Bob-tracker

And in other news, Bob has written a program that will track him as he drives (using the GPS on his phone). That way, in the evening Parker and I can see how long we have before he gets home. We can see one of his coworkers in Austin on it too. You know it's a slow night in the Post home when we sit on the couch and watch his friend drive home from work on the laptop!

Half Mary Moms

Last weekend, my friend Holly and I ran the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. The week prior, the weather forecast was all over the place. For most of the week we thought it was going to be warm, and were concerned about heat and dehydration. Race officials even ordered extra cups and ice. But at the last minute, the forecast changed to cold (w/ dropping temps) and rain. We put lots of energy into trying to pick out clothing that would keep us warm, but not hot, and dry. At the start of the full marathon, the temp was 47.
There were some good showers on the drive to the start that caused lots of anxiety, but we only had a few sprinkles during the actual race. We started the race wearing trashbags for warmth and dryness (lots of people do this, so we didn't look as weird as you think). After about a mile or so, we discarded them. After about a quarter of mile or so, we realized it was easier to run if you poked arm holes.
By the time we finished our half, it was 44. I read in the paper that the Kenyans (Kenyans always run/win marathons) complained about the cold. Note to Kenyans: Wear more clothes!

Because of the dreary weather, the jet flyovers at the start were grounded, but it was still exciting standing, huddled with thousands waiting the countdown to start. At one point, a blast of cold wind hit us, and the entire crowd squeeled, and then cheered, as if to say "What are we doing out here! This is crazy! Lets go!!"

During most of the race, the miles seemed to tick by. There were lots of spectators, despite the weather, and lots of interesting things to see along the way. People holding signs - "This seemed like a good idea in September" and "Toenails are for wimps". We saw a group running clothing items they had made out of Crown Royal bags. We added to the levity by wearing signs on our backs. We got lots of attention from other moms!

It was really nice this year to have a training partner and a running buddy on race day. Usually I run alone and listen to my ipod, but for many of the long training runs this year, Holly and I ran together. Chatting about new things we're cooking, how to get our children to behave and where we would live if we ran away from home made the miles go by much more quickly.

Here we are about mile 6 or so. My finish time was 2:19:35 I think, which is an improvement over last year, so that's good. I think it works out to a 10:39 pace, which is pretty good over 13 miles. I'm not really into racing and trying to go super fast, for the most part I like to just keep a steady effort and enjoy myself.
They had lots of neat tracking/results sites this year. Here are mine: http://www.runpix11.com/dwr07/21/finord.php?LastName=10060&lan=&aset=0
If that link doesn't work, you can go to Runtherock.com and put my bib # in on the results page. Bib #10060

Family outting

(I'm catching up on posting pictures...)

We had some beautiful weather last weekend, so we took advantage and went on a family outing to the Dallas Arboretum. We met some friends there and wandered around and let the kids jump and run and roll around. There are tons of paths and green spaces and sculptures, plus there were several gals out there decked out in their bridal/quinceanera dresses, so that was fun for Parker to see.

Pigtails

I always thought that pigtails referred to braids, but Bob says it means "two ponytails". Either way, Parker's new favorite hairstyle is two ponytails. She finally has enough hair to wear it that way too. I think she looks adorable like this! But try to imagine me trying to get her crazy wavy cowlick-y hair not only parted, but up into ponytails while she wiggles all around excited about going to school. We are usually late on two ponytail day.

One of the benefits of letting her laundry pile up is that when I finally wash it all, Parker likes to help put the dresses on hangers. She'll sit and methodically hang dresses until she goes through the entire pile. She likes hanging them in her closet too.

In the Christmas Spirit

Last week Parker got to put up her own little Christmas tree. We got it for her last year, and she liked it, but this year she LOVES it. She has really enjoyed decorating it, and she's very proud of it - any time a friend comes over, she takes them and shows them her tree immediately. And every morning, or when we return home from somewhere, she requests that I turn the lights on.

Also notice the outfit she picked out herself:
A short sleeve Easter-themed shirt
A skirt w/ strawberries on it
sparkly shoes from her Halloween costume
headband w/ glittery beads
and the additions (my choice) to keep her from freezing: leggings, long sleeve shirt underneath, and socks. That's nearly a whole load of laundry on one kid!

Man a-loose

Dangerous neighborhood we live in.
About a month ago, our phone rang, and it was 9-11 calling us!

Turns out a prison trustee had run off from a work release detail that was clearing brush just across the lake from our neighborhood. They played a recorded message telling us to stay indoors and lock everything up, etc. If I had that info earlier, I might have spent less time standing outside watching the police helicopter circle overhead. They caught the guy a few days later in a neighboring town.

And, we've gotten warnings from the neighborhood association lately about not only coyotes, but bobcats prowling around! We are being warned to keep an eye on our shitzus so they aren't a tasty meal for the local wildlife.

Shoes glorious shoes

Tiny mouse

I had a request from Parker's Aunt Paula to show the tiny mouse that Parker uses. She can use the big one too, but it's my work mouse and it has a bunch of side buttons that are programmed and that causes her problems sometimes. She can work the tiny one just fine, drag and drop and even scroll. Her favorite sites right now are www.northpole.com and the Hasbro website.
Excuse the grubby mouse pad area, we've had some spills. She has requested a pink mouse and a pink keyboard for Christmas, and hopefully Bob will help Santa find that, along with a computer for her so we don't have to share any more.

Thanksgiving dinner

For Thanksgiving this year, we stayed in Dallas and tried to maximize our time at home to rest and relax. For the Thanksgiving meal, we were invited across the street and had a traditional southern meal (all the normal stuff, plus collard greens and hotwater cornbread) that my neighbor cooked. It was very nice, and Parker had a blast playing with her friends.
The day after, Bob smoked a turkey breast in his smoker, and it was really good! We made our own traditional meal of turkey, dressing and potatoes and apple pie. Parker had Ramen noodles eaten with chopsticks.

New Tree

We got a new tree! We needed something to replace the one that fell this summer to prevent our shade garden from baking in the afternoon sun. We chose an Autumn Blaze Maple, like we have in the front yard. It gets very pretty red and orange leaves in the fall.

BEFORE:
This is Bob out pre-digging the hole for the tree planters


(acutally, he wanted to make sure they didn't hit a sprinkler line, but it's funnier to act like he couldn't wait for the planters to get here)

AFTER:

It's kind of hard to see and to tell the scale, but it's a nice sized tree. The best part is that the nursery planted it for us, and it has a one year guarantee.

While we waited for the planters to get here, we debated whether or not it would rain. Parker braced for the weather with her new rain coat and kitty boots. She asks me everyday if it's going to rain, and she's had her coat and boots hanging on her chair since she got the rain coat.

Bob did more work on the bathroom. He's sealing the grout here. He also stained and restained the trim, and will probably install it in a day or two. We cannot wait to have this bathroom functional again!

Trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house

Since we are spending Thanksgiving in Dallas this year, Parker and I made a trip to visit her Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) last week. It's a 3+ hour drive, and Parker did pretty well in the car. She was entertained by her DVD player and a constant stream of snacks and gum. Normally when we drive, she shouts out song requests and I have to frantically punch through the CD trying to find a certain song she wants to sing. Either that or we sing one of 3 spanish songs she's learned in school, over and over and over.
While in Nacogdoches, I went for a run down Raguet street and got my oil changed while Parker stayed home with G and G. I returned to find that Parker has suckered Grandma into a game of 'Take Cover, It's Raining!'.

Artsy Bob picture

Bob has a new phone, and apparently, it can take pictures in Sepia tone!

Fit to be tied

I started to post a picture of Parker throwing a huge fit in the car, but I've reconsidered. She looks too sad! We went out to eat pizza at a different restaurant than usual, one that is NOT near Baskin Robbins. Parker mentioned she wanted ice cream, so Bob and I were discussing popping in to a store to get a pint of vanilla and Parker proceeded to lose her mind. Crying and hollering and trying to get her point across that she did NOT want store ice cream, she wanted to go to an ice cream parlor.

"NOOOO!!!
I WANNA GO TO THE PLACE WHERE THEY GIVE IT TO YOU!
NOT THE STORE!!
THE PLACE THAT WE WENT A LONG TIME AGO WHERE THEY GIVE IT TO YOU.
IN A CONE!!! A CONE!!! THEY GIVE YOU A CONE!!
VANILLLLLLAAAAA!!!!".

The really sad part is how hard it was not to giggle at how upset she was over it all. We did go ahead and make a detour to Baskin Robbins, which we would have done anyway, but we were able to get her to agree to some additional terms.

Playing in leaves

Last weekend Bob raked up a pile of leave just for Parker and her friends to play in.

We have been having unseasonably warm weather, so Parker has been enjoying playing outdoors quite a bit.

Inverted headstand

I'm quickly posting this before I'm tempted to turn it into a Christmas card. Yes, I rotated it 180 degrees, and it looks equally funny at 90 and 270 too!

Parker and the Pumpkin

I forgot that I didn't post a decent picture of her pumpkin. She has a great smile on her face, doesn't she? They both do, really.
She's wearing her last year's school backpack, which has last year's lunchbox in it, filled with plastic food.

More Halloween pics

I did a little impromptu photo shoot with Parker one day and got some fun shots.

And some funny outtakes. She was dancing in this one I think.

This is after Trick or Treating, sorting through the loot. It is before Bob and I took our percentage. Bob said that at every house, she'd take a piece of candy and then ask him "can I have this one?" . Her favorites so far are suckers and Smarties and Nerds. So far she is complying fairly well with the 'one piece per day' rule and not bugging me too much about it.

Funnies

I've been talking to Parker about good sportsmanship lately. Specifically that we don't say "ha ha" when we beat some in a race. I was going over it again, after I totally kicked her butt in Hi Ho Cherry-O, 3 games to zip, that after a game we say "good game, good game" (like in sports).
And she added "And if you lose, you say 'Bad game, bad game.' "

---------------------------

Driving home from dinner and ice cream, an old favorite song of Bob's came on, and he was singing aloud. Parker handed him the remains of her ice cream cone and said "here Dada, you can hold it up to your mouth and it can be your microphone!" .

Pumpkin Carving

By Halloween day, we still hadn't carved our pumpkin yet, and we had a small window of time to get it done after Parker got home from school but before Trick or Treating started. Parker designed her own face, using a stencil maker on Better Homes and Gardens Website.

I taped it on, and the next step is to punch holes through the template to transfer your design onto your pumpkin. I figured I'd just do that part real quick and we'd be on to carving. Not exactly. Parker wanted to do the punching too, so I let her try, assuming she'd do a few and lose interest. Not exactly. An HOUR LATER she was still going, determined to finish, despite my efforts to draw her offsides. And of course her attention span is only about 3 minutes, so she'd punch for 3 minutes and then stop to ask random questions, and then she'd start again after I suggested maybe we were ready to carve now. Clearly, she got Bob's gene for working on a project until it's complete.

Once the carving part started, and she realized she was expected to get her hands icky, she remembered she needed to jump in the trampoline and sing Halloween songs, so I did the rest of the carving.

I have a few more pictures of her costume, but the need editing. I'll try to have those up soon.