November highlights: turkey shoot, Shedmas, turkey trot, Thanksgiving
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the dust has finally settled after a whirlwind eight weeks of birthdays and holidays! here's a quick look back at November.
1) turkey shoot. this is a traditional weekend basketball tournament hosted by our school, and this year, Greta not only got to play with the JV team (who made it to the final game for the first time!) but also got to perform with the cheer squad for the varsity boys' game. Cecilia performed with the Spirit Squad in between games. the school spirit was epic!
#21 -- her first official JV game (playing as a 4th grader with 5th & 6th grade -- it's a learning curve for sure and she naturally doesn't get as much playing time as she does on her own developmental 3rd & 4th grade team, but she absolutely loves it!)
watching her steal balls is incredibly entertaining. I just think it's so funny that what we would never condone in regular daily life is actually what can win the game here. and once her hands get on that ball, she does not give it up!
it reminds me of the seagulls in Finding Nemo. "mine!" "mine!" "mine!"
I have no pictures of her actual cheer performance, but here she is practicing stunts as a flyer!
Spirit Squad (K through 2nd grade). they are just too cute!
2) Shedmas. Nick has been dreaming and scheming and saving for years to purchase a shed for the yard, so he can free up space in the garage to tinker on his cars. the stars finally aligned and we were all counting down the days until Shedmas. to Nick's great delight, the shed was actually delivered a day earlier than initially promised because the forecast called for heavy rains on the original date. he was just as thrilled as a kid would be to discover Christmas arriving a day early!
3) turkey trot. my very first turkey trot was in Rome, of all places, and it was a traditional 5K (the course ran around Vatican City and back, earning it the auspicious title of "the only three-mile race to run around a sovereign nation"). this year, I signed up the whole family for a one-mile family fun run on the north shore of Pittsburgh. the day started off not auspiciously as it was freezing cold, and the older girls who had been so excited to run in theory were suddenly less inclined to crawl out of their cozy beds at 7 AM. I did doubt my own sanity as I packed a bag full of hats, scarves, gloves, and pocket hand warmers, and asked Nick if he wanted to stay home with the babies since it was going to be so cold and he would much rather have stayed home himself (he loves walking and hiking, but hates running). but he knew how excited I was about doing this with the whole family, and he said we should just do it (bless him)!
flat family... I saved Victoria's bib for her memory box. her sex/age designation (F 0) cracks me up!
it wouldn't be a race morning without the angst of inching along in heavy traffic diverted due to multiple road closures for the 5K course. finally, we snagged a spot in the designated garage, flew out of the car, loaded the babies into the double jogger, and hustled our way to the starting line a few minutes after the 8 AM start. thankfully, we arrived in plenty of time to join the second wave of participants, and as I was trying to coax a smile out of the grouchy girls for a starting line photo, one of Greta's classmates and her teen sister ran over and hugged her! it was a Thanksgiving miracle.
immediately Greta took off running with her friend like a gazelle, and Cece was inspired to run after them. Nick commandeered the stroller while I jogged with Cece. we took several walking breaks and pointed out the Pittsburgh landmarks along the route. we ran right past Heinz Field, where the Steelers play (no actual Pittsburgher refers to it by its new moniker, Acrisure Stadium).
Heinz Field to the left, turkey day tutus to the right
as we approached the 3/4 mile mark, Cece's energy began to flag. she lamented, "I'm not even trotting! and it's a TURKEY TROT!!!" much to the amusement of several other families around us. thankfully, the brilliant race organizers had volunteers dressed like turkeys challenging kids to a 20-yard dash. of course, each kid magically beat the turkey, and that victory was enough to spur Cece on for the last push to the finish line!
"I beat the turkey!!"
Cece zoomed ahead (on the far left, approaching the finish line)
that face says it all! she was so proud of herself!
as soon as we crossed the finish line, we looked for Greta and her friends. I assumed they would be waiting for us. when we didn't spot them immediately, Nick headed off into the crowds to look while I stayed put at the finish line. I wasn't genuinely concerned for their safety as they are smart kids and Greta is well-versed in what to do if she gets separated from an adult (look for another mom with kids or a police officer/staff person and ask for help). I have the teen sister's phone number, so I texted her to meet us at the finish line, but of course there was that inevitable niggle of worry -- and I also thought Greta herself might be panicked about not finding us. after a few minutes, the girls skipped up to us, beaming with pride at finishing the race in ten minutes (not too shabby for Greta who hasn't done any dedicated running, but definitely hustles up and down the basketball court!). I asked Greta privately later if she was worried about finding us and she looked at me like I had three heads. "no!?! why would I be?" haha. my risk-averse girl is growing up!
Elizabeth's favourite part of the run by far was the post-race banana! the girls got bottled water and Cece had hot apple cider, too. it remains to be seen whether I can convince everyone to do this again with me next year, but I have high hopes!
I feared the babies would be miserable, but they didn't make a peep the whole time -- and the sun came out, so they didn't even need all the winter accoutrements I had packed!
4) Thanksgiving. once we got home and showered, it was a quick turnaround to pack up the car and drive two hours east to spend Thanksgiving with Nick's family. we had a delicious meal, with ice cream cake in addition to the pies for dessert since Greta's birthday was just a few days afterwards. that evening we drove back to Pittsburgh since I had to work the next morning, so it was a short but sweet trip. we certainly have much for which to give thanks!
I didn't notice Cece had food in her mouth until hours later when I was looking at the pictures...
I'm not even trotting - haha. That is too funny. What a great way to celebrate the holiday season; I really wish we had more "trots" where we live. They sound so festive!
And you did one around the Vatican? That is soooo cool <3
The running community here is really topnotch and there are so many family friendly races - it makes it really fun to participate with the kids!
Yes, the 5K around the Vatican was definitely one of those "pinch me" moments! I trained for the Rome half marathon while we were there and unfortunately it was cancelled due to Covid (it was scheduled for March 8, 2020, as the world was coming to a crashing halt).
It's so fun when the kids can race too. I went to the gym yesterday, and as I was walking in, my son was walking out - I didn't even know he had left the house. It struck me that I used to take him to the gym daycare to workout and now they workout on their own. You're setting a great example!
Oh wow, what a full circle moment! That is truly awesome. I was doing a youtube workout yesterday and Victoria, in her bouncer seat, was watching me and laughing hysterically. I do hope all my girls come to value physical activity and what their bodies can *do* vs. how they look. Coming back from each pregnancy gives me new appreciation for being able to exercise!
it feels a bit preposterous to sit down and type out a list of woes on my personal laptop, in my own heated house, while my four healthy children nap or play (respectively) and I sip on a San Pellegrino flavored water from a case that a neighbor on our Buy Nothing group just gifted us. and yet. and yet! there has been quite a bit of woe in the last several weeks and I want to complain about it, so I shall. at the top of the list: car woes. not one, but two of Nick's cars were hit by other drivers within the past month. fortunately he was not injured, but working on his cars is essentially therapy for him -- so he lost not just two vehicles in his fleet, but also the time that was required to deal with insurance and police reports, and the emotional benefit of his favourite hobby. this car was rear-ended while parked. Nick wasn't actually in the car, but saw it happen -- the driver of the SUV in the photo below was driving full speed in the right hand lane and didn't reali
Victoria Anne was born on the Fourth of July, weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long! Miss Victoria arrived right on schedule -- I had requested a 39 week induction based on numerous factors, including my age and gestational diabetes, although thank goodness the diabetes was well controlled without medication, so my maternal fetal medicine/high risk OB was comfortable letting me go up until 41 weeks if I wished -- which I didn't! I had an easy induction experience with Greta (at 10 days post-due date), so I was fairly confident that my body would kick into gear quickly the fourth time around. Cecilia's birth was a precipitous one-hour labor that has garnered her the nickname Sidewalk Baby, and Elizabeth was born after a relatively quick five hour labor. 39 weeks happened to fall exactly on the Fourth of July, and we decided to go for it! Mom arrived on a red-eye flight the morning of July 2, and came along to mass with us. that evening, we squeezed in
1) Baby Victoria Anne is here! you can read her full birth story here . she arrived at 5:18 PM on the Fourth of July, and we are all absolutely smitten. she is four weeks old today. as I've experienced with now all four of my girls, time is such an elusive concept in the newborn stage. on the one hand, it seems she can't possibly already be almost a month old, while on the other, I can't imagine a time that she wasn't a part of our family. one of the things I treasure most about this postpartum time is the opportunity to visit with friends and family. I'm so grateful for their support and thoughtfulness in bringing meals and spending time together -- it's nourishing for both body and soul! Vin and Susan brought us a delicious meal featuring pork belly and pork tenderloin (we had corn on the cob and salad too, but we probably could have all used a bottle or two of Lipitor!) unbelievably delicious ladies' night with my best girls (not pictured: pizza and wi
I'm not even trotting - haha. That is too funny. What a great way to celebrate the holiday season; I really wish we had more "trots" where we live. They sound so festive!
ReplyDeleteAnd you did one around the Vatican? That is soooo cool <3
The running community here is really topnotch and there are so many family friendly races - it makes it really fun to participate with the kids!
DeleteYes, the 5K around the Vatican was definitely one of those "pinch me" moments! I trained for the Rome half marathon while we were there and unfortunately it was cancelled due to Covid (it was scheduled for March 8, 2020, as the world was coming to a crashing halt).
It's so fun when the kids can race too. I went to the gym yesterday, and as I was walking in, my son was walking out - I didn't even know he had left the house. It struck me that I used to take him to the gym daycare to workout and now they workout on their own. You're setting a great example!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, what a full circle moment! That is truly awesome. I was doing a youtube workout yesterday and Victoria, in her bouncer seat, was watching me and laughing hysterically. I do hope all my girls come to value physical activity and what their bodies can *do* vs. how they look. Coming back from each pregnancy gives me new appreciation for being able to exercise!
Delete