And then there were three.... plus JOIN IN ON THE FUN!!!!!!!!!!

Once a person gets to a certain age, it is almost guaranteed that anyone they meet will have child(ren) from a previous relationship.  Barbado is no exception.  He has two sons from a previous relationship, and they are pretty awesome.

The oldest, The Ringleader, is 7 going on 20-something.  He is very clever, and extremely smart, and is capable of getting the other boys to do pretty much anything he wants them to do.  He is also very sensitive, which means he is more likely to have a meltdown but is able to understand reason to get out of it.  To me, he is the most challenging boy to come to grips with and to figure out how to add him to this new family.

The youngest, The Spitfire, just turned 3.  He has even more energy than The Boy did at that age.  And he has absolutely no fear whatsoever.  He will jump headfirst into a pool and think nothing of it.  He will throw his body around like some sort of deranged acrobat.  And he is TINY!  Well, at least compared to what I am used to, that is.  He is the easiest to connect with, in that he is at that age where he loves and trusts pretty much anyone.  That, and he has a huge heart.

The three boys are, as Barbado and I like to put it, three peas in a pod.  They have gotten along swimmingly since day one.  Not to say there aren't any issues, but they are already loving each other and fighting with each other like brothers.  Which is really nice.

But, now I am surrounded by three little boys, and one big one.  There are times I find myself getting overwhelmed, for sure, but I have the best partner to help me get my head above water.  I'm afraid that in the future I will be completely overwhelmed by testosterone. Sigh.

On a completely unrelated note, next Saturday, March 1, I challenge anyone in the Duluth area to come join me on a long run with the Duluth Running Company's Marathon Training Group.  I dare anyone to not fall in love with this group.  Here's the info:

Today's Run

So, yeah, I wimped out of running on Thursday due to the Snow-pocalypse, and I felt it was more important to have a Date Night with my man (with the amount of snow predicted I didn't think I could fit in both). And I have no regrets about my decision.  Today the weather was better, air temperature was above 0F! The wind, on the other hand, was brutal and in our faces on the way back.  That said, today I ran 7.53 miles in 70 minutes, for an average pace of 9:17.  First half was sub-9:00 miles, on the way back - not so much.  Was a good run overall though, and it felt pretty good.