I Don't Want to be Handsome, I Want to be Awesome

So the battle on the way to school today was why Drew doesn't want to be handsome everyday, instead he wants to look awesome.  Daddy put him in a Dodger's ball cap, and that apparently turns you from handsome to awesome... cause of course the two can't go hand in hand in the mind of a four year old.

So as we started another battle down the stairs at school about why Drew should wear his jacket outside in the 30-degree temps... we get inside school with a grouchy Mom and child.  Then his teachers said a few things that shocked and impressed me, turning the morning around.

First of all we all got a chuckle out of Drew's use of large words about how he's feeling.  They were talking about how he yells out when he gets time outs or other things don't go his way... "I'm so Frustrated" (you must imagine the most pissed off face you can imagine as Drew is yelling this at you).  I had one or two of those calls this morning myself...

Then, they announced Drew knows how to spell my first name - I was thinking they meant M-O-M - but they clarified it was Brenda.  He showed off for me.  I then asked if he knew how to spell daddy's name... D-A-V-I dunno.  We gave him credit for the silent "E".

The raving about Drew kept on when the Preschool Director (who we don't usually see at school) mentioned how she was doing Insect Flashcards last week - since they were working on "I" and most kids think bugs are cool, but they're not familiar with them.  Except Drew started shouting out what they were when she was certain most kids would have no idea.  She asked how he knew - and he proudly told her I'm reading the bottom.

There were more anecdotes, but I think you get the picture.  Needless to say I changed my attitude this morning.

And since Drew wouldn't let me take a picture of his "awesome" self this morning, here's a goofy picture I took about two weeks ago.

Running Off Thanksgiving Dinner

I forgot I never blogged my Turkey Trot 10K race from Thanksgiving!  So here it goes...

About 2 weeks before Thanksgiving I decided to sign up for the local Turkey Trot, which is offered in a 5K and 10K distances (3.1 or 6.2 miles).  I opted to go the distance with the 10K... I am in fact training for another 1/2 Marathon after all.

As you can see from this starting line picture.. conditions were less than ideal.  It was raining!

While I normally refuse to run in the rain for fear of getting hurt, I decided to still brave the elements and donned my Niagara Falls Poncho and hit the road.  This was the first time I didn't have my own cheering section at the finish line, and while there was a twinge of disappointment, with the weather it's more than understandable.

And great news, I set a few personal race records...

1. After two previous 10K races, I finally ran the entire distance.  Last year I drank water on the race route and had a side-ache from hell.  This past September I was battling a sinus thing and started out too fast.
2. I set a new personal race record for the 10K beating my previous record by more than 7 minutes!  My official finish time was 1:08:08.

Miles 4.5-5.5 were rather muddy, and thankfully the rain started to go away, so I removed my visor and my rain poncho and had a strong finish - for me that is.  I was still in 83rd place (out of 109) for the ladies running this distance (1,030/1,291 overall).  Thankfully I run for my own personal bests and improvements and I don't put too much into the overall placement.  I'll never finish number one, and that's just fine by me.

VIDEO: Christmas Comes Early

So Christmas came early to our house... on Black Friday to be exact.  Dave and I were tossing around what to get Drew this year and one thing we really wanted to get was a punching bag - seeing as he's fascinated by Rocky and has been for more than 2 years.  Dave's wanted a punching bag for nearly as many years as I've known him (and actually almost got him one last year for Christmas).

Well scouring the Black Friday ads, I found a great deal on a punching bag/speed bag combo.  Dave and I said we'd check it out to make sure it wasn't cheap - because we need a stand.  We don't have anywhere to hang the bag without taking our entire house down.

We were in luck... at about Noon when we were heading home, we went to the sporting good store and they had one left.  The Floor Model.  We scooped it up, and since it wasn't boxed it couldn't sit under the tree - so Dave set it up.

Here's the father/son team....

In the Red Corner - Drew - a.k.a. Rocky Balboa - a.k.a. The Italian Stallion



And in the Blue Corner - Daddy - a.k.a. Dave



All I can say is... Like Father, Like Son.

Old Friends and Santa

On Friday we were invited back as alumni to Ms. Stephanie's annual Daycare Family Christmas dinner.  Of course we are invited back year after year because Dave plays an awesome Santa.... Here is last year's dinner and I think this is the first one  from two years ago.  There wasn't a point in doing it Drew's first year - he was the only kid she watched for a long time.

Well Friday night the house was filled with I think 9 kids and 11 adults.  It was a fun night of friends, laughs and prime rib (kids had pizza).  Forgive the cellphone pictures, I forgot my camera at home.  And then I played photographer for Ms. Stephanie with her camera - which is far more important than my own pictures.

The kids getting dinner ready (Drew is to the right side below Amber - who is in the black shirt).

Drew talking to Santa (Daddy).

Ms. Stephanie's 6 year old figured out this year it was Dave and then whispered to Drew the secret that Dave was Santa.  Drew came over to me and asked... I nonchalantly said that Daddy went to home to get his shoes - which he did forget for this costume.  You can't tell, but he's wearing socks instead of shoes.

And as you can see this party tuckered Drew out.  He fell asleep before we hit the main road home.  He cuddled with the Grinch all weekend (we ran the Bah Humbug 5K the next morning - and Drew was the designated Grinch holder).

VIDEO: Action Figure Rocky Reenactment

Drew uses his Rocky and the Rock action figures to reenact the fight in Rocky IV (play fight with Apollo Creed and Rocky).

I'll apologize now for the length....

Photo Scavenger Hunt

In one of Drew's recent fast food kid's meal toys was a kit to have a scavenger hunt. It included a list of items to locate around the house.

It was designed to have the child write the items and then seek them out. I made it a photo scavenger hunt, using my phone's camera.

Here are some of the "finds" from his last one:




Clock




Cell phone



Toothbrush



Hairbrush



Stuffed animal

He LOVES this little adventure game.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Time with St. Nick

We decided to skip the Mall Santa this year and instead paid less to have Drew with sit with Sears Santa.  For $10 we got several creative poses with St. Nick and Drew got to announce what he wanted for Christmas.... a V Reader.

Please excuse the cell phone picture of the actual picture - the flash disturbance on Santa's beard.

We really liked the creative shot!  And for the price we couldn't beat it - even with a Groupon.  So before Thanksgiving we had the obligatory time with Santa pose finished without the line!