Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to IN we go....

Well we are leaving for Indiana this afternoon. It has been a really busy week trying to get ahead on work, Ryan with school, finding warm clothes for the girls and all of the regular stuff too. Molly is so excited she is just about ready to come out of her skin. I am hoping the excitement will ware her out and she will sleep good in the van as we travel through the night. Roz keeps saying "anyanna" (her version of Indiana). I don't know if she really knows or just wants in on all of the excitement that Molly is showing. Either way I can't wait for everyone to see the girls and how much they are growing. Molly is such a 'girl' now. She grow up more and more every day. Don't get me wrong we still have our moments but she is really starting to mature. Roz is doing new things all the time. She is starting to put 2 words together for mini sentences. She says "mommy won" (translation mommy run), daddy work, and one of the cutest "Molly cwy" (translation Molly is having a breakdown). She is so funny.

I am really starting to notice their different personalities. Molly is all about the big picture. She is not concerned with 'details'. She wants to learn as much as possible about any and everything. I can't wait to see what she becomes! Roz on the other hand is all about the details. The other day her and Molly were chasing each other through the house and I seen Roz stop to fix the corner of the rug that was turned up...now that is a child after my own heart! Either way I am so proud of the both of them...and that God made them so unique.

I finished my 16 mile run yesterday. It was not easy...I had to stop for walk breaks in the last few miles...but complete it I did. I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I was finished, and was terribly frightened of having to do 10 more miles for the marathon. I can't wait!

Well I need to get going. I will post pictures soon. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Until next time....

Catching up...

It sure has been awhile but life hasn't slowed any. Things are busy as usual here. We are fighting sickness, trying to keep up with kids and work as usual. It seems that the more time I think I am going to have the longer my list of things to do grows. My friend told me that they usually make a crash landing into Thanksgiving and boy is it ever true for us this year.

We are planning to come to IN for Thanksgiving this year and hopefully everyone will be well enough to travel. (Feel free to pray for health and safety for us if you get the chance.) It should be a nice time and hopefully the weather will be cool enough for the girls and Ryan to get their winter fix.

I have taken some time off of my training schedule due to the stomach flu. Hopefully it won't do too much damage on race day. I plan to be back on track next week...hopefully God has the same plans;)

The girls are up to the much of the same: being cute then terrible then cute again. I love them dearly and it is a good thing sometimes.

I will leave you with a slideshow of the last few weeks.

Until next time....

13.6 and counting....

I officially survived my long run of 13.6 miles this morning. I took off a little after 6 am and met my water girl (my mom) along the way for some refueling. At the half way point mom decided to ride her bike behind me. It was really motivating to know that someone was watching and there to help if needed. She finished the run with me (on her bike) and boy was it awesome...thanks mom!!!! I logged my training online and found out that I burned 1410 calories...yeah! Now off to the unlimited buffet of food today (to refuel of course, ha ha).

Have a great weekend and I will post more about all of us later.

Until next time....

Parent Teacher Conferences, Sports & Cold....

First of all Molly's parent teacher conferences were last night. I had mixed feeling about it because I know that her behavior at the beginning of the year was a little less than desirable (to put it nicely). But after talking to the teacher I couldn't help but feel a little proud of my scholar. I don't know how long Mrs. Beauchamp has been teaching, but she said that Molly is the most advanced reader that she has ever seen at this age. Molly just really enjoys learning and sometimes the other kids even ask her to read to them. I have to admit that was a really good 'mommy moment' for me...even though I can take zero credit for her abilities, which are all God-given. The other day she came to me and said "mom I can spell champion, C H A M P I O N". I think she had seen it on the cereal box but she definitly wasn't looking at the time. She really is amazing...and only 4!

Here are the school pictures that we got to pick up last night. The class picture is just priceless! And the one of Molly is so perfect...she couldn't leave the house for picture day with out big ribbons (which I totally don't get into) but I chose to let her pick. I can't wait until she gets to pick out more of her clothing...ha, ha!

Ryan and I were so excited for the Colts v. Titans football game last night (Ryan is a big Titan's fan and I DON'T like the Colts). We were a little torn over how to keep up with both the World Series game and the football game so we did lots of channel switching between innings and plays. We put up a good fight but decided to use the good ole DVR after about 10:30...I know we are weaklings. We were so glad to check things out early this morning and find the Titans were victorious (GO TITANS!...sorry all of you Colts fans) and that the Rays have another chance to redeem themselves. I love fall sports season!

I don't think that I mentioned that marathon training is not going real great. Last week I was battling a cold and couldn't train much so my weekend run that was supposed to be 12 miles turned into only 7 and I couldn't even run that whole distance. It was a real bummer for me so this week I have some ground to make up. This morning was my first run since feeling better and it went really well. The temp was around 50 when I left and it was quite a change compared to what I am used to...a welcome change I might add. We are supposed to have a high of 66 today but back up to 80 by the weekend.

The girls really had to bundle up this morning for their walk to school. I thought you would enjoy the picture. Ryan laughs at us but it really seems cold when you are used to 75+ everyday!

I guess that the laundry is calling. Until next time.....

Marcy Update

Marcy is home!!! I am happy to report that Marcy's last test on friday proved that she is healed and ready to enter the outside world again. She came home yesterday and although I haven't talked to her, I am sure that it is good to be back in the comfort of her own house. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she continues to recover at home.

As for us, we are on the mend as well. Molly missed school Wednesday - Friday but is showing signs of improvement today and I am sure she will be back to school on Monday. Roz is acting her normal crazy self again and everyone slept through the night last night...yeah! Hopefully next week will be a little bit more normal.

Until next time....

Abel Family Update

Well with all the chaos lately I have been wanting to post these pics and videos. Alot has happened and so I will just go through the pics.

Emma, Molly & Abby

The Otto's came over for supper last week and we all had a good time. The girls played together so well and we really enjoy hanging out with them.

Last Wednesday night was 'crazy hair' night at church. Maddi was a great sport and wanted to show off her hair. Molly decided not to participate....girls!!!
I came home from work 2 Saturdays ago to this beautiful bouquet of flowers. Molly picked them out because they were her favorite color pink but they were really from her awesome dad!

We enjoyed a picnic at the park a few Sunday's ago and the girls had a great time. The weather is really starting to cooperate with picnic season here in FL.



There is this patch of flowers (weeds) in our back yard that the girls love to play in. I just can't stand to get rid of it so I don't. They love to pick flowers for me and I have to admit that I love getting them.

Roz is definitly a show phanatic. Ryan let her take a pair to bed with her the other night and this is how I found her before I headed off to bed myself.
The ice cream truck finally made it into our neighborhood the other night. We were super excited and the girls thought it was soo cool. The ice cream was awesome and we encouraged Mr. Softee to return anytime!

Ryan was doing storytime duty tonight and I couldn't resist the photo op.

Last but not least is some footage of the girls swinging again. They just love it...thanks again to Marilyn our neighbor for the swingset...what a blessing.

Both girls are sick as of this evening...nothing major just the usual fevers, coughs and runny noses. Hopefully they will make a quick recovery and be better by the weekend.

Oh and Marcy is still doing good. She must be feeling back to herself a little because yesterday when I talked to Renita, Marcy had sent her on a candy bar run. I will let you know if anything changes. Just keep praying that we can have a fully recovered G'ma, mother and friend back as soon as God sees fit.

Until next time.....

Marcy Update 10:24 am Oct 20, 2008

Not much has changed with Marcy. She is still doing great by all post-stroke standards. Yesterday she was abel to get out of bed to go to the bathroom and today walked there on her own. She is eating a little bit but her appetite is small. They took some of her IV's out yesterday to allow her to move a little more also. We think that all of these things are great. The power of prayer is awesome! Thank you all so much for saying a prayer for her.

Ryan made it home to us yesterday around 1 pm. We were all so glad to have him back! It is amazing how much of the load that he bears around here. I appreciate him more and more every second. That is all I can say about that without embarrassing him too terribly much.

Renita is still in Nashville with Marcy and Charley returned to Montgomery this morning for a few days of work. We are kinda playing thing by ear but hopefully Marcy can come home this weekend. There will be a long road to recovery but having her closer to family and friends will be a big help.

Until I know more.....