cue spring….

check over at the photography blog to see more spring cheer!!!

Four Year Old Superhero Princess

She is four. Four and fabulous. Four and full of eternal energy (until she isn’t). Four and focussed  (unless she is distracted). Sydney has more personality in her four year old self than just about anyone I know. Independent, unique, intelligent.

She is as different from me, and how I am wired, as you can possibly be. This makes for some good times and some not-so-good times. As you can imagine, or have personally witnessed. And yet there are times when she reacts to something that I think, “That is exactly how I would have reacted, or felt….” It baffles me.

The whole sibling thing baffles me, actually. Talk about a learning curve of a lifetime. Be an only child and then have multiple kids. Its like you are in an alternate universe. Foreign language, foreign concepts, foreign experiences… Its challenging. But I digress.

Sydney is really alot of fun…. she explores and takes initiative. She is creative and bold. She is strong and independent. She holds her own in the family… even if it requires extra high decibels and intense screaming.

Thanks to her neighborhood bff, Grace, Sydney’s new name in the ‘hood is Sydy Boo. Not Sydy. Not Syd. Not Sydney. The Boo is very important. Its awesome. And I think all the kids try to say it like Grace does.. with a slight Aussie accent. So cute!

For her birthday this year, we bought some tickets to Disney on Ice and invited some neighbor friends to join us. The girls dressed up for the occasion, of course, and we all rode the metro into DC for the event. So fun! Our seats were literally about 4 rows from the ceiling in the Verizon Center. That’s high, yo. I love this picture of Brook…. I think she just looked down.

 

 

 

The girls oooh’d and ahhhhh’d and clapped and sang with the characters. It was so fun!

THEN, later in the week we had another amazing spring-like day and I took Sydney and Nadia to the park for a picnic lunch. I wanted to take some 4 year old pics of Sydy, but I left home without my good camera’s memory card. So I had to use crappy camera instead. But I just LOVE these. I asked Sydney who she was with all her stuff on….

A Superhero Princess

Perfect. Totally sums her up… she can doll up with the best of the princesses, but dude…. just watch out when she puts on her cape! I love her Michael Jordanesque tongue hanging out for her “flying” pictures. She sure is fun!

 

Dearest Sydy Boo,

You are the best. I just love you. Intensely. I have loved rediscovering you this semester with Adelaide in her new school. I love “doing school” with you. You are one smart bugger!

I can’t wait to see you continue to develop into the totally unique and special person that God made you to be. I see a leader in you, yes even at 4 years old. I see someone who is going to stand for what she believes in. I see someone who is going on some amazing adventures in her lifetime. Can you take me with you on one of them?

Although my brain usually isn’t working in the mornings (when you are full of questions)and half the time I don’t know the answers, I love that you have an insatiable appetite to learn how things work in the world around you. And how God made everything from the inside of the van door, to the median in the road, to water, to trees, to buildings, to flowers.

I love seeing you fish with your Barbie fishing rod. I love seeing you catch butterflies, moths, worms and stink bugs.

I just love you. May your fourth year be FULL of wonder and laughter and new experiences…. and maaaayyybbbeeee a little lighter on the screaming and early waking. Just putting that out there. No matter, we love you sooooo much and can’t imagine the family without you in it!

my first 5K… putting my feet where my mouth is

so, i don’t run. ever. anywhere. for any reason. i despise running. i have never, ever, even slightly experienced a “runner’s high.” personally, i think it is totally a lie. there is no high. just delusion, or something.

anyways.

but i have a problem. i am severely out of shape and definitely overweight. and i have kids. and i don’t like to work out. and… and… and. i know, i get it. slacker. excuses. i know.

so here i am in the blogosphere, raising my hand and saying i am planning to run a 5K. which i know is like nothing to most of you who run… a 5K is like the bunny slope. well, i am like a 2 year old looking at the bunny slope. it looks pretty damn big from my perspective.

so, for those of you who are local, or who know me, or who just feel like being annoying for fun…. ask me about it in late march. comment, text, email…. but ask me if i am still running. because i realize that i might not be. but i hope that i am. then ask me again in april. and may. i need accountability. shame me into sticking with it, if you have to. seriously.

i started the Couch to 5K program today. and although i feel like a shuffling 80 year old with my puny 1 minute runs and 1:30 walks, its more than i have been doing, so that should count for something. so if you see me shuffle running in the ‘hood, don’t judge. i am getting healthy. i love that there are podcasts for the c25K program… i just listen to the podcast and some nice british woman tells me when to walk and when to run… and pats me on the proverbial back along the way. i heart her already.

AND….

i am running for a cause i REALLY believe in. the 5K i am signing up for is… wait for it…. about human trafficking! shocking right??! well, i don’t apologize for being so zealous for such a worthy cause. i am just glad i found this particular 5K, because i think at this point it is the only reason i decided to go ahead and “do this thang”! yeah, i should feel as zealous about getting healthy for myself and my kids’ sakes and all that… but the truth is that i don’t and i just feel guilty for not having the resolve to get healthy because i just need to.

SO, to stop the guilt cycle, i can now get healthy for a cause that does motivate me… and i will be happier, and so will my family in the end…. so its a win-win-win for us all.

the race is hosted by and benefitting an AWESOME organization i have just come across and hope to get more connected with in the near future, The Samaritan Women in Baltimore, MD. It is a holistic and local response to the issue of sex trafficking and injustice. Check out the site and all they have to offer. Blows my mind. The cool thing about the race is that it will be on/around their urban farm and there will be a farm festival to enjoy with the family. I am excited! So for those of you who are local to the area, please join us!!!!  Walk it, run it, just come for the fun!

5K Run/Walk and Farm Festival

Saturday, May 12, 2012

9:00 – Noon
TSW Farms

What’s a Farm Run?

Race Day Times:

7:30-8:30 a.m. Race Day Packet Pick-up

8:30 a.m. Warm Up by Bloomsbury Boot Camp

9:00 a.m. 5k Fun Run, Farm Festival Open

9:15 a.m. 5k Fun Walk

12:00 p.m. Farm Festival Ends

There’s a 23-acre estate in the City, operating Baltimore’s largest urban farm? It’s true! The Samaritan Women is a very different kind of organization, so why do a typical 5K?

We’ve charted a course that will not only give you a good workout, but also some surprising scenery. Along the course you’ll enjoy Baltimore City’s largest farm, greenhouses, a berry vineyard, chickens, bees, a view of the National Cemetery, and over 17 acres of woodland.

…a Farm in the City? Who woulda thought?

RUN/WALK ENTRY FEES:

$25 registration before/on May 1st

$30 after May 1st

$15 for ages 12 and under

$60 for family of 4 (2 adults/2 kids)

Registrations must be mailed by May 1st. Please do not send cash. Family and Team registrations must be mailed in together.

Family registrations must use the printable entry form. The family must print one application form for each family member and enclose one check for $60.

Make checks payable to: Growing in Strides 5k

Mail checks to: Growing in Strides 5k, PO Box 5464, Towson, MD 21285

All Race participants receive a Growing in Strides t-shirt and race bag and refreshments upon completion of the race.

The course includes one water station.