We will We will. . . Rock You!!

Last year when I ran my half marathon, Nya mentioned that she would like to run a race as well. Saturday she accomplished her goal! After several months of training, she ran a 5k with me. There were almost 800 runners in all. Nya and I finished in 354th place. She set the pace, and averaged 12 minute miles. (Not bad for a 7 year old!) I'm incredibly proud of her.


She trained in the rain with me, ran through dog poo, mud, and was chased by dogs. We had our own little mantra. (Nya thought of the words.) "We're rockin runners and we never quit! We never give up and we never sit!" She loves Queen, so I thought the title of this post was fitting.

If you look closely at this picture you can see us. We are just about to grab hands. So the best part of the entire day? As we were running to the finish line everyone was cheering, we grabbed hands and finished together. Nya looked up at me and said, "I am so glad I have you for my mom!" I must admit I teared up a little. What a moment! I think I'm going to have her put that statement in writing for the teen years!

Waxing Nostalgic

I enjoy a wide variety of music. (There are even some rap and country songs I don't mind.) However, today I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to change my play list to include some of my favorite older tunes. (With the exception of Deep Forest.) They aren't that old, maybe early 90's? I just threw them in for kicks. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! By the way, if you don't like it, you know you can always turn your volume off.

And the Winner Is. . .

Thanks everyone for your input on dresses! The order has now been placed. This was our final pick. Although, Nya is not a fan of ivory. So, the actual dress is darker. . .more of a champagne color. When given the choice between pure white, ivory, and champagne, Nya liked the champagne. I think she will look fabulous for her baptism!

Baptism Dress

As many of you know Nya will be turning 8 in November. Aahh! I can't believe how old she is getting!! Anyway, we are having a bit of a challenge deciding on a dress for her to wear after she is baptized. So, we decided it would be fun to put it to a vote. I have included photos of the 3 dresses we have narrowed it down to. Please leave your comment with your top pick.

Thank You Holly!

O.K. so this is long overdue post, but I wanted to thank my friend Holly for the cute apron she sent me this summer. My favorite thing about the apron is that she created the artwork herself. It's a darling screenprint of a 1950's lady holding a pie. I love aprons, and I wear this one all the time. So, I decided to take a pic during my latest bout of insanity making grape juice and jelly.

Holly is super talented and creates all sorts of fun things. She has two stores on etsy. One store has her original paintings, and the other store has various unique creations by her. Both stores can be viewed at http://www.etsy.com/ under the store names Hollydoodle and Hollydoodad. Thanks again Holly! I'm so glad we still keep in touch after all these years!

A Bugs Life

Those of you who know Nya, know about her exploits with the animal kingdom. She has been known to bring home snakes, horny toads, birds, kittens, frogs, lizards, and various members of the insect and arachnid families. So, what's her latest passion? The Praying Mantis. Here are a couple photos of one she caught. Unfortunately the only insect Nya is uncomfortable catching is the cricket. Since her Praying Mantis needs to eat crickets to survive, I have the honor of collecting them. Yesterday I caught one and asked Nya, "Who has the Rockinest mom in the whole world?" To my dismay, she hesitated before answering. Perhaps it's because I won't touch anything she brings home. . . The following photos are of a Katydid Corbin caught. I guess he's following in Nya's footsteps. If you look closely at the first photo, you can see the Katydid amongst the leaves. Unfortunately, we can't really pic her up. (Since I don't want a Katydid flying around my house!) In the 2nd picture, you can see eggs she layed last night. The eggs are stuck to a leaf in the front of the photo.

Seussical the Musical

Our family saw the colleges production of Seussical the Musical this week. It was darling! I was really worried that Corbin would lose interest quickly, but he never did. He and Nya had their eyes locked on the stage the entire time.


The set was full of vibrant colors and the cast were wearing pretty outrageous costumes. The show features The Cat in the Hat and Horton Hears a Who. Also, it didn't drag on the way some productions can. It is long enough that you feel like you got your monies worth, but short enough that the kids aren't going bonkers. If you ever get a chance to see it, be sure to take your kids. They would love it!