Have you ever had a moment when something just clicks? A true moment of clarity that appears out of nowhere and often when you didn't know you were looking for it in the first place? Such a thing happened to me over Memorial Day weekend.

Most of you know that I ran my first 10k last weekend. It was such an amazing experience and one that I can put down in the book of "I did it". Never did I imagine that the day would come that I would be writing about running 6 miles. Me, the girl who faked injuries in gym class just to get out of running one mile around the high school track. Sad but true. When I started running a little over a year ago it was at the encouragement of my dear friend Cass. She seemed to see something in me that I didn't know was there. The first time I went out with her she "made me" run 2 miles. It wasn't too long afterwards that I ran my first 5k. She ran it with me despite being 16 weeks pregnant. She ran for a good part of her pregnancy and was an inspiration to me and I'm sure a lot of other people as well. I ran through the winter and agreed to sign up for the Bayshore 10k despite the fact that I'm not much of a distance runner (6 miles is a fair distance if you ask me). It was right around mile 2 of this race that my moment of clarity hit me.

I was running next to my friend Kimber. She was pointing out some beautiful homes along the route that were for sale. She showed me one that was for rent and I commented on how cute it was. We ran along and chatted as though we were the only two on the course. I loved that first part of the race. It was during that time that I looked out at the Bay and said "Kimber, look at how beautiful that is. Aren't we so lucky to live here?". She agreed. It was such a nice moment. It was at that same moment that Cass sped by us on her quest to finish in under an hour. She was cruisin' and other than a quick hello seemed to be pretty focused on what she was doing. It hit me at that second how different we are in our reasons for running. She was out there on a mission; it was a race after all. She had trained for weeks following a pretty strict training schedule in order to finish with a certain time. Running was something that was really important to her. For her, it wasn't just a way to get some exercise, like it was for me, it was a part of her life. She actually likes running and looks forward to each time she laces up her shoes and pounds the pavement. I am out there to burn calories and listen to my otherwise forbidden music (hey, I have small children). She did a great job on Saturday and ran a personal best and I was very happy for her and proud of her. But part of my moment of clarity was realizing that even though she was the one to encourage me in the beginning, running wasn't going to be a hobby we would ultimately share together. It was always going to be about something more to her than it ever could be to me.

The mood and energy at the race on Saturday was amazing. It set a tone for the rest of the day. I was so happy to see the sweet faces of Peter and the kids cheering me on when I only had about 200 meters to go. I had run a good race. In my heart I knew I did the best I could do and despite a little "burp" scare that I thought might lead to something else, I felt great! My typical style is to kick it into high gear and high tail it to the finish line as soon as it is in sight but I didn't do that on Saturday. Maybe I was too tired. Or maybe I was just taking my time getting there and enjoying the energy around me for those last several seconds. Whatever the case, I was proud to be among several thousand runners there that day, regardless of what brought them there in the first place.

Post run stretch..I was still smiling..that's a good sign!

My little cheering section.

Kimber, Laura, Me, Cass

My lovely cousins, Linsey (in the green) and Jaime. They ran the half marathon and did awesome!

Friday Funnies make a comeback

When I first sat down to "blog" this morning I intended to relay a couple funny stories from our week but instead I went on and on about how my little monkeys are so different. (see post below). So I am back and while I don't have a whole lot of little one liners to share from the week I do have some good stories that you'll just have to put yourselves in the moment to fully grasp. Here we go...

Wednesday night was mom and kids night. Peter had a meeting that would run late so I made the decision that the boys and I would still sit down to dinner together..something we don't always do when Daddy's not home. I made sea shell spaghetti and garlic bread for them and a mongo salad for myself. We sat down and the conversation started rolling. Pierson started asking questions about bears and if we had any bears in our woods behind our house. I told him no, no bears back there. He went on and on and I half listened and "uh, huh-ed" my way thru a few minutes before the conversation took a very interesting turn. Pierson said "If there was a bear out there my daddy would boom him and mess up him!". I stopped chewing, cocked my head to one side and with my mouth full said "I'm sorry, what was that?". Now Mack was paying closer attention too as Pierson repeated "If there was a bear out there my daddy would boom him and mess up him". I am laughing hysterically at this point. Mack is too. In fact I started crying I was laughing so hard which of course drew stares of confusion from both my kids because they weren't sure if I was happy or sad at this point. I laughed first at how horribly grammatically incorrect Pierson's statement was since clearly he should have been saying "Mess him up!". Secondly I laughed that he even knew to say such a thing in this context. Where had he ever heard someone say "Mess him up" or "mess up him!". But most of all I laughed at the thought of Peter fighting a bear. This is the man, bless his sweet heart, who stood on a crate holding a weed wacker when we lived in town and found out baby raccoons were in our garage. I had to hold a flashlight on one side of the garage while he scared them out with...a weed wacker. I laughed until I had nothing left. Pierson kept saying "Don't laugh guys, I not tendin' (pretending), it's not funny!" He was so serious. It was more priceless than a MasterCard commercial.

So once that scene settled down it was time to clean up. Pierson wanted some music on and his current favorite is Cupid Shuffle. Great tune if you haven't heard it. He loves to dance around the kitchen to it. Mack joined in some of the excitement as well. It was fun. They both have some pretty smooth moves. I had some cleaning left to do and they were in need of an activity so I set them up at the counter with paper and crayons and while they drew they watched this week's season finale of Dancing with the Stars on the computer. They love that show and none of us caught it when it actually aired this week so we were catching up. Now normally, if daddy would have been home, the boys would all be in the living room watching Spider man followed by Iron Man on TV. Peter walked in right as Edyta pulled off Jason Taylor's shirt in one of their numbers. The boys both said "Cool"! I told Peter that this is what we do when he's not home. He announced that I was leading them down the path toward a gay Cabaret.

There you have it, folks! Have a great long weekend!
xoxo

How did these two come from the same gene pool?

As a child I used to beg my parents to tell me that I was either adopted or switched at birth. That would have been easier than trying to figure out how my brother, sister and I came from the same gene pool. I remember as I got older and started hearing the argument between Nature vs. Nurture and I finally came to understand that some things just have no explanation.

Now that I am the mother of two charming little boys I find myself exploring this topic again. I expected my children to have distinct personalities but I also wrongly expected that some things would be the same. My children could not be more different. When Pierson came along Peter and I used to joke that it was a good thing that he was not born first because he would have been an only child. I don't mean to throw this sweet boy under the bus at all because truthfully he is delightful 90% of the time. I just mean that God knew what he was doing giving us Mack first.

As different as they are I can already tell how they will complement each other during their journey thru life. Mack is my shy guy; at times cautious and timid. He worries. He's a little diplomat and doesn't want to let anyone down. He's exactly like I was as a child. He's starting to come out of his shell a little bit which is wonderful to see. He's beginning to understand that when he does something funny and people laugh, they're not laughing at him. His personality is starting to shine through a little more as he discovers how good it feels to make people laugh. He likes to make me laugh. He is his mama's boy through and through. This is my boy who still tells me that the best part of his day is coming home to see me. Just before he turned 3, he and I were laying in his bed one day and he told me "I wish I had a rocket". I replied, "A rocket? What would you do if you had a rocket?" He turned to look at me with those beautiful blue eyes and told me "I would fly up high in the sky and get all the beautiful stars and bring them home to you". I cherish these early years with him because I know he's not always going to feel this way about me.

Pierson is the entertainer, the joker. He came into this life funny and we've been laughing at him for almost 3 years. Pierson thrives on this. He's the social one. He has a presence about him that makes people notice him and remember him. He is very strong willed and any idea is a bad idea unless it was his first. For as stubborn as this boy can be he can seriously turn around and be the sweetest thing you've ever known two seconds later. He gives amazing hugs and one of the things I love most about him is that he always uses the person's name that he is speaking to. For example "I love you too mama", "See you later, gigi", "Bye, by Miss Sarah", "Wanna be my special friend Daddy?". This may seem like a strange thing to note but I love this about him. It shows his innocence and sincerity. He's curious and full of questions. He likes to get a reaction out of people and when he does he files the act away in his little Pierson brain so he can pull it out again for shock factor later on. This part of his personality earned him the "first to get his mouth washed out with soap" award. He looks at bedtime as a time to party and play in his crib. He takes so many toys into bed that there's barely room for him in there. He sits in there and listens to everything going on in the rest of the house. When the phone rings he shouts for someone to get it, when Peter sneezes or coughs he yells, "Bless you, Daddy!". If I have my mixer going at 10:00 at night making cookies he insists that he "taste the frosting". You can't get much by this guy. As he approaches 3 years old it will be so fun to continue watching the transition between baby and big boy.

These boys will undoubtedly balance each other out beautifully thru the years. They will learn from each other and pick up traits that they want to have and recognize traits that they are glad they don't have. They will, without knowing it or trying to, push each other into things they would not normally do and keep each other from doing things they might be tempted to try. They will be there for each other even when they don't want to be. They will support each other even when they feel the other one is full of bull (censored.. :) because that's what brothers do. They will be each other's friend and biggest fan and I will encourage this as long as I live.

Let's catch up

I think about blogging every day. When one of the boys does something funny or when I have a few free minutes to sit down with the computer I think "Man, I should really blog right now" but then just like that the moment is gone and I am on to something else. So, today I sit down with the intention to catch up a bit.

We last left off with my tribute to the wonderful Rancho La Puerta. Coming home from that trip was a bit like a whirlwind. It was wonderful to be home and with all my boys again but life pretty much switched right back into high gear and we were off and running. My in laws came for a week. It was great to see them and the boys had fun with them.

They held down the fort while Peter swept me away for a birthday overnight getaway to The House on the Hill and dinner at the Rowe Inn, both in Ellsworth. It was a quick trip, 24 hours on the dot, but we had a really nice time.

The above photo was taken on the porch at the House on the Hill. The same porch we sipped champagne on to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary while fireworks shot thru the sky and over the little lake just across the street. It was great being back there and we both agree we will not wait another 7 years to make a return trip.

We got home mid morning on my birthday and spent the rest of the day with Peter's parents and the kids. Grammy ordered an ice cream cake from Moomers and picked up things for dinner at home. After dinner I got to open my presents from the boys. While I was at Rancho La Puerta Peter took the kids to Hands on Art where they were able to pick out whatever they wanted to paint for me. Mack insisted on a cat because apparently I love cats. It is so cute and he was SO proud.

Pierson painted a goblet of sorts that he calls a bowl and either way will make a cute candy dish. I guess we didn't get a picture of my goblet but here is another pic with the boys after the gift opening ceremony.

Peter even painted a sushi tray for me and had the kids put their hand prints on either end. So cute and a definite keepsake. It was a great birthday all around that finally wrapped up a week later with a lovely little Mexican dinner party with friends at Cassy's house. It was nice to hang out together at one of our homes without the children. It's not very often that we get to do that and it was a treat. Great food, sangria and company.

Once the birthday festivities were over it was time to move on to Mother's Day. Since my mom did not make it home from Arizona to be with us on Mother's Day this year we decided to take a drive down to Grand Rapids to partake in a Mother's Day barn party at my grandfather's farm. He and his wife Joan do this every year. It's an informal get together at their farm where the kids have a ball watching and cows and getting towed around the farm on one of the big tractors. Unfortunately this year it rained the entire time we were there so we were confined to the barn. The kids still had a ball climbing on the hay bales and playing on one of the tractors that was parked indoors.

It was so great to see my grandpa and other family members that we go way too long without seeing. My cousin Sean and his wife Brecken came in from Chicago with their two kids. We have become such good friends in our adult lives and always enjoy each others company.


Their new baby Paxton was born in February and they have asked Peter and I to be her Godparents. We are so excited and honored. She is a little doll. We took the opportunity of having all the little ones together to get a good shot of them in their "initial tees". So cute!

The countdown to summer is on and boy is the calendar filling up quickly. Only 3 1/2 weeks left of school. I am going to work a revised schedule during the summer months and I am excited about being home a little more. Mack has started playing T Ball and tomorrow is his first game. I'll be sure to post some pictures and highlights from the game. Mack is starting to lose some of his shyness and has become quite the "people person". It's so nice to see him come out of his shell. His imagination is taking off which is great. He and Peter and going to try to figure out how to make a jet powered skate board. I wish I was kidding. He's a great kid and I cannot believe that he will be six years old two weeks from today.

Pierson was not happy about having to go to school this morning and when I told him that I would be back right after lunch time he told me this: "I am not talking to you, I no have nice words say to you!". Hmmm..his own version of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". He is such a character. He can be the sweetest little thing I have ever laid eyes on one minute and then can completely change on a dime. He absolutely adores being outside playing sidewalk chalk and in his sandbox. We have spent a lot of time tracing the kids bodies on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and then they decorate however they like. Mack comes up with some pretty cool super heroes and Pierson just likes to give all his guys really crazy hair. I'll have to take some pictures.

In reading back over this entry I feel it is a little like a Christmas letter and I apologize for that. I do have some more intense, deep thoughts to write about but I need to be in the right mood. For now, you should be all caught up!