FOUR!!!!

This morning I ran 4 miles!!!! Once again, I really wanted to throw my hands up in the air and scream! I was so excited. On Tuesday, I meet my friend Stephanie (my unofficial running "coach) and run with her. She made me go outside with her and she took me on a 3.2 mile loop. It was much harder than my outside run on Sunday - we went faster (she probably felt like she was walking) than I did on Sunday, and it was a loop that I had never gone on - so I didn't know where the end was!!! Anyways, we talked about how to vary up my running so my muscles don't plateau, etc, and she was encouraging me to slow down a bit so that I can increase my distance. I'd been doing 3 mi for about a month, but slowly increasing speed a bit. So today, I kept my speed the same and ran 4 miles! I was really surprised at how good I felt doing it! I thought I'd never do anymore than 3 (actually, I never thought I'd run 1 mile!) So thanks for your encouragement Stephanie, Kelli, and Kristen! I may actually get there! :)

Along those same lines, Josiah is excited about getting to run a "race" with me this Saturday. The Y is doing an "Activate America" 1 mile walk and so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for our whole family to get to go. I'd love to be able to borrow a double jogging stroller (does anyone have one I could borrow for Sat?) so that David could run WITH me. Otherwise, Josiah and I are going to do it, and David will have the little two in the stroller. Wouldn't we be a cute family all running together? We're excited - Josiah's REALLY excited. He was putting his flip flops on this morning and said "I'm going to save my new sneakers for our race on Saturday!" I'll probably be sweatier than he will be!

So we're off to a good start. It's been a long week already. Some very trying afternoons with the boys, David's been gone each night for different things, lots on our plate. Last night I was in bed at 8:30 pm - I just couldn't handle anymore. It felt good to have a FULL night's sleep like that, and the gym topped off my therapy! I feel much more in control of things today!

She's trying to crawl...

...And I'm trying not to let her!!! (And as I'm typing this post, David is calling me from the family room saying "she's crawling again!") Oh boy oh boy. What happened to my little baby staying a little baby? Good grief - she's only 5 months old!

An AWESOME Sunday!!!

And I don't use the word "Awesome" lightly!!! We had an incredible time of worship this morning at church - I just loved every song! Then we came home - well, actually, we had lunch at Moe's and discovered a new great deal!! On Sundays, Kid's Meals are only $1.00!! And it included a quesadilla (or taco or burrito), chips, cookie, and drink - what a bargain!! It was a great treat for us. After the kids were settled in for their naps, I went for a run outside for the first time!!! I've been dreading this, afraid that I wouldn't be able to run at all outside - I've gotten very used to the treadmill, being able to see exactly where I was on the treadmill display, etc. It was really good though - I was able to go 3.2 miles and only a hair slower than what I was doing inside. But it was such an invigorating run - I was listening to David's IPOD with our Kinetic praise music on it and just really digging it!! We started our Biblestudy last Wednesday, and one of the things that was mentioned in the lesson was that when our awe of God increases, so does our faith. I think that's a great statement - and very true. One of the songs that we sang this morning was "Amazed" - the lyrics of the chorus are very simple, but profound. They say "Lord, I'm amazed by You, and how You love me." I really am. Such a great, full of worship day!!!

Goin' Bowling!!!

My handsome men and their very handsome shoes!!

This was a very popular place for Jacob - he loved standing here watching the bowling balls come back up! I felt bad for the people that were REALLY trying to bowl in the lane next to us!

Josiah insisted on doing it completely on his own. He was very serious as he watched the ball go down the lane. (And you see Jacob just watching the ball returner!)

I totally forgot to post about our Friday night activity!!! We decided to go bowling!! It was so much fun!! The boys had seen an episode of Curious George during the week and he went bowling, so they asked about if we could go. It was absolutely hilarious - Josiah was SO excited, and of course Jacob just wants to do whatever he's doing. The boys were a riot - they thought it was great that they could carry the bowling balls and throw them down all by themselves. Callie was content to hang out and watch all the action. David & I hadn't been in YEARS - before we had children - and I was astounded at how much nicer bowling alleys are now! We had a blast! Oh - and I didn't take a picture of the scoreboard, but let's just say that I GREATLY benefitted from bringing kids with me - the rails in the gutters are GENIUS!!

A Great Weekend...and still 1 more day to go!

It's been a wonderful weekend so far. After a very crazy week with everything that was happening with the plumber and all, it has been a very nice, relaxing day today! Nothing major - just some GREAT family time! We did head up to Barnes & Noble this morning - they opened a brand new one and had a grand opening celebration. Free books for the kids, a special "cow" storytime and fun crafts. It was great fun, but nice and low-key. We swam tonight before dinner and it felt fantastic - just very relaxing. So thankful for this weekends that aren't so rushed!! And we still have one more day of it! Hooray!

I'm with the Band!

We had band practice last night for Kinetic, and Callie loved it!! She sat on her blanket and just stared at the guitar players! It was so cute. Then she finally wrestled my microphone away from me and enjoyed figuring that out. I'd much rather her be a vocalist than a crazy guitar player! :)

Workin' Out!

I've been telling the boys for weeks that I would take their picture at the Y, and I finally did! In their classroom where they play while I workout, they have these adorable little fitness machines for the kids to practice on. They have a treadmill too, but the boys didn't want to do that one! Aren't they hilarious? They like to work out and then play, they said! :)

The culprit...

So here it is. The picture of what has caused quite an extensive and expensive repair! Do you see the tiny pin-sized hole? The plumber said some concrete got onto it long, long ago (maybe when building) and over time eroded that little bitty hole. Sigh.

Future Babysitter!

I wish we lived closer - Rebekah would be a GREAT babysitter! :)

What a Monday!!!

Here was the hole they had to jackhammer!! A tiny pin-sized hole in a copper pipe under the floor - and all this mess (and expense!)

What a day!!! I'll keep this very brief, but it was a crazy morning!! On my way home from the Y this morning, the plumber called and said he could be on his way over to fix a leaky pipe that was discovered under the house. So we raced home, got a QUICK shower, called Jayne to see if we could come hide out over there, packed the kids up, and off we went!! We had to be gone while they were working all day over here - jack hammers, concrete, etc, etc. Everything has been somewhat restored now - at least the pipe was replaced and our water meter has stopped running! I'll be taking a copy of the repair bills to City Hall tomorrow to have our water bills adjusted, but what a day!!



A BIG thank you to Jayne and Grayson who let us crash their day! The kids had a BLAST - they enjoyed Mickey Mouse clubhouse toys most of the day and Josiah loved some new games (love those consignment sale games!) What fun - the boys thought it was the best day ever - playing with Grayson, Wendy's for lunch, seeing a jackhammer in the plumber's truck, wet concrete in the house - what could be better, right?