Julia's new tree frog

This just had to be its very own post! As I mentioned previously, we made an emergency trip to the pet store this past Saturday. Julia chose a tree frog to be the newest member of the family. So, without further ado...
presenting
"Lily Pad"
the tree frog:

Yes, I know, there might be a little confusion when someone says, "Lily" or "Lili" in this house, but, hopefully it'll all be just fine. We told Julia that it might be a bit confusing if, say, she's in her room and yells down to us, "Mom, Dad, Lily peed on me!" It's pretty safe to assume she meant the tree frog, but you just never know! She insisted that "Lily" is different from "Lili," because "Lili" is short for "Liliana" and "Lily" is short for "Lily Pad." So, there you have it folks..."Lily Pad" it is. Isn't she a cute little frog? We sure think so, and Julia is thrilled!

Check out my new bike!

I was in Target just the other day, and I came across a road bike for a great price! Well, since I only have a mountain bike, which was going to cost big bucks to get in riding condition (with slick tires & all), I decided to buy it. It's that birthday gift promise I got back in October that was waiting for the right opportunity. The opportunity finally came and I pounced. Now, I know it's not some top-of-the-line road or tri bike, of course, but I'm so excited about it! I think it's the perfect starter bike. And, it cost less than fixing up my mountain bike & it's a road bike! Yipee!

I got to ride it on Saturday and, I have to say, it was awesome! The one improvement I'd like to make is a new seat (one that is specifically for women). Ouch! Anyway, I had a great ride and I'm excited for my new "beaut" to take my triathlon journey with me. I'm still working on the name though. Aw, c'mon, didn't you name your bike when you were a kid? :)

I went for a run right after my bike ride on Saturday. Whew! My heart rate was up there, but it felt great to do some back-to-back training. I'll be stepping that up a lot in the weeks to come. I have to! I sure hope that I'll feel ready come March 15th. I think I will. I just hope I'm right! I need to start doing some more bricks to know for sure. That's just what my training needs at this point.

{FYI: Brick - doing two (or more) different exercises (one after another) with little rest between each. (e.g., bike and then as soon as your bike workout is complete go for a run). Bricks are usually bike-run but can be any combination.}

The Children's Museum of Science and Nature

Since last Monday was a school holiday for the kids, a group of us decided to venture to the Children's museum. Six moms and 17 kids crammed in to three minivans and one SUV and caravanned. It was so much fun! The kids had a blast! I must say, we moms did too!

Here we are, all in the car, ready to go! The kids and I rode with our friends in their minivan. We sure enjoyed it!

Once we got there, everyone was ready to eat. We figured we'd better start with lunch.

Then we went in and the first room was a dinosaur dig. The kids could have played in there the whole time and called it a success!

There were so many neat things to see and try...bone puzzles, anti-gravity mirrors, giant bubbles, ping-pong balls suspended in mid-air, a fire engine, a farm - complete with a cow to "milk," water works, a stage to put on a play, a "backyard" with bugs & critters...wow, it was so much fun! We'll definitely have to go back again!

After the museum, we went to this cupcake place called "Sprinkles." It was delicious, but I have to say, they weren't quite equipped to handle 17 kids at one time! :) I was trying to hold Simon & pay for the cupcakes, while Liliana hung from me saying she wanted the strawberry cupcake. Then, once I got her situated (on the floor with her cupcake) I had to continue to hold Simon so he wouldn't eat crumbs off the floor, while I got Julia's cupcake ready for her (I did manage to get one bite of mine). It was a bit stressful for me at that point, but worth it! :)

I caught one picture and this is it. Julia was mid-bite and I think our friend, Elena was mid-chew! :)

It so nice to have so many friends to go and do things like this with. It was a fun day and I'm so glad we were able to go!

"Lime"

Lime the parakeet, beloved pet and member of our family for the past year, three months and 17 days, died suddenly January 26th of unknown causes. She was preceded in death by Lauren the fish, Cherry the tree frog, and Bunny Hopper the rabbit. She is survived by Howie, our Italian greyhound, Tiny Jim the beta fish, and her dear cage mate and friend, Blueberry. Her life was full of fun with the children, music, and happiness. Her sweet tweets, little kisses, and occasional squawks will be missed by all. Private services were performed yesterday with her family.



Yesterday, while I was showering, Nate and Julia came into the bathroom with some sad news. Julia was cradling Lime's little body in her hands and they told me she had died. What a tragic day it was for Julia, and the rest of the family! So sad! It breaks your heart as a parent when you see your child hurting so much. I wish they never had to feel that kind of pain or sadness. I know it's a valuable lesson in love and loss, but it just hurts my heart!

At one point when we were talking yesterday, I was hugging Julia and Liliana came up to us and said, "I'm sad about Lime. And I'm worried about Julia. Heavenly Father can help." I just thought that was so sweet and sincere.

Julia wrapped her in a paper towel and we placed her in a paper bag. We all gathered around and said something kind about Lime and her life. Julia said through tears and choked sobs, "She was always playful --this is too hard--she was playful and sweet." Liliana thought she was a nice bird. Then, we buried her next to Bunny Hopper, in the flower bed on the side of the house.

We'll all miss Lime. She really was a great pet! Julia's pain was eased with a trip to the local pet store. She said she'll always miss Lime and wished she could have her back. Nate said that in the car on the way to the pet store yesterday, she even said, "I miss Lime so much! I know I shouldn't say this, but I would give my life to get Lime back again." Nate, not wanting to discredit her feelings, said how he knew she was sad about Lime and he understood how she felt. Then he added that we were sure happy to have her here. Talk about breaking your heart! When he told me that, it made me cry!

At the pet store, after much deliberation, Julia chose a White's tree frog (a.k.a. a "dumpy" tree frog, or a "smiley" tree frog). The frog doesn't take the place of Lime in Julia's heart, but she sure does help to ease the pain. We think Lime is in heaven with Bunny Hopper (and the others) now, probably being taken care of by Steve Irwin himself!

My fave part of training...

As you know, I've been training for my first triathlon. Mostly I've been biking and running. I know those are areas where I need the most work, so I've been concentrating on them. But, I've been wanting (and needing) to get back to the pool too. Well, I was finally able to get back in the water last night. Nate is such a supportive, wonderful husband! He took care of getting the kids bathed and to bed, so I could go swim for an hour. Thanks sweetie!

I am definitely a swimmer, through and through!

I swam 3000 yards last night and it felt great! There is such a different feeling for me when I'm swimming versus when I'm biking or running. Don't get me wrong, being outside while I'm running is great! And, I've only been biking stationary, so I'm sure it's better out doing it for real, but for me, nothing matches up to the feeling and overall workout of a good swim. And swimming doesn't hurt my knees like running has! I'm just wishing I had one of those waterproof cases for my iPod! That would be perfect!

I'll continue to run and bike, but I'll always feel most "at home" in the pool, because I am a swimmer. But, I'll keep training, looking forward to that day when I can say, "I'm a triathlete" too!

Another very belated birthday wish...

I'm sorry this is so late, but I just wanted to say...

Happy birthday Kristin!

{when we were in SC for Christmas, with her daughter Alice & Simon at her feet!}

Happy birthday Carly!

I know it's late, but I just wanted to post a very special birthday wish to my dear friend Carly! Happy happy birthday! I love ya Car Car!

{this was taken the last time Carly and I actually saw each other in person - back in July, Simon sure has grown since then! Carly you are always gorgeous!}

Bringing more of "me" to my blog...for better, or worse

I've been thinking about blogging and the reasons I like it. One of my long-time friends sent me an article recently, the old-fashioned way...in the MAIL! Thank you for that Jamie! I enjoyed it immensely! What a thrill! Anyway, it was a great article about a woman who blogs and why people enjoy it. It made me think, "there's so much more I could say on my blog." I've been enjoying it as a great way to share pictures with family and friends and chronicle our lives a bit. I thought I could use it as a bit of a window into my mind. I guess if you don't care, or don't want to read it, just skip these types of entries, I wouldn't be offended. :)

In addition to that, maybe it will help me get back some of my brain cells that have been sitting somewhere in the recesses of my brain, waiting for their chance to shine again. Just the other day, one of my friends and I were talking about how, once upon a time, we could actually write and had a much more impressive vocabulary. I think I'd like to work on that a bit here. So, bear with me as I dive in to those waters I once swam through easily...writing, sharing stories, being creative...I'll do my best to keep my head above water.

I begin with what's on my mind right now...

I've always had weird dreams.

It's true. I can remember numerous times growing up when I would have the strangest dreams. As an adult those strange dreams have not stopped. In fact, they've grown up with me. Thankfully, I haven't had any of the kidnapping nightmares that I had as a kid (one of my most frightening and memorable nightmares involved being kidnapped by someone who crawled through the window wearing a shabby Big Bird costume. He grabbed my leg, pulled me out from under the table, threw me over his shoulder and ran. It was daylight and my parents were outside, but no one could hear me because a pool was being excavated. Yeah, I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor next to my parents bed for weeks! I also became rather obsessive compulsive about checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were properly locked). I have, however, continued to have unforgettable, bizarre dreams.

Often times there's a recurring theme to many of my dreams (i.e. I rescue many people from pending doom -- you know, there's someone who's trying to blow everyone up, or rob a bank, etc. and I turn into the unintentional leader who somehow, beyond all imaginable hope, gets everyone to safety). Yeah, Nate teases me all the time about it! :) I wonder why I have those. Is it some secret fantasy I have...to be a hero? Who knows. I would never want to face anything like that in real life. But, if I did, I would hope to be brave. Sometimes they can be scary...over in "la-la land"...I've been shot in the back (where I can remember reaching back and "feeling the wound"), shot in the chest (also, very life-like), watched a plane crash into a building from one block away & "felt" the heat of the explosion, and have had sharks attacking everyone at the beach, where I, of course, was the only one who knew how to escape them. Dreams are amazing.

Okay, so with that background, I wanted to share the latest theme I'm seeing in my dreams. It involves me showing up to compete in my first triathlon and something goes wrong. One dream Nate was going to compete in the triathlon I had signed up to do, so I ended up not doing it so I could watch the kids. Of course, there were many other things going on, like the women who decided to weigh themselves down to the bottom of the pool and walk, instead of swim. Strange, I know. Just the other night I dreamed that a big group of us all went together to the start site for the tri and I had forgotten the bag with all my gear. I had to go around to several of the women and see if they had extra swim suits, bras, etc. I was so worried about competing in someone else's suit! Gee, do you think I'm having some sort of anxieties here? I guess it's good though. It gets me thinking about what I'll have to make sure I don't do in real life. I suppose that's what dreams are for...to allow our brains to go psycho, if just for the night, so we don't do those sorts of things in real life.

Just me, thinking.

Momma Julia

My sweet little Julia loves to help with her baby brother (and her little sister too). She was doing such a great job, I had to video it (of course)! She's often telling me that she can babysit for me. You know, I think she's on to something! The major bonus of this video is that you can hear Simon say, "Moh, moh." Which means "more." He sure knows how and when to use it! I love it!

My poor baby boy!

Simon has been battling back-to-back ear infections for the last several weeks. When we returned to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, it turns out that he not only still had the one infected ear, but the other one was too! So, his doc put him on Augmentin. Well, after he'd been on the meds for a week, he broke out in hives. I noticed and one of the first things I thought was that he might be having some sort of allergic reaction (either to food, or the medicine). I called the Dr's office, took him in, and they confirmed that he was, indeed, having an allergic reaction (to the medicine). They said they'd be considering him Penicillin allergic from now on. Also, the Dr. thought he looked a bit pale, so she sent us to get some blood work done. It turns out that he's also slightly anemic. So, having confirmed that his ears looked better, they took him off Augmentin, put him on iron supplements & he is now doing lots better! Thank goodness! I'll just keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't get any more ear infections!

Simon is glad to be feeling better!


Isn't he a cutie? :)

A "duh" moment

This is a little embarrassing, but I thought I'd tell you anyway, and maybe save someone else from making the same mistake. So, I got my Costco coupons in the mail the other day and I thought, "I'm going to go through these and actually use them!" You see, I always have the best intentions with coupons, but they usually end up stuck in a drawer until well after their expiration date (which I always discover when I think to use them). Anyway, I went to Costco today and actually remembered to take my coupon booklet! I was so proud of myself! Many of the items I chose because they had coupons. Then I stood in an aisle, carefully tearing out all the coupons before I went to check out. I was quite happy with the money I would save. Items I might have put off for later, I went ahead and bought, because they had coupons! Woo-hoo! So, I was at the check-out, Simon was crying (a very nice man let me go ahead of him). I handed them my card and said, "Oh, I have coupons too." They said, "Those don't start until the 7th." I said, "Oh...what's today?" They answered, "The 4th." "Oh," I replied, as I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. They were nice though and told me it happens all the time and that I could bring my receipt back in on the 7th, with the coupons and they would reimburse me the difference. Boy, was I glad! Silly me.

Christmas in SC

We made the trek to South Carolina this year to be with my family for Christmas. The kids did super on the drive. We ended up doing it straight (going there and coming back home). Wow! We were open to stopping if we needed to, but whenever we entertained the possibility, the kids would've just fallen asleep and we would think, "hey, they're sleeping, let's just go for it." So, that's what we did! We made several stops (including a long dinner), so including those stops, it took us about 18 hours each way. Yikes! But, it's always worth it to be with family! We really have some great little travelers on our hands! Especially considering that Simon was sick with a cold and an ear infection. Thanks kids!

This is a mega post, but, here is the gist of our trip. I hope you all had as nice a Christmas as we did! Thanks Mom & Dad...we loved getting to see & spend time with you! (you too, KK and Andrew)

Kristin, Robert & Alice

I got to see my friend Kristin (who I've been friends with for, what...18 years now?) her hubby (& also my friend) Robert & their new baby girl, Alice. She's so sweet! It was so great to get to see them. Thanks for coming to see us guys!

Kara's b-day pizza party
We got to be there for my sister's traditional birthday party. My Dad makes his awesome pizza and she invites a few friends over and it's always fun. It was great to see old friends and get to make some new ones (as I finally met some of my sister's close friends that I hadn't yet.)

My Dad tosses it into the air & everything (I just missed capturing that).

Julia doesn't like pizza (surprise, surprise), but she did love watching it get made!Liliana loved Papa's pizza! He made cheese pizzas for the kids.

Simon zonked (still not feeling well).
I guess he thought that was comfortable!
Some more pictures I like...
{the girls had fun cutting up their own cheese for snack time,
me with my Dad
& my Mom getting some loves from Simon}


Christmas Eve
Close family friends came over to celebrate Christmas Eve with all of us. We enjoyed our surf & turf style dinner, delicious coconut cream pie for dessert, visiting with each other, and the anticipation of the coming morning.

Santa managed to deliver some early presents, which we got to open the night before Christmas. It was so fun to see everyones new pajamas!

We got cookies and milk ready for Santa, and, of course, a carrot for the reindeer!


Christmas
The day finally came and it was wonderful! Simon slept in quite late that day (he missed everything). But, that was good because the poor little guy was not feeling himself. The girls let everyone sleep to a very reasonable 8:00. We got up, brushed our teeth and combed our hair and all went downstairs together, where we saw all the fun Santa left in or near our stockings and under the tree. And, Santa ate the cookies & drank the milk! The reindeer must have eaten the carrot too! So exciting!
We had company stop by (it was great to see you Linda & Paul!), and when Simon woke up, we all got to watch him play with his new toys (& see what he thought about opening presents). He seemed to like being in the midst of all the excitement.

It probably goes without saying, but we had some YUMMY food! I just love it! It's just like Thanksgiving, which, if you read that post, you will recall that it is my favorite meal! Mmmm!


More Christmas Day fun


Just playing at Grandma & Papa's
The kids really enjoyed being at my parent's house. My Mom and sister put together a craft crate they enjoyed thoroughly! My sister even got them a little "house" to color and play in. It was lots of fun! The girls loved playing outside in the backyard (and front yard for that matter): swinging, climbing trees, pretending, etc.
They also enjoyed playing with my Mom's new chihuahua puppy, (that my sis, bro & I got her for her birthday in November) "Sookie Lea."

Julia holding "Sookie"
Liliana holding "Sookie" too!


Hitchcock Woods Hike
This could seriously be it's own, very large post! We've made a tradition of hiking in Hitchcock Woods whenever we go back to my parents. It's so beautiful. It's about 2000 acres of forest (with trails, horse jumps, bridges, etc.) right in Aiken. There are so many areas to explore and discover. We go to a different area every time. The kids loved it too. Poor little sick Simon slept in, so we left him with Grandma and Papa. They took good care of him while we were gone (naturally).
{you can click on any one of the pictures if you want to see it bigger}

Lili consulting the map

beautiful forest
the girls liked this crooked tree (silly poses, like the silly tree)
I thought this part of the trail was quite pretty.
We stopped for a little snack break.
The girls and me (& Howie too) at the "Chalk Cliffs." They were so cool!
Nate with the girls, on the "Chalk Cliffs" (Julia was a bit nervous being this close to the edge, but Lili had no fear ).

Lights at the Zoo
We got to go the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia to see all the Christmas lights. That was fun! We all enjoyed it. It had been a long time since we'd gotten to do that as a family. Of course, we ate at California Dreaming restaurant beforehand. I love that place!

Mom & Nate in front of California Dreaming (a converted train station).

Simon rode in the backpack at the zoo. He loved that!
The girls and I rode the carousel twice. They loved it!
You have to pose on the statues, don't you?
They just HAD to milk the pretend cow!
Simon at the end of the night. He must have been pretty comfortable!

Riding "Suddenly"
My parents board horses on their property. The girls were thrilled that the owners said my Mom could give them a ride on "Suddenly," the paint horse. The girls absolutely LOVED it with all their hearts! It was fun to see them ride.

Simon thought Suddenly was pretty interesting too.


It was a fun and memorable trip. I also enjoyed getting to see my sister's house, which I didn't take pictures of, and bumping in to old friends at the mall & fun stuff like that, that always happens when you go "home" for the holidays.

Although we miss our family, it's good to be back home. We took down our decorations and are now settling back in to "life as usual." Julia went back to school today (already?) and I'm trying to do projects, laundry & all that good stuff that is always there. I'm also training for that triathlon I told you about. So, there you have it. Our trip, our Christmas, our family.

Thanks for keeping up with us!