March's 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

Not much about this day was "ordinary", but I think I say that a lot, so I'm learning to accept that as my life in this season.  :)

6:30 AM

Starting the day with coffee, multi-vitamin, advil, cold & flu, borrowed antibiotic from Shaun for my breathing, borrowed antibiotic from Amanda for my pink eye.....good times!

9:50 AM

Time to line up!

11:00 AM
On the road in the middle of nowhere, mile 7ish.

 12 PM
A glorious site!

 Finishers podium with my courageous SILs.

 1:30 PM
So very random, but a couple had bought our exercise bike the day before but we had no way of loading it, so we met him at a McD in RI on our way home from the race to drop it off.  The post-race tea hit the spot.

 3 PM
Do you have memorable showers, when it just feels extra good?  No, just me?  Ok, well...today was an extra long, extra good shower.

 4 PM
I stopped in at church for a few minutes to drop something off to Shaun, where he was up to his elbows in all things sound.  Opening night is in 11 days!

 5 PM
My niece's one year birthday party.  My sister did an amazing job with all the food and decorations.

 6 PM
Renna did all the things she was supposed to do, and was just as cute as she could be.

 7 PM
Presents!

Project 365, Week 10

We had a wonderfully low-key week and I was able to stick close to home for much of it.

This morning I'm on my way to run a half marathon, also marking the half-way mark in my full marathon training.  Its been a journey, for sure!

Isn't the clock change exciting??  Usually I'm slightly bummed about it because I've just gotten to the point where its not totally dark when I leave for the gym, but I'm going early enough that it will always be dark so I'm just going to enjoy the extra time in the evening...definitely a moral booster!!

Enjoy your week!

March 3

Shaun and the girls were at play practice, Z was at a visit and G and Aiden were home with me.  We went out for some fresh air and attention to the neglected dog.

 The turkeys were a steal, so I bought one and Shaun cooked it for us.  When I took it out Aiden said, Mom, why do you put a clock in the turkey?

 March 4
Aiden was so happy with his firetruck sandwich....we were learning the letter "F".  And, I can't even take him in that $0.50 hat we'd just gotten.

 There was even a firetruck at the grocery store.

 Checking out "F" books at the library.

On the recommendation of the pediatrician, we went to the optometrist.  Pretty comical, especially with the Avery and Aiden peanut gallery.  It was determined she had both viral and bacterial pink eye, with inflammation. 

 We walked out with two prescriptions, totaling $400.  In the words of my kids...its not fair!  :) 

 A much-anticipated day....tapping the maple trees for sap.  Pop's got quite a system and the kids were delighted to help out.

March 5
Got to take one-year pictures of my niece.  She's too precious!

 March 6
Shaun and I had a date at the new house, since we have the realtors permission to be in there.  We talked things through and took some measurements.  Its still not real.  (Most of this wall that you see will be knocked down in the next couple months.)

 March 7
I picked up a bunch of boxes and seeing the stack of them was quite intimidating!!  Aiden packed the first one...his Bible, his whip, his hammer...just the essentials.  :)

 We had a cancelled appointment, so we went out to play with the unexpected time.

Earlier in the day Aiden said to me, Hey Mom, do you wanna go outside and toss the football with me?  Oh my!

 Z asks often to go running with me, so I challenged him to do a mile with me.  We've got some training to do.  :)

 March 8
Trying not to be mad about the snow that came down until late afternoon.  Also trying not to be overwhelmed by the insane mount of work that's going to need to be done in the next six months....those empty boxes are taunting me.

 March 9
My morning crew.  :)

Being What God Wants Us to Be

This morning I read in Ecclesiastes: Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools.

Part of righteousness, or the right way of being what God wants us to be, is fulfilling our potential...and we cannot do that unless we learn to restrain our anger.

Today, as the day went on and the snow continued to fall and my nose got stuffier, I was tested on this. We had nearly cleared out the piles of snow from the last crazy storm and now we have over a foot again.  Anytime it snows in March its just disheartening.

And what is the deal with this constant sickness??  I've gone years without being sick and since November I haven't even gone days.  I eat very healthy, get plenty of exercise and adequate sleep...WHY am I sick??

Shaun says its because we now have three kids bringing home school germs.  Maybe so, but I was not created with a high tolerance for all things sick.

Neither of these things matters with even the slightest bit of perspective, so I'll stop whining.  :)

Avery and I spent a little time making plans for her new bedroom this afternoon.  Can't believe it was just a couple short years ago when I was the only decision-maker while picking out paint and bedding for the girls' room....they will definitely want input this time.  :)

Anyway, she was going through pages of choices, making comments of different ones.  She said, I really like this one, except I wish that top pillow was over here (pointing to the right so it could be centered).

That is SO her personality.  She is her mother's daughter.  :)

Work to be Done

One of these days I'm going to sit down and write a long, meaty post of thoughts swirling in my head, the work God is doing in my heart, the updates from our full, ever-changing lives.  

Today is not that day.  BUT, I did want to share some sweet pics of my Little Roo.

He's all about picking out his own clothes these days, right down to socks and underwear.  And he really does a pretty good job.  

He doesn't like jeans, those are reserved for doing work with Daddy.  

Basketball shorts would be the choice everyday if I allowed it, but basketball pants are an acceptable substitute while we wait out these winter temps.  

His favorite undies are his "big boy undies", boxer briefs, though he's also got quite a stockpile of character underwear....Spiderman, Thomas, Super Why to name a few.  

He is quite partial to these froggy boots, mostly because he can put them on all by himself.

This was a warm-ish day, so we went out to get some fresh air.  Immediately he got to work "snowblowing" the yard.

So blessed to have him in my life!

O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.

Isaiah 25:1

Project 365, Week 9

This week was a blur.  My sister asked me a question about it and I couldn't for the life of me piece the events back together.  That's when I'm thankful for these pictures....so that even though some of my weeks are blurry, hopefully looking back the years won't be blurry.

February 24

I took this picture to send to my SIL to thank her for the bag of running clothes she gave me (thank you, Sarah!).  Problem is, its the only picture I took of the day...so, full disclosure...

Me, after a seven-mile tempo run, and my faces matches the color of my shirt.  Over the years, I've had countless people ask me if I'm ok, including this day.  Yes, thank you for your concern (because sometimes there IS reason) but my face always turns red when I exert that kind of effort.

 February 25

 Amanda and Aiden had great fun together....I loved listening to them play.

Happy 94th Birthday, Great-Grandpa!!

February 26

A good old-fashioned rainy day.

1

 February 27
Our hard-working woodstove needed some attention...Aiden was thrilled to avail himself to the project at hand.

February 28
This is what Aiden wore to the doctor, which is where we took Amanda after her pink eye kept getting progressively worse, even with drops.

 March 1
Yay for March!!

I walked into Juvenile Court, gave the security guard the case name and started to tell him who I was.  He said, Oh yes...I recognize you.

Nice....the dude who checks me in before I go through the metal detector before I go into court knows my face.  How did I get here?!?

 Crazy Hair Night at church.  Holding up the bottom is G, our respite girl for the weekend and Amanda, barely able to keep her eyes open in the light.

 Later at Daddy's basketball game.  They lost the playoff game, so the season is over.  The team had a great year, though.

March 2

I pulled everyone out of bed minutes before we left the house at 7:20 AM.  We went to see my niece Madison dance in a competition.  She did incredible!!  I sobbed through most of her performance (which, btw is painful with pink eye...yes, I have it too)...she is simply amazing.  The judges liked her, too....she got the top honor and will go to Nationals this summer!

 This is her with my rag tag crew.  Fresh out of bed with too little sleep, the morning after Crazy Hair night.  :)

February Goals Review

Happy March!  So exciting, isn't it??  I can almost smell Spring!  February was not without challenges, so it was nice to at least have these goals in mind as I went through my days...a little focus goes a long way!


*Read Through the Bible in a Year.  Phew...made it through Leviticus.  Tough, tough read!  Some of the more interesting headings in my Bible:

Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals (47 verses worth!)
Serious Skin Diseases
Bodily Discharges (not kidding...33 verses)
Prohibitions Against Eating Blood

Again, I'm using THIS plan and really enjoy it, or at least I will once again now that I'm out of that painful book.  Makes me SOOOO thankful for the work that Jesus did on the cross!

*Memorize 24 scriptures this year.  I memorized Luke 9:23 & Romans 4:21

Scripture #5:

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 

Do not fear; I will help you.  Isaiah 41:13

*Declutter one room each month.  This month was my office.  Who knew I'd pull a large garbage bag of stuff out of there?!?

*Answer my family with a smile.  Could have done better with this!  For many reasons it was a straining month and my patience was not always firing on all cylinders.  Renewed efforts for March!

*Read two books each month.  Surprisingly, 2 of the 3 books this month were fiction.  I have a wonderful stack of non-fiction books that I cannot wait to get into, but my reading time is primarily on the treadmill.  When I read non-fictions, I like to do so with a pencil for underlining and I like to read in small pieces so I can process, and sometimes apply what I'm learning.

Since neither of those things are possible under my conditions, I've moved to fiction.

Justified Means by Chautona Havig.  Interesting storyline with a decent mystery, though way too long and wordy and too many characters.  

Moving Mountains by Jan Haas.  True story.  This got rave reviews, but the nitty gritty of medical problems is not my thing.

Mellington Hall by Meredith Resce.  This started out good, but was too predictable and "cleaned up" towards the end.

None were so bad that I quit part way through (which I have no problem doing), but neither would I recommend them.

*Run a Half-Marathon and a Full-Marathon.  My half marathon is just nine days away!  The mileage, as one might expect, is creeping up and more and more time is required for training.  5 AM now sounds like sleeping in to me, as I am getting up in the 4-4:30 range regularly.

I broke new barriers, first with a 14-mile and then with a 15-mile long run.  Feels really good to accomplish things you never thought you could do.

I missed two days because of the obnoxious snow storm (though I count all the shoveling as something, just not miles run) and two days from being sick.

This training schedule in the dead of winter is brilliant.  On days when its too cold or dark or rainy or snowy, days when there is searing pain in my throat or days when I'm just not feeling it, I'm still insisting to myself that I need to get out of bed, throw on my gym clothes and get out the door.

Somedays I'm thrilled to do it, others I'm quite miffed about it...ultimately, its great to have a training schedule to be accountable to six days a week.

Total miles run in February: 106.5

*Write 52 notes of encouragement, thanks, thinking of you.  Seven notes written this month.

*Clear off my desk each evening.  13 evenings I went to bed with a clean desk.

*Spend 15 minutes a day working on a project.  I did this 9 times.

*At least two dates/month.  We got in 2...breakfast out one morning and a movie night..Argo (very good, though plenty of foul language).