After the "wildness" of our Vacation Bible School week (which was really fun and fantastic!), we’ve wound things down this weekend.  Brian had invited the cycling team over for dinner on Saturday, so we whipped the house into shape and cooked up a big pot of spaghetti and a side of italian bread salad (panzanella – toasted bread chunks with tomatoes, cucumbers, and mozzarella chunks tossed in garlicy balsamic vinegar and olive oil and seasoned with basil.  VERY yummy!).  It was a fun evening, but we were in bed soon after everyone left at 8:30. 

The Tour de France wrapped up yesterday, and Brian’s wondering what he’s going to do now 🙂  July is always fun as we follow the race pretty closely, and this year we enjoyed it in nearly real time on Versus, instead of on DVD days later from Brian’s dad’s recording.  We had a dilemma last night, as the Next Food Network Star finale was on at the same time as the TdF finish and podiums, but Brian’s choice won out.  I figure I can watch mine on reruns or On Demand later this week.

The kids and I are heading to storytime and a water play day at Brian’s parents church this morning.  We’ve got a quiet week planned, though, as we’re leaving Thursday for a long weeked in Chicago with my friend, Michele, and a big $$$ bike race.  Then my mom comes to visit on Tuesday, and my dad arrives on Wednesday!  Yeah!!!  We’re so excited to have them visiting! 

That’s what it’s been!  Brian and I are both teaching at our church Vacation Bible School.  Brian’s got the 4th graders (12 of them), and I’ve got the 1st graders (10 of them).  I came home from our good, busy weekend stressed about how much we had going on this week and feeling pretty unprepared for VBS.  I wasn’t really in the mood to be in charge of a busy group of kids.  But it’s been surprisingly fun and refreshing, and as much of a blessing to me as it has been to the kids.  The worship has been crazy and fun and a nice way to loosen up with singing and dancing and just being WILD 🙂 

I’ve got 7 girls and 3 boys, and they
are so sweet. The girls are snuggling all over me, saying "this is the
BEST week EVER!" I was worried I’d be the grumpy teacher, since that’s
how I feel as mom lately.  But they’re sweet, and we’re having
fun.  It’s fun to see these girls and think of who Analise will be
in a few years…

Analise and Josiah aren’t old enough to be in the actual classes, but they are
taking such great care of our kids – water play, music, bringing them into the drama/music large group, and feeding them lunch so they’re happy and not ravenous when we pick them up… ready to fall
asleep on the way home. What a relief.  Both kids have been ready for big long naps when we get home. 

Oh, and we got expanded cable last week!  We’ve only had basic with about 5 watchable channels.  But we got a promo deal, and so now we’ve got hours and hours and hours of the Tour de France, at least through Sunday.  And I’ve got my Food Network fix set on "fave" so I can get to it with the click of the button.  Now to make sure we don’t become cable-addicted in the 6 months before our promo period is over (bc then it’s going up to the regular rate of $37/mo, and THAT is not in the budget!). 

My dear, sweet friend, Robyn, just sent me some photos she and her husband, Scott, took of Analise and Josiah while we were together in Minnesota.  We had a fun, crazy lunch at a little outdoor cafe, and Analise ended up riding her little bike in circles around the tables.  Robyn & Scott do wedding photography, too, and you can see more of their AWESOME photography on their SoulCam Photography blog.  I’m so excited, though… they just have a great way of catching good angles and the right moment.  My kids are so hard to photograph!  These photos just make me smile as they caught just who Analise and Josiah are, just in our short few minutes together.

Notice Brian’s reflection in the glasses on the right.  Cool 🙂

You know you are in the South when… it’s 86 degrees in the kitchen and nobody has even been cooking anything! Fortunately, the rest of the house is a "pleasant" 80 degrees. Outside is a bit warmer at 99 degrees.

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!