Extreme Close-ups

In the audience...

Again, we had to wake this poor child up from her nap.
But it didn't seem to put a damper on her mood.

So sweet...

Brigg had his first piano recital today.
He was very nervous, but did great.
(I may be a bit biased though)
As he does with everything, he took it very seriously.
And you can see the concentration in his eyes...

And maybe even in his fingers...

And this is the look of relief that it is all over...

Miss Sara.
We love her.

It was so fun to see him in this arena.
Hope he sticks with it...

Lani's graduation plant...

Remember that plant Paul got Lani for graduation?
Well here they are putting it in the ground...with a little help from Ayla Lyn. And a worm.

My little baseball player...

It should have been perfect....

See that blue, blue sky?
Not a cloud in it.
It was in the low 80's.
The course was flat and fast.
Can't you just feel the excitement in the air?

And these were some of the spectators at the finish line.

Wouldn't it be great to finish looking at these faces?

Well it should have.

One problem.

I woke up at 2am with the stomach flu.

I was up all night long and it was not fun. When it came time to get Paul up, I was in tears. I had been running for 2 months to prepare for this and I was going to miss it. I was quite literally sick to my stomach over it.

So Paul gets in the shower and I start taking deep breaths and kind of meditating. I have an iPod shuffle. I had this engraved on it because I am not a very athletic person...."Make the mind run the body". It's kind of become my mantra. I can make my body do this. I know I can.

By the time Paul gets out of the shower I say, "I think I'm going to go down there with you and just see how I feel."

So I did.

About every other minute I say, "I am going to do it."

Or, "There is no way I can do it. I don't think I can do it."

In the end, the mind won. I did run the full 5K. But it was not fun. And there were several occasions when I was scoping out the closest large tree that I could puke behind. I did not run the whole thing. My stomach would not allow it. But I ran the majority.

And I did cross the finish line with a smile on my face.I was not fast. I was actually very very slow. But there was a very very older, gray-haired woman in front of me that I was determined to finish before. And I did. Just barely. But I was not last! :) And I am pretty sure my mind ran that race.

And then my mind shut down for the afternoon.

And I had a large glass of water and slept most of the way home.

Paul really enjoyed it. And I'm so sad because I know I would have, too. So we'll do it again soon. And now I'll have a personal best time that it will be virtually impossible not to beat!

Ya think he's excited?!?

Since Wednesday's game was cancelled due to water, tonight is Brigg's first official baseball game.
Ever.
In his life.
I am trying to get our stuff together for an overnight stay in Des Moines.
I need to have the house all picked up just in case it needs to be shown.
So I am scurrying around making sure everything is picked up.
I went flying into Brigg's room to check it's cleanliness and this is what I found on his bed...

He may be excited about his game tonight.
I don't know.

Smoothies

Have I ever shared my love affair with my Magic Bullet?
I'm not sure I have.
My mother-in-law bought it for me last year as a birthday gift and it has been used 90% of the days since then. Usually twice. As Paul also shares my love for her.
I'm not usually one for "As Seen on TV" items. I get a little cynical. But I do believe that if it makes it into Target, it's probably legit.
I'm still pretty hesitant about Brigg's request of a SNUGGIE for christmas. Anyway, I digress.
Back to the Magic Bullet.
I love it.
And I have a smoothie addiction.
It's a Banana Chocolate Chip Raw Almond Oatmeal Flax Seed Soy Milk cup of heaven.
This is how you do it...
Take the large size Magic Bullet cup and fill it half full of ice.
Add:
1 banana broke up into a few pieces
1 scoop of oatmeal
1 tsp flax seed
about 8 raw almonds
a tsp or so of Enjoy Life chocolate chips
fill the rest of the way with soy milk.
blend

it's a vegan smoothie.
and it's delicious!
I'm addicted.
Maybe that's why I keep packing on pounds instead of losing them....

All the Stewart Grandkids...

...at the Chart House memorial day weekend.

18 months

Ayla had her 18 month well-baby check today.
She's doing just fine. She even moved up to the 10 percentile in height and weight.
She now weighs 21.5 pounds and is 30 inches tall.
We are giving her way too much milk...so we need to back off on that. More food, less milk.
Who knew?
She's really starting to say a lot of words. She says, "NO!" perfectly.
Great.
She got one shot and just got kind of mad at the nurse. But now we are done with shots for a while.
She is so funny these days. Very very animated.
She loves to eat beans...especially black beans, avacado and cheese. That is her favorite meal. She also loves hummus and crackers. A girl after my own heart.
She only drinks milk and water. She'll spit anything else out.
Her skin is super sensitive. It's always up around her neck and down at the top of the back of her diaper. The doctor says she has seen a lot of that up by the next with the new "tagless" clothes. The stuff that is ironed in the shirt to replace the tag irritates lots of little ones' skin. Ayla included. She'll scratch it until it bleeds.
She gives us a run for our money, no doubt.
She can go from hitting to squeezing you in a tight hug around the neck in about .3 seconds flat.
Can't remember life without her....

What's up....

1. 5K this weekend. I do realize that for many of you a 5K is an easy warm-up to your running routine, but it's not to me. I'm even a bit nervous! It's supposed to be in the 80s and sunny. Perfect. There is a kids' run afterwards that Brigg and Nalani are looking forward to. We'll see about Ayla. You do only have to be one to enter. She'd probably win. She is quick! :)
I have been running each and every morning (well 6 mornings a week), and have gained yet another pound. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? That's something.

2. Tonight was Brigg's first baseball game. He's been counting down the days since his first practice. It was cancelled. Too wet out. He was devastated. So sad. :( Good thing he has like 200 more this summer...the next one being Friday night already.

3. The house. OOOOOHHHHH the house.
Nothing. No showings. No offers. Nothing. So super frustrating. And nothing we can really do about it. I hate that.

4. Getting SO excited about the arrival of my newest neice or nephew. He/She will be making his/her grand entrance on June 12. We will be heading to Lisa and Tony's that weekend to help welcome him/her.

5. Overall feeling a bit defeated these days. We are frustrated about the house. Frustrated about my weight gain when I seem to be doing more physically than I have in a year. It's just annoying. But life keeps moving forward, and so will I.

So that's it. The latest Burback update. The end.

Poor Ayla

There are just times during the day when I can't be outside with her.
And she hates that.

Soon enough baby girl....soon enough you will be able to run free...

Beth Moore on women....

"How blessed we are to be women. By nature we like to do things together. Work and play. Laugh and grieve. Eat and pray. Live and die. A large measure of enjoying womanhood is enjoying a heart connection with other women."

Loved that.
So very true.

That was fun!!

At some point I do believe all my drawers became "junk drawers".
I used to have one junk drawer.
But now I have several....including all 3 of my main bathroom drawers.
Today I was searching for some super glue in one of the original junk drawers.
My hands got all caught up in a mess of cords. I was practically rolling around on the ground trying to maneuvure my way out of them.
It was time to tackle the drawers.
So I sorted and tossed ridiculous amounts of "junk" today.
I got through 2 kitchen drawers and 3 bathroom drawers.
Man, it feels good!
Plus I got through 3 loads of laundry.
It helps that Ayla took a 3 hour nap.
Who knew she could nap for 3 hours straight if uninterrupted?!?
Not me!
Today was our first weekday with no preschool to run to and from.
A good good day.

Monday??

feels lilke monday to me.
except i have an extra day of mess and laundry to catch up on.
i am sooooooooo behind.
hope we don't get called for a showing today!

West's Well

Some pics from the event at West Middle School.
Amy set up a merchandise table...

And the kids filed in, just dropping in bill after bill.
It truly was unbelievable.

This is the made who had the vision.
Doesn't he look professional?!?

Actually, he does. Considering he is a teacher.
An amazing teacher who rallied several hundred kids to get behind a cause outside of themselves.
That is no easy task when you are talking about tweens.

Kids love him.
And you could see why. He sings "Respect" like a champ!
And I have so much respect for this man who had a vision and who cast it to these kids.
They should be so so proud.
Way to go, West!!

More hiking

The whole crew...

And just another family photo in the woods.
We seem to take a lot of these.

Morning Hike