May 2014 in Review

May was a busy, fun filled month. It started off with delivering May baskets, celebrating Mother's Day, I ran a marathon, Alivia and I ran the Papillion 5K, they finished up the school year, Alivia turned 10!! years old, Asher had his school program and played a lot of soccer, we celebrated Memorial Day, we went to a Storm Chasers Game, and we got wet outside to beat the heat! It was so much fun!

Alivia continues to get her fill of her BFF Lizzy whenever she can, run a little and plays mind craft more than we would like. She is no longer texting on her ipad (long story, but she is too young for it!), but likes to have her friends over as much as she can.

 Addison is excelling in piano and enjoys going to lessons. Crazy, because I always hated them! We are happy she found an interest in something. In her free time, she likes to play mindcraft and have playdates with her BFF Halle.

Asher is a wild boy. In his free time, he likes to exert all of his boy energy way past my bedtime. He likes to color at night, play basketball and soccer, and play with his buddies, Cameron and Henry. He keeps us all on our toes and in the kitchen as he eats constantly!

Not sure how we will top it in June, but we must at least try! Happy Summer!

Alivia's birthday at Mama's Pizza

HERE ARE SOME OF MAY'S BEST MOMENTS CAPTURED IN PICTURES!!!

Memorial Day 2014

What a Day. We had plans, to begin with, to go to my parents as we do every year for a grill out following the service at the cemetery. On Saturday, Asher got invited to go to the Storm Chasers game by his friend Jonah, in the AT&T skybox. We could not pass that up. So, plans changed. My mom ended up being really sick and could not even make it to the service (and the girls did not sleep over at their house as planned). But, it all turned out okay.

We got up and went to the 10Am service. It was windy, a little rainy and cold (it is always cold). After the service, we went home to pack up for the 12 noon first pitch.

The skybox was AMAZING! How cool! Air conditioned or sit outside in the shade. Wow, love those options! It was super nice and so nice of Asher's friend to invite us! We had a blast. The weather turned out to be great, too!

It was a fabulous day spent together. What more could we ask for?! We paid our respects and then celebrated summer all wrapped into one day.

At My Grandma's grave...we lost her one year ago.

Skybox view!

Happy 10th Birthday Alivia!

Alivia turned 10 years old on Sunday, May 25 (Memorial Day Eve). She celebrated with her friends for a sleepover at our home on the last day of school. What a way to mark the last day of school, right?!

Alivia invited her friends Elizabeth, Katy, Emma, Parker, Gabby, and Addison. There was a lot of girl drama as the night went on, let me tell you. From the sounds of it, Alivia contributed to the drama. Gees!

The night started at 4pm. The kids played outside and ran around. At 5:30, we had pizza and breadsticks followed by more running around. By 7, it was time for presents (where she got clothes, earrings, lego friends and things for Justice. Lots of great stuff!). After presents, Alivia gave each of the girls a thank you present - matching PJs from Justice. (Let me tell you, this turned out to be a nightmare. I would not recommend doing this, and it was quite expensive too. Alivia invited one girl last minute because her feelings were hurt. I paid $20+ for her PJs not on sale. UGH! I ended up going to every Justice store and online to buy all the sizes. Like I said, don't do this at home!). The girls all loved them! At least that was good, right?!

After that, Alivia made a wish on her icecream cake from DQ in Papillion. Alivia is very picky, pickier by the day, and asked for an icecream cake. She ate a few bites. The leftovers were finished by Addison and Asher and summer's first playdates. :)

The girls slept in a big tent in the basement after watching a movie. I'm pretty sure this party was an awake over, but I believe that is what they are all about, right?

To complete my mission (send the girls home sleep deprived and full of sugar), they all wanted Alivia's breakfast choice of Lucky Charms for breakfast. They finished off that huge box in no time, each girl having multiple servings, leaving the fruit and yogurt on the table. So funny.

They played outside until the rides arrived to go home.

Overall, it was a success. Fun was had by all, and I slept a few hours. What more can we ask for?

On Alivia's actual birthday on Sunday, she invited her friend Lizzy over to go skating with us. Little did I know that they were having a tournament and didn't have open skate. So, we stayed home and played all day. For dinner, we met the Grandparents at Mama's Pizza in La Vista, Alivia's choice. She actually ate an entire slice of pizza - so much success! Her grandparents spoiled her rotten and she was in seventh heaven.

From us, Alivia got clothes and had her room completely redone. It still is not 100% redone, but I will post before and after shots when it is completed. Her room is all grown up now, with gray walls, black bedding with pink zebra print sheets. I printed  a poster print of her friends to frame and put on the wall along with some other artwork I found. I need to buy a couple of bookcases for her lego friends now. It is coming together, slowly. But, it looks great and she loves it!

Happy Birthday, Alivia! We love you!

Birthday Questions for Age 10:
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Toy: Ipad
Favorite meal: I don't know, Pepperoni and crackers. (Alivia has gotten rather picky and will not eat pepporini and crackers! She is into yogurt and bananas, to go apple sauce, strawberries and smoothies. That is about it! God help me.
Favorite Game: Clue and Mindcraft
Favorite snack: Superhero Graham crackers
Favorite Book: Adventures of Santa Paws
Best Friend: Lizzy
Breakfast: Lucky Charms (but I never let her have them).
Favorite thing to do outside: Play basketball with our new hoop
Favorite drink: lemonade
Favorite holiday: Christmas
What do you take to bed with you at night? Pippa, our dog :)
Favorite cereal: Lucky Charms again
Where do you want to go to dinner on your birthday? Mama's La Vista
Favorite Restaurant: Panera (where she gets a plain bagel and a smoothie).
Favorite Animal: Puppy
Favorite Show: Jessie
Favorite outfit: New pink dress she got from Grandma Kathy while shopping the day before her birthday

Last Day of School 2014

Thursday May 22 at 11:40 AM marked the end of the 2014 school year and the end of Kindergarten for Asher, second grade for Addison and fourth grade for Miss Alivia.

Unbelievable!
I drove the kiddos to school through the rain with Alivia's friend (and running mate) Katy, took last minute pictures with their teachers and walked home. Can not believe how quickly this year flew by.
We celebrated by inviting a bunch of friends to our home to play. It was raining at first, so the park could not happen. Asher had his friends Will, Xander and Hayes (from soccer) and a new friend ASHER too, Addison had her friends Kaitlyn and Halle and Alivia had her friends Elizabeth, Katy, Gabby, and Addison. It was a full house, but they all had fun. It was good prep for Mommy for the sleepover party that night anyway (lol).
The kids each are milestones ahead of the beginning of the year. Congrats Kiddos! Now, let's have a fun summer!

First Day of school

Last Day of School (Orange You Glad It Is Summer Outfits!).

Alivia's 4th? 5K Run

On May 18, Alivia and her friend Katy ran the Papillion 5K run. OM, talk about a hilly course! I had trained these girls for a few months not knowing the course until a few weeks before (because I didn't look into it). But, the girls ran the actual course 3 times before the actual race. It was one hill after another on gravel and trails. INSANITY! They did really well considering the coarse conditions, running the final race all the way through without stopping.

In the end, they were both happy they ran it but more happy it was over with. Papillion had bouncers set up that they had energy for after having some chocolate milk and donuts (yuck, really?!). I have to say, Papillion had a good set up post race. It was nice to run into the track and have cheerleaders there at the finish. It was very fun for them.

You Go Girls!! Impressive!!

They pushed through until the end finishing in 29 minutes!

Mother's Day 2014

So, I'm ever so slightly behind. So what, right?

Mother's Day.

I was scheduled to work the night before so we didn't have any plans. I actually like it that way. But, lucky for me (this time), I was cancelled and didn't have to work. So, Mother's Day we met my Mom at Zios Pizza in Omaha (my favorite and my parents had never been there). Yummy! We got finished just in time for the storm sirens to start going off. Yummy food though.

Chris and the kids gave me 26.2 stickers for the cars (so I am one of those annoying people now) and under armour headbands (I want one of each please!). Now I am set.

Now, onto Father's Day, right? :)

Me and my Mommy :)

I am a MARATHONER!

As of yesterday, about 10:55am, I am a marathoner, finishing my first full marathon!

Goals. Okay, I knew I was setting some lofty goals. First it was 1 hr and 40 minutes, in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Doable? Probably. But, for the first marathon, probably not. Additionally, I ran injured for a few weeks and my training suffered. And, on all my long runs, I had difficulty keeping my blood sugars up and usually became sick shortly after finishing. I knew the blood sugar thing was going to be an issue, and I was unfortunately correct.

From mile 1-mile 11, I was rocking the thing, running under or right at 8 minute miles. My body felt great. I ran following a couple of guys that were running together and looked as though they knew what they were doing. At mile 11, I felt a wave of nausea fall over my body and I knew my sugars were dropping. I had been eating starting at mile 5. I eat cliff chews, jelly beans and gummy bears. I drank water at every water station without difficulty. What was I doing wrong. If I was doing the half, I would have fought through and perhaps beat my personal record from last time. But, I walked a bit and slowed my pace. I was sick.

Crossing by the stadium where the half marathoners were finishing and keeping going was very tough. I felt awful, but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't at least try. My mile times dropped to 9 minute miles (which is not good for me) and even made a potty stop (which was perhaps unnecessary but I needed a break more than anything). It was so hard to keep going when I didn't know for sure where I was going, how much farther until the turn around by the lake, and how could I keep myself from vomiting?

At every water station, I would slow and walk through them, taking a cup of water to splash on myself, a cup of water to drink, and a cup of ice to chew until the next water station. I took my share of orange slices in hopes that they would help (but they did not).

I have to say, the Lincoln Marathon crew is AMAZING! I would start walking and a biker would be there asking if I needed anything. I said I was low on sugar and they provided me with something. They were great! Chris, my lone cheerleader, saw the hazards in the busy intersections since the city did not close the streets. He saw many near misses with runners and with cars. I'm lucky I did not see any of that. I just kept one foot in front of the other.

As the stadium neared, I just wanted to finish in under 4 hours. Seriously, I practically walked into the stadium. I was so sick. The 3 hr and 40 minute pacer (clearly much behind pace) ran up and grabbed me and told me to get going...we are almost there. I started to run and kick it through the finish, at 3 hr and 55 minutes (my half time was 1 hr 46 minutes).

I stopped, happy it was over. Where or where is that thing they call runner's high?

A guy handing out the warming "blankets" agreed to take my picture for me and send it to Chris, who was no where to be found. I walked through the tunnel of memorial stadium grabbing some of the supplied food that I thought I could swallow. I walked out to a crowd of people awaiting their family. I had no idea where Chris said to meet and I was not about to walk any place. I sat on the curb and asked some random stranger to use his phone. He dialed Chris on his sweet looking phone and Chris soon spotted me (Chris still wanted me to walk to him!).

After a quick picture from Chris, and I slammed a banana, we were off. I got on Chris' bike to make the hike back to the hotel (We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. It was a nice, clean hotel. But, it was expensive. I told Chris that it was the price to pay out of necessity. He soon realized what I meant).  I knew I had a short period of time between the finish and when I would start vomiting. Once that happened, I knew I would be a total mess and had no idea how I would get back to the hotel. I glided on Chris' bike ahead of him, stopping and sitting on benches to wait for him to catch up. I could tell, he was very annoyed that I was not waiting for him, but he had no idea how much I was suffering.

We got back to the hotel, taking his bike and all up to the room. As we stepped off the elevator onto the 4th floor, the wave hit me. My time had run out. We got back to the room and I collapsed in bed, thanking myself for asking for a later check out (1:30 instead 12).

I jumped between the bed and the bathroom for a while. It was coming from all ends at the same time! I was so sick. After vomiting a while, I tried to jump into the shower and see if that helped. It was amazing while I was in there, but I got up and went back to going to bathroom and vomiting and laying on a towel on the hotel bathroom floor. I was a serious mess.

As 1pm approached, I knew we had to get going. I told Chris he would have to load up because as soon as I sat up I got dizzy and nauseous. Chris loaded the car, check out and I sat out front to wait for him to come around from the parking garage. I laid in the car trying to get comfortable. About half way home, another wave of nausea came over me and I was lucky to have a Panera bag to get sick into. Poor Chris. He did not say a word to me. I was just a mess. Once at home, I dropped everything and went to bed until 4pm. When I woke, I felt much better. I had Chris order me my reward pizza where I did my best to eat a couple slices and drink a lot of water. I felt better but weird all night.

The kids elected to stay at my parents. They had a blast on the farm. I am thankful they went with them because I was in no shape to be a Mommy after my run. My parents rock!

The girls in Grandma's bath tub. Enough bubbles you think?

The goal was achieved, to finish a marathon. Now, what is my next goal? I don't know. For starters, I have to survive 5 12 hour night shifts this week. That may be worse than the marathon!

* More pics to come!

How I started out running. It was a cold start. But, once I started running, I never noticed the cold.

FINISHER VIDEO!