7.31.2012

The Surprise Party That Wasn't a Surprise

So this past week, my daddy - o celebrated his 60th birthday! Sis and I planned a small family gathering in the 'Quah at my cousins house. Cousin offered to take Pop to the casino (he is the luckiest winner I know and all he takes in is $40!!!) and a steak dinner (dinner = lunch where I'm from) and he took the bait. Well, Saturday morning as we were rounding out the crew to hit the road, she called and said that Dad was cancelling, he got too hot the day before (he works for ODOT) and has had a bad headache and leg cramps and he just didn't feel good. So she tried to persuade him to come up, all while he was getting pretty ticked at her. I could seriously just hear my Dad getting after her. Anyways, long story short, we had to tell him what we were doing in order for him to come up. As usual, he told us "we didn't need to make a fuss for him and he didn't need no cake and presents" and blah, blah, blah. But I think he had a good time. In true fashion, I left the picture takin' up to Sis and am patiently awaiting to see them. There is one picture that I am dying to show my friends and family......it involves an apron.....and me in the kitchen. No one will believe it, that's why I had to have proof!!! But I swear, it really happened.

Here a few recent pictures that I do happen to have on hand.....

 Cotton Bowl 2012 - Go Hogs!!!!! Sis, Jeremey, and I were the only ones cheering for the piggies, Dad and Bill are OU through and through.


Funny story about the shirt Pop is wearing.....Sis and I HATE and I do mean HATE it with a passion. It's some kind of Indian chick with a wolf laying on her. She is basically naked but the wolf is covering her up. And get this, he bought it at the post office. Seriously, I can't make this up. We told him it looks dirty and he shouldn't wear it. Well, now he wears it just to see us get all riled up. He sure is getting ornery in his old age!!!

7.27.2012

My Name

So I find it a little ironic

don't you think? it's like raaaaaaiiinnnnn on your wedding day....

that the title of my blog is Run Mama Run and I have just started running again. Last year, 3 of my friends and myself started running twice a week....at 5:30am....in the freezing cold. I mean FREEZING! Single digit weather people, ice on the road, snow on the ground. We were hard core. We did one race with each other and then by last summer, all started dropping like flies. I continued to run 3-4 times a week and this spring, I was training for my first half marathon. Throughout this whole time, I was having some minor back pain but continued to run. Well I finally listened to my body and stopped. I was so disappointed in myself because I was this close  to being ready for the half. Anyways, I have taken the last few months off and have just started running again these last few weeks. I was actually surprised at how quickly my pace came back....not exact but it'll get there. I have enlisted another run buddy and we are ready for some races. Here are a few that may be on the agenda

Lewis & Clark Urban Adventure - Springdale - 10.20.12
Girls on the Run - Bentonville - 11.17.2012
Fayetteville Half Marathon - Fayetteville - 12.09.12

The first one is like a mud run/warrior dash and I have always wanted to do one of those! I will probably do the 10K for the GOTR race and obviously a half marathon in Fayetteville. I feel like this would set me up for a sprint triathlon in the spring. Anyone crazy enough to join me on one of these????

Here is a great link to view upcoming races, by any state. I would definitely check them out and contact someone to make sure a date hasn't changed, I'm not sure how often this gets updated.

AND if you are crazy and are interested in joining me, let me know! :)

I am mainly putting this in writing to hold myself accountable. While I have maintained my weight this year and a half, I have actually grown to like running and I miss it. And I actually feel better when I do run. So if you see me, please ask me if I ran today so you can hold me accountable too!

7.12.2012

Thankful Thursday's - Mi Familia

How convenient that my Thankful Thursday's post is about my family....and I just got back from my family reunion :). Pretty convenient, I think so!

The Pitts' have been getting together on/around the 4th of July since before I entered this world. Grandpa Pitts' birthday was actually July 4, so I'm sure it started as a birthday celebration with all the kids. And when I say all the kids, please note that means 15 kids. Plus spouses. Plus kiddos. Yep, big family.

Here's my Granny and Grandpa celebrating 50 years of marriage....Grandpa passed away a few years after that, I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade.


After both of my grandparents passed away, our reunions kind a went capooie. Some of us would still get together for a Thanksgiving meal or two, but no more reunions. I was pretty bummed about it because despite the fact of how large our family was, we were all pretty close. Thankfully, a few years ago, reunions have resumed. It is a little different than what it once was, some of the kids are no longer with us, family drama, people moving farther away, etc, but I am very thankful that some of the brothers and sisters still make it a point to head to the lake.

Side note, there were 12 boys ad 4 girls, one of the boys was still born so my grandparents raised 15 kids. Good.ness. And oh the stories I have heard......

Anyways, I'm digressing.

So this last weekend, was my family reunion. Originally, it was Big Bill's year for the reunion (we only do one family a year since they are back to back and BOTH in OK) so we weren't going to attend. Well last minute, we decided that me and the boys will go because hubby had to work and I'm off @ 2 on Friday's - yay summer hours! So we loaded up and headed out. It was only a 2.5 hr drive from us, not horrible. We had a great time at Jellystone Park at Lake Eufaula, not one kid said they were bored. It was magical. Parker LOVED all the water inflatables, I kind a felt like I was on an episode of Wipe Out with everything they had down there.



I didn't get a ton of pictures, actually I only got a couple with my trusty iPhone. A certain someone was glued to the ol' hip nonstop so it was a little hard to do anything......Speaking of a certain someone, he did his best to keep up with the biggin's, as long as I stayed in his line of sight, but finally crashed for a nap on Saturday.


 Taking a break from the sun and enjoying snack time....check out my dad's attire, Wranglers and slide on shoes. Yup, that's my Pop!


 He insisted on wearing Parker's "sun goggles" like this.

 And here he is showing us how to properly eat watermelon. He said it was cold. Haha.


It was a great weekend with my family and I am very thankful for all of them, even the ones with all the drama :)

7.11.2012

4th of July Twenty Twelve

This 4th of July was very jam packed. We were able to hit up 3 different firework shows around town because that's how we roll! Everyone was on a burn ban so we couldn't shoot off personal fireworks.

Round 1 was on a Sunday night and probably not the best night to go since we had to work the next day but as Big Bill says, 4th of July is only once a year so we have to go.



This was probably my favorite show, it lasted the longest (a good 30-40 minutes) and the traffic wasn't to horrible and were able to play in the creek for a little while before the show. This was at Cross Church in Rogers.


Awhile back, Billy went on a camping/canoe trip with some guys in SS. One of them caught a couple of little turtles and gave one to Billy for the boys. The coolness wore off about 3 days later....after we bought a little tank and food. So we talked Parker into letting him go so he could find some other turtle friends to play with. Here is Parker saying good bye to Crawley.....he was pretty brave until we got up to walk away and he started crying. Not gonna lie, I was a little teary eyed myself!

Round 2!

We met up with our good friends, the Murray's and started off swimming for a few hours and then hit up the DQ. Here are Parker and Wells patiently waiting for their ice cream.....


As soon as we were done with the ice cream, we loaded up and made our way to Bella Vista, where they were shooting off fireworks at the dam. We sat in traffic FOREVER and finally got there within minutes of them starting the show. This show was "eh".....by the time you factor in the traffic on a Bella Vista Road and the fact that it didn't last that long, we probably won't go back next year.

 Round 3 was at FBC Centerton. We have gone to this one for the last couple years, the first time we went, Peyterbug was just a few days old! They have free food - hot dogs/hamburgers/homemade ice cream - free drinks and inflatables for kids! As soon as we set up camp, this little sweet thing made her way to see her friend Peyton :) They go to the school together and her family was right behind us so the two of them played. It was so sweet, they even hugged each other when they said bye!
Angie, Greg and Baylie (or Baby as Peyton calls her) joined us this round so the boys were on cloud 9 that they were there. I'm not exactly sure what Baylie and Peyton were doing in this picture but it is to cute not to post. Shortly after this, both boys were dog piling on her.

And that my friends, is how you do 4th of July :)

7.10.2012

Peyterbug's 2nd Birthday - Veggie Tales Style!

How on earth is it July 10th already?!  These last weeks week have been jammed packed with birthday parties, family visiting, 4th of July, and my family reunion. First things first, my little man's birthday party.

Here are his invites! I think they turned out SO CUTE! I utilized my resources for this little party, a friend from back home is a graphic designer, so I just emailed her what I was looking for and the information, and wall-la! Here is the link to her facebook page, if anyone is interested.

You can't have a party (or any get together) in NWA without ordering some of Robin's cookies. I mean, really! She is so talented! Sadly she is taking a cookie break but hopefully will be open for business very soon! Check out her blog!

I didn't get to fancy for the cupcakes. I was actually going to make them (insert hysterical laughing now) however another friend (isn't it GREAT to have friends?!!?) had offered up her baking talents to another friend who is going on a mission trip. What better why to spend my $ by helping others and getting what I need? Well played self, well played.

Ahhhhh......our photo booth! This was what I was most excited about! We had all the little kids (and some big ones too!) get their pictures made with Bob and Larry! They all thought it was so cute! My sister was kind enough to take pictures for me and I am working on getting them put on magnets and sending them out to everyone who came as a little keepsake. My good friend Caryn is oober talented, I mean oober. Whenever we start building our dream home in 2076, she will be my painter. We may be bounded to some ol' wheel chairs but she is who I want. She is THAT GOOD!!!!

Now the real question is, what to do with Bob and Larry???? As of now, they are just chilaxen in the garage.


This next picture just CRACKS.ME.UP! There is no denying this little mini me is not my child, #1, he's a picky eater. And #2, he loves his sugar! The parentals say this is me in a male version. :)

Sister forgot to snap some pics of the goody bags, but I made little Veggie Tales Coloring books, threw in some crayons, a glow bracelet, stickers and some peas and tomatoes (red and green jelly beans).

Just another party idea if you are doing Veggie Tales, I was going to have cauliflower, peas, tomatoes, and celery to eat....which is code for popcorn, red skittles, green skittles and green licorice. But since we had pizza/cookies/cupcakes, I figured that was too much food for everyone so I nixed that. Nixed....get it...haha...ok, anyways. But just some additional ideas if your little people are Bob and Larry's biggest fans.


We are so thankful for our friends and family who helped us party vegetable style! It was very laid back, I planned not one game because we are dealing with a bunch of 2 year olds! So the kids just ran around and played at the park. After the party was over, we came home, got a few shut eyes, and opened gifts from the family. It was a great weekend with my loves.