Ahh...I'm alive...

So as you can probably guess from the lack of posts in almost 2 months, life (in particular, the beginning of a new school year) has overwhelmed me. *Sigh* I do believe I'm now fairly settled and should be able to uphold my commitment of posting at least once every 2 weeks now. The only problem when you haven't posted in awhile is where to begin...

I'll start with a recap of all our visitors! After my mom visiting at the beginning of August, Alicia ventured down on Aug 19th. MaryRose came down too, but a week later on the 26th. They both left on the 31st. I know Quinn and Leyla had a lot of fun with them. They definitely recognized Alicia, who they call "Auntie." Quinn gave MaryRose the name of "MoMo" because he could not pronounce her real name. It is very cute. Shortly after, on Sept 3rd, Tycho's mom Gemma arrived. She helped us a great deal with getting them to try new foods and sit back in their chairs for meal time. We also made a trip with her to Clearwater Beach on Labor Day weekend. It was a blast!

Quinn and Leyla started school after Gemma returned home. Their first day was Sept 15th. They started that week by only attending on Tues & Thurs, so they could have a chance to get used to it before going full force. The following week (wk of 9/21), I had to bring them in the morning (which meant I had to wake up even earlier!), and they attended the whole week. Now, they have been there a few weeks, and they seem to love it. They are growing quite used to the routine there. I can definitely see that their vocabulary is exploding, which I am guessing is probably related to being around more people during the day. Quinn almost talks nonstop. ;0) The school teachers and administrators have commented on what good listeners they are and how smart they are. It's always nice to hear positive things about your kids.

On a final note, I have run 3 races since my last post...a 5K, 10K, and 15K. Four weeks from today, I will run my 1st (and maybe only half 7marathon). My times so far have been decent. I ran the 5K (3.1 miles) in 26:27; the 10K (6.2 miles) in 58:01; and today, I ran the 15K (9.3 miles) in 1 hr 27 minutes. I hope I can survive the half marathon, as today definitely drained me. After this 13.2 mile race on Nov 8th, I think I probably just stick to 5K's and 10K's.