The Beach

OK since my last post was a total Debbie Downer, now you are in for a treat. BEACH PICS!

My moms side of the family has been going on an annual beach family reunion every year since I was little. Our family used to be so small that we could fit in one condo. Some of my very fondest memories growing up are from our beach trips.

Like the time I got to shave my legs for the first time. My mom, aunt and grandma all went into the jacuzzi tub with me, filled it up with bubbles, ate cucumber sandwiches and drank Bloody Marys (obvs virgin for me...I was 10!), and they taught me how to shave.

Or the time in high school when a friend would come to spend the night out in the condo and my cool as hell uncle would give us alcohol. And then we'd sneak downstairs at night with our boyfriends and kiss in the pool. That was so cool.

Or the time in college when I invited Mike out to the condo and he totally blew me off. My mom, aunts and grandma sat on the back porch with me while I cried and smoked cigarettes and they consoled me. (funny huh?)

Well now that I am a 'grown up' and have kids of my own, the tradition continues. It is so fun to watch the second generation of kids playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean (my heart BREAKS that that may be the last time.....) and cannonballing into the pool. Super fun times.

Jacob and my cousin, Alex

The boys!

Laura and the kids


The girls!

Beautiful, gorgeous Leah - my niece

My super cool nephew (and Parker's nemesis and BFF) Nate


Now my kiddos of course






The kids "driving the boat" on the dolphin cruise!




And now here are some family pics I took also.

The Devenny fam

Me and my baby girl

Beautiful boys

The Hanson fam

My beautiful grandmother, Mama Lou and her grandkids and great grandkids!

Bebe with her 5 grandkids

My mom and the girls!

The kids playin


The whole crew!


SO FUN!! And I am already counting the days until next year....

The Marathon

So, 4 months, 17 Saturdays up at 5:30 am, approximately 420 training miles all culminated into one day. Marathon day!!

So how did it turn out? Terrible.

I hurt my knee and finished an hour over my goal time. That wasn't the terrible part though. The pain. Ohhhhhh the pain. And wow, its like childbirth...you forget how mental the whole thing is. And did I mention I was in pain? ;)

My MRI was this morning and Friday is my appointment. It is feeling fabulous at the moment, but it hurt SO BAD during and after the race that I am worried something is wrong. A wise person told me not to worry, so I'm trying not to. ;) Worrying is my nature though...how do I not worry?

I could go one and on about the experience, how disappointing it was, alllllll that training just to get injured....but instead of hearing me moan and groan I will leave you with some cute pics from the weekend, how bout that? ;)

Here are are holding up our "in honor of hank" signs. Hanks Homies!!


Pre-race pasta dinner


Post pasta party


Our AWESOME North Cities team!


Post race Nobu dinner. YUMMY! (And I'm not talkin about the food......you girls know what I'm sayin...;) )


According to this last pic, we won the marathon with a super duper time of 2:03. GO HANKS HOMIES!! It was an awesome training season with all of you and we had a great time. I love you all!!

(thanks for the cute pic ash!)

Parker's 4th Birthday Party

Well Parker's Superhero birthday party was a success and it was so much fun! We wanted to have the party at home, so he only invited a few kids. It made it very fun and extremely stress free!

I had a coloring table set up with lots of superhero coloring pages...



Also a 'Pin the Tail on Batman' game. Kinda like Pin the Tail on the Donkey! I had a picture of Parker in his costume blown up and made each kid a mask to pin on. It was so cute!




I also bought each of the kids silly string and they put the 'evil villain' (Mike) in a web!!

(Ashley and I getting in on the fun! ;))


The kids ate and ate and ate (and ate some more). I had all Parker's favorite foods: Uncrustables (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches), Nutella and banana sandwiches, string cheese and apples!


And of course CAKE!! (the making of this cake will appear on K is for Kitchen)





So all in all the party was totally fun, Parker and friends had a great time, and he got some really cool presents. Here are some more candid shots from the party.







Happy Birthday Party Day Parker. We love you buddy!

Baseball boys

Mike told the boys they would get their allowance if they would each go out and swing the bat 100 times a day each. Caught them in action today! :)

Must be a girl thing.....

Eden must do EVERYTHING herself! And I mean everything! Caught her in her typical Diva form this morning so I thought I'd share....

Mom

Sunday is Mothers Day. Although I am now a mother of 3, I still don't feel like it's my day. It's a day reserved for my mom.

My mom, who I can tell everything to. Who gives me advice, but only when asked. Who has been there for the birth of all 3 of my babies. Who has taken care of me when I was sick...as a child and as an adult. Who was there when I crossed the finish line at my first marathon, and shared my tears. Who has supported me when I KNOW she didn't agree and didn't want to. Who has seen the wonder in my children's eyes at their first Disney World trip. Who has taught me so many things about being a daughter, a sister, a friend and most importantly, a mother.

Mom, you are everything to me and I cherish you more than you can imagine. If my children feel about me the way that I feel about you when they are all grown up; I have done my job...and more. You are sweet, funny, patient, kind, beautiful and loved by everyone you meet. I love you and appreciate you so much.


*click to view larger*

Baby girl