were only selling like 4-5 together. And it was raining hard when I was thinking about them. I wish I’d gotten them so I could make these fries! I cannot tell you how much I LOVE sweet potato fries and I LOVE garlic fries, so these would have to be so delicious!)

Analise came home and we headed off to the MOVIES! We’ve never taken the kids to the movies. But a Thomas the Train movie was showing, and so we met Kim, Lauren and Anna there. We were super early, and the clerk chuckled when Kim asked if it might sell out. We settled into the theater 20 minutes early, all alone, and the kids did laps around a couple rows of seats, munching on M&Ms and popcorn. A few other parents and kids did show up, but it was a small group. Our kids did wonderfully. Josiah was the one I was worried about, but it was his naptime. I’d thought to bring his pacifier, which tends to quiet him down since he only uses it for naptime/bedtime. When I offered it to him, he slouched over in his seat, and I eventually pulled him onto my lap where he snuggled quietly, half-asleep for nearly the whole movie. So sweet.  I love snuggling with my little guy.  The girls were up and down and up and down a few seats away by Kim.  I had it easy, while she kept them under control. But they were very good, and we had a great time!

The kids were asleep before we got home, and we took big, fat naps in the quiet Saturday afternoon rain. All in all, it was a nice relaxing day!

Bedtime is too early for the fireworks around here, besides the fact that Analise would probably be scared of the noise. But we had a great dinner with the Toones and danced with Uncle Sam waving our flags. And we made our own fireworks craft! Hope everyone’s had a great restful holiday!

Compared to last year…

If you asked me what my favorite daily read was – after I named all my dear friends and family who I check in on far more often than they know – I’d point you to Rocks in my Dryer.  I found this amazing blog a couple months ago after clicking through some links, and now it’s one of my favorite places to go.  Just this evening, I sat down to find a couple of my favorite posts to share, and I’ve been completely drawn in by her witty stories, quiet faith, tender thoughts, and honestly fall-off-your-chair-laughing mom moments.  So without further ado, here are a few that I laughed and cried over tonight…

• On her son’s VBS daily offering challenge
• Hilarious thoughts on a recent plane trip she took
• As she’s learning what the motherboard on her new computer does…
• Squirrels and pacifiers… who new??  (Seriously, one of my FAVORITE posts EVER… we’re going to be doing this with Josiah’s pacifiers in a few years!)
• Live blogging a tornado, which I posted before
• Glimpsing God’s heart on a stormy night
• And lastly, a very poignant reminiscience of loss, which many mothers can sympathize with.  Warning.. have a kleenex handy.  This one tugged at my heart, as I had a miscarriage just before we became pregnant with Josiah.