Great Amazing Race

Lindsey has been asking to run a race since she found out kids her age ran the 5K Habitat for Humanity race that I ran last fall.  When Matt mentioned a parent-child team race, David and Lindsey were on board.  She has been training for this one-mile run for weeks.  She usually trained with me, because David has a bad habit of getting distracted and running off in front of Lindsey.  That man makes everything a competition!
Today was the big race.  We came home from church and got everyone dressed for a spring day--the temperature was 65, so perfect for a day outside.  However, the closer we got to Millington, the lower the temperature dropped.  By the time we reached the race course, it was 48 degrees.  Poor Lindsey was freezing!  However, she was a trooper and still wanted to run.  David was certainly a trooper because he was missing Ole Miss playing in the SEC championship game for basketball.  While he was at the starting line listening to instructions, Cappy yelled from the parking lot "HOTTY TODDY!" so we knew Ole Miss had clinched and SEC championship. 

Lindsey and David did great in the race!  We think they placed second overall in their age group (age based on the youngest runner) but most importantly they had fun.

Ready for the race to start

I thought this was a cute shot of their feet, but David said I clearly just wanted a picture of his bottom.

Trying to keep the little runner warm

Madilyn and Lindsey warming up

One of the six obstacles they had to complete while racing

They make a great team

This picture is blurry but I wanted to include it because they look so cute running together

Little Trouble had to get in on the action--she had Cappy help her with one of the obstacles

Spring Break 2013

David took off work Friday to join us at the zoo.  The weather was beautiful and this was Kate's first time to truly understand the concept.  For the first time, we let the big kids (and David) ride a camel.  David complained about the waste of money, but I reminded him that this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride a camel.  Kate squealed at all the big cats and laughed hysterically at the monkeys, but the funniest thing she did was run up to a blonde woman screaming "MOMMMMMYYY!!!!" The woman was younger than me and looked very much childless, so she seemed a bit overwhelmed by a toddler running towards her in a full-hug position.  Benton wanted to know when we would get to see the elephant go poop again--one time, two years ago, and that is still his fondest zoo memory.

Life in the fast lane

I have neglected to update for the past few months for the same reason that I have neglected to take any pictures since Christmas--we are busy!  A few highlights from the first two months of the year:
Lindsey continues to excel in first grade.  She is reading predominantly chapter books, especially Junie B Jones, Magic Tree House, and Ivy + Bean series.  She has her last ballet class for the semester tonight, and we are taking the rest of the spring off to hopefully take tennis lessons. 
Benton continues to surprise us with how much he loves preschool.  He can't wait until kindergarten because he loves Miss Natalie.  He did the pledge for the school a couple of weeks ago and Lindsey said it was adorable.  He is still obsessed with Star Wars and any type of super hero.
Kate continues to be trouble.  She bites, she refuses to apologize, she screams in the car--but she redeems herself everytime she toddles over and says, "I wanna hold you" or "moon and back" (her version of "I love you").  She started talking in sentences and is now unstoppable. 
I started sewing, which is something I've said I wanted to learn to do for years and I am so thankful that mom took the time to teach me.  I'm very much a beginner, but I enjoy sewing for my kids.

This weekend is Spring Break, and we decided to stay around home this year.  We went to Tupelo to spend a couple of days with B and Popsey, and I was able to spend time with Julie and Elizabeth.  It is always fun to catch up with old friends.  Tripp came to stay with us one night, and adding a boy to the house doubles the noise level--but those two boys have the best time together.  Trying to get ready and packed with the four kids running around was not easy, especially when Tripp ran in to tell me that Kate had painted her face with fingernail polish. 

This picture is hilarious because it captures Kate's personality so well.  B promised Lindsey and Benton she would take them to Build a Bear during Spring Break, so while they did that, I took Kate around the mall.  We met up with them and Lindsey gave Kate a miniature bear.  Kate was not thrilled with the tiny version of Lindsey's bear and refused to smile for a picture. 

Mom let the kids pick any bear they wanted--and it shows.  Benton wanted an army bear, which is cool except that we have no camo in our house.  What makes this even better is that he wanted his army bear to have a leather motorcycle jacket.  He named the bear B.O.  Not Bo, but B.O.

Crazy sock day at school.  Those are some crazy socks.

Tacky day at school.  Lindsey remembered that I did not dress her very tacky last year, so I let her go all out this year.  She was definitely tacky.

When she sees a camera, no matter who the camera is pointing to, Kate yells "CHHHEEEESSSSEEEE" until someone takes her picture.  Then she says "I wanna see" until you show her the picture.  Cutest baby on earth, but she is a handful.  I think we had two well-behaved children and decided we could handle one more so God laughed and said, "Watch this!"

Benton's Valentine cards for his class.  I love that he was able to write his name on each one.

Of course he had Star Wars cards.  I did not get a picture of Lindsey's, because she quickly wrote her name, stuffed them, and put them in the box.  She is efficient at all things.

Hard at work.

Lindsey's homemade Valentine's box for school.

The first day of Spring Break, the kids were bored by mid-morning.  I pulled out paint, paper, and Q-tips and they got to work.

Painting her paper--and her fingers.

I think he said this was a ninja turtle--or a robot.

Definitely a princess.

Holiday Recap

This holiday season was filled with activities for the kids, so throw in a New York trip and a birthday party for Kate and we had one crazy fun month!
Lindsey had her annual mother/daughter tea at church where we decorated cookies and created crafts with friends.  This group of girls has been together for years at church and it has been fun watching them grow as they are now mostly first graders. 
This year the boys joined in the fun and had a mother/son party at Orange Leaf.  Typical of the boys, they never actually decorated cookies (just ate them) or created the crafts.  While the girls sat at tables working with soft Christmas music playing in the background, the boys ate yogurt then ran around the party room chasing each other for an hour.  At any rate, they had a blast.
Lindsey had her year-end dance showcase where she showed us what she has learned at Kids Only Gym this semester.  We watched her floor exercises, tap routine, and ballet dance.  This studio is very low-key and we love it.  Our tiny dancer did a great job in each area of dance.
Both kids had a Christmas party at school on the same day, so I was able to run over during exams to enjoy Lindsey's party for a few minutes but could not stay for Benton's (he did not care if I was there as long as he was able to party).  After their parties, we were finally out of school and able to enjoy our holidays!
Once school was out life slowed down and we spent a lot of time the last two weeks at home (bundled up inside!) enjoying time with family.
On December 23 Brooke and Daniel bravely offered to have a sleepover with L, B, and Tripp.  The kids watched Elf and ate ice cream and enjoyed time with their cool aunt and uncle.  Christmas Eve we went to the Ruffs' house for the kids to decorate cookies for Santa (Kate was able to decorate this year with a little help) and exchange gifts.  The kids have so much fun with their cousins, especially Benton and Tripp since they are so close in age.  Then we all loaded up and went to Anne's house for the Morris family Christmas.  Most everyone was there so it was an enjoyable night with the family.  We headed home to get the kids to sleep so Santa could come work his magic...
And he did!  Christmas morning was fun at home with the big two this year (Kate does not understand Christmas yet).  Lindsey has asked Santa for a Kindle Fire for months, and he delivered.  She had already received several chapter books for Christmas (along with an electric pencil sharpener and an encyclopedia) so she downloaded some apps on the Kindle--the word search app has kept her busy.  Benton threw Santa for a loop the week before Christmas by changing his request from Star Wars toys to boxing men. I think Santa had a hard time locating the boxing men, but true to his nature he came through. 
After unwrapping and putting together toys for a while, we headed to Tupelo to finish Christmas with my family.  Ben and Ashley and the boys were there so we thankfully had a house full this year.  More toys and unwrapping and putting together followed until we were all exhausted that afternoon. 
Since Christmas we have been cleaning, organizing, un-decorating, and having family fun (bowling!  sleepovers! ice cream!). 

 Lots of wild boys! 

 Fun with Fisher

 Lots of icing

 Caught them in action--both tongues are out in concentration

 Madilyn and Lindsey...er, Comet and Cupid

 Sweet friends!

 Lots of girls!

 Scroll back up to notice the difference in icing quantity between B and L's cookies

 Sara and I dressed alike--obviously didn't plan it

 Getting some help from Brooke

 Miss Independent thinks she can do it by herself

 Sweet girls--Lindsey is so good at taking care of the little cousins

 All five Ruff babies

 Kindle from Santa

 Boxing men from Santa

 Three little Ruffs under the tree

 Benton got lots of Legos this year--so David spent a lot of time putting them together

 Kid table at Popsey and B's house (missing Benton)

 Reading with B

 Playing with Aunt Linda

Thankful for Jesus's birthday that we are able to celebrate each year.

Start spreading the news....

David and I had a great weekend in New York with the Rishers!  We originally planned this trip in 2010 for a reward to ourselves for finishing grad school; however, Kate's arrival in December changed our plans.  Likewise, Will Risher kept us from going the next Christmas.  So, no one had a baby this year which meant we were finally able to go to New York.

Working out the logistics of the kids while we were gone was an ordeal, and I thought David would need to find me some Xanax in order to get on the plane.  Lindsey had a speaking part in her first grade Christmas program the night we left, so we missed that, which was a bummer, but both sets of grandparents helped out with the kids so we knew they were in good hands.  As I packed Wednesday night, Lindsey could have won an Emmy for her dramatic performance (DON"T LEEEAAAVE ME!) while Benton kept telling me I should pack more so I could stay longer so he could stay with B.  Night and day, those two. 

Thursday we made it to New York early evening, dropped off our bags at the apartment, then went to eat at Nino's, an Italian restaurant on the upper east side of Manhattan.  It was local and quaint, and the food was delicious.  They had excellent Caesar salads they made at the table, but the highlight of the meal was a fruit arrangement they brought for dessert.  After dinner we walked down to Rockefeller to see the tree and took in all the holiday lights on the way.  That night was cold and it was the perfect weather for seeing Christmas displays in New York.

Friday morning we were up early for the Today show.  We opted not to get there insanely early to be on the front row, and I am glad we did.  We hung out there for a while then walked over to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes.  I have now seen that show four times and it never gets old.  Nothing is better at putting me in the Christmas mood than seeing those high-kicking dancers and the live nativity at the end.  It blows my mind that there is a live nativity in the middle of Manhattan.  We left there in pouring rain and took the subway to Little Italy.  By this point we were all starving and grumpy due to hunger and rain, so we stopped at Sal's in Little Italy and had a bottle of wine and pizza and were all happy once again.  From there we walked through the financial district to the World Trade Center.  The new memorial for 9/11 had just opened, but there was an insane security line that took over half an hour to get through just to see the memorial.  While the fountains were very impressive, the wait in the rain was not.  We went from there to Macy's to get out of the rain for a bit and enjoy our 94th cup of Starbucks on the trip.  While at Macy's, we received a phone call that Lindsey had gotten hurt at school (she was fine) and that our credit card had been stolen (not fine at all).  Once we worked through those issues, we headed to the Union Square Holiday Market of local vendors then to dinner at Blue Water Grill.  This was an excellent seafood restaurant near Union Square that had incredible sushi as well.  I left off what could have been the coolest part of the trip:  as we were walking through the financial district, we saw a cute park that had several camera men in it.  We thought it might be some sort of protest or rally, so we stopped to check it out.  It was actually a movie crew filming a scene for the movie Winter's Tale that stars Will Smith, Collin Farrell, and Russell Crowe.  We kind of felt like movie stars! 

Saturday we started the morning a little later--but not much--with a run through Central Park.  I loved the idea of running through the park, but what we did not anticipate before we got to NY was the insane amount of walking we would do daily.  Our walk to the park and back was three miles by itsel, plus a three-mile run in the park.  While we ran, David went to Times Square to get us tickets to a Broadway play.  He was a trooper to do that for us!  I have been to NY four times but never seen a musical, so I was anxious to do this.  We got tickets to Nice Work if You Can Get It, which starred Matthew Broderick.  I get star-struck easy, so I was thrilled--and it was really an entertaining musical.  We spent the morning at the gigantic American Girl store, Lego store, Tiffany's, and FAO Scwartz shopping for family members.  Then we went to JoJo for brunch.  David and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the park and exploring the rest of the upper east side then met back up with the Rishers for a sushi dinner before the play.  Whiel we were in the park we realized it was the anniversary of John Lennon's death and there was a large group of fans around the Believe memorial singing Beatles songs.  Afterwards we wanted ice cream from Serendipity but there was an hour wait at midnight!  We opted instead for Baskin Robbins.

Sunday was another rainy day, so we walked up the upper west side and toured the Museum of Natural History.  It was cool to me because that book is the setting for much of Catcher in the Rye.  We left there for lunch with DAvid's cousin Missy at Five Napkin Burger, then we headed to the airport.  We had a blast despite missing our children and cussing the weather.  I was happy to come home to a big backyard and my simpler life, but we did truly enjoy our trip to New York.

 The carousel in Central Park--it's closed this time of year.

 Watching the ice skaters in Central Park with the Upper East side in the background.

 Shopping for Lins at the enormous American Girl doll store.

 Shopping for Benton at FAO Scwartz--they had enormous statues made entirely of Legos.

 A lego Statue of Liberty

 The Museum of Natural History.  We walked in and David instantly recognized the movie "Night at the Museum."

 This was inside the Plaza hotel.  There was a sign right behind the tree that said Gatsby because this is an integral part of the setting of the novel.

 There were gorgeous decorations throughout the city.

 In the rain, we had to snap a picture before walking in to see the Rockettes.

 All four of us at Rockefeller Center.  I need to make a note to myself to make sure my hemlines aren't so drastic between my coat and dress that I look like a bag lady.  The headband did not help the beggar look, but it kept me warm.

 Inside Radio City Music Hall

At the Today show