Matt's Half-Ironman - My Superman

Matt fearlessly conquered his first Half-Ironman in November. It was only his 3rd triathlon ever; the other two he did in July- a sprint tri- and October - an Olympic tri. When the man dreams big, he dreams big. He did it in about the time he hoped for, slightly slower, but only by 30 minutes. Considering the first place man finished in 4 1/2 hours, I think Matt did an excellent job finishing in 6 1/2 hours after less than 6 months of training. I mean, the man just got a bike last April and just learned how to swim with proper technique this past summer. He has also been finishing his Bachelor's degree, started a new job this fall, and practically cared for all three of us girls this summer while I had morning sickness. And he did it all while not neglecting his family. If you need a lesson in Balance, talk to him! He seems to have mastered it! He is just amazing to me. :)

Here are some pictures of his day...

Hannah helping Daddy get ready.

Realizing how freaking cold the water is going to be.

He was one of the only ones who opted NOT to wear a wetsuit.

Getting ready...

There he goes!

He says his body went into shock when he hit the water. He couldn't breathe or move for a minute.

Check 1 - Finished the 1.2 mile swim.

Now for the 56 mile bike ride.

His bike at the transition area after he left for his run.

Now for 13.1 miles running... or jogging, I should say.

A smile on his face as he finishes.

What a haus! :)

(That was actually on his high school letter jacket... "Haus." ;)

Still standing, a little bloody, but he did survive...

...enough to make the 1/2 mile walk back to the car.

I am SOOOOO proud of you, my love!! You challenge me and inspire me and push me to a whole new level in all areas! I am thankful to have that constantly in my life.

Our First Sleep-Over

A little while ago, we had our first sleep-over. Our friends, The Hvass', let us keep their girls for a night while they enjoyed a childless evening and morning. It's something that my mother-in-law does for us on a regular basis so we thought we'd pass the favor along since we enjoy it so much. The girls had a really good time together and I think they REALLy enjoyed having friends to play with the moment they woke up. Since we have the crib set up and an extra twin bed in there that are not yet being used, it was the perfect time to host a baby and a toddler. Everyone was very well behaved. The only hard moment was when Chloe took a hard fall outside and scraped her knees and hands pretty badly (for a 3 year old, at least). Here are some pictures from our morning...

The girls watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I fed Natalie her bottle.

I tried numerous time to get a picture of all four girls together, but these are the best I took.

After watching a show, they all decided they needed to dress up for breakfast. We have Hannah H., aka Fairy Princess, Chloe, aka Snow White, and Hannah T., aka Sleeping Beauty and of course, Baby Natalie, who looks like a real-life babydoll. We had a royal breakfast of toast and jam and fruit. :)

Flour Power

You see, Matt looks so sweet and awesome in this picture below with Chloe and Hannah; they adore him. And he is pretty wonderful... for the most part.

But then, he has this evil, cruel side of him that preys on his pregnant wife when she is trying to play an innocent game of hide and seek with her children; the woman who can't move quick enough or run fast enough to get away from his torturous schemes because of the life growing inside of her that will bring him more daddy-adoring offspring.

You cannot see it, but he drenched all of us, including his poor children, with the hose. The sweet little ones did not know how to react to their father laughing cruelly at them as he hosed them down. Then, as if to seem apologetic, he retrieved towels from the house, yet it was all part of his evil plan for he returned with a hidden bag of flour amongst the towels and proceeded to dump it on me, the little girls' mother, in front of their eyes. The poor souls now have no idea what to think of their father for he has played a mean trick on their mother. Thus, their rose colored glasses are scratched and they must now face the reality of HE who is their father... a man who started it all, over 10 years ago, when he dumped out a bag of leaves that I had just raked from the yard just so that I'd go to lunch with him. What the heck was I thinking?

Just simple silly stuff

Chloe has a weird imagination when it comes to making up names. She will definitely NOT be naming our new baby. :) Few people get to experience this with me, but this weekend, at my parents' house, they witnessed it. Matt became "Sha-nini from Tanini" which, she explained, is in China, and he was also my mom's cousin. For some reason, I couldn't stop laughing and I began to cry. She became concerned and got a Kleenex to wipe my tears, which then made me laugh more. It was just one of those moments that ended up being funnier to me than it probably was to any one else. But it was good opportunity to teach her that some people cry "happy tears."

Tonight, Chloe called me into their room because Hannah had taken off her diaper, which is a common occurrence at night now that she's potty training. I go into their room and Chloe has changed into her outfit for tomorrow; Hannah is buck-naked and trying to put socks on. They have such a great time in that 1-2 hours before they fall asleep at night. We don't restrict them to their bed because they really have no other time when they are "locked" (not really locked but required to stay in there) in a room together, forced to work things out themselves. It happens to usually be the most peaceful time for them too, when they seem to get along very well. I wish I could be a fly on the wall sometimes to hear them interact in that room.

Tonight, I also dropped my cell phone in their room and didn't realize it. Chloe brought it to me after a while. Matt, who came home after they'd gone to bed, walks in the door with a big grin on his face and tells me he'd just had two conversations on the phone with Chloe and that his mom had tried to call me to say that Chloe had just called her too. :) I asked Matt if he told Chloe to bring me my phone, but he said that she kept saying she'd get in trouble if she came out of her room so she would not bring me the phone. I suppose this means I should tell her to never use my phone without asking either!

I can't remember the other stories I wanted to write down. Maybe tomorrow!

Trouble with the tongue

I'm writing to share that Chloe burnt her tongue on a candle today. I was thinking she was a tad bit smarter, but obviously the attraction of the flame was just too much. After blowing the candle out (which she had to get up on stool to even see), she touches her tongue, for some unknown reason, to the glass jar that it was in. Maybe it's because it was a pumpkin pie candle and she was hungry... I don't really know. She spent the next 20 minutes with her tongue in a glass of ice water and that seemed to take away the pain completely. So if ever this happens to you, you know what to do now!

A few pictures of the munchkins who love and "hate" each other more and more everyday...

How Chloe fell asleep the other night

Cheese!

Everyday, I ask myself, "What am I going to do with that hair?!"

Can I stick to it?

I so enjoy reading other peoples' blogs, keeping up with their crazy lives and somehow feeling better about myself afterwards, now knowing that I am not the only one who has issues. I'd really like to chronicle the lives of my growing children and of their mom and dad, who figure the parenting thing out day by day, or sometimes maybe not at all. I'd really like to chronicle God in our lives and be able to look back and remember, like in Nehemiah 9, the good and the bad times, but always the consistency of Him being there. I hope I can stick to it. I am not so good at sticking to things unless I have some accountability with people expecting results. I'd say I give myself a lot of grace when it comes to not following through. We'll see how it goes. I make no promises though once Baby #3 comes in January. Right now, I'm hungry and need to shower before MOPS tomorrow. Adios!