Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for imagination and horse statues, both of which will help keep a toddler busy while waiting for family to meet us for dinner.

Running... or not

So now that we're almost on to this weekend already, I'm finally getting around to what happened last weekend. Some weeks are like that. I'm sure you can relate.

Last weekend we went to the River Run for Orphans. The event has been going on in our town for several years now. Over the last three years it has doubled each year - both in size and in monies raised for various orphanages and children's charities around the world. We had to move the event from the actual river trail to the college campus because of the number of people who signed up to run. What a great problem to have! This year there was $50,000.00 raised by race participants. Not a bad improvement over the $20k from last year, especially considering the economic times.

I, being Great With Child, did not participate in the run this year. I thought about walking it but realized that since my whole family was running I would end up having to walk while pushing Norah in her stroller. Norah is two. She is as she says, "Geddin' bigger". She no longer wishes to be confined to the stroller. Long story short, it was easier to just take her to the kid's play area and let her run amok. Since the amok-running was taking place throughout the race, I also did not get many photos of the actual event. So, here's the best picture I got of Mark:

What? You don't see him? Oh, fine...

How about now? Man, it's a good thing I have a good zoom on my camera.

As far as Norah's activities go, well if you saw her happy face on Wednesday's post, you know that she was enjoying herself. If you were observant enough to see the bounce house behind her head and to the left... you know where she spent most of her time. Other highlights included:

Eating popcorn.

Getting said popcorn stuck in her teeth.

Getting a rockin' Dora tattoo. Norah also learned what the words "tattoo" and "temporary" meant.

Meeting up with her BFF, Ellie was another highlight.

As was helping Ellie paint a lovely ceramic snail.

Which turned out to be quite colorful (if not a little over painted) in the end.

Norah learned one more new word at the race that day. See, she's potty training, and the closest place in which to relieve herself was a porta-potty. When she asked me, "Mommy, what is 'porta-potty' mean?" The best response I could think up was, "It means, 'Don't breathe through your nose.'" Of course, Norah thought the porta-potty was fabulous! So much so that she sat in one at least five times and actually went potty in one twice. Despite her enthusiasm, I'd still rather she use the regular potty. It just doesn't seem like a good idea for a preggo like me to be holding her breath that many times a day. Still, we had zero accidents on Saturday so... maybe the porta-potty is ok in my book. But only under special circumstances.

Letters of Intent - Nerd Edition

Need to get a little snark off your chest? Have an actual "thank you" that you want the world to hear? Head on over to Julie's blog and link up!

Dear Dora the Explorer (known in our house as Doh-wuh Ta Poh-wuh):

On behalf of my husband and myself, I would like to thank you for holding my daughter's attention for an entire 22 minutes and not being incredibly, insufferably annoying. Unfortunately that seems to be quite the rare combination in todays children's programing.

Norah's daddy - who once used the descriptor "map nerd" for himself on a resume cover letter (which got him the job, by the way) - appreciates the fact that you teach basic mapping principles through your journeys. Sure, in the real world maps don't sing and dance, but the way technology is going they probably will by the time Norah's all grown up. Heck, most of them already talk to you which is way more than they did when I was a kid.

As an added bonus, your show is so formulaic that we can tell by which song is being sung exactly how much time we have left to get our chores done before the crying and begging for "one more Doh-wuh" begins.

So thanks. You make it possible for dishes to get done on Saturdays. Believe it or not, I'm at a point in my life where I'm actually grateful for that.

Adventurously,

The Lady Who Can't Get the Backpack Song Out of Her Head

Dear Nerds (the candy, not the people group):

Your sweet, sugary goodness has gotten me through two of the last three afternoons with no caffeine. Thank you for not judging me because I have to pour 20 or so of you into a cup and then eat each color in order of preference. I'm OCD like that.

Sweetly,

The Pregnant Lady Who Hits a Wall of Exhaustion at 2:30

And in honor of today's "nerd" theme, I give to you my first (and probably last) Letters of Intent joke of the day. A fabulous, as yet undetermined (and possibly imaginary) prize goes to the person who writes the best and/or funniest response the to following, somewhat nerdy chemistry joke:

Dear Carbon,

So.... I hear you're into bondage. Call me!

Sincerely,

Hydrogen

Wordless Wednesday - Weekend Fun

Wordless Wednesday - The Easiest Way to Share Popcorn

Free Ride - Part 2

Riding a tractor is fun and all, but the REAL highlight of Saturday had to be the other free ride that Norah got to take.

If you've been reading for a while, you may remember Annie, Great-Grandpa's horse. She's the first horse Norah ever met in person and Norah just loves to help with her.

So after helping scratch her nose...

and helping her get a drink of water...

Great-Grandpa asked for Norah's help getting Annie to the pasture down the road.

Annie is 23 and probably hasn't been ridden in 10 years, so Norah helped to reassure her...

And with the form and grace of a real-live horse and cowgirl team...

Norah and her trusty Annie hit the dusty trail.

Free Ride

The Saturday of Labor Day Weekend we went to visit Mark's grandparents.

One of the benefits of having a grandpa with lots of farm equipment is the free rides!

It took a little work to convince Norah that the tractor was safe...

But Daddy's lap is a pretty secure place to be.

So they did a little loop behind the horse corral (which made it difficult for me to get many good action shots. I can only climb the fence so high being almost 6 months pregnant!)

And they made it back safe and sound.

Letters of Intent - Fallishness

Dear Participants in the Labor Day Motorcycle Rally:

Your group has gotten a bad rap in the past. Sure, your bikes are loud, the exhaust is stinky, and some in your group have been known to throw back a few Cold Ones now and again. But I personally have no problem with you.

Everywhere I went around town from Thursday through Tuesday, I was met with smiles. Perhaps it was the super-cool biker-esque black and silver duds that I made a point of sporting all weekend. Perhaps it was my obviously pregnant belly. Perhaps it was a combination of those things and the fact that most of you were old enough to be the grandparents of the little bundle of joy that I'm currently carrying.

Regardless, you were nothing but polite and respectful. Even when I was crossing the street (slowly) in front of your idling hogs. From what I hear, you gave our economy a much needed boost during the slowdown between Rafting Season and Ski Season. Also, your engine noise made Sweet Baby Jones #2 dance. So thanks for a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards,

Not in Any Shape to Ride (but thanks for the offer, Sir)

Dear Sun:

It was after 6:20am when the first of your cheerful rays peeked up over the ridge to say good morning today.

In short, you're late.

If this kind of tardiness continues I'm going to get very.... cold. And I'm going to have... trouble waking up. Sooner than I'd like. Seriously. Please come back.

Sincerely,

Fighting Hibernation

Dear Old Man Winter:

I see you there. Hiding right around the corner, with your little friend Jack Frost. Fortunately for me I have a trick up my sleeve. This little bun in my oven is the best space heater I've ever had. Well, since the last bun, that is. The benefit of this bun is that it's not going to be fully cooked until the end of December. That gives me a few good (normally cold) months when I'll be (mostly) immune to your chilly meanderings across our lovely landscape. And although I may welcome a slight cooling in our recent heat wave, I'm not quite prepared for the mayhem that accompanies your icy additions to our sidewalks.

So hear this: I will be wearing flip flops this fall. I will be wearing them straight into winter. I will be wearing them for as long as my feet do not threaten to fall off. It will be my silent protest, for as long as my tootsies can stand it. That is all.

Coldly,

Reluctantly Winterizing

Bounce House!

There was a bounce house at church again last Sunday.

They bust it out most holiday weekends. It actually works well for us because the second Norah sees it she promises to be on her best behavior in Sunday School so that she can have a turn when it's over.

She was slightly thrilled.

Only slightly.

Both piggy tails were present and accounted for (I checked).

As was the bandage on her knee from a recent sliding accident (she checked).

I think she had a fairly good time.

Wordless Wednesday - In Training

Camping

Sunday we got to do my favorite kind of camping. It's the kind where you go crash someone's campsite for the evening and then go home and sleep in your own bed.

Anyway, we stopped by the campsite of a small group from our church. We don't belong to the group, but they're all around our age and they have kids and stuff. They invited us to be an honorary part of their crew. I call them "The Cool Crowd". I'm sure you can tell why:

This is Violet. She is but one of the many fabulous children who are part of the group.

Norah seemed to take to camping quite well. She made herself right at home in one of the many kid-sized camp chairs.

As it turned out, she was also a pro at ladder ball. I mean, look at the form!

She was also quite attentive to the rules of fire safety (my least favorite part of camping with a kiddo!). This was the closest she got, which was just fine with me!

The second we got into the car to go home she started talking about going "camping in the woods and trees with Mommy and Daddy". I don't think we'll be able to keep her away from "real camping" for long. When we got home, I asked how she liked her first camping trip and she said, "We didn't really camp Mommy." Can't pull anything over on that kid!

Center Stage

I've been planning on doing some serious blog catchup this weekend, but we've been so busy having new adventures that I'm more behind than ever. So hold on tight and prepare for an onslaught of posts over the next few days!

I almost forgot about this story. When I loaded pictures from a more recent event, this showed up too. What a fun surprise!

A couple of Sundays ago during church they brought all the kids from all of the Sunday School classes out into the service. I thought it was amazingly brave. Especially since they didn't warn the moms of some of the younger, more attached kiddos to hide ahead of time. I was a little worried that Norah might see me have a meltdown, since she had just moved up to the big kids class (2-3 year olds) and wasn't completely comfortable there yet. She was right in the front since she's one of the shortest. And, of course, she was the kid to yell in the middle of the service, "Yook! There's my mommy. Hi Mommy! I gotta tractor!" She then proceeded to push the tractor around on the stage until the children's pastor started to pray. She knows we're supposed to be still and fold our hands while we pray and she did as good a job as could be expected under the circumstances. I was a few rows back, so this was the best picture I could get.

See her? She's the one in the blue and yellow dress holding the red tractor right there on center stage. Because she's genetically related to me so.... where else would she go when presented with an opportunity to stand on stage?