A Little Holiday Cheer...

Merry Christmas! It is almost here. We have had a fun, full December. The kids got out of school on the 5th. Not-so-mini#1 and I took off for Charlotte that first weekend in December to run a 5K in lovely, downtown Waxhaw. Great flat course and pretty little old town square finish line. Mini #1 finished 5th overall and 1st in the 19 and under division! He's 13. We both cut our times considerably. Fun time. After the race, we got cleaned up and went to my mom's Ladies' Christmas tea at her church. Mini#1 and my dad were servers. This tea had 75 tables and 600 women attending. My mom decorated 3 gorgeous tables this year. This is her absolute favorite event of the entire year. I can see why. I was proud to hear all of the kind comments about her tables and gladly claimed that they were hers to anyone who asked or didn't ask! And it was fun seeing my son and dad hanging out together all afternoon doing this with us. It was a great weekend.

Other than that we had an ugly sweater party in the neighborhood. Don't you love the vest my mom gave me? Blue vest with giraffes. I added lots of glittery dollar tree stickers to it to complete the look.

We have all been sick. I guess that put a temporary damper on our holiday fun, but not really. We got to hang around inside with what has to be my favorite Christmas tree ever! It is so big and pretty and it was the 2nd tree we looked at this year on the lot! Unheard of for me to find a tree so easily!

Once we felt well enough I took the kids around Raleigh looking for a place to get some Christmas card photos. We had hoped for a family shot, but it just didn't work out this year. I snapped some photos at an unusually quiet Pullen Park, raced home and ordered some cards on Shutterfly and anxiously awaited their arrival. All is well. They have been mailed. Ahhh.

Yesterday we celebrated Mr. Pink's birthday. He's holding onto this one. 49. We went to dinner at North Hills, rode around looking at Christmas lights and home for birthday cookie. Ugh! Oh well. Kids like it. It was our 1st year not going to see his dear, sweet grandmother. She passed away in March at age 92. We miss her so much and her red velvet cake she always made him. (I should've attempted to make this!). She truly filled in as his mother these last 5 years since his mom passed away from cancer in '09. But we got about a 30 minute snowfall yesterday morning. He said it was both of them sending it from heaven.

I hope you and your families have a safe, happy, memory-filled Christmas with loved ones this year!

Cheers,
Pink

Always behind...

 

 

Happy Halloween! Oh yea. That was a week ago! Feels like a whirlwind when you mix in kids' after school activities and projects. Mr. Pink and I went to our annual neighborhood party as Snow White and Dopey (the druggie as my conservative mom called him). SPECIAL NOTE: Mini#2 did not even see his dad dressed like this as he was at a sleepover. He just thought dad was a dwarf. Mini#1, 13, knew we were just going for the play on words. I feel the need to explain our craziness. It gets more and more difficult to think of costumes each year. And, well, to be honest, I just wanted to be a Disney princess this year.

 

So I finally threw away the carved pumpkin yesterday when I also threw away my frostbitten geraniums in the planters on my porch. In their place I have freshly planted pansies. I even added a few clearance mums I found because, as the title of this post suggests, I am always running behind these days! It is hard to believe that Christmas is in 47 days! And that my kids get out of school for their Christmas/winter break in 27 days! Until then we have races to run (A Thanksgiving day 5K and a Gingersnap 5K), cross country meets to watch, a soccer tournament at the beach to win(??- wishful thinking) and maybe a few parties to attend.

 

I hope all is well in your worlds! 

Are you ready for...

some football???? Yes, I am a girl and I know a little about a lot of sports. Thanks Dad. I impress my 9 yr. old sports fanatic son daily with my sports knowledge. And I am ready for football. Mainly NC State Wolfpack football. But I am also ready for some NFL play as well.

These two quarterbacks above are former NC State quarterbacks and met last night in a pre-season match. Of course the 2014 Super Bowl champs were going to win, but it is awesome to see this photo of two fine young men who both originally wore red and white. Makes this NC State grad proud!

GO PACK!

Back at it (Is that a southern phrase?)

Whew. Our whirlwind summer ended July 7th and school started. Gone are the fun camps and beach vacations. We are up to our eyeballs in homework, tests, orthodontist appointments, soccer practices and had #2's 1st tournament this weekend in Wilson, NC. It was rainy yesterday, but much better today. Although fields were drenched! #2 was goalkeeper for 4 periods (halves). I have no fingernails left. He did well, though.

We have had to spend some time in Mr. Pink's hometown cleaning out his dad's home and getting it ready to rent or sell. So thankful for unusually cooler August temperatures. Especially when you are in an attic going through years worth of STUFF. The kids helped a lot and we even took our 10 month old "puppy" (horse at almost 60 lbs!) along on her first long car ride/trip. She did perfectly on the 2 hour drive, but promptly threw up on the pet car cover when we stopped the car in the driveway.

I have still been running with #1 off and on. I have been trying to run in the early morning before it is too hot. Otherwise I go to my normal classes and hit the treadmill. I am totally bummed that a favorite instructor is moving to Pittsburgh this week. She's so upbeat and fabulous! We all got teary-eyed (not kidding!) in her last class. A bunch of sappy women we are.

The kids you ask? #1 is old enough to cut the grass. Woo hoo. That is so helpful! Today he stayed home from the soccer tournament to take care of our dog, do homework and he cut the grass when we got home. His main interests these days are CLOTHES. He takes after me. Part of his willingness to help out more around here is for the compensation to buy clothes. Makes me laugh. And, as a note, he doesn't get paid for chores, but we do pay him for the grass cutting. And he has good taste in clothes, too. Whew!

#2's main interest is, as always, sports. You ask him about his school day and he tells you about the soccer game at recess. He dvr's NFL pre-games and wants to join a Fantasy Football team. He's 9!!!
He lived and breathed the World Cup! I even ordered him a lot of books on Amazon about particular MLS stars. Funny how he no longer complains about having to do his daily reading for school when it involves soccer stars. Score one for mom. Oh, and his clothes? Always soccer or sports related. It kills me. We compromise. I pick out his Monday outfit, he picks out Tues through Thurs and we both decide on Friday's outfit. This has helped after many early morning arguments in the past.

And Friday is my Birthday! That time again so soon? How can it be? Please slow down. Ha! I remember dreading the big 4-0 and now I wish I was turning 40! And that my babies were still babies, but that's another subject!

I hope all is well in your lives!

Pink

Tasty Tuesday- Avacado Sauce/Dressing

I realize this is a horrible picture and let's not even talk about how outdated my blog is, but I snapped one in a hurry. I had to share this yummy recipe my Boston Marathon running friend (who will be sitting beside me on the beach in a few weeks) shared with me. She is an awesome HEALTHY cook and has her kid eating everything she and her husband do. Not the story in my house, but one kid at least loves tons of veggies.

Anyway, there's a small group of us who have made some health goals and she is giving us tips, recipes, encouragement, etc. I am really continuing what I normally do as far as exercise, drinking water, sleep, but am determined to control my SUGAR intake! Sugary food settles right in my waist. I know it's a problem so we shall see. Frozen banana ice cream ( frozen bananas, pinch of cocoa in food processor) just doesn't seem to satisfy my Sour Patch Kids, Reese's, Oreo cravings. But I am also trying to cut out the "white" foods. Potatoes, rice, pasta and bread.  However, sweet potatoes and brown rice have always been my friends so not that difficult. It's portion control, too... I could go on and on.

SO tonight, I am having this yummy sauce (which is completely vegan for my vegan friends) in a grilled chicken (because I am only the occasional vegan) spinach artichoke, quinoa bowl. I'll share the spinach recipe, too because you could always forget the chicken.

Avocado Sauce

1 cup light Almond Milk + 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Cilantro (1/4- 1/2 cup loose)
1 clove garlic
1 lime, juiced
1 avocado, cut in quarters
1-2 tbsp chopped onion
salt to taste

1- Combine 1 cup almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit. (makes it "curdle" like buttermilk)
2- Place cilantro, garlic, onion, lime juice and avocado in blender or food processor. Add milk after it sits for 5 minutes.
3- Blend until smooth.

It should stay fresh for a few days. Add it to a salad for next day's lunch or over quinoa by itself for some flavor.

Spinach Artichoke Mix

1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
Bag (or more) of spinach
1 can or frozen bag artichokes (frozen is at Trader Joe's)
Feta cheese
Sundried tomatoes

1- Saute' mushrooms, onions and garlic.
2- Add artichokes for a few mins.
3- Add spinach to wilt.
4- Sprinkle with feta and a few sundried tomatoes.
5- Serve over brown rice or quinoa.
6- You can add grilled salmon or chicken and the avocado sauce, too.

Enjoy!

Stuff

 He finished 3rd grade Friday!

 He finished 7th grade Friday!

 This kid's team was runner up in his year end tournament. 1 loss in 2 seasons!

 This boy improved his mile time to 5:51 by the end of the season!

 We rescued this frog (bottom of pic) in our yard and took him to a nearby creek.

 We've played with, walked and loved this baby girl!

We wore our shades and went out for ice cream to start our summer!

 

 

Just a few things we did in May! We also went to an honor society induction, a wedding where mini#1 and I had way too much fun in a photo booth and soccer tryouts that ended today. I went to a concert for a post Mother's Day celebration with a girlfriend. We saw Fitz and the Tantrums. Good time! And Hall and Oates was fabulous, too (even if they missed a few of my favorites).

 

 

We even met mini#2's 4th grade teacher Thursday night since we are only out for our summer for 5 weeks. But it will be a busy 5 weeks. June brings a beach trip (my brother and his family will be there, too), runner's camp, soccer camp, VBS and another road race for mini#2 and me. We will finish the break with another trip to another beach with friends and their kids to celebrate the 4th! Then it's back to the books and making lunches July 7th. But we'll still visit the pool and have fun in July and August after school. Our kids are used to this. Doing homework at the pool during breaks is fun to them! It's not so bad.

 

 

I hope you all have great fun summers ahead, too!

Do I admit this?

Mr. Pink and I are spending the evening under the stars listening to these guys. Only they don't look like this any longer and we don't look the way we used to when we listened to their songs. Or I listened to their songs. Mr. Pink is along for the ride. I even brushed up on my Hall and Oates on Youtube last night. I'm ready! 

Good Friday

It's Good Friday where we reflect on such a powerful death. But SUNDAY is coming where we worship the risen King. Happy Easter!

Jetsetting to Faraway Lands

Not really. I've been trapped in suburban life doing what I do best...shuttling kids around. Dreaming of an exotic vacation after this L-O-N-G winter in the south. I have switched from heat to air conditioning to heat in the last 4 days!

The above photos were taken last weekend. My dad turned 80 yrs old on Sunday!! It is hard to comprehend that he is this age. I was usually the kid with the oldest dad and the youngest mom in school. But my parents have been married 46 years so something is working. They have a 13 yr age difference if curious minds want to know. :-) We had a basketball tournament all day in Winston Salem last Saturday and then we drove on to Charlotte to stay with my parents. We got up, went to church with them and then we went to a French bistro for brunch to celebrate his birthday. Then back to their house for cake and ice cream and a little Masters golf on TV before we headed back to Raleigh. Whew! And it was the first time we boarded our sweet 7 month old puppy so we all missed her like crazy. I felt like a new mom and had to call them Sunday to see how she was doing.

My oldest made the middle school track team. Have I even mentioned this on the blog? A lot of his meets have been postponed due to weather so he has a meet on Monday (his 13th birthday!) and also on Tuesday. He is running the mile and the 800. He loves it! We ran another 5K a couple weekends ago and he placed 2nd in his age group! I knew he'd do well since he has been running regularly with the track team. I have been wearing out the greenway trails around here because I am running in the Tarheel 10 Miler next Saturday. Yikes!!! What was I thinking? I have run 10 miles exactly once in training, but think I'm ready. I plan to slow it way down from my normal pace and have fun with it (she says after she just learned the last mile is uphill).  Wish me luck. Oh, and I plan to wear head to toe NC STATE clothes in this race that takes place at UNC... Everyone will know this girl is a WOLFPACKER every day, all the time, forever.

What else? I became an aunt again. My brother and his wife had boy # 2 in late February. Their sons are 22 months apart. I try to leave them alone. Kind of easy since they're in Sweden, but they (my sis-in-law) is struggling in these early months. We all remember those days and are glad they are over! We get to see them all when they'll be in the US for 6 weeks this summer. I cannot wait.

When I do finally collapse at night I have been indulging in The Real Housewives of NY. My next door neighbor was in NY at a charity dinner last week and met Kristin, the new housewife! She also met the lead singer of Train. Cool. I also watch Million Dollar Listing NY, Mad Men and I dvr My Five Wives. Do you watch this??? 5 wives? It's so weird. Could you imagine having 5 husbands? Um, no thanks. And why so many kids? With the rotation he's got going on you'd think the chances of getting pregnant are lessened, but let's not go there... I am a reality junkie. Let's not forget Southern Charm. Is it just me that realized that sweet, cute Cameron used to be on MTV's Real World?

Ok, this post makes up for my lack of posting I think.

Happy Easter! I actually saw a very cute, not freaky/scary Easter Bunny at the mall today. No school tomorrow. Is it wrong that we may go see Rio 2 on Good Friday?

Enjoy your weekend!

Pink

In case you were wondering...

I am Posh Spice. I should actually be living in TEXAS. Or I should be living in the city of Paris. If I went back to high school now, I would be a Drama Kid. The 80's song I most identify with is Every Breath You Take. I should have been a Designer. I am not addicted to makeup. I am a Thin Mint cookie.

It's been a long, busy day. All I can do is sit here with the Olympics playing in the background while I take facebook quizzes (without posting my results). But thought you may want my very important results... You feel like you know me so much better don't you?

Happy Valentine's Day!

From my house to yours! My mantle is a little sad though. I had to add that tiny popsicle stick frame with candy hearts glued to it that mini#2 made in 3 yr old preschool. We have been snowed it and going a little crazy. Our school make up days are on Saturdays so we just may be going every Saturday until the end of school at this rate! My hair appointment for today has been rescheduled and who knows if we can keep our dinner reservations tonight. Good thing I got all of the boys' Valentines treats/gifts early. They will be drinking bottled cherry limeades from World Market with sugar cookies and mini cupcakes. I spare no sugar on Valentine's Day! What are your plans?

Throwback Thursday

 

I love this photo from summer '08. We were at NC State University's Meet the Pack Day. It was hot. Kids were 3 and 7. Awwww. This is an event for families to meet the football players and coaching staff. This is the day the kids met then freshman Russell Wilson who is Seattle Seahawks' QB. We proudly cheered him on during the Super Bowl last weekend! I remember how engaging, genuinely nice and polite he was that day. He posed for pics with the kids as well. I can't get my hands on those photos though! They're somewhere around this house.  I pulled this photo from Facebook. I've always loved it, because there were a ton of people there that day, but we look like we're the only ones there! Like we snuck in for a photo. All the players sit at tables around the covered area of the stadium where it's a little cooler. I need to hunt down those autograph books, too, because Mike Glennon, (now Tampa Bay's QB) was sitting right beside Russell Wilson that day. He was just as polite and called me ma'am. I was 37 and slightly offended but remember thinking I hope my two sons grow up to be as well-mannered as these two quarterbacks. We're still a work in progress on that... 

Happy Thursday!

We made it...

Into 2014. Here's proof of us celebrating at the (early) Acorn drop in downtown Raleigh!!

SO I have really been slacking on the blog haven't I? What have I been doing  since Jan 1 you ask?

1- Attending basketball games on Saturdays. Mini#2's. Two leagues!

2- Attending indoor soccer games on Sundays. Mini#2's.

3- Picking up a budding actor from play practice most afternoons. Mini #1.

4- Getting braces. Not me! Been there, done that. Mini#1

5- Going to movies in prep for Oscar night. I've seen Dallas Buyer's Club, American Hustle and August: Osage County in the theaters. And we watched Blue Jasmine and Captain Phillips at home.
I've chipped away at a lot of them haven't I? Loved all but August. Kind of depressing. Not what I was expecting I guess.

6- Signing up for more running races. I have a 5k with mini#1 this weekend, an 8k in March and a 10 mile race (YIKES!) in April.

7- Training for these races along with taking my spin classes that I love (new bikes at the gym!) and Insanity classes that I don't love as much!

8- Walking, feeding, keeping up with and LOVING our puppy, Harper. She is pure joy to us and starts and ends each day with a smile.

9- Booking camps (running and soccer for the minis) and a beach vacation for June. The kids are out of year round school a total of 5 weeks (May 31- July 6 I think) for "summer" so we have to pack it in during those weeks.

10- Fill in the blanks with everything else that goes along with motherhood!

Hope your year is up and running the way you want it to...

Pink
P.S.- Having 4 snow days when we really needed about 2 and a half! Snow was great, but Saturday make up days; not-so-great. Luckily Saturdays are just 3.5 hours.