How to Eat a Cupcake

Spring!!

The official first day of spring has arrived!  And with it, the 10th birthday of a special girl I know.  Yep, Marian had a birthday.  She was so cute.  She did not want pictures or attention.  But she sure was excited about cake and presents! She requested a lemon cake with lemon frosting.  It was tasty, even for  us chocolate lovers,

 Opening the cards.

 She didn't ask for much in the way of gifts.  She said she wanted a pocket knife and a musical instrument to play. Hence, a violin.

When asked, Marian told her grandmother that she wanted Paints, but not the kind you have to add water to.  And donuts.  I love my in laws.  They sent a fantastic paint set with paper and brushes. Marian has had a blast trying them out.  What really warmed my heart though, was the $5 bill with the note that said it was for donuts!  (We went out for donuts for breakfast today!)

And because it is that time of year, Rylee's preschool had it's annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Here is my cutie in her super-cute shirt they made.  I love the hand print bunny!

Hunting for eggs. 

So excited over the patterns and colors on some of the eggs. 

Counting her eggs.  The kids were only suppose to pick up 15, so Rylee was diligent about counting her eggs after each new addition to the basket. 

Not sure if she can put this one in.  She had a great time and loved finding eggs.  She liked the eating of the contents even more.

That'll Leave a Mark!

 Ever since I let Joshua tackle the destruction of my old stroller for parts, I've had a lot of young men hanging around in my back yard.  This is what they were doing the other day.....

 Gleefully trying to demolish the stroller.  Because they haven't got the right tools, the stroller is putting up a good fight and is still looking like a stroller. Joshua has been having a marvelous time with it and I love that it keeps him outside and working his brain. Fortunately, he has not wacked himself in the head with the hammer again.

As for me, I finally did what I've known is coming for a while.  I fell.

I get up early some mornings to run before the kids get up for school, and with Daylight Saving Time last week, it is now really dark at 5:45am when I hit the road in my go-fasters.  The last .75 miles of my running path before the turn around point is in total darkness- no light but the oncoming traffic, which blinds you.  So I am surprised I have not stumbled badly before today.

Here is my poor bloody knee.  I am quite disgusted that I fell a mile into the run.  It is all Levi's fault.  He had to poop while we were still in civilization, so I had to pick it up.  I could not find a trash can though, so I was running with a bag-o-poo for a bit.  I finally spotted a dumpster in a parking lot and detoured to toss my baggie in it.  Then I headed back to the road.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't notice the 1/2 inch curb at the bridge that connected the parking lot to the road, and down I went.  Ouch!

I'm a punk, I can take it.  So I got up, walked a minute and then finished my 5 mile run.   Yeah, I'm tough.  Sort of.  It was really starting to hurt by the time I got home, honestly. And the blood flow wasn't really that bad.  It was a muggy 68 degrees out there, so it was vastly enhanced by sweat.

And... And, what kills me is that I put on my headlamp to run with this morning!  I knew it would be dark, so I had my reflective arm band, with my amber light on it, and I put on the headlight.  I did not have the headlight on in the parking lot because I was still where the street lights are!  Ug.  I sure look cool though, don't I?!  Ha.  I know, I am an ugly runner and I'm okay with it.  I ran 5 miles.  I can be an ugly runner if I can go 5 miles!

 This is my knee, all cleaned up.  No skin left on it.  Now to keep it moist enough till the new skin realizes it is on an appendage that needs to bend.

Milestones

Rylee is on the brink of 2 exciting milestones right now.  First off, she is sleeping through the night all by herself.... most nights.  She use to wake up at least once nearly every night and I'd have to go in and pop the binkey back in and retuck all her "nungies" over her.  She seems to be doing that by herself now.  I only had to go in once last week, and that was because she'd fallen out of bed, so she gets a little more leeway on that one!

Rylee is also on the verge of going napless.  She is at that horrid time where if she takes a nap, she's still all giggles and play at 10pm, with no desire to close her little peepers.  Usually I just go to bed and she eventually falls asleep fine. If she has no nap, it works out great about half the time.  I can put her to bed at 7:30/8pm and she's out for the night and life is good.  Other days.... like this evening..... she will put herself to bed and I won't realize it, until I go looking for her and see her passed out on her bed, all tucked in with her blankets.  Occasionally she will fall asleep on the couch or chair, and I'm left with the dilemma of whether to try to wake her up or see if she'll stay asleep for the rest of the evening and night.  We're working it out.  I hope!

I also have hit an exciting milestone!  I'm going to run the Crescent City Classic 10k race on March 30. I have never run a 10k race before, and about a month ago, I ran 6 miles for the first time.  I am currently hitting 6 miles once a week, and I've upped my regular weekly mileage from 3 miles 3 times a week, to running between 3 and 5 miles three times a week, with a longer run on Saturdays.  I guess that makes it 4 days a week I try to run!  So I'm feeling proud of myself.  At least, I am until you factor in that I'm running a 10 minute mile.  I'm pretty slow, but I figure, I'm still moving forward!

Life

 I go to get allergy shots every week.  Yeah, I know, ME.  I voluntarily drive 30 minutes so I can spend 45 minutes waiting and I let them poke me 3 times with stuff that stings and makes my arm burn and itch.  Fun stuff, I tell you, fun stuff.  Why this insanity, you ask?  Well, I live in hope that it will help.  Every year my allergies get worse.  Spending 3 months of the year sneezing, clawing itchy eyes, and being in a fog of snot induced headaches is not a lot of fun.  And no, meds do not provide much relief.  

So I thought I'd give the allergy shots a try.  I've been doing this for nearly 8 months now.  In a coupe weeks, I'll finally get to the "maintenance" dose and I won't have to go every week.  And hopefully, in a couple years, I won't suffer so miserably each spring. I got to go visit the allergist a week or so ago and he said since I am allergic to so many things, I probably will not see a vast improvement this year.  Sigh.  

You wonder what this picture has to do with my ramblings, don't you?  This is Rylee, at one of my appointments.  I try to go on days she is in preschool, but that's not always possible.  Thank heavens for the Kindle Fire!  She plays quietly on it during the eternal wait and is usually really good.  Isn't she cute?!

Joshua's 6th grade class had a "Poetry Slam" where each student got up and recited a poem they had memorized.  They were suppose to do a dramatic acting out of it, and it was fairly entertaining.  Parents were invited and I went and enjoyed myself.  Joshua did a good job.  And then there was a party.

Why I hate jump ropes.  Levi has a love hate relationship with them.  He likes to gnaw on them, but he's less enthusiastic when the girls do this to him!

Somebody was given permission to dismantle an old stroller to make a new go cart.  Someone was a bit overzealous with a hammer and managed to knock himself in the head with it.  Fortunately, it was not a bad injury and all is well.  The bruise will probably last longer and hurt more than this cut.