BUSILY WORKING WITHIN THE SHELL

Where have we been?!?!?! Are we still alive? Well yes we are doing fine just REALLY REALLY REALLY busy. Here is our deal and these are our quick updates. First off, we are moving back to Portland!!! So inorder to do that we need to finish remodeling our house, get it on the market, sell it, pack up and get a baby, dog, cat, two adults, two cars, and all of our STUFF across the country! When will that go down? Well we are still waiting on that government start date, which is also waiting on military orders. SOOOOOO maybe the end of July? Um, stay tuned, as that is what we are doing.

Sneak peek at one of the "In Progress" photos. When we are all done we will post some before and after from before we even moved in!

Michael went to Kuwait for three weeks for work. He was offered 130K to work there for a year, plus they would move the family.....we said NO!

Gilbert participated in his first race, a Half mile kids race. Here he is sizing up the future competition.

And with his ribbon.

Being that time is limited I have been doing shorter races. But I have been placing top three in the local 5Ks and PRd in my last one with a time of 20:58 a 6:45 minute mile.

How do I train? Rocky style by digging up the backyard to plant grass, one scoop at a time. And drinking Coors Light tall boys!

But most important of all is that Gilbert is as cute as ever.

One of his many creations:

Oh, and Michael and I did manage to squeeze in a date one night.

Please note that I am getting high while writing this.....off of the varnish and lacquer fumes on the kitchen floor. And I can hear Michael scraping paint off the front porch without a mask. Can we talk about lead poisoning? Gotta' go!

SNEAK PEEK AT EASTER

Here are a few photos from our Easter Sunday. We awoke to quickly made cups of coffee proceeded to watch Gilbert searching for the few eggs hidden by Mr. Bunny.

Then proceeded to make Oven Cake, inspired by my sister-in-law Heather, and asparagus with bacon. Yum!
Then it was off for a family hike. Gilbert was amazing in the woods, hiking about a quarter mile on his own at a pretty good clip and over some rough terrain. We'll try and attach the video when we figure out how to get it vertical.

WHAT'S GILBERT UP TO?

Really folks, this is what it is all about....

Well, and maybe a little bit of this....

I KNEW SHE EXISTED!!!

Before I moved to Chambersurg I told my friends in Portland that no matter what there has to be one girl out there with kids who kicks ass as an athlete and it trying to balance the whole thing. We'll I spied her last Spring at the YMCA. She was working there and I overheard her talking to a guy about doing some adventure races, and shooting to do a century ride. I knew I had to make my move. Well to make a long story short, "The Girl" is Trish. She has two boys and is a high school science teacher. She moved here from Colorado with her husband and boys. We have thus far done an adventure race together(and won), a ten mile "run the sites in DC"(see above), and just completed the Chambersburg half marathon together (see below). Just yesterday we did a 45 mile group bike ride, as our first Spring ride, and survived.

Well anyway she rocks! She is my "get a grip on life" sanity. We both struggle with lack of life in Chambersburg. Oh and sometimes my margarita and/or growler partner...but she is on the wagon right now for training...which I guess I can deal with. Does she think she is setting a good example or something? Oh the pain of the guilt! Yes, a good friend in deed!

Oh, did I mention we have matching cars? Really, the same make, model, year, and color, both with racks! Oh how that totally rocks. Wait and we both have the Darwin emblem on our cars...thanks to Trish and a few too many margaritas.

NEW BIKES FOR ALL

Look who got a new bike in the mail today....
After watching him try to ride his firetruck around the house, we decided that it might be time to get him the real riding. We chose the Radio Flyer because it has a saddle like a bike and real handlebars. Can you tell where this is going? Anyway, here he is back in the day trying to ride the firetruck. It is pretty funny to watch in action.
I'm not sure if you can tell, but he actually has about five little pieces of brie cheese in the tiny driver's seat. No more brie for Gilbert, we are in a recession, I mean really. I think Lucy ended up eating them.

But that is not where the story ends. Gilbert and I took a day trip today to Baltimore to pick up Michael's new mountain bike. It cost us a pretty penny, but we opted to get the bike instead of having another baby.....just kidding! Michael has been working really hard since our arrival in Chambersburg and as a result received the bike as his Husband/Father of the Year award.

Here are Michael and Gilbert headed out on their first rides on their new bikes. Gilbert's as previously mentioned and Michael's on the "Superfly"...hum remember the 80's WWF's Jimmy superfly snucka". Gilbert is just warming up his legs a little bit.
http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/superfly/bigimage

GREENLAND OR ICELAND?

Quick picture of my first pizza with a homemade crust created at the last minute. In other words no yeast and very easy. But I think it might look a bit like Greenland...or Iceland. I don't know, but it tasted good.

FIRST BIRTHDAY....PARTY

Gilbert and I went to our first kid's birthday party together on Saturday. It was for the the son of one of Michael's co-workers, also named Mike. Zachary turned five, but has a younger sister Gilbert's age. The festivities were fun for all, including the mama, me, getting to eat two pieces of birthday cake and bringing some home "for the family". Here is a picture of Gilbert and the birthday boy.

And I am happy to say that our present was a hit, binoculars!