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For all of the stubborn grumpiness that Caleb exhibits, he can still be pretty cute…
he thinks "definitely" is "defidantly" and I refuse to correct him
everytime he says the dinner prayer on the food he describes my food as "glorious"
he made me probably 10 Mother's Day cards including a poem all declaring how wonderful my cooking is and how pretty and nice I am
he is obsessed with Radio Disney right now and begs me to turn it on everytime we're in the car
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Quote #1 this afternoon: He gave me a bug hug and KISS and said "Did you know that you have to kiss if there's a weed on a light?" HUH? Then I realized what he means… Every December we go and find mistletoe, cut it down and tape to the light fixture in our entry way. Get it – a weed on a light! Funny stuff.
Quote #2 (and you'll start to see a definite theme here): As I was kissing him good night he laid a huge smooch on me and said "Bubbas always say KISS – YUCK! But I always say it's not yuck to me!" and he proceeded to kiss me again.
Obviously we know what's on his mind! He's pretty affectionate right now – especially with me – and I'll take it while I can get it knowing that this too will end (sniff).
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Clearly the vacuum was feeling a little overworked.
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Samuel has to take a city building creation to Kindermusik this morning. You Dallas-ites should appreciate my historic contribution. 🙂
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Last weekend, Anne's cute friends threw her a sweet baby shower. It's so fun getting to anticipate these sweet "firsts" for my brothers and their wives. We always enjoy getting together with Anne's sisters and mom – lots of laughs and good times. Congrats Anne (and baby Graham!!).
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I enjoy being a part of our very casual neighborhood playgroup. There is no set schedule – when someone wants to host and/or invite people out, they post it on a facebook group and we come if we can. Love that kind of group! :) These are a sweet bunch of mom's and several kiddos Samuel's age, so it's been a fun activity for he and I. Last year I hosted a Mother's Day luncheon and made lunch for the moms and kids and we did a craft project with the kids to give to their moms. It was a big hit. I decided to make a tradition of it. But as it neared, I realized the stress of getting my house ready was going to be too much last week with all I had going on. So I switched it to the park which was wonderful since the wx was so nice anyway.
I made an asian chicken salad and raspberry lemon muffins for the moms and had waters and juice pouches for kids. The moms brought their own sack lunches for the kids. I had pages for the kids to color and create and I took each child's picture with their mom so they could put it on their picture as a rememberance of the day. A few kids didn't do the craft so I forgot to take their pic with their mom. But the ones we did take turned out cute and now they'll have it for always! I love honoring moms. It's my favorite job ever and is worthy of celebration.
Pictured (clockwise): Ashlea and Elyse, Avaan with Zach and Ethan, Lyn and Tyler, Mer and Samuel, Ashlea and Garrett, Laura and Adam, Sharon and Andy
Not pictured: Julie and Chase, Tiffany and Landon (friends of mine who came)
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We celebrated another big 60th b'day at our house the Friday night before the MS ride. My dad turns 60 on 5/15 and so we celebrated with La Hacienda fajitas, a tres leches cake (recipe to follow) and fun times as a family. Jacob had a yucky cough, so M & O stayed home with Reid (I felt so bad) – but M & A attended, as well as Lisa and her kids Drew and Caroline. We're especially happy to celebrate Dad's full recovery and great health after heart surgery in November. The fact that he rode 86 miles on the bike the next day proved that he is in tip-top shape. Way to go, Dad! We love you.
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The MS 150 is an annual bike ride held to raise funds for the National MS Society here in Texas. It consists of 2 days of road-biking totaling 150 miles (from Frisco to Fort Worth). Derek has always loved biking, and his dad Verdi suffers from MS, so it was a natural fit 4 years ago for Derek to join our friend Rod's team and ride for this great cause. My dad also joined the cause then and starting biking for my cousin, Brooke, who also has MS. Derek and Dad were "wingmen" together and we always had such a great time waiting for them at the Texas Motor Speedway as they crossed the finish line of the 1st day. (*Note: Derek doesn't ride on Sundays, so he rides 75-85 miles on Friday morning instead. The first year he did it alone and subsequent years several friends and team members have joined him for the Friday ride). Two years ago my athletic and spunky Aunt Lisa decided to join them and flew down from Chicago to ride along. This was her 3rd year to ride.
SOMEHOW I let Derek convince me that biking was fun and that I should ride too. So he bought a used bike from a friend last fall and encouraged me to start training. Well…training is not as easy as it sounds for many reason…1) I have 3 kids, including a preschooler, who can't come with me 2)there are no bike lanes here and it is a little dangerous 3) I had to learn to clip in and out of my pedals and had to get comfortable wearing spandex! and 4) biking takes time, something that I have limited resources of and 5) North Texas is WINDY – and I have realized that wind is the enemy of biking. We went on a few training rides together – Derek would ride his mountain bike with 40-lb Samuel on a bike seat with him. During one of our rides we stopped at a light, I unclipped right and leaned left and fell – hard! That wasn't fun. I even cried once as we were headed straight into the wind and with all my might I could only go 8 mph. I think I even said at that moment "I hate this sport!!" I attempted a few (3) solo rides – 2 of which were successful (I got a flat tire on the other). Let's say this – "If you are prepared ye shall not fear" crossed my mind many times. I had a LOT of fear – and for good reason. I was not prepared! But I was determined. And determination usually can take me pretty far, because I'm also a little stubborn.
The day of the ride came and I was nervous. The most I had ever gone on the bike was 14 miles. The nice thing was I had options – all along the route there are "sag" wagons and there was the option to take a shuttle from lunch (48 miles in) to the finish line. I had a great time from the start to lunch – visiting with my family and friends (Jodi Zollinger rode with us in the morning). It was fun! It was overcast and in the 60s/70s. Wonderful! I can do this.
So when we stopped for lunch I was stiff and a little saddle sore but determined to finish. I had NO idea how hard the next 40 miles would be. It was time to get mentally tough. The chatting and visiting ceased (with everyone!) and the chipseal gravel started to take over the roads. My hands were numb. My bum was numb. My legs were on fire. And there was one hill after another. Plus we were headed into the wind (20-30 mph) all afternoon. Lovely! Sweet Derek would put his hand on my back and push me up each hill or let me rest my legs for a minute. He was so supportive.
And in the end – it was SO fun to cross that finish line with most of our teammates and know that we DID IT! And we did it for those who can't always ride for themselves. I was able to raise $775 (thank you friends and family!!) and I am thrilled to say I rode 86 MILES.
I admittedly like the bike now that we're better acquainted. 🙂
And the coolest part was that we had the most supportive "fans" EVER – Mark and Anne, Michael and Olivia (and Reid!), Audra and Paul, Christy and Samuel. Jacob was sick and Caleb had a baseball game, so they spent the day with Nana. Thanks everyone for coming to see us – and cheering us on!
This is some of the good stuff.
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And because the novelty has not yet worn off, he asks us if he can do it! And it’s NOT self-propelled!
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