150 or Bust

Chad did it!!! Chad rode in the MS150 this weekend and finished strong. I am SOOO proud of him. He did an amazing job. The one thing he said he didn't want was wind...what did it do Saturday morning early..start blowing crazy wind. He stuck with it tho. Saturday he rode 86 miles then came home collapsed at 7pm and then got up Sunday morning and rode another 74. He said today there was some MAJOR hills on the day 2 route. What are those people thinking when they plan a 150mile course to put hills on the second day. Crazy huh! He has been training for this for the last 6 months when my coworker Jeff talked him into it. He has really enjoyed it and said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

Chad did this in honor of Tina, my sweet sweet friend at work. I have been blessed to have a friendship with Tina over the past 5 years. She is one of the most amazing people I know. You love her within 5 seconds of meeting her. She is full of life and her joy is contagious. Tina was diagnosed with MS about 9 years ago and has carried a spirit of strength that amazes me daily.
To know Tina is to love her!

Chad's Words:
I was telling everyone in our small group to pray for no wind but it did still end up being crazy windy on Saturday most of the day but I told God at one point - some little kids kite party needed that wind. Then I gave Him the stink eye. When we stopped at lunch Saturday all the guys that did the ride the year or two before kept saying they've never been that worn out on the first day due to the wind. When I got to the last rest stop with 14 miles to go it took everything I had to make it. I got home and layed in the bathtub for 45 min then went to bed at 7:30.

The next day was fantastic for the first 30 miles with NO wind. We made it to lunch in record time. After lunch the wind picked up a little and there were 4 hills that nearly killed me but getting to the tops of those hills were the best feelings in the world.

Here are some fun pics...




Day 1-Before the race










Ellie & Jackson with Tina









5 miles out from the finish line









Chad crossing the finish line - he is in the blue long sleeve pullover

Ellie Dances

Ellie had her first dance recital this past weekend. Well..actually 4 of them this weekend. She did so good. We enrolled her in a new dance studio this past fall and she almost quit. She stuck with it and really has enjoyed it. Ellie is quite shy but once she hits the stage you would never know it (sounds like her dad). She took ballet and tap. Next year we are going to add Jazz. I think that might be her nitch since she enjoys making up her own dances. She is quite the performer. The girls that she took dance with are Anna and Annalisa. Annalisa is 7 and Anna is 6 so there is a bit of an age difference but even with that she kept up pretty well. We are so proud of her. I even teared up watching her Friday night do her ballet. So big!!!! At her last performance we took her tulips and she was so excited. She kept saying 'thank you mommy for my flowers'. My mom and I were staring at her today and were discussing how much she is changing and how beautiful she is becoming.

Cooper is One

Cooper turned one yesterday so we had an official party for him. It was actually his second party for this birthday - when Kiley ran the marathon we had family in town so we figured we might as well have a party then too. So I'm sure we've confused him into thinking every birthday will be a month-long celebration of him. Kind of like the first time I took Jackson to a Rangers game and he got a foul ball. Now when we go back to games he'll say, "When am I going to get a baseball hit to me this game?" I think I've been to 100 Ranger games and have never gotten a foul ball.

The events of the day started with the cake. When we gave Cooper his slice then put the candle in it and lit it, Cooper put it out between his thumb and forefinger. How tough is that? No big deal though. When he finishes smokes his cigarettes he puts those out on his forearm. He did look at Kiley after that like, "That wasn't a very good idea was it?" then he got that look on his face that I get after I take a big bite of pizza and realize it's still piping hot.

He managed to fight thru the pain until we got the Curious George pinata up. That was a big hit. PUN! So when did they start making pinatas out of unbreakable material? Seriously. I'm importing all of my future pinatas straight from Mexico City.

After all the little ones took swats at it with a foam bat I broke out a wooden bat and let some of the bigger kids beat the crap out of it until a tiny crack formed in the back of it and candy started slowly leaking out of it.

Cooper had a great time and enjoyed having some of his friends over. The Escalade power wheel was a big player. Here's the Post kids (Zoe and Emma) experiencing the raw automotive power we have over in the United States. Their parents, Jason and Mandy are missionaries over in Ireland. They came all the way over just for Cooper's birthday party. We have such commited friends.

I asked Cooper what his favorite thing about turning one was and he said, "Da da." Awe. But he was pointing at the remnants of his Curious George pinata so I think he was insulting me.

Of Marathons and Softball

Kiley ran a marathon! For real. She did it in 4 hours and 52 minutes. I rode with her on my bike for the last 11 miles and I was so impressed and proud of her. From my perspective she made it look easy. There were times when she was worn down but her concentration on her task and how she pushed thru when she got really tired amazed me. Way to go Kiley.

I love the attached picture. The last 50 yards is the part where they have fences on both sides and everyone is cheering you on. Jackson and Ellie and their cousins - Cade and Kennedy ran with her the that last part so you can see them behind her.

Thanks to everyone that came out and met her at different checkpoints. That meant the world to her and kept her going. She said after mile 15 things started getting hard but it seemed like there was someone along the path every few miles after that.

What else is going on? I'm on a softball team that stinks. We've played 4 games and have yet to win. In fact on the way to my fourth game I got pulled over for speeding and when the cop asked me if I was on my way to a softball game (i was right by the field and had on a uniform) and I told him yes so he asked how my team was doing so I told him, "Not only are we 0 and 3. We've been 10 run rulled every game." to which he responded, "I'm gonna let you off with a warning." Funny.

The last game we were up 10-7 in the 5th inning and the game went 7 innings. We lost 12-24.

The kids are good. Cooper is saying "uh oh" and Ellie has a dance recital coming up. Her pictures for dance are tonight and they want us to roll her hair and put make up and lipstick on her. Jackson scored his first soccer goal of the year this weekend. He was so excited that he started to pull her shirt off. He also had his first baseball game this weekend. I'm pitching to the kids and hit one of them with a pitch. He was crowding the plate though so I just threw him a little chin music. No biggie.

My sweet Ellie

I wanted to share something sweet with you about Ellie. As you know Easter is approaching and the topic of Jesus dying on the cross is very much in discussion. It is amazing to hear a 5 year old share what she thinks it all means. So as I put her in bed and we began talking about her cuticle tearing, how it bleeds and makes her cry. From there she compared that to how Jesus had nails go into his hands and blood poured down his arms. She said that it was a sad day when he died on the cross. Then she went on to tell me how he had dinner with his friends the night before and told them his body was broken and that he would shed his blood. She continued to tell me that our hearts and souls would go to be with Jesus in heaven like her grammy and grandma honey (so sweet). I asked her why they got to go to heaven and she told me it was because they believed in Jesus. I told her that Jesus died for all the bad choices that we would all make and we just had to believe in him. She asked if he did it for Ms. Jacqui (her teacher), Ms Jennifer (her other teacher), Mollie Ann, Ella, and Isabelle (all friends at school). I told her yes. She then asked me about her kitty lamp (i told her probably not). She laughed. I asked her if she knew how to have Jesus in your heart. She told me yes, she did it at school. I said really. She told me to bow my head and she would pray....Dear Jesus, please come into my heart today, tomorrow, Friday & Saturday. Amen.

Man, don't you just love to see how it works through the eyes of a child. I am not sure that she has made the actual decision of understanding the sacrifice yet but boy she is getting it and how amazing that feels to get to watch her soak it in.

mmmmm mmmmm Good!

Snow Days in Dallas

Snow days in Dallas are few and far between but we had 2 last week. The kids missed the first one since it came late in the night and then melted by the time they woke up the following morning. On Thursday afternoon the snow began to fall. Beautiful flakes. It stuck on the ground a bit so we got out Friday morning for a bit of playtime. Cooper wasn't sure what to think. He just stared at it and then he cried when his hands touched it.

Amazing Kids

I decided it was about time for me to do a bit of blogging instead of pressuring Chad to get it done....This last week has been crazy. Jackson and Ellie had the flu since last Wednesday. Ellie started the fever on Wed and Jackson followed quickly on Thursday. I have never seen my kids have the life sucked out of them. They were taking 5-6hrs naps daily. CRAZY. Today they became a bit stir crazy (been in the house for 7 days) so I think it is time to let them back into the world tomorrow. Luckily so far Chad and I have escaped symptoms of the flu. Cooper has a little runny nose but we think that is all it is. Whew..glad that is over.

So back to the title of my blog...kids are amazing. My kids always amaze me. With Jackson and Ellie, it is what they say, or how they are learning to read or tie their shoes. They make us laugh at these personalities that they are developing. Lately I have been amazed over and over by our sweet Cooper. Not only is he the cutest kid around (come on you can admit it) but I forgot how neat it is to see them learn new things at his age. I am including a couple clips of his new learned trades. The below video is cooper showing us his pitching skills. You tell him to throw it to you and he does. Amazing!

The next video is of Cooper learning how to put the ball in the hole of the toy. I tried teaching him this a month or so ago and he just didn't get it. On Monday I was attempting to teach him the same task and he got it! it was so fun to see him grasp it and get excited. It isn't on tape but when he did it the first time he stopped and clapped. Oh so sweet.

I feel so blessed to have these 3 sweet amazing kids. I look forward to seeing what new things they will teach Chad and I about how to embrace and experience life. Enjoy.