Road Trip to Dover

On Sunday, Brian and I had the chance to go to the NASCAR race at Dover. We are NASCAR fans through and through and we always get excited about the race. I wanted to bring my Canon 5D with me, but unfortunately, it was pouring until just before race time, so I didn't want to risk it with the conditions. Instead, I brought my point and shoot and did the best I could.

We got up at 4:30 AM to drive to Dover and then tailgated with friends before the race. We thankfully had a tent to keep the weather at bay. We grilled burgers and sausage, talked, laughed, and had a great time. Then it was time for the green flag. Thanks to my "personal weatherwoman" (you know who you are :0) I knew the clouds would part and we would get the race on. We sat in Turn 1...looking straight down pit road.

Brian's favorite racer is Clint Boyer and mine is Tony Stewart. Jimmie Johnson won (BOOO!) but Tony had a strong finish in 9th place and Clint came in 15th. Joey Logano had a horrible wreck but thankfully was okay. He rolled the car 7-10 times before coming to a stop.

Once the rain cleared, the sky was amazing. Driving home I saw this cloud formation out the car window and then I was really sorry I didn't have my "real" camera. The point and shoot didn't go so well :0(
We had a fabulous day with friends! These kind of days make memories! Between Brian's triathlon, the kids' soccer games, and the Race, we had a HUGE weekend! Oh, and to top the day off, the Ravens won! Actually they annihilated the Browns! It really doesn't get any better than that.

Weigh In: Tell me about your favorite sports memory!

xoxo,

Brian Completes The Triathlon Sprint

On Saturday Brian competed in his first triathlon sprint. I know I talked about it before, so I won't add too many details other than to say he did well and we are so proud of him! I don't have any pictures from the swimming portion as I was his official lap counter, so I had to concentrate on that job. Here he is (below) finishing the bike portion (over 15 miles) and you can see Ty and Ladybug cheering him on from the side of the road.


This is when he is transitioning from the bike portion to the running portion. My father-in-law (green coat) was there to cheer him on and my neighbor was also there for support.

Here he is finishing the running portion. His official time was 1 hour 50 minutes and 16 seconds. The time on the clock was the time from the first person starting the swim. Since they staggered the start, the time was not the time of each individual.

Happy to be finished!
*Whew* About 15 minutes after this picture was taken, we were on the road to soccer games. Ty and Ladybug had 10:15 games and we only missed the first quarter. Now that is a good start to the day...a triathlon to get you going in the AM.
Congrats, Brian for a job well done! (((Hugs)))

P.S. All of these images were taken with my point and shoot. I couldn't lug around my big 5D while trying to encourage him and count laps, so I took the Sony Cybershot!

The Girl Who Takes No Crap From Boys

Meet Ladybug's awesome 5th grade teacher, Mr. G (squatting down in the huddle). He runs a flag football after school program for his 5th grade students. From the time students are in kindergarten at this school, they look forward to playing flag football with Mr. G. Now it is my baby's turn to play.


Meet Mr. B. He is a the husband of our gym teacher, and a father of a child in Ladybug's grade. He rocks too. He helps Mr. G. with flag football every year. LB is in the foreground in the tye-dye shirt. Keep your eye on her.

Yeah, my baby is tough and takes no crap from boys. Look at that face of determination!

She is a heck of a blocker.

She could do this all day. Take your time, Mr. B.
No sweat...she will just keep him there.

This football thing? It's not a problem for her.
P.S. She also scored a few touchdowns that day too.

I am thinking of an all girls NFL league. He Tracey H., your daughters want to join in and kick some butt? ;0)

(No boys were harmed in the making of this documentary. Well, emotionally maybe, but not physically!)

All kidding aside, the boy LB is blocking is one of the most athletic boys in the school. He is also competitive. He is also the son of a good friend of mine, so I adore him, but I can't help being proud of my daughter holding her own against the big boys! Go LB!

A Girl and Her Dog

Ladybug and Buddy:





He looks more fierce than he is. He is a big baby, not wanting to leave his mama's side. Yeah, he is my shadow and won't budge from me. He is actually curled up at my feet here in my office as I type. Every now and again, when he is feeling feisty, he will go out and play catch with the kids. I just so happened to have my camera handy ;0) And before anyone calls animal control on me, yes, we feed him...A LOT. Yes, he is a bit underweight (when I took these pics he was still trying to gain weight back from being very sick with diarrhea), no he is not wasting away, and yes, the vet checked him and said he is not too much under the ideal weight for his size and breed. *whew*

Today I am enjoying a wonderful breakfast with my dear blogging friends, Jan (who also happens to be my aunt in-law) and The Church Lady (who happens to be my cousin in-law) and A, who happens to be one of my dearest friends. We are meeting at a restaurant and will sit and chat like friends will do. I know I will feel the stresses of the week roll right off my back as soon as I am sitting there with these three other happy ladies!

This weekend is packed:

Sat. morning= Brian's triathlon then both kids have soccer games
Sunday = ALL DAY---Dover International Raceway for the NASCAR race. Go Tony, Go!

See you on the other side ;0)

xoxo,

This and That Thursday- Contest Winner

I promise to post some other pictures besides Maine soon. I swear! Would you believe I am only about 1/2 way through those images?!? If only there were 100 hours in a day...










I ♥ this image of Ty: He was belly laughing and I caught him by surprise!


~My friend, N, whose father has been diagnosed with cancer, is having a very rough go of it right now. Please send her your warm thoughts and prayers. As you can imagine, she is trying to juggle being a wife, a mother to three, and a supportive daughter to a very sick father. Please, please, please keep her in your thoughts.

~Yesterday I was eating breakfast with Ladybug (one of my favorite times of day...the morning holds such promise...) and she asked me something that I misunderstood, so my response was way off from the question. I laughed when I realized what I did and told her that "My brain has not kicked into gear yet." She smiled, raised her foot all the way to my head and said, "I'll kick it into gear for you!"

~Ty has horrible poison ivy and I am scared he will be scarred on his legs from all of the damage he has inflicted from scratching. *sigh*

~Brian will be doing his triathlon sprint this Saturday(0.6 mile swim, 15.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)...keep him in your thoughts so he stays healthy and does well. Go, Brian, go!

~On the same day, Saturday, my friend Ray will be running a 31.07 mile race (50K). Keep him in your thoughts too. The thought of running 31.07 miles just kills me.

~I am swamped with Rec photos! I have finished 4 teams, have 2 teams to edit, and still 4 teams to shoot. It should've been done all in one day but the darn rain ruined everything! Ach!

~The answer to the "What did Brian give me for my birthday" trivia contest was:

Season Passes to Broadway Across America at the Hippodrome Theater! We will be seeing
1. Fiddler On the Roof
2. Dreamgirls
3. Young Frankenstein
4. In the Heights
5. Stomp
6. Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps

Go back and read the clues...now do they make sense?!? ;0) I LOVE Broadway shows. Love. Them. Brian...not so much. He doesn't like "all the singing." Uh, that is the point of a musical, Honey! Anyway, despite musicals and theater not being his thing, he knows how much I love going out and seeing live performances, so he got us season passes! He is too darn sweet and spoils me to death. I guess this means I need to suck it up and go to a few more demolition derbies with him! ;0)

Several of you were close and several of you had good ideas and even more of you cracked me up with your answers! I put the following people into a basket because they were the closest answers:
~T
~The Church Lady
~Tracy
~Janis

And the winner is.....................(drum roll, please).............................

THE CHURCH LADY!

Congrats... you need to decide whether you would like a print or something from Nine Acres Designs. Email me and let me know!

Thanks to everyone who played!

xoxo,

Wordless Wednesday- Leap of Faith

Skepticism is the beginning of faith. ~Oscar Wilde

I will announce the winner of the Giveaway tomorrow...so hurry and put your guess in before 5PM today! (Make sure you put the guess in the comment section of the other post, not this one!) Some of you MIGHT be close on your guesses. Some more than others, LOL!

Bar Harbor Sunset and a Give Away!

Back to Maine again...this time Bar Harbor at sunset: There are many kayaking companies in this area that offer sunset kayak tours. Beautiful, huh?










So guess what Brian gave me for my birthday? Something I have always wanted, have asked for many times but have never gotten before Sunday.

I will give you some hints:
~It is not something you can touch.
~I would stomp every time I wished for this and didn't get it.
~I might have to walk up 39 steps to get it.
~It is the gift that keeps on giving.
~In October, when I start getting the gift, I will not be dressing up as young Frankenstein, for sure.
~The coat Brian bought me as an addition to this gift makes me look like a dream girl.
~It may involve some music on the eaves of the house.

How about a contest? Whoever guesses correctly what the gift is will be entered to win a product of their choice from Nine Acres Designs or a print from my gallery (8 x 10 or 5 x 7). If more than one person guesses correctly, I will then pick a name out of the hat. Be sure to leave contact info if you enter so I can ask what you would like to have!

Weigh In: What was the gift Brian gave me for my birthday?



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Now playing: Natasha Bedingfield - Love Like This
via FoxyTunes

I Had the Most Amazing Birthday Ever

**Edited to add a shameless self promotion** :0) I just found out that for the 5th time one of my images, this time "On the Mountaintop" was chosen as the "Spotlight Image" for the Aminus3 community of photoblogs! I am honored and thrilled! Thanks Am3~

My birthday was yesterday. I happy to announce I am now 37 beautiful years old. Holy crap, am I really 37? Wow. Sometimes it feels like I am still a teenager!

I was seriously spoiled yesterday! I won't go into details about all the wonderful and thoughtful gifts I received, but I will tell you about the one thing that made me cry. Happy tears, that is.

Those of you who know me really well know I worry about my relationship with my son. He is JUST. LIKE. ME. and so we push each other's buttons. I worry all the time that I am not doing the best job with him as I could as a mom. I love him so much it hurts, but at times it feels like he hates me. It keeps me up at night.

Well, this is the card he gave me for my birthday yesterday. He picked it out himself and was so proud for me to read it:

Happy Birthday, Mom from your son.
So much of who I am today is because of you...
The way you raised me,
the example you set,
the guidance and support you gave so freely
have helped me
set goals for myself
that I might not otherwise
have considered...

Thank you, Mom,
for being who you are.
And for being
such an inspiration
to me.


Happy Birthday with Love,
Ty

That was in the morning. Then, yesterday evening, as we sat enjoying the cake Brian had for me, he said, "Mom, that card is true you know."

That is SUCH a huge leap of faith for him to say that. He NEVER says things like that to me.

*sniff* I am crying while I type this. This was the best birthday present I could have ever received.

I will tell you more about my birthday as the week goes one, but this is about all I can take tonight.

Thanks to all for the Happy Birthday wishes on Facebook and in the comments over the weekend. You all rock.

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Now playing: Green Day - 21 Guns
via FoxyTunes


P.S. Brian took all the pics of me with our little point and shoot camera. I wasn't going to add pics of me to this post, but I did because he went through all that trouble to document the little moments...thanks Honey! xoxo

Thankful Friday- I am Thankful I Don't Wear a Shower Cap In Public

Bar Harbor, Maine:














What I am thankful for this week:

~Having bright children.

~That I get paid to do what I love.

~That I have better fashion sense then to wear a shower cap (yes, the plastic kind) in public. (Yes, I really did see someone do this.)

~That I didn't take Ladybug into Spencer's to find a Halloween costume. (Have you seen some of the products in that store?!?)

~General Foods International French Vanilla Cafe (Naturally Decaffeinated)

~Excellent teachers.

~Butterflies when I kiss my husband after 13+ years of marriage.

~That God has let me live another year (almost.) My birthday is Sunday, y'all! ;0) Another year older and another year wiser, so they say!

Weigh In: What are you thankful for this week?


See you Monday!