The Year of the Run

I've never really liked running.  As a teen, I only ran to stay in shape for soccer.  When I didn't have soccer, I didn't want to run because it was always dreadful.  About five years ago, I started running again and enjoying it.  I ran several 5K races but then had foot surgery and never got back to running.  Running seems to have gotten way more popular and I've always been slightly jealous when I heard people talk of running half and full marathons.  Last fall, we happened to be out to dinner on the night of the Marine Corps Marathon which is held here in DC.  I saw people with medals and had a wild thought...maybe I will do the MCM in 2012.  The next weekend, we were in NY for the kids TV show appearance and it just so happened to be the weekend of the NYC marathon.  Again, people with medals and my crazy thought that I could do one too.  Coincidentally, James got me some new running clothes and Lois was in town for Christmas and New Year's...she suggested a run on Christmas Day.  We ran about 3 miles and ran several more times before she flew back to Florida.  I had to do it on my own then, but I started researching races so that I would have something to focus on.  The first distance I set my sights on was a 10K...a St. Patty's Day run in Quantico.  Running it would give me guaranteed entry to the MCM.  I find that I enjoy running more, and was blessed with a very warm winter and spring so that most of my training runs were outside but a number were on the treadmill and that worked well too.  I ran the 10K in the midst of March trips to New Jersey...and it went very well.  My time was very consistently a 10 minute mile, and I finished in 1:04.  I am now signed up for the MCM in October, and a half in June in Annapolis.  I know this will be a challenge, and I often wonder if my crazy thoughts were really just crazy but I'm committed to making them a reality.

In the course of this new found commitment to running, I managed to convince Quinn to participate in a Young Men in Motion program run by his school.  It's a group of 4th and 5th grade boys who gather after school once a week to train for a 5K.  He really didn't seem interested at first, but then he agreed to do it.  He seemed to really enjoy it.  A couple of Sundays ago was his 5K, and I was his buddy runner.  We combined running with walking, and it was a challenge to keep him going and push him to the finish line.  But he did it, and he even wants to do another so that he can better his time.  We finished in just over 39 minutes...pretty good for a 10 year old.  I typically run a 5K in 30 minutes or so, and my (unstated) goal for us was under 40 minutes so we met that.  

We're also signed up for a 5K as a family in May...and James has been running more, mostly helping me on my longer training runs.  It's definitely looking like the year of the run for our family, and I'm excited to continue my training and increase distance!  

Easter in Florida

 We had planned a trip to Florida for Easter weekend long before the stresses of the month of March.  It ended up being perfectly timed, as we all needed a break.  The kids were on Spring Break and we spent part of it in warm, sunny Florida with the Donovan Torviks.  It was so lovely and very relaxing.  I honestly wonder how people live there and go about normal life activities, like yard work and jobs...because all I wanted to do the entire time was sit and do nothing.  And mostly that's what we did.  We went to the beach almost every day.  The weather was hot and humid the first couple of days, then warm and sunny with a slight breeze the next couple of days...honestly, perfect. We went to a treasure museum, and had margaritas and appetizers on a boat at a beachside bar.  We played pinochle, and laughed until we cried playing Anomia.  We took walks around the neighborhood and saw the neighborhood peacock.  We went on nice flat runs, and watched Lois and Ryan tousle at ultimate frisbee.  Quinn and Keely played with and took care of Adelia to their heart's content.  We went to the Brevard Zoo and saw a lot of very unique animals, and some not so unique but always fun to see animals.  We dyed Easter eggs, ate deviled eggs, had a traditional Easter dinner, searched for Easter baskets and had an egg hunt.  We went to Easter sunrise service...although we couldn't hear much of mass, we saw our very first sunrise over the Atlantic.  We set up the tripod and had a family photo shoot.  It was all so simple, and so relaxing.  None of us were ready to come home, but all good things must come to an end.  We are so thankful to Lois and Ryan for their hospitality, they are such troopers even without a working kitchen.  We can't wait until our next time in Florida...but until then we have great memories, and great pictures!

Grandma

Last Thursday, Grandma passed away.  Her health had declined very quickly.  We were fortunate to spend two weekends with her.  It was painful to see her, yet I wanted to be with her.  To have her know that I loved her and that I was grateful for her presence, even though it was not the grandmother I knew.  She was a shell of what she once was, her body wracked with the effects of cancer.  I'm glad that I was able to spend a few hours with her.  I cannot even think of how hard this would have been from 2,000 miles away.  I am only guilty that we were so far away for so long, and didn't spend the time with her that the rest of the family did over these last years.  Relationships are what you make of them though, and I knew and loved her and my children knew and loved their Great Grandma.  She was my last remaining grandparent, and my children's only great grandparent.  I am grateful that they knew a great grandparent at all...I did not have that luxury.  I was a lot like my grandmother, and through her wake and funeral I learned that she talked a lot about me, and spoke very proudly of the woman I have become and the children I am raising.  As my mom stated so eloquently in her eulogy, it was a side of her we did not know but a side of her we were fortunate to hear about from her friends and caretakers that she encountered in her last weeks and days. 

Quinn and Keely had never experienced the death of an immediate family member.  They were very brave.  Quinn was very stoic, but supportive.  He understood that Great Gram was very ill, and that the end was near.  We took them to see her the first weekend we visited, and she was still mostly as they had remembered her.  We did not take them back again, they did not need to see her in that hospital bed.  Keely was very emotional.  She feeds off others emotions and seeing her loved ones upset makes her more upset.  I found I tried to keep my emotions in check because I did not want to set her off.  But at the same time, I needed to grieve and feel the loss and it's good to have your children understand that it is alright to cry, and be sad.  James had the best advice for Keely at the wake.  Great Gram would not want you to be sad and crying, she would want you to be happy.  I truly believe that.  That's why she wanted her wake and funeral simple, with a closed casket.  She was right on with her wishes, and true to her stubborn and independence she got her way even when she was not physically with us anymore.  As we were shopping at Kohl's (one of her favorites), I thought to myself now she is happy, she got us all shopping - one of her most favorite pastimes.  After Poppy died, she couldn't get out as much so QVC became one of her vices.

I'm not sure what else to say, other than we are sad that she is gone but she lived a long full life.  She lives on though in her legacy, her family. I sure hope she is happy, at peace, and with Poppy.  It is strange not to have a grandparent generation in our family anymore, it makes getting older seem that much closer.  We will miss her a lot!

First Penance

On Saturday, Keely celebrated just her second sacrament in the Catholic Church.  This is pretty significant given that the first was Baptism and that was over 8 years ago!  She was so excited, and a little nervous.  She practiced very hard though and did very well.  Her confessed sins were 'pretty good' for a first confession, as noted by the priest.  She was given one Hail Mary as her penance.  We know all of this because she is a very vocal child, and I know I will be glad of this characteristic as she gets older and hopefully informs us of her life happenings.  Quinn was different, he didn't say much - and to evidence that, as Keely was in the confessional I asked him if he was nervous for his first penance about 2 years ago.  I don't think he had ever said, and I had never asked.  He said he was a little nervous, and I said that I couldn't tell.  He said he was nervous inside - evidence of his fairly calm demeanor outside so we couldn't tell.  In any event, Keely is now wiped clean of her sins - or she was, until about 2 minutes after the penance in the car when she fought with her brother again.  She is so excited for First Communion to be held two months from today, coincidentally. 

The Latest

Mid-February already!  Despite best intentions, another few weeks have slipped past without any writing.  It's the same deal as last time, no items of what I would particularly call noteworthy but when I think back about it, there are definitely things happening in our world.

The kids got their report cards for the midpoint of the school year.  Both did very well - Quinn receiving all As and Bs, Keely all Gs and Os (good and outstanding).  Keely needs to work on her chatting in class.  She has been given time outs in other classrooms, and can be pretty disobedient when her teacher asks her to stop talking and getting out of her seat.  Quinn needs to work on time management.  He has a lot of work to do, but this classroom is very open and he needs to focus himself and concentrate on tasks at hand - both at school and at home.  He struggles with not waiting until the last minute to do things.  I think it's something we all struggle with, but we are trying to teach him to do things in smaller chunks, with rewards of free time after for things like reading books and building Legos. 

While on the subject of school, Quinn was formally recommended for the AAP program.  Currently, he is a guest in the program because he was a new addition to the school.  He took the CoGAT tests in the fall and his scores came back a couple of weeks ago - he scored in the 97th percentile compared to other 4th graders.  That, combined with his teacher's recommendation meant we had to fill out some paperwork for him to be considered a permanent addition to the program...well, permanent as in for 5th grade as I am not sure what happens when he enters middle school (middle school?!?!).  Now that the files have been prepared and submitted, we won't hear until April or May.  Even if he isn't recommended, he can still be a guest next year if space allows.

Nana, Papa, and Annie visited us last weekend to celebrate Nana's birthday (and I guess Annie's birthday a couple of days late). The weather was the coldest of the winter so it was tough to do much other than go shopping.  We also enjoyed a fantastic meal at Founding Farmer's downtown near GWU. 

We went downtown and spent some more time in the Smithsonian - seeing the Star Spangled Banner, Revolutionary War and the First Ladies Exhibits in American History and gems, minerals and insects in Natural History.  Once again, it's nice to have no pressure to see everything and be able to explore these museums at our leisure.  No one gets burned out from museum overload, and we are there and back home in an afternoon outing.

Keely lost her last tooth for a while - number 8 for those of you who lost track.  It sorely needed to make its exit because it was blocking the front tooth from coming in straight.  After a couple of nights of really working on it, James was finally able to pull it out.  The Tooth Fairy (maybe our last visit?) left her a generous $3 in exchange for her hard work.  She bought two packs of Tic-Tacs - one for her and one for Quinn - very generous of her!

Lastly, a quick follow-up from last time - Quinn won the Webelos I portion of the Pinewood Derby.  Sounds great, but not so much a win though - he was the only car racing from his den of 3.  He went on to race the other dens and came in 3rd overall.  Not too bad and now he gets to compete in the Regional PWD on March 10th should we choose to attend that event.  He can also add weight to his car since he left about 0.7 ounces on the table - and the difference between 1st and 3rd overall was less than 0.10 seconds so perhaps the extra weight would push his car faster.

January Recap

 Well, nearly a month of 2012 is in the books and I've had zero posts about what's been happening in our lives this month.  I think that is mostly because there hasn't been much to report.  I also feel like I have changed my blog writing sometime in the past few months, or maybe even few years...I feel like I used to wax poetic about life, instead of just writing about life's events.  I seem to only blog now when something has happened, separating different events into different posts.  I'd rather get into a flow of writing more consistently...but then again, I don't want to write just to write.  I think I am searching for a balance and I haven't found it.

Anyways, January has come and gone pretty quickly.  Here are some of the high (and low) lights...

Annie and Greg came to visit on MLK weekend.  It was a blast!  We went downtown on Saturday and visited the Museum of the Native American, walked around the Capitol, and made a quick trip into the National Arboretum (mostly to stay warm).  We took Metro down and back, and it was a fun day in the Nation's Capital.

We also had some fun at home - we played The Game of Life, charades, Sing It Karaoke, and Hide-n-Seek in the basement.  We went to the Tysons Corner Mall and browsed a bit, some shopping as well.  It really was a fun weekend and I hope they come back again soon!





Quinn's hermit crab, Shelldon, died about a week ago.  Quinn was pretty devastated but has bounced back quickly.  He made a Lego memorial to his beloved crab...a Lego hermit crab atop a plaque of sorts displaying his name.  He had this crab since his trip to Maine in the summer.  He took such good care of it, chopping up fresh fruit and vegetables for it often and buying special water to bathe it.  He really believed it could live for 20 to 30 years, as the books said some were known to have done.  He says he wants to get more crabs, and it's pretty simple now that we have all the supplies.  A lot of people complain about the smell, but it really never bothered us because Quinn kept his cage so clean.  Overall, this was a great pet experience for Quinn and I'm sure he will get another one soon...but we hope that Shelldon is resting in peace!



We have continued on with Cub Scouts.  Quinn got his Bobcat badge, and we prepared for the Pinewood Derby.  It really turned into a family effort.  Keely made one too, as siblings get to race.  Hers is an iPhone and Quinn's is a drag car of sorts.  We'll see how they do in the race tonight!

Quinn participated in his first Spelling Bee with his class.  He barely studied, first saying that he didn't want to participate (he had no choice) but making a last ditch effort to prepare the night before.  He advanced to the school wide event in February!  He must have it in his blood - he does come from a lineage of spelling bee champions (ahem, his mother - yours truly - the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee champion!).  At the school wide event, there will be 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and he will have to deal with harder words - but I think he's got the bug now so we'll see if it continues enough for him to prepare better this time.

Today is the end of the second quarter at school, meaning they are halfway done.  They have Monday and Tuesday off for Teacher Work Days.  They have barely had any full weeks in January, and that trend continues into February.  I'm sure the end of the school year will be here before we know it!

That's about all I can think of.  See, when I type it out it doesn't seem like enough to separate into multiple writings.  Hopefully February will be more eventful :)

Holiday Recap

As usual, the holidays came and went too quickly.  I could have used a few more days off, but back to work I went.  This year was different than years past, mainly for the reason that we are now much closer to all of our family.  Being closer meant being busier, but I think it also meant being blessed with much more family celebrations.  I've counted five different Christmas celebrations over the course of 4 days!

We ushered in the holiday season with the North Carolinian Donovans visiting us for one night on their way to New Jersey.  We enjoyed their visit, albeit short.  Two days later, we anxiously awaited the arrival of the Floridian Donovans.  They arrived on a relatively empty plane to a relatively uncrowded airport on Christmas Eve night.  We were all so excited to see each other, and the fun ensued.  Putting out cookies, getting the kids settled, wrapping presents while chatting and drinking wine late into the night.  We celebrated a wonderful Christmas morning in our house.  Quinn's prize gift from Santa was a Kindle, and Keely's an American Girl Doll (Julie, of the 1970s era).  They got lots of other gifts as well, and we spoiled Adelia probably a little too much but the gifts were a hit and they gave her a few things to play with over the week she was at our house (we're not flush with two year old appropriate toys anymore...go figure).  Christmas dinner was simple, yet delicious - ham, sweet potato casserole, asparagus and Hawaiian rolls.

On Monday morning, we headed north to continue the festivities and on to the aforementioned four remaining celebrations.  We had dinner and presents at Grandma & Grandpa's on Monday night, breakfast &presents (a 2nd Christmas morning, if you will) with Nana, Papa and Annie on Tuesday morning, and headed up to Staten Island on a very rainy Tuesday night to celebrate with Great Grandma, Aunt Donna & family and some other SI family.  On Wednesday night, we traveled the short distance to Aunt Gail's for a delicious dinner and yet another celebration.  On Thursday, we rounded up the troops and traveled back home to Virginia - exhausted, overloaded with presents (mostly for the kids) and ready for a few days of break from the hub bub.

The rest of the long weekend went fast.  We went to see ZooLights at the National Mall, visited Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Iwo Jima and a bit of Arlington National Cemetery.  We rang in the New Year with a competitive game of Harry Potter Scene It, a bit of Love Actually and SNL Christmas Edition before watching the ball drop in Times Square.  Keely made it until about 11:56 PM, and then was asleep for the big event.  We tried to wake her but she was passed out!  I guess next year maybe she will make it until midnight.


New Years Day was quiet, we took a trip to another local park and James made a simple yet delicious pasta dinner.  I also couldn't not mention that we tried our first Vietnamese food on NYE for lunch from a restaurant called Pho Hot.  Very tasty, and thanks to Uncle Ryan for helping us navigate the menu and try a few new things!

Early Monday morning, our guests departed for warm sunny Florida.  We all enjoyed each other's company, and we were all sad to see them go.  Their time with us went too fast, as typically happens but we can't wait to see them again soon!  Next time in that warm sunny location, preferably on a beach :)

So on we go into 2012, another new year.  2011 was a big year for us, a huge cross country move and our first trip abroad were the major happenings.  I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!