Just breathe...

I'm a fair-weather runner. I SO look forward to spring, because I get to start running again with regularity (and without my forehead/brain/lungs/fingers freezing). The sporadic running in the winter isn't enough to keep me in shape for my preferred long distances. It takes a couple of weeks to get my body worked back up to running the 6-10 miles I aim for on most days in the summer/early fall.
I love running long distances. It makes me feel strong and accomplished. Those miles can be tough to get through, though...especially with my wandering mind. In order to do well and finish strong, I have to keep myself from drifting too far into the beat of music, or fretting too much over the problems I'm currently facing. I have to talk my body through it..."stand up taller...shoulders back...head up...steady breathing, in two, out two..." or else I find myself slouching and panting.

During another contemplative swinging session on the playground today (what is it about swinging that puts my mind in the "deep thoughts" mode?), I was considering the parallel between the successful completion of a long run and the successful completion of a really tough day. I'm finding that in my most difficult moments, it helps a bit when I set my focus on the basics..."stand up taller...shoulders back...head up...steady breathing, in and out..."
Just a thought...

"Sunkist" and "Squirt"...or something like that. :)

She smiles in the sunshine...
I'm at my best on cloudy and moody days.

She blissfully soaks in the extreme heat...
I happily shiver in cold air.
She became who she is when she was
at the beginning of her second decade of life...
I'm ever changing and don't know who I'll become
with the next breath I take.
But we both dream in memories of the past
and smile at shared moments.
We love mint chocolate chip ice cream
(um...ice cream in general, really) and reading good books.
We love our children with our whole hearts,
and love each other as dearly as sisters.
I know she'll laugh with me when I'm happy
and cry with me when I'm hurting...
and she knows I'll do the same for her.
She's always one of the first to get down in the trench
with me...no matter how deep and dark...
and fight for me.
She's the truest definition of friend.
We cherish our time together.
It doesn't happen as often as either of us would like!

The last two times we've "vacationed" together,
we've both carried our cameras around to capture fun moments.
And both times we realized at the end of the week
that we didn't get any pictures of the two of us together.
Oh, well...we know we were there.

We got to go skating for a couple of hours for old times sake. :)
It was fun, despite the crash early in the evening...haha.

Our only picture together from the week
was at Chuck E Cheese.
It was one of those photo-booth, pencil sketch things.
It took us a few takes to get a couple of good ones
(one for each of us)
and I was going to post mine,
but I suck at the whole scanner thing.
So...you can just trust me that we're
super-cute best friends. :)

Two thousand, one hundred and eighty miles...

We started the journey back to Oklahoma on Thursday morning.
I wanted to take more time getting home,
because I felt like I was torturing the boys by
making them sit in the kiddie seats for so long...haha.
We went back to Madison County.
I wanted to find more of the covered bridges.
The boys had fun running through this one...
probably mostly because they were tired of being in the car.
The whole time they were running through it they were saying
"MOM! Take a picture of us running in the bridge!"
So I did, of course. Several of them.
Here are just two of the many...

We stopped at a hotel...
making sure the one we chose to stay in had an
indoor pool and hot tub.
We swam before bed, then again after breakfast.
It was fun and relaxing.

Here are my cuties...
ready for swimming in their new swim trunks...
(You can see the remnant of a tattoo on Dylan's belly...haha.)

And after swimming...wet hair from mom dunking them. :)

They were troopers on the long ride. They did really good.
We sang songs and had fun conversations.

Dylan="Mom, why do we get out of the house when it's on fire?"
Me="So that we don't get burned."
Dylan="Well, why does it burn us?"
Me="Because it's super, super hot."
Dylan="Does fire want to be hot?"
Me="Um...I don't think fire has a choice...it just is."
Dylan="So what if fire was on fire?"
....and it keeps going.
They're very curious about all sorts of random things.
Patience is necessary when traveling with two young boys.
That, and the ability to tune them out when you get
tired of answering questions. :)

They also napped a bit.
I can't see how this would be comfortable,
but they seemed to be ok with it.

They had a lot of fun in Minneapolis,
but they were glad to be back in Altus.
Camden asked what town we were in
every time we passed through one.
When we finally got to Altus,
he asked [again] what town we were in.
I said "Well, what town do you think we're in?"
He looked around and said "ALTUS!"
I asked him why he thought that,
and he started pointing to buildings and saying
"Because that building is in Altus,
and that building is in Altus...
and that's how I know!"

Dylan spotted the plane in the park and that's how he knew.
As soon as we got to the house, they ran into their toy room
and put on their cowboy boots, hats, and guns.
They were excited to be reunited with their favorite things...

Brownies for breakfast and ice cream with a fork...

We had some fun days in Minneapolis. :)

Here are a few pictures...
(I think I have close to 200 on my computer! So these are just some favorites.)

Camden, Dylan, and Gabriella playing with a baby toy together
in their cute footie pajamas.

Gabriella was very curious about the boys.
She watched them a lot...with a serious look on her sweet face.
She loves them and they love her.
Check out Camden's crazy morning hair...haha.


Gabriella and Auntie M...
Ready for the Mall of America.

We rode a few rides...

The boys played in Lego Land...
Camden was pretty excited about it.
I think Dylan eventually got excited, too.


Gabriella had fun with the straw.
So adorable, isn't she?

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese on our last night in Minneapolis.
They had never been before, and they very much enjoyed it.

Like I said...fun days. :)
I loved getting to spend time with my best friend.
It doesn't happen nearly enough.

We've only just begun...

Ahh...

What a day. I made the choice to travel through a few states with my boys in the backseat to spend Spring Break with my best friend Rachel, her husband Jeremy, and her baby girl Gabriella.
Not sure if that makes me crazy or brave...haha. But we made it.
I captured a few moments on the way. I'll share some of them with you. :)

The boys had their pillows and blankets to snuggle with.
I imagine it made the ride more comfortable...at least for a while.
They also used them to make tents.

The patient driver...
weeeeee...


We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.
I've always thought that place was pretty neat, with the cool toys and rocking chairs. Dylan had macaroni and cheese (which they call mac-ree-oni). He ended up with some of the tasty cheese around his sweet little mouth. Camden thought it was funny, and called it Dylan's "mac-ree-beard"...haha.

I told Camden the rules to the peg game.
He decided it was more fun to play his way.

Dylan got a kick out of my lunch time photo session...
and he insisted (with a giggle) that I take a picture of the biscuits.
He also wanted me to take a picture of the jelly...and butter...and spoon...

They had a fire lit in the huge fireplace.
Dylan had a hard time sitting still for the photo, so he's a bit of a blur...

After a few more hours of driving, my eyes started to glaze over. I impulsively took an exit, just anxious for a bit of a leg stretch (and some gasoline)...
and I ended up finding this little town
with a pretty church and covered bridges.
It was in Madison County.
So yeah...the impulsive exiting ended up being a happy accident. :)
I was anxious to get to Rachel's,
so I didn't spend much time looking for the covered bridges...
but I did get to run through one.


The pretty church in town...with RED doors!

I got to the end of town and pulled into a driveway to turn around...
and saw these signs.
It made me laugh.

We had a long day of driving. By the time we got to Minneapolis, the sun had gone down for the night and our butts were numb...haha.
But we're still smiling, because our adventure is just beginning...
:)

My reasons...

Camden and Dylan are everything in my world. They make me laugh (often in the same moment that they're making me completely crazy)...
They're amazing little people.
I was cleaning out my inbox on myspace and I ran across a Camden/Dylan story. I have to share it on here because...well, it's just funny.
We were riding in the car one day, listening to a preacher on the radio. (Kind of abnormal for us. It's normally programmed to some sort of rap...lol)
Anyway, so the preacher was praying. At the end of it he said "ah-men", instead of the "a-men" that the boys are used to hearing. From the backseat I hear...
Dylan="AH-men? What is AH-men?"
Camden=(in a matter-of-fact voice) "It's Spanish."
Oh. Ok. Question answered...


They both loooove singing. Seriously, they sing ALL of the time. Especially Camden. He even makes up random songs...adding a bit of a tune to a regular sentence that he's trying to communicate...("When is dinner?" to the tune of Frere Jacques. Yeah...random...)
I have a youtube account so that I can share some of the moments that I catch on film with my dad, since he lives far away and doesn't get to see them often. Gotta spread the joy.
:)
Here are a couple of the newer clips (they're still kind of old...I need to post new songs. Maybe soon...)

He might have gotten a few of the words mixed up ("you're pimply heaven"??? haha!), but it's still incredibly adorable...


I taught both them the Altus High School fight song as soon as they were able to speak. It's pretty cute when we go to football games and they can sing along with the band. Go Bulldogs :)