Fitz's first 5K

I just ran the fastest 5K I've ever run -- and I have my dog and my 10-year old to thank.

We ran in a benefit race for my good friend's sister's family.  

Mo was a rockstar.  She placed 4th overall for ALL female runners in the 5K.

Seriously impressed by Little last weekend.

lemony dreams

When I found this dress for Mo last year, I totally had a vision of her wearing it in the orchards behind our house.

We've had some truly fabulous weather this week (sans winds too) so armed with some mini M&Ms (bribe) I drug a white chair and a stool out to the fields.

A truck drove by in the fields when we were out there -- stopped -- and backed up to see what we were doing. Guessing he doesn't see 3-yr-olds sitting on white chairs all that often out in the fields.

He was super nice and actually apologized for interrupting us, as if we weren't trespassing on the the land he has a job on!

We ended up being out there at noon -- I had wanted to do it in the morning -- so the sun was right on top of us, but I like the sun-filled pictures.

Oh, and I still love my 50mm lens.

seriously?

Something like childbirth, I had forgotten how painstakingly time consuming potty training was.

Here is a guide to my potty training day in a nutshell:

Green = underwear changes

Blue = failed potty attempts

Red = successful potty visits

Note 1: All potty attempts were prompted by Mo, not me.

Note 2: I've added uber cute pictures of the girl to keep a smile on my face.

9:30 a.m. Convince Mo to put 1st pair of underwear on; sits on home toilet to no avail

9:45 a.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail

10:00 a.m. Leave house

10:07 a.m. Enter Big 5

10:09 a.m. Mo sits on Big 5 toilet to no avail

10:15 a.m. Arrive in Target parking lot

10:17 a.m. Mo sits on car toilet in Target parking lot to no avail

10:20 a.m. Enter Target

10:25 a.m. Mo sits on Target toilet to no avail

10:40 a.m. Arrive at Japanese market

10:45 a.m. Mo sits on Japanese market toilet and pees!

11:05 a.m. Arrive at school to drop Katie off; Mo sits on car toilet in school parking lot to no avail.

11:10 a.m. Mo sits on school toilet to no avail.

11:25 a.m. Arrive at home, Mo sits on home toilet and pees!

12:30 p.m. Mo wakes from short nap during my run, sits on home toilet and pees!

1:00 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

1:15 p.m. I get out of shower, ask Mo if she needs to go, she says "no" I walk out of the room, she screams, "I'm peeing!!!" First accident of the day.

1:20 p.m. Put 2nd pair of underwear on Mo.

1:45 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

2:00 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

2:15 p.m. Mo sits on car toilet in school parking lot to no avail.

2:35 p.m. Arrive at home, Mo has small accident in underwear, sits on toilet and finishes peeing.

2:40 p.m. Put on 3rd pair of underwear.

3:10 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

3:25 p.m. Arrive at gymnastics; walk 3 feet into the door and Mo pees in the hallway.

3:30 p.m. Put on 4th pair of underwear.

3:35 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet to no avail.

3:40 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet to no avail.

3:50 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet to no avail.

4:00 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet to no avail.

4:15 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet and pees!

4:30 p.m. Mo sits on gymnastics toilet to no avail; leave gymnastics

4:45 p.m. Arrive at home; Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

5:15 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

5:30 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

5:45 p.m. Mo sits on home toilet to no avail.

5:50 p.m. Papa arrives at home -- I immediately transfer potty training duties to him and stop keeping track of details. I believe he has two more successful pees in between a number of tries.

Note 3: I'm going to go ahead and categorize this post under "achievements."

$250 goodness

So, the story goes... a lady was finishing her lunch at Neiman Marcus with some chocolate chip cookies. She asked the waiter if she could get the recipe. He said yes and that they charge "two-fifty" for it. Later should found she was charged $250.00 not the $2.50 she expected.

The story then goes that she vowed in vengence "to give everyone she possibly could the recipe."

Whether the story is true or not, I don't know. However, I can vouch that the cookies are truly delish.

There are two key ingredients in the cookie, 1) ground oatmeal and 2) chocolate shavings

Mo really liked using the food processor to grind the oatmeal (and the chocolate as I was too lazy to shave chocolate with a grater).

Like her big sister, she is getting really good at handling the mixer on her own -- and, is quite proud of the ability to do so.

Mo also loved using the scooper to make the cookies, though they were a lot less exact and uniform with her at the dough-distributing helm.

I also caught her more than once eating cookie dough. I myself don't eat it, as the mere thought of raw eggs grosses me out. But alas, I could not convince her this was yucky.

And finally, the "can I have one more puh-lease" face.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C. softened butter

1 C. sugar

1 C. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

2-1/2 C. blended oatmeal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 bag chocolate chips (12 oz)

1 (8 oz.) Hershey bar grated (I used 1 C. of chocolate chips and food processed them)

Blend oatmeal to a fine powder. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate large bowl cream butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Bake 12 minutes at 375 degrees turning once half way through.

today the beach looked like this

But this girl didn't seem to care too much.

Mo drawing whiskers on a cat.