I Think I Have Made An Enormous Mistake

A few weeks ago I registered Cindy to run the Color and Glow 5K with me on November 1st out near the Lakeland Airport. I thought to myself, Self, "What better way to introduce your daughter to running than by doing a race with you that is not timed AND allows you to get doused with glow in the dark paint at the same time?"  So the next day we began our first official day of race training. If you are supposed to start small, then we are overachievers who started microscopically. After two laps of the small loop in the neighborhood behind our house (running for 60 seconds and then walking for 60 seconds for a total of 8 minutes), Cindy was pretty much done. And by "done" I mean talking about how her shoulders hurt, how the heat was going to kill her and how she felt like they she was "definitely going to throw up."  The next week we did some training over at the practice track at the high school, which had very "mixed results", shall we say. Finally, this past Saturday, in order to properly celebrate the one-day, freak-of-nature October cold front we got, I took the kids up to run around Lake Hollingsworth.  Luke was completely pleasant as he made his way around. Cindy on the other hand actually uttered the words, "I hate you, Mom" by the time it was over.  So I guess you could say things are going really well!

Now That's Using Your Melon

I really, really hate admitting this, but I actually did learn something incredibly useful from the stupid Yahoo homepage this summer.  I am probably a thousand years late in knowing this fact, but what you see before you is, indeed, the very best way to cut and serve a watermelon:

Wedges: OUT.  Spears: IN.

Golazas Galore!

We have now completed two full games of Luke's soccer season. And it is already going so much better than last year, simply by the virtue of the fact that the other kids are not all seven feet taller than Luke.  In fact, he is one of the taller ones on his team this year!  Selfish me has not been taking a lot of pictures, as I have been simply watching with my actual eyeballs, but I did manage three okay shots so far.  Today Luke had a hat trick!  I have been so amazed by his progress.  His footwork is very good for his age and surprisingly, he can be pretty aggressive.  He did take a swift kick to the thigh today, which brought tears and a nasty spill, but he shook it off pretty good after a hug from Mom :) 

Taking on the world, or Conner, the giant kid from Kindergarten who is now an ogre

The Luke special: the breakaway.  In the background, The Jacob special: Looking intimidating.

Definitely not my best work, but this happened just before Luke scored his first goal today.
He psyched out the goalie and put it in on the side he was not expecting :)

Definitely the best part of the games.  After Luke's first goal, these two did a chest bump.
Ryan is the best teammate ever!

If I Don't Do This Now, It Will Never Happen

It dawned on me that I never actually finished my epic "end of summer" 

post during September like I promised.  

But I finally got most of the pictures imported and well, that may have to suffice.  

SUMMER OF 2014: The year we did some stuff

Planted some cactus

(which may have died, don't tell Grandma!)

Luke learned to dive! Three cheers for someone else having the pool!

Playing some Plants vs. Zombies Risk for the first time.  

Which we got for Christmas.  7 months ago...

Visiting the SPCA or "Kitten Shop."  Watch out for Skipper, he's nuts.

Dad's birthday! While grandma burned her finger in the background...

Cindy making some sweet moolah with Uncle Rico.  Actually, we did a small yard sale 

and here she is selling shells she collected at the beach 10 for $1.  

Right after I told her that NO ONE was going to buy them.

Double Bingham ball with Uncle Chris and cousin Wyatt!!!

Building robots and painting the Duck Dynasty version of the Enterprise.

Mid-air cousin time!

A little shopping for Cucuface's birthday...

Being exhausted...

Cindy sells seashells down by the garage door, while Luke guesses the speed of 

an upcoming pitch at the baseball game.  Either way, you make a dollar.

Lego temple!

Olivia time!

Grandma and Grandpa time!

Getting to see snow time! And by snow I mean sliding your finger along your skate

 after two laps and collecting a tablespoon of crushed ice.

Cindy's sweet shop, open for business!

Indian crafts to celebrate our heritage!  Tomahawk chop!

Luke and the most exciting dream catcher in the universe!

I interrupt this post to bring you an adorable picture of my niece, Olivia:

And now back to our regularly scheduled posting.....

Swimming in grandma and grandpa's wading pool

Trying sodas of every flavor, including this one which, according to Cindy, 

tastes like "cooking spray."  Mmm, mmm good!

That day my mom caught World Cup fever...

I caught it too! Luke, not so much.

He had important sleeping positions to try out....

And bead scorpions to build...

Real scorpion suckers!

And some cousin time.  

How would you rate our summer, Addie?

Me too.

***Disclaimer:  I did not take all these pictures in just a few days. Cindy really does have just three shirts she will wear.  Ever.  And one is a bathing suit.

Is It Just Me....

Or does UK Top Gear star Richard Hammond...

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...look a lot like the love child of Dudley Moore and Hugh Jackman?

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A Cindy Quickie

Have you ever had those moments as a parent where you are trying to have a serious teaching moment but your kids are trying to be funny and disruptive by making a dumb comment and as hard as you try to ignore it, you find it funny and can't suppress your laughter? Especially when your spouse is able to suppress theirs?  This was me last night during scripture study:  

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I am being played by Ryan Gosling, Jacob is being played by Steve Carrell.  We were reading in D&C 34 and the Lord is telling Orson Pratt about some of the signs of the second coming.  After reading that the "moon will be turned to blood", Jacob asks the kids to think about how that could happen.  How could the moon be turned to blood?  After thinking a minute Cindy says, "Astronauts dying?"  And then I was dying.  Alone in my principals.  Oh, come on, that was FUNNY!  Ill-timed and obviously not the right answer, but still funny.

Hot Off The Press

Luke has started blogging.  Here is the link:  www.lukeyville.blogspot.com  Check in often, he seems to be quite enamored with his new hobby...

Six Things I Learned This Week

1.  Crocs is now making golf shoes.
2.  Luke's favorite part of a fortune cookie is the lucky numbers.
3.  No sandwich will ever be better than the Publix Ultimate sub.
4.  If there is a spiderweb located anywhere along my running route, I will find it with my face.
5.  Five pounds of gummy bears goes a lot further than you think it will
6.  You can find absolutely anything on Pinterest.  Exhibit A:

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A Luke Quickie

Today the kids did not have school so I took them to Goodwill to start working on Cindy's halloween costume.  As we walked in the front doors, a police officer was leading out a very strange man in handcuffs.  Cindy was very shocked at this scene and was a little startled by the experience. At dinner tonight, I told Cindy to tell Jacob what she saw at Goodwill.  After she told him about the man, Jacob smiled and asked, "Oh yeah, what did he do? " Luke replied,  "Maybe he wasn't doing good will to people."  Rim shot!

PSA

I have now been typing medical notes for an orthopedic doctor for a little over a year, and by so doing I have learned something really important that I would like to share with both of my readers. I have learned that the plot of Rookie of the Year is completely implausible.  I mean, he breaks his arm and the "tendons" in his shoulder heal a little "tight"? Please.