Dam to Dam

I started "running" about a year ago. My friend Laura had been running and I decided to try the "Couch to 5k" to both lose weight and get healthier.  I started the program last year around Memorial Day and my goal was to runa local 5k for my birthday at the end of August.  I made it, and ran the 5k with a time of 41:something.  I was happy with that.  :)  I ran another 5k at the end of October and had a time of 38:something.

Sometime later I decided to try something crazy.  Try to run Dam to Dam.  A 20k.  Crazy.  I bit off a little more than I could chew, but I finished and they gave me a medal! (They actually gave us 4 medals when they saw how many kids came to cheer for me :) 

My final time ended up being 2:33:something which was slower than I practiced and slower than I wanted.  I'm already planning to give it another go next year with Joel's sister Emily.  I can't wait!

After the race:

 A picture of me with my "coach," Laura :)

 My big regret is that I didn't get a picture of my cheering section!  I think I had the most fans of anyone!! Thank you guys all so much for coming down to DSM and for encouraging me!  I needed you and I'm so grateful for all your love and encouragement :)

Home on the Range

A few weeks ago, we had a kids "clothing swap" at our church.  You bring in however many items you want to swap, you get a ticket for each item and then you come back later to "shop" with your tickets.  Really - a fantastic idea.

So I took the three youngest kids with me to drop off our stuff one Friday morning.  While I was putting our stuff on the assigned tables, Grant and Riley were shopping the toy selection...  I never really went over and supervised them, I just told them not to make a mess. 

After we left and for the rest of the day, Grant asked me if he could use one of the tickets to get the "cow-in-the-box".  "I really want to get the cow in the box.  Please, Mom?  Please?"  I was vague and unpromising - "yeah, we'll see."  (And I was sort of curious what he was talking about.)

It turns out this was actually a "Horse-In-The-Box" (this ones for you, Em!) and was straight from The Land of the Misfit Toys. I let him get it and it was worth it because every time "Home on the Range" finished playing and the horse popped out, Grant's giggle was hysterical - over and over and over and over again...  :)

"Twin" Day

The kids think its fun to match so one Sunday they were all "twins".  :)

Reagan's last night of AWANA

Reagan has been going to AWANA on Wednesdays this year.   This is a video from their awards' night.  Reagan is in the middle with the khaki capris and her friend Sofie is to the right of Reagan (there's one blonde girl between them. :)  I love this program because Reagan has learned a lot of scripture and a lot about God.

One day she told me, "Mom, I know the Holy Spirit lives in me."  I said, "Really? Tell me about that." She said she was reading at night before she went to sleep and we had told her she could read two chapters and then turn off the light.  When she finished her two chapters she really wanted to read more.  She said she debated with herself - "I knew it would be wrong to disobey you, but I really, really wanted to read one more chapter. So I laid there and thought about it and the Holy Spirit was telling me to obey my parents, but I really wanted to read more.  I fell asleep while I was thinking about it and that's how I know the Holy Spirit lives in me - He was helping me."  :)  

I Love My Kids

But I HATE potty training. AAAHHHHHHH. I. HATE. IT.

I hate that the baby tries to touch everything and gets in the way. I hate cleaning up mess, after mess, after mess, after mess. And I can't show anything but encouragement to the tiny, (trying) mess-maker when all I feel like doing is screaming!

Between the baby getting molars and the potty training puddles (and worse), I'm totally losing it. Totally.

I need to go outside and scream out loud, but my neighbors are all home from work, so I'm experimenting with yelling on a blog as therapy. Thanks for your help.

And now I have some laundry to do.