a life beyond running shoes.

we are in advent. but tomorrow is the first day of december. in an attempt to help make this more about time together and others, i have tried to come up with a craft for each day until the 25th. some will be gifts (spoiler alert), some will be for decoration for the house, and some are just to be doing something with our hands. let me share the joy of the psalmist who said, "i was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the lord." may every opportunity offered to worship you in your house find me eager to join in hearing your word, in singing your praise, in lifting my heart to you in prayer. (prayer book)

..... is sew church vestments. but alas, i did. these are temporary until we can get someone to make "real" ones.... but until then, these work for advent (thus the purple). we also made advent wreaths today. it was a great community building time for our congregation and for our host congregation. we made about 30 wreaths between the two churches. great fun! almighty god, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your son jesus christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, now and forever. amen . (book of common prayer)

making homemade fried donuts (aka beignets). making hand turkeys. lots of togetherness from colds, the holiday, and vacation. thanks for some fun days, daddy! (when does everyone go back to work & school) getting ready for advent!

i ran my first NYC turkey trot. in brooklyn. in my park. 5 miles. stef ran a great race. mine was hard. mile four killed me...thankfully it was down hill. it took all my determination to stay the 20 feet behind stef after the water break. but i finished with a PR..... well, at least for this distance. i have never actually done a 5 mile race. time: 10:30 minute miles (roughly - sorry tim, the difference between 10:37 and 10:30 just don't matter that much to me!) while there was a chip (to record time) there was not actually a mat to register the start for the individual. so there is no way to know my personal net time..... only what time i crossed the finish line from when the race started. it was a run to find my stating point. now, we can start really training. okay, not really. but it got me out of the starting gates. look out brooklyn half. we'll be ready for you this year! although, i can't recall doing a race in shorts....that will be a change. good thin...

it is hard to believe that seven months ago my father-in-law went home to be with jesus. it has been a long period in our lives. it feels like it has been a lot longer than seven months. it feels like a lifetime really. partly because life is so different. we are so different. there is a sobriety to life that was not there seven months ago. in the middle of church planting and having a baby, grieving a dad was not what we expected. we are still trying to figure out how to just be...... it makes coming into the holiday season a bit "confusing." don't get me wrong..... we will celebrate with family and friends. we will joyfully celebrate the advent of our savior. we get to sing great songs of praise (i love christmas carols) we get to think upon that for which we are most thankful for. .... but there will be a constant absence there. we miss him...... i will miss: his fried turkeys. his birthday. his constant encouragement. his laugh. his love for his grandchildren...

leaving town for two nights with friends proved to be wonderful, restful, and fun. we played outside, threw rocks in the river, threw the football, rode scooters, had a camp fire with roasted marshmallows, and ate dinner after the kids went to bed. it was great!

it was more than i could resist. the pampering...... the quietness..... the escape. the undivided attention. it was blissful. my children didn't even come up. friends, books, the city. adult conversation. and the massage. it was too much. the nape of my neck, my temples. i was in heaven. i could have fallen asleep there. i know he'll find out soon enough. i can't hide it forever. it will be written all over my face. the way my hair falls. but does he expect me to be faithful all the time. well, when i say it out loud it makes it sound worse. but it was free.... a gift certificate. who can turn down a free haircut? i mean really!!! shlomy, please forgive me. see in three weeks for color!

well..... the new found passion for running just expired. it was the hill's fault. okay, not really. the weather is dropping. not really the problem. it is my body's fault. okay that is not entirely true, although i think it is revolting a bit. the endorphin high has passed. the last six weeks have been AWESOME. to be back out there on the road, sidewalk, park. the slow transition back.... i have been careful not to do too much too fast. i have loved it. yesterday. argh. i could feel the struggle as i got out of bed. putting on my shoes to get out there was a challenge of mental proportions. but i got out there. met stef. she was the rock to my floundering, tired, struggling attitude. it did not help that it was windy which made the 45 degrees feel so much colder. it was hard. while we took the hill and the loop with determination on monday..... this was a different day. same hill, same loop....different me.... a tired me. a cranky me. the excitement of being a runner ...

our excursion took us up to new haven, ct. we played in leaves...... found statues of dead guys...... had lunch with a former florida student of mine.... and saw the gutenberg bible....which would have been much cooler if i had actually taken more than a second to look at it since i was also trying to keep little bit from jumping off the chairs and knock over the book display....but still very cool to see! and this is how i really feel about my brother's affections.....

we took a family morning yesterday and took bikes and balls up to the park. the boys loved playing soccer with daddy especially since we signed them up for their first organized soccer this fall. it is like "pre-soccer" where they practice toe touches, dribbling, and kicking..... but no games. they are enjoying it. (that happens to be a bicycle light attached to peanut's pants - who knows where he finds these things and where he gets it in his head that he needs to where it in the middle of the day while playing soccer) but back to our day. we have just had a stream of beautiful weather.... this day was no exception. and have i mentioned that sweet pea really loves her daddy!

note: she is standing at the coffee table where she pulled herself up. she likes to lick the table. it is a good thing she does not have any teeth yet..... babble away baby girl!!

it is hard to believe that sweet pea is 8 months. time is flying by. it is hard for me to believe that she is crawling, pulling up, gets delighted when her daddy comes home, has an opinion about green beans.... loves veggie booty. she adores her brothers, drives them crazy, and brings out the best in them. eat your heart out g'parents. another thought to the passing of time. we just got the flyer about the book fair at peanut's school....flashbacks, fond memories, and the shock of realizing it is my kid.....not me that will get excited about books, find favorite characters....or decide reading is not his thing.

i did! the loop in the park. my old friend....... the hill. we meet but under different circumstances. we ran the opposite way so we didn't really "do" the hill as we have known it before but we still have to conquer the incline. it also feels super good to get back into the comfort and pace with my running partner. it is nice to have conversation while we run. i love hearing about her job, work, readings, life.... it makes the miles so much more interesting. and it was a spectacular morning. 45. no wind, sun. crisp. perfect! it feels good to have done it. we finished and i felt good. excited. gotta love those endorphins!!! when we met this morning we were still trying to decide what to run. i was feeling particularly optimistic..... we can do it! let's do the loop. i was so excited i even called my mom to boast! sweet pea is 8 months tomorrow. it feels good to get three miles under my belt. of course, i might not feel as excited about my accomplishment tomorrow. ...

adventures into the city. central park....who knew diana ross had a playground?! picnic with friends. rock climbing (or jumping). museum of natural history. i love days off of school.... especially since school has cramped our adventure calendar. we had a great time and the day was beautiful.

it took me two evenings, three naps, and one morning to finish. ...both. ....i promise. both are written by ladies i know. one of the authors is in my small group bible study..... the fourth book in the series just came out. i read the first. the other author is my neighbor. there is a a sequel to this novel and she is working on the third....in between a new baby and an almost two year old. i was curious. about both. about their style of writing, the subjects, the culture of the novels..... just curious. curious what reading a book when you know that author is like.....found out it is not much different than just reading a book. i forgot that i knew the authors. miracle girls : high school teens.... diverse not cookie cutter - creative. the coming together of an unlikely group of girlfriends. kooky parents, cool teachers, a little bit of teen romance, youth group culture of my bi-gone eras. i was smitten. i laughed out loud....and i even teared-up at the end. a love noire : roman...

we made spider web cookies. went trick or treating..... sweet pea was a chicken and went as a ballerina underneath.... you know, her indoor costume. peanut was a monkey. little bit was the same dragon/dinosaur that he was last year. he was not talked into the hand me down mouse costume. and we hate the time change.