Miami Man Triathlon

What an amazing weekend! The weather in Miami was picture perfect and great race weather! Steve competed in the Miami Man International distance Triathlon on Sunday and finished in 2 hrs 44 min. The biggest shock to us all was that he completed the swim distance of .6 miles in 27 minutes!!! Then it was off to the 22 mile bike ride which he completed in 1:06 then ran 6.6 miles in 1:01. The boys and I had a GREAT time in Miami and I came away inspired and ready to sign up for some more races! This must be a disease that I cannot get away from! Our weekend was packed full of surprises while we were down in Miami. For one, we spotted an Iguana roaming around on the beach next to the waters edge where the triathlon began. And second we had a flock of birds as our welcoming committee. These birds are not your typical birds you see flying around town. I captured one of them on camera when he landed just outside our hotel window, 17 stories high. Oh and did I mention our hotel was in downtown Miami? Very strange I tell you. One things for sure..... I am glad to be home!

Trick Or Treat

Trick or Treating this year was sure to be a blast with this crew! The boys were so excited they could hardly wait! You would have thought it was Christmas around our house. It all started the day we bought the boys costumes, and that was just the beginning. Every day Luke and Jack tried on their "power suits" to make sure all was in working order. Andrew was Darth Vader, Luke was a Clone Trooper from the Clone Wars, and Jack was a blue Power Ranger. Some how Steve and I got suckered into buying the really cool helmets for the Darth Vader and the Clone Trooper costumes. They came with real sounds effects as well as a voice enhancer.


Mark and Jason in their usual form while "T" is sitting pretty. Watch out "Girls Next Door"....... there is a new crew moving in!

Harvest Festival

Each year our church puts on a great Harvest Festival, and this year was not different. You name it, they had it! We usually have 3 services on Sunday morning, but this year we had one and we had it outside on the church property, stage and all! The service was short and sweet then it was off to have some fun. The boys enjoyed a hay ride or two, games, crafts, jumping in the jump tents, pony rides, BBQ, ice cream and of course eating too much cotton candy! Oh and did I mention a candy hay dig? UGH! And people wonder why kids are so wild these days! Before all was said and done I managed to round up the boys and Steve for a quick family picture. No one got the memo for the right dress attire but me...... all the boys had on tennis shoes including my adoring husband. I however chose the right dress for my WILD and CRAZY "Love & Peace" boots. Can I get a big YEE HAW!!!

Tower Of Terror 13K Race

Last Saturday night  @ 10:00 p.m.  Steve and I ran in Disney's Tower Of Terror 13K Race,  8.1 miles.  This was the longest race for both of us and I was pumped!  The air was a bit chilly but that soon wore off around mile 3.  The course was fabulous and loads of entertainment on every corner.  Dinsey really knows how to put on a race!  There was even speakers throughout the course with music being blared and a few characters along the way as well.  In the end Steve finished the race in 1 hr 5 min and I finished in 1 hr 23 min.  I still haven't been able to catch up to him to beat him but his day is coming!!!!!  Funny thing,  Krista, from Bits and Pieces of a happy life, was walking in this race with her husband.  We were hoping to meet up but the time got away from us and we were not able to.  She did a fabulous job on her time as well so CONGRATS Krista!  This is by far now our favorite race to date and I highly reccommend running in it next year!  

GREAT Monogrammed Totes By Faith

Okay,  so most everyone knows I LOVE anything monogrammed.  I am so in LOVE with this really unique tote that Faith from www.walkwithmebyfaith.blogspot.com sells.  She has an online store and you can visit it at www.adesignoffaith.com.  I'm not savvy at all when it comes to blog land and I don't know how to add a link for you to go directly to her store but there ya have it.  Stop by and check out some of her fabulous monogrammed items,  you won't be disappointed.  So wish me luck as I have now entered in a drawing for the special tote!

2ND PLACE!

Time 29 minutes 29 seconds ....... that was the time I ran the 5K race in on Saturday morning with the Mosaic Chicks.  New record for me once again!  Now let's add the icing on the cake if I may......... I came in 2nd place in my age division!!  I totally didn't expect that and as you might figure it was a total surprise!  WOOHOO!  2nd place baby!!  In the picture above I am on the end with the black shirt and white running skirt. Also posing with me are the gals who came in 1st and 3rd along with the mayor of Ocoee and the sponsor for the race.  Below I am proudly showing off my trophy.

Funny thing is the 3rd place winner was neck and neck with me during the whole race and I,  being quite competitive,  decided to sprint the last 1/4 mile to the finish line.  I found out later I beat her out for 2nd place with that very smart move.  Now that I've had my feathers fluffed,  I am rested up and race ready for Disney's Tower of Terror 13K on Saturday!  I've told my husband,  who is also running in this race,  to be on his toes as I am planning to give him a run for his money!!

Victory!

The Rosser family is celebrating VICTORY!  In Saturdays triathlon Steve placed 9th in his division out of 45 other males.  His splits were fantastic and ranked 1st in the bike division and 6th in the run.  Andrew giving daddy Steve a high five as he crosses the finish line!

Sunday came and it was time for the Race For The Taste 10K and more celebrating!  I ran the race with a pace of 9-10 min per mile and finished in 64 min.  Steve finished just ahead of me in 51 min.  WOOHOO!!!

Next it was the boys turn to burn up the pavement.  Luke and Jack were pumped and ready to run! 

Andrew was eager to run and wasn't too thrilled with me and my need to snap a few shots of everyone before their run.  I managed to get a couple of him but only after I demanded he pose for me.  You can tell he is gritting his teeth through the fake smile. HA!

Luke and Jack ran in the 400 meter dash division.  Luke was in the top 5 of this group and could be seen way out front running like his feet were on fire!  I think we may have a future Olympic athlete!  Jack wasn't too far behind and was seen pushing his way through the sea of kids to make his way to the front.  I think he is a little bit competitive!  Andrews division ran a 1/2 mile and it was a straight out sprint to the finish.  Below the boys are proudly showing off their gold medals they received from Mickey & Minnie Mouse upon crossing the finish line.  I think they've been bitten by the race bug....... they all want to know when their next race is!

Triathlon's and 10K's

This weekend is going to be CRAZY!  Saturday morning Steve will be competing in his first triathlon.  The event will take place at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven Fl and starts at 7 a.m. Therefore the boys and I will be leaving the house before the chickens are even stirring. Then on Sunday morning we wake up and do it all over again! This time we will be leaving the house around 4 a.m. and head to Disney for the Race For The Taste 10K.   This will be my 3rd year running in this race and I couldn't be more excited, especially since Steve will be running with me!  He's pretty fast but I'm real competitive so I won't be too far behind. This year the boys are going to be running in their very own race.  Their races start shortly after the 10K ends.  You would have thought it was Christmas in my house this morning when we got up and headed out the door to pick up every one's race packets!  The boys are so excited to get their very own race packets and t-shirts.  One thing they don't know is they will be getting special commemorative race medals upon finishing their race.  Disney spared no expense for the medals either........ they are VERY nice!  I told Steve's mom (who is coming to help with the kids) to get,  sit down and hold on tight cause it's going to be a WILD ride this weekend!

Time: 30 Min.

Here are the hotties getting ready for the Susan G Komen 5K to "Save The Ta Ta's".  Melissa, Myself, Tara and Michelle just before we headed to the start line.  We had our chanpion timed chips, I-pods in place and we were ready to GO!  Thanks to Michelle and her wonderful husband Mark,  we all adorned signs on our backs with the loved ones whom we were running either in honor of or in memory of.  We made our way to the starting line and anticipated a quick start, but you know how things go and well....... 30 min after we were supposed to start,  the horn blew and we were off!  I flew out of the crowd determined to get a good start and continued with that pace til the end.  I set a new PR (Personal Record) time of 30 minutes!!!  Needless to say I was STOKED beyond words!  My time was 10 min pace per mile.  Michelle wasn't too far behind as she came 7 minutes after me.  This was Michelle's first competitive race and she did fabulous!  Way to go Shell!  Tara followed close behind with Melissa on her heels.  The hotties in pink were tearing up the pavement!  To celebrate our victories we loaded up the kids and headed to Chili's.  While feasting on a delicious yummies,  we were able to catch a quick broadcast from the race on one of the local TV stations.  Towards the end of the broadcast of clips,  Steve yelled out "Hey it's Meredith"!!!  I was taped by the television station running across the finish line with my hands up in the air and my mouth wide open and of course whooping and hollering.  If you know me well then you know I can (and usually am) pretty loud and sometimes crazy.  In the end we all had a wonderful time and raised some serious $$$$$ for the fight against breast cancer.  Oh and did I mention that there were over 6,000 participants in the race and that over 3,000 had just signed up in the last couple of weeks?   If your considering getting involved go to www.komen.org.  It's never too late!  Remember...

"YOU Are The Cure"

Race For A Cure

Only 2 more days!  Sunday October 5th,  my girlfriends and I will be running for a cure in the annual Susan G Komen 5K at Disney.  I am finding myself a bit emotional right now just thinking about the loved ones I will be running in memory of.  It seems to me that this disease is taking over so many lives and I'm ready to stand up and FIGHT!  I run because I enjoy running,  but on Sunday I will be running because so many women have either lost their fight against breast cancer or are currently battling the disease.  Remember October is breast cancer awareness month so wear your pink proudly!  Together we can raise awareness!!  Let's go get 'em team "T, Me Me and Shell".  

Expedition Everest 5K

Expedition Everest complete!  Steve and I ran in the Inaugural Expedition Everest Challenge 5K this past weekend.  There is nothing like running a race with your honey!!  He really pushed me to beat out my previous time so therefore I set a new PR!!!  (That is personal record if you don't know what PR means.)  31 minutes I say!  The race began with a dart out of the coral at 7:30 p.m.  and ran through Disney's Animal Kingdom,  3.1 miles.  Once we completed the run we had to find our way through an obstacle course then race to the finish for our passport.  Upon receiving our passport we raced back through the park on a scavenger hunt.  With that completed it was a mad dash to the end where we received our "gold compass medal".  What an amazing experience and I got to do it with my sweetie.  To top off the night,  there was a post race party immediately following that went on until midnight.  All the great rides out @ Disney's Animal Kingdom were open for everyone to enjoy.  There is nothing like riding a roller coaster in the dark of night,  especially "Everest."  Fall is in the air and race season has begun!  Now I need to focus on getting my time down below 30 min.  I've got another race this weekend so I'm training hard and got my goal set high!

The Three Letter Word Conversation

 Don't you ever wonder what is going on in a child's brain when he is reading scripture?  Andrew was reading his "Read the Bible in One Year" the other day and was apparently reading about the 10 Commandments.  I often get beckoned from across the house with "MOM........MOM..... I NEED YOU".  This day was no different.  Upon hearing Andrew calling for me as if there was something terribly wrong I ran to his aid only to find him perplexed with a question.  Our conversation went like this:

Andrew:  "Hey mom,  I don't think what I'm reading is supposed to be in a kid bible"

Me:  "Okay,  so what are you reading about"?

Andrew:  "God says.... husbands,  only have ___ with your wives,  and wives only have ___with your husbands"   (Note,  this of course was with total disbelief on Andrews part)

Me:  "So what is the ___ (blank) part"?

Andrew:  He looks at me very seriously and quietly says "SEX"

Up until this point I had complete composure....... needless to say that was out the window now. Andrew is only 9 so he doesn't know what sex really is.  As I am gathering my thoughts he is still insisting that he thinks something is wrong with his bible and that particular part of the 10 Commandments doesn't belong in a kid bible.  Steve and I are still laughing about this one and probably will be for a while!

Hill Training

Tonight I hung with the best!  My girlfriend Tara and I met up with the Tri-N-Run running group we run with on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and did some major hill training.  Let me put this into perspective for you.  Florida is not supposed to have hills,  so considering I am used to running on a pretty flat surface for 6 miles,  this hill was like a mountain after about 3 miles.  The women of the group were told to do 6 laps and the men to do 8.  Being that I'm pretty competitive,  I set my eyes on 8 laps.  In the end my body did run out of some gas so I ended up doing 7 laps around.  My clock time stayed consistent with 1 min and 50 seconds which I must say I was flying high with that one!  The team we run with is fantastic and very encouraging!  "T" and I felt pretty good afterwards and are hoping to get another hill workout in sometime over the weekend.  Rock on T..... you are AWESOME!  Any one up for the challenge?  If so I'd love to hear about your workout! Oh and to my dear friend South of me towards Miami,  "Bits and Pieces of a Blessed Life"  I can't wait to finally meet you!  We are about a month away from the 13k...... WOOHOO!

Today I woke up early to hit the trail and ride with the "peeps" and rode my Trek for the 4th time.  I LOVE this road bike and was able to use the tri-bar or areo bars for the first time today.  Believe it or not I was even able to remain steady and not wobble!  No crashes this time. WOOHOO!   We were only able to get in 20 miles but hoping for next week to be better,  more like 25-30 miles.  Our goal is set high @ 50 miles and being that our weather is getter cooler,  if that is such a thing in Florida,  I am hoping to accomplish this by January.  Our tradition afterwards is to meet up with a few friends and sip espresso's and such at a French Bakery right off the trail.  Today was no exception!  You know the weather is getting cooler when you can sit outside on the veranda,  sipping hot espresso and sharing in great conversation and not dripping wet with sweat.  Yes today was a grand day and I'm looking forward to the Florida winter season!  The temps may be going down but the trail is heating up with runners,  bikers and walkers alike.  Anyone up for a quick run or a ride?

Labor Day Weekend

Ahhhhh... Labor Day!  This year Labor Day weekend for the Rossers was definitely a busy one.  Friday night I hung out with the ""peeps" for a girls night out and a quick trip to a Sushi Bar.  Don't quite remember the name of the bar but it was my first experience with sushi.  Needless to say I am HOOKED!  The Mexican Roll and the Krunch Roll were my favorites just to name a couple.  To end our weekend on Monday we had several families over for a cook out and rounded off the day with game of Kickball.  We started off with about 21 people playing,  including all the kids,  and about half way through the match it was just all adults.  HA! I am sad to say my team did lose by 1 point but we have vowed a re-match since we were down a few key players.  He he he. Take notice:  For those of you who are the "other" team....... YOU ARE GOING DOWN!!!  

Fay Is Moving Out!

Fay,  Fay is going  away!  FINALLY!  Five days of rain and three boys stuck in a house don't make a good mix!  The boys started school on Monday,  had Tuesday off,  went back for Wednesday and Thursday and had Friday off due to a tropical storm.  Mind you it never became a hurricane.  I have been joking around about how I've been wishing for a couple of hurricanes to pass through and dump much needed rain in my lake.  Sad thing is,  Fay never became a hurricane and brought more rain than some parts of Florida could handle and to top it all off it didn't make a dent in our lake!  Hurricane season has just begun and I'm done..... done ... done.  

First Day Of School

Summer came to an end for the boys on Monday as it was time to get back into the groove of school.  Funny thing is there was no school Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Fay so the kids all got an extra day of sleeping in.  Luke has to be in class by 8:30 and Andrew has to be in his class by 9:00, halfway across town,  so needless to say Monday mornings are going to be CRAZY!  Andrew takes classes on Mondays and is home schooled the rest of the week.  This will be a BIG change for all of us but so far so good! Check back in a few weeks....... I may be pulling my hair out by then. :-0

Luke Turns 6

Luke (aka Superman) turned 6 last week.  It seems like yesterday when I was rocking this sweet bundle of joy in my arms.  On each of our boys birthday they get to choose where we will go to eat.  This year Luke insisted we go to Friendly's to eat so we can get ice cream afterwards.  All I could think was UGH...... above all places to eat and he chooses Friendly's!  I am not a big fan of this place as many of you know I am a health nut when it comes to food!  Nothing fried or greasy and that is pretty much all they have on their menu!  I will say I have tried their salads before but let's just say that was the first and last time.  Luke was flying high since he knew he would be diving into the biggest ice cream sundae that money would buy, this according to dad. In the end I survived the meal and shared a nice watermelon sherbert slice with Steve and Luke was happy.  Guess I'll be making that up this week in my runs some how!!!  Happy 6th Birthday my sweet Luke!

WOOOHOOO!!!!

I am celebrating!!!  I broke through my barrier in running and have now made it up to 6.3 miles!  

I will admit around the 5 mile mark my shoes feel like I have lead in them.  I usually then change out a song on my ipod to something with a lot of good old rock and roll beats to make it.  Now I just need to stay focused and run this 3 days per week and hopefully can move up to 7 miles by mid August.  

Any Journey or Heart fans out there?  My husband just surprised me with tickets to see them in concert tomorrow night via a limo!!!!  I am STOKED!  You can tell I'm an 80's girl through and through.  LOL  Hopefully I will be able to post some good concert pics. 

To answer the BIG question from my last post,  the creature in question is in fact a "sea urchin".  Many of you guessed correctly but as I said I returned from the beach with 13 of them and now I'm down to one thanks to the cranes.  We have a family of sand hill cranes who call my 4 acres of property their home.  My prize possessions were pecked to almost nothing this morning as I believe the cranes were scoping them out for a little snack.  I salvaged two of them in hopes they will look nice in a glass jar with my other shells and sand dollar finds.  

Guess This.....

Can anyone guess what this "thing" is?  I had to convince Steve to let me bring 13 of them home!  I have never seen one before until now. Can you guess what it is...........

Heading to Siesta Key

We are off and heading to the beach for a week! I have been so swamped with trying to balance 3 boys,  packing, laundry all the while trying to fit some running time in before we go. I really need a week @ the beach after all that!  Keeping my running steady @ 5 miles 3x per week and hoping to get a run or two while were gone.  Beach running is so nice but I find it a bit harder to run on the sand so we'll see.  Hoping everyone in blog land is having a great summer!  Will share some beach photos soon!  

Up To 5 Miles And Climbing

I cannot believe I did it!! I ran 5.2 miles yesterday and only slowed down for a quick drink once. WOOHOO! I am now convinced it really is mind over matter and you just have to dig your heals in and do it! It did take me about 50 min to do the 5miles so my next goal is to get my time down. I only have 3 more months til the 15k and of course the Disney Half Marathon in January so gotta get a movin'.

July 4th

July 4th...... time to fire up the grill and celebrate our freedom! This year we opted to stay in town and celebrate with our friends the Bertones. There was plenty of finger licking ribs and chicken with all the fixins' and of course yummy desserts. For the big event we headed into a local small town for a down home fireworks spectacular. Thinking this was going to be a local good old boys fireworks display, we were pleasantly surprised. After all...... being that we have seen endless fireworks displays out at Disney we weren't expecting the kind of show this little town was putting on. With old American hymns being blasted out on loud speakers and the fireworks being set off over the lake it was a grand show!



Andrew and Luke enjoyed the blasts and bursts that you could feel in the pit of your stomach each time a firework went up. However Jack wasn't too thrilled with the whole thing and Steve had to give him some loving reassurance.



Oh, in case anyone is wondering ......we are Yanks fans when their not playing the Sox!!!
So how did you celebrate July 4th? Any family traditions?

Going Up!

As most of you know I am training for my first Half Marathon in January. I have added a few 5k's and 10k's and one 15k in the mix but just recently signed up to do my first Triathlon next Spring. I have been running for 2 years now so I know I should have some miles underneath my belt, but I feel I need to break through the 4 mile barrier. I run 3 times per week and my longest distance per run is 4 miles. I have got to get my miles per run up in order to be effective in the 10k's and 15k. So since I'm laying it all out there for everyone to see, I have to ask: Got any advice to pass along? I love running but living in Florida makes it difficult to enjoy running in the summer months. I think if I can push through to the 6 mile mark in my daily runs I at that point will be "grooving". So bring on the advice blog land!

Camp Rosser

I know this sounds like my usual blog but what a crazy week it was again! Life with 3 busy boys is a full time job! My summer job is tripled now that their home all day. The usual question I get each morning is "Where are we going today and what are we going to do"? I have had to map out each week ahead of time so they have a schedule to look forward to and follow. I feel like I'm camp counselor! Welcome to Camp Rosser! The usual is clean on Mondays, pool on Tuesdays with friends, run/bike on the West Orange Trail then off to Bible Study, Thursdays is play dates with friends/park day, and Fridays it's pool day with friends again. Somewhere in the mix I fit in my runs and some road bike time. I tell Steve I don't know how women who have to work out of the home do it! I don't need a full time job....I already have one! Throughout the week I try and snap a few random pics of the boys and this past week they decided to have their own sleep-over in Luke's room, sleeping bags and all! I don't why they like sleeping on a hard floor all night. You couldn't pay me to do that now!