A little bit of crazy & a whole lot of fun!

It all started as one of my husband's crazy ideas. Mike said he wanted to get 12 people to run a 200-ish mile relay from Madison to Chicago. No way, I said. You can't find 12 crazies to do that. If you know Mike, you know NOT to challenge him. He rounded up a group of 12 guys in a week's time. After he registered, we were online watching all the home-made videos previous teams had put together (there are about 15 of these relays all over the country every year). One video in particular inspired me. It was a group of all women who ran this relay. That was all it took. I sent a text to my bestie with the idea and she replied with, "Duh, I'm in." Well if she would be willing to do it, others might too! I sent an email to a bunch of friends (and FB stalked many, too) asking for interest. We got excited when we had 4 people. Then 6. Then 8. The last 4 were a little harder to come by. But we DID IT. We have a group of all FEMALES to run this relay in June. Oh. My.

This is quite a well planned out race, as there are two vans of 12 people and each runner has 3 legs she will be running. The minimum total miles everyone will be doing is 12 miles (with the max at 23 miles). In 36 hours. On little sleep. There are maps. And reflective vests, headlamps and tail lights (for night running, of course). There are staggered start times (the team's pace is averaged out and the slower teams start earlier than the faster teams so as everyone to finish around the same time). There will be lots of driving. And running. And cat-napping. If you don't know your 5 other van-mates, you will soon be besties with her.

I just can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of this. And that I was able to round up 11 other women who are JUST as excited as I am. We have beginner runners to experienced marathoners on our team. I can't wait to see us all come together to complete this crazy race!

These are all pictures taken from http://www.ragnarrelay.com/  There are prizes given out for best costume, best decorated van, and best team name. 

The hand-offs are via a slap-bracelet at each checkpoint

 Team waiting for their runner

 Pretty sure we'll be wearing tutus...stay tuned for our team name!

 And we will all finish in Chicago as a team. Most likely sleep-deprived, stinky and a whole lot of crazy.

 This is a picture from last year's relay that ended in Vegas. H.O.T.

My teammates include:

Jaime (bestie)

Laura (cousin)

Amanda (cousin)

Kerri (colleague & friend)

Melissa (friend)

Karie (friend from elementary school)

Erin (friend from elementary school)

Ashley (friend of Kerri's)

Betsy (Jaime's sister)

Amy (Jaime's sister)

Ashley (Jaime's niece)

Here's to the next 17 weeks of training (some of which have us running 3 times in a 24 hour period to understand what kind of torture we're headed for!). Wish us luck...and sanity!

Hide your crayons...

Because this is what happens when Laney Bug finds a crayon or a marker. This picture was taken last month at our neighbors' house and I just came across it in my email inbox. It was too cute not to post. Now when we go over to Jill's house we have to hide Sam's art supplies so Laney won't color herself green or turn her entire mouth into a green mess. Oh, and don't you just love that my 17 month old just has peach fuzz on her head? I was bald until I was 2, says my mother. Pretty sure my lips weren't green though.

Ice, Ice baby...

Last week we had some pretty major ice storms in Indy. And then a few inches of snow on top. And then more ice. Trying to find a bag of salt in this town was an endless pursuit. Traveling to work was near impossible. Schools were cancelled almost the entire week. And the SAHMs I know where pulling their hair out. I was only home for 2 days and it was more than enough for me. I could never work from home, as I get NOTHING done with the girls around. I mean, who wants to work when a 3 year old is asking to play Barbies and my 1.5 year old is wanting to read a book every time I turn around? If I hadn't had deadlines all week, the snow days would have been welcome. Was fun being home with the girls for my birthday, but let's be real: I was ready to go back to work once the roads were clear to more than just emergency vehicles.

 The girls and Mike got me a cake and a new GPS running watch that I've had my eye on for a year. Cannot wait to try it out (just in time for Mini training next week!).

Buggy and Izzy enjoying some birthday cake

 Laney started sitting on the potty on Friday morning. She hasn't done anything on it except read. Love that SHE initiated this and we didn't!

 Friday morning we met the Moosbrugger three at the Mon.on Center to do some serious swimming. Was so much fun to see these guys...it had been about 7 months! Here's Oscar...can't believe he's such a big boy and swimming under water already. Seems like just yesterday I was his nanny and he was 6 months old!

 The princess posing in her new (to her) bikini...we've dug out all the Tynan hand-me-down swimsuits for our upcoming Florida vacation!

 Friday night I did some crafting. I have a hard time sitting idle, can you tell?

 Saturday morning we woke to about 6 more inches of snow and the roads were treacherous...but we were not going to miss ballet & gymnastics! We had to get our sillies out somehow!

 This is what we woke to Saturday morning, was nearly a white out:

 Give us snow, we'll go sledding! Our house sits on a slight incline, so Mike made a few sled runs for Izzy to go down. They were outside for an hour having fun. We couldn't believe Izzy lasted so long outside!

 Mike kept pushing Izzy down these runs and she kept running back...

 While Buggy and I watched with snacks from the front door in the comfort of the heat

 And Mike had a little fun of his own:

 Saturday evening we had dinner with the neighbors and stayed out late (10pm is late for both the adults and Iz! Bug went down there). I was overserved, which made for a very lazy Sunday spent in our jammies. Jaim & Luke came by for some playing:

And this is what a tired Laney Bug looks like after a long weekend. Here's to Spring being right around the corner!

Inagural Craft Night

Friday night I had 8 girlfriends over to do some crafting of some Petal Pushers. Oh. My. Goodness. Was it ever a fun night. Everyone came with a different color or fabric or idea of what they were making and I loved every minute of it.

 Susan, Molly, Casey & Kelsie worked in the kitchen

 While Lori, Kerri, Ellen and Jaime worked in the living room

 Kerri working away

 Jaime concentrating

 Molly's final product: black on black. Imagine that.

 Kerri's final artwork

 One of Ellen's two final flowers

 Casey and her perfect action shot

 Jaime's creative houndstooth and chiffon number (everyone wanted this one!)

Most of the girls stayed until midnight but the other half left at 2. IN THE MORNING. If you know me, you know that my bedtime is at 9pm. That's how much fun we were having. Girl talk. Girl laughs. Girl cries. One of the best nights I've had in a long, long time. Can't wait for the next craft night! Thanks for a fun night ladies!

My little lovies...

So we all know the McCulloch girls are expressive. We have the excited faces nailed down in this house. We pretend to be happy, sad, angry, scared, you name it and we play it out. But here's a new one:

 The cheerleader facials! Laney has gotten uber comfortable in the water in the last week. She's doing her floor routine in the above picture. She's started submerging her face and blowing bubbles, swimming, rolling...it's really quite scary. She's definitely our daredevil.

 And I just freaking love this little stinker...and her excited face:

 And her sad face:

 And of course her angry face:

 Saturday morning we had ballet and gymnastics. Laney started to get ants in her pants so I had to start snapping her picture to pass the time (and so as to not forget she's around while watching her big).

 And this morning I opened up my birthday package (sorry mom, I couldn't wait any longer) and the girls had a sweet little Valentine surprise: window clings. My mom occasionally sends these and they are SO amazing for a wintery day's activity! Plus, the lighting was fun to play around with.

I hear we're getting a massive snow/ice storm this week. Here's to hoping school isn't cancelled!!!