Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Man

Friends and clients before the race

I love when I can combine my family with my other passion of running.  Most days lately it seems I am abandoning my family to get in runs or to run with clients.  Monday morning I do take Ailbe and she chills out (kind of) in the jogger while I run but that is an exception more than a rule (really just a necessity) so I was glad when the whole family was able to run in the Seahawks 12k and Kids 1/2mi. Race this year.  Mike and I so rarely get to run together but fortunately the last few years we have managed to be able to.  It does help that Mom lives just a few blocks from the start line.  Rooney has run this race twice I think but this was Ailbe's first shot.  They both did great!  Rooney came in like a champ and Ailbe had a good time running with Grandma Peggie and Daddy. Seems all the running I've been doing this last quarter with clients and the new bootcamp classes I have going on have paid off because Mike and I both got a PR this race.  Felt good and strong!  A family that runs together stays together. That's how the saying goes, right?

Suburban Problems

Ailbe and I are sitting in our car as we always do.We are waiting the last few minutes quiet moments before Rooney gets out of school for the day. I actually look forward to these few moments most days. Ailbe is contained and generally occupied while I blissfully get to sip my coffee and play Scramble With Friends. Some days Rooney's arrival to the car will set off a stream of sibling fighting, post school hunger grumpiness and fatigue from the days previous events but he is definitely missed while he is away for the day learning... especially from Ailbe. Several times throughout the day Ailbe will ask when we are going to pick up Rooney or if we are going to pick him up before a class of hers. She loves Rooney so much and wants his attention so badly but he is too young to see that yet. Hopefully one day. Hopefully one day soon.

Rooney is out and in just a few minutes the rest of the day will be determined.  Oh here he comes...
He is smiling...


 the outcome is looking favorable.

Since You've Been Gone...

Rooney & Ailbe Eating Out- March 2013

Rooney with a mohawk- Summer 2012

Carpinito Bros Pumpkin Patch- October 2012

Ailbe Fly Eyes- April 2013

It's been a long time since I've last written and of course many, many many things have happened. If you follow me on the Facebook then you know all the dirt and you've seen tons of pictures of the kids. But for those of you that are random strangers or just in the dark ages without much social media than the excuse would be time just got away from the me and I felt too behind to catch up. I'll try to fill you in but of course some stories may be lost forever. Today the kids are 7-1/2 and 3-1/2 years old. This time 4 years ago I was pregnant with Ailbe and all the craziness of the 2nd half of my pregnancy was going to start soon. Rooney is in 1st grade now. He appears to be pretty mathematically minded like his father. Really it's a love hate. He is good at math and it just makes sense to him however having to prove he knows it does not make sense to him and the argument that ensues is all Howard. Rooney is still in karate and has reached the level of purple belt 1 blue stripe. Ailbe has joined her brother in the martial arts and started Little Ninjas last November. Ailbe will start preschool school this Fall at Rooney's alma matter and I may or may not be beside myself when I that happens. Those feeling kind of shift day to day. Summing the kids up in the most simplistic terms Rooney is the single most sweetest and loving kid to his momma and Ailbe is the single most fiery, frustrating and ridiculously funny girl to her momma. 

Lastly, you'll probably be hearing alot about this in upcoming posts but Ttis past July I became a running coach and started my own business. Classes started in January 2013 and the business is small but I have good clients. I specialize mostly in beginners but work with experienced runners by providing group runs. My evenings have become pretty packed with running groups and trying to make it home in time to put a kid to bed. Mike of course has been great. I'll definitely need that tolerance when I really start my training for the Portland Marathon this Fall. Perfect 40th birthday gift for myself? Jury will be out on the until October 7th at least. Fingers are still crossed for a relaxing Hawaiian vacation immediately following.  The real birthday present.

I Think I Saw A Putty Tat

VIDEO0105.3gp Watch on Posterous

Now that Rooney is in Kindergarten full day Ailbe and I can start doing our own things together.  One of the things I signed her up to do is gymnastics at Aryal's (formerly known as Gym Starz).  You may recall that Rooney was taking classes here and he learned alot.  Even got up to a cartwheel this summer.  After going to Rooney's classes her entire life and then being able to do Open Gym some days Ailbe kind of figured out what to do.  Once Rooney started his school I signed her up for classes this September and she is really taking off.  Today was the first day I didn't really need to assist her. She's getting really good at climbing (which I am not sure is a great idea since she is still in her crib), jumping and following directions.  Pip is a little more shy than Rooney so today she did get a little upset when she realized Mom wasn't standing next to her but she was a trooper and carried on with her beloved seat drops.  She talked about seat drops the whole way to class today. That was good because it took her mind off of her cat "tat" stamps she got in class on Friday.  She loved them so much, and wanted to look at that so much, that Mike had to roll her pant legs so she could see/show them off on Saturday (she proceeded to talk about them Sat, Sunday, Monday and still today).  She finished off class today with bubbles, a rousing rendition of Tony Chestnutt (which I definitely need to get on video) and 5 butterfly stamps.  Enough to keep any girl very tired and happy!

VIDEO0106.3gp Watch on Posterous

Look Who The Comedian Is Now

VIDEO0104.3gp Watch on Posterous

I know! I know! I am months, possibly a year behind in posts. The kids are still alive (you were wondering weren't you?), still growing and still cute.

I used to worry when Ailbe was a baby that she might get kind of looked over compared to Rooney. He has such a huge personality and fearlessly not shy that I worried she may be some kind of shrinking violet when around other people. Well thankfully I can see that will not be the case with Pip. She is definitely her own person and it is absolutely chockful of spit fire personality.

As evidenced by this video I think Rooney may be doing a little coaching.

A guy walks into a tire store...

This past July, I blew out a tire on the freeway. I got off, and changed the tire over to the spare:

Rooney really liked the spare tire look, so he was pretty disappointed when I told him we were going to go to Costco to get new tires that very evening.
We got to the tire center, and there were a couple of customers ahead of us. 20 minutes later, we finally got called to the front of the shop.
"How can I help you?" the guy asked.
Rooney bounced up to him. "We need 3 more spare tires, please!"

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

There are many moments when you feel proud as a parent but one of the most rewarding (so far) is when you realize your child has learned something you tried to teach them. There are two instances of this happening in this blog post and both happened moments apart.

First moment came when Rooney and I were counting his saved allowance. Roon really wants to buy a Puffle. For awhile now in an attempt to teach Rooney about money, what things cost and what it means to earn something you want we have been giving him an allowance. To buy things he wants he can use his allowance and or add it to a Wish List for birthdays, Christmas etc. We were counting his allowance & I told him he probably needed about $10. As I was counting I told him I thought he just had a little over $5. I didn't catch it at the moment but he replied "Oh this is going to take forever to get 5 more dollars!". I knew he knew some math but I was impressed.  Since he didn't have enough money I told him maybe he could earn some. Mike was mowing the lawn so I sent him outside to see if Mike had a job for him to do to earn some moolah. Mike gave him a job of raking which is what Rooney is doing in this pic.

In the meantime Renae texted me to see if Rooney could play with Felix. I figured Rooney's raking job wouldn't be too long so I said sure. When Rooney was done raking Mike said that there really wasn't enough of a job for him to do for $5 but would pay him $1. I told Rooney that Aunt Renae asked if he could play and that maybe he could earn some loot when he got home. Then he had his own great idea he was going to ask Uncle Dana if he had any jobs to earn $4 more dollars!

Maybe he learned 3 things here.