Happy Birthday Joshua!!

He is in the double digits!!!! Joshua recently told me that on his birthday he will be one year closer to serving his country. This little guy has it in his heart to join the Air Force.

Of course I would be extremely proud of him, but as mom I want to scream "No! Do something safe!" I refrain from uttering those fears and instead tell him that I am excited for him and I know he can achieve that goal. These children of mine are always stretching me out of my comfort zone, and that is a good thing. Happy Birthday future Air Force Pilot!!!

Bix Results

The good news is I beat my time!

This years time 1:09:25

Last years time 1:10:11

But it was only by 46 seconds. The heat and hills made for a very tough race.

I started getting cold chills and had to stop at mile 5 and walk about 2 minutes or so. I hated to do it, but my life is far more important than a finishing time. It was pretty frightening to run by the medics helping a teenage girl and see a big strong man stagger on the side of the road while his daughter tried to hold him up. Those images will put things in the correct perspective real fast.

I am glad to be home relaxing with my family and I look forward to another Bix next year :)

(thanks Jan for sending me this picture it is just perfect)

Heading to the Bix!! (Updated)

This will be my third year running the Bix :) It's a 7 mile run. The distance isn't bad, but the location makes this run TOUGH. You start out on Brady Hill, which is pretty steep but not that hard (you have a ton of energy and adrenaline at the beginning). It's all the little hills during the rest of the run that will be really difficult. I don't run the Bix for time. This is a "fun run" and my goal is to run the whole thing and have a blast .

I will be among the 15,000 runners waiting at the bottom of Brady Hill for the race to begin.

Running up Brady Hill. I find myself screaming (in my head) at those in front of me "Why are you walking! The race just started!!!"

Lets all pray that I don't end up like these guys...

Update: I checked last years time and it was 1 hour 10 minutes! In April I ran 7 miles in a marathon relay and my time was 58 minutes :) I should be able to beat last years time :) WooHoo!!

Inspiring!

This one shows the crowds response...

Incentives

In the past I have used rewards to help my kids learn geography (they memorized the location of 25 states and capitals or countries and would earn one candy bar every two weeks). It was a huge success and my boys were very motivated to learn. This year I will continue to reward them for their map work, but I am also adding a new area.

I have collected a large assortment of math workbooks for this coming school year. I want them to work on these problems in addition to their Saxon lesson each day. But I also want this to be done with little to no complaining. I have come up with a solution!

I made folders for each boy that contain worksheets of math problems that I want them

to complete. For each page (one side) they complete they will earn 25 cents to be added to their allowance. So for every full page, front and back, they earn 50 cents. They can only do one side each day (which will make sure that this extra work will not get in the way of our normal school work).

Every time they complete one side I will grade it (they must fix all errors) and then they will put it back in the folder. On allowance day they will get their completed pages from their folders and we will add up what they have earned. Yeah for extra math work done without whining !!! :)

Seriously??!!??

This is Newton our much loved and obviously very spoiled cat. He has decided that Elliana's baby doll bed is his (head on the pillow and everything!)

This morning I would have loved to be this guy...

I ran 5 miles this morning and it was HOT! Not a fun run, but I got it done :) The Bix is only one week away, woohoo!

Aaron's Day

Aaron and the kids were an amazing cheering section during my last triathlon. They cheered for me at every transition and waited the hour to hour and a half between each activity. They were there from the swim (started at 7 am) until I crossed the finish line 3 hours later!

Without me knowing, they made huge signs (Elliana and Asher are using them as seats in the picture below) and surprised me with them as I went by. I was shocked and encouraged.

When I left on the 10K run I ran right past them and got a high five from all the kids and a kiss from Aaron. One of the runners told me "that kiss is going to cost you some time" I told him "I don't care, at all". You gotta have the right priorities in life. A kiss from your husband is far more important than any race.

They were all standing at the finish line waiting for me :)

I was exhausted and happy to have my little girl "help" me with my bike :)

Hot Summer Days

The boys are still reading in order to earn screen time. This system has been working great and will continue into the school year. Reading out loud is a great skill and reading to Elliana is an awesome way to get some extra practice (and she loves it!)..
This boy is ready to bat!
Elliana is very active and loves to play baseball with the boys.

Pictures from a great day :)

Talking to Gail and Erin about how nervous I am.
Waiting for my swim wave to start. I was number 334. My goggles were fogging before I started the swim, luckily they worked just fine when the swim started.
I am somewhere in that mass of swimmers. (swim distance was 1500km, about 1 mile)
Transitioning between the swim and bike.
Running out to get on my bike and start the 26 mile ride.

Coming in from the bike.
Finally on the run :) (6.2 miles)

Sprinting to the finish. I closed my eyes and just gunned it!
The finish!! I love the As Our Own logo on the back of my jersey. Raising money for them made training and competing so much more rewarding. It wasn't about me, it was about them :)

Gail, Erin, Aaron and the kids were there supporting me every step of the way! It was so heart warming and encouraging to see them after each event and hear their encouraging words :)

My First Olympic Distance Triathlon

Some good news and some not so good news.

The good news-

-My swim time was better than I thought it would be

-My bike average mph was right where I wanted it to be (18.72mph)

-I raised more than four hundred dollars for As Our Own!

The not so good news-

-I needed to be biking at 20 or higher mph to be competitive today

-my ITB was killing me by mile two of the run (imagine someone hammering the side of your leg with every step). At one point I thought "I am going to have to walk this thing". But that is not how I roll, so I ran through the pain. I wish I had pushed it harder in the run. But it is what it is.

I'm wondering if my bike would have been better if I had not completed that 116 mile bike ride last weekend. I noticed my body was awfully tired even after backing off training this week. I was going as fast as I could and my legs just hurt.

I placed 9th in my age group (out of 13). Not my most stellar of performances but it was a lot of fun :) I can't wait until next year!

A friend of mine took some cool pictures, I will post them when I can.

The gear has all been tracked down and organized. The bike is in the van ready to be racked for the night. My muscles are rested. My mind is racing. With every stroke during the swim, peddle during the bike, and stride during the run, I will be praying and remembering the reason I set out on this journey. My heart is ready to tackle this triathlon for the little girls in India.

Thank you to all who donated money and garage sale items.

My Meathead :)

Joshua has been playing baseball for the first time this summer. After each game the coach gives a player the "meathead". It is a gift certificate to Meatheads restaurant. The player who receives the meathead did a great job in the game or has greatly improved in some aspect of the sport. Joshua was so proud when he received the "meathead" after the last game :)

Little Mommy

Elliana is really into her baby dolls. Especially "baby Amy"- and yes I love the name she picked out. A few nights ago she fell asleep feeding baby Amy, her hand is not touching her doll. How is she keeping her hand up while she is sleeping???? That is a good mommy for ya :)

What happens when you buy a new hose...

Can you guess what their doing?

Never a dull moment around here.

If only...

Well, I have been raising money for As Our Own for months. I have been training all year. In two days I will be competing in my longest triathlon.

If you know me at all you know that I get very nervous before racing. It starts days before and gets progressively worse until I hear the horn blow and the race begins. This is actually a good thing, it gets me all pumped up and ready to do my best. But I still wish I had a relax button :)

We Couldn't Wait

This is the first summer that I have made doing school a priority with the boys. We get all of our school work done before lunch. The rest of the day they are free to be wild and crazy :)

Elliana has been mainly a bystander to our educational pursuits this summer. I keep her busy with a book about letters or practicing tracing, but nothing substantial. Well, the girl noticed and was not happy.

She kept interrupting us with pleas of "I want to do my school!" I wanted to wait and start her school year in August with the boys, but I also don't want to discourage this enthusiasm. So I decided to dive right in with My Fathers World. She LOVES it! Can you tell?

So glad to be off the bike...

115.9 miles in 8 hours and 15 minutes.

I learned a few things..

1- centuries are HARD.

2- I HATE Asian beetles.

3- after 108 miles, biking 8 miles home is like nothing.

Oh, and I LOVE ibuprofen :)

In Two Days!!!

I will be setting out on a new adventure! For three or more years Aaron and I have been riding in the Pedaling for Kicks bike ride. This year I am stepping it up a notch. Aaron will ride 40 miles with me and then I will tackle the next 60 miles alone. That's right, I am going to finish my first century!! I am so excited!!!! I really need to purchase this shirt...

And did you notice the numbers to the right ????? I am so close to $500!!!

Crazy Weekend

It has been nonstop activity around here.

We are still enjoying the baseball season. Here is Joshua as catcher...

Elliana saw her very first fireworks :)

The next day Aaron and I dropped the kids off at the grandparents and headed to Chicago. We spent the day walking on Michigan Avenue. We found "Sprinkles" and I enjoyed a double chocolate cupcake, so yummy!

We had to visit the Lego store..

After enjoying our time on the Magnificent Mile we headed to Soldier Field for the U2 concert. I should add in here that I am afraid of heights. Our seats were at the top of Soldier Field. This is me when we first sat down.

This is a picture from our seats, those little dots are people!

After a short time I was a little less nervous, but standing up during the concert, in the dark, way up high, with all the lights going, was pretty nerve wracking. I sat down whenever I could :)

The show was really cool!

Aaron and I before U2 took the stage.