Super Kids Race

Whew...I am a little behind on blogging.  Last Sunday was such a fun day!  After church we took Brynn to the SEMO Rec Center and she got to run in her very FIRST race!  (Let me back up...she has been hearing me talk about how I'm going to run a race with "Aunt Win-zee" in April. And she has watched Ryan do several races.  So she has been telling us for a long time that she wanted to be in a race too.  We kept explaining how they don't really have races for little kids...you have to be a little bit bigger before you can be in a race.  Well right after that we got some information in the mail about the Super Kids Race.  They have races for crawlers, one year olds, two year olds, and all the way up to like 13!)  We took that as a sign that maybe we should sign her up and let her do it.  She was SO EXCITED.  Actually..."excited" is probably an understatement!  HA!

We had to be there at like 12:30 to pick her up race packet...HAHA!  She got a t-shirt (smallest size is a 6-8 so I guess she can wear that t-shirt in about five years!  HA!)  She saw all these kids running around everywhere and just started smiling SO BIG.  Then some of the older kids were running and stretching and she was hilarious...she started stretching and could not stop watching and smiling!

Be still my heart...Daddy pinning on her race number.  I bet I'm going to have a lot
of pictures like this in the future.  

Out of the blue she starts "stretching" on her own...we were DYING!

Emory loved "watching" everything...she loves being in the carrier!

Before each little race they explained where the kids would start, etc.

Getting her instructions...

There were like 16 two-year olds in her age group, and they let 4 run at a time.  She was in the third heat, so she watched the first couple of groups.  She kept covering her ears when they blew the starting whistle, and I was a little worried that she would be nervous at the beginning and wouldn't want to run...what was I thinking?  She was OFF as soon as the whistle blew!  And she had a HUGE smile on her face the ENTIRE time!  It was pretty priceless!

There she is...our little speedster in the pink.  The parents could run with them to help.
Ryan got that job.  I stood at the end and videoed.

Uncle Jason took some "action shots".

 She was going SO FAST it was blurry...HAHA!  Actually, we accidentally put the camera on some weird mode and they turned out a little blurry...boo!

She ran SO fast and it was so fun to watch her run down the track!  And she was so excited to give high-fives after she finished!  The whole time Brynn was running down the track toward all of us we were all cheering, but Ansley was just adorable.  She kept screaming "GO BRYNNIE! GO!"

Ansley was SO EXCITED for her and gave her the biggest hugs!

Since there were more kids than could just fit in one heat, they wrote down all the times and then the top five kiddos got a medal and got their name announced.  BRYNN WON!  I was videoing the girl announcing the names and each time they would say a place, like "fifth place is...", "fourth place is"...my mom was SO FUNNY.  She would grab my arm and go "oh my gosh...!"  Finally they said "second place is" and we knew Brynn won!  We were so excited for her, but I don't even think she realized she won.  Which is good.  From the beginning I just wanted her to have fun and try her best and have a good experience.  I think SHE DID!

Waiting for her medal...her age group had to run 50 meters, and she did it in 15 seconds.  Our little speedster...

We have it all on video, but one thing I DO NOT want to forget is what she kept saying after the race.  She had this HUGE smile on her face and she kept saying "I KNEW I COULD DO IT! I KNEW I COULD DO IT!"  We were dying laughing but it was just the most precious thing EVER!

WHAT A FUN DAY!  I am so glad she had a great time!  I have a feeling we will be back next year, and we will probably even let Emory get in on the "walking" action next year...HA!

Royal Icing Cookies

Something I've been wanting to try for awhile is making sugar cookies and using Royal Icing to decorate them.  I follow some blogs and instagrams of some AMAZING cookie decorators and thought it would be fun to try it...and my friend Emily has been making some too and they are so cute!  So with all that inspiration, Brynn and I baked another batch of sugar cookies (I think my first ones were a little too thin).

I don't know when I'll ever learn that baking cookies automatically means get the vacuum cleaner ready...we are going to make a big mess!  HA!

She loves the part where you need to add some flour...and it ends up EVERYWHERE!  HA!

And then...THIS HAPPENED...

OH.MY.GOSH.  Flour EVERYWHERE!  She said she would try to help pick it up...gee thanks Brynn!

She tried using her spoon and then her hands to put it back in the bowl.

I promise none of that flour was used in the baking of any cookies...

The next night my friend Jennilee and her hubby and girls came over.  The boys were going to hang out with the girls downstairs while we attempted making the icing (which is kind of a tricky part) and decorated some cookies.  SO MUCH FUN!

My fearless coach...she knows lots about decorating and was showing me the ropes.  I didn't even
know how to put those little silver icing tips in the bags and things like that.  

We made the Royal Icing and it turned out to be easier than I thought...not simple by any means, but we got the hang of it!

Then we labeled all of our different colors and types of icing...

So you use a thicker version of the icing to "outline" the cookie, and then fill it in (or "flood it") with a thinner version...this was our first attempt at outlining...HA!

But we gradually got better and better...here are a couple of our first cookies.

Millie and Brynn had fun playing (and eating) downstairs!

Even Lyla and Emory got to hang out with the big girls...

And here is a picture of some I snapped on my phone...

I definitely have a lot to learn when it comes to making and icing these kind of cookies, but we had SO MUCH FUN making them and I am really looking forward to making some in the future.  I would LOVE to make some cute 3's and Hello Kitty cookies for Brynn's birthday in March...Hopefully I have plenty of time to practice before then!