She's a funny one.

This child has begun to develop a very funny sense of humor!

It thrills me to death cause I know she's gunna need it-

you know with me as her mother and all,

not to mention she has 3 older brothers!

Here are a few recently:

Me: "Oh Maddie, did you fluff (toot)? Cause it's killing me!?!?"

*her response was without hesitation and very mater of fact*

Maddie: "nope. that was a skunk."

****************************************

As Madelyn was scratching my back one day:

"Momma what's this?"

Me: "that's my spine, my back bone"

Madelyn: "oh no its not, that's string cheese!"

Me: "Maddie, there'd better not be anything back there that looks like cheese"

Madelyn: "yep, there is!"

***************************************

Me:

(upon finding her in the bathroom using qtips...a big NO-NO!)

"Madelyn Rose, just what are you doing with those qtips?"

Maddie: "I'm picking boogers out of my ears"

***************************************

And then this morning as we were snuggling

and she was rubbing my head.....

Maddie: "Uh-Oh Mommy, I feel no brain in here"

****************************************

Because 2 people fell in love.

I wonder when my parents got married

if they ever dreamed this would be in their future?!?

(me, kota, my sister, prince charming)

(miro and maddie too)

Somehow when I look at this picture of all of us,
I'm amazed at how strong our gene's are;
and then
I'm frightened
and panic sets in...
because I then remember that

I'm responsible for raising these 4 little people!
And sometimes I'm not sure who's raising who around this joint!

**********************

Running news:

I've been running my tush off lately!

I ran a half marathon, 13.1 miles

(not a race, just for fun up here in the mountains!)
this past Saturday.

loved.it.

Then today I ran 10.5 miles...uphill....in the pouring rain....

in 1 1/2 hrs!

And I smiled for every stinkin' second of it!!

My legs are holding up fine but

my smiling muscles hurt!

Go figure.

I thought I'd show you my

"I love running in the rain" face,

I knew you'd sleep better having seen it:

Now I'm gunna take this smiling face and feed it some serious chow!!

Me and my Maddie-paloosa.

Oh this girl...I try to eat her most every day but

she's insistent that she needs to keep her cheeks.

Regardless, I am beside myself in love with being her Mother!

I can remember sobbing, and sobbing, and sobbing when I discovered

that I was pregnant, again.

Now, I can look back at that time and see God chuckling as he must have thought,

"Girl, you've got no idea what I'm fixin' to bring into your life".

And He was right.

I will never be the same.

My Andre.

When did my prince charming go from this:

to this?

Geesh he's getting so big. So handsome.

And so creative with his food.

Maybe I'll just go check him out of school right now,

I wanna kiss on those freckly, dimply cheeks and love on those eyebrows!

Laughing over my own post? Yes I still am.

Is it strange to laugh over your own posts? I mean really, that IS pretty pathetic.
Well this one keeps coming back to me, and I'm sorta embarrassed to tell you that it is still so stinkin' funny to me.
Maybe because I remember how delirious I was as I laughed myself silly on the bathroom floor!
Or maybe its just because laughter is really some of the best medicine I know of....and I might be asked to write a thesis paper on that soon.

Here it is....one of my less than finer moments!
And if you knew my last name....you wouldn't be able to stand it!
Fun-nay!!

Dear legs.....

Dear legs,
Please keep on, keeping on.
I need you to not give out on me just yet.
I know, I know....I see the eye rolls and hear the groans as I head over to my running shoes and lace them up.
I hear your warnings of "I'm giving you 2 more miles, and then your done chic!", and I haven't listened.
I know I'm pushing my luck right now.
I've asked a lot out of you recently, but I need ya'll to hang with me just a bit more.
We are a team here, and this soul's in need of movement and open spaces.
A lot of it.
I promise to make it up to you...
ice baths and massages maybe?
Thanks, ya'll are my BFF's and I wouldn't trade you for nothin'!
Love,
me

Mountain running.

We've had a little snow.

Like 7-8" of snow.

That's enough down here in the south to

shut everything down for the week!

Lord help me!

Its been a beautiful week and though I've begun to get
a bit jumpy from all the nerf gun wars inside my small house,
my nerves are holding up fairly well!

Being the crazy fool that I am,
I've been planning runs in my head as they were
forecasting the numerous inches of snow!

When it rains, I wanna run in the rain.
When it's hot, I wanna run in the heat.
When there's a beautiful sunset, I wanna run as I take it all in.
And when it snows, I wanna run in it too!

As I have traveled to different places,
one of the first things I
look forward to doing is running.
For me, running is the most meaningful way to experience most everything!

Back in college I was in a vocal group that went on tour
and one of our trips was to California.
We sang in several places, one of which was
at the Crystal Cathedral with Robert Shuller on national television
(it was incredibly cool!!)
As our plane landed in LA and we were bussed to our host homes for the evening,
I began to get fidgety.
After a full day of close quarters on buses, planes and airports;
I was bustin at the seams to get my shoes on and go running!!
As quickly as possible,
I was dressed and was out the door!
It was an awesome run that evening in LA
and one I will never forget!

That was almost 16 years ago, as much as it burdens me to say that!!

Anyhoooo, back to this week....and the snow,
I have secretly hoped that I could instill in my children a love for running,
a love for the great outdoors and
the ability to enjoy the two as one!

Two days ago I told the boys that I was going to be running the trails up here
and asked if any of them were interested in joining me....
as I had expected Dakota and Ramiro were all over that idea!!

So the first day, I took Dakota.
We had an awesome time!
We ran the trails but we also climbed up the mountain
until we felt it was too dangerous.
It was incredibly fun and for a few minutes I felt
as if I was running with a friend, not my child!

And then he called me "Mom"

and I snapped out of that moment!
Dakota is growing up so quickly

and becoming such a fun
kid to be with that I completely

enjoy hanging with him!

And for the record:

he challenged me to be the first back to the house...

we both kicked it in gear and sprinted like nobody's business!!

I blew past him

and then if he hadn't cheated and

cut through the hay field....I would have won!

Just saying!

We're not competitive or anything.

Yesterday it was Ramiro's turn.
He was so excited and had been asking all morning what he should wear,
if he would need _____,
and wanting to pinpoint the exact time we would be leaving for our
first ever "mountain running", as he calls it!

He wore 2 hats,
a head warmer around his face,
2 shirts and a jacket, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of gloves,
2 pairs of socks and his football cleats
(it was very icy by this point, and actually I wished I had some too!!)

Here we are as we were leaving....
the orange hats were to inform hunters that we were not in fact deer!
Ramiro thought this was so funny b/c after all (as he says),
"we don't look like deer Momma"!!
Right.
We don't, but wear the hat anyways child!!

Ramiro and I had so much fun!
He ran, and ran and ran!
I kept asking him if he wanted to walk.
He never did.

And to tell you the truth, I couldn't have run much faster!
He kept up with me and did incredible!

About half way through,
we took a break on a hill and sat in the snow and just
listened to the wind.
It was priceless.

We ended up finishing 2.08 miles!
At the end I jumped over our finish line and dove into the snow!
Ramiro cracked up and laid down next to me, resting his head on my chest
and laughed himself silly.

As we hung out there in the snow, he says
"so this is what you do when you go running?"
I laughed and said, "ya babe, something like it!!"
Another moment, etched in my memory....
another run I'll never forget!

A week ago I was cleaning out Ramiro's backpack and found this paper
he had written at school.
It wasn't an assignment, I don't think,
it was just something he had written and
in an instant I knew it was a precious gift!

I love how he couldn't decide on how to spell "math"
and so he "x" out what wasn't right.
(Cool math is a web site he likes to go on to play computer games)

As I have looked at his paper over and over again,
I can't let go of his first sentence.

Ramiro, may you one day understand
the full extent of just how good God has been to you!
You are unbelievable!!
And may you know just how good God has been to me,
by giving me YOU!!
-Love, your Mommy

Starting Lines.

A simple line. A marking signifying one side from another. A place of separation, from past and future. A beginning, something left behind and something else in front.

I love a starting line. The anticipation, the excitement and energy, the hopefulness. It's a wonderful place to be whether its the first day of school, the beginning of a new job, a new home, a brand new baby, a new year or the start of a race. At times, on those rare occasions when I actually see one, a sunrise feels like a starting line too-a new day!

I got a new running journal the other day and as I flipped through the empty pages of the calendar, pages that will soon be filled with miles, times, goals and "reality" (ahem); I was excited about the starting line of 2011. But as I continued to flip through the pages I was reminded that the journey is where most of the lessons are learned. The process of getting from A to B is where we become more of who we are. The exhilaration of the finish line will never be felt if it wasn't for crossing over the starting line and seeing the thing through.

For me, 2011 will be a year of starting lines, long runs and finish lines! I will cross some finish lines this year that I started many, many....lets not get into those details now (*sigh*), but just know that its been a LONG road!! And as soon as I run through the finishers tape this summer, the very next step puts me at another starting line! The education process is gruesome like that! But there is something incredible about seeing things come full circle, no matter how long ago the start was!

Reality is, some races in life require us to start, re-start and start again...can I get an Amen on the second chances?? (And the third?? And the fourth??) The journey as well may take us to different finish lines than we originally thought, and the process often leaving us with blisters and calluses (aka "beauty marks"). My life seems to be summed up in those 2 sentences, never the less:
It takes courage to stand at the starting line, will power to cross over and begin the run, and perseverance to stay on the road (however long it takes) and cross the finish line!