Benching for Boobies

Well now, that got your attention, didn't it!! :-)  You may have noticed that Lee is in pretty good shape - he likes to lift weights, and apparently, a lot of weight.  In addition to his YMCA membership, Lee is also a member of The Refuge, a powerlifting gym located in an industrial area of town - in my mind, the kind of place that is filled with a bunch of meat heads that play death metal music so loud that it makes your ears bleed...but I digress.  The Refuge has many dedicated and competitive powerlifters, with several members benching in the range of 500-900 pounds.  And just how much can Lee bench?  My friends, that question will finally be answered on June 26th!  That morning, The Refuge is sponsoring Benchpressing for Breast Cancer, a weight lifting competition that raises money to fight breast cancer - Lee is one of the many competitors. 
First, I encourage you to support Lee with your donations - this is, first and foremost, a fundraiser for a very important cause.  Second, I encourage you to support Lee by coming to the big event - if for no other reason than to have the chance to see Lee in his element!! 
We are accepting cash donations, as well as checks made out to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; you can also click here to make an online donation - if you donate on line, you MUST put Lee's name in the comment section so he can receive credit, as there is a prize for the person that raises the most money.  If you are interested in attending, leave a comment or send us an email and I will send you more information about the when and where.  Thanks for your support and looking forward to seeing you on June 26th!!

P.S.  He's going to kill me for this blog entry, but I'm sure that he'll have to back off if it results in a lot of donations - your help is greatly appreciated!!

May in New Hampshire

The girls and I spent last weekend in New Hampshire.  It was a hectic 32 hours - they always want to see as many family and friends as possible and if we don't fit in everyone, Elizabeth especially gets quite upset.  We visited Grammy and Aunt Denise, then picked up Auntie Kathy and headed to Runner's Alley so that I could meet up with my old high school friend BJ, the owner, for a gait analysis and some new running shoes.  From there, we headed to Grammy and Grandpa's house for dinner with Auntie Kathy and Uncle Peter.  On Sunday morning, after I ran with Auntie Kathy, we headed to Ethan and Owen's house, so the girls could burn off some energy with their two favorite boys.  A jam packed weekend - just as the girls like it - although the drive home was a gentle reminder of our resolution to make the trip up less often.  We were all happy to be home sweet home late Sunday afternoon, although Lee was most grateful for the 32 hours of peace and quiet, which gave him some time to recharge (I would say that he secretly loves these "girls only" trips to NH, except that there's no secret about it!).

Patiently fishing. 

 Emily.

First fish!!  Emily (her mama's daughter) normally stays a safe distance from fish, night crawlers and fishing poles, but this time, she caught four fish - this one was her first! 

Checking out the fish eggs on the belly of the fish before Grammy throws her back into the water. 

Elizabeth finally catches a fish (check out her face!).

Aunt Denise, Emily, Elizabeth and Grammy. 

Patiently waiting.

My mom took this picture of Kathleen and I after our 6 1/2 mile run on Sunday morning.

Elizabeth and Ethan 

Owen's first "Grammy Cookie" - he ate every last bite of it, so I think he liked it! 

Owen, Elizabeth and Emily 

Owen, Elizabeth, Emily and Ethan 

Elizabeth, Ethan and Emily (I just couldn't decide which of these I liked the best, so posted all of them!).

Jamaican Dresses

A few months ago, our friends Sarah and Rohan made a trip to Jamaica and they brought back the cutest little sundresses for the girls (and me too).  Today's heat presented the perfect opportunity for the girls to wear the dresses and they were thrilled.  When I dropped off Emily at preschool, she kept asking everyone "do you like my dress?"

  

The Gardener

Elizabeth has taken an unusual interest in gardening this year.  Back in March, she asked us to get her gardening gloves and a little shovel so that she could help out with the gardening.  We thought that this was  just a passing thing, but she persisted, so when we saw kids gardening gloves at Lowes the other day, we got some for her.  She wears them (of course) whenever she's working with soil - and she was an excellent helper for Lee when he planted our garden.  She also filled our two backyard planters with flowers all by herself - she was so careful and methodical that I resisted the urge to redo any of hard work because I think that everything is going to grow just fine!!

Carrying the tomato plants. 

 Gently digging.

 Filling the planters.

   

A good shot of the gardening gloves.

Planting

We normally plant our garden over Memorial Day weekend, but Memorial Day falls so late this year that we thought that we would be behind if we waited that long.  So, last weekend, armed with plants and seeds, we set to work.  This year, the garden includes all of the usual suspects - yellow beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, and green peppers - as well as a new addition - watermelon!  Elizabeth insisted that we plant watermelon and although we don't have any experience with it, we are giving it a try!  The girls really loved "helping" with the planting. 

Elizabeth gently pats down the soil around the pepper plants.

Emily carries a tomato plant to the garden.

"Here you go, Daddy."

Like me, Emily is a quite good at supervising.  :-)

Lee had to step in from time to time....

  

A pepper plant, courtesy of one Lee's many YMCA friends.

 

Emily finally started to get the hang of making holes.

Carefully planting some seeds.

Do It For Amy

Let me tell you a little something about FaceBook - it is a complete and utter time suck.  It keeps me up at night when I should be sleeping.  It causes me to spend more time on the computer and/or my iPhone than is necessary.  But it is also amazing, in that it allows me to connect with people with whom I've lost touch over the years.  It gives me a tiny glimpse into their lives and allows me to see the person that they have become.  In some instances, that opportunity is truly a gift.
Amy Capistran was one year behind me in high school - we had classes together, some of the same teachers, played sports together and ran in the same circle of friends.  After I graduated, we lost touch, but through the power of FaceBook, we reconnected about a year ago.  I learned some interesting things about Amy - after college, she served in Iraq as a member of the US Army; she's a Democrat; she works for the National Kidney Foundation; and one of her former co-workers at the NKF is the next door neighbor of my college roommate (small world!). 
But two weeks ago, I learned something truly remarkable.  Amy has decided to donate her left kidney to save the life of a little boy that she barely knows.  Why?  Because three years ago, her brother Chris (also a high school friend and fellow track team member) received a liver transplant, which saved his life (I also learned about Chris' story through our FaceBook connection).  Chris went to the emergency room complaining of abdominal pain and learned that not only did he have appendicitis, but also a rare liver cancer - his only chance of survival was a liver transplant, which he received a few months later.  Chris' experience, coupled with Amy's work at the NKF, led Amy to make the decision to be tested for potential organ donation.  She was matched with 2 1/2 year old Noah and in a few weeks, she will become a living donor.
I'm not quite sure why Amy's story has impacted me so much, but I think about her all the time now.  As a mother, I am incredibly grateful for her selfless act - saving the life of a child she wouldn't otherwise know.  As a person, I am in awe of her generosity - deep down inside, I don't know if I could donate an organ for a stranger.  And as her friend, I am proud of the person that she has grown to be - kind, generous, loving, completely and utterly amazing.  Please consider donating - even $5 - to Amy's NKF Team.

The Twins' Baptism

On Sunday, we attended the baptism of Margot and Tristan.  This was a special day for us because Nicole and Dave asked us to be Tristan's god parents!  It was a chaotic baptism, as there were as many children under the age of ten as there were adults (maybe more), but it was beautiful.   We are honored to be Tristan's god parents and we had a wonderful time.

A family picture before we left

Dave and Tristan

Margot

Dave, Tristan, Margot, Nicole and Anders

Tristan

Dave and Tristan

Margot

Nicole and Tristan

Just some of the kids playing.

Under the Big Top

We spent Mother's Day the Greatest Show on Earth - Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Funundrum, to be exact.  It was the girls' first trip to the circus - and possibly mine as well, as I don't ever remember going when I was little - and they really loved it.  Once we settled in with some pretzels and some popcorn, there was plenty of action to keep their interest for the entire show.  Lee and I were also impressed with the vast majority of the performances.  All in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon! More photos here.

A nice family shot.

This guy actually stopped and posed for this picture, while the show was beginning.

The elephants were majestic!

The aerialists were magnificent!

The Ring Master (center) was unbelievably talented!

Contortionists

These guys from the Ukraine put on an impressive performance.

Elizabeth and Sucker Daddy.  She's smiling because he just bought her some outrageously priced circus keepsake.

Dancing elephants.

The Prom

Taylor, the girls' babysitter, went to her junior prom this weekend.  The girls were so excited to see her all dressed up and she looked fabulous - so fabulous, in fact, that she was runner up as Prom Queen. :-)  Taylor is so great that she suffered through all of us taking pictures of her and even posed for a few with the girls.  Later on, when Lee and I were relaxing by the fire, we realized that Taylor wasn't even born when I went to the junior prom.  Sigh.