Indian Summer Half-Marathon 2010

I signed up for the same half-marathon that Marni and I ran last year in Richland. I figured I could use it as a training run for the half that Marni and I will be running in Walla Walla on October 10. My legs had been pretty tired feeling all week and the boys had slept terrible most the week so I was exhausted too. I wasn't planning on anything spectacular as far as my time, I just wanted to get in a run in a competitive atmosphere before my run with Marni. Colt was up a couple times the night before so when my alarm went off at 5:30 I felt like I was already awake. Surprisingly, I hadn't felt nervous at all the night before (usually my stomach is a mess and I can't sleep) and I woke up feeling calm. I got myself ready, the boys ready, made Dave his coffee (his only requirement for getting up that early on a Saturday and driving me to Richland) and we were on the road by 6:20. Dave and the kids dropped me off at the race and Colt came with me while I got my packet and then they left about 7:40. I ran around for a little bit to get warm and then lined up for the 8:00 start. Meanwhile....

 Dave met up with his parents and got some coffee and breakfast for the boys and they headed to the park that I would be running by. Unfortunately I had already passed the park when they got there (I was bummed but hoping I would see them on the way back since it was an out and back course). The boys had fun playing with their Memah and Poppi while I ran.

 Dave had asked his mom to bring stuff to make a sign so Colt and Dave made me a sign that said "GO Mommy" Dave said he was coaching Colt on being loud and making sure I could hear him.

 Colt saw me coming and came running up to the path, I could hear him yelling from a little ways back and it made me so happy.

 Coming up on about mile 11.5. Mile 11 was really rough for me, it was my slowest mile of the entire race and my body felt like I couldn't go any farther. Colt was loudly yelling "GO Mommy GO Mommy" it was the cutest sound ever!

That is me in the white hat waving at Colt and Jax. Jax was giving me enthusiastic waves as I passed by.

 After I passed the kids I had about 1.5 left of my 13.1 mile run. I had been running in this little pack right behind this girl and her husband since about mile 6. My goal was to pass them around mile 12 and start pulling away, I didn't care about him but I wanted to beat her!Just like I planned about a quarter mile after I saw the 12 mile cone I felt an extra burst of energy and desire that I didn't know I had (I thank my dad for that gene). I kept telling myself that if Marni was running with me she would never let that girl beat her and she wouldn't be complaining about how tired she was either so using that as my motivation I put my head down and ran hard.....

 ....and I finished (and beat that chick)! 

My final time was 1 hour 42 minutes and 58 seconds. My first and last mile happened to be the exact same pace (7:36) and those were also my fastest miles of the race as well. This race was hard, it took a lot of mental strength for me to keep going and not just slow down and finish. Once I knew I could PR (my previous best was 1:49 last year) I couldn't just let myself slow down and take it easy. I loved having Dave and the boys there supporting me and Dave's parents too! It made me feel supported and loved and I really appreciated that. In the end its not about the time you get but how you feel finishing it, and to have my boys there yelling for me and waving meant more to me than any PR ever could have.

Memah's Birthday Party

Memah's birthday was today and we were going to her birthday party at Kenzie and Andy's house after Dave got off work. I made the birthday cake and a pasta salad. Both the boys wanted to "help" me make the cake.

All they wanted to do was eat the frosting. I had to keep telling Colt that he couldn't eat it until I was done frosting the cake!

While I was finishing the cake, Colt wanted to make Memah a birthday card. He was very excited about this and took a lot of pride in making it himself.

He found some gardening stickers and wanted to use those (which is funny because Julie loves gardening).

While I baked and Colt made his card, Jax had a few snacks so he wouldn't be in our way.

Lemon Blueberry cake with white-chocolate frosting. Yummy!

Apparently when you become a grandma its more fun to give gifts to your grandkids on your birthday than receive them. All the grandkids got gifts, Colt and Cam both got a microphone (you can imagine how loud that got!).

After a great dinner (Kenzie made it!) of bbq chicken, corn on the cob, salads and homemade guacamole and salsa it was cake time! I love how this picture turned out, Memah and her oldest grandkids.

We had to blow out the candles twice because Colt blew them out the first time before we even sang.

We had fun as always, it was nice to get together with all of Dave's family (we missed Trav and Katie) and relax, visit and enjoy good food.

Towards the end of the night the guys were all playing Madden on the XBOX so Cam and Colt watched "The Lion King" all cuddled up together. For the most part these two get along well, they always have a couple fights or breakdowns but they love to play together!

Happy Birthday Memah!

The mind of a 3 year old.

Colt after just falling on his head " Why did God make me breakable?"

Deer hunting, Fair, Parade and Books.

It has been a couple of very fun days and I think the boys are going to be disappointed when tomorrow we go back to our regular, old, boring routine. The Walla Walla Fair was this past week/weekend, I took the boys on Thursday after I got off work. I packed a lunch, loaded up the stroller and the kids and off we went. We walked around seeing and petting all the different animals and they had some kids activities too. Friday evening we returned to the fair with Dave's mom and dad. Colt rode a couple of rides and Jax and him both rode the horse carousel. We got some dinner and then went to the rodeo, Colt had been talking about going because he wanted to see the bull riding (he loves watching bull riding on television), however  he had not gotten a nap that day and he was ready for bed about 9. Jax probably enjoyed it more than Colt did, he was happy to stand on Julie's lap and watch the horses and cows. ( I did not bring my camera so no pictures).

 Saturday morning was the Walla Walla Fair parade, we drove downtown and parked and then found a place to sit and watch the parade. Colt enjoyed grabbing the candy off the ground and putting it in his bag and Jax liked eating it.

We spent the rest of the long weekend staying busy, I deep cleaned the house yesterday and Dave kept the boys busy for me. I also made a double batch of my mom's spaghetti sauce with tomatoes and green peppers from my mom's garden (Dave said it was the best spaghetti I have ever made) and a big batch of granola that I can't stop eating. The boys and I went and played at the park last night while Dave was deer hunting (he has been hunting almost every evening from 4-9 and a couple mornings already) and then we rented a movie for Colt and I to watch before bed. It was called "Chestnut" and it was about a dog. Colt immediately asks me "Mom, are there any bad dogs in the movie?" when I told him I wasn't sure he said "Well how about bad guys, are there any bad guys?". Lately he loves scary movies and movies with bad guys, bad dragons, bad dogs, etc. Today, Dave and Colt went golfing and Jax and I ran some errands and have been hanging around the house. Dave is going hunting again this evening (and every evening until he gsts his deer or September 19 when the season closes).

 Dave with his future hunting partners (at least he hopes so!).

Colt watching a "bad guy" movie in his undies.

Lately, Jax has become obsessed with books. He is constantly sitting in front of the book case pulling out the books and looking through each one. He has a few favorites and when he finds one of them he will crawl over to us with the book in one hand saying "poot poot" which doesn't really sound that much like book but I know that's what he means because he only says it when he has a book. He loves for us to read them to him and he sits and waits until we are done and then whines until we read it again and again and again. We could probably read it 50 times and he would sit there asking for it again.

Reading on his own.

Pointing to the block.

My baby is 15 months old now and he has started taking steps! He is not full out walking by any means but he can take 7 or 8 steps before he falls or gives up. He's such a sweetie and is reminding me more and more of his brother!