Summer Snapshots, Day 49: Twas the night before school starts

One last trip to Petrucci's before school starts.

{Well, they had Pumpkin Pie ice cream so I might need to go back. I just couldn't bring myself to get it yet....}

Everyone seems excited to go to school tomorrow.  I just can't believe the summer is over already.

Wow, did THAT go fast!

Catching up....Chloe finishes school & the Dogwood Festival

This time of year has suddenly jumped into fast forward!  School is winding down so quickly that I can hardly keep up with all the activity!

In the middle of May, Chloe finished up preschool  for the year.  Unfortunately, she was sick for most of the last week and missed out on her spring concert.  (Actually, she probably doesn't care too much that she missed it but I sure was sad!)  Fortunately she made it for the very last day of school/school picnic.  They celebrated summer birthdays so she got a special crown, cupcakes, and a birthday balloon that day.  She was very excited.

Next year she will be in preschool 4 mornings a week.  Audrey & Carter will be in elementary school.....so guess what that means?  3 hours of time all to myself, 4 days a week.  Boy will that be weird.  They sure are growing up.  I still can't believe that Chloe will be 4 in about 6 weeks!

Mid-May in Phoenixville also means....the Dogwood Festival and Parade!
Chad took Audrey & Carter on wristband night the first day of the fair.  They had a super time riding all the rides over and over again with their friends.  We brought Chloe on Saturday when she was finally well enough to ride and enjoy herself.  And enjoy herself, she did!

Here we are on the teacups

And on the flying puppy ride.  Boy was it nice to see her smiling again!  It had been a rough week!

 Trying to decide if she wanted to go on this ride....

 We also enjoy the parade every year with our neighbors

Chloe & Mommy waiting for the parade to start.

The kids anxiously awaiting floats that throw candy....

Only in Phoenixville do you have a float that includes "the blob"....

Oh, and a really loud steam calliope...

I tried to get a cute picture of Chloe with Chad.  And this is all I got...

Okay, think I'm all caught up for now. :) 

Dogwood 2012

If it's May in Phoenixville....you know what that means.

THE DOGWOOD FESTIVAL!

{Also affectionately known by Chad and me as the "Dump-out-your-wallet-and-spend-inordinate-amounts-of-money-on-rides-and-junk-food" festival.}

I have to admit....after seven years of living here, the excitement has worn off for me.

But not for the kids.

But I ALSO have to admit.....today I had a great time.

We brought Audrey's friend along.

 Carter was super excited to ride the rides.

Chloe really enjoyed the rides for the first time.

AND - I got to eat funnel cake.

Life is good here in the humble borough of Phoenixville. :)

Christmas Parade

So we have lived in Phoenixville for what, 6 years now?  And we have never taken advantage of this little gem of a parade.  Well, there's a first time for everything.  I keep saying, it is getting easier and easier to do stuff like this as the kids are getting older.  They can stay out later and no baby is needing to get to bed early.

All the kids lined up and waiting for the parade to start.

Chloe and I staying warm together.

Audrey and friends (and the ever-present American Girl dolls)

The main feature of this parade seemed to be lit-up fire trucks

(and a lot of dressed up characters .... Elmo, Mickey Mouse, etc .... only they were really scary-looking costumes....)

Chloe taking it all in

and the big finale .... Santa Claus is coming through town!

It lasted maybe 10-15 minutes and it was over.  Which was fine because guess what?  

Baby, it's cold outside.

We came home and had hot chocolate and everyone even went to bed on time! 

Thanks Phoenixville for a fun little evening out!

Tricks and Treats

This was what happened last Saturday:

What kind of trick is this, Mother Nature?

A few inches of snow.  BEFORE HALLOWEEN.

AND we lost power.  Boo.

Let me tell you - I am glad I am not Amish, regardless of how many Christian fiction books I have read about the Amish.  The kids kept asking to watch TV and play computer games, and after a time even Chloe was asking to do things and then saying "No power?"  We passed the time by  playing games, carving our pumpkins, and doing puzzles.  In the evening, we escaped to a local pizza place and then crashed for an hour or so at a friends house ... then returned to an increasingly cold house.  Thank heavens for our fireplace!  Audrey, Chad & I slept down near the fireplace while Carter opted for his own bed (and we just had Chloe sleep in her crib).  By morning it was 57 degrees!  Our power was restored the next morning so we were all very glad to have heat again. Having snow in October was so freaky!  I am so glad it melted within a day or so!

So moving onto the treats....

Check out these 3 cuties.  Couldn't you just eat them with a spoon?

I had a busy Halloween day, running from parade to parade.  It was so much fun!

First up was Carter's preschool parade:

As you can see Spiderman was a popular costume amongst the 4 year old boys :)

Carter refused to wear the mask - he declared that it was "scary" 

Then later it was off to Audrey's parade.  The kids had to dress in costumes that reflected the theme "Go Wild for Books"... so as you can imagine, there were quite a few wild animals represented.

Audrey went with the "wild" bunny costume.  :)

I got to help with her class party....it really did feel like a room full of caged animals!

No really, it was a lot of fun.  I ran the game station ... witch's hat ring toss.

Of course later on was trick or treating.

 The whole gang of kids ready to go...

 Pretty, pretty princess :)

 Chloe with her friend Rebecca.  Chloe quickly got the hang of this trick-or-treating thing. :)

The kids and their loot.

Apparently I need to hide the loot.

The next  morning when I got out of the shower, I found this little peanut sneaking a lollipop from her pumpkin!!

"Going the Distance for Gabby" 5K

Yesterday I did something that I have kind of had in the back of my mind for a long time ... I ran a 5K!

(Full disclosure:  I mostly ran.  There were some big hills on this off-road course that kicked my butt so there was a little walking involved ... I really wish I could have run the whole time.  I think if it had been a flat course I could have, but who knows.  The important thing to me is that I trained, I ran as well as I could, and I crossed the finish line.)

This 39 year old posted an official time of .... wait for it .... 39:39.  That kinda cracked me up.

People keep asking me:  Are you going to keep running now?  Well, the whole running thing has been quite the experience.  Early on I said to my running buddy Kelly ... At what point will we actually run without thinking - when can I stop already???  Well, I feel like I did get to the point where I was running without thinking about the fact that my knees/calves/ankles/feet/heart/lungs/etc. were screaming in pain, and I was just running - kind of machine-like.  I was really happy that I got to that point, because it made distance running seem like less of an impossible dream.  I have no dreams of running marathons or even 10K races, but I think I would like to try another 5K sometime.  I would really like to run the whole thing, no walking.  We'll see what happens though.  Life often gets in the way of my best intentions with this kind of thing.

This race was different for me anyway.  When I first decided I would run this 5K, it was for my neighbor Gabby.  At the time she was battling cancer, and I thought - well, if she can deal with radiation and chemo and physical therapy and all the other yucky stuff that goes into having cancer, well, I can certainly figure out how to run 3.1 miles.  And then while I was training .... well, Gabby died.  I HAD to keep running.  Maybe that sounds weird, but I just felt like I needed to finish what I started.  While I ran I often thought about her and her family and would just pray.  It  became a little holy experience for me.  I found I really liked running alone, just me and my thoughts. 

I wish I could have run the whole entire race.  That was my goal.  But for a mom of 3, finding time to train is hard, and in the end, I did the best I could.  So I am really happy with myself.  In fact, I think I was kind of obnoxious at the finish line.  I hammed it up and paused for pictures and wanted to bust out some hip-hop moves at the finish line (but from that I refrained....)  All in all - it was really (if you can call pushing yourself to the point that you can hardly walk the next day) fun! 

Another special aspect of this race for me is that it happened where our church, Grace Valley Fellowship, meets.  Our church actually scrapped having a service and decided to have our church members be involved in helping out.  I was so proud and excited and honored to have a lot of my church friends there to be a part of it!  My pastor was even able to lead a short prayer service after the race, so people could be involved in praying for Gabby's family, our community, and for all of those who are touched by someone with cancer.

I already posted these on fb but for my own records, I am adding my photos here too!

 And they're off!

 Huffing and puffing my way to the finish line.

 CROSSING the finish line!

 With my neighbors Julie & Kelly

 With my friend Lyn

With Carter at the prayer service.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4:7

A verse that means a whole lot more to me now!