But these boys do not enjoy the same listening privileges, and so this morning I was tasked with approving the songs that were on the 14-year-old’s device for 11-year-old listening. Bob Marley, okay. Cars soundtrack, okay. Usher … well, I don’t know.

“He doesn’t need that,” Dan told me on the phone when I asked his opinion. “Just take it off.”

When I told Stephen this news, he did not argue, but he did mention that the song in question was one of his favorites and he was disappointed to lose it. To educate myself, I looked up the lyrics and for good measure, opened the video on YouTube so that I could hear the song as I read the words.

I didn’t need to do that, though. Because upon hearing the music, 6-year-old Daniel immediately appeared at my side. And he was singing every single word of the lyrics from memory. With finger-pointing, microphone-miming, and hip-shaking.

But if I stop then just know that imma bring it back,
Never quittin’ on believin’ that.

“Oooooh, I LOVE that song!” Gabby called from the next room.

And then the final words seemed especially fitting.

Gonna push it to the limit, give it more.

I give up. No, I don’t. But I’m not winning this thing.

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Here is my profile.

If you are Instagrammy too, and you’re into photos of food, manicures, and goofy children, you might want to follow me. And be sure to leave your profile in the comments so I can follow you back!

We love you, Juliette!

Ambrose placed second in his age group, Stephen won the Fun Run, and I improved my time by over two minutes (27:19!) from my last race, so it was a really great day.

There was one funny moment, though, that I have to share with you.

I wore mascara, okay? Ambrose made fun of me when he saw me putting it on that morning, but whatever. I don’t expect a 14-year-old male to understand the nuances of the 40-year-old female’s mind when it comes to cosmetics. It was waterproof mascara. It made perfect sense.

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, but the air was cold and the wind made my eyes water a bit during the race, but I didn’t think too much of it. Until the race was over, that is, and my sweet husband gave me a hug, told me I did a great job, and then … reached toward my face with his hand.

“You probably should …” he said.

I had just run 3.1 miles as hard as I could. I was interested in oxygen. I was not interested in fussing with my mascara.

“In a minute!” I told Dan shortly.

He looked surprised, took a step back, and asked, “Are you okay?”

How annoying was he? Of course I was okay. I just wanted to catch my breath and didn’t consider my eye makeup a priority at that moment. I guess I told him so.

And that was when Dan let me know that he was not fussing about my makeup after all. It was actually the snot I had running out of my nose that he thought I might want to take care of. Snot. Not mascara smudges.

So I did take care of that.

And the good news is 1) My husband is actually a pretty thoughtful and caring guy and not nearly as annoying as I thought for a brief moment yesterday, and 2) My waterproof eye makeup still looked fab, thankyouverymuch.

Stephen finishes his run, snot-free.