Speed racer

It's never a dull moment here at Casa de Casa. Audrey is always finding new and interesting ways to entertain herself with baby brother. Today she was his chauffeur of sorts. Audrey put Ben in all of her different baby strollers and raced him around the downstairs. He had a blast. I'm sure one day he'll grow tired of being Audrey's muse, but not today.

Side note: Mr. Ben-ben's hair looks awfully peachy to me. 

She's....creative!

Audrey did my hair tonight after she got out of her bath. I always have to tediously brush the tangles out of Audrey's hair when she gets out of the bath and Audrey decided she needed to do my hair tonight too. My stylist spent quite a long time tweaking things to make my style just right. She thought it was perfection! You can keep you opinions to yourself!!!

Audrey also took this picture. She's so multi-talented....

Country Music Marathon

Been there, done that! Saturday was the Country Music Marathon and I ran the half. If you did not already know this, then you have been living under a rock for the past 3 months. It was a great weekend filled with lots of purple inspiration, positive energy, excessive pasta consumption, tornado warnings, body glide, a lot of running, and a few sore muscles. We arrived Thursday night knowing that thunder storms were expected Saturday morning, but when you see Jim Cantore on TV talking about your location, you know things are serious! There were tornado warnings and threats of ridiculous rain and lightning. Thankfully the weather held out and was beautiful until about 30 minutes after I crossed the finish line, and then the bottom dropped out of the sky. the atmosphere was exciting and heavy on the country music and the port-a-potties. I got off to a great start and saw Jeff, Audrey and Ben at miles 2, 10, and 12. I ran a Ginger-record first 10 miles and then proceeded to hit the wall. I failed to pack an extra "GU" in my fuel belt and ran out of gas, but puttered on through miles 11 and 12 and was able to pick it up a bit for the final stretch. I finished in 2 hours and 34 minutes. Not too shabby. I ran a 2:15 pace for the first 9 miles, which I am pretty happy about, and then obviously I slowed down quite a bit after that. I can't complain though, I had a great time and a great run and was loved, cheered for, and supported throughout the weekend. I was able to eat lunch with Audrey, Ben, and Jeff and hang out with them a bit before they headed back home. I am so grateful that my family was able to share this experience with me! I could go on and on with the details of the weekend, but I won't. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Looking a little cross-eyed at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

A little something to pump us up on our hotel doors the morning of the race. As if we could read at 3:30 in the morning.

The goods.

Extreme closeup.

Post race lunch with some loved ones.
Some honky-tonk fun on Friday.
Three unsuspecting Charlotteans walk into a country bar....
....temporary cowgirls!

Zoom zoom....

...that's what Bolt would say. That's also what Audrey sounds like when she goes 150 miles per hour on her scooter. Today was Bike Day at pre-school. Last year Audrey took her bike and nearly killed several less experienced children who were just learning to ride, so this year she took her scooter. She went just as fast, but was lower profile on the scooter, so she was able to zip and zoom through the other children. She had a great time and enjoyed the day with her classmates.

Ready to run!

I had better be ready, because the 1/2 marathon is Saturday! I made shirts for Audrey and Ben to wear, and put my name on my singlet. Audrey told me she would cheer for me the whole time. She thinks I'm going to win the race.....I'll let her believe that.


I'm the one running, but this is hardly about me at all. It's about those who have cancer, had cancer, or who will get cancer in the future. It's about healing the sick, preventing future occurrences, honoring those who survived, and remembering those who lost their fight.

Glenda Brown is represented on all of this season's race singlets. She told Leukemia to take a hike and has been in remission for many, many years. Glenda is also a dear family friend, and I am proud to be honoring her!

Operation Toy Box

We cleaned out the toy box downstairs yesterday, and boy was that an adventure! We managed to weed out a bunch of "old" stuff and broken and missing pieces and organize things a bit. It looks much better now, thank goodness. The kids both had a good time digging around in the box and reuniting themselves with long lost toys.

Baby blue eyes

Dear Drs....
You wondered, you questioned...will my eyes stay blue? Yes, they did, and they will remain. My Mommy had a hunch, and even though you were skeptical, my Mommy knew that my eyes would be as blue tomorrow as they are today.....Mommy says I'll be a heart-breaker!

Frog day afternoon

It was quite an afternoon for the House family. We mowed grass, whacked weeds, and of course played in the kiddie pool! The most exciting part of the afternoon was our visitor, the frog! Audrey was mesmerized by the frog in her pool. She followed him, scooped him, watched him, held him, contained him, and finally let him go tell his torturous story to his family, wherever that may be. In the mean time, the rest of us enjoyed the sunny afternoon by working in the yard. Ben had a good time in the water and the sunshine!

The frog: captured, watched, studied.

Almost free....she let him go, alive and well after her thorough visual examination.

Ben was busy with other things.
What are you lookin'at?It is the most delightful thing in the world to have a have a healthy, happy Ben-ben on my hands! FEVER FREE! WOOOOOOOOO!

Happy birthday Murphy!

You are 3 years old today. You are so sweet and tolerant. All you want is to be loved. You are Audrey's dog, pony, prince, cuddle blanket, and yes, you eat things you shouldn't and shed excessively, but we love you anyway.

Sweet, innocent thing of 12 weeks old. The first time we met Murphy.

A cupcake for the birthday boy!Mmm!

Pool party!
And some birthday bones for Murphy...

and his best bud.

More from the photo session!!

Click here to see more pictures from the Ben and Audrey photo shoot! You won't be disappointed!

Audrey (that's a fancy word for fabulous)

(For those of you with boys, or no children at all, the title is a "Fancy Nancy" reference)

Funny Papers with Papa

Audrey and Papa have several things in common. One of the things they both immensely enjoy is the comics. It's not so funny when I read them to her, but Papa is top notch! He does all the voices and explains the pictures and provides additional commentary on every frame. They read all the funnies on Saturday and then.....the Sunday funnies in COLOR. Wooo-hooo. Good times for Audrey and Papa.

This picture is a winner in my book!

I wish I had audio on this moment.

$1.00

$1.00 does not get you very far these days, but if you're at the dollar store it can get you some great "junk" that gets good bang for the buck. Audrey is always wrapping her head in towels and blankets so she can have long hair. So, when I saw this head band at the dollar store, I had to bite. She was thrilled.

Everyone loves Rody

I have never met a child who did not love Rody the horse. Ben got Rody for his birthday and Audrey has gotten just as much enjoyment out of it as he has. Three cheers for a toy that the kids use for more than 5 minutes!

Sneak Peek!

Ben had his one year pictures taken yesterday with the same fabulous photographer that took his newborn pictures. He was a bit of a grouch- as much of a grouch as Ben can be, but take a look at this shot! Cutest baby ever.

Please visit www.amycarrphotography.com to see kick-patootie pics of other babies and more of my Ben-Ben when she posts them.

Maggie

I met my 3rd niece today. She is as lovely and perfect as I expected, and as much fun to love as my first 2 amazing nieces. The kiddos and I made a trip to the ATL today so Ben and I could meet Maggie and Audrey could hold her again, and again. What a delight! Kady and Dan are doing a great job being parents and Maggie is spoiling them by being such a sweet girl.

Audrey: Professional baby holder.

Dan- oops, I mean Maggie

Getting her workout on under the baby gym.
Spent. Audrey and Ben were exhausting!
Mischief maker, Ben.

Busted!

It's no wonder why dogs love children so much.

New words

Ben has not said a whole lot since he had his tubes put in. I don't know if everything sounds different, or if he just isn't speaking to me since I made him go through all of that. However, today while playing in the yard he said "bad dog." Audrey was scolding the dogs for eating Ben's snack and then....so did Ben.

First haircut

You are probably scratching your head and wondering if you read that title correctly. First haircut, really? Yes, that's right, Ben actually has hair, and just enough of a mini-mullet swirling around the ears to look a little silly, so we snipped them off. It will probably be awhile until the next cut, but I am perfectly happy with his fuzziness.

Bucket of fun!

There's nothing like a bucket of water in the backyard on a sunny day. It was in the 80's today and the kids went for some impromptu fun with a bucket 'o water. A good time was had by all.