Enough said?

Ok, wait. Enough is NOT said here. Kindergarten round-up. Lilly was serious and adorable and wanting to look like her sweet little self. She pulled it off. Zac had to jump in the picture. A few items of note:

On Zackary:

-Bedhead. Which he will not let me comb down. He’s 3.
-His current “camera smile.” Which he will not change. He’s 3.
-His too short pants. Which he picked out, and a compromise was refused. He’s 3.
-His Ball Blankie. Which he is still completely attached to. He’s 3.

On Lilly:

-Her curls, which now she wants “done” in specific ways. She’s 5.
-Dresses. Always dresses. She’s 5.
-Name brand shoes, which she begged for and got for Christmas. She’s 5.
-Beautiful, “look at me” smile, which she flashes hundreds of times a day. She is 5.

They take my heart with them wherever they go.

I am currently waking up in a hotel bed.

(By the time you read this, I’ll be home in my own bed cuddling my children. So your plans of robbing me while I’m away? Foiled.)

I travel a bit for work. Not as much as some people, more than others.

Experiencing many different hotels has left me with some insights on hotel living that I feel obligated to share with my readers. Yes, all 6 of you.

First, let’s talk key cards. Do they ever work correctly? Sometimes, from my own room I can hear the tell-tale sounds of someone down the hall fighting with their key cards. You hear the key card do it’s thing, and then a faint THUMP when the door does not open. Key card again. Louder THUMP. Key card. THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP.
Then and only then will the key card work. Or if someone else tries. It always works for someone else.

When booking a room, people often inquire about things such as tv, refrigerators, microwaves. I’m here to tell you that it is 2012 and there is something that most hotel rooms forget as necessity. Electrical outlets. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to rearrange furniture looking for a place to plug in my phone, computer, and ipad. Once I had to unplug the lamp and live by the glow coming off of said electronics.

While we’re discussing items that should be in hotel rooms but sometimes aren’t, I’d like to refer you to the dull headache that is just beginning to surface. Coffee maker people. It’s important.

There are some really fun aspects of staying in hotels as well. For me, since I travel for work, it usually means I get to go to sleep earlier and/or wake up later than those little ones at home allow. It’s also a great time to sit and watch TV since there are no dishes/laundry/housework staring you down. And they certainly have more channels than I do, so sometimes I get a little giddy about hotel TV.

Traveling for work is a much different experience than traveling for fun. If I get a working key card, an electrical outlet and a coffee maker, I’m a happy girl!

I’m linking up with MAMA KAT today

These days, even more than most, I enjoy the little things.

While my kids are not necessarily “little” anymore, I sure do enjoy them.

For St. Patrick’s day, we enjoyed cocoa with green whipped cream. The kids woke up to green milk. And, we wore green.

That was enough. The little things.

We spent some time at the park this weekend. At one point, Zac wanted to go pick flowers for Lilly (awwwww).
He told us, “Anyone come with me!”
So, we followed him.
He got MAD. I explained that we were just walking slowly and he was so fast that he got there first.
Zac? Still MAD.
Turns out, “Anyone come with me!” actually means, “No one come with me. The penalty for disregarding this very clear order will be a major temper tantrum.”
Understanding the words that my children utter? A little thing (that is actually a BIG thing).

Enjoying fun time, good conversation, and delicious food with a great guy? Maybe a little thing to many. To me, it’s a great thing.

Oh, and this little thing:Have you seen this? This is a magnetic child lock. I have them in all of the bottom cabinets in my kitchen. Installed years ago, they keep the kids from playing with the pots and pans. We don’t need them anymore, as they are 3 and 5 now and have better things to play with. But you know what I still NEED? To FIND THE MAGNET SO THAT I CAN OPEN MY CABINETS.
Yep, the magnet went missing this morning. Which means I can’t run the dishwasher (detergent is in a locked cabinet). If I could, I couldn’t unload said dishwasher, as many of the items go into, you guessed it, the locked cabinets.

The little things.

Seriously, anyone seen that magnet?!?

You know those amazing photographers, who can make everyone smile and look decent at the same time?

Yeah, that’s pretty much me.

I probably should have titled this post, “Yet another thing I rock at.”

(But that would be ending a sentence in a preposition, which is a big party foul. And “things at which I rock.” sounds pretentious. But I digress.)

My attempt at getting 3 children to look at the camera and smile. Normal. Smiles.

That’s close, but Zac… what are you doing?

Lilly! Zac! Come on! (Shyla, you are lovely)

Really?

I’m done!

I know I can always count on Harper!

Two years ago, I participated in my first Ragnar. I wrote about it HERE.

This past weekend, team French Toast Mafia was back!

A little bit about Ragnar, for those who have asked:

You have a team of 12 (or 6, or even 3 if you’re insane like a few teams are). It is a 200ish mile relay race. Each participant runs 3 legs of varying distance and difficulty level. The team is split into two vans, so one van will relay for five to six hours, then have a five to six hour rest while the next van runs. Then, it repeats.

What this means, is the following:

- You get to know your van mates very, very well.
- The vans smell very, very bad.
- You sleep, a little, in the vans. Which means backs hurt.
- You eat a lot of salty snacks, trying to stay hydrated.
- You learn to not even blink at the sight of a port-a-potty.
- You run during the day.
- You run in the middle of the night.
- You’ll be both happy and sad to see the finish line.

This event is so much fun. The first leg I ran was HOT. And Hilly. And, honestly, it kicked my butt. By my midnight run, however, I was out for vengeance. This leg was longer, and I was sleepy. But I owned it. I kicked this leg’s butt. My third leg? My third leg was pretty short, but most of it was straight uphill. I had no expectations for this leg of the race, especially after having spent too many hours cooped up in a van and with very little sleep. But, relatively speaking, I killed it.

Ragnar was a great time with my friends, both old and new. I missed my sister (who didn’t run this time, like she did last time), and other teammates who weren’t there, but really enjoyed hanging out with new teammates. It was also nice to know what to expect a little bit. Importantly, it reminded me just how much I love running. The “runner’s high” is a real thing, and I need to find a way to get that back more often. (This is in direct contrast to THIS POST, where I admitted that I’m not really a runner anymore).

Now, some pics!

Team French Toast Mafia ready to rock!

Take THAT Hill!
(I actually had a slogan for those hills that is slightly less blog appropriate.)

We are, truly, the most spirited team out there. High fives for everyone!

Nighttime – safety first!

Finish Line!

Thanks to my French Toast Mafia teammates for an amazing time!