Grocery Shopping with Summer

I had been putting grocery shopping off all week. When if finally came that I was forced to go because of the lack of food in our house we decided to make the best of it.

I took Summer down to Pearland and went to the HEB. I have only been in a couple of times, and this time it was awesome. There were tons of samples out, so I didn't even have to buy lunch. I found the whole wheat that you can freshly grind in the health food section. We loved it.

Summer loves looking at lobsters swimming in the water at the regular store, but here I scooted the cart right next to these. She was freaked out by the tentacles that moved toward her hand.

Next we went to the new Kroger at Shadow Creek Ranch to check out the kid size shopping carts. This is not new to me. At my local grocery store Broulims in Rigby, ID they have been around for years, but usually they are taken by the swarms of children in that small town. Here however, the replacement of animals for children left many available for Summer to choose from.

She was having so much fun, that when her cart go really heavy from the juice she refused to let me help her push.

She even led me out to the car to pack them in the car.

If only my local Kroger would get these, I might not dread grocery shopping anymore. I think I just might go and ask the manager when they are going to get some.

What Would He Be Like?

Yesterday was February 17th, 2009 a normal day for most of the world. Scott would have turned 8 months old. I was thinking about him, and imagining what he would be like. He might be trying to crawl, and cooing quite a bit, eating those little puffy things, clapping, and playing. It seems almost weird to me sometimes thinking that my life would be so different if he were here. I would have an extra child on the loose in my house. Another one to tag along to the grocery store, playgroup, church, and all my other activities. I actually probably would not be doing crafts nearly as much and would absolutely love it. I would love a fussy baby, a hard day at the store with two kids, a messy house, no crafts, slobber, dirty diapers, and the complete chaos that more than one child would bring because at least I would have my two.

I have to admit that it would be quite fun to really know what he would be like at this age. My memories of him are of course as an infant, but I do think of how he would be as a bigger baby. I would love to give up all of my crafts and time to have both of my little ones pulling on my leg for attention. Summer does a pretty good job for both of them I suppose. She keeps me going and entertains me. She is full of life and optimism as most children are. I love her, and as a paranoid mother sometimes I love to just check on her an make sure she is breathing at night. Summer makes me so proud, and I love being her mom.

Surfside Beach Marathon and 1/2 Marathon

Rishelle the leader of the pack convinced Lyn and I back in the summer to train for a half marathon. I just felt a full was out of my reach especially after just having a baby. I thought I might be able to accomplish a half even though it seemed daunting.

Starting in September we started a training schedule and would meet on Saturdays for our long runs. I have to say that if it were not for these two girls I think it would have been easier to give up.

Finally the race came on Valentines Day of course. We all met in Surfside, TX and began the race at 8:00 am.

This is us just getting ready for the race to start. Lyn, Rishelle, and I also had to get rid of our nerves.

The race is on, and we are located right in the middle, except for Rishelle who is just in front of us. This is what it was like pretty much the whole 13.1 miles, and 26.2 for Rishelle. It was awesome to run right along the ocean.

This is also me coming in right at the end of the race. Another picture just before I hit the finish.
I look like a sick wet thing, and I was. I was so tired, and drenched from the down pour the last 2.5 miles or so of the race.

Just a few more steps and I would finally be finished. I think at this point I was just happy to see Philip.

Crossing the finish line has never felt so good. I was to happy to have accomplished this goal, and at the same time so happy it was over.

The reason I am including this picture is because I think it shows what I was feeling like when I stopped running. I was sick. I actually think I ate something bad or something was off, because the whole 13.1 miles was more challenging to me than in training. I really thought I was going to pass out for about 10 minutes after. If I ever do this again I better be feeling on top of it on race day. Oh well, I finished.
Philip and Summer came to support me and see me finish. It was so nice to have them there. I love them both. They have put up with many crazy Saturdays through this whole thing. Thanks.

Over all the race was great. I was loving the new ipod I got to listen to courtesy of my brother-in-law. The scenery was beautiful, the smell was great except for the two dolphin carcases. The sand was way more packed than I thought it would be too.

The headwind was difficult, as well as the rain at the end. Poor Rishelle got rained on in the middle of her 26.2 miles, and had to carry an extra 10 lbs of water logged in her shoes. I am happy that we did it, and I can't thank these girls enough for helping me stick it out and giving me much needed therapy over the last 6 months.

WE DID IT! :)

Summer, Summer, Summer, Time

OK, so it is not summer time yet. It is however, Summer time. She has been doing some fun things the last couple of days that have just made me so happy.

This is a song that will make Kamille happy. Summer was pretending to be a chorister at church while singing songs before bed.

First her room was well look at the picture below. It was a horrendous tornado that hit and destroyed her room. I dreaded helping her clean it up as I can not just say go clean your room. More age appropriate is for me to sit in her room and tell her to bring me certain things.

Well, I was cleaning downstairs, and she played a game with me and would go clean up certain assigned items. She would then come back down and ask for a different one. I did have to reward her from time to time by giving her a good job or 1 sweet tart heart candy. This is the before and after picture. I am so proud that she accomplished this all on her own. The only thing I did was vacuum a second time with the real vacuum.

Philip and I also got a kick out of her while playing a game of Memory. I had just turned over my two cards to find they were not matches, but had revealed the match to a card Summer had flipped over a gazillion times. As soon as she saw the one I flipped over she placed her hand on the other match and held it there as if to say to us it belonged to her and to not even try taking it away. Maybe you just had to be there, but it really was funny.

We love watching Summer grow, and the funny things she says and does. She really is such a good kid, and we are blessed to have her.