Another cyclist in the house...

Timeline...

October 30- We head to Chicago for Halloween and Andon is in awe of his cousin Nathan's ability to ride his bike without training wheels...too bad Andon has ZERO balance on his bike with training wheels.

November 4- Mark takes Andon and Avery's training wheels and pedals off so they can use their feet to learn how to balance. They head down to the greenbelt by our house and get some momentum going down the hills.

November 7- We head outside and start rolling down the driveway without pedals or training wheels. They do great!

November 8- We head over to the greenbelt, put the pedals back on and help them down the hill...the kids both need help as they start to go down the hill and then are able to balance on their own on the flats. On the way home, ANDON STARTS RIDING ALL ON HIS OWN! Avery still weeble-wobbles and is about 85% there! Unbelieveable! Grandma and Grandpas watch out...he can't wait to show you so be ready!!!!

I started to lose it ....he doesn't need me anymore for one more thing...balling my eyes out for about 10 minutes. I'm better now and realize that this will be happening more and more now! I love these kiddos!!!! They grow us so fast!

Halloween...Trunk or Treating

Well, our Dorothy and Green Lollipop Munchkin had a lot of fun Trunk or Treating at preschool last Wednesday. They had a little program for us and then we dressed them in our costume and went to each of the parents' trunks and the kids had a blast! Out of 5 girls, there were 3 Dorothys!!! As soon as Andon made it out to the driveway he dropped his lollipop....go figure! So it shattered into a thousand pieces (luckily in saran wrap) and Mark made him a paper one that he refused to carry on Halloween night...so everyone thought he was the screcrow! Yes, we did manage to get to Chicago for Halloween night but Michele has all the photos on her camera since we left ours at home! As soon as I get them I'll post them :) ENJOY!

New Kids on the Block and Canyon lake

Yes, that's right....I went with Kelly and Shelly to the New Kids concert. Make fun all you want but it was such a fun night! We went out to dinner and then were brought right back to the 80's for an awesome concert! Here are some pics...

A few days later Mark and I took the kids up to Canyon Lake for a picnic. It didn't go as planned and we ended up opening the back of the 4-Runner and eating at a little pull out but it was a nice family day with beautiful weather!!!!

On Wednesday we head up to Chicago for Halloween...all the cousins are Wizard of Oz characters and I can't wait to see them all together!!! We will have pictures galore, I'm sure....

Weight Loss Update!!!

Well, I just wanted to report that I am officially down 26 lbs and at least 24 inches (knee, thigh, waist, abdomen, and diaphragm only)!!!! My pre-pregnancy weight goal is only 1 lb away, however, I always said that once I reach goal I will readjust if needed. Well, I would like to get down about 6-11 lbs more and then I'll officially be in maintenance phase....I am so proud of myself!!!! Cycling, watching calories, Arbonne 7-day Cleanse and Alternate Day Eating are what did it for me! I'll have Mark take some pictures to post and I'll try and dig up some pre-weight loss before photos, too.

Cochise Classic

Last weekend, Mark and I drove down to Mexico...well 1 mile away from Mexico...and participated in the Cochise Classic 92 mile race, well, er, ride. We were aiming to get me Platinum status which cuts off at 5hrs 15 minutes for women (4 hrs 15 mins for men) and we needed to maintain an average speed of 17.2 mph which really is a piece of cake in normal conditions. On Friday, the night before the ride, we survived pouring rain with predictions of thunderstorms, rain and high winds...not good news to maintain that average speed. Great, huh! SO we spent some time praying for no rain. He listened because we woke up to black skies but no rain. The wind was picking up very slightly....we were hearing news that the longer distance groups had "torrential downpours"....great, right?

When we pushed off at 6:30am, the temp was beautiful...not cold at all...and no rain, still! As we approached the climb up to Bisbee, we were getting a bit nervous because of the BLACK, rain-filled clouds, yet till no rain. We made it to the top in really no problem...then came the best part of riding tandem.....54 MPH on the way down!!!! It was amazing and still, no rain! We cruised along and turned the corner where the wind was picking up...never fun on a bike, especially a tandem. So we made it along that straight, no problem again...average speed and time WAY ahead of schedule. We made 1 3 minute stop to refill water and shove some food in at a rest stop.

Then we turned the corner to go south back to Douglas.....25 MPH winds RIGHT IN OUR FACES!!! We chugged along passing people left and right to try and keep our time and speed where it needed to be. Not so easy in the windy conditions! I have never heard Mark grunt and get so frustrated that it actually was scaring me.....I can't see the stats and he wasn't telling me what was going on so I didn't know if he was frustrated with me, the wind, a sore bum or what. Well, we turned the last few turns and really kicked it up....and finished with 7 minutes to spare for Platinum!!! It was a hard and awesome ride all at the same time!!!!

We stayed at the historic Gadsden Hotel that was built in 1904, I believe, back in the days of Wyatt Earp. It's said to be haunted, no ghosts that we saw, but it was a little creepy, loud and uncomfortable to stay overnight in. The picture is us on the marble staircase...really beautiful! The other pictures are on our way home in the mining town of Bisbee.

Our next race in the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the El Tour de Tucson, a 109 mile ride that we did last year. Our goal is to do it as fast as we possibly can...last year was 6 hrs and 18 minutes but we were 35 lbs heavier between the two of us and it was also my first big one on the tandem. Wish us luck!!!

It's raining, It's Pouring...wave!

Tonight as we were driving home from church, it started to rain a little bit...

Andon: "Daddy, it's raining, put up the windshield!"

Mark: "What? How can we see if we put up the windshield? (He means the window shades)

Andon (now getting impatient): "Wave, Daddy, wave!!!"

Mark pushed the windshield wipers and Andon was content! I guess he's just like me and doesn't like the StarWars effect of having rain splattered on the windshield!

Swimming Anyone?

Before

After

Our pool, after many chemicals and frustrations, had to be drained yesterday. It was horribly green and we decided that it had to be done! So the kids had some fun helping us capture the some great pics. It's being acid washed as we speak and I'll post pictures when it's all done!

UPDATE: The pool is done, the pool is clean and the pool is blue once again!!!! Swimming anyone????