Walrus Tusks

This weekend started with a going away party for a dear friend. It was Friday night and I went out by myself, leaving Chuck to pick up the kids. This doesn't happen very often!

I got home in time to give the kids hugs and kisses before bed and asked Clark "Did daddy pick you up and give you dinner?" He started crying and said "No, daddy did not gib us dinner! I had no dinner wifout you, mommy!" Then Chuck texted me these pictures. 

The next day Aurora and I left him with Chuck once again to meet up with her Girl Scout troop for Girl Day at the UT School of Engineering. Aurora and her friends got to work a remote control robot, they learned about shapes, liquids and solids, division and subtraction, electricity, and aeronautics! They made rockets and used a flight simulator.

After a couple of exhausting days, it was nice to spend today doing laundry, cooking, and well... running 8 miles and playing with more friends. The fun truly never stops around here! Aurora loves her friends, Clark always wants his mommy and insists on sitting on one of our laps at all times, and Chuck doesn't get quite as much time to himself as he'd like, but he did get some quality time playing video games this weekend. And, eventually Clark told me about the french fry walrus tusks.

Reading, Writing, and Rora.

This week I had my first parent/teacher conference for Clark. In a way, I think it's kind of silly to do this when they're so little - but it was great to hear how well he's doing at school. He loves to dance and play, read and do puzzles. He pays attention and sets a good example for the other children. They've been having the kids keep journals and I got to see some of his daily drawings. 

Of course that's a guy with a yucky banana! The whole journal is just scribbles with Ms. B's notations next to the drawings, which is hilarious and adorable. She's also been taking photos of him demonstrating the competencies that 3-4 year olds should be able to demonstrate. Here he is interacting socially (dancing with the girls) and caring for classroom materials appropriately.

Clark is growing into an exceptionally silly and energetic little boy, and what he loves more than anything is his exceptionally silly and energetic big sister. I thought he'd really enjoy having some mommy/son time this weekend while Aurora was away, but he kept looking at me as though I'd betrayed him by letting her leave. "We have to go get Rora." No Clarkie, she's at Presley's house. "BUT I NEED MY RORA!" Even when she hurts him - he'll cry and cry until I tell her to calm down and leave him alone, then he laughs maniacally and holds on to her for dear life. So, while I think he enjoyed a quiet dinner out with just his parents, he REALLY came to life when Aurora came home! She made a hop scotch court in the driveway and our little neighbor Ruby joined in the fun. 

I did ask Clark's teacher if she notices him lagging behind in any area, considering he's the smallest and youngest in his class. She looked at me with genuine surprise and said that she has never thought of him as younger or smaller than anybody else. He holds his own, makes his opinions known, and has a big personality!

R&R

A week out from my second half marathon of the season and I am feeling great. Much of my focus this week has been on rest and recovery, though I haven't been as sore as I felt after the 3M Half Marathon last month. Monday Aurora and I got pedicures.

Tuesday I did a light jog and park workout, Wednesday was lunchtime yoga, Thursday I was super busy at work and barely got up from my desk, and last night was Girl Scout movie night. A few parents hung out and had wine and pizza while the girls played and watched Troop Beverly Hills.

This morning I found a yoga class about 1/3 mile from our house. I walked over and we did yoga on a beautiful rooftop deck. It was awesome! When I came home I noticed my Valentine's flowers (which I got free from the checker at HEB) had all bloomed.

After all this relaxing girl time, I'll be spending the rest of the weekend focusing on my boy (read: Aurora's sleeping over at a friends house). More to come. Namaste!

Love Austin Run Austin

We have had a very sweet week filled with Valentine's projects, cards, parties, chocolates, and ANOTHER HALF MARATHON!

For the second year in a row, I spent Valentine's Day morning running 13.1 miles in beautiful downtown Austin, Texas. I love running this town.

Once again, I ran as a part of Team LIVESTRONG and got to go to a team brunch with old friends and colleagues. I also scheduled a 10-minute massage at the finish line, and now that I've completed 3 half marathons, I bought myself a display for my medals.

Aurora helped pick out the saying. Every journey begins with a single step. It's not a super big display and I'm definitely planning on filling it to capacity! Aurora has a couple little medals from various events she's done but this one is reserved for half marathon medals only. I actually got an email from Valley View this week with photos from a Fun Run the school put on earlier this year. Here's our little girl trotting along with her teachers.

I have another Half Marathon coming up, and later in the year Aurora and I will be doing a 5k along with a few friends! We have the day off tomorrow and are planning on getting pedicures and snuggling. I don't get a lot of time with just my girl these days so we're both looking forward to it!

I ♥ us

This weekend we took a walk around Bee Cave Sculpture Park and I ran 8-miles while Aurora sold Girl Scout cookies at her very first cookie booth. The girls did great!

We spent an afternoon at Jump Wild, bouncing and running around at an awesome birthday party. Aurora wore her jumpsuit. I wish I had, too - it was quite a workout!

Clark was in the preschool minority with his prediction that the Broncos would win. Smart kid! We spent the first half of the Super Bowl food shopping without crowds, as usual.

We also spent some time this weekend working on the kid's Valentine's and I must say, Aurora is one sweet little girl... 

Open House

Today Valley View held an Open House for the entire school. They had a food truck, a huge bake sale, and every classroom, teacher, and activity was open and available. Aurora has wonderful teachers and second grade truly is the perfect combination of fun and learning. We got to talk to her new music teacher and play games in the GT classroom, but more than anything this ended up being an opportunity for Aurora to show Clark her classrooms and he loved every minute of it!

He was so excited to sit in his big sister's chair

There were experiments and handmade instruments at every table

Aurora made this game in GT; Dog vs. Cat

I learned that while she won't be able to play an instrument until Middle School, she can join the percussion ensemble or choir as early as next year. In GT (Gifted & Talented) they've been focusing on gaming strategy, which includes lessons in blocking your opponents from winning (think, tic-tac-toe style games) and making up their own games! She's really enjoying the program and I'm so happy that she got in. 

Today Aurora also joined the "lunch bunch," which (I think) must be the counseling office's way of getting shy or mean kids to form positive friendships. Aurora just wants to make friends with everybody so she opted in. It made me realize how much she's just like me. I've been spending a lot of energy these last few months trying to find groups and committees to join at my new job. I've found a regular workout group, joined the Green Team, and I opt in to every training, lunch & learn, and networking opportunity presented. That is clearly not the norm at the County. The moment I saw Aurora's eyes light up at the idea of joining the percussion ensemble, I saw myself in her in a way that I'd never really noticed before. 

Oh, and then there was this:

... which seems to have confirmed for Julian that Aurora is definitely related to his family as well. Yes indeed. What an awesome Open House!