Making history, and what I've learned along the way.

I have been training for a half marathon (13 miles), which I will be running on Nov 8th. The other day as I was running 8 miles on the treadmill (yes you read that right) I had A LOT of time to think. Some days I will zone out to smut on the gym tv (please don't ask what smut...Annie) but most of the time I just turn off the tv and run. Other then my marriage vows and the daily mothering I do, this has been the BIGGEST commitment I have made. You don't really think that the training for something like this could be that big of a deal (and for some it's not) but for my training partner and I it's been 12 weeks of daily training (minus Sundays). I am blogging about this so most of you will know what has been happening in my life, because for 12 weeks now running has pretty much been my life.

Little did I know when I started running, that I was entering a WHOLE NEW WORLD, which includes some of these little insights: wearing cotton is a definite no, no. chaffing occurs anywhere that fabric repeatedly rubs on your body. bloody nipples are normal (I am NOT talking to the ladies here). waking up at 6am or even 5am is NORMAL. running for longer then a hour is a given and often times 2 hours is normal. after awhile your legs just go numb. certain songs can REALLY motivate you and it's not always the ones you think will (I had a really good run to church music one day). Saturdays are no longer a sleep in day. gatorade really does help (the commercials are true!). stomach cramps are normal, and no you don't stop, you just keep running. there is a whole new group of friends, waiting for you. my body has ran further then I ever imagined. power gels are amazing. gps watches are your new best friend, or worst enemy (if your routes not as long as you thought). body glide will save your skin. I would rather talk, then listen to music (this really shouldn't surprise me). the first 2 miles are my hardest. I get nervous before ANY long run. shoes make a world of a difference. you cannot look at a person's body type and judge their endurance. I prefer running in the cold.

My sister in law asked me the other day why I am participating in this self induced torture, and my one response was, when my body does something I never thought possible, it's empowering! I am making history, it may not be history for the marathoner down the street, but the first day I ran 10 miles I made history for myself.

So watch out world Nov 8th, I'm making history again!

Joy school ghouls

My friends (there are 5 of us in the group) have started doing Joy school for our 3 year olds. We got the curriculum from online www.valuesparenting.com and we teach one week, then we rotate who teaches. So far it has been great. The kids LOVE it, and I am loving it, I learn the weeks that I am teaching, I have made some really great friendships with the other moms, and I have 5 weeks off after I teach. I just can't say enough good stuff. So these are two pics from the Halloween program they had for the parents. They did a little parade in their costumes and then they sang some songs, so cute!

8th annual halloween party...minus two years

Okay, Darrin and I love Halloween. Candy, costumes, food, what else is there? Since our early years of marriage we have vowed to have an annual adult (adult was only added after the kids started coming) Halloween party.
Unfortunately with a few moves here and there we missed the last two years, but now were back! This is a pretty big deal for us, I even rescheduled my wisdom teeth extraction, so that it wouldn't be too close to the party.
This year, was a GREAT group! We had a blast, costumes are always required and this is what showed up at our front step...

Waldo & Wenda

Rocker & Witch
Hunter and Deer

Mouse & The Trap

Scary monster & Construction worker

Sarah Palin & John McCain

The Hippies

For reputation sake I won't mention any names...but I will say that Gary's red pants were the highlight of the night (oops, sorry Gary).

So fun...can't wait to see who will show up next year.

The Husband Babysitter

Have you ever noticed when your husband is watching your kids people always say, "So is your husband babysitting?" why is it called babysitting when it's the husband but, parenting when it's the mom? Well after a couple of "babysitting" days of Darrin watching the girls, I found some great pics on the camera. I realized that it is more of babysitting when dad watches them, they play, wear messy pajamas, and there are usually dirty dishes still in the sink!

Against my will

I was so happy for the day when Eden's hair got long enough to put in piggies, barrettes, anything other then a bow headband. Don't get me wrong I love the headbands but it's just fun when they have enough hair to actually do something with. With that said let me show you a picture of what Eden's hair looked like when we went to music class yesterday...

So are you wondering where her cute barrette or ponytail went? Yea, me too. This has now become my big battle, keeping hair things in Eden's hair. She is notorious for ripping them out the minute I set her on the floor after doing her hair. If I'm nearby I of course put it right back in, which leads to about 10 re-dos, but what about the times when we are rushing around for, let's say, music class and as I pull her out of the car I notice her looking like the above photo. Or the times when she rips it out during church on dad's watch and I pick her up from her nursery class, looking like the above photo. It's beyond me at this point.

Why can't I just have the sweet little ponies?

Thou shalt not covet....thy sister's lipgloss

While in Florida I thought it would be a good idea to get the girls some presents. I found these cute little animal lip glosses. Knowing my oldest would want whatever animal Baylie got, I choose the same animal. Leave it to Jaya to discover 2 days ago that the lip glosses are different colors. So for the past 2 days I have been hearing nothing but how Baylie's lipgloss is prettier. I first started out ignoring the disappointment but when she started explaining how they were different and how once again that Baylie's was prettier because it had more sparkles, I had to turn to more drastic measures...the scriptures. I quoted from the top of my head, Duet. 5:21 which says ...Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife. She instantly wanted to know what covet means which I explained means wanting something that's not yours. Has it solved the problem? Yes and no. She still thinks Baylie's is nicer, but she is definitely not talking to me so much about it, and when she does I just say the scripture over again.

I may have this put on my wall somewhere, just so we're very clear on this issue, if it's starting with lipgloss I can only imagine where we might be in the future.