The Next Time We Go to Sports Authority I'm Bringing the Camera

This morning was my last long run before my marathon coming up on the 27th.  I survived an early and lonely 22 mile run. It went really well and was a good confidence booster for the real thing coming up in only 2 weeks.  I'm thankful its behind me and now I can take it easy until then.

Its been crazy cold here this winter. If any of my friends up north are reading this you might laugh, but for US its been REALLY cold. Since it was going to be 32 this morning, I decided I needed something a little warmer to wear. So, we went to Sports Authority last night so I could pick something up before going to Pei Wei.  While I was trying things on, Matthew and Mallory had a little fun themselves. When I found them, they were shooting some hoops.  I couldn't resist taking some pictures with my phone.  I thought they turned out really sweet, so the next time we go to Sports Authority I'm bringing the real camera!

She Shoots!

She Scores!

When Mallory bent over like this with the football she looked through her legs at us and said, "hi". It was really funny because it sounded like she said, "hike." We know she's a genius and all, but we're pretty sure she hasn't picked up any football lingo yet.

 And they had to stop and get in a little boxing before we could leave too!

 

Mallory and a Few of her Favorite Things

Since its been a while, I thought I would catch you up on Mallory and a few of her favorite things these days.

This picture combines 2 of her favorites: shoes and her daddy! Her love for shoes has shown no signs of going away. No shoes are safe when the Shoe Bandit is around. If you take your shoes off, she WILL find them and she WILL wear them. She also LOVES her daddy (as she should). When he is in uniform, she loves to check his pockets and find the star on his badge.

She got this bike for Christmas and loves to ride it around the house. That's one benefit of all our tile.

More shoes and her "Nay-Nay" jammies. The only footie pj's that Mallory has are all hand me downs from Nathan. The first night she wore them I told her she was wearing his jammies. She must have thought that was pretty cool, because now when she wears any of them she tells us many times that they were his. There were a few mornings when it was the first thing she said when I got her out of bed.

She still loves her books, but coloring is definitely one of her most favorite activities. She loves to put her hands down for us to trace, but she doesn't stop there. She will put a single finger, her foot, her face, her cheek, or even her mouth on the paper to be traced. Silly girl!

Mallory is a big dancer! We catch her dancing to the music of her toys all the time.

Here she is watching me in the kitchen. Just about every time I go in there, she pulls up a chair from the table to watch.

She loves her PaPaw!

"I slide" is one of her most frequent requests. She loves to slide on anything. When a real slide isn't available, Mommy or Daddy do just fine.

Climbing in and out and playing in the bathtub is entertaining too!

Running, Rabbits and Some Randomness

Good news, I still remember how to sign in to blogger! I have gone back and forth in my head debating continuing my blog or just giving up. After reading back through my old blogs and remembering different things that were going on I decided to put some effort back into my blog. Also, my sister went and posted last week so I can't let her get ahead of me! I do have one condition; I want comments. I don't like talking to myself! One of my goals as I restart blogging, is a little more variety in my subjects (not just Mallory). I love her to pieces and she is the cutest thing I've ever see, but sometimes a little balance is good. So, here goes...

I read an article in Runners World this week that a "mommy runner" had written that I really related to. The writer told how she, her husband, and her son all agree that life is better when she gets to run. I really do feel like I'm a better me when I get to run. I can let my mind wander and think about anything, everything, or nothing and just be me. I'm very thankful for Matthew and his mom making my Saturday morning runs possible.

I've been blessed to make some great friends through running, but today I was all alone thanks to a late start and road construction. Fortunately I did have some company with my ipod. Seriously, what would we do without them? It was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed my 13 miles on my own with Jack. That's what I've named the voice in my ipod. Don't worry about me hearing voices, he works with my nike+ chip and just tells me how far I've run or have left. Nothing else.

I say I was alone for my run, but that's not entirely true. I think I saw more people out running today than ever probably because it was the first time we've seen the sun in what seems like weeks. There were 2 organized runs going on along A.P. and downtown. There where people everywhere! I even saw a rabbit hopping along next to me for a sec. I thought it was pretty crazy to see a little bunny rabbit in the shadows of downtown.

I also wondered if today was "Walk Your Dog" day or something. There were people walking dogs everywhere! I even saw two different women pushing their dogs in strollers. One was a small dog wearing a sweater. The other was a collie with a crazy collar/necklace thing that looked ready for Mardi Gras. Nuts!

I also saw a homeless man doing his laundry in a bucket next to a water faucet. Just another reminder these days of just how blessed we are. We may not have everything we want, but there is not a single thing I need that God has not provided!

Well, that's enough for now. I've got a whole list of things to do tonight to be ready for church in the morning. Stay tuned for more earth shattering posts from me. I promise, the next one will star Mallory Joy!