Another family fun day

Christmas Card Sneak Peak

Admittedly, this is a little premature, but as I learn more and more about blogging I like to try out the new things I have discovered.  Consequently, dear blog readers, you get a sneak peak of what I hope our Christmas card will look like this year.  With any luck there should appear a slide show of photos from our weekend trip to Destin.  What a blessing to get to watch your children see the ocean for the very first time.  Happy to share.

Forty, (quasi) Fit, and Fabulous

Not much more to say.  Love my husband, kids, family, friends.  Love my life.

Magical Summer

This has, undoubtedly, been the most incredible summer of my life.  When I learn how to do a slide show of photos I will add more pictures, but truth of the matter is that photos won't capture it.  I hope my girls will have memories of this summer.  Actually, what I really hope is that all summers will be like this one.  We are blessed.

Yep, it's wrong in so many ways

I don't even have anything to say to defend myself, except please excuse the messy room.  This is darn cute, even though it is way wrong and probably illegal south of the Mason Dixie line.  I know better, I really do.  That's why I share on our own private blog, not on Facebook.  Or YouTube.  Oh yeah, I actually did post to YouTube.Check it out here.  Please don't pass judgement.

Weather forecast from a four year old

Saturday morning I walked into the living room and practically ran into Poppy.  Indignantly she told me "The news is over.  There were two suns and lots of rains."  Huh? I thought about it and then it hit me.  She had seen the 7 day forecast.  It is supposed to rain all the way through Wednesday and the sun is forecast to shine on Thursday and Friday.  She was right, two suns and lot's of rains.

The Circle of Life

Like her sisters before her, Lillian has had an incubator in her preschool classroom during the weeks leading up to Easter.  Last Tuesday's storms apparently hurried the hatching process as 4 chicks had made their debut through the night and were dry and fluffy by the time I dropped Poppy off at school Wednesday.  In fact, another chick was working hard to join the family so I hung around to watch it happen.  The birthing process is a miracle to behold in and of itself, but watching Poppy watch the chick hatch was a stunning, proud moment for this momma.  Her eyes were as big as saucers, her mouth hung open and she applauded wildly when that little soggy chick finally plopped itself out of it's egg.  It was a poignant experience to share with a child born from me who will, likely, one day birth her own child.  That, I suppose, is the circle of life.

Ski-tastic!

We were thrilled to take the girls on their first ski trip over Christmas Break.  To be sure we weren't spending thousands of dollars on something they might hate we stayed fairly close to home.  We went to Chestnut Mountain in Galena IL. I was pleasantly surprised.  It was just a six hour driver, there was real snow and the girls seemed to like it.  By the end of the trip Meredith and Eleanor could both stop (key to really enjoying the ski experience!)  Lillian says she didn't like it but I think she is just a little young.  We snuck her in to ski school even though the minimum age is 4.  We were busted, but they didn't kick her out.  See all three try their skills in the brief video below.  Meredith goes first, Poppy comes down second with a little backwards skiing thrown in for goo measure and Eleanor brings up the rear.  Daddy is thrilled to have three willing ski partners in the making.

Proceeds from our lemonade stand

This is what $200 of peanut butter and jelly look like. The girls donated it to the food pantry. We are very proud. A good lesson in humility and service.

Amazing what difference a year makes

We took Meredith ice skating last year.  I think it was the worst 10 minutes of her life.  Not this year.  Brad took her for her Daddy and Me day and she rocked it.  She is like a regular ice princess. 

God has such a sense of humor

I am cracking up at my last post...

We got home safely from Notre Dame and talked the whole way about how much fun we had.  It really was a great time and so far from our daily lives.  However, just in case we were enjoying ourselves too much God planned a huge reality check for us.  We returned home in time to take the girls trick or treating and hurried around to get out the door.  Lillian wasn't feeling well and kept complaining of a headache.  She had a low grade fever, but in spite of my better judgment, I gave her Advil and put her in the car seat.  By the time we arrived at Uncle Bill and Aunt Alberta's, Meredith was crying.  I knew we were in trouble when she said she wanted to go home.  I packed her up, walked out the door and SPLAT, she threw up on the doorstep.  I took her home, turned out the lights we cuddled in bed.  I am not a coed, I am a mom.  I get the message, God.  Joke's on me.  

Living like a coed

I am writing this post on a trip home from a football weekend at Notre Dame.  While the Irish lost to Tulsa we had a great time acting like coeds...staying up too late, drinking too early and being too silly. The best part about our grown up weekend was the chance to revisit our youth. We went with the Richardsons and the Lynchards and, since none of us actually went to college together, it was a small glimpse of how it could have been. We are driving back home to life as we know it and while I am always grateful for the chance to get a way and the chance to go home.

Ten years of email down the drain

Brad walked in at 1:30 AM on Sunday morning and wondered what I was doing still on the computer.  It seems our email had been hacked and bgpettet was sending pharmaceutical emails.  Lots of pharmaceutical emails.  So I begrudgingly began the task of changing our email after the girls went to bed at 8:00 PM.  Here I am two days later still making updates and changes.  We have had our email address since before we got married, hence the bg (Brad and Gretchen.)  Appropriately, I have changed the email moniker to something more representative of our full family (the pettets).  Hopefully that will last us another ten years.  It's amazing how a functionality that barely existed ten years ago has become such an integral part of our lives.  Our families, our friendships, our finances, and even our fun (cardinals, vacations, etc.) are all part of email life.  Now I have to sit patiently to see what I have forgotten and who cannot contact us or, whom we can't contact.

My personal motto

I love this girl and hope I can instill the same confidence and chutzpah in my girls.

Co sleeping

Eleanor Pettet is all Pettet in all things, except for her sleeping habits.  Those she gets from her mama.  Meredith Pettet and Lillian Pettet are frighteningly like their mama in all things except their sleeping habits.  Almost nightly one, or the other, or both end up perpendicular to me in my bed.   Most nights it's irritating.  But when I wake up just enough to remember that I will soon wake up and they will be grown, I sigh and go back to sleep.  When all three were tiny babies I wanted them in my bed but all the parenting books protested.  It didn't stop me from nursing them in my bed.  My favorite time was right after they would drift off to sleep and before I would transport them back to their beds.  It was always such a satisfied sleep.  Their breathing was so deep.  I remember laying face to face with these tiny babies and breathing in.  It was as if they were breathing life into me and my next breath depended on theirs.  Interesting metaphor for parenting.

Another mother's letter

Molly and I have a running joke that all the bloggers are beautiful Mormon moms who run Etsy shops and lead perfect lives (reeks of jealousy, eh?)  But in fact, I love to read other blogs.  I found this one tonight and it was too perfect to not share.  It's written by Sonya Audrey http://www.sonyaaudrey.com/ but posted on Sparkle Power! in honor of Mother's Week.  http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/

My advice to my young daughters:
Don't worry about perfection in life, in looks or in love. It isn't attainable, and honestly, those perfect people never have any fun anyway. Always be you. After all, no one else can do it better. Read everything you can get your hands on. Never be afraid of making a mistake. Sometimes those mistakes lead you to the most magical places. Speaking of magic, believe in it. It's real and it's out there just waiting to be uncovered. When someone shows you who they really are, listen. Love with reckless abandon. Please don't hate me when you're 15. But if you do, I promise I'll still be waiting with open arms when you need me again. If you have the change, spare it. There is nothing cute about a bad boy. The only score you should keep track of is your credit. Take care of your skin. Be silly for as long as you possibly can. When you are old enough to have children of your own, watch them when they sleep. You will never feel more peace and love than in those moments. Amazing girlfriends are a necessity in life. Smile at strangers. Trust your gut. Find the kind of music that speaks to you and hold onto it for dear life. It will get you through the toughest of times. Wear your seatbelt. Playing dress up never gets old. Sing as loud as you can in the car whenever you feel the urge. I promise to always sing with you. Don't cheat. Create and capture your moments. Know that it's ok if you can't decide what you want to be when you grow up. Be everything. And most importantly, I gave you as a gift to each other. Cherish one another and be the best friends you were destined to be

Connected but alone

Something occurred to me when I took Michelle to school this fall, in fact, I may have already posted about it.  I was alarmed at how our technological advances and mobile devices have changed the fabric of the college experience.  The dorm halls and lobbies were empty.  It was as if everyone had retreated to their small rooms to connect with people who weren't really there, but were an avatar or an @ sign away.  Of course as the proverbial old woman I had to tell Chelle about how it was when I was in school...no cable tv, expensive long distance and no computers in our rooms and certainly no internet (and I am not talking no internet in our rooms, I am talking no internet yet at all.)

Well tonight while running I noticed that same phenomenon sneaking into our own small town.  Yet this time, instead of retreating into small dorm rooms, adults were remaining in small vehicles.  I saw three folks sitting in their cars outside of homes (presumably their own) talking on the phone or texting. Remember when you had to go into your home to make a call or connect with someone?  Now we are delaying going into our houses to make a call or connect with someone.  I am not sure what it says about us as a society, but I am sure it says something.  Of course, the irony that I immediately sat down at my computer to write this post upon returning home is not lost on me.  At least I had to come inside to do it.

When a weekend is truly a weekend

I think the planets must have aligned last weekend because, for the first time in a long time, we had nothing to do all weekend.  Usually our weekends are jam packed running here, going there, marking this off of the never-ending to do list.  The only things we did on this weekend were things we wanted to do.  The weather was stunning so we went to Lowe's to buy plants.  Twice!  There was so little that had to be done I really enjoyed the things we got to do.  The girls were thrilled to be planting seeds.  Each picked out a packet of pretty flowers...Dahlias, Johnny Jump Ups and, what else you ask, Poppies.  The most remarkable thing about the weekend was how I felt on Monday morning when it was over.  Rested.  I commented to Brad that it was amazing how weekend-like a weekend feels when it's not full of weekend activities.  I hope there are more of those in my near future.

I guess I really am a runner

I haven't ever called myself a runner.  I don't look like a runner. I don't run like a runner. I don't train like a runner.  If the word jogger didn't make me think of 80's running suits, I might use that term, but instead when describing my involvement in the sport I say "I run."  I have described my miles as an action verb, not a definition of who I am.  That's fairly common for many half marathon runners, I think.  In fact all it takes is one day at a running event to realize that anyone (and I do mean anyone) can run a half marathon.  It's the kind of thing that is on many people's bucket list.  But I don't think anyone has "Run two half marathons" on their bucket list.  Many people run a half to cross it off the list.  I did in 2009.  In 2010 I ran a second.  Now it can define me.  I am a runner.

I run because I can

Forgive my continuation of the running theme but it is kind of consuming.  When you run 13.1 miles you have a lot of time to think and my mind covers a lot of different topics but surely one pervasive thought is "why in the heck would I pay money to do this?"  The answer I always come back to is "because I can."  I spend a lot of time in prayer (running up hills, praying for the next water station, asking God to keep me safe, asking God to heal fallen runners) and through this prayer has come the realization that God has given me the ability to do this.  He has made my remarkable body.  It might not look like I want or function perfectly, but it works mostly like it should and as long as that is true, I will continue to do this.  I had a foreboding thought yesterday after the race when I was considering why none of my friends run for a cause.  I think it's mostly because none of has one common cause that is so meaningful to us.  I thought briefly how quickly that could change. How in a year's time, before the 2011 Go! Marathon, any one of us could be cancer stricken or debilitated in some way and running may no longer be an option.  Unless or until that happens I will run.