London's Run

I have healthy friends who run in marathons.  I should be like them.  Well, enough thinking about that. :o)  Here are some pictures from London's Run!

The Runners...

The bystanding spectators!

Taking off from the Starting Line...

And while they ran, we hung out, talked, and took pictures.  Speaking of taking pictures....

I gotta shout out to my friend Lynn.  I love that she's not afraid to pick up my camera and start shooting pictures.  However, she underestimates her abilities immensely!  Case in point, she took this candid shot of me and Nathan. Love it!

And this one...LOVE.

After a while, the runners began to return and we stood nearby cheering them on. Here's Josh sprinting towards the finish line.

And Amber and Randi...

And I close with this last picture that reflects the emotion I was feeling at the time as I watched a young boy of about 8 limp across the finish line, cane in hand with a proud grin stretched across his young face.

Actually we were all crying as we watched this boy but this picture just happened to catch Kim laughing, at me -crying!

ALL Aboard!

After numerous tries, I finally captured something on video that I've been wanting.  You'll hear Nathan yelling "All Aboard!" 3 different times in this video.  I think he's imitating how Tom Hanks would yell "All Aboard!" from Polar Express, it totally cracks me up!  Here it is:

The End of an Era...

To some, this is trivial.  

To me, it's a big deal. 

I've been using Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara for about 20 years. 

~ TWENTY! ~

 That's a long time relationship with a brand product.

After looking for months, the mystery has been solved about why I was having such a hard time finding my brand of mascara.  Stores have been phasing out the entire Max Factor cosmetics line.  Whaaaaat?????

This is what the Ulta Store Manager told me.

I'm inclined to disbelieve her. 

I'm inclined to be in denial.

I'm inclined to search all over the internet and

find every last tube of this mascara and buy them all!

That's it.

That's all I have to say.

Birthday Bash

Nathan's birthday party was on Saturday and I have to confess that I became 'That Mom' this year.  I'll elaborate. We had a train themed party because Nathan loves trains.  What qualified me as becoming 'That Mom' was everything I prepared and planned in order for the kids to have fun.  

I designed a 'Boarding Pass' with train themed 'Stations' listed for each child to visit.  After they visited each station, they collected a sticker on their boarding pass.  Once they collected all the stations stickers, their prize was getting their 'Conductor Hat'.

  

 

I started the party by explaining the boarding pass to them and writing their name inside each one. Then they ran off to collect their stickers.

  

Here are kids at Station 10 - Stamp a Train. Each kid got to use train stamps and colorful ink pads to make their own train picture. 

At Station 20 the kids were able to decorate their own train shaped cookie with frosting, sprinkles and colored sugar.

At Station 30, we had trained themed books like Choo Choo Clickety Clack and Chugga Chugga Choo Choo for story time.

Station 40 was your typical pin the tail game, except in this case it was Number the Train.  I instructed the kids to keep their eyes closed because I was afraid if I blindfolded them, they would get scared.

 

 

And the last station was the big finale.  A ride on train with it's own little track.  I found this on Craigs List a few weeks earlier and had it in the house right under Nathan's nose but he never knew it and saw it for the first time in these pictures.  Once he saw it, he knew exactly what it was for, to ride!

Other children were waiting their turn, so they could collect their sticker and Nathan was such a good sport letting others ride the train.  He happily shared, never fussing once but he did stay close by just to observe! 

All the kids filled their boarding passes and collected their Conductor Hats.

Then it was cake time.  I made the cake again this year.  It took about 3 hours to make and again, I have new found respect for the creative hand cake decorating requires - it's not easy!

Once Nathan blew out the candles, I wanted to get a group picture of all the kids and this is the point where I think I went to far as 'That Mom.'  I gave all the kids silly nose glasses - to much? 

When it was time to open presents, I asked each person to personally give their gift to Nathan so he could tell them Thank You and give them a hug at that moment before he opened the present.  I was complimented by another mom for handling it this way, which made me feel good. :o)

That was Nathan's big birthday bash. As the kids were leaving, I asked if they had a good time and each one said yes, so I think it was a success!

Back to Blogging

Yep, it's been a good chunk of time since I've last posted what is going on in our lives.  To sum it up - ALOT.  For details, continue reading. :o)

Work Update: Nine months ago, Sun announced it's sale to Oracle.  Finally this past month the acquisition was complete.  I'll spare you the details of why it took as long. Beginning January 27th, Oracle took control. The employee integration process began and employees in the United States received notifications with either an offer to work at Oracle or a separation packet.  I received an Offer...which I accepted. I overnighted my signed offer and it's been non-stop Oracle integration processes since then.  I've joined a new company and everything will soon be changing.  I feel so fortunate to be in the position I am and am so thankful for an opportunity such as this.  That's my work update!

Home Update:

Remember "Painting Man"?  Well, Painting Man is gone.  Backyard Man has replaced him!  Greg has worked non-stop on one thing or another to complete our backyard. 

Before Picture:

After Picture:

Although the path looks like dirt, it's not.  It's 11 tons of crushed granite that Greg wheelbarrowed in and spread all through out the yard where you don't see grass or flowerbeds.  Back breaking work but Greg is a machine, he did it in 2 days and in the rain, which makes the rock heavier.

I've done my part to though!  I finally made our patio more presentable.  I found everything you see at garage sales. :o)

I also found this three person swing at a garage sale.  Please take note of the stone deck the swing is sitting on - thanks to Backyard Man!  We also got plants this week which makes such a huge difference.

Personal Updates:
Part of the hiatus from blogging was just due to sickness.  Nathan and I have been sick but we're on the upswing now.  We are also entering a very busy time of year - it's what I call, "Hull Birthday Week" because all of our birthdays are just 2 days apart.  I always forget mine though because my birthday is sandwiched between Nathan's and Greg's.  I'm so preoccupied with what to do for both of their birthdays, I never think about my own!  Which is why the next event really touched my heart.  The Nortons and Incorporated had us over for a birthday celebration...just for us.  How sweet is that?  Really. 

Talk about a fun birthday party.  We had a fabulous dinner but the best part was the dessert. Elaine's creativity has no limitations, she made these amazingly cute cupcakes that I just have to show you.  These flower cupcakes were for me.

These basket weave cupcakes were for Nathan.

And these assorted sides were for Greg - corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots. HOW CUTE IS THIS? The secret? Food coloring, Icing, M&M's, Starbursts, Caramel! Fun.

Gifts were also shared and Nathan received a bug catching net and massive magnifier, which led to this very special picture of Greg that is so near and dear to my heart.

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Is that not so FUNNY!

That's it for today, we've got Nathan's birthday and Superbowl parties coming up, so still alot going on!