HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES!!!

Another year has FLOWN by! I cannot believe the little butterbean I carried in my tummy is now SEVEN! And what a year it has been. He's almost through with 1st grade, and he's amazing at reading, math, and music. In just the last few weeks, his writing has made a quantum leap forward and now he can sit down and do homework by himself with little or no prodding. He's helpful, responsible, considerate of others... we are just floored by this new grown-up James!

He has grown 5 inches in the past year, and is now an even 4 feet tall!

Where did my little boy go? I do still see him in the mornings, when he comes in to snuggle before we get up. He's still quick to hug and plant a big smooch on me, although they tend to be a little juicier since he lost both of his top front teeth!

I remember when I could not even bring myself to step out of eyesight from him when he played in the front yard, and what a big step it was for ME when I could actually go inside for a few minutes, trusting him to stay in the yard. Now he rides around the block with his neighborhood pals while I stay inside and get stuff done around the house. How did this happen, when I still remember being totally freaked out by the idea of that?!

I guess we're doing ok, so far, so good. Here's to hoping we can keep up this good parenting business, and make it to adulthood without screwing it up!

Officially a REAL runner

***disclaimer: do not read this if you are easily grossed out... ***

So I have my first official Runner's Toenail. For those of you unacquainted with this lovely condition, it happens when you run too long in shoes that might not be the best fit for your clod-hoppers. The toenail rubs against the inside of the shoe, irritating itself, and you basically get a blister UNDER YOUR NAIL! Yes, how nasty is that? Mine was sore after last week's 10-miler, but I didn't think much of it, and since it was such a beautiful day, I painted my nails a lovely spring pink, and thus, didn't notice that my nail had actually turned a lovely shade of lavendar.

When it didn't stop hurting ALL WEEK, I finally took off the nail polish, noticed the unusual shade, and finally faced facts... it had happened to me.

'nuther disclaimer, it gets REALLY gross here:

... so I popped it. That's right, I shoved a pin under that nail and drained that baby. There's just something very wrong about being able to shove a pin under your nail and not even feeling it! Now all that fluid it gone and it's a much more robust shade of purple... nice. I've finally come to grips with the fact that this sucker is going to fall off (omg!), and I wish it would just hurry up and do it already!

Running update

Two big things this week:

I made it into the Marine Corps Marathon! This is a pretty big event, and they cap the entries at 30,000. It opened for registration last wednesday and sold out in 28 hours!! I made it in, as did Brent, so the Woodruffs and Smiths are headin' to DC in October. Rock on!!

As far as prep goes, we did 10 miles this weekend. Last weekend we did 8, and I remember thinking that it felt pretty good, and I could have done a few more miles when we finished. Not feeling that way yesterday! Ok, if push came to shove, I couldn't knocked out 3 more and been done the 1/2 marathon, but DAMN my knees and hip were sore! Nothing makes you feel old fast like a 10 mile run! Rest today, ibuprofen, and alot of stretching!

Do it!!!

I'm in! I have officially registered for the Marine Corps Marathon in October!! I am getting geared up for my first half-marathon in April (just ran 8 miles this past weekend!), and am PUMPED UP about the MCM!! Oooorah!

Bedtime snack

Boy, nothing makes you hungry like bedtime, right? This one is a favorite of James', the whole "I'm hungry, can I have a snack before bed?" right as we're about to tuck him in. Tonight he noticed a box of Cheez-Its on my desk in the office (don't judge) and asked for those. We reminded him that he'd had yogurt, dinner, and a piece of cake after dinner, and that there was no way he was hungry. He whined, "pleeeeease? but Cheez-Its are HEALTHY! There's CHEESE, and ITS". I did not realize that "its" were a food group, let alone a healthy one. I wonder if they'd help my running.

Boy stuff

The weather here this week is aaaamaazing! After a fantastic Friday evening with no homework and great weather for a little bike riding, etc, James and I were hanging out on the back porch, swinging in the porch swing. As we were snuggling, he let out a little burp and didn't even both to turn his head.. sharing the full brunt of it with me! When I pointed out how gross that was (again!), he reminded me that this is how boys are, they burp and do gross things, and then cracked up!

Well, as luck would have it, I was enjoying an adult beverage and was able to reciprocate a few minutes later.. and it was a quiet burp, but I made sure to blow it square in his face! There was about a 2 second delay before he scrunched up his little nose and said, "ew!! did you just burp?!?! that was awful!!". Now I was the one cracking up while I asked him, "still think it's funny?". Of course the little stinker grinned like a goofball and said "yep! good one!".

*sigh*

Future geek!

Everyone loves science!! We had a great turnout at this year's Science Fair, and once again, Prof. Woodruff earned himself an Honorable Mention for his Mummies! project. He was totally in his element, explaining the project to everyone who came up to the table (and there were many... apparently, mummies are super cool!), and even inviting one kid to "take a seat" and listen to his little lecture! He was entertaining and gracious, and clearly loved every minute of it!

When he found out he won an award, he actually jumped up and down all the way to receive it (which might have had something to do with the fact that it came with a candy bar!). He was beaming from ear to ear, but still had the good manners to go congratulate the winners of the competitive category (grades 3-5). Another great year!

Pic up top is one of MANY that we took, check the Photo Collection for more!

Gentlemen, start your engines!!!

Ok, technically, no engines. It was an exciting night, nonetheless, when James entered his first Pinewood Derby! The whole family has been carving out time (pardon the pun) for about a week or so, to get this sucker built! A few weeks back, James and I went to a PW Derby workshop at Lowe's and picked up a tuning kit (these kids are serious) containing weights, graphite, and sandpaper to smooth out the axles. Every bit of that kit went into his car, and it paid off on the big day!

James' Cub Scout pack consists of 1 den for each age group, approx grades 1 - 5 (I think). James is of course in the youngest Den, the Tiger Cubs. There are about 6 kids in his den. At the derby, each den gave out medals for 1st-3rd place, and then there were trophies for overall placement. James got a 2nd place medal for his den, and you'd have thought he landed on the moon!

If you don't already know what this event is, here's the deal...the boys are given was is basically a block of pinewood, about 3x3x8 (ish). It comes with 4 wheels, and 4 nails to function as axles. Then you do whatever you want to it to a) make it look cool, and b) make it roll downhill fast. It can only weigh up to a certain amount, so the only way to make it faster is to reduce as much friction in the wheels as you can and to make it aerodynamic. Then, at the derby, they set up this track that is about 20-30 feet long, with a hill at the starting point. They release all of the cars at once, and time their roll to the finish line. There are awards for fastest time AND coolest looking car. Typically, whatever has a gun on it wins that category.

Pic up top is one of MANY that we took, check the Photo Collection for more!

How do I love thee....

We were driving around this morning, getting errands and stuff out of the way, when I asked James, "who loves you, buddy?", and he replied "mommy". I asked "who else?" and he said "daddy!". Sterling said "why does daddy love you?" to which our brilliant little man replied, "because I'm as sweet as bacon".

Dude... bacon's pretty sweet.

What a week!!!

Yeesh! Ever have one of those weeks? I swear, you come back from the holidays, ready to ring in a nice relaxing New Year (now that the holidays are over).... but everything that was on hold over the break hits ya like a ton of bricks!

... and it all seems to culminate right around nowish! James' Pinewood Derby is tomorrow, so we've been frantically trying to work on that with him this week. Homework has been INSANE-O, which hasn't left much time for Derby work (hence the frantic attention this week!), and the Science Fair is next week, so we're trying to squeeze in time for that. Oh yeah, did I mention that, due to a trip to a local radio station, the last 3 Tuesday nights have been spoken for, too?!

*sigh*... deep breath!

Top it all with a night of bad dreams, resulting in a morning where we *just* made it to school before the bell, and doggone! Is it too early to start drinking?

So, we're in the home stretch, Daddy has to spray one more coat of paint on the car today, James can assemble when he gets home, then it's off to the races for us! The science project will wait for the weekend, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief!

*oh yeah, the bad dream... for some reason, James was 100% convinced, at 3 am, that his sheets had teeth, so he didn't want to get under the covers. Thank goodness this doesn't happen often, but I spent the remainder of the night in James' bed with him and Blue (and about 5 inches of the mattress).

Training

Typically this blog tends to be all about the The Boy, but I've realized that some of you might actually be interested in Sterling or me, too, so here's a little something about me! I am training for my first half marathon! I'm hopeful that if I can make it that far, then I can do a full marathon in the fall, and cross that off my list of Things To Do Before I Turn 40.

Sooo.. I have signed up for the Raleigh Rocks 1/2 Marathon on April 10th. I'm planning to run it with my neighbor, Brent, who has done this sort of thing before. Should be a totally awesome race for my first big one. There are live bands all along the course (hence the name) to help keep spirits high right when you want to just lay down and die!

So I'm officially in training! Basically, I do a few 3-4 mile runs during the week, and run a long one on the weekend, stepping it up 1 mile each time. Yesterday was my 6 mile run, which was a little weak, but I still did it! The weather was GORGEOUS, and Shelley Lake was MOBBED.. I had to dodge people left and right, and go off the trail a few times to get around people who think that it's ok to walk 4 abreast (fatheads)! Hard to complain when it's been so long since you've seen the sun, though. Technically, it's 6.75 miles if you go around it thrice, but there was definitely a cool-down and some walking, so I'm pretty sure I only ran about 6 of those miles.

It was still a tough run. Bojangles, while great for a 3 mile run, is not a good breakfast if you're running anything MORE than 3 miles! I keep reminding myself that I did that much when I did (my first!) 10K in November, so I know my body is capable... but what am I going to tell myself next week when I'm up to 7?!? Technically, that will be further than I have EVER run at one time. Time to add some new tunes to the iPhone to keep me movin', and maybe I'll eat a better breakfast! Wish me luck!

Don't grow up...

Every morning, when I drop James off at school, he gets out of the Jeep, slings that backpack over his shoulders and SKIPS into school. Without fail, regardless of the weather, he skips. Like he hasn't a care in the world and he's the happiest kid on the planet. There are alot of things he's outgrown, but when he outgrows that, I know it will make me very sad.

Gueth what we lotht today?

Another tooth! This is the 2nd tooth that's been knocked out by a girl! Mommy took care of the first one, and his buddy Maggie slid down on top of his head at the playground, taking care of the 2nd one. Poor little thing has a WICKED lithp! But, he'th exthited about the Tooth Fairy!

Resolutions

My only real resolution was to get around to posting Christmas pictures before next Christmas.

Check.

http://woodruffblog.shutterfly.com/

here's a sneak peek!

Packed in like fish in a can

Poor little Mister Man is sick this week... our little buddy has the sniffles, stuffies, and a sore throat. So...there's been alot of lying around and just generally being pitiful!

He came in to snuggle with me yesterday (I should point out that James' idea of snuggling is basically wrapping every inch of his skinny little body around me like a Snuggie), and after he got wedged in, he said, "we're like fish in a can".

I said, "what? you mean a net?", and he said, "no, you know, fish in a can. like little fish in a can". It took me a minute before I got it, and asked, "do you mean sardines?", and he said, "Yes! I like sardines!". I told him "you've never had a sardine in your life, how do you know if you like them?". "Well, cats like them...Newkie likes sardines". "James, Newkie's never had a sardine, either". "Have the dogs had them?", "no".

"Oh... well we look like sardines now".

yes we do.

Funny assumptions

This is about a week late, but I keep forgetting to update this! Time has gotten away from me lately!

So about a week or so ago, we were going a bit stir crazy from the long vacation and bad weather, and I was trying to cook, while James hung out at the counter. He kept messing with stuff and asking for things, and I said, "Hey, would you like to make your OWN BUTTER?!?!". Heck yeah that boy wanted to make his own butter! So, we put some heavy whipping cream in one of my canning jars, and I set him to shaking! I figured that would keep him busy for a while and burn off a *little* energy.

We did have to trade off a few times, as his little arms got tired, but eventually it stopped sloshing and we knew we had succeeded! I opened it up to show him, and he looked at it for a sec before he said, "wow, I thought it would be square!".

Year-end dryer tally

Wow, this year was a big for the dryer cup! If you don't recall from the last few years, the Dryer Cup is a plastic cup I keep beside the dryer, and throughout the year, I drop in any random stuff I find when I do *someone's* laundry. It's kind of amazing how much stuff *somebody* leaves in his little pockets, and it's kinda funny to go back and tally it all up at the end of the year. So, this year's inventory includes:

• 1 American dollar
• 1 Chinese dollar (Bethany went to China this year and was kind enough to bring James some Chinese money... clearly he appreciated it)
• $1 in quarters
• $.30 in dimes
• $.02 in pennies
• approx. 1 dozen red rubber bands (where the heck did those come from?!)
• 2 buttons
• 1 zipper pull
• 1 lego pieces
• 1 cord for something, still wrapped in the twisty
• 1 BRASS CASING (thanks, Daddy)
• 11 beads, various sizes
• 3 sequins
• 1 rubber wheel
• 1 dino gem
• 1 hair rubber band (ok, guilty, that one's mine)
• 1 Nerf bullet
• 1 small rock
• 2 pieces of candy trash
• 1 entire roll of stickers that got washed down to a sticker lump
• And strangly enough, his ENTIRE NAME in stickers, found throughout different loads of laundry!?

This concludes the 2010 laundry inventory. I look forward to next year's, tally, which I'm sure will include acorns, at least one more rock, and enough money for a massage (ok, just wishful thinking there).

Happy New Year!

Naughty or nice?

Tonight, James told Sterling, "Daddy, if you keep yelling at me, Santa might not bring you any presents for Christmas. You're lucky Mommy and me wrapped you some presents today". Sterling tried to counter with, "James, perhaps if you weren't naughty, I wouldn't have to fuss at you.", and Mommy just tried not to pee in her pants laughing.

Loth anuver toof!

Look whose smile just got even cuter!

SuperMom

How tough do I feel? Momma just ran her first 10K, baby!