Summer Fun

Tonight after dinner we went to Target to buy some new Transformers for the boys. They are mildly obsessed with them, and needed bigger ones. After that we went to Culvers for some ice cream. Why, Daddy, why did you order the boys CHOCOLATE?

We have been so hot in the evenings that the only enjoyable thing to do with the boys is get the sprinkler out. They have been having so much fun every night getting hammered with that freezing hose water. We've even gotten the shampoo and called it "bath night." Good thing we fenced our yard though, or the neighbors might really start to wonder about us.

Seriously, is there one rib on Booker's body that you can't see?

Avery likes to hog the water!

Booker's school project he brought home. Don't ask me what it is.

All I know is that we have to water it!

You Should Have Seen It In Color

Nothing makes me happier than taking pictures of my boys.

Happy Face = Happy Plate

It took me a while to understand what Booker meant when he kept telling me he was going to make a happy plate and get dessert. Then it dawned on my that he meant he was going to eat all the food on his plate, and therefore reap the benefits. That has been his goal every night lately.

Grandpa Mike decided to make a special dinner for the boys the other night. What was it? A Happy Face dinner made of mashed potatoes, sour cream, black olives, hotdogs and cheese. Result... 2 happy plates! Both Booker and Bodey ate all their dinner, no questions asked.

A Month Behind

Dusty and I took the boys over to the pond to fish... well, about a month ago. It was a lot of fun watching the boys "catch" fish. They each got to reel in a couple of fish and then we all enjoyed watching Harley and Avery swim.
Booker's favorite thing to do after fishing is drive dad's truck through the fields. He cracks me up because he is sooo serious. Good thing, I guess.

Rachel, Reese, Booker and I took a trip with Tots N Tales to the Topeka zoo. I really enjoyed how small the Topeka zoo is. We got to see several animals, up close, and it only took about 1 1/2 hours! Booker had a blast and is still talking about all the animals he got to see.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we got to go stay at Kim & AJ's family cabin at The Lake of The Ozarks. It was such a nice getaway! Booker is "Mr. Lake Man." There wasn't one thing he didn't LOVE doing. He loved swimming (even though it was pretty cold), fishing, riding the waverunner, riding the boat, and driving the waverunner/boat. When we were inside, he would just sit at a window and stare out. I even busted him when he was "napping" just standing on his bed peeking out the window. Bodey had a great time too, except for his little fall down the concrete steps. He bloodied up his face pretty good and had a fat lip, but it didn't seem to bother him. I am so glad summer is here so we can spend more time at the lake and in the pool!

Luckiest.Boys.Ever.

I am so excited for Booker and Bodey. They are lucky enough to get to live by all 4 grandparents! I just think that grandparents are the most special things in the whole world. I got to grow up near all of mine and loved every minute of it. I have such great memories of them. I have constantly stressed about the fact that the boys don't live near many relatives. My parents (and most of my family) all lived in Wyoming and then 2 years ago my parents moved even farther away to Alaska. My fear was that they would never know my parents. Luckily, we live 10 minutes away from Dusty's parents and they couldn't ask for any better grandparents. But deep down I was very sad that my parents lived so far away. Well Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jenean came to visit for Thanksgiving and decided that they were going to pack up and move to KC. They are on their way down here as we speak. They don't have a house yet, but are looking for a place with around 10 acres. This will be soooo much fun for the boys to go be boys! Now, hopefully they will continue adding memories of growing up with all of their grandparents. I hope they realize how special this is and how lucky they really are.

Not So Much a Soccer Mom

So, as much as I wanted it to happen, I am not a soccer mom... yet. We signed Booker up to be in soccer this year on the 3-4 year old team. We went to the first practice and watched Booker wander off many times and eat dandelions. When they tried to have an organized session in a circle of cones, Booker just went around stacking all the cones. That’s what we expected him to do, considering he’d never touched a soccer ball before. Practice #2 was horrible though. He just didn’t want anything to do with the ball, the coach or the rest of the team. He cried, he wandered, he ran away. He’s just mentally not there, not old enough. It was a bad experience for him... and me. So, we yanked him from the team until next year. We decided that we don’t want to force anything on him and don’t want him to remember this as a negative experience. Honestly, he has no clue. He hasn’t even brought it back up. Not time to put the soccer ball decal on the minivan yet! :)

My First Triathlon

Well, I guess now I can officially say I have completed a Triathlon. And, yes, I say this with great pride. Even after all the training it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, physically and mentally. I have never pushed myself so hard. I kept thinking that I wanted to quit, or walk, but then I would remind myself that this is what I trained for and it won't kill me.

It started Friday night when Cori, Jen, Kristin, Kelly and I headed up to the Ft. Leavenworth base to pick up our packets and scope out the course. I was in shock as we drove around... actually I was scared to death. I started to get really nervous and sick to my stomach. Friday night I think I got about 2-3 hours of sleep and started my day Saturday at 4:45am. I gagged my peanut butter toast and banana down, wanting to throw up the entire time. We got to the base about 6am and set up. We spent the remaining time until 8am being sick, nervous and going pee about every 10 minutes.

The swim was first and as we were standing in line to get in, I finally settled down. My swim time was 3 minutes 38 seconds, which I was very happy with since it was a serpentine style swim and I couldn't do flip turns. I ran out of the pool to the transition area. I really had all this stuff planned out that I was going to do during my transition, but it turned into just the basics of taking my swimcap and goggles off, putting my capris and tank top on, then socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses. Then I was off. I wasn't that scared about the bike ride, but honestly, it was the hardest part. You really have to push yourself hard on the bike. I was totally blown away by tons of "real" bikers on "real" bikes. When I was pedaling really hard, they would just coast right by me. I learned that in a triathlon, the bikers usually have the best times overall. That is where you can make up the most time. Oh, and the worst part about the biking? The ginormous hill. I mean, this thing was scary going down. People wiped out because they got to going so fast. Then all I could think when I got down was that I had to make it back up. I would say that about 30% of people walked their bikes up this hill. I wanted to so bad because I was barely moving, but I just kept thinking of how proud I would be if I could make it. I pushed and pushed, and my legs BURNED, but I made it. My bike time was an even 1 hour.

Finally, on to the run. I could barely walk after I got off my bike. My legs were truly jello. The first part of the run I felt like I was barely moving and it was uphill. Once I got up that hill, the rest was relatively flat. I feared the run; it is my weakness. I don't really enjoy running and my mind hates it. Physically, I don't feel that bad, but mentally I want to quit the entire time. When I finally got about a mile away from the finish and could see the end, I was completely relieved and pushed my way to the FINISHLINE! My run time was 29 minutes, which completely shocked me. Usually on fresh legs I run it in 30-32 minutes. I was sooooo happy to be done. Dusty and Booker were at the finishline waiting for me, and it was so awesome to have them there.

My overall time was 1 hr, 36 minutes, which I was very pleased with. My goal was 1:40, so I couldn't be happier. I thought by today that I would be back in the motivated, pumped up mode of wanting to do another triathlon, but it hasn't fully hit yet. However, I am very proud of all of us that did this. It is a huge accomplishment and I couldn't have done any of it without them. I'm sure we'll do it again next year.