Pumpkin Carving

James was a HUGE help with carving the pumpkin this year. Well, not carving so much as cleaning out the guts! He didn't want to use his hands and kept saying "Sorry... sorry mom" each time his spoon flung pumpkin guts all over the patio. We had a great time and carved a pretty cool looking jack-o-lantern. Sadly, I didn't get any pics of our final product and the Florida heat didn't make for a very long life of a jack-o-lantern.

But, here are the pics during the making of....

Home Stretch!!!

Less than TWO WEEKS to go before I run the Marine Corps Marathon.
So many thoughts are going through my head right now.....
I really, really, really do NOT want to train for another marathon in the heat of the summer!
I think that tackling a full-time teaching job and a two-year old and master's classes and marathon training may just be a tad too much on my plate!
I am SO blessed with a supportive husband who understands my need and desire to run!
I am SO thankful to be healthy and to have no running related injuries.
My ONLY goal for this marathon season was to complete my training injury-free and make it to the starting line. I'm happy to report that my long runs have been strong (albeit not my fastest pace) and I've actually enjoyed the running. Strangely Amazing, I know.
However, this training, like all good things, has not come without it's sacrifices. I won't bore you with the details of missed parties/outings/and events. I haven't returned phone calls and slacked off of friendships that I hope to restore. I've totally felt torn in two or three directions at times...
But, I guess that's the nature of the beast. I won't know what to do with my free time once the marathon is over.
Any ideas???

Weekend? What weekend?

Last weekend went something like this for me.....

Attend Master's Creativity course at University of Tampa on Friday evening from 6 - 9:00pm. Join classmates for one much needed drink after class.

Attend Master's Creativity course at UT on Saturday from 8- 4:00 pm. Get home in time to take James to a local ice cream parlor for a mommy-and-me date. Then go to the park for some much needed swinging and sliding (close down the park!) Get home, get James all washed and in bed. Have "home date night" with husband. Have so much fun during "home date night" that we vow to do it again on Sunday!

Get up on Sunday morning and go for a run at the gym. Come home, get cleaned up and head back to UT for another Sunday afternoon class session.

Arrive home with headache and spend the rest of the evening vegging out on the couch. Muster up the energy for another "home date night" with hubby!

Go to sleep and rest up for the work week!

Daddy's Rough Morning...

Lord knows, I've had my fair share of rough mornings with our little sunshine. But, I think that this one may be tops for a while...
James awakes at 4:30 in the A.M. to do what? Play with his trains! Wide awake, no laying back down, just wants to play with his trains...
Today was my planning day at work, so I left for work at 6:00. Will was still in bed, trying to get the last few minutes of sleep before his alarm went off, again.
Finally, he gets up, gives James some milk and turns on his favorite cartoon, Little Einsteins. This should allow him 30 minutes of uninterrupted shower/get dressed/comb hair time. A few minutes into his shower, James comes screaming into the bathroom. After a quick glance over (looking for blood or trauma) Will discovers that James has a massive poop blowout and it's leaking down the back of his pajamas. The kid has my sensitive skin and the poop was burning/causing a diaper rash. (Sorry for the TMI for those of you non-parent-peeps who read this blog!) So, Will rushes out of the shower, scoops up James and takes him into his room for a major clean up job! He gets James dressed and settles him back down. Once James is happily playing/watching his cartoon, Will has to get back into the shower to finish washing/rinsing. (yes, he jumped out of the shower mid-wash)
Once he finishes his shower and gets dressed, he notices that it's eerily quiet. Suspiciously quiet. Too quiet for an active toddler to be in the house. Startled once again, Will roams the house looking and calling for James. His eyes immediately search the back sliding glass door. Door closed? Check. Metal pin still in the top of the door? Check. (where the heck is this kid?) Bedroom? Nope. Bathroom? Nope. Couch? Nope.
Will walks further into the kitchen area and sees James sitting on the kitchen floor, covered in wet, sticky, tangerine juice with empty fruit containers scattered around him as evidence of the crime. (he has been up for almost 3 hours at this point. The kid was hungry!) I guess the Child Safety Lock we installed on the pantry door needs to be updated. So, it's back into the bedroom for another wipe down/clean up and new outfit for school.
Finally, the boys make it into school. Will walks James in, gets out his breakfast and gets James all set up. Starts looking around and notices that there is no teacher in the room. So, he flags down someone from the office and is informed that they are short on teachers today and he should just hang out with James for a few more minutes. (No lady, I'm going to leave my son unattended. Again. ) Finally, someone comes in to relieve Will so he can rush to work. Unfortunately, there was a line of people waiting at his desk when he arrived. Late. Nice.
Of course, he shared the trials and tribulations of his crazy morning with his boss and coworkers. Apparently, they all got a good laugh and even shared some of their horror late-to-work-my-kid-has-lost-their-ever-lovin'-mind stories!
Poor Daddy! Somehow, I don't think that the family portrait coffee mug and voice-recorded card we got him for his birthday are enough anymore.....

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do- Oooo....

My very talented and beautiful friend has such a way with words. She is a strong runner who is currently suffering through a tendinitis injury and it's timing could not be worse! As I've posted before here, dealing with an injury after you've trained so hard can be very challenging/frustrating/humbling.
But, since she has such a way with words and such a neat-o perspective on Life, my friend shared this analogy between a runner and running here. For those of you who run, you may enjoy it. For those of you who don't, you certainly can relate to it!

Three Nights in a Row

of James sleeping in his big boy bed! (what were your dirty minds thinking of??)
We started it on Friday night and he has done a great job of staying in his bed and sleeping through the night! No crying, no getting up and playing and no falling out (knock on wood!). I bought him a new "train" comforter set with matching sheets (too cute! It is the exact same color scheme as his room, but instead of an airplane theme, it's trains. He loves laying on his "train" pillow and covering up with his "train" blanket. It's all about the train love at our house!
Since we had a sitter today, he did get up during naptime today and start playing in his room. But, she went in and got him to fall asleep and he slept for over two hours! Woo Hoo! He is so proud of staying and sleeping in his "big boy" bed! I was so hesitant to make the transition from his crib because this boy LOVES his freedom. But, apparently, he also loves his beauty sleep! I just feel that it's one more step closer to him growing up.
Next week, he'll be asking to borrow the car keys. Sniff. Sniff.

So much to blog about....

Yet, so little time.
I'll just give you the highlights-
Friday, James and I were invited to a pretty cool playdate at a local park. James has no fear when it comes to climbing or playing new equipment. Especially if he sees his friends doing something. He wants to be "one of the big kids" and follows right along. Even if it means giving mommy a heart-attack because he has climbed all the way to the top of the rope tower. I took some great pictures of James playing on the "big kid" equipment, but I can't seem to find my camera tonight. Sorry!
Saturday- I completed my second 20 miler of this training season. This marathon training season is sooo different than the last one. Last fall, I was plagued with injuries and illnesses. I don't know exactly what I'm doing differently, but I'm just really, really glad that my long runs have been strong and that I'm able to keep up my training. 34 days left until the Marine Corps Marathon. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!!
Sunday- Will and I joined our friends, Tom and Veronica for a fossil/shark tooth dive in Venice Beach. I didn't like getting up early two mornings in a row, but it was worth it. We haven't been diving in well over a month, so it was nice to get back in the water. The sky was clear, sunny and the water was calm and smooth. Perfect diving conditions! I just wish that our luck finding fossils had been better. Oh well, it was still a good day of diving!
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!