My Marathon!!

I completed my first Marathon in November in Savannah. It was an Inaugural Rock n' Roll marathon. I started training in July with two friends I had met through a class at the Y. There is no way I could of done this alone and am so thankful for these girls and their encouragement and support over all the months we trained. We started in the heat of the summer, and I remember on my 14 mile run (which was the farthest I had ever run at that point) thinking there is no way I'm going to be able to do this. However, the training paid off. My goal was to make it under 4 hours, and I did 3 hrs 52 minutes so I was happy. I was so nervous before the race. I had been sick a week prior and then Camden threw up on me the day before we left so I just wanted to feel good. I felt amazing through mile 20, at that point I couldn't imagine hitting the wall. I even said to Sarah, I think I'm going to take it up at mile 21. And THEN I hit my wall. I had hit walls running in half's but nothing compared to this. We hit the highway at this point, uphill, and against 15-20 mph winds with no spectators. I think it was the hardest thing I've ever done. The next three miles were mental. Once we hit 24 and were off the highway it got a little better for the final two miles.

Erin, Me, and Sarah...I think this was at mile 8 or 12?

My parents were amazing and caught us four times during the race. My mom made this sign from the kids crafts supplies, too cute!

Sarah, Me, Kristin, and Aml...I had a girls weekend with my friends who did the half. We celebrated with a yummy meal out that night! Laurie is missing from picture, I will try to post one later from dinner. These girls did amazing in the half!

My cousins did the half too so it was really fun to have family there as my aunt and uncle came down too. Me, Alexis, Rebecca, and Jordan

Sarah, Erin, and Me

Fall

These too have become close this year, they 'battle' together and their favorite is to play 'doggie' together when Holt chases Camden like he is a dog and she squeals. Whenever I have Camden in the car alone she calls for Holt the whole time.

I had got the winter clothes out on this day and they both wanted to try on their mittens and hats.

This is how I would describe Camden, she LOVES her princess dress up clothes but also tries to shoot her brothers down with their star wars guns.

This was our first Thanksgiving with just the five of us. Jason had surgery the week before so we couldn't go to the beach so we had fun family weekend. Aunt Patricia I hope you notice the hats, I did this from your suggestion. The meal was pleasant for oh..about 5 minutes, one cried the whole time that the food was gross, Camden was up from the meal in about 3 minutes and ate nothing, and the 3rd complained about how he didn't like it. But this is our reality and we are thankful these blessings and the noise, even if it isn't always as we would have it.

For my memory sake..on the fall-

Pierce played flag football and enjoyed it for the most part, he really loves to just be outside in the cul-de-sac, I think if he could earn trophies for that he would never want to do a sport.

Camden and I have done a parent/child gymnastics class at the y all semester. She loves it! She wants to walk on the highest beam, do flips on the rings, swing on the rope and jump in the pit. She also loves the jump up and down song at the end. But her favorite part is the stamp at the end. If only I knew I could of saved the money on the class and bought a stamp and stamp pad :)

Pierce and Holt did Tae Kwon Do for a couple months, but also decided they would rather play with their friends outside then have a week day commitment. They were adorable, especially Holt with his eyes open wide watching the big kids at class. They did enjoy it when they were there. The instructor was great, a great combination of fun, structure, and respect. Maybe they will be interested down the road.

Pierce's Birthday

Pierce turned 7! He had school off the day after his bday and we had his laser tag party. The boys all loved it!

Pierce and William, these two have been buddies since they were born. Laurie and I started having 'playdates' when they were only days old.

We love this boy. He is super silly (as he is entertaining his friends at his party), Mr. social, a leader, loves to learn, an amazing lego builder, creative, bright, a great brother, and has a great heart. He loves to dance (shake his hips), watch Wild Crats and Inspector Gadget, play Mario, build legos, talk silly, play tag, and be outside with his neighborhood buddies.

This is how the party ended, 10 wild boys wrestling, his other favorite thing to do. Holt is right in the middle with a bunch of 7 year olds.

October

This is my climber. Holt will climb anything. Walls as seen is this picture, trees, furniture, people, fences..you name it. We keep saying we need to take him to a rock climbing wall, but for now he just climbs our walls.

Halloween. A picture with our neighbors Gabe and Piper. Camden loves playing 'big' girls lately. They entertain her and keep her happy much better than me most days.

Can you tell everyone is screaming!

Camden giving Charis love. It has been so fun watching these two grow up. Camden talks about Charis all the time. And Charis..well her favorites at our house are Holt and Putter, but she tolerates Camden who sometimes thinks she is much older than Charis. I keep trying to get Charis to give her lessons on good eating, sleeping, and behavior :) I love that God gave both of us girls at the same time and we get to watch their friendship grow as they grow up.

Amy, Adam, and Charis came trick or treating with us this year. The boys took off with my dad to get as much candy as possible and I got to take Camden with the Patwas. It was a fun night!

Past month

We've had a couple cool nights to roast marshmallows on the fire pit. We have one pyro on our hands who enjoys throwing things in the fire as much as the smores.

Camden loves her dress up outfits. She constantly takes off her clothes to have us put on a princess dress as she calls them. Its been fun watching her become such a little girl.

Jason took the boys to launch rockets, not sure who enjoys it more, him or the boys.

The picture to the right and below (have no idea why the pictures are placed this way on blog) are of the zip line that Pierce and Holt created in the front yard. After going on zip line at a friends house they were determined to have one. They tied rope between two trees and then Holt was harnessed by a piece of yarn that they were determined was going to hold him.

So we decided to build a real zip line in the back yard. Thanks to Pop Pop and many hours of work it was up and running. I will try to post a video of them on it when I have time. Look at my 'safe' boy with knee pads and elbow pads.

10 Years

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary August 11th! Crazy to think we have been married 10 years, met 15 years ago, and now have three children. We are blessed and I am thankful beyond words for a man who loves me so well and is the most incredible dad to our children.

We went to Wilmington for the night of our anniversary and had an amazing meal and great time being away for the night. My parents took all three to the beach so we also got a quiet car ride down together which was such a treat as well! We are doing our big trip in a couple months and counting the days.

August

It rained really hard one day and the boys were stuck inside for a couple hours. As soon as the downpour stopped they got the idea to go get all the water out of the street. They filled up bucket after bucket. Check out Pierce's shorts, I think I rolled them up a bit too high.

Holt's first time on the paddle board.

Camden trying the paddle board, yes in her under ware and life jacket. She had just got up from a nap and couldn't wait to get her bathing suit on. She loved it!

Pierce and Holt took the kayak out in the canal. The next picture isn't very clear but they then decided to tie a tube to the back of the kayak and Pierce was 'trying' to pull Holt behind him. Love their creativity!

The beautiful woman walking down the ramp is my Aunt Patricia who takes vacation every summer to come spend a few nights with us. I think in her hands is a platter with food and drinks she was bringing down the dock. She had just finished working tirelessly in the kitchen to make us all dinner after babysitting Camden all day so I could lay on the beach. She is completed by her husband, a.k.a Uncle Bill ,who is along with Jason is sponsored by Hurley. In all seriousness our summers and Christmas' would not be the same without the time we get to spend with you guys, thanks for making the trip!

I think there favorite thing to do on the paddle board was to try pull their cousin Bill off or to continue to jump off and make him pull them back on.

Love us some Rachel.

I love this picture, Mom Mom playing uno with Camden, I wish I heard the rules for this game.
Camden eating one of Mom Mom's yummy pazelles!

Yes this is my grandmother who decided to try out Pierce's bike. I'm sure I was blamed for this idea but this was all on her own. She really is pretty amazing, she went crabbing with us (only a minor fall), on the beach (a pretend fall- I got in trouble for this one), and on the boat to see goat island.
I wonder what could have them in this trance...

Other fun summer memories...

knock knock jokes, our garden only producing 3 peppers and 2 cukes as the kids call them, Italian ice at the Friday night concerts at oib, playing tennis and baseball in street at beach, always playing together nicely right at bed time, all having to poop at the same time, getting to pick out lunchables one day (you would of thought I gave them $100 to spend at the toy store, it made their day!).

Team Patwa - Race for the Cure

As most, or probaly all of you know who read my blog, my best friend Amy has breast cancer. (She found out it was back at this past June, just several months after completing radiation and treatment). If anyone wants to join us for the walk Oct 1st and/or order a t-shirt please see the link below. Most of all please continue to pray for Amy and her family as they walk through this. Thank you!!

I will need all shirt orders for Team Patwa by Friday, September 2nd. If you have not done so already please email me the size and specify male or female. The cost is $12 per shirt (it went up a little because the prior cost did not include shipping cost to me from the company making them). The shirts are made by Sports Science and are nice shirts, super soft and fit great. Please send your checks to me. (email me or leave comment if you would like one) I should receive the shirts the week prior to the race and will send an email out to let you know they have arrived if you would like to pick them up. I can also bring them to race day to distribute if that is easier for you. If you need me to mail them please include $5 for shipping. (flat rate for priority mail) If you are getting more than one shirt you only need to include $5 as I can package them together.

The race is a month from next Saturday, make sure you sign up. We will also have race day details for meeting up, ect as we get closer to the race.

Thanks! If you have any questions please let me know.





Click here to visit my personal page.

http://charlotte.info-komen.org/site/TR?px=7458086&pg=personal&fr_id=2256&et=5QMA3dkA7RAezjVuINAc5g&s_tafId=71059

Click here to view the team page for Team Patwa

http://charlotte.info-komen.org/site/TR?team_id=175086&pg=team&fr_id=2256&et=EbvQLOVj8rTL8FF6m9MJlA&s_tafId=71059

Summer Continued

Holly motivated me to bake with kids one day. We made zucchini bread. I am not a baker but the kids loved it. Maybe we will try it again before Christmas :)

The boys had asked to do a lemonade stand so we picked a 99 degree day to do it. We headed up to the street in front of the playground in our neighborhood since we don't get much traffic on our street. It started out slow but they ended up selling all that we took up there. Leah and Hannah came to buy some and stayed to help us sell.

We went to Durham for a night in July. We headed to the Museum of Life and Science and spent some time at Mom Mom and Pop Pops before going to Corie and Daniels for the night. The boys loved being with their cousins and Camden got to get spoiled solo with Mom Mom and Pop Pop for the night.

Camden showed us her balancing skills at the pool on Sunday. Aunt Corie is convinced she'll be a cheerleader. Actually, now that I think about it she has the screaming part down too! And this float she has on, well its not actually a safety device and I think its from the dollar store but it is her favorite thing to have at the pool and actually has worked really well. It use to be Holt's favorite too and somehow does the trick to keep her afloat. It also keeps fearless, aka Camden from hitting her head when she runs to jump off the side.

We headed to Dan Nichols park in Salisbury one Saturday. This place is incredible. I have had it on 'my list' for a couple years but we have never made it there. It is about an hour from Charlotte but worth the drive. Almost everything there is a $1 or free. They have miniature golf, a carousel, a train ride, mining, paddle boats, a spray ground, petting zoo, wildlife park, nature center, and about 3 or 4 huge playgrounds. We spent a few hours there and didn't hit everything but you could spend a whole day there and spend about $20-25 for a family of five. Can you tell we were impressed?

This was the boys favorite part, rock mining.

Thanks to the incredible Ms. Joneen mommy got to have a few hours with they boys on a few Thursdays to do things that we can't do with Camden, or that mommy is not brave enough to do with Camden. I took the boys to the creek at Freedom Park and let them play. They were in heaven. In this picture they are trying to catch tadpoles with their boots. Didn't quite work but they had fun trying.

I also got to take them up to Camp Lurecrest to see the Whites. We had the best day all together. They boys swam for a couple hours, got a yummy camp lunch, played at the house and then headed to the lake. Pierce and Holt both did the rope swing and tried the iceberg.

The boys were watching the campers come down the slide. Pierce and Holt are already talking about going to camp. Crazy that Pierce will be able to go in two more summers, if his mommy is ready to send him :)

Holt climbing up the iceberg.

Keller, Coleman, Holt, and Pierce

This picture was from my iPhone so pretty far away, but Pierce is up top about to swing from rope.

Other June/July happenings...

-Pierce played his first season of baseball. He loved it and did great. Seems to fit him well.

-Holt took tennis lessons and did great.

-We said goodbye to the Brays...super sad day.

-Visited the Shild museum in Gastonia.

-Went to the raptor center. The boys enjoyed it, I think there favorite part was marking the birds off on the map and hearing how they were injured, gun shot would, hit by car, etc.