Seizing the Good Spring Weather

 We've not had much spring yet. Flurries on March 21st and 2-4 inches on Monday! It's been more fun sledding. I seized a few minutes of semi-good weather on Sunday before church to snap these spring preview pics.

The Big Race

Archie did it, and I am SO SO proud of him! He completed his FIRST kids' marathon last week in Virginia Beach. In the three months leading up to race day, we ran 25 miles in one-mile increments. Some of those miles were run in uncomfortably cold weather, too. He ran the final mile with 4,500 other kids on race day. His time was 10:24 - not bad for a first timed race. Mom was pretty nervous turning him loose in a crowd that big. After the race, he went straight to our appointed meeting spot and Hunt found him with no problems. My little boy is growing up. This feels like a major milestone.

Grace is never one to be left out of the fun. She ran the Leprechaun Dash - all 26.2 yards of it. Yes, that's right, like the distance across your living room. It was totally a vanity race, but Grace would have been devastated not to get her goody bag and tee shirt. As you can see from the pictures, she was pretty happy afterward. Her sprint was untimed, but we are pretty sure she was second across the finish line. Of course, the first out of the corral tends to have the advantage in such a short race. But the key is Grace made sure she was first in the corral.

I think more races are in our future. Who knows? Mom might even start running again.

Memaw Love!

Archie with the Rainbow Hair

While I must confess I'm chomping at the bit for spring, we've been having lots of fun this winter. Archie's three weekly highlights are Awana Club, soccer, and Church School. (There is a really great class for homeschoolers during my Tuesday morning Bible study. Grace loves her class, too.)

A few weeks ago, we had crazy hair night at Awana. I colored Archie's hair with washable markers. Grace was too afraid they wouldn't wash out, but she enjoyed her million pigtails. The kids have memorized SO much Scripture.

We've had snow a few times. They were calling for a "Snowquestration" storm yesterday, but it wasn't cold enough for the buckets that fell from the sky to really stick.

Archie is still entering art shows. He entered a clay sculpture called "Have a Ball" in an art show at Hunter's work. He didn't win, but he enjoyed getting his participation award at the ceremony. (Everyone enjoyed the punch and cookies afterward :)

Archie has run 23 of the 25 miles he needs to complete before March 16 when we head down to Virginia Beach for him to run the Final Mile 5-12-year-old race in the Shamrock Marathon. (A marathon has 26.2 miles and they do the last one together.) I didn't realize when I signed him up in December what a big commitment running 25 miles in one mile increments with a kindergartner was. Grace usually runs part ways then catches a ride in the stroller.

Tubing Fun and BIG Birthdays!

Archie was fearless on the big hill. I had to beg him to go down with me because he was so infatuated with doing it by himself. I finally convinced him two went faster than one, and he was sold. On the way home, Hunt explained the physics of friction absorption and why the back tube could go faster because of diminished air friction. (Knew everyone wanted to know that :)

Grace was only allowed on the kiddie hill, but she still had a blast. The best part was going with our neighbors whose kids are the same age as ours!

 This pic may not belong, but there's no way I can let Grandpa DeJ's SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY go by without a big shout-out! We were so glad to spend it in Chesapeake!

The Making of Our Christmas Card Pic

I Have a Dream

Recently, I've been reading some Martin Luther King, Jr. books with Archie. I gave him an assignment of writing down his dream. Once I got him to get past, "I want a new race car," I thought he came up with a nice dream for the world. "I have a dream that nobody would get sick. I hope they stay healthy for Ever."

Grace is too cute. She has no clue what's going on and hasn't learned to see the world through race yet. Archie rightly decided it was not fair that black people and white people couldn't always go to the same schools. Grace got excited and interjected, "It's not fair. There needs to be schools for peach people, too, 'cause we're peach people." Guess that's what you get for always using a peach crayon in self portraits.