Heidi's Half

I feel like the title of last week's post was a joke, Finally Spring, yeah right.   Last Sunday was nice.  Last Sunday was spring.  Last Sunday we grilled out and ate dinner on the deck.

Last Sunday was Finley's first t-ball practice! We practiced in M&J's parking lot since the fields weren't open yet...a week later I'm not sure if they'll ever be open.

Finley is playing for a ball club this year, his summer birthday didn't make the 5-year-old cut-off, but they allow late 4's to sneak in, only requiring them to play t-ball for an extra year to 'catch up' before baseball.

Patrick is the head coach, Hadley & I tagged along for the first practice.  Sister wanted to join bad.

I'm getting a (small) taste of crazy-busy lives with extracurricular activities.  A first for us, we have two activities going on at the same time, the AYSO spring season completely overlaps the t-ball season.   For example on May 6, Finley plays soccer at 6 and he plays t-ball at 6.  Flip a coin?

He loves his new baseball hat.

He loves the sticker on it too.  He refuses to take it off, so everyone knows that his hat is a "Youth Size".

On May 2nd, this happened.  8.2 inches.

It was my home-day, but the staff at my school brought some Hawaiian-fun to school that day.

And we brought out every indoor activity we could think of.  Painting...

...magna-tiles...

...jammies all day...

...play-doh...

...card table turned parking lot...

...and window markers.

After Patrick got home, I sent them outside with him.  No thanks.

Finley has a new game - UNO.  I think he'd semi-played at daycare before, he kind of new what to do.  But dang, he should know now.  We've played many, many games this weekend.  I'm not complaining, it's a good game for him!

Little hands do not hold cards well.  Every time a card is played, it sounds and looks like this...Look for a green card, a 9 or a WILD, and painfully-slow he flips through all of this cards.

Finley hasn't mastered a poker face yet.  He drew a WILD and went into hiding so I couldn't see it.

We stopped at the hospital to sing Happy Birthday to Bill.

Most Saturday mornings begin with breakfast with Grandma & the ladies.  Each kid brings a backpack full of entertainment.  How cute are they?!

She was following me around saying, mo, mo.  Seriously?  You've had enough lotion. 

Flashback.

Sweet Zoey.  Last summer she received a terminal diagnosis (lung cancer) and a guesstimated two months of quality living.  4-5 months later, it was discovered that the terminal diagnsosis was somewhat misdiagnosed.  Yes, she had cancer, but it was slow-growing.  Ultimately the smaller tumor on her face (a tumor that could've been removed 4-5 months ago), would end up taking her from us - unfortunately it wasn't removed because of the lung cancer.  The lung cancer that was going to take her in 1-2 months.  The cancer that she could've outlived because it WASN'T fast-growing.  That sucks.  Very recently, Zo-zo  took a turn for the worse, Heidi & Ryan decided she'd been through enough. 

She was such a sweet girl to my kids.  Hadley loves-loves Zoey and Finley believes she's part ours.  Truly a family dog that 'belonged' to more than just Heidi, Ryan and boys.

Our weekend ended with the EC Half-Marathon!  It was Heidi's first attempt at a half, I ran along to experience it with her.  Pre-race chills with Amanda (Heidi's neighborhood friend) and Jeff (a close friend of Patrick's)....notice that snow behind us!

Patrick, Ryan & the five littles found us around 2ish miles in.  I had to laugh at all the race pics, I'm waving my arms like a moron...in nearly every picture.

Here we come towards the M&J water station...waving like a fool!

Mile 12.  Around 10-11 miles, Heidi wanted to walk.  She knew she shouldn't.  I think she knew she wouldn't.  Once we got to 12, I told her to smile and look like she felt good ;)

Finally, the homestretch - my favorite part.  And from the looks of it, I was having a blast.  And I'm sure that "Finish" sign was the best thing Heidi saw all morning.

Raise the roof!

Done.

The 2nd best part of the race - finding your kids afterwards.  (The first best part is finishing).

We headed back to the M&J water station, the kids found their beloved Casteel.

 The running girls, stinky and hungry.

Way to go Heidi - I know you had doubts, but you did it!  Be proud, brag away, eat whatever you want today, relish the runner's high and promsie yourself you'll never do that again.  And in a month, sign up for another :)  And for the record, she finished without walking.