City of Oaks Half Marathon

I have again been bit by the running bug.  On Sunday I ran the Raleigh Half Marathon and it made me excited to possibly do another marathon in the future.  It sounds crazy, but it is such an adrenaline rush to run with thousands of strangers and to cross the finish line.  My favorite part of the race was hearing Matt cheering for me and looking over to see Maddie and Ryan on the sidelines.  I am so grateful for my sweet family.

Here are Maddie and Mommy right after the race. 

Here's Mommy with her boy and a plate full of goodies.

It's the whole family!  Since I left the house before 6am, Matt got the kids ready and brought them to the race.  It was so cute to see Madeline with her uncombed and undone hair and Ryan wearing the same clothes from the day before! :)

Here are my sweet friends and running partners Amanda (left) and Anna (right).  I was SO impressed with their runs, as we had not trained on hills and they kicked butt, keeping pace like the hills were nothing!!!  Anna and Amanda and their families go to the Bridge Community Church with us, and we are so grateful for their friendships.  

Madeline and Ryan LOVED the free bread from the Great Harvest Bread Company (so did mommy and daddy)!

Here's a picture of the three of us.  We are all exhausted, but so grateful to be finished!  So ladies. . .how about the full marathon next year???

Happy Treating Day!

It was so fun to watch the kids enjoy getting dressed up and go from house to house collecting candy.  Though Ryan's vocabulary is still limited, he QUICKLY learned how to say "trick or treat".  It was fun to share this memory with the B's and Flynn's.  Nate was Leo, little Emmy was a cat, and sweet Anna Kate was a cow.  That little girl stole my heart last night.  She has such a sweet and happy disposition.  And Christy and I got some special talk time on the step while passing out candy.  I wish I had pictures of them to post!  

Maddie poses for a shot with Daddy before beginning her race!

Do we live in the best neighborhood ever, or what???  Every year since we have moved in, we have had a Halloween cookout.  The kids play in the cul-de-sac, while the parents enjoy some connect time.  Of course, our conversations are always short because of a little voice calling for mommy or daddy, but it is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  Once darkness hits, the kids get all costumed up and start trick or treating, and the dads put on loud music, sit in folding chairs, and hand out candy.  Oh, if you look closely at this picture you will see Matt pitching and Ryan batting.  The boy loves balls and loves hitting things, so for him, there's nothing better than playing baseball!

Look there's Blue.  Oh wait, it's Ryan.  The boy is obsessed with our Elmo Jack-O-Lantern.  He loves pointing to it and looking at it.  He is especially intrigued with it in this picture because of the lit candle.  He has probably just finished saying, "What dis?".

Here's Madeline with her bag ready to start trick or treating.  Though she went around with friends, Matt tells me that she continually ran ahead of everyone anxious to get to the next house as soon as possible.  And though the night was chilly, she refused a jacket in order to display her beautiful ballerina costume.  Already she is realizing that fashion comes at a price. :)

Guess who took this picture?  Madeline.  She has become quite the photographer, always wanting to get her hands on the camera.  These are our dear friends Nate and Becky and if you look closely, you will see that Becky is about to have a baby!  Upon leaving, her poor feet barely fit into the shoes she was wearing when she arrived.  The Lord has definitely blessed us in our relationship with Nate and Becky.  We love them and are so grateful for their friendship.  And I cannot wait to get my hands on little Elizabeth Jonathon. 

This is Ry Ry on a sugar high.

Can you tell that we have just told them that they can eat a piece of candy?  What else would elicit such joyous smiles from the faces of a 2 and 4 year old?

Here's Madeline sitting with, or should I say guarding, her bag of treats.  When she got home we told her that she could pick out one piece of candy to eat.  Meticulously, she looked through each piece of candy, making sure that she made the best decision.  I wonder if she would have made a different decision if she had known that Daddy was about to loot her bag once she was fast asleep.

Ryan Turns 2!

Oops.  Mommy posted the photos in backwards order.  Oh well. . .

Here's Ry sliding down a slide at the play area at the Streets of Southpointe in Durham.

She is so cute!!!  She and Ryan LOVE to play together in this play area.  They run from structure to structure giggling and chatting.

Go Ryan go, you can get up there.  Watch out Madeline. . .he might accidentally head butt you!

On his birthday, Madeline sweetly lets her brother wrestle her.  He would do it all day long if he could, but the Wells' have instituted a Daddy only wrestle with Ryan, as the little guy can be too physical for his big sister.  As an aside, Madeline was really kind and loving toward Ryan today.  Since it was his birthday she kept deferring to him and even suggested letting him listen to the Wiggles CD instead of her listening to Aladdin  when we were in the car.  She is developing such a sweet and sensitive spirit.

Here's the Birthday Boy eating Birthday Pankcakes!  If only you could see the syrup dripping from his nose down to his PJ bottoms.

Look at that new car!

Here's the first shot of the little guy on his new scooter.

Daddy concentrates, as he cuts out Pumpkin Elmo's eyes.  

Two years ago, on October 27th at 6am on the dot, Ry Ry made his way into the world.  Today we celebrated his birthday.  As he walked down the stairs this morning Daddy, Madeline and I sang him Happy Birthday.  He had no idea what it meant, but he knew it was something special and was grinning from ear to ear.  For breakfast we had special birthday pancakes and then opened presents.  His favorite gift seems to be the Spider Man scooter.  Matt and I can't believe how good he is at "scooting" on it already.  After scooting around the first floor we moved on to pumpkin carving.  This year Daddy carved us an Elmo pumpkin.

Tonight we got to celebrate the little guy's special day with some of his little friends.  Nate and Jackson came over to eat some Elmo cake and bat at a pinata.  There were some fun memories from this evening.  One is Mr. Jamie helping Madeline bat at the pinata.  He batted so hard that her head whipped forward and backward in beat with the moving bat (it was a slow whipping, but so funny to watch).  Madeline, too thought this was funny and was laughing as Mr. Jamie helped her with the bat.  The other funny moment came when Jackson and Ryan started jumping from the coffee table to the couch.  As if this was not crazy enough, Daddy put on some music and the boys and Madeline started doing silly dances on the coffee table before jumping onto the couch.  What a fun and special day we had.  

I hope years from now, you will read this little Ry.  We love you so much.  You are a true delight to our souls and we are so grateful that the Lord gave you to us to raise.  You are all boy in that you are non-stop motion and activity and love to wrestle and be physical.  And you are all sweet.  You love to cuddle with Mommy, Daddy, and Madeline and we are watching you develop tenderness toward others.  I have been really surprised at your willingness to share when you have little friends over.  Recently, you have been playing this really cute night-night game with Mommy, Daddy and Madeline.  You wrap your arm around our heads and say "night-night" and pull our head down to the ground with yours.  We then say "morning" and pull our heads up, and you say "morning", and a few seconds later, you say "night-night" and again grab our heads with your arm and pull our head down to the ground and on and on.  It is a joy to watch you grow and learn and mature.  

A few pics

I only have a few minutes before Bible study, but I wanted to share a few pics from the week since the video upload did not work.

Here's a picture of Ry taking Sarah, our hermit crab, for a walk.

Here's a cute pic of Maddie on her bike. She's just like her daddy. She flies on that thing.

Here is a picture of Madeline with our neighbor and her friend Chase. They play so well and love being together. They were particularly cute yesterday. They called me upstairs and once I got to the top of the stairs I saw Madeline holding a baby carrier with a baby and Chase holding a briefcase. He told Madeline to "tell me". Uh-oh, I thought. And then she said, "Guess what, Chase and I are husband and wife". It was adorable. They were both a little embarrassed, but it was just precious.

Fun filled Weekend

Yippee, Daddy came home on Friday (with a GIGANTIC blister on his foot because he ran 9miles and 7miles after not running in months!!!).  We had pizza at Randy's, Breyer's for dessert and watched Barbie's My Island Princess. . .Daddy's favorite movie.  Ha, ha, ha.  On Saturday Mommy woke up bright and early and ran 12 miles with Anna and Amanda.  Mommy's poor 31 year old body does not recover the way it once did, as it is Tuesday and I am still hurting.  However, the day went on and we met Mr. Jamie and Nate at the Life Science Museum and headed to Costco for lunch.  Mr. Jamie LOVED Costco's lunch, as he got a big slice of pizza, a soda and a hotdog all for $3.25.  And Sunday we had our first "southern" potluck with our Bible study.  I say southern because we had mac and cheese and ham and a candied fruit salad.  It was a GREAT time.  The kids were babysat while we ate and it was wonderful to connect with all the adults and then we had a great family time when the kids joined us.  I'm going to attempt to attach a video of the evening to this posting.

Oh, the Wells' have a new past time and a new way to get exercise.  The kids are taking Sarah, yes the hermit crab, for walks in their doll strollers.  They love it and I'm sure the people who watch us think we are crazy.

This is our big week!  Saturday Ryan turns 2 and Tuesday we celebrate our 8 year anniversary.  Life is passing so quickly.  Praise God for his gift of eternity, that this is not all we have to look forward to.  "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  Rom 15:13.

Well, here goes the attempt to post video.  And it did not work!  Maybe next time. . .

Daddy's Travel Season Begins

Daddy has entered his busy travel season. . .he travels from now until the beginning of December.  One of the neat things about Matt being out of town is that I have had some time to commit some Scripture to memory.  Here are a couple verses that have really impacted me this week:

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I (Paul) am in chains.  Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.  Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders: make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone".  Col. 4: 2-6

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.   Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God".  Col. 3:12-16  

Oh, I forgot to share about one of the big events this week.  We said bye bye to Sally II.  The Wells' can't seem to keep fish alive!  Of course Daddy was out of town, so Mommy had to do the flushing honors.  Thankfully, Madeline has not seemed to notice that Sally is missing.  Sally really became a thing of the past once Sarah the hermit crab entered the picture.  I hate not to tell Madeline about Sally, but she had such a hard time when our neighbor's dog died a few months ago.  I think we might be making up a story about how Sally swam off to the sea to make a family (a similar story to what my parents told me when my bunny died at the same age).  At the rate we are going, I don't think we can keep this Sally III, IV, V. . .thing up.  

As a fun way to start the weekend, we met Ms. Tara, Riley and Tyler at Dunkin Donuts on Friday morning.  Ryan had a cinnamon donut and his face was precious by the time he had eaten it all, as he was coated with powder from his forehead to his chin.  And Madeline loves herself some pink frosted donuts.  The girl is just like her momma with her sweet tooth.

Here is my sweet Ry Ry with his LAST gallon of whole milk.  In one week he will be two.  My heart is broken to say goodbye to my baby, but I love getting to know my little boy.  And this boy is constant activity with a fun, happy disposition.  He is saying some cute things right now like, "Uh-oh police", "Oh Mannnnn", and "Where Daddy?".  All week long, I heard "Where Daddy?".  He really misses his wrestling partner (Daddy) when he's gone.  And please pray for Matt and me as we raise him up and seek wisdom on moulding and disciplining him.  He is so different from Madeline, testing every boundary and so physical.  Good thing he is so stinking cute!

State Fair Weekend

What a fantastic weekend we had!  Thursday night, a little before 1am, Bobby, Lanie and Allie pulled into our driveway.  A few hours later. . .okay, maybe it was 10 hours. . .we headed to the State Fair in Raleigh.  Though our feet ached and we were exhausted by the end of the day, we had a WONDERFUL time.  

Saturday was another fun day.  The ladies awoke and went to Brigg's for breakfast and when we came back, the guys headed out to see the Duke/VT football game.  That night we had a sweet beach reunion with the Flynn's and Bruegg's.  The Lord has blessed us with such wonderful friends.  Though exhausted from staying up late and waking early, our spirits were refreshed from our special and encouraging times with our friends.

As a special treat, Mommy and Daddy treated Madeline and Ryan to a funnel cake, and boy did they like it.  Can you tell that Ryan is almost biting off Matt's fingers as he tries to take a huge bite!

Who are those beautiful ladies on that roller coaster?  Oh, it's Madeline and Allie.  Madeline loved her special time and attention from Ms. Allie and Aunt Lanie.  And boy does that girl love rides.  She is just like her daddy.  She is giddy the moment she steps into the line and has a grin plastered from ear to ear as she rides.  After this, we rode a train, a sky drop and the dizzy dinosaurs.  And guess who did the dizzy dinosaurs with the kids???  Mommy, who hates spinning rides!  Of course when it was time to get on this ride Allie and Lanie were nowhere to be found. :)

Madeline and Ryan LOVE their Aunt Lanie.  And how could they not???  She showers them with love and attention and lots of tickles.  If you look closely, Madeline is holding Sarah the hermit crab in her left hand.  After this picture was taken, Sarah was forgotten about and left to wander the house.  Hours later I realized she was missing.  I searched, but she was nowhere to be found.  Thankfully, super sleuth Aunt Lanie used her special observation skills and found Sarah wedged under the TV unable to move.  Our hero. . .I imagine that a dead hermit crab begins to smell and Madeline has gotten pretty attached to this creature!

Though they argue, Madeline and Ryan are hysterical together.  They laugh at each other and play silly games.  Here Madeline is pushing Ryan in a stroller for baby dolls.  They are both laughing hysterically (and so were Mommy and Daddy).  You silly gooses!

Check out the girlfriend on the pony ride at the fair.  

Though we got lost and walked for at least 30 minutes, we finally found the little chicks!  And Madeline was in heaven.  I wish you could see her with them.  She picks them up so gently, draws them near to her body and tells them how sweet they are.  They respond with lots of cheeping as her "gentle" hold is more like a death grip.  Ryan also loved the chicks and duckies.  He squealed in delight as he tried to pick them up and they ran from him.

After years of talking about it and desiring to try it, Matt is biting into his first fried snickers bar.  It costs $4, and if you know Matt, you know that he REALLY must have wanted to try it.  He genuinely loved every bite

Madeline and Aunt Lanie looked at all the beautiful blue ribbon flowers together.  Madeline was so cute pointing out all the beautiful flowers and getting excited when she saw a blue ribbon next to one.  Such a precious angel!