This past week has been a blur.  I’m totally off my game.  My routine has been shot to hell as far as running, blogging, eating and drinking are concerned.  It’s been a whirlwind my friends and since I’m still bleary-eyed from all that has transpired, I thought it best to treat this post more like a picture book since that’s about all I can handle right now.  Let’s ease back into this week, before the party starts again, shall we?

At the top of my holiday hit list has to be the boys opening their ultimate gift from Santa:

Seeing that reaction almost made me feel less guilty about buying my 4 1/2 year-olds a freakin video game they can’t even play.  Six years ago I swore I would never even allow them to play video games, let alone be the giver of one made for seven year-olds.  Ever.  Parenting is rough like that.  Don’t judge.

Then there was this sweet little stocking stuffer from the hubs:

Oh the places we will go!

Oh the places we will go!

I cannot wait to start filming more workout videos with this baby, not to mention running, biking and snowboarding.  GoPro?  Don’t mind if I do!

Another favorite gift came in shirt form, with a healthy does of sarcasm, from one of the only other Cuban girl I know:

IMG_2867

Now I have permission.  Thanks Hernandez!

And, of course, another favorite gift came via snail mail about three days prior to Christmas:

IMG_2866My Runnerbox!  Dare I say this one was even better then two months ago?  Yes I do!  More on this in another post – I’m still eating my way through it.

Well, as they say, what goes up must come down.  Crashing down, apparently.  We all know those awesome family members who don’t have kids yet, but buy yours the worst dumbest most annoying ones on the planet?  Yep, that would be my brother-in-law.  His wife both apologized and warned me a few days before they bestowed these on the twins:

photo 1-5

 

I don’t have to go into detail about what happened next, right?  At least there was no blood or ER trips.  My BIL got off lucky.

And then there was the food!  Oh the food!  Not sure why I only have pictures of desserts?  Maybe because I scarfed down all the food so quickly…

I could just eat my way through this plate.

I could just eat my way through this plate.

M+V made their first cookies in their Easy Bake Oven.  Yes, Santa brought them one.

M+V made their first cookies in their Easy Bake Oven. Yes, Santa brought them one.

In my world, you have to try to balance all this eating with sweating.  Luckily for me, I had the first annual Holiday Ridge Run planned for the Friday after Christmas.  The idea came about by a friend of mine and started as a fundraiser in conjunction with the Salvation Army.  Then we heard grumblings that the Salvation Army hates the gays and, of course, we don’t so we thought better of it and turned it into a fundraiser for our local YMCA.  It was a blast!  About 12 of my closest running friends showed up around 6pm, we suited up, lit up and ran around my hood for a few miles and then headed back in for wine and pizza.  Perfection.  We also raised about $300 for the cause.  Not too shabby.

IMG_2932

 

I also managed to get a great family shot!  I can’t tell you how hard it is to do this with my kids but we did it:

IMG_0111

What? Did you expect them to be looking at the camera AND smiling? Well that’s just silly.

Finally, like a beautiful angel cheese wheel on the top of my christmas tree, the Green Bay Packers played an unbelievable game against the Chicago Bears and made it to the playoffs!  It was ugly at times for sure, but they did it, and this is what I looked like when they did:

As my friend Eddie said, "Mr. Rodgers did it again!"

As my friend Eddie said, “Mr. Rodgers did it again!”

Who’s ready for 2014?  I AM!

How was your holiday?  Did you get a favorite picture?  Gift?  Run?

 

 

%d bloggers like this: