Mrs. West's Wonderers . . .

Ford's 2nd grade class group shot . . . love his expression (back row, blue striped shirt!).

Fall Baseball . . . a Winning Season!

This was Ford's first year playing fall baseball. And I don't think it will be his last (even though his mom absolutely detests driving to Chesterfield on weeknights in traffic for 6pm games!!!). The Rockets didn't make it to the playoffs but they had a winning record -- 5 wins, 3 losses. Not bad for 7-8 year old boys! They learned a ton and had lots of fun! I learned a lot too -- there are people in St. Louis that don't know what Chick Fil A is (seriously!), I only know of 2 Chick Fil A's in STL and one is in Chesterfield, Chick Fil A is a great spot to grab dinner before all 6pm baseball games!!!!

Ford playing catcher . . . my favorite thing when he plays catcher is to watch his enthusiasm when he flings that helmet off so he can see to catch a ball if needed once the batter hits. Seriously cute!

Getting ready to bat . . . it takes LOTS of concentration!
A good, solid single . . .
And his crowning accomplishment -- a triple!!!!
Way to go Ford and way to go ROCKETS!!!

A HOUSE DIVIDED.

Go White! Go Blue! GO REED!!!!! Today is Panther Day, aka, field day, and we are a house divided. Ford is on the white team and Virginia is on the blue team. The tensions are high! I will report the winner in a future post. Did I mention that it is a wet muddy mess outside? And that I hate mud? Maybe I'll post an "after" picture of my kids too!

A Stray Balloon . . .

Every September, St. Louis hosts the Forest Park Balloon Race. It is an amazing sight! It has become a Balogh tradition since our move. The Friday night balloon glow is amazing -- all these beautiful hot air balloons lit up against the dark sky. Beautiful, but loud, very loud . . . and my little people don't love loud. And then Saturday is the race. This year, soccer schedules and a Cardinals game against the Cubs interfered with our adventure to the balloon race. However, a balloon found us! Actually, several did but by the time I got inside to my camera, I could only capture this one fleeing Pepsi can!

Three or four of the balloons obviously got off course and came right through our backyard! What an exciting treat for us -- we had been so disappointed to miss all the festivities so the balloons just decided to veer off course and provide us with our own private balloon show!

IT IS OVER!!!!

And I lived to tell about it!!  I ran my first half marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday.  It was by far one of the most difficult things I've ever done.  The early morning runs since June to prepare for this, the sore muscles and aches and the joy of hideously blistered feet!  But it is over, and I did it!  And I did it in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 14 seconds . . . 2 LONG hours, 12 LONG minutes and 14 LONG seconds! :)

My friend Mary Catherine got up to run with me three or four times per week since June.  We would meet at 6am and off we would go.  She was my accountability -- I had to get up or she would be in my driveway all alone at 6am.  I couldn't have done it without her!  This is us at mile 13 -- so very close to being DONE!  And it hadn't been too long since she had run behind me because all I wanted to do was stop -- she said if I stopped she would run over me . . . and so I kept running.  Ugh!

This is my neighbor (and fellow Birmingham transplant!), Jacquie.  She got me to start running in April of 2008 and she ran Sunday also.  It was so fun to see her at the finish line . . . she is a half marathon pro.  This was her 3rd!
Ford and Virginia after the race -- they were proud of me!
The family, minus Jeb, after the race.  Watching for them is one of the best parts of the whole experience!  It is always easy to spot Brent towering over the crowd and it was just what I needed to get through the last minute of the race!!!
So, I'm taking a week off.  I'm sleeping past 5:30 and I'm not running unless someone chases me.  And even then, I might just give up and let them catch me!!  But I'm hoping to run again -- Memphis half marathon in December!!  And I might even be nuts enough to aim for April in Nashville too.  But one thing I know, I don't think there is any desire within me to run 26.2 miles -- I think I'll have to admit that I can't make my feet and legs go that far no matter what "zone" I enter!!!

A Football Weekend for the Boys!

Brent and Ford had an awesome boy weekend in Alabama!  It was lots of time in the car but so worth it!

Ford and Lil enjoying lunch at Taziki's (so jealous I wasn't there for this!) . . . 

Nana and Ford tailgating at Auburn!  War Eagle!
The view from the seats . . . 
Toomer's Corner after Auburn's victory!
And some golf cart driving lessons at Mimsie's house!
A whirlwind weekend of fun!

On your mark, get set, GO! 13.1 miles!!!

I, Charla Balogh, am running a half-marathon on Sunday.  Seriously!  13.1 miles of running, all in about 2 1/2 hours or less (unless, of course, I pass out somewhere along the route!).  It all started about a year and a half ago.  Ford ran in the GO! St. Louis kids Read, Right and Run Marathon and he inspired me.  Certainly if my little guy could run so hard, I could do it too!  So I started running.  A neighbor pushed me on and ran with me . . . and put up with my complaining!  We were planning to run the Lewis and Clark 1/2 marathon in September of '08.  Unfortunately, July arrived and so did a tibial stress fracture in my left leg and a boot for 8 weeks.  UGH.

But then I slowly started again.  And this time, another crazy friend got me moving.  She suggested that I run the GO! St. Louis marathon relay with she and two other girls.  I did it . . . and I lived.  See  . . . 

Well, I decided, if I can do 7 miles, why can't I do 13.1?  So run, run, run . . . early morning runs.  Getting up at 5:30am to run.  Thank God for amazing friends that will run at 6am 3-4 days a week with me!!!  

Sunday is the BIG day.  My longest long run has been 12 miles.  I can do this.  I know I can.  But, if you are in STL and want to come cheer for all of us (all the girls pictured above are running, plus my original running buddy, a new running buddy and my faithful 6am friend!), then come on out.  Believe it or not, the April race was POURING rain and Sunday is supposed to be beautiful and high of only 79 . . . what else do you have to do!?

A boy and his camera . . .

So, what do you get when you allow an 8 year old boy to save his money to buy a digital camera . . .

Apparently LOTS of self portraits!  Ford just saved his money and purchased his very own $100 digital camera.  It arrived just before he and Brent left on their "guy weekend" to Alabama and I guess he thought taking pictures of himself was a perfect way to learn to work the camera.  He took 268 pictures from Thursday at 4pm until Monday at 4pm and he was in the car for 1000 miles during those 5 days -- that must translate into LOTS of pictures of Ford!

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . WAR EAGLE!

It is officially football season!  And that is an exciting time at the Balogh house . . . at least for Brent and Ford!  It is their guy thing . . . their great connection . . . a total and undying love for all things Auburn, especially Auburn football.  So as I type, they are heading south to enjoy the first Auburn game of 2009.  It is a loooonnnnngggg drive for a football game and they are ridiculously excited to be going.  It is Ford's first trip back to Auburn since we moved (but don't think he has missed out totally on Auburn football -- he has been to Arkansas and Vanderbilt for games!).  But he is giddy about heading back to Auburn -- Toomer's Corner, watching the eagle circle the stadium, Tiger Walk, and, of course, a little Momma's Love from Momma Goldberg's (ok, so now I'm wishing I was along for the guy time!!!).  Tonight I spotted this photo from his first trip to Auburn with Brent.  It was for an A-Day game and he was 2 1/2.  He walked all over Auburn with his little backpack and his favorite Auburn hat (that we still have and he would still wear if it could smoosh on his head!).  And it was the beginning of amazing memories of football with his daddy . . . 

I can't wait to see this years football photos!  Ford just saved his own money to buy himself a digital camera.  It arrived today and it is heading south with him.  So, stay tuned for pictures of this years Auburn experience!!! 

Happy 8th Birthday Ford!

I'm definitely running a little late with this post, but Friday was Ford's 8th birthday!  As always, it seemed the celebration lasted all weekend!!!  It is so hard for me to believe that I have an 8 year old, much less that I have an amazingly sweet, gentle and kind 8 year old boy!!!  I am so proud of Ford and I love being his mama.  What a great little boy he is!  Here are a few pictures of our celebration and there will be more to come because he got two gifts from us this year -- a weekend in Auburn with his daddy for the 1st Auburn game of the season and a weekend with Brent and I (minus a sister and brother!) in Knoxville, TN for the Auburn, TN game.  He also got a needlepoint Auburn belt that is so very close to being completed and will definitely be ready for our weekend in Tennessee!!  So let the celebration of Ford continue!!!

Ford (center in striped blue shirt) at school with his "live" birthday candles.  He got to pick 8 friends to be his candles and when he blew them, they all fell down.  This is big entertainment for an 8 year old boy -- he loved it!!!

A little Cardinals action with my boys!  It just happened that Ford's school choir was singing at the Cardinals game on his birthday.  What that meant for us . . . $10 nosebleed tickets to a Cards game with 100's of kids from Ford's school.  So much fun!  And, I even thought to have "Happy 8th Ford Balogh" put on the jumbotron at Busch Stadium -- which I thought was cool but Ford found just a little embarrassing! :)
Riding the metrolink to the games is almost as fun as the games . . . here are the kids waiting with Brent for the train.  Believe it or not, Jeb perked up and made it to the 7th inning and all the way home without a fall apart -- he just needed a hot dog and some cotton candy!
Ford and his friend Gus . . . 
Because the kids don't get off the bus until 4 and we were heading to the Cards game at 5:30, we saved cakes and birthday dinner for Saturday night.  The Kirbys came over with their 3 kiddos to celebrate with steaks and an ice cream cake from Maggie Moo's -- chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and Reese's cups.  Seriously delicious!
Happy Birthday Ford!!!  I can't wait to see what this year holds for you!!!!