a life beyond running shoes.

forgive the blatant adoration of my child.... my, my he is just too cute. i felt the need to show off his ever increasing vocabulary of animal sounds. first word: ball...without the "ll." and just too irresistible not to add another video. he is all personality...and all cheeks. he can also climb onto any surface now.... including the dinner table.

yesterday....two inches. playing on the sidewalk.

everyone has their limits.... i have mine. 20 degrees. that is it....i have limits. i won't run if it is below 20 degrees. it was 12 yesterday and 18 today. nope....no runs for me. this is real winter... yet i am shocked that my running regime has been interrupted by snow flurries and freezing temperatures. of course, my running partner had a kick ass race on sunday and i was SO motivated to hit the pavement......argh! the lord is keeping me in check! we have often talked about how running is a sport in which your biggest competition is oneself. i was encouraging her about her race to go and do HER best and blah, blah, blah. all this and when i ran my 4 miles on saturday - by myself - i just about killed myself to pass this woman that looked older than my mother and was running faster than me!!! so much for self-competition. i am full of hot air... but not hot enough to go and run in these temperatures, that is for sure! just over 10 weeks to race day. it will be here before i k...

he has discovered ketchup. and this one is j ust funny and growing.

over starbucks.....black & white cookies.... salted almonds....and apple juice. i got to spend the afternoon with my first born. we took the train to target and spent half an hour in guitar center. he was playing the electric drums. he has taken a liking to most things musical. we have made friends with peter, the guy that works there.... who we seem to not annoy.... mostly because the electric drums also have headphones that make them silent... brilliant. it was a true treat to have one-on-one time with one of my kids. we talked about his morning, the part at our house last night, church the day before, and how much fun the drum store is. it was a treat.

but not sealed. we are in contract. needless to say... january has been a CRAZY month. god has been kind, gracious, patient, and gentle with me as we have walked down the road to become home owners. when we saw this house less than a month ago, i had no desire to move... again....to this..... i was just feeling settled, comfortable, and at home. it is diagonally about a mile from where we live now..... where we just moved six months ago. i have had to answer hard questions.... and at the end realize that our greatest job is to serve the king... with our time, our home, and our family. i thought this january we were praying about something totally different....and yet it has really been, at the heart, the same thing..... how can we shape our family to better serve the church we want to start, the neighborhood we want live, and the city we love. god answered us with this house. it was not how i wanted him to answer it, but he has given me a bigger view of himself, his love for me, ...

sometimes i read to pass the time..... sometimes i read to survive..... sometimes i read for pleasure..... sometimes i read to escape.... last week i escaped. in the midst of planning for my class, i needed moments outside of my day to day. while not the most imaginative book.....it served its purpose. i found peace in the warfare of dragons, elves, dwarves, and magic. it was a bit predictable and contrived, yet it was a book i was content to be captivated by..... easy suspension of disbelief. i am even looking forward to the third installment of this epic tale.... sort of. not as much as i looked forward to harry potter.... but anticipating none-the-less.

i am now a professor. i real one. like with a faculty id card and everything. i had my first two class meetings this week. for six hours a week (including travel time), i am not diaper-changer extrodinaire. i am teaching freshman composition at city tech, cuny in brooklyn heights. BUT, it is for high schoolers to help them prepare for college... and get college credit. i have sixteen students, 12 seniors....one homeschooler...... it is free for them as part of a city-wide program to help new york pubic school kids prepare for college as their high schools seem to not be doing such a great job. so far..... fun. i freaked out last weekend as i was prepping my syllabus. had a break though and am excited about some of the things we will be reading... and helping them to engage with the texts, me, each other, and their writing. very cool!

START BROOKLYN TRAINING. not only does my class start today that i am teaching... but today starts training for the brooklyn half. it is at the end of april....twelve weeks. my running partner has an ace up her sleeve....she is dating a running coach. so i glean the benefits of having an actual training program mapped out for her that i just copy. of course, i am only vaguely aware of what VDOT means but this week is base building. i love it. seeing it all out before me. the excel file with weekly mileage building up. to see phase two out there with some speed training, hill workout, long runs, etc. this thrills no one but me in this house. i am okay with that. perhaps family day will be track workouts...stopwatch and all, hum?!

on friday, we ventured into the city to visit the the new museum of contemporary art ....crazy. i'm just not sure i understood anything i was looking at.... the building itself is structurally brilliant, but the work inside alludes me. it took us all of about 20 minutes to complete our tour (five floors mixed with my lack of interest and two kids that can't touch anything)....our young friend that came with us was more engaged as she is an artist herself. just to make sure we completely went new york artsy fartsy....we had lunch at an organic, vegan, vegetarian restaurant. my son could eat ANYTHING on the menu.... that never happens. of course, it is also my mission to introduce our vegetarian young friend to more than cheese pizza as the staple to a vegetarian diet. saturday, we had an adult evening and went to a modern dance concert. again, what does it mean? knowing the choreographer i think made it more understandable or least engaging. i enjoyed it and so did my hub...

i was compiling the list of books that my book club read last year..... 8 books of various genres, authors, and themes. i love this group cuz it "forces" (i use the term lightly) me to read amist a year of nursing, potty training, traveling, moving, teething, and just living. i also have a group that works through books relating to my faith. that group has a totally different purpose, but i am equal as thankful for that group. it helps keep me grounded in the bible and applying that to my life, marriage, friendship, etc. all of that to say, that i looked back over the books i read this year and am pleased with myself. the reason i mention my book groups is because it is one of the main motivators that i have read what i have this past year. i am a natural reader, but in part to the phase of life i am in.... i need those outside sources of encouragement. i interviewed for a teaching job about five years ago and one of the questions on the application was "what books ha...

just good clean fun. bath time is both a delight & chore. neither like having hair washed. but toys are fun!!!

he is a mean dancing machine. he loves music, dancing, drums (yipee), guitars, cymbals, clarinets, and most instruments. i can't wait to see if this continues and how we as parents can help encourage it.

this one is a bit on the nutty side. it is so fun to start getting the pieces of his personality. he gets frustrated when he can't do something he sees his big brother do. he is way more assertive & daring....the kid loves to climb, slide, fall, bump, dive, etc. he is also more of a cuddle bug....which i LOVE! he seems pretty easy going. and he loves his big brother. we are working on sign language for things like please, more, eat, drink, milk. he is starting to get it but every once in a while confuses them all.

sort of.... special for uncle bud....

i can't say i have had much motivation to blog since the new year. strange. i guess the idea that my brother hasn't really been able to get internet out in the indian ocean to check on the boys causes my motivation to wane. of course, he checked last night and i got an email about how he can't believe i have not updated my blog since the birthday bash three weeks ago...... here we go..... i had a great run over xmas with my mother-in-law (8 miles). two awesome, building runs with my running partner....and our friend the hill. had a great xmas with the boys. had a torturous pediatrician appointment...both boys got blood drawn. and i am going to be teaching a college freshman composition course starting in three weeks. all of that and a video......the boys playing soccer near our apartment.

yesterday was my birthday!!! we played at the park.....man, am i cute! i got lots of help with my candle and discovered i LOVE chocolate angel food cupcakes! my brother even helped mom cook. it was a GREAT day.

now while i sometimes feel i need to be institutionalized (especially after long days with these two crazies)..... this is in fact our apartment hallway. while it looks sterile..... it kind of is, but homey nonetheless. i think the wreath on our door helps here are the boys.....

from everyone. i notice it from my children.... BUT it flows from me on my morning runs. there is something about cold weather that just makes it run freely... more freely than my legs. i finally broke through the drudgery of running. november was a wash....i hardly count it... painful, discouraging, and slow. december has been much better. it was 6:45 and the sky was lightening... but the sun had not quite popped out. the snow from last night did not stick, and very little ice was left on the sidewalks. it was 35 degrees.... and i still broke a sweat. my legs finally felt good moving; my mind was able to think through the holidays; i finally found my rhythm. it was quite; i felt quite. (the cars are just white noise) four and half miles later i felt like a runner.

our first snow.... how they got to church.... (in the snow) nursing colds..... practicing indoor soccer.... decorating xmas tree.... killing time...... our first vegan rice krispie treats......