Mt Bethel Soccer Spring 2015!

Season opener yesterday! This year we have the Pink Phiranas and the Black Panthers!  Hannah played an awesome game yesterday. She loves defense and played full back the entire game. She was aggressive, hustled and didn't let any balls past her. I was so proud of her. She has improved so much since last year. It was a really fun game to watch!

Here she is doing a throw in.

I didn't have the best angle for pictures as we were sitting behind the goal.. next game I will get better action shots. The Phirana's won the game yesterday, they are a good little team!

And then there is Drew. He is on the black panthers this season playing up a level on the K-1st grade team. I might have fibbed a little about his age at registration. There is not way he could play with new little 4-5 year old this year, I would be scared for those kids. Drew did amazing. Even being the youngest by almost 2 years with some of the kids he didn't show his age. He was one of the best players out there and dominated the field.

He had a good breakaway at one point and I think his eyes got bigger than the goal. One on one with the goalie and he put everything he had into trying to score, he ended up kicking a huge kick that went over the goal post. A few inches lower and it would had been awesome.

While Drew begs to play goalie so he can dive on the ball, he generally has always played offense. He is a fast little runner and will do everything he can to get that ball to the goal.  I am so excited for the season ahead. I love watching both kids play soccer, selfishly... i hope they continue through the years as it may be more fun for me than them!

East Side Pirates - Season Opener Spring 2015

Drew is playing for the East Side Pirates 5 year old league this spring. He LOVES it. He asked every day if there is practice or a game because he can't wait to go!

The first inning Drew played catcher. He took this position very serious and was already ready and watching. He did a good job, it was so cute.

He also played 2nd base and out field. Here he is sporting his sunglasses and hat making sure no balls get past him. He was 3 for 3 on hits... each one he slammed with the within the 3 pitches. He did great!

At the end of the game, Drew could not wait to run over and hug is buddy Trent from school. He was on the other team, the Blue Jays. Drew was SO excited to play against him. They were really cute!!

The game ended with a 15-15 tie. At this age they play for 1 hour 15 min regardless of score.   A gorgeous day for baseball. We will be spending a lot of hours at the fields this spring!!

Puerta Vallarta - Chad and Kate's Wedding

Here's part of the gang that went all the way to Mexico to celebrate Chad and Kate's wedding. It was a quick trip, but the perfect amount of time to relax and enjoy time with friends. The picture above is us... and the Renicks and Harbisons.  A little Georgia, Florida and Minnesota mixed together!

It is beyond rare that Todd and I ever get a picture of just the two of us!   This is our FIRST time ever getting away with out the kids. I was a little nervous and we missed them a ton. But.. .they were in awesome hands and Tess and Jake, then Grandma and Grandpa. The kids said they had a great time.

I don't even know what to say about these guys except they are the self designated groomsmen and have a long running joke with Chad about white Levi's. So, here they are. We stayed at the hard rock hotel and they were having a red carpet fashion show... so we snuck in!

The white levi guys and the beautiful bride.

And here is Chad and Kate. A gorgeous and perfect beach wedding with about 40 guests. Out of all the wedding I have attended, this was by far the happiest and most in love couple I have ever seen. They are so perfect for each other and we couldn't be happier for them.   I truly wish these two nothing but health and happiness for their life together.


And now, after Seaside, Mexico, and me in Vegas this last week for work.. I am ready to sleep in my own bed! Lots more travel ahead in the next month, but at least there is work mixed with pleasure!!

Eastside Pirate Baseball Spring 2015

Drew is finally playing East Side Baseball! He couldn't be more excited about this season. He is on the 5 and under Pirates team. I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed him up. I was used to low key mt bethel recreation. This is 2-3 practices a week and games. No one told me this. Either way, so far he loves it and is having a blast. The fields are awesome set up with batting cages and all. The picture above is Drew for his practice. All set up with his bat, helmet, glove, bag etc..

I caught this cute photo of him at practice last week. All smiles.

Here he is with his coach working on batting. Todd is one of the assistant coaches. After Drew's first practice he came home and said the best part of baseball was that "daddy was helping coach". I thought that was so darn cute, I melted.   I just hope he has fun and enjoys it. He is already learning a lot and can't wait for his first game.

Hannah starts soccer this weekend with her first practice. She is all excited to get back on the soccer field. It looks like it will be one busy spring on sports fields for us!

Seaside Half Marathon 2015

This past weekend we headed to Seaside, FL with the Jaillet family. Susan, Jason and I were signed up for the half marathon.. 13.1 miles, and everyone else was doing the 5k.   We didn't have the greatest weather, but it didn't stop us from having a fun and relaxing weekend if you consider running a half marathon relaxing :)

BFF's Lila and Hannah who are inseparable.  We stayed at Watercolors resort  and had this awesome beach house. The girl had their own room with a tv. They thought that was pretty darn cool. Drew slept in Todd and I's room on a daybed. He was insisting he did not want to be in the girls room!

All the kids got these frosty snow cone things. These are not your normal snow cones. Susan got a coconut creme pie snow cone that actually was topped with graham cracker crust. It was delicious.  Definitely worth going back to Frosty's again!

Drew was determined to play on the beach. We were all hanging out eating seafood in seaside and he kept running down to the beach, so I naturally would follow.  He looked at me and said "mom, it's cloudy but it is still beautiful, I love it here"  He is just so darn cute sometimes I can hardly stand it.  Then an older guy dressed all nice in slacks and a golf shirt said hi to Drew. This gentleman was missing an arm. Drew said, hey " what happened to your arm? Did a shark eat it in the ocean". I wanted to crawl in a hole. The guy starting laughing and said, well.. sometimes when you get older your arm just falls off. Drew looked so scared, then the guy said - just kidding " yup, a shark ate it"  He was laughing, Drew was scared, I was embarrassed. Thank goodness the guy was so nice and didn't seem to mind Drew's questions.

Finally, on Sunday, we got up at 5:45am for our half marathon and 5k. I started training end of November with 5am workouts at orange theory fitness and only did long runs on the weekends. I wasn't quite following a training plan, but worked out as much as I had time to and hoped for the best.

After 2 hours and 22 minutes of running I crossed the finish line! I hit my goal of 10 min or less per mile ( yup, I am a turtle) and never stopped running except for one bathroom break at the half way mark. It was a flat course, and after training in Atlanta running on hills the flat course was pretty easy.  I felt great until about mile 11, then I was like.. hmmm, legs are getting a little tired?!? :)

Here is Susan and I post race. She is the one that pretty much talked me into this and made me sign up. I am glad she did. It was just the motivation I needed to get out there on a Saturday morning in the rainy cold winter weather and go for a 10 mile run. I know I would not had done it otherwise! Sometimes it is good to have a friend to kick your butt in gear every once in awhile!

I thought I would be happy this was over, but now I feel like I need to set up a new goal. I did realize through this I have no desire to run a full marathon just due to the time it takes to train, but wouldn't mind finding another half marathon to work towards in the future!  We'll see what I can come up with!