A Bunch of Misc.:0)

This past week has been a busy one!!! Here are some pics of waht we have been up to:

Carter's Upward football season ended and we all attended the end-of-season celebration.

Me and Jack waiting to have some dinner at the celebration.

Carter showing off the bookbag that each of the players received.

Carter with his coach and teammates. Go Jaguars!!!

Thursday was Jack's last day of preschool for the year. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Fanton.

This is Mrs. Poeppel, Jack's teacher's assistant. Jack LOVED preschool especially all of the buddies that he made. He will be so happy to be going 3 days a week next year.:0)

St. Luke had their annual track and field meet yesterday. Jason, Jack and I drove down to Pittsburgh to watch all of the kiddos participate in the meet. Here is Jack taking a snack break while watching some of the kids do the running and standing jumps.

Carter and some of his classmates watching the jumps.

Carter and some of the other 5th grade boys lining up for the dash.

Jason and I enjoying the beautiful day.:0)

Carter and jack posing together during the lunch break.




This is the video of Carter running the distance run. He is the tall one in a red shirt. The "disturbance" in the middle of the video is a result of Jack (no surprise there). As I was taping and trying to keep one eye on him, he climbed up on a railing and started leaning over it. That would be why the camera goes crazy and you hear me yelling at him. I laugh every time I watch it because it is just SO indicative of how things are around here.:0) Anyway....Carter ended up winning the race and we are so proud of him.:0)

Jack's Spring Program

Last Thursday was Jack's preschool Spring program. He had been singing the songs for the program for weeks before so we were very excited to hear him and all of his classmates sing for us.:0) All of the kiddos did a great job with the songs and their lines and, as you can imagine, the program was quite entertaining!!!:0) Here are some pics:

Jack, all dressed up and ready to perform!!!

Jack and Daddy:0)

Me and my boy:0)

Jack and all of his classmates on stage sitting patiently while Pastor Barry did a short devotion.

Jack was so excited to be on stage with all of his buddies!!!

"If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it......"

He did all of the hand motions and sang every song....we were so proud of him!!!

More hand motions.....he was quite a ham!!!

Having so much fun performing with his friends!!!

I just love that sweet face.:0)

Brother pose after the program. Carter was such a good big brother, helping with the camera and cheering for his little brother.:0)

We are so proud of our little Jack man!!!! It's hard to believe that he is almost done with his first year of preschool.....time sure flies when you're having fun.:0)

Pittsburgh Marathon-May 2, 2010

Well, I did it......I finished my very 1st marathon.:0) My official time was 5:11:15. Up until the week of the marathon, it was questionable whether I was even going to be able to run the race or not so the fact that I finished is amazing. I had been (painfully) training with plantar fascitis in both feet since late January, then the IT band in my right leg started giving me problems and eventually led to bursitis in my right hip, then just a couple of weeks before the marathon, I developed Achilles tendonitis in my left foot. The Achilles tendonitis was so bad that I could barely walk much less run. At the suggestion of a friend, I went to see a chiropractor who is also a member of our church to see what he might be able to do to help me. He took one look at my ankle/heel and immediately told me that I should not be running on it at all. I took his advice, icing and sticking to the stationary bike for cardio and when I saw him the week of the marathon, he was amazed at how quickly my ankle/heel had healed. I asked, in his professional opinion, if I should try to run the race and he said "Absolutely......if it was me I would definitely try to run it." So I did.:0) I was able to run the first 12 miles and then walk/ran the rest of the way. It was excrutiatingly painful because of the plantar fascitis but I was so determined to finish. This whole process has been an amazing learning experience for me. It has taught me to listen to my body and slow down when I need to. It has also shown me just how strong I can be when I really have my mind set on something. But most importantly, it helped me to see all of the amazing people that I have in my life who are there to support me and cheer me on through life's ups and downs. Thank you so much to all of my family and friends who supported me in so many ways throughout this whole process. I am so blessed by having each and every one of you in my life.:0) Here are some pics from our marathon experience:

Me in the car on the way down to Pittsburgh. I don't just look tired.....I was exhausted from not enough sleep the night before.

Jason's looking fairly tired himself.:0)

Me and Jason in the parking garage before heading to the starting line. He's wearubg our charity shirt (he ran a leg of the relay) and I am wearing the really cool marathon long-sleeve tech tee.

We look a little more awake in this shot.:0)

A big sign welcoming all of us runners to the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Me and Jason posing with the rest of his relay team.

Jason was so excited to see me as I came into the finish that he forgot to take a picture until I was pretty far pst him. I might be that dot of a person on the right side.:0)


Jason and I both had a great time at the marathon. We were both soaking wet by the end of the race but were so ecstatic about me being able to run and finish the race that it just didn't seem to matter.:0)

Jack's Very 1st Field Trip:0)

Jack had his very 1st field trip last week. All of the preschool classes went to the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. We all headed down in 3 big yellow school buses and had a great day at the Science Center!!!

Jack on the bus......very excited to go on the "big highway" to get to the Science Center.:0)


Me and my boy:0)

Checking out the view on the way there.

Heading up one of the big ramps at the Science Center.

Following Thomas the Tank Engine along the big train display.

Trying to find Thomas again.:0)

The water table was definitely Jack's favorite thing at the Science Center.

He loved collecting all of the little balls in the buckets.

He would pour water all over the balls and then dump it all out into the table......he was SOAKED afterwards!!!

He would have spent ALL day at the water table but after going through two shirts, I finally convinced him to check out some other stuff too.:0)

Painting a paper plate fish......notice the water-soaked shirt.:0)

The finished product.

Building a big LEGO tower.

He was very proud of the big tower that he built.:0)

Enjoying the earthquake simulator with his buddy, Annabelle.

Checking out the view of Pittsburgh on the bus ride home.

We had a great time at the Carnegie Science Center!!! It was a little nuts with that many preschoolers and their parents but the kiddos had fun and that's all that matters.:0)