I Survived the Warrior Dash!!

This is one of the craziest things I have done recently. Here we are before the Warrior Dash:

And here is the after shot:

 Do I have you curious?? 

Let me break it down for you:

Running 3.23 miles......I have been consistently running 3-5 miles the last few months so didn't think this would be a big deal. But what I wasn't expecting was that 2/3 of that distance was running on a rocky uneven hiking trail that was uphill!!! During the run there are obstacles that you encounter:

• Barricade Breakdown--hurdle over the barricades and crawl under the barbed wire
• Road Rage--hopscoth your way through a series of tires on the ground then up onto the back of a rusted wrecked car to the roof of the car and then the front and back back down to the ground......all of this 3 times (this was actually pretty fun)
• Rubber Ricochet--ram your way through a rubber jungle of tires
• Chaotic Crossover--crawl accross the tangled nets (this obstacle was my least favorite because the nets were horizontal to the ground and it was awkward to crawl across)
• Deadweight Drifter--trudge through the waist-deep (dirty) water and over the logs (it was actually more like chest-deep water on me....this obstacle was probably my favorite)
• Cargo Climb--manuever over the cargo nets (these vertical nets where about 1 and 1/2 stories high....they weren't too bad except climbing over at the top from one side to the other was SCARY)
• Deadmans Drop--climb to the top and over the unhandy hurdle
• Giant Cliffhanger--make the trek to the top of the massive slope (I was a little nervous about having the upper body strength to make it over some of these climbs but was able to manage them okay)
• Muddy Mayhem--scramble beneath barbed wire in the MUD as your near the finish (we were literally crawling on our tummies through the mud and water)
• Warrior Roast--leap over the warrior fires (that's right....REAL FIRE!! I made sure to jump extra high)

Talk about DIRTY.....if you didn't notice before, Craig's shirt was white before the race. It was lots of fun being able to do this together. Craig crossed the finish line with a time of 35:03 which is awesome!! He came it ranked as #500 out of the 7587 people that participated that day. When I crossed the finish line the first thing he said to me was "That was the funnest thing I have ever done!!"  My time wasn't nearly as impressive (49:10) but I was just happy to finish and say that I did it.

It was fun having Kelsey and Kristi (sister-in-laws) running also

Shoes donated after the muddy race

Craig being a goof-ball...notice the spray down station behind him.

A little cleaner after a spray down and change of clothes...and wearing our victory warrior hats!!

Although I think these two kids are much cuter warriors!!

Happy Birthday Mikayla!!

This little girl is now 3 years old!! She is full of energy and very rarely takes naps anymore. So in order to get some quiet time in the afternoon she will choose to watch either Little Einsteins or Strawberry Shortcake (her two favorite shows). She has recently discovered how to use the mouse on the computer and will ask to play "strawberry game." 


Mikayla loves to play with her baby dolls--she likes to feed them, cuddle with them, put them to sleep, take care of them, and even puts them in time-out when they do something naughty. It is funny to watch her imitate with her dolls the things that she sees us do with her.

Some of her other favorite things:

• Coloring--which is especially nice for sunday church
• Taking a bath--she will ask to take one everyday
• Eating pop-tarts--no reason to make breakfast cause she will still want a pop-tart
• Jumping on the Trampoline--she holds her own pretty well while jumping with Austin
• Singing Songs--no use in naming her favorites because there are too many to name
Mikayla is my independent and stubborn child. She likes to do things herself and wants to be her own boss. She doesn't like it when we tell her what to do but if she feels like it is her idea than she will gladly do it. She also likes to act like she is the mom. She has become so familiar with routines and phrases that I say that most days she will walk around saying the things that I would say and telling us all what we should be doing.

Something Mikayla does NOT like:

Getting her hair brushed--although the curls are natural she doesn't wake up with them nicely in place. Instead it is a big tangled mess which requires water, detangler, and a few tears. Although I have found that letting her play with the hand soap in the sink is a great distraction and the best $2 every spent!

We celebrated Mikayla's birthday with a party with all of the family that we have in town. She had a fun time opening up all her gifts and got lot of great presents: strawberry shortcake dolls, books, coloring books, Ariel princess dress, tinkerbell lawn chair, and baby doll crib. 

 

On her birthday morning, Kayla woke up to a room full of balloons. She actually is sleeping in that bed underneath the covers. When Austin asked how those got there I told him there must of been a balloon fairy. He was pretty intrigued by that concept for the rest of the day.

I hope that you felt special on your birthday Kayla because you sure are a special little girl and we love having you in our family!!

Enjoying The Weather

It was such a HOT summer but over the last month the weather has changed drastically and it has been beautiful here....highs in the 70's and 80's.  We have enjoyed getting outside to the parks, to the duck pond, riding our bikes, playing in the backyard etc....One evening we went to Sonic and the kids had a GREAT time playing with their cousins.

Kayla "catching" Kambria on the slide.

These two girls love playing together.

Here they are on the bridge. Kayla loves having a girl cousin to play with. The other day when I was asking who her best friend was she said "Kambria."

The boys had fun making a volcano in the sand.

 

 

Nice splits Kayla!!

Camping Out

I LOVE to go camping....probably because I went so often with my parents over the years. There is something about getting away from the TV, computer, housework, distractions, and just going out in nature and enjoying each other......it's refreshing. So Friday (sept 9th) we drove over to Osage Hills and did just that.

The kids were sooo excited. After we arrived, Craig took the job of setting up camp while I watched the kids as they explored nature. They had a great time walking around and seeing what they could find.

They loved walking throught these "tunnels"

And while we were playing on the playground we discovered this!!

A tiny baby rabbit

As you can imagine.....these kids LOVED holding and playing with this baby rabbit.

The kids ate a hot dog dinner while me and Craig enjoyed our tin-foil dinner. Then we ate SMORES!!  You can't go on a camp out and not have smores.

Craig put up the tent all by himself. I was very impressed. After we laid down like sardines in our sleeping bags we told "spooky stories".  Here was Klayton's: "Once upon a time there was a big bad wolf. He ate our tent and then he ate us. The end." 

The next morning the kids ate pop-tarts while we put away all the camping gear.

We had a GREAT time!!

Visitors in Town

At the beginning of September, my sister and her family came to visit for several days. Austin and Tyler had a fun time getting reaquainted with each other. They had a fun time together and got along great!! Wish they were able to see each other more often but we enjoyed every day that we got.

 Mikayla also had a great time with Rachel. Since Kayla is a year older than Rachel, she had a fun time being the leader and telling Rachel what to do. And Rachel gladly followed along.  A nice combination.

 We enjoyed going to the Splash pad.

 These two boys would hardly stay still enough to get a picture....my sister happened to get this one.

 We also had a fun time swimming together at my parents house.

 So sweet.

 We also enjoyed going to the Kiddie Park. It was the last night of the season and really busy but we managed to get on most of the rides that we wanted to.

Austin and Tyler instantly bonded over Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. Austin enjoyed showing Tyler how to play the game and they spent hours together doing this.

1st Day of School

On August 17th, Austin started his first day of Pre-K.....which here it means going to school M-F from 8:50am-3:35pm. That is a super long day for these little 4 year olds. If it were up to me he would only go MWF but suprisingly Austin has done very well with this big change in his daily routine.

The first day of school I walked Austin into his classroom and helped him get settled in. I was a little suprised that he didn't even cling to me or seem to care when I said good-bye to him. He was happy and content sitting at the table. That made it easier for me. I always thought I would cry when this day came. I got pretty close but because Austin seemed okay with it that made it okay for me too.

As I am writing this, Austin has now been going to Pre-K  for 2 and 1/2 weeks and is doing great. I park close to the school so me and Mikayla can walk him to his classroom. The first week Austin went to school I could tell that he was a little nervous and unsure but now I am starting to sense more confidence and excitement from him.

Things sure are different not having him at home. I think Kayla enjoys the 1-1 time with me but I think she also misses having a constant playmate at home. Everyday we get excited when it is time to go and pick him up from school. On the way home I drill him about his day. It is kind of hard not knowing exactly what he does all day, who he plays with, and how well he eats his lunch. I am not around if he gets his feelings hurt or to praise him when he does something well or learns something new. It is hard letting loose of those apron strings. So like I said, on the way home I drill him about his day. Sometimes he will talk to me about it but most of the time he will say "Mom, I'll tell you later."

My little boy somehow doesn't seem so little anymore.

Exhausted

We have done LOTS of fun things this summer and sometimes it has left us looking like this:

But it sure was a GREAT summer!!!