Oakley 10K in Central Park

I've decided that 10K's are my jam--long and hard enough to feel accomplished but not so long that you want to die afterwards and regret it for the rest of the month (mm-hm, my half marathon feelings exactly thank you very much). A girlfriend invited us to run the women's only Oakley 10K with her and I'm so, super glad that I jumped on this bandwagon because it was so much fun! We trained for about 7 weeks and called ourselves the BRC--Bad Runners Club. I would say we lived up to our name, but to be honest on race day I was just so proud of us for jogging the whole race and finishing it. WE DID IT!!!  

Pre-race jitters for all!

These cuties (and their Dad and baby sister) were waiting for me on the corner of 70th and Central Park West to cheer and pump me up. It worked! Seeing those littles I love so dearly made me feel like I could win the whole race!

And I did win the race! Ha, just kidding obviously! But I was super proud of myself for finishing and shockingly I can't wait to do another one. The race gave us each a medal and pink carnation and James and the kids brought me gatorade and red roses. It's so fun to accomplish something! 

Me and my babies at the finish line!

I loved seeing all the dads along the race course with babies and strollers in tow, mine included! I love women working together and I love the men that support them--especially this one.

How's that for a family picture!

I'd be lying if I said that running was the best part of the experience because clearly it was our congrats/happy birthday brunch at The Smith! Good girls and good food after a good run, now that is how to have a good Saturday!

Field Day

Another day another activity for my favorite kindergartener. This time it was field day, a production consisting of silly relay races, a massive game of duck duck goose, a picnic lunch and communal dessert--and lots of it! Everett became the 26th member of the class for the day so that all the kids had a partner and he didn't mind at all; he doesn't understand why he can't just go to school with his big brother every day. I can't believe this school year is coming to a close, it seems like just yesterday I was sobbing through parents night the week before T started school! 

3-legged race!

T and Jaime--they've arranged their own marriage which will be happening asap if Jaime has anything to say about it! She's a spicy little doll!

That dress-up relay gets me every time, how funny is that?! 

Speaking of crazy, Quinn was still in my belly when the school year started and she was ALL OVER THE PLACE at this picnic--crawling, standing, stealing food and eating grass. That baby is the best!

On our way home we say "Seymour" parked on our street and my Cars-crazy boys went wild. Obviously we had to grab a picture! 

After our awesome time at T's event, a few hours working in T's classroom and then a couple of hours after school playing in the fountains we came home exhausted and filthy. There is nothing I love more than a dirty baby at the end of the day who has played hard and experienced childhood to the fullest (and by baby, I mean all three of my babies) so today felt like a total success! 

GNO: The Whitney

My friend Elise invited some friends out on a girls date (including baby Maia, swoon) to the new Whitney Museum in Chelsea. The art is modern and fresh and the galleries are white-walled, spacious and clean. Some of the art I loved and some of the art I didn't but the greatest part about an art museum for a non-artist like myself is figuring out what art speaks to me and what it says. Of course the best part of the GNO was the view from the rooftop gallery, the conversations both silly and serious, and my first ever black and white cookie (it's about time I tried one of those!)    

The view!!! I wish I could (would) carry my big camera around with me more often (ever) but I'm so grateful that I have this silly phone that can take pictures on the fly. On the bottom right of this picture is a rooftop restaurant with gorgeous twinkle lights and warm music playing. I cannot even express how much I want to eat at that restaurant--I stared at it for ages.

These were some of my favorites. I guess I'm a patriot or something!

Another successful GNO logged into my NYC memory bank!

Fox & Friends: The Wiglets' Morning Show Debut

A friend of a friend is a producer for Fox & Friends and needed some kids to come try out this summer's hottest toys on their morning show. I've missed a few morning show opportunities because of doctors appointments and other commitments so this time I was raising both hands high in the air to volunteer before I even knew what my kids would have to do! Talmage cried for a solid 20 minutes after I pitched the program to him. "I'm not meant for TV Mom, I don't want to do it!" I ain't no stage-mom ya'll, so I told him he could make his own decision and then explained to him that his job would simply be to play with toys--no talking, no questions, no in-your-face cameras....and donuts at the end. With that it was sealed, he was going to be a movie star (but so help them ask a single question in his direction!)   

Everett and Hudson are best little buds and were partners in crime on that water slide. Soaked is just about an understatement when describing what they looked like when the segment finished, but no doubt their smiles made morning show history!

The boys did great and had so much fun! They jumped on this bad boy (all you backyard people, get one of these pronto!), raced down water slides and shot arrows at the Fox News windows with awesome glow-in-the-dark bows. After it was all said and done Talmage said, "Being on TV is actually not as hard as I thought it'd be!" 

They really wanted the boys for the taping, but I'm sure there is no question about who stole the show! Our little Miss Quinn was immediately swooped up by these two pretty Eliz(s)abeth's after the segment. She smiled and cooed and wanted to be held and loved (and admired) by everyone. I don't know guys, maybe this girl has a future in show business!

Conservatory Gardens

NYC is still so intriguing to me. I've lived here (all together) for about 3 1/2 years and I still see things that rock my world. On this particular Saturday, world-rocking came in the form of the Central Park Conservatory Gardens which are more lovely than I ever imagined. They are tucked in the Northeast corner of Central Park and showcase beautiful statues, flowers and fountains. I'll tell you the truth that we went for the free ice cream served from a solar-powered truck/art installation, but the Conservatory Gardens were gorgeous enough to warrant a visit--ice cream or no ice cream.

This was the first thing we saw when we walked into the Gardens and I knew right then that our long walk up there was going to be worth it. Gorgeous!

If the surroundings were less pristine I would have let my boys dive into that fountain just like they do any other NYC water hole. But you're welcome wedding guests, Everett was not successful in jumping feet first to fish for pennies!

Ice cream tastes better when it comes from solar-powered ice cream trucks, especially ones that don't name their flavors by taste but more by color. 

Since we were on Museum Mile we decided to pop into the Museum of the City of New York. They took one long look at us and informed me that it wasn't super child friendly so we could just get the heck out of there ASAP. Just kidding, they didn't kick us out, but I did take their gentle cue and left with all we really wanted anyway--a picture of a shark and a dinosaur standing next to someone who is clearly very important to NYC.

We finally got home with only a second or two to spare before we were off to a Ninjago party for one of T's friends. When I picked him up a couple of hours later he was wearing a new shirt and had that funny ninja scarf tied around his head and I thought he was the most adorable little kindergarten nerd I ever have seen!

His heart

I still get nauseous and anxious for a couple of weeks leading up to his appointments, let's get that out in the open right up front. For the most part Ever is doing great, but you never know what's going on inside that broken heart of his so whenever he's symptomatic I worry that it's heart-related (as opposed to being 3-year-old related). You never know with an Ever Knight, you just never know. So I worry when his lips turn blue--is he cold or are his oxygen sats dropping? And I worry when he's overly exhausted--did he run too much at the playground or is his mitral valve stenosis severe enough that it's causing his body to fail? And of course I worry when he cries and tells me he doesn't want to die--is this just heart-kid anxiety or is this some sort of horrible sign? Worry, that's my name.

I tend to make his heart appointments a big deal--a Mommy Ever date day extraordinaire. I get a babysitter for the other kids so I'm not distracted and can put all of my attention and energy and love into just him. We get donuts, we get Happy Meals, shoot, he can pretty much have whatever he wants because it's on this day every year that I am reminded again that he deserves it. He's been through a lot for a three-year-old, and a street cart donut is the least I can do! This appointment came the day after Quinn was diagnosed with pneumonia (and James was still out of town) so the timing was not even close to great. Luckily, my friend could watch my sicky Quinny and another took T to school and sure, we may have all been in tears when we left the house that morning but the day ended with a Happy Meal, so all's well that ends well, am I right? 

Ever was a stud through all of his tests and exams. He's getting to the age where he wants to know what the echo tech is seeing and he asks all sorts of questions to every nurse, technician and doctor he sees. I love and encourage his questions, sometimes being the middle man but oftentimes telling Ev, "That's a great question, let's hear what the doctors answer is." and then waiting for a response. I feel very passionate about him having control over his medical journey so that when he transitions into adult care (and I'm not accompanying him to every appointment--but I always will if you want me Ev!) he will feel empowered and can advocate for himself.

The short story about this appointment is that everything looks just about the same as it did last year, which is just about the best thing we can hope for. His wonky heart is still rather wonky, but it's doing an amazing job and it grew with him this last year--hooray for Ever's heart! Another surgery is looming in our future, but if that wonky heart keeps growing year to year our surgery could be aways away. Now wouldn't that just be the greatest thing? Yes, yes it would.

Oh yes, the above picture...we went home with a little hardware to see how his EKG handled exercise. Between rain and three-year-old behavior I don't think that EKG machine could detect anything but a game of checkers and a massive fit on Central Park West when I asked him to scooter for a bit instead of being pushed around on the rideboard. I'm waiting for the doctor to call me and say, "We've actually detected that your kid never moved during the whole 24 hour test." and I'll have to say, "You mean my energetic Everett? Well I'm sure he walked to the table when I said his breakfast bacon was ready!" I'll let you know when she calls.

When it's National Donut Day and he's spent a good chunk of the morning in an exam room you owe it to him to get two donuts on the street. And of course, it's best to let him chew the sprinkles and lick the frosting off of both of them!

 

We rode home in an empty C train--crazy right? And while Ash and I took advantage of any empty train to act a-fool, Ever kept whining and saying, "Is too scawy wif no one on it. Don't stand so faw fwom me!" City kids = people people.

Obliteration Room

I'm antsy, antsy for school to finally be out for the summer so my adventure-loving buddy can play with us again. Talmage loves an adventure like Everett loves bacon; enough said, right? Last week he had a random Thursday off of school so we set out with some friends to the David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea to see a new art exhibit by Yayoi Kusama called "The Obliteration Room." That boy loved it so much and Ever, Quinn and I loved having him along!

The lines at this gallery can sometimes wrap around the building so we arrived early and were the first people in line. Our kids were kinda crazy-town waiting to get in, but less so than if we would have had to wait in a two hour line!

What looks like a run-of-the-mill mobile home on the outside...

...looked a little something like this on the inside!  Stickers, stickers, everywhere and not even a Trader Joe's visit to blame! This house was filled with furniture, appliances, books and walls that were brilliantly white (at least they were) and we all got a sheet of colorful stickers to add to the madness, I mean, art. I don't think we brought enough kids, do you?

Quinner was a superstar adventurer, which is her MO. She sat in her stroller, posed for pictures, and I think she actually liked all the colors in that room.

When I picked her up her cute little bum was covered with stickers. A friend snapped a picture as another friend helped peel off the stickers and it takes a village, doesn't it?

T thought this was just about the best exhibit that ever existed. One time Talmage put his Trader Joe's stickers all over his bunk bed and I made him peel them all off and then scrub the wood with soapy water until all the sticky residue was gone. Someday when he's a famous artist creating sticker exhibits like Kusama I hope he doesn't hold it against me!

Outside of the house they had all of these pumpkins with bright cheerful polka dots! After a totally hands-on exhibit in the house this was totally hands-off and completely miserable for my little boys who wanted to use the statues as jungle gyms. In and out, that's how we rolled.

We ended up in Madison Square Park having Shake Shack for lunch and playing with friends. Those two brothers, sharing shakes for almost four years! {And PS--I love their hair colors! How fun to have a blondie and a brunette!}

Now let's talk business. James was out of town this week which meant that one of my children had to get really sick. This time, just like last time, Quinn took one for the team. I tried to blame her grumpiness and warmth on teething during our adventure, but after coming home things went from bad to worse and her fever went from warm to HOT. When it was coming close to 105 I called my doctor who asked me to bring her in right away. I expected that she might have an ear infection or something minor but no, she had pneumonia in both lungs. I was shocked and felt horrible and thus started a few miserable days of no sleep and a very, very sick baby. Luckily she's better now, but look at those sicky eyes and pink cheeks! Poor baby girl.

Dear James, You're never allowed to leave again. Love, Us.