SHINE PARENTING GURU-TRADITIONS

Yahoo is on the hunt for a handful of parenting gurus. My BFF (yes that term fits, we have been BFF long before Paris and Nicole were even born), encouraged me to submit, apparently, she is tired of my unsolicited parenting advice for her schnauzer!


My husband and I come from tradition rich families and when our own precious peeps arrived, it was time to build some of our own. A weekly tradition we enjoy is going to school and eating lunch with our children. Every Tuesday, my husband and I trade out eating with the kids in their natural habitat - the lunchroom. It is snapshot into their school lives, sometimes they act like we aren't there, but if we missed it, they would notice. I open juice boxes for my son and his friends, quietly containing myself as I listen to their one-upmanship antics of the playground. My daughter and her friends love to giggle at my husband's jokes. He says, we put this time in now, so when the kids are teenagers, they have to eat lunch with us once a week, even if they won't talk to us! Even sitting with them in silence, says, "I'm there".



I'm a bit of an older than the average elementary school parent, so I should be wise or something. What I have done is mindfully watch those families that I respect, gleaning every morsel about parenting that they would share and spread the news. And if we all do that as parents our families will shine!

My lips will praise you...

We enjoyed a wonderful Winter Performance with Sheridan and Christ in the Arts (CITA), (visit their web site at http://www.christinthearts.org/). Our sweetheart's class danced to the song from Twila Paris, "My lips will praise you". We are so grateful to CITA for having Godly teachers in the arts and having such an amazing night of ministry and worship through their program. I just can't help looking at these pictures of this girl over and over. She is so amazing! Through this program her physical strength has increased, her internal self confidence has blossomed and her walk with God in doing her best in all things is a testimony to me. I could not resist throwing in the Ihop picture. We went there after rehearsal it was cold, icy and snow and she is really enjoying this hot chocolate treat. She had to wear light stage make up and when I put mascara on her she said, "I look like Lucy. Lucy Ricardo"! How how funny! Mimi and Poppy got to come to the performance as well. When Sheridan came out with her group to dance, I saw my mother in law reach for her purse and pull out a kleenex...then she handed the kleenex to Poppy! He was crying! It was the sweetest thing ever. I think you'll agree, he looks pretty proud of this girl! To borrow a line from Twila Paris..."My lips will praise you...for one amazing family!"

Answers to your questions on the marathon!

Here are the answers to your burning questions on the marathon:

Did they finish? Yes. Lance ran it in 4:22 and Tommy in 4:45.

What did the front of Tommy's shirt read? Tommy 1st Timer Lubbock, Texas (the back read, Sheridan and Brenner's Daddy)

Are the pictures after the marathon? Yes, they look pretty good don't they for just having run so far!

When did Brenner break his arm? About 3 weeks before we left on our trip, cast is off and he is doing well, he gets to start basketball after Thanksgiving.

Has Brenner outgrown Sheridan? Depends on who you ask, if you actually measured them the answer would be yes. However, big sis is in great denial over this fact!

Can we still contribute to the LAF for Tommy's run? YES! We have until December 1st to raise about $2,000 for those of you who have contributed. Thank you! If you would still like to contribute, please visit the following:

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/thomaswnyc09

And finally, will Tommy and Lance keep running? Yes. In fact, Lance is running the White Rock Marathon in Dallas on Dec. 13, Tommy is taking much slower. I told him, "the turkey trot isn't going to be quite the same as the NYCM." His response, go big or go home! He wants to run one big one a year and numerous halfs throughout the year for training.

The experience was awesome! 43,000 runners, 2 million spectators and fall in NYC! Doesn't get much better than that!

Run Tommy Run!

It all started at Christmas last year, Tommy's brother Lance annonced that he was going to run a marathon. We all thought he was joking, afterall, he was holding a cookie at the time! Lance indeed did start training to run a marathon on January 5 and Tommy followed his lead and began training in February.

All of those weeks of training lead to this week, the 'taper' they call it in the running world. Typically, the guys run about 40 miles each week for training. In one week, they meet the ultimate challenge as the run with 40,000 other runners in the New York City Marathon. Lance and Tommy are part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation Team for LiveStrong. We have almost $2,500 left to raise for the LAF, to donate, visit: www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/thomaswnyc09

Best wishes to Tommy and Lance as they achieve this goal! We are so very proud of you both!

Nice Girls Do Finish Last

A little backstory...

My brother-in-law Lance at Christmas announced that he was going to train for a marathon. He began his quest in January and Tommy quickly followed training in February. About mid-June, I decided that I would train to WALK a half marathon. The three of us signed up to participate in the Crossroads half marathon in Odessa which took place this last weekend.

I found a training program: www.halhigdon/halfmarathon/walk.htm and began training. My best friend, Shar walked with me during the week and the long weekend walks, often meeting at 4 or 5 in the morning to walk. The program lasted 12 weeks

That takes us to the half marathon day. I was pretty nervous, not knowing what to expect, but knowing that I would finish no matter what. It was an unbelievable day with amazing cool weather and low breezy clouds. As the starting gun went off and the serious runners pulled out of the starting gate, I was content to be way in the back...walking...just me and ..... Oh, yeah, no one! I was dead last! Actually, I wasn't all alone, as the last lone marathoner, I had a police escort about the first 6 miles, as they were pulling up pylons and signs as I passed by. One policeman asked, "are you doing the half?"

"Yes," I answered, "and I'm walking the whole way!" I'm sure the entire Odessa police force was glad that I was not going to walk a full marathon.

Things were going quite well, when about mile 2, my right calf began to ache. Now, mind you, I've never walked 13.1 miles, but I had walked plenty, including a 10 miler in my training. I never have had any trouble, except the occasional blister. Mile 4 it was really hurting and by mile 6 I was praying that I could finish. Eventually, the pain went into numbness and I kept forging ahead.

Shar texted me words of encouragement throughout the race, my favorite was "YOU ROCK". Funny enough, I happened to be in the port-a-potty when I received that text, hardly feeling like a rockstar!

About mile 10, Tommy, the peeps, Mimi, Poppy and Lance found me on the course and cheered me on to the end. I crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 29 minutes and 35 seconds. Placing 152nd out of 152. Lance placed 1st in his age division, with Tommy placing 3rd. They placed 32nd and 40th overall in the half. We all got medals and the kids did a fun run. Here are a few things I learned in doing the half marathon:

I'll start with what I lost, besides a race, about 20 pounds and 2 toenails.

Realizing that accepting the notion that I'm a bp (born procrastinator) can be a state of mind and not a state of being.

12 weeks pass by just the same if you are doing something or if you aren't doing something, time is time, it is up to us how to utilize it.

Healthy habits are contagious, just think, Lance began, Tommy followed, I followed, Shar followed, our kids ran the fun run... and on and on.

The most important thing I learned, which is an important lesson for me and for our children. Unlike the infamous quote of Ricky Bobby, 'if you're not first, you're last', there is something to be said for finishing something, no matter how long the journey.

Being last, someone has to be you know.

And even being last, I still won!

Kids walking to the start line for their 100 yard dash.
And they are off!

The overachievers of the Wood family - Tommy and Lance

The four of us with our medals!

GART Day 6 - Fly Fishing and Horseback Riding

The Great American Road Trip - Day 6, Tuesday, July 7, 2009

'THE FISH WERE BITING, BUT SO WERE THE HORSES'

We set the kids up at fly fishing school with Gallatin River Guides. It was a one hour class on a stocked pond off of the Gallatin River.

Learning to cast on land.
Hard work pays off!

Casting on her own.

Whoa! That fish is as big as she is!!!

It took our little gal about an hour to land

this rainbow trout, she and the guide were

very patient to get her a great trophy pic!


MONTANA ON HORSEBACK

This is probably one of my favorite

pics from this vacation so far

I think he is charging the British.

The fishing went great, horseback riding not so much. The kids did great on the horses in the corral, but were a little intimidated by the up and down trail and feeling good control on the horses. Maybe next time.

Let's get outta here! That is one big bear!

Action shot of running from a statue.