Breast Cancer Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon on Sunday. I was very ready, but it was a HARD day. It started out bad when my shuttle was super late. I arrived within minutes of the race starting. Not much stretching happened. Ouch. I didn't feel great from mile 6 on and I struggled more than I had on any of my past long runs. So that was a bummer, but I did it and now I'll do the River Run (15K)here in a couple weeks.

My training partner, Cherie.

Zoo Field Trip!

Issie, Kyle, Drew, Ben & Tucker

Tucker's buddies from Ms. Patti's Porpoises!

Last Thursday all 4 year olds at Southside Methodist Preschool headed to the zoo. It was too chilly for me, but they had a blast.

Happenings

Jackson's "cave" that Tucker made for him. This dog tolerates an unbelievable amount of abuse. He is Mac's favorite climbing wall, pillow, drum, etc these days!
His life is so tough he thinks he deserves to sleep on the couch (I kind of agree it the least we could do for him... Kyle does not agree.) I found him here in the middle of the day with me in the house. Gutsy move, dog!

Tucker at Daddio's birthday party.

For Daddio's birthday February 10th Tucker was, as usual, in charge of party planning. He wanted a sign at the door when he got home from work, so he made this one.

He wanted streamers hanging from Mimi's ceiling.

Pre-birthday cake photo op.

The frog cake. We went for chocolate bread pudding (the yummiest dessert on the planet maybe) at Stonewood, as well as this cake. The Ryans don't like to be limited to one dessert option. In reality Tucker complained because he doesn't like bread pudding so Mimi got Tucker this cute frog cake. Tucker attempted 33 candles.
A few days before Daddio's birthday was the MUCH anticipated Grand Opening of the beach Chick-Fil-A. The Ryans love dessert and we love Chick-Fil-A. We just had to be there for opening night. The Balls came with us. It was crazy, but the "best"??? part was the cow. Below is the sequence of events that occurred as the one year olds (Mac & Carter Ball) noticed the cow.

1. All smiles. Happily enjoying their chicken.

2. The cow approaches. Mac sees him coming.

3. Apparently NOT a fan. The cow left and both he & Carter kept one eye on where that cow was the rest of the time there.

Other happenings include Tucker's newest creative pasttime. The dinosaur zoo.

He ALWAYS has a plan. All day long he thinks of the next thing he wants to do/make or what we should do/where we should go tomorrow. Just a sampling:

"Tomorrow after school we should go to the children's museum..."

"When we get home I want to make a picture of the carousel from the circus."

"We need to eat at La Nopalera for lunch tomorrow."

"You said we were going to get Go Gurts at Publix. When are we doing that?"

It is hard to describe how the requests come one after the other so fast - especially in the car - and I'm constantly saying "later" and "maybe" and he is recording in his memory every answer so if I give ANY hint that it will happen, he can hold me to it!!

His plans usually involve art projects and eating. Hmmm.... a bit like his mother.

Favorite activity these days.

Mac has agression issues.

Haiti

Good friends of ours here, Jay & Diana, have been living in Haiti this year running an orphanage that they built over the course of a couple years with their non-profit group Lespwa. These are amazing young people who have had a vision for the people of Messailler, Haiti since their first mission trips there in high school. They got out of Haiti the day after the earthquake for their personal safety, but returned with all these supplies this past week. Jay and Diana and Jeremy have been in Haiti together, but Jay and Jeremy went back (through the Dominican Republic) with several more friends. It is awesome.

To read more, check out their blogs:
jershurk.weebly.com or jayanddiana.weebly.com

If you have been wanting to donate to Haiti and you want to trust that 100% of your money is going directly to the people, their organization, Lespwa, is doing great things. There is a button on the bottom of the website for Earthquake Relief.

www.lespwaworldwide.com

Do you need paper??

If you are looking for note cards for yourself or children, an invitation, or an announcement I would HIGHLY recommend www.papermavens.com!! It is Sally's newest venture and it is adorable stuff! Go check it out.

The boys -- Mac is about two months older than Tucker was in the original picture.

Click below to see Tucker.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1691/3089/1600/DSCN1876.jpg

Sweet Grandpa

We made an unexpected trip to St.Louis last week when we learned my Grandfather was very ill. He passed away last Monday. He was a fantastic person and lived a full and amazing life, so we truly enjoyed celebrating him for the week.

In the meantime, Tucker got to see his first snow (that he can remember) and his first sledding experience. It was wicked cold outside, so I let Kyle have the fun! I did go outside long enough to take this picture and yes... they wore gloves and tons of other gear when they actually got out there. When I get time, I'll upload the video. Below is our little cool kid in his blazer before the funeral.

This is a terrible picture of Tucker & Cia, but somehow it is the only picture we got of the cousin-love. Cia is Tucker's perfect friend because she thinks it is great to follow him around and do what he wants to do.

Back at the ranch... our sweet morsel!! Do not be confused. This is Mac in Tucker's chair and in Tucker's old pjs. We have this EXACT picture of Tucker on his first birthday... I really need to dig those pictures up to compare.

Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Christmas, cont.

Nan & Pop arrived for New Years and brought more Christmas. Tucker's quote while opening the present above (a "real" mixer for his kitchen) was "Oh My Gosh. I've ALWAYS wanted one of these." In his 4 years on this planet, he has wanted one of these for nearly 18 months. That is as close to "always" as you can get!

The attitude we are dealing with a lot of the day these days... ugh.

Christmas morning.. one month anniversary.

December 23rd was a good day.

It's really fun to hang out at Daddio's work when your Daddio sells CAT equipment. Tucker got to drive a mini excavator and a bulldozer and a dump truck. He was in heaven.

Also on the docket for the day was a big cookie-making session with Mimi. We made MANY cookies. Tucker LOVES using the mixer and being the "sprinkle station."

Pals

Poor Jackson is often the subject of their play (the patient who needs a shot, the cowboy, etc.)

Tucker loves "Kanga." One morning before school Tucker lost Kanga as a punishment. (Taking his beloved items away is the MOST effective behavior modification we have!) He cried and pleaded and promised to never do anything bad again. He finally pulled it together as we headed to school. I told Ms. Patti when I picked him up about the incident that morning and she told me this funny story: That day they happened to be making their Thanksgiving head dresses and each "feather" coming up had something they were thankful for. One of Tucker's was kangaroos. She thought this was odd when everyone else was listing off their mothers and fathers! Classic Tuck. Kanga is happily back in his arms. He sleeps with this giant thing every night.

Teaching Mac letters & sounds.

Mac loves his rockin' sled dog...

And we love this new Flip -- Thank you, Mimi!

Merry Christmas from TER!

The Program

Tuck and the guys from Ms. Patti's class as the "gray donkeys going clip-clop-clip-clop on the way to Bethlehem..." This year we could have been up on stage with the 4 year olds singing all the songs by memory after hearing them for weeks and weeks!

After the program with baby Jesus.

One year ago we went to this program with a 4 day old... sweet little Mac :)

New Life

One of my favorite things is when Tucker rediscovers toys that have been in a tupperware bin for a long time -- He found his Mr. Potato Head family three days ago and has been ALL about these new friends. He has some crazy names for each one that I couldn't possibly try to spell for you.

Boat Parade

Jacksonville has several Boat Parades around the holiday season. There is one downtown on the river. One down at the beach on the intercoastal. And then there is the little boat parade on the San Marco duck pond. It is certainly not as grand or wild as the other two, but all the kids in the neighborhood LOVED the model boats all decked out for Christmas.

This is a tugboat pulling a full crew from Charlie Brown Christmas. Tuck's favorite!

From the back seat this morning...

Tuck: "Wait a second... is Jesus born every year on Christmas morning?"
Then: "Is there just one Jesus for the whole world?" ... "Well, I think there needs to be a lot of Jesus' because everybody needs him."


While watching the Magic Brownie infomercial on in the background:

"No one's brownies turn out right." (I have NO idea where this is coming from)
Then he points to the TV: "You should get that thing. It's a much better way to cut things. Your brownies never cut in perfect squares." ... "We NEED that thing!"
(every time he sees a commercial he comes to tell me what we NEED!)

I need to start writing down every funny thing the kid says -- I always remember long enough to tell Kyle but we struggle to remember the conversation!

Big last day of school today before Christmas Break -- Pizza, Pajamas & the Polar Express! He could barely go to sleep last night. I can't even imagine how wild he will be on Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving Dinner... a bit late

We had Thanksgiving Dinner with several of Carolyn's closest friends at Plantation this year. Sometimes you just have to document just how many pictures it takes (and even 40 pictures later, there isn't the "perfect" picture!)