Owen 3rd Birthday Party

Three years ago, my precious Owen came into the world. From day one, he was such a sweet and easy-going boy. He somehow managed to totally evade the "terrible two's". (Olivia's terrible 2's was probably enough to make up for it, though). Owen has really been a blessing to our family. We celebrated Owen's birthday this weekend with a Mickey Mouse-themed party. We were so happy to have many of our family members attend. We kept the party really low-key, and it turned out nice. We all gathered, ate pizza, had cake and ice cream, opened gifts, and then let the kids play outside. My Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike were visiting from Delaware, so they got to come. It was especially nice to have them there. When it came time to open gifts, Owen did the cutest thing. Someone would tell him who the gift was from and then he would carry the gift to that person and let them help him open it. I don't know where he got the idea to do this, but it was sweet. Owen got so many nice things- including a Wizard of Oz pop-up book from Aunt Sherrie (which both he and Olivia LOVE), a Buzz Lightyear toy and pillowcase, much-needed swim attire and new shirts, and lots of fun toys. His gift from Brian and I was a hot-wheels set and some cars to go with it. We weren't sure how well he'd like the cars, but I'm pleased to say that they were a hit. After opening gifts, we all went outside and let the kids play. Brian blew up the bouncy house, and we moved the playhouse to the front yard. There were also bikes, scooters, and sports equipment. One of the highlights for everyone was watching Ava smack the tee-ball around. That girl is a natural- and she gets bonus points for hitting every member of the Dowling family with the ball. Thank goodness it was only a tee-ball. Below are some random pictures from the party.

Gate River Run 2011

For the second year in a row, Anna, Krystial, and I ran the Gate River Run 15K- the national 15K Championship. A 15K is equivalent to 9.3 miles. This race is AWESOME, and it is the highlight of my spring running season. I was a seeded runner this year, but I was not able to start with my group. The traffic was terrible and we barely made it to the starting line at all. I guess that's what happens when the field of 15K runners is almost 17,000 (not counting 5K runners and spectators). Due to the late arrival, I had to start near the back of the pack and I spent the first couple of miles weaving in and out of walkers and slower runners. Even though the start was shaky, I still did pretty well. I didn't even have much trouble with the bridge at mile 9 this year. I'm glad I did the Sidney Lanier run a couple of weekends ago. Next to it, the bridges on the Gate River Run look like kiddy toys. I ended up with a time of 1:28:18. That's more than 3 minutes faster than I finished last year. This time put me in the top third of women in my age division and in the top half of all runners who actually finished the race. I will also qualify to be seeded in the "orange" section next year- which is better than the "black" section that I was seeded in this year. Who knows- maybe next year I'll actually show up in time to take advantage of the seed. Above is a picture of the starting line. Can you see me? I'm the little speck in the back of the photo. Below are pictures of me, Anna, and Krystial after the race. For some reason, we just couldn't all be in the same place at the same time for a group picture this year.

98 and Counting

Today we celebrated my Granny Moore's 98th birthday. To be clear, this is my great-grandmother (Owen and Olivia's great-great-grandma). Each year, there is a big party at Granny's house and tons of people come to eat and to wish Granny another year of health and happiness. The well-wishes must be working, because Granny is doing very well. She still lives at home and gets around fairly well. I only hope that I'm doing this well when I'm 98 (crossing fingers). Although the birthday party is an annual thing, we don't always take pictures. We did this year, though, and so I have posted a few. There is one with Granny Moore and her four children (Granny Buie is the oldest), and there is another of Granny and all of the grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren that were in attendance. Of course some couldn't make it to the party, but the ones who did sure enjoyed themselves.

Pierce County Fund Run

This morning, the kids and I participated in the first annual Pierce County Rec Dept. Fund Run. The kids did the one mile run and then Gigi and Papa watched them while I did the 5K. I am so proud of how well they ran. Both kids went the whole way by themselves, and they did actually run most of the time. Of course we weren't very fast and we ended up dead last- but it was a lot of fun. The kids both received medals at the finish line.

The 5K began in City Park. As a side not- I run four to five times a week in Blackshear, and City Park is part of the training course that I've created for myself. When the race began, I discovered that the entire course looked familiar- the race was run on my personal training course. Talk about me having an advantage! I ended up with a new personal best time of 25.30, and finished second in my age group. Next weekend is the Gate River Run- the national 15K championship. It was good to have my last race before "the big one" be on familiar turf.

Super Dolphin 2011

I have been running pretty consistently for a little over two years now, and I'm beginning to develop a list of races that I like doing every year. The Super Dolphin Day Race is one of those. The course is great because it's flat and runs near a beach. I participated in this race last weekend with Krystial (and Bryce). I ended up with a time of 25.46, and received the first place medal for my age group.

An Awesome Decade

Today marks ten years that Brian and I have been married. I woke up this morning to find a dozen roses and two CDs on my computer. I didn't get a chance to look at the CDs before work, so when I got home, I loaded them. Guess what Brian had done- he had taken ALL of the negatives from our wedding and had them put on CDs so that I would have a digital copy. That's two CDs full of pictures. Since we purchased our negatives from the photographer years ago, we have access to every single picture that he took. There were some photos on the CD that I didn't even have in my wedding album. What a great gift! I am posting a few of my favorites here for everyone to see.





This one is great. I look so young. And Brian has hair!









This one is another favorite. It is a picture of Walker / Buie / Quarnaccio family. It's not very often that everyone is together like this...

...And the same can be for this picture. This is the Sanders / Ford clan. Doesn't everyone look so nice?

Here is a picture that I forgot we had, but it is officially my new favorite. All of my grandparents look so spiffy!

Here are the my lovely bridesmaids in their "rainbow" dresses...

...and the handsome groomsmen in their tuxedos.

It has been so much fun to look back over the old wedding photos. I must say, that this has been an awesome decade. I could not have picked a better husband and father. I cherish every moment that we have had thusfar, and I look forward to many, many more years together.

We're Off to See the Wizard

For those of you who didn't know, Olivia is OBSESSED with The Wizard of Oz. In the fall, Gigi invited all of the grandkids to her house to watch the movie for the first time- and that's when the obsession began. Since that time, we have recorded the movie on our Tivo and we watch it five or six times a week (I'm not kidding). Olivia knows almost every line of the movie. In addition to this, Gigi bought Olivia a pair of "ruby slippers" that she insists on wearing to church every Sunday. She has even declared that she is going to be Dorothy for Halloween (so I guess we have this year's theme). Because there is so much "Wizard of Oz" at our house, Owen has even gotten into it. Might as well, he certainly can't avoid it. Because of the popularity of this movie, I couldn't help but take the kids to see a live performance of the Wizard at the local children's theater.


We went on opening night, and the small theater was packed. Luckily, we had arrived early and got seats on the front row. Olivia loved the production and she sang most of the songs along with the actors. The script for the play came directly from the movie, so Olivia was able to follow along with it easily. At one point, she leaned over to tell me that the Wicked Witch had missed one of her lines. Yep, we've seen the movie that many times. Owen also enjoyed the show. I almost didn't take him because he does not have a good track record of sitting still. I'm glad I did, though, because he got into it. After the show, we had a chance to meet the characters. Olivia walked up the Dorothy, pointed at her (Olivia's) shoes, and said, "look, I've got ruby slippers too". Olivia then proceeded to hug EVERYONE- including the wicked witch. Owen didn't really hug anyone, but he did walk up really close to them. That's progress as he tends to avoid all people in costumes (Santa included).