Biking ahead...

 

Can you see him? Well, I can, just barely, just enough to know I'm in trouble, because in the time it took me to close the hatchback on the Subaru and grab my newspaper, Gus has managed to get way far ahead of me on the bikepath...he is on a two-fold mission: To go "very fast" and to go to the playground with the "twisty slide"

 

Gus poses impatiently for me. Cute but focused on his goal - "very fast" and "twisty slide"

 

This is why I run. I have to keep up with a kid, who doesn't slow down even on the uphills.

 

A reminder, that posing for pictures - at least in his mind - is a waste of time. The playground is THAT WAY, Momma!

Boo!

 

A bit belated, but here is the proof, despite a general disinterest on our family's part in all things Halloween, I managed to dress Gus up "spooky" for preschool and a subsequent brief trick-or-treat outing in the evening.
The monster-face hat was the only compromise I could think of that Gus would tolerate (he has absolutely no interest in dressing up as anything) yet wouldn't make me feel like a complete party-pooper...I felt a bit better after dropping Gus off at preschool, where exactly all girls were dressed up in store-bought princess/mermaid/fairy outfits, and the remaining boys split about even between (store-bought) superheros and (store-bought) draculas...

...at least I didn't spend any money for something that means little to any of us three.

....we are still eating the candy Gus got (he went to four houses and was done) for after meal mini-desserts...Boo!

Make a bed, and lay yourself in it

 

 

 

Jacob had a rare day off yesterday and got inspired to build the bed of my dreams...a copy more or less of something I had spotted a while ago in an IKEA catalog...it's a simple design, nothing fancy but the shelves hidden behind the headboard are ingenious...they keep clutter that tends to accumulate around beds (especially those inhabited by book and magazine readers, noseblowers, hand-creamers and etceterares)out of sight. I've been wanting our bedroom to be an oasis of calm and simplicity...now we got it...my vision is almost finished...

...it's so wonderful to have a handy husband...I spout off things and point to internet pictures...he goes to Lowes, comes back with boards and a few hours later, voila...I have my own custom-built, Swedish (actually, Alabama)-designed bed.

I slept well last night.

Bigger than Big-Boy Bed

 

 

The transformation is complete. Gus' digs - save for his baby quilt - is completely void of all nursery touches. Everything is big-boy now...actually the bed is bigger than big boy, at least in my mind. Full seems huge to me and making this bed will require daily acrobatic acts of me...just hope and pray I won't have to do it too many times in the middle of the night...

A very mellow yellow party

 

 

 

 

 

Gus' belated birthday party went off without a hitch on a beautiful early fall day in Dupont Forest, where we met with a handful of dear friends to eat yellow cake cupcakes, drink syrup and play on decommissioned forest fire-fighting equipment. Gus had a great time with his friends and we all enjoyed a sunny afternoon outside.

Happy birthday, Gus. Now it's on to fall.

One Fast Pair!

So, I do mean to brag...about us running the inaugural Asheville Airport Runway 5K...

...Jacob ran a lighting-fast 22:22 in blisteringly-cold headwind...keeping up with a handful of leggy guys, with important looking watches and other unnerving gadgets...coming in an overall 9th place and winning his age group!!!

...I missed the podium by two in my age group but finished with a strong 24:13 (or a pace of 7:59)at 46 place overall. Very happy considering my running has been erratic at best as of late.

...I'm pretty sure we were the fastest couple together....didn't see another matching set of last names that high up on the result roster...so I'm claiming that title before anyone else tries.

That was a lot of fun, Gus got to sit in a helicopter and we got two cool (and actually useable technical) race shirts.

Ahh...I love a good race now and then.

Me, Myself, Mommy and I

 

Gus and I are rarely in the same picture together, reason being that Daddy doesn't know we own a camera, plus the man so wholely lives in the moment, he doesn't ever see the necessity to capture anything for posterity. Most days I am happily employed behind the camera, but today our neighbor landlord snuck up on us and took this picture of the two of us, lazying on the swing on the front porch.

He e-mailed it to me an hour later and now here we are...even if everyone always tells me how much Gus favors Jacob...he's got a bit of me too...the proof is in the big grin.