Marathon Relay November 9th

Fresno has been waiting 8 years for a marathon to come back to our city. Last Sunday was that day, and I got to be a part of it! My friend Jenny, her sister Beth and I ran the marathon as a relay team (along with 3,000 other people). The wind was fierce in some areas of the race, but it was otherwise fabulous weather, a good cheering crowd, and a lot of fun! It is great to be back into the world of running after taking some time in the background to birth 4 children!

Our relay team:



My 11.5 miles is done!


Jenny taking off with the "baton":

Post-race with Jenny, Beth, and Beth's husband Terry (who ran the WHOLE marathon!):

Literacy Character Parade at School

Halloween morining: The kids had to dress up like characters from a book for school. Jaden is Charlie from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". He liked not having to brush his hair. He also had fun eating the huge candy bar after school (no, not ALL of it!).

Jaden's props:

Titus was the very hungry caterpillar (by author Eric Carle). He was a bit of a shy caterpillar on Halloween morning. He was afraid the kids would laugh at all his legs. He wanted to be something with a sword instead. We all encouraged him that he looked great, but then the first kid he saw at school pointed at him and started laughing. So Titus did the very thing that every well-mannered Christian little boy would do...he kicked him and then went and sat in the corner of the classroom facing away from his classmates. I may have traumatized him for life, but I thought he was adorable!

My mom, sister and I went to Fig Garden shopping center to watch the kids' parade. Our friends the Trogdon's met us there too. Good times and Jamba was had by all!

Have you seen my brothers???


Here they come!

Halloween!!!!!

Our pumpkins on Halloween Eve:




I got to go with Titus's kindergarten class to the pumpkin patch! So fun!



I also went with my toddler playgroup to the pumpkin patch in Reedley. Here's my Mini trying to eat a mini!




Noah loved all the pumpkins!

Legoland/Beach Vacation (Post 1)

So, it turns out that I am one of THOSE moms...you know, the kind of mom who takes their kids out of school (UNEXCUSED absence, I was told----) to go to an amusement park. Despite the guilt trip from the school, we had a magnificent time at the beach in Southern CA, at the aquarium and LEGOLAND! The kids were so excited about this trip. We even conned Granny into coming with us...which was a HUGE help, with a one-year-old's nap schedule and keeping four kids happy at an amusement park (not to mention in the car for 6 hours ---or was that 8?) there and back. In case you were wondering, it took 40 million legos to build all the props at Legoland. Guess what's on my kids' Christmas list this year? Enjoy the next 3 posts of pic's from our trip!



Note the sign:



"NIIIIIIIICE" (what Aislynn says when she pets animals)

Legoland/Beach Vacation

Here we are at the Lego-pumpkin:



"Luke, I AM your father"


Titus got a driver's license:



Jaden and Rachel on the boats (our friends the Trogdons were at Legoland with us also):


Noah on a Duplo:

Legoland/Beach Vacation

Beach shots of the vacationeers:




My gang at sunset:


Titus and I made necklaces out of shells and seaweed!



Noah exploring at the aquarium:

What have my brothers been up to?

Alex has been wanting me to post a picture of him and his girlfriend Margie. She is a very sweet girl, and she and Alex enjoy hanging out and doing things together. This picture was taken by the waterfall in Woodward Park.





My other bro. Aaron entered a wooden car and a pail he created into the Fresno Fair...he got 1st and 2nd place awards for his entries. I found out after we went that Alex also had things entered in the fair! I have such talented brothers!