5i50 New Orleans Triathlon

James had a triathlon race this morning in New Orleans.

It was an inaugural race called the 5i50.

The race consisted of a 1.2 mile swim,

24 mile bike

and 6.2 mile run.

The swim part of the race was cancelled early this morning due to the conditions of Lake Pontchartrain.

The water was really choppy.

Oh, and if you've been following the news, the Bonnet Carre spillway opened up and is currently flowing from the mighty Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain.

Let's just say there was alot of debris and logs floating in the lake this morning.

James and his friend, Tad, were super happy they didn't have to do the swim part.

I don't blame them!

This is our friend, Micah, who placed first in the Clydesdales Division [over 200 pounds].

...and here comes my husband across the finish line.

I was watching this poor boy trying to give James his medal.

Excuse me Mister?

um, here's your medal.

Don't you want it?
James had no clue...

He was searching for his boys :)
And he found them!

His little cheerleaders :)

Wait until we get a girl in the mix!
I noticed this woman to the right taking their picture...

I wonder if she works for a newspaper or something?

Guess who got a sweaty hug and kiss next!?

James and his training partner, Tad.

They have done many races together over the years.

They also make sure each other get to the gym at 4:45 AM FIVE days a week!

Ah, here we are.

Family picture.

7 months pregnant :)

Way to go, James. We love you!

Finish time: 2:24

Gilmore Garden 2011

Let me just start by saying that we LOVE where we live :)

It's been an interesting [to say the least] last 4 years with housing situations...

and we feel truly at home now.

We will have been in this house for one year in June!

...and we don't plan on going anywhere for a LONG time :)

One of the first things we said we wanted to do when we bought this house was to plant a garden.

We've got corn.

We've got squash.

We've got tomatoes.

We've got eggplant and bell peppers too!

and everything seems to to be growing happily!

James even built a garden for Jackson.

It's right next to the "big" garden.

He prays for his garden to grow every night.

It's so cute.

I told James he better start praying for his garden to grow or we're only going to be eating out of Jackson's garden... :)

Hopefully, we'll be eating the harvest in a month or so...

and here's my little bitty herb garden!

I've got basil, parsley and rosemary.

I've managed to kill off my mint and cilantro....

But I'm going to try again.

It's amazing how much rosemary I use!

I love to marinate chicken breasts in Italian Dressing and rosemary for a day then grill it.

Sooooo delicious!

Jackson's Kindergarten Graduation!

I can't believe this firstborn of mine is graduating KINDERGARTEN.

sniffle....sniffle....

He LOVED Kindergarten.

He loves school.

I am so thankful for that.

They had a cute program in the gym this morning and sang songs and performed for us.

Here Jackson is the "L" in COOL, as in school is cool....

dancin' machine!

He gets it from his mama!

[certainly not from his daddy] ;)

Can you believe we snagged front row seats???

We arrived 30 minutes early and lo and behold there were three seats right smack dab in the middle of Ms. Wolfe's class.

I was thrilled.

The past three years of preschool programs we've been in the back row.

no joke.
As you can see, he's thoroughly enjoying himself :)
There were 23 kids in Jackson's class this year.

Ms. Wolfe is such a a great teacher.

So structured, calm and can be silly with the kids.

She was a perfect match for Jackson.

....an answered prayer for me.

Belting out some tune.

All of their voices were so sweet.

It was fun watching him perform.

Jackson getting his diploma.

I can't believe how fast this year went.

It seems like yesterday I was dropping him off on his first day of big school!
So proud of himself!
Jackson and his teacher, Ms. Wolfe

I think I shall frame this.

I still have my kindergarten diploma somewhere too :)

Was going to scan this in, but got lazy and just took a pic.

Just wanted to document his day.

No doubt, I cried.

double whammy being pregnant and hormonal.....

Jackson brought this home from school today.

I thought it was funny in the box that says, "I liked learning about....and Jackson wrote "munne" [money]

ha!

cracked me up :)

First thing he asked me after the program was over was, "Mom, will you check me out?"

and I did....

I love you Jackson! You big FIRST grader now!