My Day at the Races! and other stuff
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| Tue, 11-11-2003 - 4:17pm |

I posted about inserting pictures into posts, albeit very late!, right here. Sorry it took me 4 days to get back to y'all, Margie & others. If cutting and pasting on IE doesn't work for you, try this little bit of coding. I have to code it, since I use Netscape, as would Apple users.
Allison's birthday pretty much took up all my time since Thursday when I was cleaning house. MIL came down Friday afternoon, I made the cake and cupcakes, started decorating the house. Allison's 5th birthday Saturday morning was an unparalleled success: We had 14 big kids including her, a 2-1/2 year-old, a 20-month old, and about 12 adults including the two of us and Mom-Mom. We reversed the order of things a bit and let Allison open presents first, before the Treasure Hunt and cake. The Treasure Hunt, a la' Dora the Explorer, went better than I'd hoped for. I provided them with a "map" of our yard where various clues were. Allison was the one who found the treasure, and there was a goody bag for everyone of course! The cake turned out very well, and I found out that one of my friends is interested in taking a Wilton Cake Decorating course at Michael's next year, so we'll try to do it together. I'd originally hesitated making a bunch of "grown up snacks", but considering how many kids showed up to down the cake and cupcakes, I'm glad I made a few easy ones (Li'l Smokies, chips & easy dips).
We had a second birthday for her on her actual birthday Sunday - just the three of us plus Mom-mom, and that's when she got her gifts from family: the girl is loaded on Polly Pocket stuff, and also got a new tape recorder/radio, a Polly-Pocket style Cinderella, Bitty Baby accessories, and a 16" bike with accessories from my parents. She's loving that bike and so ready for it! It won't be long before she outgrows it, but according to what I'd read, this was the right size of training bike for her. She's now telling everyone we meet all about her birthday, she got a bike, she's a big girl now, etc.
This morning she had her 5-year well visit. She's still bumping the height charts, 90th percentile for girls at 45", 77th percentile on weight at 45 pounds. Long and lean still! We then headed downtown to meet with friends and watch the Veteran's Day parade. I'd not been to a parade in ages, and it was Allison's first, and she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Two more pictures - one of Allison opening gifts, and another of the cake. There are more of her birthday, and we'll have some "after" shots of the race, but I'll leave those for website updates.

Surrounded by friends - as soon as she opened one present,
another was placed on her lap.

An "unofficial" Dora cake. First attempt at serious cake decorating.
Okay, it is *time* for me to get back into the swing of things. My sore hip from the race feels better, I've not gained much from Halloween and birthday munchies, and I still have stamina to run while pushing a grocery cart with groceries and a 45-pound kid on it... from the store to the back of the parking lot where I park the new Subie - couldn't do that a year ago! I know I'll have to start my self-study courses, but I'm committing to get back to working out while Allison watches Tom & Jerry in the early afternoon - gives me a complete hour to do so - and running on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, with sprints perhaps on Mondays. If you've made it to the end here, you're a saint!

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Miss P
I agree the pictures are great and you look fantastic! Nice of you to share the pictures of DD and her b'day celebration. Good for you for not gaining with all the festivities.
It is such a light bulb moment when you realize that you have done something, even an every day something, that you could never have done a year ago. Those kind of things make you want to do even more to stay fit and healthy.
Enjoy the feeling!!
Grace
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Susan
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