tri to cure...

Our grandson Nicholas is playing football for the 1st time this year and just loving it.  He has just completed his first week of practice.

His Aunt Nicole, who lives in Atlanta, is a Iron Man Triathlolete.  Her training is very intense.  Yesterday, she rode her bike 100 miles.  Hello!  I couldn't ride a bike 1/4 miles.  Nicole is the one who encouraged Nicholas to sign up for this 2010 Tri to Cure Youth Triathlon.  It was held at Furman University Campus in Greenville, SC. 

 
Here is Nicole running beside Nicholas after his 1 lap swim in an Olympic sized pool. 

 
Here is Nicholas' Daddy Rick giving him pointers as he runs to the bike area.

 
Nicholas in the staging area.

 
Nicholas had a slight problem with his clothing change for the bike race.  We told him he wasn't getting ready for a party, just a bike ride.

 
The bike race was a 1 mile course and you can see Nicholas coming through the start gate.

 
He jumped on that bike with one foot on the pedal and got going and then swung his leg over the bike.  That's the way I used to jump on my horse.

 
Noelle is cheering Nicholas.  She's in the black skirt, top and black ball cap.  You can see Chloe, her friend Olivia and her mom Misty ready to cheer Nicholas on.

 
I made these signs at about 11:00 last night.  As you can see, my creative juices weren't really flowing at that time of night but Nicholas had a huge cheering squad.

That's my son Rick, me, Chloe, Olivia, Noelle's Mom Gina and Nicole's friend Fred.

 
We're still cheering him on.

 
It was a 1 mile ride and Nicholas was really moving up this hill at the finish.

 
Back to the staging area to get ready for the one mile run.

 
I wouldn't have known where my stuff was among all these bikes.

 
 Here's Nicholas at the finish with his Daddy and I.

 
Nicholas with his trainer, Aunt Nicole.

Check out his medal he got.  They haven't posted the order of the winners on the website yet.  I'll add it when they do. 

As you can imagine, we all thought he was the biggest winner! 

Hugs, Gretchen

Nicholas finished 6th out of 23 entrants in his age group (5-10) year olds.
 

Chloe comes home today...

 
Chloe has spent the last two weeks away from home.  She spent the first week with her maternal grandparents at the beach and the last week at their house in Pinehurst, NC.

We can barely wait to see her.  I think her Daddy has missed her the most.

Hugs,

Gretchen

Gift from Nicholas..

 
Nicholas spent the morning with me yesterday.  I asked him what he wanted to do and he said make or paint crafts.

 
These two pictures were after his projectes were completed.

He made me a cross for in my planter by the front door and painted it red.  I can't think of a nicer gift.

Hugs,

Gretchen

The painters are gone...

 
My great painter guys are gone and we couldn't be more pleased with the job they did. 

When we're done with the house, you'll see how inexpensively you can change the entire look of your house without spending thousands of dollars.  Not everyone needs a 3000 square foot house to be happy and those of us living within our means can still have beautiful homes.

 
We ordered the shutters last week and I'll surprise you with the color.  It wasn't even a color I had planned on but I think they will look good.

We found a great looking pewter like light for beside the front door and 2 more for the sides of the garage door.

 
We've also ordered the parts to turn our garage door into carriage doors.  This is a project I'm really excited about.  We have an oversized garage door and a new one would have cost several thousand dollars.

 
Mr. Bird Nest painted the trim around the windows in the Spring so that was one job all completed.

I hope that this will inspire some of you to be happy with the home that you have.  With a little tweaking, you can pull in your driveway and love what you see.

Mr. Bird Nest asked me when we would need to do this all again.  I told him our house is now 20 years old and by the time it's looking shabby we'll be too old to care.

Hugs,

Gretchen