5K On the 4th: In Which God Shows Us Who's Really In Control

The weather forecast for our 4th was abysmal. Every day leading up to today, the rain chances seemed to increase. The forecasters were calling for several inches of rain and lots of flooding. We had to postpone our outdoor plans with family. All the fireworks displays in the area were cancelled. Basically, the day seemed like a washout.

But you know what? A bunch of families I know were praying over an event that was scheduled for today: Zoe's Rainbow Dash. And it turns out that God has a little more say in the weather than those forecasters.

To provide some background, Zoe was a local 4th grader who died in a tragic boating accident last summer. Her parents planned this 5K in her memory with all the proceeds going to Zoe's favorite charities. 

My 8-year-old and I had been planning to run this race for months. We were both so excited! As the big day approached and the weather forecast grew increasingly dismal, we prayed that God would hold off the rain for this event.

And that HE did.

Just take a look at what one of our local weather forecasters had to say on his website this afternoon: "The flooding event that I was talking about for the past few days has turned out to be a dud! so far.  I guess that is a good thing, but for a forecaster it makes you scratch your head and wonder what happened."

I believe I know what happened.

I think one of my local friends said it best on her Facebook page after the run. "I'm picturing Zoe and her angel friends dancing around with bright colored rainbow umbrellas in heaven. I can't think of any other way to explain how "100% chance of rain" turned into perfect running weather. I'm grateful and proud to live in a community that has gone to such great lengths to honor this sweet girl and her family."

And perfect it was. Here are my sweet girl and I before we headed out to the run:

It was SO much fun y'all! The atmosphere was electric. Everyone was excited to be there. And there was no rain to be found.

We got bombarded with color at several stations throughout the run. Here's a photo from the finish line.

And here we are after the run.

Let's not forget the obligatory photo in the same spot as our "before" shot was taken.

As we pulled out of the parking lot after our run, my girl asked me if I thought Zoe could see what had just happened from heaven. I told her I did think that she could. With a big grin on her face, my girl told me that Zoe must be so happy to know that all these people came out for her and to help other people. I had to agree. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Blessings to you and your family this holiday!

Bittersweet Endings

The school year is winding down here which means things are busy, busy! Friday was the boy's last day of preschool...EVER!!! When did this happen?!?! Here he is when he started preschool 2 years ago.

And here he is Friday on his very last day. *Sniff*

Dear daughter #2 also had a field trip to the playground on Friday. She has had the best year at school! So many sweet friends in her class and a truly amazing teacher!!! I am looking forward to having her home with me for the summer, but I am sad to see her time with this class and this teacher come to an end.

Here she is with her BFF and amazing teacher!

Friday was a divide and conquer kind of day. The hubby took the girls to a soccer game while I took the boy to his baseball game. He has improved so much in the last few weeks; it was a lot of fun to watch him. He had a great hit every time he went up to the plate. I was a proud momma!

The weekend brought with it more rain. I'm pretty sure it's rained here every weekend for the last month. The rain resulted in game delays, so we were able to sleep in. Then I headed down to the basement for P90X Core Synergistics. I love this workout! It's challenging, but it's different than most of the other P90X videos. Every exercise focuses on the core; it's a nice change of pace!

After my workout, I showered quickly and headed out to the last soccer game of the season! I am so proud of this girl and what an amazing soccer player she has become! She is one tough little lady!

We went straight from the soccer fields to the ball fields for the boy's last baseball games of the season! Baby girl had some fun in the mud .

We finally got home about 3:15. The only thing I'd had to eat at that point was my Shakeology on the way out the door Saturday morning. It kept me satisfied the whole time we were gone! Just another reason I love it!!!

And now we are officially done with all our extracurricular activities for the season...until next week when swim team starts. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Question of the Day:

Do you workout on the weekends?

Weekend Recap

This was more or less the view from my window all weekend.

I think we got something like 5 inches of rain. Not much fun! As a result, all of the sporting events our children were to participate in were cancelled. So we found ourselves with a low-key weekend!

I slept in a bit on Saturday morning, and then I got things started with Asylum Volume 2 Upper Elite. This is one tough workout. The combination of resistance training and cardio kicks my bootie every time!

By the time I was finished it was just about lunchtime, so I had my Shakeology for lunch instead of breakfast. Yummo!

Jeff worked some on Saturday, so the kids and I spent the afternoon doing some cleaning. I love that they are all finally old enough to pitch in a little! It makes my life so much easier. 

After Jeff got home, we took the kids to some sweet friends' house to play while Jeff and I had a date!

We went to Chili's because I really, truly love their light menu! I had the Margarita Grilled Chicken. 650 calories and 50 grams of protein, y'all!

Sunday included church and afternoon naps. Our minister has been doing a series on making it a point to rest. This is one lesson I can really get behind!

My May Madness challenge group is going on right now. And let me tell you, if you're not participating, you are missing out!!! It has been a blast so far! The participation has been fantastic, and I think it's keeping everyone accountable for their fitness routines. Jeff is participating too. We made this little video Sunday for the challenge.

So fun! There will definitely be more challenge groups in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled!

Other highlights from Sunday included making Teacher's Appreciation cards with the girls and transforming baby girl's mullet into a ponytail!

All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend!

Question of the Day:

What do you do with a curly mullet?