Rain Rain Go Away

It was finally here, Saturday morning was the 2 mile fun run.  I was a little nervous never having been in a run before and having two goals that I was hoping to reach.  It was bugging me that people kept saying, "Why are you nervous? It's only two miles." because I don't consider myself a runner and I can't just run two miles like that, I had to work hard to get to that point.  Anyway my first goal was that I was wanting to run the whole way, up until that day the farthest Heath and I had run was only 1.6 miles without stopping and my other goal was that I was wanting to run it in under twenty minutes. 

The 2011 Runners

Dan & Roberta (family friends), Jim & Nicole, Heath & Myself, Mom, Hailey & Kyler her friend there for moral support.

As the race first started I felt myself panic a little but then just tried to focus on setting a good pace, breathing, following Heath's lead, talking to myself in my head and listening to my music.  My music of choice to keep me moving was:

Black Eyed Peas:  I Gotta Feeling

Toby Keith:  She's a Hottie

Taio Cruz: Dynamite

Trace Adkins: Hot Mama

Ke$ha: Tic Toc

Kenny Loggins:  Footloose

Heath's great at encouraging me to work harder and push myself, he doesn't really listen to any of my excuses.  I guess his old Marine days come back to him because he says unless I'm puking them I could of pushed myself harder.  Well I don't push myself to that point but I do feel good with what I have been able to do so far.

Luke was at the finish line taking pictures of all of us coming across to the line.

It felt so good finishing the race and reaching both of my goals.

I ran the whole way and did it in 18 minutes 42 seconds.

This was a great way to start our 11th year of marraige, trying something new together! I think we make a pretty good team. Speaking of teams out of the eight people on our team, five earned medals for winning in their age group (Heath, Hailey, Mom, Dan & Roberta), Jim has a new goal for next year and my sister and I each reached our goal of doing it in under twenty minutes and got 4th and 5th place for our age group.  I do have to say that Nicole and I had a hard age group to be in, we both would of probably placed if we were in the age group older than us or the one younger than us but the 30-39 age group is a tough one, so maybe next year!

 

Mom and her girls

The boys were so happy once the run was over because they knew it wouldn't be too much longer until they were able to come back down to the park for the Cherry Festival.  Somehow I was able to get them to pose with the cherry and all smile for this picture, they were not too thrilled.

Too bad the weather didn't stay nice, thankfully I brought an umbrella because from the minute we got there it rained, sprinkled and drizzled on us the whole time we were there.  The rain didn't stop the boys from loving every minute of the rides, fair food, and carnival games though but it did make it very miserable for everyone else.  Ryan was so excited when he got to meet up with his buddy Gavin and go on a few rides with him.

All the boys were brave and tried out some new rides this year but I would have to say that Luke was the most daring one of all.  They all got a little feel of motion sickness from the rides but handled it better than I would of because they kept going.

Now I wasn't for sure how this ride was going to turn out for Luke because if you see him (on the far right leaning into the side) he is not looking too well but as the ride finished and I gave him two thumbs up he gave them right back even though he didn't try this ride again the rest of the time.

We lasted a whole FOUR hours in the rain before we decided to pack up and head home so we could warm up and get out of our damp clothes.  I think everyone had a great day!

Eleven Years...

and still going strong...

camping 101

Since we didn't do any camping last year there were a few things that I had forgotten.

Things like how much work it is to get ready for the first camp trip and just how much you have to load in the camper.

Things like how expensive it is to buy all the food and miscellaneous things to restock the camper.

But seeing just how excited the kids have been talking about it made it all worth it.

We headed up on Friday to my parents lot in Cascade once Heath got home from work.

I did good on the toys that I packed for the boys to play with.

They played with these dragons and vikings the whole time we were up there.  They even had special

pieces of wood that became viking ships, you better not think about throwing those into the fire!

We did try fishing off the dock a few times but didn't have much luck.

The boys wanted so badly to catch a fish but Cody was the only one who had one hooked but it got away before he could reel it out of the water.

Ryan liked to watch his daddy put worms on the hooks but really loved playing with them.

Really Dad?  You're doing the peace signs now too? 

We enjoyed our time hanging out with Papa and Grammy and thankfully they were a little more prepared than us because one of the other things that I had forgotten about camping was just how fast you run out of water.  We were completely out of water by Saturday night...oops!

What I didn't forget about camping was just how early my boys would always wake up but this year they surprised me, they all slept great but it was Ruby who had us awake at 5:40am! Lucky for her she only did this the first morning.  This will also be the last year for our little camper because we have almost outgrown it.  Heath and I have a bed, the two older boys share the couch bed, Ryan sleeps on a cot next to the couch and then Ruby sleeps on the floor next to him, so it's a tight fit.

It was also a nice surprise just how much easier the boys were to camp with this year.  They are old enough to run around and play and go exploring without me having to be right there with them.

The weather could of been a little warmer for me but it didn't stop us from doing anything.

Luke was being quite the funny man and posed for many pictures for me.  Here is his old man walking picture.

Uncle Matt came up for a little bit on Sunday, he had to try out his new toy so all the big boys went on a ride.  The boys all wanted to check it out too so they got a mini ride that was a little overcrowded. 

No complaints here for our first trip out we are already looking forward to our next trip in a couple of weeks!

just some {things}

Slowly the weather has been warming up but even at just barely over 70 degrees these kids were ready to swim. Ash and Ryan were enjoying the water, they love to go under to get the rings and sticks.  Ryan has to wear his goggles at all times but Ash doesn't care, Ash also loves to jump in from the side but Ryan's not to sure about that, but hopefully soon.

Abigail and Luke played together non-stop, they kept coming up with game after game and were just having the best time.  They love jumping in, having races, diving down for rings and competitions holding their breath.  If we said yes they would be down at the pool everyday.

Funny Luke Story:  Luke was with me when I was at the red box when he noticed a payphone next to it.  He started checking it out and asked me about the phone book holder (which was missing the phone book) and wanted to know what it was.  When I told him he couldn't believe how cool it was that people would go there to use a phone book and make a phone call.  Also the other day when Cody was giving us a fact about where the first book press was ever made and what year Luke asked me, "Mom did they have books in the 1980's?"

Cody opted out of swimming this day to catch up on his reading, I guess the Lego book needed re-read for the millionth time.  Funny Cody Story:  He overheard Luke talking to his friend on the phone and came to tell me that they were saying bad things about me.  Things like I was fat and had yellow teeth.  Well I had heard this conversation too but had to explain to Cody that they were just, Yo Momma jokes and that they really weren't about me but just to be funny.  It still took Cody a minute to understand because he kept saying but mom they are saying "your mom". Happy to know the kid has my back!  

I promised Cody at some point that once school got out we could go to the library twice a week since we don't really go during the school year.  Well it's been more like once a week but the kids are all having fun checking out book after book.  When we were there the other day I wanted to see if they had a book that I used to read and love as a kid.  I was so excited when they had it at our library and got to read it to the kids.

The Marvelous Mud Washing Machine 

Ryan got a lady bug kit for his birthday so over the last couple of week we have been watching the ladybugs go from their larvae to their pupa to their adult lady bug stages and it's been quite fascinating.  It was finally time to let them go so they could enjoy part of their life outdoors instead of in a plastic dome.  We chose our newly planted garden to let a few of them out.  Our garden is a little sad looking this year, with only a tomato, squash, zucchini, strawberry and raspberry planted.  Last year I didn't get anything from my garden besides bugs and my pumpkins didn't get ripe until after Halloween so I decided for simple this year! 

Ryan really enjoyed his ladybugs.  We hope to see them around since it said if you let them out in the morning they are more likely to stay in that area. 

Maybe these two will think the zucchini will make a great home. 

The other five of them were let out on my flowers in the front yard. 

My peonies are finally starting to bloom and are smelling so wonderful so we thought that was a perfect place for the others to live. 

Ryan got mad the other day at me and wrote this sign to hang on his door.  He did need a little help with some of the spelling.  Poor little guy it was hard not to laugh.  He did tell me though I could only come in at bedtime to read books and tuck him in. 

"No family in my room"

Thankfully Amanda came over tonight to help me hang my pictures so my living room can finally be finished.  Okay technically it's not completely finished because all the frames aren't painted white and they have to still be taped down to the wall so they don't move, but it's close.  It took forever to hang these exactly an inch apart, not to mention the few extra nail holes hiding behind the frames when I measured wrong the first time. Anyway I think it looks great and this room is coming together just as I wanted (and stole from an idea out of a magazine) 

One of my favorite additions to the room was this new print personalized for my family, I just love it! 

With not one camping trip last year we are excited to be getting out of town this weekend and enjoying the outdoors, the boys are so ready!

not slowing down

Besides a dinner out tomorrow with a friend, I think my birthday celebrations are coming to an end.

Thursday (my birthday) was just a normal day out running errands and grocery shopping with all my boys, not their favorite thing to be doing either was it mine, but we survived it....barely. That night we went out to dinner, made a few more stops and had a much more enjoyable time together. Friday was spent all day cleaning getting ready for the party at my house once everyone arrived after work.

We had grilled pizza's and salad, it was so delicious!

 Cupcakes for dessert with extra frosting!

 We  had to eat in shifts because everyone's pizza's couldn't cook at the same time, but it all worked out.

 The girls enjoying their meal.

Tucker kept the boys busy playing football 

and swinging with Luke.

After presents everyone ended up outside to finally enjoy some beautiful weather.

It didn't take long before the motorcycle, bikes, basketballs were all out and everyone was taking their turns. 

The sunshine felt so good, nobody was complaining. 

Ryan's been begging for awhile now to learn how to ride without training wheels but life was too crazy there for a time, so finally he got his wish.  The training wheels came off and we all took turns helping him learn.  It didn't take long and he was doing it all on his own!  Go Ryan Go!

Almost the whole family followed him for his first ride around the circle, he even had to stop and get Ash so he could show her what he could finally do.  She was so excited for him and he was so proud to show her. Are they just not the cutest?

There was no resting once the weekend arrived.  We made two trips down to the pool, Heath helped Matt shop for a Four Wheeler,  we made it to church, I spent the day shopping with my sister and Hailey, Heath took the boys to watch Kung Fu Panda 2, washed vehicles, mowed the lawn and we cleaned up the camper to get it ready for camping and now it's Monday.

Thanks everyone for celebrating with me!

{thirty five}

I asked the boys why it was great that mom was turning 35 today...

Ryan said that we would both be fives because he is five and I'm thirty five.

Luke said because it's close to sixty and close to being young, so I'm in the middle.

Cody said because J.F.K.the 35th president of the United States is his favorite.

So happy birthday to me today...

I had handmade birthday cards, a poem, and game for me first thing this morning,
my littlest guy coming down the stairs first thing this morning saying "where's my birthday mom?"
so sweet since my older two had to be reminded by Heath that it was today.
a dinner out tonight, a family party tomorrow, a movie over the weekend.
let's get the party started...