April Running: Spring Showers and Late Nights

This is my third year of running consistently. The problem that I have had for the past two years is that when summer gets here, it gets hot, I quit running, and then I have to start over from square one when the the weather cools off. I have come to the conclusion that if I want to take my running to the next level (and I do), then I'm going to have to suck it up and run during the hot summer months. I'm not looking forward to this, but I think that it will pay off in the end. So, for the first time ever, I entered not one but two races during the month of April. The first one was the Southeast Christian Academy 5K. That was a disaster. The morning was hot and humid, and it began to rain during the run. It was miserable, and my time of 28.05 reflected the misery of the morning. Even with this time, I was still the second female to finish. The first female was eight years old. She passed me in the last tenth of a mile (hangs head in shame). On the bright side, I did win my age group and received a nifty water bottle for my effort.









The second race that I ran in April had to be one of the most fun that I've ever done. It was the 2nd Annual Midnight Glow Run sponsored by the YMCA. I ran it last year, but it was held in July then and it was 100 degrees at midnight (so it was miserable). This year the race was moved to April, and the weather was just perfect. The 5K began at the stroke of midnight, and runners wore glowing necklaces and bracelets as they ran. Well, some runners did. Sometimes at races like these there is some crazy person (usually a guy) who comes and races in a silly get-up (like a mask or a banana suit). When I got to the midnight run this year, it did not take me long to spot and recognize the "crazy guy". It was my brother, Sam. He was wearing an 80s rock-star wig, a headband, and some of the shortest, tightest shorts that I've ever seen. It was hilarious. I had to ask where he got the shorts. Turns out they were a pair of Quincy's cheerleading shorts from high school. He had random people coming up to him all night wanting to have their picture made with him. Even with the crazy get up, he ran awesome. He was the fourth person to finish the race and got second in his age group. I also ran well. I posted a new personal best time of 25.27 and finished first in my age group. The glowing, late-night atmosphere was loads of fun. This race is a definite keeper.

Ford Family Reunion

A few weekends ago, we went to Hilton Head Island to spend time with Brian's mom, aunts, and the entire Ford family. This time together was truly a blessing, and it meant so much to us. About a week after the trip, Brian's Aunt Sherrie lost her battle with cancer. Aunt Sherrie was a fantastic, accomplished lady and she will most certainly be missed. Below are some pictures that I took of our time with the Fords. Notice that the chocolate fountain made a re-appearance (to everyone's delight).

Easter 2011

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said..."

We had a fantastic time celebrating the resurrection of our Lord this year. The church was packed, the choir sang beautifully, and the preacher delievered a wonderful sermon. Our Easter celebration has actually been going on for a week or so because we've had several Church events, like the egg hunt and the children's performance. Before going to bed last night, the kids dyed eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide. When they woke up this morning, the bunny had come and had hidden the eggs in their rooms for them to find. He also left them a few goodies in their baskets. Both kids got a little bit of candy, a jump rope, a dvd, and a Bible story book. After checking out their baskets, it was time to get ready for Sunday School. I've mentioned that the church service was packed, but Sunday School was full, too. In my class, I took the last available seat. Olivia also had perfect attendance in her class. I'm so excited for my church- it's really growing! After the morning service, we had our picture made by the cross. Like always, it was decorated with greenery and fresh flowers for Easter. Easter service was followed by lunch and egg-hunting at Granny Buie's house. There were six little egg hunters this year. With the addition of Julianna in September, I suppose that there will be seven next year. Because Audrey is so much younger than the other kids, she got her own "egg-hunting" section this year. The other five were the serious egg hunters, and they had a much larger area to cover. We said "go", and they were gone. I had a hard time getting pictures of the older kids because they were moving so fast. All of the kids ended up finding about the same number of eggs, so everyone was happy. It was a wonderful Easter. Now, I'm left with the task of working off the weight from all of the goodies that I ate today. =)

Children's Easter Performance

Last Sunday night was the children's Easter performance at church. This is the first time that Olivia has been able to participate in one of the children's programs. The Pre-K kids sang three songs: Jesus Love Me, This Little Light of Mine, and another that I was unfamiliar with. All of the kids did a great job. Below is a clip of the performance.

Church Egg Hunt

This past Saturday was our church's annual Easter egg hunt. Although there was rain in the morning, the afternoon was perfect for an egg hunt. All of the kids at church were really pumped to look for the eggs. Since the ages ranged so much, there were two different sections for hunting. Both of my children looked in the "little kid" section. It wasn't hard to find eggs there. They were pretty much just laying on the grass in plain sight. We said "go" and there was a mad dash to see who could fill their basket the fastest. Olivia was going so fast that eggs actually fell out of her basket as she ran around. After hunting, it was time for snacks and fellowship. It turned out to be a really nice event, and all of the kids had a great time.

A Bunch of Characters

Okay- last Disney post. I promise. We spent a portion of each day tracking down and meeting the characters. Even though we had met the princesses at the breakfast, the kids wanted to see them again. At the princess meet and greet, there were three princess in the room that the kids got to visit with. The first princess commented on Owen's robot shirt, and he felt that it was important to show the other two princesses how cool his shirt was. They played off of this and also commented on his cool robot shirt. This is now his favorite shirt- so whomever gave that t-shirt to him for his birthday, good job. We also managed to see Mickey and Minnie three times each. I love meeting the characters, and I was happy with the number and variety that we were able to meet on this trip. Posted are some of my favorite pictures from the meet-and-greets.

Chefs de France

My favorite moment of our entire trip was our late lunch at Chefs de France in Epcot. The restaurant is located in the rear part of Epcot, and when we arrived it was raining cats and dogs. I admit that as we trudged in the pouring rain all the way to the back of the park I began to contemplate skipping the reservation and scrapping the meal altogether. I'm oh so glad that we didn't. It was awesome! The food was French cuisine, and meal was très fantastique. They even served our french fries with mayonnaise instead of ketchup, which apparently is not uncommon in France. In the World Showcase area of Epcot the people who work in the different country pavilions are actually from that country. Our waiter greeted with a "bon jour" and threw in a French word or two during the service of our meal. I really need to learn more French- mine is pathetic. I couldn't even pronounce the name of my meal. I had to just hold up the menu and point. We were having a delightful lunch and were enjoying being out of the rain when it happened. The "Chef" and unofficial mascot of the restaurant appeared. Yes, I'm talking about Remy from Ratatouille. I was prepared to see Remy (that's why I booked this restaurant), but I was not prepared for how awesome the interaction between the Remy puppet, his handler, and our kids was going to be. The handler (an awesome French lady) was rolling Remy from table to table on a cart and interacting with the customers. When she got to a table near us, Remy broke into his "dance" (see video). The kids saw this and got so excited. When he finally got to us, they were ready. The little cart that had Remy on it pulled up next to Olivia's chair and Owen immediately jumped into her chair too so that he could get a good look. The handler did all of the talking while Remy moved around and made little squeaking noises (it was cooler than I'm making it sound). Olivia started off the conversation by stating that her dog was named Remy. This got the handler/Remy talking about animals that Remy does/does not like (note- does not like cats). Owen realized that they were talking about animals and started getting into the conversation, too. What was great about the character interation here is that Remy did not seem to be in a hurry to move on. At the princess breakfast, the princesses said a little something and moved on pretty quickly. With Remy, it was not like this. After a nice little chat, Remy's handler was getting ready to roll the cart to the next table when she said a little something in French. Olivia recognized it as not being English and started showing off the Spanish that she knows. Hearing Olivia's Spanish got the handler to turn around- determined to teach Olivia some French. The handler taught Olivia to count a little in French, and cheered for her when she got it right. Priceless. This is the type of thing that I was dreaming would happen when I booked the vacation. I'm so surprised that the character who really brought the magic was Remy the rat (and his amazing handler).