Running Mishap

Remember how I said that crazy things happen to you when you have a blog? Well, it happened again.

We had our annual staff conference with Cru in Black Mountain, NC (near Asheville) the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The girls had a blast playing with the other staff kids and making lots of fun crafts.  We had a good time catching up with old friends and hearing from a man we really respect who brought us great truths from the Word.  Sunday, we traveled back to NC, unpacked, did laundry, and packed again to head down to SC for Thanksgiving (Kinsley had school two days so we left when she finished).

Knowing that we would be eating lots and lots of food for Thanksgiving, Ed and I got up early on Thanksgiving day to go for a long run.  I love running in downtown Georgetown whenever we visit – the scenery is beautiful and there is plenty to look at so you don’t get bored.  So, we drive downtown, get stretched out, and start running toward the boulevard.  The boulevard is a giant circle by the water with softball and baseball fields in the middle.  I started running one way around the circle while Ed ran the other.  About halfway through the circle, when Ed and I were crossing paths, I noticed he was trying to stop me and was visibly shaken up.  He warned me to turn around and go back the other direction as to avoid the dog that had just bitten him.  Yes, you read that right – he got BIT by a DOG!

He said that there were two dogs out front of a house – a little dog who started yapping at him as he ran by, and a bigger dog.  The little dog barked but with no bite – the big dog, however, ran after him (not the first time a dog had ran after him) and latched on.  Ed turned to kick the dog but he had run away and wouldn’t come back near Ed.  Thankfully, though it hurt, no major damage was done.

We weren’t going to do anything about it, but after talking to people that day, and given that the attack happened right near a busy part of town where little kids play and lots of people run and walk, we decided to file a report with the police.  The police filed a report and will turn it over to animal control to look for the dog and find out whether the dog has rabies.  Crazy!

Speaking of running, Kinsley’s school had a Boosterthon Fun Run to raise money for the PTA.  Gone are the days of selling chocolate or gift wrap door to door (sad, I really liked that high-quality gift wrap!).  Instead, they get donations based on how many laps they run.  I like that they are encouraging fitness.  I like that they make it lots of fun for the kids.  I like that they teach them character traits throughout the week and try to make it not about just asking for money.  I digress…back to the run.

The day of the fun run, I loaded up the little kids and we went to cheer her on.  When the race started, she was doing so well (that is her with the red headband on in the picture).  And then, she wore out.  She also kept stopping for water at the water station after every single lap (seriously, yall, her teacher told her to quit stopping for water and to keep going), which didn’t help matters any.  The max number of laps she could have run was 35.  How many did she run? 26.  Bless it.  I think we can honestly say that at this point, running is not her thing, which is totally okay.  I am so proud of her for running like she did, and keeping on even when she was tired.

 

Its Like Pulling Teeth

Ya’ll, taking kids to the dentist is like pulling teeth.  Anyone else have kids who are allergic to the dentist?

The last few times we have taken Kinsley to the dentist, it has been quite an experience – like tears, pleading, and holding her down kind of experience.  I thought that as she got older, it would get better.  Well, folks, 5 is not the golden year for us.

We gave her plenty of warning that we would be going to the dentist, we have read books about the dentist, and we have talked about why we go to the dentist.  This year, we even played the “you have to show Emerson what to do and how to be a big girl” card.  That worked for about 2 seconds.  But as soon as she laid down in the chair, she started flipping out.  And then she said that she wanted Emerson to go first.

Emerson, bless her sweet, fearless heart, said okay and jumped right up in the chair.  She sat there through the whole procedure, went with the strange nurse to get x-rays done by herself (since I was occupied holding Kinsley down), and then climbed up in the chair for the doctor to look at her teeth (again, by herself…since I was occupied pleading with the 5 year old to get x-rays).  She never even batted an eye.

Kinsley, meanwhile, had to sit in my lap, had to have her hands held down by me while the hygienist got started, and then refused to get x-rays because she freaked out (like “someone is poking my whole body with needles” freaked out) every time the bite down piece got close to her gums.  So, guess who didn’t get x-rays?

The funniest part of it all – I guess maybe the only funny part since the rest was more like torture than humor, was that Emerson kept hearing me tell Kinsley that she HAD to get her teeth cleaned or they would all fall out, and so for the last few days, she has asked me repeatedly (while opening her mouth wide) if her teeth are still there.  Bless it.

In other happenings, little man has been into EVERYTHING!  Like put it out of reach and he can still get it – that kind of getting into everything.  We have a gate on the top of our stairs so he didn’t tumble down the stairs, but he hadn’t been trying to climb up the stairs, so we hadn’t put the gate there yet.  I noticed after lunch the other day that I hadn’t heard from him in a while.  Walking around the corner, I notice something out the corner of my eye as I walk by the stairs.

Oh yes, he did.  He was halfway up the stairs.  After taking a picture (yes, not the smartest parenting decision) and quietly walking up so as not to scare him and have him fall backwards, I swooped him up and set him back on solid ground.  And then I put the gate up 🙂  Praise the Lord for protecting him!

Too much fun!

As I was getting pictures ready for this post, I realized how much we have done in the past few weeks and man, it exhausted me.  You have been pre-warned. So, grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up, and get ready to soak in some pure cuteness.

I signed up to race a 5K with a bunch of girlfriends. It was the GiGi’s Cupcakes race, mind you, where you get a cupcake at the end of it – you burn the calories just to consume them again.  But nevertheless, we had a blast and even made some really cute shirts for the race (they say “5K Mommy – 3.1 miles of peace and quiet” 😉 )  The family enjoyed coming to cheer me on, and it also didn’t hurt that Anna and Elsa were there to paint faces and meet the eager kids.

After the race, Ed and the girls went to our Fuquay Varina Fire Station’s open house.  They had a great time riding on the fire trucks and getting to meet Smokey the Bear.  Complete with painted faces!

We had our last soccer game this past weekend.  I am a little sad it’s over, but Kinsley is not sad at all.  She said she is ready to do ballet again and no more soccer.  This mommy who played soccer in high school is sad about that.  She definitely struggled with being aggressive, running, and playing in the cold and heat, which are all essential parts of soccer – bless her heart.  I have to keep remembering that she is only 5 and who cares if she doesn’t have a sport she loves or even if she doesn’t like sports at all.  Say it with me, let it go.

We love going to the fair every year and seeing the girls experience it.  This year, Emerson was big enough to ride some of the rides by herself with Kinsley and she LOVED it.  That girl has no fear inside of her. Like none.  Kinsley would be scared and Emerson would be all smiles.  When Blake starts riding, I think we may have to take out a loan for the price of tickets…geez, they go fast.  Little man had a good time in the stroller just watching the people…I could do that all day too 🙂  On a side note, when did Kinsley start posing for every picture…who taught her that?

It is so funny how the Lord makes people and kids so different.  Case in point – for their birthdays, Kinsley wants a party with everyone wearing princess dresses and all the attention on her – Emerson, on the other hand, wants to just go jump at a bouncy place with a few friends.  Forget the party, she just wants the action.  So, thats we did.  Even Blake got in on the action.

Then, we went to Chili’s to eat food, cupcakes, and open gifts.  I love these pictures of Emerson opening her gifts.  She has such a love for life and is so excited about anything and everything.  In these pictures, notice her face – no matter what gift she opens, she has the same face and is super excited.  Sweet girl.

Here is her showing off her backpack and sunglasses while waiting for her sister at the bus stop.

And last, but not least, we have been gearing up for the fall and Halloween.  First up, carving pumpkins.  The girls picked out the designs, helped dad clean out the pumpkins (yes, they actually did help), and then helped carve them (no, they didn’t help much – by this point, their attention span was gone!).

For Halloween, Kinsley wanted to be a mermaid, Emerson wanted to be a pirate, and we decided to dress Blake up as Mr. Smee.  They wanted Ed and I to be Captain Hook and Tinkerbell, but that was a no go.  Dressing up at Halloween is not in my giftings as a mom.  They had a blast getting candy and walking around with our neighbors.  Emerson kept saying “this is so much fun”. Our neighbor dressed up as a warewolf…what a creepy costume!

Fun was had by all.  Poor, sweet Emerson keeps saying “Halloween is coming up”..bless her heart.  She can’t comprehend that Halloween has already passed and Thanksgiving is next.  Until next time….