because life is too short...

...to wait around until all my photos are edited, perfected, and uploaded before i blog, I've decided to just go with photos in the raw and record the memories as we go! And so here we go

Today, Cutie Face's preschool class

***celebrated***

Pizza, Popcorn, and Pajama Day!

she ate that up (literally and figuratively)

you should have seen all the princess pjs on the playground today.

(glad we're not the only ones...)

sweet Cutie Cakes 

(who is becoming a true 2 year old in actions, vocabulary, etc)

was sad that she was not allowed to wear her pajamas

to Bible Study

so the compromise was a Rapunzel dressup dress for naptime

(j's favorite pictures of Cutie Cakes are of her sleeping 

so those are for him!)

while her sisters slept

(for hours! SOOO nice!)

Cutie Face hung out in her house

decorating it with pictures, stickers, balloons, and nightlights

She informed me that she had her pillow, blanket and *tons* of food

in case she got hungry or tired

(food being Melissa and Doug pretend food sets)

the sisters finally awoke and we were off!

The girls and i helped cheer and direct Kilometer Kids runners

on their 1-mile race course

it was a great and active way to end our day!

until the next adventure,

here's looking at you, kid :)

1.20.12

I worked in the Harvard Museum of Natural History for 3 years

so it was only natural

for us to become members of Atlanta's own history museum

Fernbank

bonus? we can (literally) run there in about 10 minutes.

i foresee many trips to the science center this winter and summer...

hooray for educational playtime in a controlled climate!

ever get beat...

...by a girl?!

Cutie Face and I went for a nice jog today

and she requested to change her attire...

...to running clothes!

i couldn't resist.

she ran about 1/10 of a lap with me

and declared herself "tired"

apparently NOT too tired to climb

or to bake mulchy birthday cakes

(1st i had to eat my veggies...don't worry)

and definitely not too tired to just look all-around adorable

climbing up the mini stone mountain

and declaring herself queen

Nope.

Not too tired for that

well, okay

maybe *just* a little tired

PS Guess what other cutie will soon be joining her sister on the track?

that's right! Cutie Cakes is finally walking as of this afternoon!

(video to come)

Track ★ {star}

After eating half a bag of chocolate chips and crunchy brownie leftovers, i felt like a run was a necessary addition to the day. The more i thought about it, the more i thought, why not actively involve Cutie Face in the run? As in, let her RUN run, too!

The track club that i belong to runs a summer all-comers track meet every Tuesday night. With my women's Bible study every/other Tuesday night, we can obviously only make it those "other" nights. They have tons of events to participate in, even one for Cutie Face--the 50 m dash. 

Since they don't really make track duds for the under-2 crowd, we made a track★ outfit up for her. We went for the all-white clothes + 80's workout sweat headband + pixie pigtails + speedy-mcspeedy-shades look. Whaddaya think?

She was required to sign her own name on the participation form. Those ladies were sticklers (true story. and they got mad that she might steal their pencil. seriously.)

It appears that her new MO is that she needs to warm up to a social setting before she's fully comfortable. But once she's warmed to where we are, she's completely at ease. So, knowing that, we let her just watch the kids running. She really got into cheering them on to the finish:

Once she was ready, man was she ready! 

She instantly met a new friend and they romped in the grass (and even went to the potty together--too cute).

Seriously, they were like instant buds!

So much so that other girls wanted in on the action

Then it got really fun

they were all very intrigued by the sound of the start gun

("what was dat?" "noise?" "i'm afraid of guns."<--good!)

Finally it was time for them to start. Cutie Face was so excited that she false started and ran ahead.

That, unfortunately, was the last time she was really happy tonight. The (very nice) starter, picked her up and carried her back to the starting line. Guess she hadn't warmed up to him quite yet. Which meant she went from shocked to upset to crying very quickly. Poor kid.

I hated that she was traumatized by it because i wanted the track meet to be a positive experience for her. I think everything but the start was, though, so we'll try again in a few weeks...

She did eventually make it to the end of that 50m. 

Next time I'll be at the end waving her security blanket...incentive and comfort at the finish :)

obladi oblada...life goes on

expanding horizons

Lately, whenever i put the girls in the jogging stroller, Cutie Face requests a playground run. In looking at my training log, it appears that most of my runs are "destination runs"--we'll pick a place (Trader Joe's Target playground etc.) and go. 

These runs, i'm sure, do nothing for my endurance, but at least they keep Cutie Face occupied with anticipation on the going and exhausted on the returning and they mean i can still get a run in that day! i've been getting quite bored with our typical routes so we've been branching out to new parks.

Check out the one we found today!

HUGE!

It is a "Boundless Playground" which means that it is accessible to kids with disabilities--how neat! Here is an example of the nice wide ramp that it features:

Unlike most parks we've been frequenting, there were actually kids playing! 

yay for friends!

and, even though it was a cloudless, super sunny day,

...the playground was not too hot to touch 

thanks to the smarties who used white and yellow colors 

and not the new fad of using dark greens and blues. 

and just a few more random photos of the kid. 

The babe was sleeping so we didn't disturb her with the camera :)

Look! it's a toy we used to play with on our old-school playgrounds!

This piece of equipment really freaks her out...

we're working on the fear factor...

Rain Rain

A deluge of rain greeted us today {Monday}. We dropped J off at the Marta station and headed back for a day of cleanup and regrouping. Sadly, there was a fire on Marta (?) so I loaded the very good kiddos back into the car (right when the heavens opened and REALLY poured out with gusto--Cutie Face even said "WOW. It's really rain-n!") and we picked J up at the station and then drove to the airport. Cutie Face enjoyed seeing the planes in the air. 

Let me tell you, we had more than 40 minutes in the car on the way home to talk about those airplanes. It appears that Georgia drivers can't figure out what to do with 1)  a steady downpour of rain coupled with 2) rush hour traffic. 

Despite it being a lesson in patience for me, the girls did remarkably well in the car so we headed to Whole Foods, Staples, PetSmart, the bank, and then Cutie Face's future school...all before 10 AM.

After a busy mid-morning, i felt it unnecessary to get back in the car after that. So we hung out--Cutie Face really wanted to get up in the crib with her Cakes so i let her--and it occupied both of them for a solid 12 minutes--score one for both of us!

as always, feel free to cllick on this mosaic to view larger pictures

The rain suspended for a few hours so we squeezed in a quick run (literally) to Trader Joe's. By the time we were on the road again, it started to mist--not too bad for the girlies in the jogging stroller. I, however, felt like i'd stepped into a steam bath and could not regulate my temperature nor my sweating--can't wait for that Georgia summer...yeah....about that...can we have a bit more Spring weather please? thanks!

Kilometer Kids with the ATC

As some of you know, I am a member of the Atlanta Track Club (ATC) competitive team. Part of the responsibility of being on the competitive team is volunteering at two ATC events/year.

On Tuesday, I took Cutie Face to a Kilometer Kids 1-mile "race" for kids aged 7-12. The Kilometer Kids are running towards a goal this Fall:

The Fall edition of the program is designed to allow each child to complete a “marathon” over the 10 week period. Children will meet twice a week for training runs at one of the eight area Boys & Girls Club locations or participating schools who are serviced by the Metro Atlanta YMCA. Each runner will track their progress in their own training logs and receive incentive prizes along the way. After completing 25.2 miles in training, they will run their final mile of their marathon at the marathon on Thanksgiving Day, crossing the finish line under the Olympic rings just like the running in the main event. Commemorative finisher’s medals will also be awarded.

Can you imagine being a kid and getting that prize? How rewarding and cool!

Anyway, volunteering at the race was SO fun.

The race was held at a local park which was an extra bonus for Cutie Face...while we waited for the race to start, we hung out on the playground:

The girl loves to swing. Fave thing hands down

i loved this angle of us...you can kind of see #2 poking her belly out:

Don't worry, Cutie Face is NOT allowed to climb UP slides...
though she'd love it if I'd let her!

The race finally started and Cutie Face and I took our positions--we had a great angle of them coming up the final hill:


J and I cheered them on like crazy. I think our whoops and hollers completely scared poor Cutie Face.

Here come the last of the kiddos!
Shawanna (orange hat), one of my teammates, is a coach:

The race ended well, everyone was happy and the kids were very proud! We put the stroller to good use and rounded up some orange cones on the way back to the finish line.


I cannot wait until Cutie Face has the chance to run with the Kilometer Kids!

Like Father like...daughter?

J has been training hard for the Peachtree Road Race

He and C decided to dress alike for extra motivation

{The question is: what makes him faster? the glasses or the bandana?}