Hair 'Do's!!

I finally decided it was time to tame a very "hairy" situation, and took the girls to get an official real hair cut/trim at the "beauty parlor", as they love to call it. They looked forward to this for weeks, and after school last Wednesday, away we went to get our hair did. :) I've been fine with trimming it here and there when it gets long and shaggy, but curly hair is hard!! Professional assistance was needed!

Much to our delight, one of the gals who was doing their hair was someone we know! Julie's little boy is in Jiu Jitsu class with our kids, so it was nice to see a friendly familiar face!

Let me tell you, this hour and a half stuff was quite the task, but I learned alot about taking care of it, and their hair is so much more healthy and easier to manage now! Hopefully we can keep it that way over the summer with all the swimming and romping around that is sure to occur!

Walk & Roll to School Day

The kids' school has been on a campaign to encourage parents and students to walk or ride their bikes to school as much as possible. This promotes health, of course, but also helps with the huge parking problem!...

I have to say that sometimes it's just more convenient to throw them in the car and zip them to school, although we do live easily within walking distance. Sometimes I'm flying home from work at the last minute and there isn't time to walk them to school, or sometimes if I have a meeting after school, Daryle does walk them over. And of course they love it. And I do too. It's just a fresh invigorating way to start your day!

When students walk or ride their bikes to school, they get entered into a drawing, and Miss Rea won a really cool yellow water bottle! (Gifts are such great incentive.)

Creativity vs Crime Scene

With the beautiful 75 degree weather we had this weekend, the kids were happy to be outside the majority of the time.

Today I looked outside to see see Ma-lak lying on the asphalt, and Rea tracing a chalk line around him. Such a good big brother to be a willing participant in her unique, time-passing activities!

Sidewalk chalk RULES!!!

Ma-lak and Bumble Bee

ME: "Ma-lak, smile! I'm taking your picture!"

MA-LAK: "Oh, good! Bumble Bee can be in the picture, too!"

ME: "Um, does he HAVE to be in the picture??"

MA-LAK: "Yes, he's very photogenic. And he's the color of cheese."

ME: "Well okay then."

Going... Going.... GONE!

This was the result of a really fun conversation Daryle and I had about our favorite foods we ate as kids and the wonderful women who cooked for us.

I raved about my Great Grandma Borton's daintily iced sugar cookies that were soooo soft and chewy they melted in your mouth. (To this day I still can't quite get them right!) And Grandma Cleo's cocoa pudding (the first thing ANYone ever taught me to make), and Mom's amazing dinner rolls, and Grandma Wanda's beef and noodles and home made stuffing.

Daryle remembered when his Aunt Hattie made him a cake once when he was a little boy, just for him. He said it was the best yellow butter cake he'd ever eaten in his life!! He literally talked about this cake for half an hour!!! A very memorable cake, apparently!!

So, of course, like any wife who wants her man to be happy and hopes he compares everyone else's cooking to HERS, (tee hee hee) I set out to make him the second best yellow butter cake that he's ever had. (Let's be real here, I held no illusions that I could top Aunt Hattie.) But I gave it a good 'ole try!

After a few tiny mishaps in the kitchen that revolved around trying to simulate self-rising cake flour by adding corn starch to my OTHER flour, I managed to over-bake my still delicious double layer cake. And because I just couldn't make ordinary frosting (I was compensating here for the sub-par cake, I guess) I decided to make the "frosting" out of sour cream, white caro syrup, vanilla, and melted bittersweet chocolate. It looked disgusting, but if you closed your eyes, it was quite fabulous.

I had no complaints. I mean afterall, the cake DID disappear. :)

Emerald 12K Across the Bay, March 20, 2011

The Emerald 12K Across the Bay Race!!

I wish I could start my post with an intro like, "The day of race dawned bright and clear with the promise of sunshine and perfect running conditions ahead," but as you can see from the photos, the day most certainly "dawned" in no such a way! It stormed and rained and thundered and lightninged and pounded all night long - I know this because I was awake for most of it.... :) When I finally drug myself out of bed from the worst night's sleep ever, my first thought was, "Maybe they'll cancel the race!" Nah. They specifically said, "Rain or Shine!!!"

I grabbed my healthy, energy-inducing breakfast (coffee, a cookie and a cheese stick) and then Eric, Anne, Charlie and Angie picked me up at 7:00. Away we went to Sausalito where transport buses took us to the race start line. When I got on the bus and the driver was blasting Kirk Franklin, I knew it was gonna be a GREAT day - rain OR shine!!!

I finished in a fairly respectable 1 hour and 36 minutes - 6 minutes over my goal. :( If I hadn't paused to take pictures I might've made it!!! But it was worth it to capture a few great memories! Unfortunately taking pictures on my iPhone means that they turn out very small and sorta hard to see!!

What a great course, mostly flat and fast, with amazingly beautiful and scenic views around every turn and corner. We ate at Calzones in Little Italy in San Fran afterwards - like starving crazy people, that's what we were.

While I'd been looking forward to this run for several months, I can't say that I was at my most prepared!!! I'm feeling a wee tad SORE today!!! But I can say that I'm back and ready to start seriously preparing for our Half Marathon coming up in Windsor in May. Still on track!!

Get out and enjoy this nice spring weather, Y'all!!! (If you're having any where you are!!)

Blessings!!!

The Rainbow!

So were were huffing and puffing along, running south on the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was RAINING!!!! We were SOOOOO hoping the rain would stay away, but it didn't! And let me tell you, it's WINDY up there! And so beautiful.... So anyway, then Angie said, "Hey look at the rainbow!" AMAZING!!!

The Duck Shoes

These crazy "running" shoes have single-footedly been the greatest source of entertainment for me lately! They crack me up! And make my toes cringe at the mere thought of wearing them for the length of a race, constantly feeling like you've got something stuck between your toes, because, well, you DO. Apparently they're all the rage - for some people, and then there are those who run BARE foot!!! What!!!????

Visit From Ohio Family!!

Oh, how quiet and empty our house is now.... :(

But, oh, how much FUN we had while they were here!!!!!

After anticipating their visit for MONTHS, their time here was gone before we knew it, but we made so many wonderful memories!

My mom, my grand-mother, my Aunt Lori and my nuzzin McKayla (that's niece/cousin = nuzzin) came on Saturday last weekend. It was a gorgeous sunny 60+ degree day in the bay area when they landed, so we were able to visit the pier and see a few sights and stock up on salt water taffy before we came home.

One thing that we HAD to do before they left was to take a drive out to the coast on the beaitful and scenic River Road to see the ocean. It was a little overcast, but even that couldn't put a shadow on the beauty of the beach. It just never gets old!! McKayla even had to take her shoes and sock off and dip her toes in the Pacific! Brrrr!

I'm so blessed to have had them here and hope it's not their last visit!! Let's plan a 2012 reunion?!?! :)