Time Flies

Myrtle Beach 7/2011

I have been pretty bad about keeping up my blog for awhile.  I feel like summer FLEW by.  I know I was there, and I know I LOVED it.  But is it really already gone?? YES, and it is October?!?  I am so glad we have had mostly nice days so far in the fall, but I admit that I dread the winter.  But I do love the change of seasons and can look at the bright side!

Since fall started, we have gotten into the swing of pre-school for Evi.  She is going to the same place she went last year and loves it.  We saw her two teachers all summer since it is in the same department that I work in, and they both worked with the camps and brought kids to the pool.  Evi adores them and was usually pretty excited to see them (because, let's be real, she IS 4 and not always happy).  One day, in June maybe after school was out, we jogged past the building her classroom is in.  Evi asked me if that was going to be her school forever and then told me she couldn't wait to go there again.  So September was a happy time for us, since she got to go back :).  Several of her friends from last year are there with her again, and a friend from church is there also.

I also signed Evi up for a dance class once a week.  She is so energetic and already loves to dance, so I thought it would be a good fit.  She did ask if she could take a dance karate class (where she would do karate WHILE dancing) but I wasn't able to find one of those.  Go figure. :)  So far she is loving that.  Jamie doesn't mind playing on the park outside the building during class either. 

eating only the red blackberries, and loving them!

Jamie is now 17 months and is growing up faster than I expected.  For quite some time she has been comprehending so much more than I thought she would be able to and it's fascinating to watch her.  She has a little grunt she does when answering in the affirmative and will often shake her head to say no.  She recently started folding her arms and bowing her head when we say prayers.  A couple of months ago, right after I finished changing her diaper she got up, took her dirty diaper and took it right to the trash.  She gets her shoes when I tell her we are leaving.  And I am constantly reminded I need to do better with sign language with her, because she is doing some of the few I have taught her.  I could keep going, but the point is I am loving spending time with this girl.

I see the great importance of one on one time with each of my girls.  I adore them both so much and they are in such different stages in their lives.  Evi has been getting homework once a week, and I actually love doing it with her.  She enjoys it and gets a great feeling of accomplishment and I think she likes to show off what she does at school.  They grow up so fast and sometimes I just want to slow down and drink them in.  Love my beauties.

Well, other than working, the big thing I did recently was run a RAGNAR RELAY RACE.  Really, it's an INSANE race, that I think only INSANE people do.  It is a nearly 200 mile relay race on a team of 12 people, and it started in Cumberland, Maryland and ended in Washington DC (actually, that's what they said, but we ended in MARYLAND due to a course change!  But the race was still called the Washington, D.C. Ragnar ;).  HA!).  The crazy part is that it is non-stop for over 24 hours.  And if you are lucky you sleep.  If you are somewhat normal, you don't because it's tough.  The short version: 12 people split in 2 vans.  Each person runs 3 times, all lengths are different.  My 3 race lengths were 1) 7.3 miles 2) 7.4 miles and 3) 4.8 miles.  Although I tried to sleep, I was unsuccessful.  Several times I reminded the other 5 people in my van that we were all nuts for doing this.  It was a BLAST.  But we were still nuts for doing it.  I WOULD do it again.  But I am still nuts for wanting to :).  I had a very spiritual experience doing this race.  I was able to tie in a valuable connection from my race to the lesson I had to teach in Sunday school the next day.  I was lucky to do this race on a team that each person was a member of my own religious faith, so we actually did have some spiritual discussions.  I have a new post just for the race, so I'll list that separately.

Now the race is over and I feel super motivated to run a marathon.  We shall see what is in store.

Oh, and I can't forget that we went camping at Assateague Island over Labor Day weekend with the Heaths.  I was able to leave Jamie home and just went with Evi and it was fantastic.  We had a great time together and it was wonderful to not chase a toddler around the beach and deal with diapers and naps and all of that.  So Evi and I had a fantastic date at the beach with our best friends! 

I am, again having difficulty with pictures, surprise surprise.  But at least this time I got a bunch on before the difficulty started.  I just can't format them well, but at least they are here!