Not with a bang but a whimper

And so, this is the way the year ends.

I *meant* to blog more. I'll admit, I felt guilty after reading my cousin's post a few weeks ago about how not documenting things on her blog makes it as if things didn't happen. And while I haven't had the year she has, I somehow managed to not write anything for nearly two months. No good excuses--just the usual: busy, writer's block (I was asked to write 4-6 sentences about myself for the Relief Society spotlight and it took FOREVER), laziness, the desire to make batches of fudge and caramel, busy, and STILL working on a book I started several weeks ago (heaven help me, I will find out what happens to Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, Davydd ap Gruffydd, and Simon de Montfort).

Two weeks ago, I was going to end the year with a bang and crank out a blog post a day. That didn't happen. So now I need to catch up on the last two months, along with write about my parents' visit in September. So here's the last two months, in pictures:

My parents came in September. We showed them Charlotte, ate lots of food, took them to South Carolina (my dad had never been), and just had lots of fun. We spent a day at Historic Brattonsville, and though we went a few years ago, it was good to go again when it was green.

Mabes in the log cabin with Grandpa

Riding Papa's shoulders


With Grandma at the Bratton residence, built in the early 1800s.
This house was used in The Patriot.

TA-DA!

The girls had a lot of fun with their grandparents, and my dad really made an impression on Annabelle. A couple of weeks after they left, we had the missionaries over for dinner. Before they arrived, I was setting the table and as soon as Annabelle noticed the extra places, she got really excited and started chanting, "Papa! Papa!!!" She was a little crushed when I told her that Grandpa wasn't coming that day.

Moving on to fall, Annabelle was able to enjoy fall this year, complete with jumping in leaf piles and everything else Mabes had promised her:

Also, Annabelle is working on the art of fake smiling:
We spend Thanksgiving with Dave's family, and went to the local science museum the next day:

lot of mirrors

Annabelle got to meet Santa at our church's annual Christmas breakfast:

She still doesn't like him.

Mabes was thrilled when we got a letter from Santa the Monday before Christmas saying that as an early gift, we were going to go to the Great Wolf Lodge for a night. It's only about 30 minutes away, but we were a little worried that she'd be upset about leaving her best friend/our next door neighbor. They don't get to play during the week, so she was hoping to cram in as much friend time during the vacation as possible. However, the letter said to pack your swimsuit and that was all she needed. Dave showed her pictures of the water slides and pools, and she was ecstatic. We left Tuesday afternoon, spent a few hours at the indoor waterpark, spent the night, and spent most of the day Wednesday swimming, sliding, and just enjoying the 84 degree park. While we were there, it was rainy and cold outside, so that was an added bonus.

Swim diaper on, she's ready to go!

In the wave pool

It's hard to see her, but Mabes is on her way up to the slide

Mabes comes down a slide

Dave and his girls

I'll do Christmas in another post...sometime. But we took care of my big Christmas present in November: our first "real" family photo:

My amazing friend Lindsay (Hart to Hart Digital) did them and put up with our girls' craziness. Despite them running in opposite directions and trying really hard to not smile, she managed to somehow capture some smiles and make them look really sweet. I mean, they ARE sweet. They just weren't being sweet that day. It was SUPER fun:
But I'm very happy with the pictures we got. Here are a few:

I like this one because it's like, "Look, it's a mom and toddler, playing and having fun
together!" Really, the mom is just frantically trying to get a smile!

I'm so glad we took these pictures. I'm not going to lie, it was exhausting. And I appreciate Lindsay for saying that she's worked with much worse (even if I think she's lying, I appreciate her caring enough to lie). I promised Dave we wouldn't have to do that again for several years, but then a few days later we found out that #3 is on the way, so who knows...maybe we'll be taking family pictures again next year!

Hey Laura...

In Mabes' mind, her Aunt Laura is the only one running the ING New York Marathon tomorrow.

Best of luck tomorrow. I would tell you to make us proud, but you did that already by having the guts to sign up for this crazy event. I know you're pumped to make it to mile 20 and have every step after that be farther than you've ever run before, but I'm just excited for you to get to the start line. Every step after that? I'm just in awe. Imagine cheers, yells, high fives and butt slaps coming from NC. You're amazing.

And then take birthday relaxation/eating to a whole new level on Monday!

Halloween

For Halloween, Mabes wanted to be.....(drumroll please) a cat! I'm kind of surprised at how long this kick is lasting. I'm certainly not complaining, though, because her costume was ridiculously easy: leotard from 2 years ago, black ears (as opposed to her daytime white ears, you know, worn when playing around the house and going to the store) leftover from her party, tail, and fancy it up with a sparkly skirt/leggings combo my mom gave her for Christmas last year. So it naturally followed that Annabelle should dress up as a mouse. Again, super easy.
This year was Annabelle's first year trick-or-treating. She only lasted a few houses, and the whole idea seemed to blow her mind. She kept looking around the dark streets with a confused-but-giddy look on her face, as if she knew she should be getting ready for bed but was instead on a quest for candy. And even though we had practiced, she had major stage fright at each door and just stood there wide-eyed while the other kids yelled, "Trick or treat!" She did manage a whispered "kee-kew" (thank you) when she was given candy. Once it was clear she no longer wanted to walk, I took her home and traded with Dave--he got to go with Mabes, I let Annie have some candy and get ready for bed.

I may have let her have too much candy. But who could say no to this face?

Columbus Day...a little late

Columbus Day a year ago: Mabes was in school, Dave had the day off, so we decided to go for a run. We had been working out regularly, our cardio health was great, and I've always wanted to be a runner. The idea of just going out, running, and clearing your head sounded so nice. I was in the best shape I'd been in a long time, so really, how hard could it be?

HARD. That run was terrible. We went about 4 miles (why? I don't know), but I ran maybe 1.5, mixed with lots and lots of walking. It was painful. My knees, shins, everything hurt. For a week afterwards. I had told Dave I wanted be able to run a 5K by the end of the year, but after Columbus Day, I gave up. Screw this, I am not a runner--I'll stick with workout DVDs that make me want to punch the trainer.

And then my parents decided to run a half marathon. My PARENTS. I was fine with it; that was a distance I had no desire to conquer. But when Laura came to visit in February, she casually said, "You know, Mom decided she needs to start running, so she went out and ran 3.5 miles." SERIOUSLY?!?! My mom is an awesome cyclist, but she's always said she'd never be a runner. But my mom could run 3.5?

Thanks to new shoes and significantly improved running form (who knew you could run wrong? Apparently Phoebe-like running is no good for the shins), I ran 3.5 miles with Laura. And that's where it started. I ran a 10K in April, but vowed it was my max--I got bored by mile 5. We kept running over the summer, but didn't add distance, because it's hot and humid here, even before 7 am. Once it started cooling down, though, I started adding more miles.

I had my eye on a couple of half marathons, and decided I wanted to run one as close to Columbus Day as possible. I put off registering until two days before, and as soon as I did, I became a nervous wreck. It was a hilly course, and I haven't trained on hills. Judging by the times from last year, people who run this are good. I began to realize that there was a very real possibility that I would be last.

Dave's mom had graciously offered to come out and watch the girls, so I kind of had to go through with it. As we drove to uptown Charlotte, I couldn't tell if I was shaking from nerves or the cold. Once we started running, though, I was fine. I had told Dave that he had to stay with me for the first 3 miles, as he has a tendency to start out too fast. We had an easy pace going, and took my family's advice to walk through all the water stops. I felt like I walked a fair amount, at least a little on all the hills, but I think it really helped. Dave spent a fair amount of time with me, but decided to speed up around mile 5. I had an awesome playlist (thanks to the fam) and just enjoyed running through lovely neighborhoods. Miles 6-10 were great--runner's high kicked in and I felt like a unicorn prancing on rainbows. I was sweating glitter. Then my knee started hurting and my left calf tightened up, so miles 11-12 weren't quite as fun, but still not terrible.

I LOVED the people cheering along the way. There weren't tons of people, just random people here and there, but it was really nice and very encouraging. And I giggled as I ran by a little girl who said, "Mommy, that girl is eating a snack!"--I was shoving a couple of Gu Chomps in my mouth.

As I made the final turn, I could see the 13 mile marker and the finish line not too far behind. I was not prepared for the rush of emotions. I had been running and breathing fine, but suddenly I couldn't breathe because I was fighting back sobs. I'm going to make it. And there are still people behind me! A year ago, I had completely sworn off running and here I was, finishing a half marathon. I focused on the music, regained composure, and just kept going. And then I saw Dave and promptly lost it again. But I finished.

As much as I wanted to run the whole thing without walking, I'm happy with it. Aside from some soreness in my left calf, I feel really good. I think my recovery after a 9 miler a few weeks ago was rougher. I felt good enough to go home, play with the girls, and then head out to a Halloween party and stay up way too late. And then run a 2 hour Primary program practice on Sunday--I crashed after that, though!

As Betty and Don Draper. I'm trying to look mad. Also, my hair looked
really good for about 5 minutes, then it went flat. Boo. And
that's Crystal Light in my glass.

It was a great weekend and I'm so glad I was able to do this with Dave. A HUGE thanks to Jackie for coming to visit and watch the girls for us. I never thought a half marathon would be this fun. The morning of, I was such a nervous wreck I vowed to never do anything like this again. But now? I want to do it again. Not a full--only crazy people do those (ahem, Laura). But the half was a blast.

Fears

On Friday, Mabes decided she was afraid of cheetahs. She kept talking about them, but I brushed it off. Later, I realized she was drawing this, and left it in the playroom:
When she got up Saturday morning, she ran into the playroom. She looked at the sign, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was still up. "Oh, good, it's still there! I was afraid that the cheetahs would come into our house and change the sign to say 'No People Allowed in the House'! That would have been weird." What cheetahs, Mabes?

"Oh, you know, cheetahs. They could come in. They're scary."

At this point, I was torn between being the sympathetic help-my-scared-child mom and just laughing. I mean, cheetahs! CHEETAHS. So I calmly explained that there were no cheetahs anywhere near us. Deer, sure. Rabbits, yes. Frogs, obviously. But no cheetahs. And if, somehow, cheetahs did invade the area, we'd hear about it on the news. See? No cheetah stories. We're safe.

And then I read this. Shhhhhhhhh...don't tell Mabes! She doesn't need help not sleeping. I didn't see any mention of cheetahs, but there were leopards--that's probably close enough. And there are only 3 animals still on the loose, and really, what are the odds that they'll wander 400+ miles to us? Very, very slim. What are the odds that Mabes hears about this and can't sleep tonight? Pretty good. Doh.

Addicted

We only let her have her pacifiers when she's in her crib. She's obviously making the most of that time.

Laps

"But I'm having trouble sleeeeeeeeeeping!" Mabes whined.

"That's because you are running laps around your room. You were exhausted this afternoon. If you would lie still for 5 minutes, you'd fall asleep," I pointed out.

I really had to fight the laughter on that one. There's something about hearing weird noises in your kid's room, peeking in to see what's going on, and seeing her running in circles around her room while her stuffed cats watch from the small table she's moved to the center. She had a very serious, matter-of-fact expression on her face. You know, because it's perfectly normal to do that an hour after bedtime.

GO TO SLEEP! She was up late last night because she was excited about starting to ride the bus. She's up late tonight because apparently she didn't burn off all her energy. This is why I'm in no rush to move Annabelle out of the crib. Then again, she actually likes sleeping--or at least she did until about 3 days ago. What's gotten into my kids?

It's been an eat-nutella-out-of-the-jar kind of day.

Boo. But I kind of wish I had a picture of the running.

Coffee Cat

"But I thought these were *my* flip flops!"

"Ugh, why is Annabelle such a coffee cat?!?!" Mabes yelled, exasperated, one day. I think she meant copy cat. I can see how it could get old but frankly, it's adorable. Annabelle LOVES Mabes. Mabes started school a couple of weeks ago, and it was really hard on Annabelle. Last year was no big deal--Annabelle was young enough that she didn't really notice. Annabelle is old enough that they can play really well together (when they're not screaming and fighting, of course), and suddenly her buddy is gone 7 hours a day now.

Ready for her first day of 1st grade

After the dropping Mabes off on the first day of school, Annabelle whimpered, "Mae...Mae...Mae..." the whole way home. The next day at Trader Joe's, she randomly started saying it again, complete with elbows bent, palms upturned shrugs. And then I foolishly drove home past the school, which of course made Annabelle cry and yell for Mabes. I didn't think she'd recognize the area.

Mabes yelled at me to come watch her fly. She didn't realize
than Annabelle was copying her.

Chillin' on the couch

Playing in boxes. We have real toys. I promise. You can see them scattered
in the background. They just prefer boxes.

Playing dress-up

And while Mabes occasionally gets frustrated that Annabelle copies her so much, she mostly loves it. Mabes gets the constant attention and adoration she needs, and Annabelle gets blanket rides around the house. Everybody wins!

Warrior Dash

I am what you would call "indoorsy." I hate camping. I hate bugs. When I was 16, I was secretly thrilled when I found out my jaw surgery would prevent me from being able to go to Girls' Camp. So on Saturday night, after mentioning that we had run Warrior Dash that morning and my friend looked shocked and asked, "And you LIKED it?" I didn't know what to say.

My sisters' experiences convinced me we needed to try it. We gathered up some friends, registered months ago, and were ready to go. I knew I could handle the distance (about a 5K), but with obstacles involving heights? I was a little worried. Plus, we had a 10 am start time. It gets hot early here, and I try to finish running by 8 am or it's miserable. And as Hurricane Irene slammed into the Outer Banks, we didn't get any rain, just lots and lots more humidity. Blech.

We think we're tough.

We got there in plenty of time to park, get our packets, take some pictures, and people watch. I saw a few people who had finished earlier waves, and I was a little disappointed that they weren't that dirty. I knew they hosed off, but still...

I can't tell if Dave's giving the stink eye
or trying to read something far away.

We lined up with our group, waited for the start flame-throwers (because start guns are for wusses), and were off. For the next 3 miles, we ran, jumped over hurdles, crawled under barbed wire, jumped in and out of tires, climbed in and jumped out of several (clean) dumpsters, scaled a 16 foot wall, ran through forests, crawled through a completely dark tunnel, balanced on high wooden beams, crawled over cargo nets, climbed up a ladder and down a fireman's pole, trudged through a waist-deep pond (while jumping over floating logs), had 2 more climbing obstacles, leaped over fire, and then ended with the mud pit.

After. Not pictured: the blood trickling down Dave's leg.

I'll admit: initially, I wanted to run at my own pace. But we decided not to rush it and just have fun. I'm so glad we did. The pond was by far the most difficult thing for me. I was ready for mud, but I don't know what I was expecting here. A man-made pond? A big puddle? An inflatable pool? This was a real pond. Swamp. Covered in green. And it smelled terrible. But we did it together, it cooled us off, and I can't remember what we were saying to each other, but it was hilarious. And gross. We finished climbing, jumped over the fire, and cannonballed into the mud (more or less) together. And since the crowd loves a mess, we barrel-rolled through the mud under the barbed wire. Added bonus: I think we got scraped up less that way.

Totally dirty, but for a good cause.
(Which would be proving our awesomeness.)

Sadly, Dave lost his shoe. The mud was THICK. After jumping in, it took me a while to get unstuck and keep moving through the pit. Dave didn't realize until he was almost out, so he went back to look for it. He found 4 shoes that weren't his, and there was a pile of about 10 on the side. When the tractor came to dump more red dirt in, he knew it was time to give up.

Rinsing our clothes. My driveway
is still orange-ish.

We went to get hosed off, but with 2 hoses and lots of people, we didn't get a thorough shower. Plus that red clay sticks. We watched a little more, then headed back to the van to change and get food. We stopped at a Cook Out that didn't have a dining room or outside tables. The weather was perfect and we just sat on the sidewalk eating our burgers and shakes, talking and laughing.

No, that's not a nice tan. That's a layer of dirt.

So camping isn't my thing, but this totally was. It's the part of me that wore a dress every day of 1st grade, but tore up more than one running and climbing around. I think it has to do with getting dirty on my terms--I knew about the mud pit, but I knew I'd go to bed clean. And I knew I had a burger and shake waiting for me at the end. I loved the obstacles, and I'm trying to figure out a way to get the city to put up climbing walls, 3 ft hurdles, cargo nets, and maybe a small fire to jump over along the greenway. A girl can dream, right?

We had a great time and are thankful for great friends that not only humor us when we decide to do stuff like this, but swear they had a blast too and will stay friends with us. And we're incredibly grateful to Dave's mom, who left other family members during the hurricane to come watch our kids not only for Warrior Dash, but for Saturday night and Sunday morning Stake Conference.

Weekend trip! Or, taking pictures with uncooperative children

We went to visit Dave's family last weekend, and decided to take a day trip. Where? Well, not quite the coast. I guess they call it the inland coastal region. The inner banks, if you will. We went to Washington, a town Dave lived in when he was Mabes' age (though he has always referred to it as Little Washington, and swears that the locals do, too. I only saw signs for Washington), and Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina.

They had lots of decorated crabs around. Annabelle didn't want to stay
for the picture, Mabes just wanted to dance.
Awesome. Thanks for humoring me long enough
to take a picture, girls!


Downtown Washington

Mabes was excited to learn that the Washington we visited was the first town to be named for George Washington in 1776. We walked along the docks, saw the cute old downtown, and admired old houses. We were going to get hot dogs at supposedly the best hot dog stand around, but it was a one-woman operation with about 25 people in line. Also, she was probably 72 and moving comically slow (I think she wanted to see how badly people wanted their hot dogs), so we quickly opted for an air conditioned Hardee's instead.

Click on picture to see the "you are here." The Outer Banks (the area
being evacuated due to Irene) are on the other side of the Pamlico Sound.

House built in 1795

House built in 1785. Love this house, and it appeared to be empty!

Bath was incorporated in 1705, and was North Carolina's first capital, and I can now say that I've been to all three capitals of North Carolina (New Bern in 2003 and Raleigh several times...if the airport or driving around lost count). It's a cute old town with a beautiful waterfront. We visited St. Thomas church, the oldest surviving church building in North Carolina. There were a cluster of old houses and buildings in the area, so we enjoyed walking around and looking in them.

I think the girls most enjoyed digging through the gravel/sand/crushed shells that were everywhere instead of dirt. Mabes was really excited to discover a shark tooth. She kept asking Dave how it had gotten there, and if maybe someone had put it there. He tried to explain how things get washed to shore, but I don't know if she got it.

Picking up more rocks

We've looked at houses that are "colonials." This is a true
colonial house, built around 1744.

This isn't old. Just pretty. It's a B&B in the historic
neighborhood, and it's for sale!

It was really hot, but it was a great weekend to go out. It was certainly better than this weekend appears to be, though Bath and Washington appear to be inland enough that they shouldn't have major damage. They might get more shark teeth washed ashore.