frankly, i was glad to not be going to this one.

but as ever, jaz had a fun time and came home with a super-duper new kittie

she is very proud of SweetieHeart.  one word, not two.

which is what she named the kitty

now she is giving her new kitty a “bath”!

well, those three are ready for that cake to be out of the plastic, aren’t they?

austin, aidan and jasper make great playground playmates!

what’s going on here?  are they figuring out who gets which piece?

jasper had her dress on, a thin layer of glittery powder on (everywhere!) and a homemade bracelet on and man, was she strutting around feeling cute

i just like this carousel shot.

or maybe i like this one better!!!

it was a busy, busy saturday for the two of them but they made it through the other side full of smiles and cake.

hmmmm, cake.

it made for a fun-filled day for jaz and a busy day for jon!

the first birthday party was at the skatium or skatorium?  the 2000′s version of a skate town!

this is her second time to roller skate and man, does she love to go FAST!  she uses one of those balancing cages but she freakin’ flies on the thing.

gearing up!

jaz and her friends are off!

jon took several videos – i will try to download those and post as well…

she had a ball!  and cake…  she had cake too

it was a very early morning for us all that saturday morning so jon made sure to attach everyones numbers the night before.

there is the jasper’s race bib!

i got up with them to help them out the door and then went for my own run before heading back to a very quiet house and several hours of Alone Time before heading into work.

it was a chilly morning – heidi looks pretty comfy with all that hair but jaz is feeling a bit shivery.

jasper takes heidi for a pre-race walk.

and they are done!

(i have race pictures as well but those will come later)

mom and jon both placed in their age groups and jasper was the youngest participant in the race!

heidi, jasper and jon drink their post-race water!

the buffalo boogie had event booths up for everyone to wander around and explore after the race.

apparently, they also had a clown that tied balloon animals.

the racers swung by my shop to show off their medals and tell me how their day was before heading home for showers and naps!

congratulations to my racers!

so i tried…  and then jon tried…

that sucker would not come out!  jon suggested the age-old tooth-to-dental-floss-to-doorknob trick and jasper was desperate enough to agree.

mom hide her eyes and wouldn’t watch; i tried to keep my face from cringing (but i was cringing on the inside) and jon tried to dental floss the utter crap out of that tooth.

by the time jon was done, there was some trepidation in jasper’s face…

“i’m not so sure this was a good idea…” was written all over her.

but jon finally got the tooth secured to the floss and then to the doorknob and then?

SLAM!

nothing.  the floss popped right off the tooth and the tooth stayed put…

jon suggested trying again but all 3 of us girls were like, “NO, NO, NO!”!  

i swept jaz up into my arms and ran away from jon like he is The Dragon Who Eats Little Girls.

(no, really.  i did…  giggling ensued.)

the tooth won and stayed put…  for a whole day.

because when i picked jaz up from school?  her 2nd tooth was gone!

she told me that, “the tooth was driving me crazy, mom!  so aliza told me to twist it and i did and my tooth came out!”

whew.

the tooth!

the tooth fairy will be coming to our house tonight.

(she is very excited about this.)

it means school is almost out…  the school year is almost over…  summer is just about here…

which all culminates into meaning my baby is about to finish kindergarten.  i am sure this means that first grade is in our fairly near future but i am choosing to not think about that until summer is almost over.  so there.

but anyway, on the field day pictures!

i had a last minute meeting at the shop that morning but luckily mom was able to fill in for me…

here neena is applying sunscreen to jasper lilith’s face.

i think between mom and jon, we got the picture factor covered

something going on here that involves a tennis ball and a parachute…  that’s all i know.

also i know that jaz is supercalifragilisticexpialidociously cute.

also she is focused…  on kicking!

could you look like you were having more fun?  i don’t think so!

this is her exit strategy!

she is ready to relay race!

now that is the face of someone who is concentrating!

running!  love these  pictures!  look at that hand pump!

the egg race!

careful, careful…

oops!  (look at that face!)

football toss through a hoop!  she totally made it.

kindergarten class of 2011/2012!

happy field day, honey!

thanks, deborah!

what’s the first thing you do when you visit louisiana this time of the year?

you eat crawfish, that’s what!

hello, all!

(yeah, the crawfish was good!)

deborah came to eat crawfish with us and if you don’t know by now, jaz loves her deborah!

man, oh, man…  looking at this picture?  totally makes me want some more crawfish.

what kind of face is that?

if it were me, it would be a The Crawfish Is Almost Gone Face but since jaz only likes crawfish “a little bit” then who knows?

but it makes me smile; her little face.

oh, boy.

but other than the humidity, we had a Way Too Fast Visit with gram and pop – good but oh so fast!

while we are out and about doing Stuff, jaz keeps herself entertained for at least a couple of minutes

kids just love forts!  if there are sheets or blankets, then a fort is bound to happen eventually.

this is good.

jon and i got our runs crossed off the list first thing in the morning…

running in 100% humidity?  sweaty and hot.

(and yes, jon is not wearing a shirt.)

if there aren’t little girls crawling through forts, there are little girls playing with horses, barns and kinds of cowgirlish figurines.

the best part?  these were gram’s toys when she was a little girl!

i think…  do i have that right, gram?

playclothes?  butterfly wings?  wand?  tiara?  all check!

wings for the mama?  wand for the mama?  double check!

wings for the daddy?  wait…  whaaaa?

yeah, this is how jon chose to wear his wings when they didn’t fit on his back

you go, jon!

and there you have it!

thunderstorms couldn’t stop us…  oh, no!

jasper stayed at mom’s for an extended weekend so jon and i could get the race in, a date night in and even a daytime nap in the next day!

a nap!!!  during the day!!!

the course was hilly until mile 9 – jon felt fantastic the entire way, i felt like crap until the magic mile 9 finally hit and the course leveled out and quit throwing us up inclines!

which means it was only after mile 9 that i pulled my head up, felt much better and really got down to the task of keeping up with jon…

he hung with me until mile 12 and then he gave me a thumbs-up and took off like a shot…  luckily, i was feeling good by then and was able to storm the gates on my own just fine…  he beat me by two minutes and looked good doing it!

we both made good times.

apparently,  when The Weather knows we are running a 1/2, it decides to storm…  so we were soaked by the time we were done and i couldn’t get into dry clothes fast enough after the race…  in fact, i voted for dry clothes before beer…  which turned out to be a bad decision because by the time we got back to the previously non-existent beer line, it had grown to ridiculous proportions and we nixed standing for that long for crappy beer.

with three 1/2 marathons under my belt and two under jon’s belt, we have both decided to go ahead, accept fate and run a full marathon.

next year.