We sang at church yesterday morning. I gave a short testimony about John's fall & the miracle that it is (only through God) that he was fine.

Pretty Princess

On Sunday we took Carmen to get her ears pierced. It's a family tradition that Grandma Luna take the grandaughters to get them done. All of us Luna girls had ours done at a young age as well. It's a Mexican tradition, so as part of my heritage we had our girls done too.

Typically we've gotten the ear piercings done at 2 months, right after their first shots. That happened to be at the same time that my mom fell & broke her ankle & was house bound for many weeks. Then it was many other little things & time just slipped away. So the day before Carmen turned 6 months we took her into the Wal-Mart & got it done.

It was quite a head turner experience as 1/2 of the store was staring & watching as we held her down & she screamed through the process. However it took less than 60 seconds for her to calm down & get over it (thanks to mama nursing her). Then everyone oooed & awwwed over how pretty she looked. (Although people tend to oooo & awe over her no matter what, she is awfully georgous).

Before with Grandma Luna

During

After, she was sound asleep within 5 minutes of it happening.

Thirteen

Today I took Carmen to the dr. She weighed 13 lbs. & 13 oz. on Friday the 13th. I think 13 might be her *lucky* number.

ballet recital

Mandy & Angel had their ballet recital last weekend. They performed in The Swan Princesses. They both did a wonderful job, putting in countless hours of work & rehearsal. And all that cookie dough & candles we sold to many of you helped pay for all of it. Angel's costume alone costs $205. (yikes!) Of course none of that matters when it comes down to performance night. Enjoy the pictures!

More on potty training

One day I decided to put more of an effort into this potty training thing. Some how though, I don't think Andrew was quite getting the idea. But hey....we had a good laugh!

Hon 5k

Jim & I raced last weekend in Muscatine. It was terribly humid outside, even at 8 a.m. in the morning. I don't know actual numbers, but there was a nice crowd. The race route was fairly flat and went right along the banks of the mighty Mississippi. This race was rescheduled because in May (the original race date) the Mississippi was past flood stage and you see that picture below....well, that was completely underwater a month ago. The t-shirts we got have the May date printed on it even though we raced in June.

This was primarily a participation race. They only recognized the overall male & female finishers, as well as, the overall male & female employess from Hon. Beyond that everyone was just given a finishing medal. There was no breaking down of age groups & 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, etc. Although, for me my only goal was to beat Jim. If you know us well you know how competitive we both are. He has to do his usual talk about beating me, but he has yet to do that. We all have our strengths & weaknesses though. If this were a short sprinting race Jim would beat me hands down. He's got some explosive speed. Anyway, I won't compair our times.

For me personally I was about 2 - 3 minutes slower than I'd like to be. Giving birth to a 6th child and 20 extra pounds kinda slows me down. But I know it takes time to slowly build myself up to my top speed (and loose that weight). And it can all be about perspective as well. After I finished I had some girl (highschool aged, I guess) walk up to me and say "you're really fast". I had to look behind me to see if she was talking to someone else. I graciously thanked her & took the compliment.

We don't have any races on the calander until August. But sometimes I hear of one and go do it spur of the moment. With 6 kids I never truly count on racing. I almost never pre-register, cause who knows what will come up that will keep me from racing. My family comes first no matter what. Jim is being a trooper and coming along with me. It nice couple time for us. Maybe some day he'll beat me....ya know, when I've broken my leg & must compete on crutches. (Oh my I just laughed so hard my side hurts) ; )