500!

Remember my running goal for 2012? the one I set back in January...to run 500 miles this year? Well. As of Sunday, I DID IT! ;) 

Incidentally, along the way, I also ran that half marathon, then another half marathon, a 5K and a 5K mud run. (And I mostly took the summer "off" given the fires here and just plain being lazy, lol.)

To reward myself for the 500 miles, I bought this shirt. Yay!

Also, because I was needing some motivation to get my act in gear as the year draws to a close (and to stick with it through the holidays!)...I made myself a little challenge to get through the end of the year. I won't bore you with the details, but it involved exercising a certain number of times a week and allowing myself to go ahead and spend some of my weekly budget every three weeks if I achieve that. Anyhow. I met my first three week goal Sunday also and endulged in a couple of things for my cold-weather running gear from Title Nine. (I love that store and, if money were no object, am pretty sure I could happily wardrobe myself from just Title Nine and REI from here out, lol.)

So. Here's hoping I can finish 2012 strong... ;)

Halloween (belated)

We didn't go all out for Halloween this year. Didn't even buy or carve pumpkins. We did, however, have some volunteer pumpkins that grew all on their own in our backyard:

After our first snow, we harvested them.

Oh, and speaking of snow:

Yeah, it didn't stick around too long and the boys were silly happy just to play for a few minutes. That was the week before Halloween.

Back to the pumpkins...We set them out in the front and I put up some cobwebs at the last minute (because I just couldn't stand how plain it looked without them, lol). And, because Halloween was pajama day at the boys' quasi-school (and because they were asked specifically not to wear costumes and because I told Micah he could definitely *not* just go in his underwear, lol, and because my guys generally sleep in their clothes (or underwear) anyhow so didn't have any pajamas), Asher and Micah *did* dress up as Noah:

(I particularly love that middle picture of Asher acting like Noah and telling me to stop taking pictures, lol.) 

But for trick or treating, Asher transformed into Iron Man and Micah became a ninja. (For Asher's costume, we opted for practical and got this cool Iron Man hoodie that he can wear all the rest of the year, too. We pinned some glo-sticks to his arc reactor area and he was good to go. :) For Micah's costume, he just found a cheap ninja set at Target with the hood/mask and a sword. We already had plenty of black clothes, lol. Love how he's being stealthy behind those cobwebs...)

Noah, again, declared himself too old for trick or treating and stayed home with a friend and Nathan to hand out candy. I donned my Jedi costume again and took the younger two out around our neighborhood...and loved the beautiful-no-coat-necessary weather this year!

And that was our Halloween. :)

Moala

Yes, I'm still a bit behind on my blog posts. But. This one can't wait. :) I cut the boys' hair yesterday and somehow came away with a Moala:

For what it's worth, I usually do ask all the boys while I'm cutting their hair whether they want me to leave a mohawk or an Apple symbol or whatever...mostly just to mess with them. ;) But this time, Micah decided...hey, yeah, let's do that...so we came away with a mohawk on top (I'd already gotten to the back of his head but, fortunately, it looks pretty cute this way). I know it'll require a bit more maintenance but I think you'll agree that it seems worth it.

Anyhow. He's decided that his brothers' haircuts are too boring and that his is now awesome and exciting...and he has a little bit of an infatuation with his head, as he keeps asking me to put more gel in it (though I mostly refuse, lol) and "shaping" his mohawk. Oh my, this boy is cute. ;)

Oh, and, since I know you're wondering...a Moala is a mohawked koala. Yes, really. That's what Micah says anyhow. And for reasons unknown, he's been pretending to be a koala lately...climbing Nathan and clinging to him like a little marsupial. So. He's a self-proclaimed Moala. He has a little Moala dance. Of course. ;)

Twelve...

...but not taller!

Ha! Okay, okay. Yes. It's incredibly close. ;) But. The level doesn't lie. 

Actually, I fully thought that Noah had finally passed me up. I'd intended to "give" that to him for his birthday today. :) But, when Nathan measured, apparently I'm still taller. Woohoo!

Oh, in case you missed that...yes, my boy is TWELVE today! TWELVE! Oy. 

He's opted not to do a party or anything, though he'll have a few friends over next weekend. And because I'm mean like that, lol, we still did schoolwork today and won't be officially celebrating until tomorrow. And, I didn't take birthday pictures of him today because he dearly needs a haircut and I didn't get to that earlier this week. ;) So. More soon (plus catching up on other stuff)...

In the meantime, join me in celebrating the fact that we still have a year before teenagerhood. ;)

Leverage.

They're here. The boys all saved and saved for the past year...saving allowances and Christmas money and birthday money and tooth fairy money, lol. And now they're all the proud owners of these three new iPods:

To say they're excited would be an understatement. :)

(Yes, Noah started this whole thing with his purchase last year on his birthday. He hadn't actually planned to buy this latest iPod (as he's saving for a Mac) but couldn't resist when he found out about the new bells and whistles. And, obviously, it just wouldn't do for his younger brothers to have iPods cooler than his, lol.)

So. It's not what *I* would have spent the money on, but it was their choice. I'm choosing not to look at it as a huge time suck and a means for my seven year old to kill zombies in Minecraft. ;) Instead, I'm choosing to see an opportunity for teaching time management (I fully intend to find a family calendar app to keep 'em all in line)...responsibility (obviously...we've already gone over a number of rules)...and maybe even some educational stuff (yes, I have a list of apps I may require them to get and use, lol). And. Perhaps most importantly, when I look at these iPods, I see leverage. Bwaahaaahaaa!