Virtually "walking away"

So those of you who know me well know that I spend a lot of time on FB. That is, until this evening when I deactivated my account. The plan being to take an extended vacation AWAY from Facebook and all it's negativity and drama. With it being football season and a very big election coming up the posts bashing one thing or another are ENDLESS as of late. And simply put, i've had enough. I need to take some time to re-connect with my family and my friends via better means than FB. I value my friendships but i'm also not one to sugar-coat things so instead of risking saying something that could be taken out of context and cause harm to friendships I value I chose to walk away, take a breather and come back when I feel i'm in a better place.

Our happy little family

A perfect picture of our family. Caught all of our personalities perfectly, even Cash. :)

The ramblings of my "little" big guy :)

Being a mom is probably one of the single most stressful, time consuming, tiring jobs out there. BUT I also think, for me, it's also the absolutely most rewarding job on the planet. I am the mom to two amazing little guys (well, if you know my family, they're really not that little....). Lucas will be 4 and is inquisitive, funny, sweet and man can he throw out some hillarious lines. Gavin just turned 1 and his personality is.... developing.... to say the least. :)Lucas is going at 100 mph at all times and Gavin is on track to keep up, especially now that he's so close to walking (well, more like running!) and in the midst of all of this is our 4 legged son, Cash. Who thank heavens is old, calm, and forgiving. He is really quite flexible in that he serves so many purposes, companion, running partner, playmate, guard dog, and JUNGLE GYM. That poor dog always has one of the two boys hanging on him, climbing on him, pulling on his tail and his ears and yet he just lays there and takes every second of it and when he gets sick of it he gives the boys a good lick of the face and heads up to our bedroom to hide out.
I love my sons more than life itself. I would give them anything and sacrifice everything for them. SO, when my oldest throws out lines like he did today "Mommy, I love you! You're my bestfriend!" My heart just absolutely melts! Moments like that make me wish that I could be a stay at home mom! And then within 5 seconds i'm snapped back into the brutal clutches of reality when the boys start screaming at eachother or Lucas throws out the "I not talk to you mommy! I talk daddy!" ha ha
And I know the saying is "an elephant never forgets" but neither do toddler boys!! I swear if you tell them something one time they will remind you every chance they get until it actually happens, or in the example i'll share, they think that EVERY time you go through the coffee shop they get a cookie....ha ha Let me re-cap. I stay at home over the summer and the boys and I make a lot of trips to my parents cabin. On one such trip I went through the coffee drive through, Lucas was being very good and so I let him pick a cookie....well, now EVERY time he sees the coffe place he thinks he needs a cookie....SO, on Tuesday when I picked him up from school he met me with (as he put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my face, I was kneeling down by him)"mommy I think you NEED a coffee and I think I NEED a cookie!" Now really, who am I to argue with that logic???? ha ha My husband calls me a pushover....I say i'm just addicted to coffee and the munchkins know my weakness!! Until next post.

Catch Up

Wow, does time fly or what?!? Lets recap the past few months. Gavin is now almost 10 months, he has 5 teeth and is a crawling machine! His first Christmas was a huge success! At his 9 month check up he weighed in at nearly 25 pounds and 28 inches long. Every time we go to the Dr. they talk about how they can't believe he was a preemie. :) His personality is definitely shining through! I thought maybe Gavin would be our "calm" one but that isn't looking like that's going to be the case. ;) He's also had his first double ear infection. Unfortunately since the double ear infection he wont' sleep through the night, sometimes waking up 3 or 4 times. Needless to say Ri and I are so exhausted life seems to go by in a blur most days.
Lucas is loving preschool. He learns something new everyday and talks about his friends a lot. He was just a little bit spoiled for Christmas. It's so much fun now that he's at an age where he understands Santa and asks lots of questions. This year he kept bugging Riley to put lights up outside until it was finished. Then he had to turn them on every night because they were "his" lights. Awesome, a mini Clark Griswald....ha ha He's still growing like a weed but he's super thin these days because he's gotten so tall. We typically get "oh how old is he, 5?" UMMM no, he's not even 4 yet thanks.
As for Ri and I we're super busy as usual. I've recruited Ri to run with me so we've both been training and when we're able to get out to run together it's a lot of fun. We ran our 2nd 5k together in November and are planning to run a half marathon together in May and Ragnar together in August.
Ri started a new job last week and is enjoying learning new things. As for me, I'm still at the middle school and MAN what a crazy year it's been!
Well, until next time! :)

Oh the changes!

Lets see, where do I begin?? Gavin is 6 months old today! I can't believe it's been 6 months already! We'll be planning his 1st birthday in no time. Scary thought! Last Sunday Lucas became fully potty trained! What a process that was!! Then one day it was like somebody flipped a switch, he just got it! It's SO awesome only having to change one diaper at a time again! Gavin is growing like the proverbial weed. He is now 2o lbs 4 ozs and measures in at just over 26 inches. Needless to say we'll be upgrading carseats in the coming weeks. Lucas started preschool last month and loves it! He can't wait to go to school in the morning (most days). :) Gavin can roll from front to back and is SO close to rolling back to front. He can nearly sit unassisted and he loves to play in his exersaucer and jumperoo. He loves his big brother and stares at Lucas all the time. And half the time Lucas does a far better job getting Gavin to calm down and stop crying than Riley and I do! It's quite amazing to see. Gavin also started daycare a few weeks ago. Thankfully we have an amazing daycare mom and I was able to leave him and go to work the first day without worrying a bit!
As for Riley and I, mowing has started to slow down a bit now that it's getting cooler out. But football has started so we've traded one kind of busy for another! And for me, I survived the Ragnar Relay! AND I fully intend on doing it again next year!! ha ha Next up..... my first half marathon in South Dakota in 2 weeks! Bring it!

Ragnar?? I thought you said Ray's Bar.....

3:20 a.m. race day and my cellphone starts beeping... "We're down a runner, Tara's son is sick." My first thought.... FUCK! *sigh* Fast forward, 6:15 a.m. our first 6 runners are at the levee and ready to go! We have our flags, our gear and are waiting for our "safety" meeting, 7 a.m. Tara Jo takes off! Now this is when it starts to get interesting (well, ok, that started at 3 a.m. when we were down a runner). The other 5 of us head to the van, get organized, make a quick pit stop and head to our first exchange. My heart is pounding my stomach is in knots and I seriously want to puke. 8:30 a.m. i'm waiting in the chute for Tara Jo, 8:35 a.m. I take off on my first leg, 6.2 miles. BRUTAL is the only way I can explain it. I have not had a run go that poorly since my very first run where I barely made it 7/10 of a mile! It was hot and the sun was beating down on me and all the blood I needed to fuel my body was working on digesting the bagel I ate far to close to my run. blah. Continue this leapfrog patter for our next several runners. This is Ragnar.... Run, Eat, Sleep?, REPEAT! Our van ran the first 6 legs then handed off to van 2 of our team to run the 2nd 6. Around 6pm we then started our 2nd 6 legs. My 2nd run went MUCH better, to put it mildly I dominated it! 8.3 miles in the dark with a 2 mile gilmore valley-esque hill with a 3 mile long decent done in an hour and 32 minutes. Overall I'd say Ragnar was a success and I do plan on doing it again next year! All the craziness of running, eating quick snacks with no real meals, not sleeping and being packed like sardines in a van with five other people is so worth it! Imagine doing something you love (ok, if you're a runner, something you love) with thousands of other runners cheering you on,spending 2 days with some of your closest friends, laughing and talking and you have Ragnar! And the title for this post.... one of the many very creative team names. :)

I run for the fallen.

Friday I will run my third race with the hopes of running many more. This past Saturday my long run included a decent size hill and 8 miles. After about mile 4 when I was halfway through my run as well as halfway up the monster hill I started to think "oh lord how am I ever going to complete this run let alone the races I have coming up!" And then I started thinking about all of those people out there who used to run and no longer can or the people that would love to experience the joy of even walking let alone running but have never and will never be able. This propelled me forward. At this point in my run my ipod also died due to the pouring rain which freed my mind to wander and I began to think of all our troops, those still with us and the fallen. Fast forward to this morning. I spent the better part of a half hour talking with a Vietnam Veteran after I donated to a veteran's cause. At this point it occurred to me, why am I running all of these races? Obviously they all benefit charities of some form; my first 5k - skin cancer, my 2nd 5k - youth sports, the Ragnar Relay this weekend - youth mentorship. All of these are wonderful causes but I want to run for something that hits a little closer to home, something I feel very passionate about. Which has led me to start researching what kind of events are out there that benefit our troops and their families. I've found several and plan on scheduling them into my 12 month race calendar and I welcome all fellow runners to join me! This weekend I will be running all three of my Ragnar legs for the fallen, those still fighting for our freedom and those who used to run and no longer can. To our troops, thank you for fighting for us!