I'll take it

A woman was quite surprised I wasn't her age this week, which is 27. I'm not sure if it's because I act immature as I lift weights, but I will go ahead and take it as a compliment anyway!

The newest member of our farm, I mean family

Connor saved his money and bought himself a flying squerril. These aren't very easy to find and they really aren't cheap. He stuffed bags for his Uncle Mike to earn a lot of the money which took hours and hours. We had to drive about a hour and a half north to pick up the squirrel he found. They are the cutest little things you have ever seen, but they run fast and jump long distances! they also make really loud chattering noises. there were 4 for him and 2 other kids to choose from and he chose the smallest, youngest and the quietest! He sits in a little pouch around Connor neck or loves to sleep in Connors deep pockets! About a week after he bought him I was airing out the house and I opened all the windows. Connor went to his room about 10:30 pm and discovered that Ruger has somehow gotten out of his cage! It was the most horrifying discovery for all of us! The kids couldn't believe I had opened the windows because of course their screens have holes in them. Connor and Kirk immediately started shining lights on the roof to see if he had jumped to the roof while Matt the pessimist checked the bushes to see if he fell 2 stories. I just kept praying to please find him, please not Connor, it always happens to Connor! We can't replace this pet one for the expense and 2 they only get a few a year. Connor and I lifted the bed, looked behind the tv, in the the clothes. My mom who was visiting lifted some clothes on the banister next to the door and out pops Rugers head. Mom luckily didn't scream or throw the clothes but calmly yelled out that she had found him! He's been a great friend and pet for Connor!

Georgia State Finals, and still not the end

Today was the boys State Championship for Gymnastics. I've never seen AJ quite so nervous! You can see it in the picture of him standing with his team. He just wasn't smiling his normal smile, no shoulder shimmies or anything. But then his first event which was high bar went great, way better than his warm ups thank goodness! And he was off to a great start! You can see the concentration in his face! He ended up having his best overall score of the entire season. He earned a 2nd on the floor, a 4th on vault, 5th on High bar, 6th on rings (with a horribly hard judge), 7th on pommel horse and barely missed a medal on p-bars. This put him at 6th overall in the State of Georgia! Not a bad place to be! This means he gets to move on to regionals which is held in North Carolina in a few weeks. Which means lots more practices, and no vacation for spring break since they continue to push through for the competition! Luckily we weren't planning a trip anyway!

Daddy daughter picture

OK so when people see Elle with me they comment how much she looks like me. Which secretly cracks me up. Look at this picture and tell me who she looks like!! Kirks teeth, kirks lips, Kirks eyes, maybe his nose, thats not mine. What she has is my body type and her face is too thin to see dimples deeply but she has at least one. This is Kirks baby girl!! I had nothing to do with the ratty bracelets she loves!! And you can't see the adorable side braid I did ;) But man is that a cute daddy daughter dance picture!

The best pizza sauce ever

I have mentioned this pizza sauce before and I have posted it on other websites but I find I need to share it just in case you didn't take me seriously and make it! I got it from the California Pizza Kitchen recipe book. I buy a 2 pound container of roma tomatoes from Costco so I basically make a huge batch and we ten to go through it. I also now keep fresh basil growing in my kitchen window and I like to grind enough wheat that I do half whole wheat and half flour. I only have a hand mixer so it counts as some of my arm work out! Please make it and enjoy!! I know the picture looks chunky but it's not, this is still in the simmer process. Title: Marinara/pizza sauce Description: you will never want any other pizza sauce, ever, ever again Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Olive oil 2 tsp minced garlic 1/2 pound roma tomates 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp kosher salt pinch black pepper 1 Tablespoon tomato paste *if you want it spicier, double the garlic and add 1/4 tsp crushed red peppers. roughly chop 2 fresh basil leaves and stir into the sauce after adding the tomato paste Directions: 1. heat the olive oil in a small nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Do not allow it to smoke. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until it just begins to turn light brown, 1 to2 minutes. Do not allow it to burn or it gets bitter. 2. Add the remaining ingredients except the tomato paste, and stir well. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until all of the liquid evaporates, about 10, well longer for me because my kids hate chunky tomatoes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool COMPLETELY before using on pizza dough (or it gets too soggy) You can store in the refrigerator for a week. Number Of Servings:1 cup, I double or triple since we like a lot of sauce plus some for dipping!

My latest race

A neighbor sent me a message over facebook saying" i heard you started running, there is a 5k at the end of April you can train for" I wrote back umm this was my 6th 13.1 in 2 years. But that sounds like a fun race thanks for thinking of me ;) Its hard to believe but my first half was on March 6th 2010! Mom and I went back and ran the same race that I ran for the first time with her. Its a small town about 4 hours from here and it's a pretty flat race unless you are tired then it feels like a long slow uphill! The crowds are small but enthusiastic which is really fun. I tend to talk to everyone when I run, I yell jokes, make comments about outfits, you know. I amuse myself and Mom hopefully! We didn't run this one for time we ran it because we still can! After a Doctor told mom she wouldn't run like this again, this was our celebration run! The night before when we checked in the officals weren't sure the race was going to happen or not because of a large storm cell moving in. The storm app said it was 80% rain at 7 in the morning. I have to tell you at 7am the race gun went off and the clouds opened and poured on us! We all looked up like really?? Did the shot break something?? It poured on us, we ran in shoes filled with water! Then to be really fun between miles 3 and 7 the tornado sirens went off the entire time! We all ran while looking over our shoulders to see if any officals would come tell us to take cover. A few people started running really fast to "get done sooner and out of the storm" we passed them again in a few blocks when they had to walk :) Anyway it was so much fun! As we ran down one busy road I was running outside the cones and the officer asking me to stay in the cones gave me a awesome belly laugh when I said I couldn't fit in the cones my hips were too big. That smile carried me from about mile 7.5-9. we aren't sure we care to run that particular race again, but I was glad we did it this time!

PS worlds ugliest race shirts!! they ran out of smalls and mediums and we didn't even care! But the medals were cute! Although the first shirt we got there was really really ugly! I'll post that too.