Halling Go To Alaska

Afternoon thunderstorm with rain. *splash* Makes for excited girls running in joy Jumping in flip flops and "church shoes" When you stop working to join them,  you may find you're own personal rainbow amongst the hail and rain and sun And you'll end up with reflections you never thought possible Taking time to play amongst the wonder of nature Worth it.  Check out Beth's for more playful posts.

Being one. Entwined, connected. Separation. Joyous, tears. Growing together. Discovery. Inseparable. Lovingly breaking ties. Warm embraces, Budding independence, Confidence emerging. Separation. Heart expanding. Walking away. Safety. Fear. Tears, sadness. Insecurity. Hope. Motherhood. Join Jade for more metaphors. 

Sunday  The kids have been participating in the summer reading program at our local library.  For reading x number of hours they got a free kid's meal at Applebee's.  They got a free dinner.  T and I ordered their "perfect margaritas". Monday Love the lighting in this picture.  Btw, I gave her this hair cut.  Well, not the bangs, those still need a trim. Tuesday I pulled one of our 10 carrots we have growing in our garden.  I wanted to see how big they were.  I'm thinking I'm going to let the others go until October.  Wednesday Love the Nuun for during long runs. It's all electrolytes, so no sticky sweetness.  The banana flavor? Scared me.  But at the expo for the RnR in San Diego we tried it.  It's more generic tropical-ish. No banana flavor. Thursday SmartyPants on the left.  Sass on the right in the water. Playing catch with the beach ball.  Happily.  For 20 minutes.  I was reading on the beach.  = s...

This week has been filled.  Not much time for extra picture taking.  But I did find these two. Thunderstorm clouds in front of the truck. Lighter, happier sky reflected in the mirror.  Mmm. Prophesy perhaps? And my 9yo.  Looking so big.  I wish she would quit wishing the moments away and enjoy things, like she was in this picture.  Dinner out with the family.  Check out everyone else's black and whites over at Beth's. 

The cool, damp grass under my bare feet was refreshing.  A release from the hot confines of shoes.  Blades of the freshly mowed lawn tickled between my toes as the sweat rolled down my face, my arms, my back cooling the rest of me.  The sun soaking into the exposed skin.  My leg muscles weary and tingling from use beyond what was thought possible.  But the cool grass allows a release from the focus required by a long run. Join Jade every Tuesday for a exercise in creativity.  

So a while back I was visiting Melissa's blog and she had a...raffle?... for lack of a better word.  Donate at least a $1 to a fantastic cause . Essentially the donation would go to fund a camp for kids that have lost a parent who was in the military.  Because if you've never gone through a deployment with your spouse/parent, then you don't know what it's like to have lost that same person.  (Luckily, for our family, we've yet to experience that separation where life is on the line.)  So what, you may be wondering, was the prize?  Well, Melissa has an e tsy shop and makes some pretty awesome jewelry.  The prize was a personalized 3-charm necklace.  When I found out I won, I had so many ideas running around in my head. I originally thought that I'd get a military-inspired one - since that was what this whole thing was about and T's in the guard.  Then I thought, as I was fresh off the half marathon in San Diego maybe something to do with TNT. ...

Sunday A definite necessity after a day where T was gone for the weekend and the girls drove me crazy.  Monday Chalk and little hands.  (There is also a little crawly thing near her pointer finger that Sweet Pea was trying to pick up.) Tuesday Hard to see, but Sass can do the monkey bars all by herself.  This took so long for her to master.  Wednesday SmartyPants practicing a new vault.  Not bad form.  Thursday I love this picture of Smarty Pants at Lake Tahoe.   She rarely smiles big, happy, carefree smiles.  *love* Friday My girls with their very first race bigs on.  One down.  Many more to come.  Saturday This is what happens when your 1/4-Hispanic blood mixes with 4 hours of summer sun. 

It has occurred to me that I haven't done a post with substance in a while.  I used to put it all out there. Wear my heart on my sleeve.  And I haven't lately.  I think part of the issue is the fact that since all the craziness of the first half of this year, things have finally calmed down and I'm enjoying not thinking any more than I have to. But there has been a lot going through my mind lately.  Some of it not fit for the blog. ************************************************************************* I know I'm not the only one in this situation. And I've mentioned it before, I'm sure.  I have friends with many different points of view.  I'm actually in the minority among the people I hang out with that I'm a little left-leaning in comparison.  And many times I go out of my way to *not* have certain conversations because I'm scared that their viewpoints will be so different than mine that I will have trouble overlooking those viewpoints.  Well...

Sunday (I think Snowy might need an intervention.) Monday Have I mentioned I love where I live?  And... Because at the end of the hike, exhaustion and sore legs still lead to a picture of what they accomplished.   And what they accomplished was 4.9 miles up and 4.9 miles back.  Tuesday  (fail) Wednesday Fresh ground coffee. Smells good. Thursday At the end of her 25 m breaststroke.  Friday  (fail x2) Saturday  Sass's first tri - done w/part 1.

This last week has been hard for me.  Coming back from vacation and some travel time alone and lots going on in many aspects of my life.  It's been an adjustment...and not just for me - for the rest of my family too.  I'm trying to figure a few things out and try to take steps forward as opposed to backwards or remaining stagnant.  So, in the meantime...until I come up with a thoughtful post...I will leave you with a picture of my girl...who proved to me (and more importantly, herself) that she wanted something.  

Our 4th was relaxed and with friends on their daughter's birthday.  Simple decorations Sometimes have unexpected surprises. Check out Beth's for more 4th of July captures. 

June 27 Walking on Navy Pier. June 28 No idea what this building is called, but I love it.  June 29 Look out! Low bridge! June 30 Seagull looking for handouts on Navy Pier.  July 1 Early morning+spilled coffee+travel = no picture July 2 Last day of VBS performance July 3 Sweet Pea at her first T-ball practice! I may have a runner yet. Check out that awesome stride!

So Tuesday morning found me getting up and ready for day 1 of the conference.  You know, that whole reason why I had come to Chicago in the first place.  The keynote speaker this morning was Bill Gates.  Honestly, I'm horrible about quotes and retaining specific things from speeches.  Especially when I'm tired and haven't had to use my brain in over a week.  Bill Gates is not the most energetic speaker, but he essentially said that charter schools are a good thing.  But if a charter school is not performing, it should be shut down.  That was the underlying theme of the speakers.  Which is true.  Why should the public be paying for schools that don't perform.  And that goes for traditional schools as well. That evening our parent company took everyone who was a part of one of our schools our for a river dinner cruise.  It was delish and so much fun.  This is one of my favorite pictures.  This is the Sears Tower (Willis Towe...