Happiness is...

... being a Watermelon Fairy for Halloween, even if no one you know is quite sure what one is.

It doesn't matter. The costume clearly makes you think you're the prettiest, cleverest thing on the planet.

If only they made these in grown-up sizes.



I'll post a few pics of the boys tomorrow. What their costumes lack in pretty, they make up for in funny. :)

Bake Sale

About a week ago, my kids got all excited about raising money for their school's walk-a-thon. Since I'm not a huge fan of going door-to-door (or picking up the phone) and just asking for money, I supported their idea to have a bake sale and put the profits into their walk-a-thon envelopes.

We baked, baked, baked for a couple of days, and then they executed their two-pronged plan. First, E walked the halls of his dad's office with a cart filled with goodies (thankfully the A/V department there had the perfect cart). When the other two got home from soccer practice, they joined a couple of their buddies and had a neighborhood stand. In all, they collected almost $200 for their school. Good work by them!

We Did It!!

I achieved a big goal on Sunday -- one I never, ever thought I'd achieve. I'd watched Brian run the City to Sea half-marathon in previous years, but I never would've guessed that I'd be motivated to try it myself... let alone have the fortitude to actually FINISH IT.

But having missed the SLO triathlon this summer (we were in England) and after opting out of the Pacific Grove triathlon (not feeling the kelp swim this year), I agreed to train and run this race with my good buddy Summer. Together we ran, ran/walked, and drank a lot of after-run coffees... And suddenly it was race day.

We got up early on Sunday morning and headed downtown with Brian and another friend who was doing the race. I snapped a few quick camera phone pics before tucking my phone in my water belt, and before I knew it we were off.

Brian never planned to run with us -- he's way too fast -- but Summer and I hoped that we'd be able to hang together and encourage each other throughout the event. We'd never run that far together, and in fact I'd never run more than 8 miles ever. Fortunately, we were able to stick with each other throughout the race. Thank goodness, because I don't think I'd have had such a good time if I hadn't had her by my side. :)

Here's a little collage of iPhone pics, plus a few that Summer's husband snapped at the finish line (including that one of Brian chasing me in!).



Just noticed that the map of the course is dated 2010... I guess it must have been reused and recycled. I swear that we did this race two days ago. Just ask my weary legs!

The Little Chef

I couldn't close out the family photos from this past week without adding these snaps of my little chef...

On Wednesday, I picked her up after kindergarten and we spent a little time roasting butternut squash for dinner (I tried a soup recipe I'd found online and it was pretty darn good!). I cut and scooped, and she brushed a little bit of melted butter onto the big pieces of squash before they went into the oven.

Together, we were a cooking power team!

80's Day!

The Clausen boys got a lot of coverage in those last two blog posts, so I thought I'd toss a few pics of the girlie onto the blog this morning.

It's 80's day at school, and she was soooooo excited to dress the part. As usual, we were running late getting out the door to the bus, so these were snapped on the fly. I wish I'd budgeted a few actual moments to play around a bit. She was so cute!

The Boys' Triathlon, Part II

As promised, here's the second batch of triathlon shots. Kind of overkill, I suppose, but I just can't resist. I was/am one proud mama.

Splashing around and warming up in the lake with the other kid athletes:



Aaaaand, they're off!





Cute little swimmer:



And Evan is out of the water!



Then Noah emerges to lots of cheers. :)





In the transition area:



Noah was a little quicker in the changing area (shocking to those who know my boys, I'm sure!), so he was the first Clausen out on his bike. He got a little guidance, and then he was off.







Brian ran up the initial hill alongside Evan, despite the fact that he (Brian) was running six miles later in the morning as part of an Olympic distance relay. Crazy man!



After a TOUGH bike course, they came back in by coming down that same hill.







Then Noah rode in:





I didn't get shots of Evan running out, since I'd been waiting for Noah. But here's Noah heading out on his run:





After a bit, the first Clausen boy stormed into the finish. Go Evan!





If you happened to have clicked on that video link in the last post, you may have noticed that Brian taped Noah's finish. This shot shows Noah looking over at his dad:



(Psssst. Don't start doing any math and comparing the boys' times. Noah missed the turnaround sign and ran an extra mile. Whoops!)





And a last shot of the little dudes after the race. They are real champs!

The Boys' Triathlon, Part I

I am splitting this post into two because I am too tired and lazy to edit any more photos tonight. I'd much rather flop on the couch and catch another episode of Friday Night Lights (our new TV obsession... and yes, we're way behind the times in that regard).

Anyway, this past weekend the boys tackled the kids' version of the Tinley Triathlon out at Lopez Lake. Evan had done it last year and was fired up to do it again. Noah was happy to make the minimum age requirement this year. Actually, he was one of only two participants who were under nine!

They both had a great time and -- most importantly -- great attitudes. They just cruised along and did their thing and pronounced the whole experience a lot of fun. That's my boys. :)

If you're interested in the video footage, you can check this out. Please excuse the couple of minutes during which Foxy takes over videographer duties. It's a little Blair Witch-y if you get my drift.

Here are the first half of the photos I snapped...







Getting their transition areas all set up:











I love that the girl who did their body markings got E's age wrong and just crossed it out and wrote in the correct number:







And lastly, a family shot taken and sent to us by the thoughtful Meg Taylor (whose oldest son is a triathlon machine):



It's rare that I actually make it into a photo around here!

Like I said, I'll get the remaining photos online tomorrow. I'm sure there are some family members who'll appreciate seeing the whole set.