13.1 miles and a 5 year old

Phew! What a weekend. After training for 11 weeks and finding the time to run a total of 186 miles--- my half marathon was finally here. I cannot say enough how much I enjoyed it. The training, the race, the physical endurance, and the mental challenge- it was simply an amazing experience.

And much to my surprise, the training paid off in a huge way. I finished sub 2 (under 2 hours)- averaging 8:30 per mile.

I raced with 4 other "running moms" and happily crossed the finish line at the exact same time with two of them. All 5 of us exceeded our personal goals and ran faster than we expected.

The Rock N Roll Half Marathon benefited Susan G. Komen and boasted thousands of runners, dozens of bands, and a special concert by Bret Michaels at the conclusion of the race.

Afton made me a sign "My Mom Rocks- Go Mom Go!"

The "future runners".

Overall I placed 1,878th out of 10,000 runners. In regards to all the women who ran, I placed 617th. And in my age division I was 137th.

Bret Michaels :)

Our team "Solid Gold" rocked that race! We celebrated our success on Sunday night with drinks and dinner at Trulucks.

Thank you to all my friends and family who supported me over the past 2.5 months. Your kind words, encouragement, and training tips helped me cross that finish line.

Then on Monday, our sweet Afton turned 5 years old! We feel so blessed that she is "our girl" and we have been given the opportunity to raise her, guide her, and watch as she blossoms into her own little person.

 

 

My 5 favorite things about Afton this year: 

1. She is so kind, caring and loving to her little sister.

2. She is crafty, creative and a talented artist.

3. She loves dress-up, dancing, cheering, gymnastics and all things fancy. 

4. She loves bugs, riding bikes, digging in the dirt, gardening and playing in the sand box.

5. She always has a song in her heart and a smile on her face.

We did a small family celebration on Monday evening at Mi Chula's, complete with sopapillas. Afton's big birthday gift was an aquarium and 3 fish! She has been dying for her 'own pet'. Their names are "Goldie", "Fishie", and "Rose Flower".

On Friday her girlfriends are coming over for a "Tangled" movie party... pictures to follow of course!

Spring Break

Since we were in Florida just last month, we decided to stay in town for Spring Break. Which turned out to be a good thing- since the stomach virus floated around our house all week.

Luckily the virus only lasted 24 hours per person, so we did get a chance to get out of the house a bit.
We made our annual trip to the Dallas Arboretum for the Spring Blooms. 

 

It's our special tradition with Grammy- a yummy picnic lunch and beautiful flowers.

The theme this year was "Storybook Castles". Here is Afton scaling Rapunzel's tower.

Makes me wish I had remembered to plant tulip bulbs!

 Maisy was tickled with the goats. She thought they were so funny.

I love this photo- sweet girls.

 That weekend, Afton also ran her first 'road race'. I put Maisy in the jogging stroller and Afton ran next to us. The one mile run was to raise money for a baby girl in Keller who was born with a hole in her heart.

 

 

This Sunday is my big race, the Dallas Rock n Roll Half- Marathon.  I went to the Race Expo today and picked up my number and shirt. I have been training with 4 other "Running Moms. I can't wait for our big day!

13.1 here I come!

Pre-K

Afton had her Pre-K evaluation a few weeks ago. It is done to access "Kindergarten Readiness". And happily, she is ready and her teacher feels she will 'thrive in elementary school'! It was fun to see how much she has learned this year.

Her self-portrait on Day 1

Her self- portrait in January. It is a picture of her with baby Jesus. She LOVES to draw!

She knows all of her letters-uppercase and lowercase. And she has mastered half of her letter sounds. She can count to 29, make a pattern, name her body parts (except on that day she was at a loss for the word 'ankle'- ha!), can identify rhyming words, and hasn't met a shape she doesn't know.

Fine motor skills

Afton as real-life "Jack in the Box"

Areas to work on include following '3 step directions' and working independently (but this is pre-k, so who isn't working on this?!)

Silly girl!

She is also needing some help with recognizing numbers. Which I didn't even realize until the conference. Since she is always counting,  I felt she knew her numbers. But they get a little tricky for her when you put any number above 5 in front of her. So now we are playing a lot of "What Number is This? " and "Go Fish" to help.

The much-anticipated "Donuts for Dads"

Afton made that snazzy tie.

Since I taught pre-k, you might think I should have my kid reading by now. Maybe, maybe not. We read together all the time. And Afton likes to read the words "I" and "a" by herself :) But I don't "school" her at home. She'll learn when she is ready.

Valentine's Party

At home, we mostly play and have fun. Sometimes fun is working with numbers and letters and sometimes not. I would like her to know all her letter sounds and have those numbers down by the time she goes to Kinder- but I am trying not to stress about it. I know she will learn a lot next year too.

Afton's favorite day of school- the day "Q"and "U" got married. She got to be "Q" and a classmate was the "U". She will always remember that those two letters go together!

 

The ceremony took place in the little chapel. It was a special day:)

This year has been so amazing for Afton. Loving teachers, great friends, and so many fun activities. Her teachers say that Afton is the "Princess of the Class". She always sees the best in any situation and walks around singing. (Just like a true Disney princess!)

Cheers to a great year.

  I can't believe next year she will be in Kindergarten!