What's a Mommy to do??!!

So I'm "working" at my computer this afternoon and look down to see this:

And then this:

And finally this:Two questions:
1- Why can't babies play with/be intrigued by safe things?
and
2- How can I possibly resist eating up every inch of him?


I did!


Eat him up!!


He's so scrumptious!!!

Fun at the tire park!!

Today we took the boys to the tire park. Julianna was away at her cousin Britney's birthday party and we needed something to do to let the man children release their energy. The tire park is part of Catoctin State Park. It is so close to where we live and so beautiful up on the mountain. Remember a few postings ago we hiked up to the falls? This is all part of the same mountain.

The boys had so much fun! They were excited to see that there was a new addition to the playground from the last time we were here just a week ago. That would be the cable sliding thing that you see Kyle on below. We could only get them to do other stuff for a brief moment and then they were back in line for another turn to slide across the cable!

Notice the ground is covered with chopped up bits of tires. It makes the ground so spongy and bouncy. Nice!! No trip to the ER today!!

Gimme the camera!! I wanna eat dat!!!

Pushing off!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Yep! Time out's no fun!! Perhaps try not talking back to Daddy next time?

Mommy and Jakey-boy :)

Daddy and his double threat!! Soon to be the Bumgardner Triple Threat but for now Jake is my baby!!

Running... my new thing?!

I am turning 40 in June! Aaaaaaaaahhh!! Where has the time gone? I still call myself and my friends "girls". I never could say that I was a lady. That term is used for older more mature women. Much more mature... and I don't necessarily mean age here :)

Anyway, here is a bit of information about me. I love to exercise! Well, I did love to exercise. Something has happened recently to steal the motivation and love I once had. As a child I think my love for exercise came with swimming. My parents signed us kids up every summer for swim team. We were expected to get up every morning in the summer at either 8 or 9am and report for practice. I never really questioned it (my Mom might have a different memory here that involves a lot of whining and complaining) after all weren't all kids getting up every morning of summer break to swim on the swim team?

Then in the 80's there came the aerobics phenomenon. Jane Fonda and the 20 minute workout! Remember those? If you don't please don't tell me. You will make me feel old!
Oh how I loved to exercise with those shows!! My friends would tell me I could remember the aerobics routines so well that I should be an aerobics instructor.

Really?

OK!

Enter the 90's. I DID become an aerobics instructor. Even got certified through ACE (American Council on Exercise) and became a group fitness instructor with Body&Soul Ministries now Body&Soul Fitness. I taught exercise classes up till our second child was born. That would be 2003.

In the last few years I've taught on and off. It's hard to find a location for a class and childcare too. Exercising on my own has been hit or miss. I feel out of shape and unmotivated.

Till Sunday.

Sunday I read Todd's cousin Emilie's blog about how she just ran in her 2nd (I think) half marathon. Hey I know her. And she's a mommy. And she did it!! And look how fabulous she looks!

Back in May I was thinking of my upcoming birthday in June. I was thinking, "Wow in 13 months I'll be 40. I want to be my fittest at 40!" Well now it is September and my birthday is 9 months away. I have gotten NO closer to my goal. That makes me feel like I'm all talk and no action. I needed something to inspire.

Enter Emilie!

I shared with her how inspired I was by her and how cool it would be to run this half marathon in Maine with her next year.

Immediately she responds, "Omigosh!! You totally can do this!! Here are the links to the training schedules that helped me!! Here is a link to an upcoming run in your area!! You CAN totally do this! Yay Michelle!!

I'm thinking, "Waaaaaaiit she doesn't know that I'm a PROCRASTINATOR. I wasn't really going to start till next May. I mean I was going to try to start now but I would probably stop and start 100 times between now and then."

Wait can I get an AMEN to that? Y'all know that you do it too!! OK maybe not my friends Jen and Carol. But the rest of you!!

So then I think, "Well if she doesn't know that I'm a PROCRASTINATOR then maybe I can pretend I'm someone else with her. After all she lives in Maine, I live in Maryland. She'll never know. Maybe for this one thing I won't procrastinate. Maybe I'll just do it!!"

I'm so inspired!! I'm already planning on doing the Way Station Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. I've stayed on my workout schedule since Sunday. Not long I know but I only started this new journey on Sunday.

Part of staying on track is enlisting others to help shove you back on the track when you stop to eat chocolate or ice cream... (thank you, I heard that AMEN!) so Emilie and I asked her cousins and my sister in laws Paige and Tiercy to join us. Tiercy even went so far as to blog about it too. Now there is talk of asking other women we know and love to join our new movement!!

So if you are reading this and are so inclined to join us... don't wait to be asked. Just hit that comment button and shout out, "I'm in!" I'll hear you!

This is the first of many (I hope) postings on my progress working up to running a half marathon. I can't wait to see how I do!!

Oh and if you see Emilie... don't tell her that I'm a procrastinator. It'll be our secret :o)

Family Fun!

This week has been a busy week! On Wednesday we went to the Great Frederick Fair and on Saturday we went for a hike up to Cunningham Falls! So much fun!

Here we are at the top of the Ferris Wheel at the fair. We think that the ride operator was playing games on his computer and lost track of time because we kept going round and round. For 15 minutes!!! We had a blast but the people in line after us were quite tired of the wait.

Here we are starting out on our hike. Thank you whoever you are that stopped to take this picture for us!

Todd and the kids went climbing on the rocks of the falls. Todd is right in the center of the picture and the kids are around him.My turn to carry Jake!

Look closely in this next picture to see a couple of lizards lying on some rocks!!

Did you see them? They were so still and blended in with their surroundings so well Todd and I almost missed them!

The Jolly Jumper

Last night as we were getting the kids ready for bed I put Jake in the Jolly Jumper. As I walked by him I thought to myself, "Look how cute he is! One of these days I'm going to get a video of that." Then I realized with horror that I've said that about each of the kids when they were babies. AND... I had let the moments pass with all of them. So I quick grabbed the camera and this is what I caught. It's not the best quality. Certainly no "Laney dancing to Spiderman" but I got it!!!

Thanks Todd for getting the others ready for bed solo! This one is dedicated to you!

Oh and just so you all know... I HATE my voice on this thing! I'll try to do better next time!

Todd's Hidden Talent!

For a couple of years now Todd has been encouraged by our friend Jeff to make the kid's birthday cakes. Easy for him to say. He is quite the handy cake maker. His birthday cake creations are legendary in these parts. Well, 2 years later, that day finally arrived. Todd decided he was ready to show us what he was made of in the kitchen. I have to admit that I was not in anyway confident that this would end well. I envisioned running to the store at the last minute to purchase a pre-made bakery cake to replace the mess I was sure would be Todd's finished product.

Well, let it be written, let it so be inscribed: I WAS WRONG!!!!
I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Below are Kyle's 4th birthday party pictures. Can you guess the theme?

Todd and Jeff getting the icing ready.

The icing has to be just the right color.
Starting the process.
The finished product! Isn't it great?
Kyle was so excited about his special cake.
Kyle with his Daddy the cake hero!
Happy Birthday to you, Kyle! I'm laughing as I look at this picture. I just noticed for the first time that Drew looks like he is whispering in Kyle's ear. Can you hear him? "Just wait till February, Kyle, mine is gonna be way better than yours!"

Happy Birthday Kyle and Noah!

September 3rd is a special/memorable day for many reasons.

~4 years ago today my 3rd child Kyle Nathanael was born!

Here is our silly song (one day I might post this in video for you)

Mommy: Who's a sweet and silly boy?

Kyle: Kyle Ma-fan-yel

Mommy: Who brings Mommy so much joy?

Kyle: Kyle Ma-fan-yel

Mommy: Who's the one I love to hug?

Kyle: Kyle Ma-fan-yel

Mommy: I just can't do without his love!

Kyle: Kyle MA-FAN-YEL!!!

~5 years ago Klaus Brand, Todd's uncle, passed away. Klaus was one of the kindest, gentlest, men I have ever met. I can still feel his hands on both my cheeks as he would greet me at one of our many family get togethers. Klaus, I miss you! Our loss is heaven's gain.

~9 years ago (is that possible) our family welcomed the first child born after Todd and I were married, Noah Reed Pagley. Noah you danced at my wedding in your Mommy's tummy. Happy Birthday today you HANDSOME boy!

~42 years ago (no I don't remember this!) my parents were married! Happy Anniversary you two! May you have many, many more happy years together!

So there you have it! All my reasons for holding today as a special day in my heart.

Cousin's Birthday Party... Colchagoff Style!

On August 23rd the Pagleys and the Bumgardners traveled to the Colchagoffs for a day of fun. Robin started this tradition a year or two ago. We get together once a year to celebrate all the cousin's birthdays at once. We played on the beach, frolicked on the jet skis, peed on jellyfish stings (well, I didn't, but the kid's swear it works!), ate dinner and then the kids opened their presents. Here are some pictures of our beach fun! What a nice way to end the summer!

Can you just picture these 3 in a couple of years... showing off for the ladies... er, I mean girls?

Notice how all the Daddies are carrying the kids? Apparently Daddies are good protection from jellyfish!

Go Tobin, go!!

Grayson broke his foot earlier this summer and had to wear a protective covering over his cast.

Buff, carrying Grayson up to the car after his turn on the jet ski. Again, proving that Daddies are so cool.

Todd with Kyle!

Todd and the "big" kids!

Todd and I and the little guy!

Brenna and Julianna being Brenna and Julianna.

All done with the jet skis!

Locks of Love

Today was a big day for Julianna and her Mommy. For the longest time Julianna has been begging me to let her cut her hair. I, however, love long hair and was trying desperately to convince her that she would look the most beautiful with long hair. Besides then I could also put it in a ponytail, or braids, or French braids. I just love to do my little girl's hair! I finally convinced her to wait through the summer. I was secretly hoping she would fall in love with her long locks and I (er, I mean she) would get to keep them. Of course my plan failed as many an overbearing mother's plans do. Her hair got way to long for her to handle. So long that she couldn't brush it all out by herself. Getting her to wash it was as much a chore for me as for her. She wanted it ALL cut off! Sooo, I'd heard of "Locks of Love", an organization that takes real hair to make wigs for people who have lost theirs usually due to cancer treatments. Julianna and I visited their website. When she saw the pictures of the young girls in their before (without hair) and after shots (with their new wigs) she was sold. "Mommy, I want to do that! I want to give my hair to someone who can't have their own." My eyes sting just remembering how quickly she desired to help someone in need. Now that the deed is done I'm so proud of her. I think she looks just gorgeous no matter what length her hair is! AND we have (er, I mean she has) given someone the chance to have hair to play with once again! Before the cut! Julianna was so excited she had trouble sleeping the night before. How cute is that?

My good friend Trish cuts our hair. Here she is getting Julianna's hair brushed out and ready for the 10 inch ponytail necessary for "Locks of Love".

Free from the hair! Look at that smile!

So cute in her new hairdo!!

The ponytail needs to be sealed up in a Ziploc bag.

The plastic bag goes into the envelope. Now we are all ready for the mail tomorrow!

Memories

Here's a fun little game... leave a comment on our blog of a memory that we have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known us for a short time or a long time, if the memory is about one or the both of us, just anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about us, we'll assume you are playing and come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

We've seen this post on another blog and left a comment; we figure that we'd better post it too so they will have a place to play.