Holla...

Ok, so on a positive note...in regard to the debacle that was my first 5k...this was a great event sponsored by the hospital up north where my cousin who ROCKS is a nurse...(and nurses ROCK!) anyway, I was harassing her to run it with me, and she ended up doing the 5k walk...and placing FIRST for her age division!
(Side note, she walked it only a few minutes slower than it took me to run it...yeah, I'm that slow and she's that fast!!)

So we'll be seeing her name all over the metro-Detroit 5k power-walk circuit for the rest of the summer!! Go Renee! Holla!!

Hello!

Oh my goodness...I see it's been pitifully long since our last post, so here's a quick update...
1. I have been working out twice a week with my friend, Bridget, who is awesome!! She is getting ready to run the Detroit Free-Press half-marathon, and I'm getting ready to cheer her on! ha-ha!
2. I ran my first 5k (actually, first time running outdoors since high-school track...) and got lapped by a 10-year old girl, an 85-year old man, and one of those speed-walkers. I need some more training...
3. Vacation Bible School at Elizabeth's school was last week, and was a big success! Elizabeth hung out with several of her little classmates and had a great time. This was also good for me, because it meant only having to drag Andrew to the gym! (Shame on you, selfish mommy!)
4. Elizabeth celebrated her 5th birthday the end of June, with a small picnic celebration with two of her best buds...then proceeded to throw up in my new car the minute we pulled into the garage. (And no, it wasn't too much cupcakes like I originally thought, because Andrew was sick the next day...)
5. We just got over all the ear infections (Elizabeth ended up getting a double ear infection, although not as bad as Andrew's) and that weird throw-up incident, and now Andrew has a 102-degree fever and diarrhea...which brings us to -
6. We are (supposed to be) leaving tomorrow morning to spend the 4th of July holiday in scenic northern Michigan with preppy daddy's family - after we take out a 2nd mortgage to fill up the gas tank on our SUV! ha!

Happy 4th of July - we'll post some new pictures soon!

Pretty Dancers...

How cute are our little ballerinas? This is Elizabeth, along with our good friend, Sloan, the night of their big ballet recital dress-rehearsal! Check out the make-up...we were told, more is better - so we dolled them up! The first recital was last night, and they did just great! Their dance ends with them skipping off stage, while blowing kisses and waving to the audience - it was really funny! After we were back in the dressing room and I was telling Elizabeth what a great job she did, she says to me,"Mommy, I liked it when all the people were clapping for me!" Ha!! How funny is that?!

Preppy Girl's "seeing" glasses...

Grandma Berg sent us this picture of Preppy Girl, reading her bible with her "seeing glasses"! She realizes the difference between sunglasses and reading glasses, and calls them "seeing glasses" instead of reading glasses! She also sees me put my glasses in their case when I put my contacts in, so she has carefully chosen a little box with a lid to put her glasses in every night! She is too cute!

We've been battling sickness here over the weekend - after a couple sleep-interrupted, coughing-fit-filled nights - we took Andrew in to the emergency clinic last night, and he ended up having an ear infection! (I thought it was bronchitis...good thing I'm not a doctor!!) So we have antibiotics and he's already acting a little bit perkier - it's hard to keep a good kid down!!

In the kitchen with velcro monkey...

So I saw some fresh cherries at the grocery store, and thought they looked really good. My kids are very good eaters (Andrew's allergy issues aside...) but I'm always looking for different, healthy foods for them to try. The sign above the cherries said something like $3.49/lb, so I grabbed a bag, thinking no way is this more than a pound.

Well, apparently it was quite a bit more than a pound, since preppy hubby looked at the receipt and politely pointed out that the cherries were a little over $8.00!! Yikes!

So, in an effort to make sure each and every cherry gets used, I made a cherry coffee-cake. I took a recipe for a blueberry coffee cake, substituted cherries and added a little almond extract. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

This was the scene in my kitchen as I stood at the counter trying to cut up cherries into tiny little pieces for the coffee cake! "Let me see, Mommy - let me see!"

PS - Andrew is kind of a Mommy's boy (which is fine with me!) He likes to know where I'm at all the time, and is prone to running up and attaching himself to my leg, no matter what I'm trying to accomplish!! I've learned to do a lot of things (as I'm sure many of you out there have!) with a toddler hanging off my leg! I've heard the term "Velcro-monkey" and didn't really know how appropriate it is until now!

Target...

Ah, Target!!! Did I ever mention I love Target? Preppy Hubby hates Target, because we (and by we - I mean me and the kids!) can't seem to leave that place without our total bill being at least 3-digits! My friend once jokingly referred to Target as her $100 store...so true!

So today, as Elizabeth and I are going to the gym, I felt my fake-Adidas-Target-knock-off flip-flop feeling a little funny (I thought the velcro was just loose)...so I look down and see the one side of it has fallen completely off...as in, the glue (not stitching) holding it together had completely disintegrated. Crap...now I have to wear my shower flip-flips into the gym (because it was raining, and I didn't want my running shoes to get wet, then I'd slip and fall on the treadmill, blah, blah).

So, after the kiddos are in bed, I swing on over to my local Target to look for the Adidas-Target-knock-offs. Which, btw, I saw earlier at a discount shoe store (the real ones, mind you) for $29. Called hubby to see if it was ok to get them (since I was already getting a new pair of more expensive running shoes) - he started hollering, so I took that as a "no". (Turns out, he was in the middle of a hot hand of on-line poker, and was yelling at the German across the table, not at me!!)

Anyhoo, so I go into Target for the flippy-flops - which now of course they don't have in my size. At least 1 pair in every size but mine...how is that for irony? So I left Target with a pair of pajama pants (on clearance for $3!!), a t-shirt, and some other random goodies from the dollar bins...my total was $30...and NO FLIP-FLOPS!! ha-ha. Somehow I don't think hubby will find this is as funny as I do...did I mention I love Target?

Fun at the grocery store...

It takes so little to keep Andrew and Elizabeth occupied while we are grocery shopping...we don't need to use one of those fancy carts with the t.v. inside, we don't even have to bring along snacks. All I have to do is promise they can look at the goldfish, the lobster tank, and ride the pony on our way out.
Today, we were getting close to the lobster tank, and they could see it - but I had one more aisle to go down. Andrew didn't understand and thought we were bypassing the lobsters, so he starts yelling, "Monsters...I wanna see da monsters!" ha-ha! Some fellow shoppers thought he was pretty funny!

Note for Grandma Berg who had eye surgery today...hope you are feeling better soon! We love you!

Also, note to self: must watch mouth...hubby informed me that tonight as he was taking Elizabeth to ballet, she told him that her little brother was "really pissing me out"....yikes!! Even I have to admit she didn't get that from Wonderpets...