Laraway Family

Starks has such an active imagination. He hears his brothers weave these yarns in the back seat of the van, and he has caught on to the whole "made up story" thing. I call most of his stories Run-On Stories. It's a never ending flow of consciousness! Here's one that happened two weeks ago:

"Memember when Jacob was a baby. I was holding him, (showing me with cupped hands just how small.- Jacob is 8 years old.) and I dropped him down on a rail? He said, 'What? A crocodile's biting me!' ... and he was a talking baby...."

I absolutely LOVE these stories. They occur almost daily, and this one just happened to have been written down! Chas loves to ask me to "Imagine there was a baby. And he was 3 months old. And he jumped out of his stroller and ran 3 miles in 3 minutes and won." "What if there was a baby. And he was just born. And he got up and walked down the street to a car and started driving the car." Now you can understand where the ideas come from in Starks' stories!

Anthony was reading his "Goosebumps" book, and Chas was commenting on it being like the 60th "Goosebumps" book. (Anthony finishes one and cannot wait to get to the library the next day to read another!)

So, Anthony tells Chas it's number 36. Not that he's read all of the books leading up to 36, but that's the number. Chas says, "Yeah, so Mommy would read the 30 books, and Daddy would read the 50's... because Mommy's 30 something and Daddy's 50 something."

Anthony corrects him. "No, Mommy's 30 something and Daddy's 30 something, too. If Daddy was 50, he's have a mustache and a beard."

So, I ran the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon again this year. It was today. My sister had me sign up for it in the early spring, and we were going to run it together to celebrate her turning 40 this year! However, a new job required training this weekend in Chicago instead. I had been almost dreading the run. I had trained for the triathlon that was last Saturday instead, and I had only done one long run in the last month. However, I realized how incredible it would be to run with my other "sister," Amy. Amy set some goals for herself this year, and I wanted to be with her. We ran the entire thing together, and it was incredible! It felt so awesome to have my friend beside me the whole time, I felt no stress, I was excited, and in fact, we ran at great pace! She accomplished her goals, and I accomplished mine- to enjoy sticking with my friend. That was my only expectation. It meant so much to me. AND, my husband got the three boys ready, out the door and equipped with signs and cow bells to cheer us on at mile 6 and again at mile 11! Anthony and Chas actually each held one of my hands and ran with me for a block! What a great day!

Afterwards, you don't really feel like eating, but they tell you to do just that. I took a bite of Chas' apple slice, and I had to lie on the couch arguing with my belly. Then 2 minutes later, I left to pick up a Chicken Super Burrito from Super Tacqueria. OH YEAH!! I thought I'm going big, or I'm not going at all. In fact, it's just what my body wanted. Nothing healthy and raw... just meat, beans, spicy salsa, cheese, huge flour tortilla, and avocado. I'm salivating thinking about it. (Of course, being me, I always talk about, think about and enjoy food!)

Well, we hung at home for the afternoon, did the boys' study for AWANA, and then headed out for their classes. Russ got in a mountain bike ride after persistent urging from me, and I was afforded time to do my Bible Study. After AWANA was Armadillo Willy's for more MEAT this time for dinner! (I topped it off by a chocolate milk shake.)

There's always limited time between gettting home and going to bed after AWANA, but the kids made the most of it in the shower- a very lengthy shower together. Afterwards, Chas read to Starks in the rocking chair, and Anthony read his book and looked on time and again.

What an awesome day it was! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!