Momma friends

When you make a decision to stay at home, you also make the decision to give up on your daily adult conversation.  So, becoming a part of a group of other mom quickly becomes your life line.  I have been blessed to meet  dozens and dozens of amazing women who I now call my friends.  Any day that the boys and I are bored, we can quickly have something fun to do with several other moms.   I tell every mom I know that decides to stay home that it needs t be your first thing to do, join a group.   These mom are people that I share my life with and who love my kids unconditionally.  

I'm sure I have talked about my moms group 100x but some weeks, and some months, God simply reminds me how blessed I really am.   And Corbin reminds me daily of his love for so many of his friends, who happen to be the kids of my friends!  

So this is just a really short shout out to all of you mommy friends of mine!  You make my life so much fun and you keep me sane on even the most insane days!

Life!

I have realized recently that we have something going on every.single.weekend for the next 2 months.  How is that even possible?  We have runs, vacations; parties, and so on...  This time of year gets crazy!

This weekend is the Texans run.  We get to run through the bull at the end of the run.  Our boys are joining us in the stroller and are so very much looking forward to it!  (This picture is from last weekend, when clynt and I got to go to the texans v. Titans game.  What a fabulous game to have been at!)

We also are heading to Shreveport for the duck dynasty run next month.  Our boys got beards/hats to join on that red neck run.  Corbin even wore hit to dinner last night.  The boy loves duck dynasty.  Every day he amazes me in how much he is like his dad.

Also in the next few weeks is my sisters baby shower that I'm planning.  I can't believe we will have a girl around soon!

That's just some of my weekends.  I love being busy and getting to do so many fun things with our boys, but I do look forward to a quiet weekend at home at some point as well.   

Our guys are now 2 and 4 (and almost 5).  Corbin is doing absolutely amazing in school.  He is a really smart little dude and really enjoys learning.  He amazes me every day in his abilities.  I cannot wait to see him in 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years.  Every month he is a completely different child.  When he was 2.5 and completely rambunctious and I was pulling my hair out, my friend told me to not worry about it because a few months later things would be totally different.  Then, I didn't listen well and I totally did not embrace the madness, but now, I realize how right she was.  While Corbin can still be lively at times, he also holds doors for girls, listens to teachers, sits and reads, smiles at people when he knows it will make them feel better, hugs his brother (in between the sibling fighting) more than I could imagine, tells me he loves me 100x a day, and can just be one of the most love little boys ever.  He is still ALL boy but man has he transformed from his terrible twos days..

And Garrett.  I'm not sure anyone but me has ever seen his terrible twos side.  If he does something wrong, he most definitely still has a way to steal your heart.  He is potty training now (I forgot how much I loved that! :/ ). He can carry on full conversations and knows more every day.  He also knows how to get his way from people.  He is always available for a good laugh.  I'm loving wtching him grow and cannot believe that I will soon be applying him for prek 3 for next year! 

Life lately is fun.  Trying to embrace this phase of our lives has been a challenge, as we are always thinking about a year from now.. However, I know I will miss the innocence of our boys when they are 15!

PreK 4

Corbin started prek 4 this Wednesday.  Letting go is very hard for me and this was no different.  I cried and cried, but we made it through and he did great.

He is going to Lutheran South Academy 3 days a week.  It is a very nice private school with a fantastic program for prek3 all the way through high school.  Without getting on a soap box and too political because that is not my intentions of the blog:  I think it is sad that kids need preschool to begin with.  However since the government pays for for some to go to preschool, and not others, it seems (to me) that the others need it, in an attempt to not get behind.   I personally feel like preschool should either be provided to everyone or no one.   It doesn't seem fair that middle class America can't get the same early education as others.  Corbin's preschool is very expensive and we are making sacrifices to pay for it, but it just doesn't seem fair.

Anyways, I'm well aware that life's not fair and I am not saying preschool is right or not, I just wish that if its provided for some, it should be provided for all...

Back to corbin!! He did great and he looks so cute in his school uniform!  We are thinking the school will be a great fit for him this year! :). Here are a couple first day of school pictures... This year he said he wants to be a daddy when he grows up! So cute!  Last year was spiderman.  It'll be so fun to watch this through the years. :)

And the hubs caves...

I've been running for about 6 months now and clynt has been super supportive but shown little interest in going me.  About a month ago a friend gave us a double jogging stroller and so he went running with me and the kids for the first time.  We went about 3 times and then it stopped for vacation and so on and so on.  Last week he asked if we could go again and I said of course!  After several times of 1.5-2 miles I explained to him that I had to start training.  I have several short races coming up and then my half (13 miles) in January and possibly another half in December. So I need to be doing 3-4 miles several times a week to keep my endurance up a little so I can start increasing soon.  He didnt think he would get through 3 bc he has never run more than 2 and that was in the military 10 years ago.   However, he made it.  Now we are doing 3.1 (gotta add the .1 and make it a 5k, right?!).  

Since he is now running with me regularly, I surprised him with any runners favorite gift, A PAIR OF RUNNING shoes.. And just because I'm a Gel Nimbus girl, I decided he deserved a nice pretty pair too!!  :). He was shocked, but he is a huge fan of the colors :)

Also, in honor of my new favorite running mate, I signed us up for 2 races together.  2 that I know he will love! The Texans Football running with the bulls, and the Duck Dynasty Duck Dash.  I mean what men wouldn't like those 2 runs?!

But really, all money spending aside, running with my husband is more than just new shoes and races.  We talk about our day, talk to the kids, teach the kids about staying fit, relive stress together, challenge each other, and spend an hour as a family is no electronics or anything to get in the way.  It has taken me from running against a clock to running slow in order to make it more about a nice time with my family making healthy choice.  Our time isn't great since we are talking and pushing a stroller, but the time is so well spent.

Loving life!

Hawaii

This summer clynt and I finally cut the cord and took a trip (more than 2 days, which was only once) without our boys. My parents were renewing their vows and family and friends were all going so we booked us a room at a really pretty resort and off we went.  The resort turned out to be perfect.  We had an ocean view from our balcony, a really awesome pool to lay out at, a couple of tastes restaurants and it was central on the island of Kauai, so it was perfect.  We rented a mustang so with the touch of a button we could feel the amazing weather and see the amazing views and thousands of rainbows around us.  

The last time we were there, we did a lot of everything!  This time we decide to do more beach time, more restaurant exploring and only 2 activities that we hadn't done before.  Well, plus we we to a luau, which was fantastic!  We ziplined, which was an amazing adrenaline rush and so much fun!  We will most definitely be doing that again.  We also went tubing down the canals, which was through these tunnels in the dark and so that absolutely incredible!  

Clynt and I rented snorkels and went to some amazing snorkel spots.  We swam with sea turtles, thousands of super bright beautiful fish, and even a sea horse!  We swam around the side of a cliff and saw the Nepali Coast like (which is not drivable to) and it was absolutely one of the more gorgeous views ever.   

Clynt and I had more time with just us than we have had since having kids and it was so perfect.  Laying of the beach, listening to waves, looKing at the views and talking.  It was better than I fever expected.  We got up every morning and went to have coffee at a local spot, walk around the streets and shop, and just chill.  We would sit by the really cool fire put for a drink at night. And we would hang out with the chickens.  Only joking, however roosters and chickens run free on the island because of the lack of predators.

I could go on and on and on forever but here are a few pics, you get the point!

Catching up! (Broke. Arm)

 So it's been forever since I have updated my blog.  The summer has been busy with lots of vacations, sick kids, and having fun!  One traumatic thing that happened this summer was our sweet little man breaking his arm.  At the ripe age of 25 months he broke his second bone! At 13 months (yes exactly a year prior), he broke his leg.  That break was from falling down the stairs at our home and this time was from falling on the stairs at the park.  We were there for the farmers market on a Saturday morning while clynt was working.  Just so happened (praise God!) that my mom was with us.  He fell and let out a cry telling my mom and I something happened.  He calmed down in about 30 seconds so I strapped him in the stroller and started walking around with him.  He reached up for some cookies I was buying and the scream came again.   Didn't take anymore for my mom and I to realize it was broken.

Thankfully my mom just took Corbin to get house and I took Garrett to an urgent care.  The doctor looked at me like I was crazy because Garrett was acting like nothing at all was bothering him.  But, as they say, mothers know best.  I told him that Garrett landed on his elbow but I thought it was his shoulder that was messed up.  He assumed (even after my guess) that, if anything, it would be an elbow or wrist.  While the X-ray tech was doing the X-ray, I asked her if she could get some of the shoulder in it.  She complied and then when the doctor came in with the results, he says we need to do more X-rays of the shoulder because that's where the break was!  I was pretty irritated that he hasn't just listened to me, but oh well.  So the results were in and it was a break all the way through the humorous at the very top next to the shoulder.  He recommended we head to an ortho surgeon first thing on Monday.  

After many long phone calls with the tx children's office of orthopedics, I get him in for an appt and he says that he just needs a sling bc that bone heals really well.  We tried the sling for a day and he was completely capable of getting out of it and it was causing more issues (like a choking hazard) than it was doing good.  So we went for a second opinion who said to just take the sling off and try to keep him from jumping too much.  He also said it would heal perfect and shouldn't be a problem.  4 weeks later, we went for a check up and I'll be darned if it wasn't healed!  He didn't restrain the arm, even in the slightest.

But the whole deal is over and he was in great spirits the whole time. :). I'm sure that wont be his last broken bone.  Boys will be boys!

Workity work work

My husband is a pretty successful guy whom does everything for our family. Up until he switched to his new company, he never needed to work over time. However, when he moved companies, he took on a lot more responsibilities and leads projects and has other engineers who do work for him and so on and so one.. So, now, he is responsible for things getting done when the company says they will be done. Meaning, he has to be at work a whole lot more than I would like! (And than he would like).

As I sit here this Saturday morning, with my sweet husband at work, I wonder how it feels to be him. I've always let myself feel sorry for me with him not around as much, but I mean he gets up and leaves while we all still sleep in our beds. His being so good at what he does has given the boys and i the opportunity to get to sleep in every day, go do whatever activities we wants, go eat wherever we want and to enjoy every day just like its the weekend. And on weekends when clynt will only have one day off because he works on the Saturday, I hate it a ton, but I can't imagine how bad it stinks for him! I love my husband and am so so thankful that he is willing to do everything he does to give us the life that we have. I know he will not be working this much forever, and I can't wait till this particular project he is on to be over, so for now, I'm just thankful for him. Time to quit feeling sorry for myself for not having him around as much as I would like and feel bad for him whose is having to suffer wayyyy more than me!

Idaho vacation!

This past week we spent the whole week at, as far as I'm concerned, one of the most beautiful places in the country. Sandpoint, idaho is an amazing place. I lived there for a summer while I was in college and its just gorgeous. A lake over 150 miles around, mountains everywhere, a ski resort, a cute town for shopping, Montana and Washington both less than an hour away, and so much more. I haven't been back since I was pregnant with Corbin. But when my awesome aunt got engaged, we knew we wanted to be there and that meant an amazing week in a gorgeous place with tons of loved ones!

She rented an entire place full of cabins for all of the family coming in town, so we had an incredible 4 bedroom cabin on the lake. The place was just so so cool!

The wedding was also beautiful. And we did lots of other stuff with the boys too. We went to a wolf place and the boys got to pet a couple baby wolves and thought that was awesome. We went shopping and got some pretty cool stuff. We went to Montana and drove on a dirt road through a national park and then let the boys stomp around and toss rocks in a creek, we went to the ski resort at the top of a mountain and got to see some great views, we ate tons of local food, we went on a boat ride, did some fishing with Corbin, I got a facial and a mani/pedi, and we did a lot of relaxing. It was a lot of fun!

Even Garrett having strep throat and ear infections didn't keep us down. (It never fails that he will be sick on vacation!).

Here's some pictures!

Dead ends

Do you ever just pour your heart and soul into projects, relationships, things, and then eventually realize that what you thought would come from it is never going to happen? For some reason that seems to be happening to me often lately. I've been trying to mend things, make other things better, work really hard at things that I never thought I would, and try so hard, all for me to eventually realize that it's not doing me much good at all.

This morning though, I read a devotional from proverbs 31 and realized that I've been like the little kindergartner in the story. I'm trying so hard to please people, or fix things, and etc, but the only way that I'm not going to continue to hit dead ends is entrusting the situations to God. I need to learn that I, alone, cannot make things change. I need to spend more time with God about the little things and let him be in control of not just the big things but the little things too.

Here is the whole devotional. You should read it.


June 12, 2013

A Better Way Than My Own
Van Walton

"The LORD will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me." Psalm 138:8 (NLT)

When I was five years old, my mother took me to kindergarten in the middle of the school year. She prepared me for my new adventure by promising fun and many new friends. Fighting tug-of-war emotions, anticipation pulling against apprehension, I entered the room full of children.

While acclimating to my new environment, I decided to speed up the making-a-lot-of-friends process. Eager to be accepted, I couldn't wait to be noticed and included. I devised an interesting plan that would have every kindergartener eating out of my hand, literally.

Each morning before recess, students lined up in front of the school store to buy mid-morning snacks. Noticing that donuts were the treat of choice, my mind whirred.

That afternoon, alone in the back seat with my mother's purse, my plan began to hatch. My little hand slipped into her wallet and pulled out a dollar. Surely that was enough to buy everyone a donut.

The next day, exploding with eagerness, I pushed my way to the front of the line. Handing my dollar up to an open hand I said, "A bag of donuts, please."

"Are you sure little girl? A bag full? That's a lot. No one ever buys that many donuts!"

I nodded my head. "Yes, one for everyone in my class and one for Teacher."

Slowly the treasured bag of donuts slipped over the side of the counter.

Yes!

Stepping aside, I announced, "My treat!"

Mouths dropped. Eyes flew open. Little hands extended. Classmates surrounded me, the instant celebrity.

I felt good! Just as planned. Now, I had friends.

After school, when my mom walked into class to pick me up, my teacher asked everyone to thank her. The look of surprise on my mother's face exposed me. My secret was out.

I was a criminal. A thief. I had stolen money from my mother!

How had a perfectly well-planned strategy gone so wrong?

The Bible is full of stories of people who devised seemingly good plans. In too many circumstances strategies were flawed—like mine. In other situations people wisely relied on God.

Psalm 138:8 says that God will work out His plans for my life. I don't have to manipulate, plot and devise.

Regardless of my desperate circumstances, anxiety, or longing, there is a better way than my own. One popular Bible story encourages me to pray and then wait on the Lord.

Moses' mother and his sister, Miriam, expected that God would protect baby Moses when they put him in a basket and sent it down the Nile River, hoping to hide him from a murderous ruler.

Miriam watched the baby float away, all the while waiting for God to take control of the desperate situation. His sister's faith was rewarded by an amazing turn of events and his mother's trust in God paved the way for a Hebrew slave to become an Egyptian ruler (Exodus 2:1-10). This would not have happened without Moses' mother's and sister's patience and dependence on God.

It's easy to rush to fix our own circumstances—contriving for the outcome we desire. But too often, in so doing, we tangle ourselves into ever-growing webs and create trouble or chaos. Let's learn from Moses' wise family by following their pattern:

• Expecting God to act.
• Waiting for God to deliver.
• Trusting that God's timing is best.

I don't know what spurs you on to contrive, manipulate or plot. If you are like me, any circumstance where you find yourself out of control, desperate or confused will tempt you to scheme.

Let's determine today to believe this truth, "The LORD will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don't abandon me, for you made me" (Psalm 138:8). And rest in His promises, committing to trusting God whenever tempted to influence our uncomfortable conditions.

Lord God, I know You will work out Your plans for my life, but I need help to believe in the midst of desperate circumstances. In Jesus' Name, I ask You to give me strength to accept Your timing and Your ways during this unsettling time in my life. Amen.

Energy

7 years ago, I found out I had hypothyroidism. Which was no big deal and I didn't need much medication. Every few months though, I needed to go to the doctor because I was flat exhausted. While pregnant, it was checked even more often than that. Almost every single time it was checked, It was wrong, and they had to add more meds. Last year, I decided to go to an endocrinologist to find out why we couldn't get this under control! He did some labs and I have Hashimotos, which is an auto immune disorder that attacks your thyroid, eventually causing you to not have a functioning thyroid. At this point, my thyroid doesn't work at all, which may sound bad, but it's not at all. For a full year and a half now, I have been on the same dosage because it doesn't vary any more. And I should get to take the same amount for the rest of my life. I feel great!

Add that with my loss of almost 30 pounds and I have more energy than I've had since I was a teenager. It's been amazing!

With the extra energy, I'm able to do so much more with my kids, around my house, and even for myself. Life has gotten so much easier since I have the energy to accomplish everything on my to do list. My kids don't watch near as much tv and they have almost no iPad time anymore, because we spend our time playing. We play with Legos, trains, and do science experiments and all kinds of stuff. I just realized how much more of a mom I can be and how much more I love my life. I love that I can have a clean house and happy kids and I can cherish all this time so much more when I don't feel like I'm going to pass out the whole day. I don't have to lay down and leave my kids to their electronics. I am willing to take them swimming by myself and do.other things I wouldn't have normally done because of how much work it is. I'm just feeling so blessed and cherishing these moments so much more! Having energy from my more healthy life has just been flat amazing!

Safe haven

Have you watched the movie safe haven? The whole movie was really good and I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a good movie for a date night in (or in our case, after the kids go to be). I'm not going to give away the whole movie but I am going to say a couple things about the end of the movie that had me in tears. There was a man who lost his wife to cancer who had two small children. He met another woman several years later who he fell in love with. The wife (who had died from cancer) had thought ahead and wrote many letters for her kids to read as they hit major milestones (graduation, wedding, etc) in their life that they will now not have their mother at. That alone is just heart touching. But she also wrote a letter "to her". A letter to the lady that she knew her young husband would meet one day.

I mean, what a selfless act! She knew that she was young and that even though her husband would love her forever, she would no longer be here and she hoped that he would meet someone who would make him happy and her kids happy.

It had me crying, wondering if I would ever be able to do something so selfless. Of course if something ever ever happened to me, heaven forbid, I would want for my kids and my husband to be happy one day. But the thought of that being because of another woman really makes me sad. I can't talk about this much because it makes me so sad. However, this movie had me thinking about what I want for my family given something would ever happen to me. And it also had me thinking about what I would do if I was only given a few months to live. Writing letters to important people for important things is such a sweet and amazing thing to do.

Since we are never promised tomorrow, for now, I will make sure that those around me know they are loved. I will cherish these moments with my small ones and I will love my husband so that he forever knows what true love is.

Garrett's birthday!

I cannot believe for a second that my sweet baby boy is 2! 2!! We couldn't go through a birthday without a big, fun party! We have a big family and tons of loved ones and friends so we have to come up with ideas and places that accommodate a crowd of 60. :). This year for Garrett, since he is two and unable to participate in many of the activities that have enough space for our crowd, we decided on the park. And since June is hot, we did a PJ's in the Park party! We had donuts, breakfast tacos, fruit, donut holes, juice, coffee, etc. The kids had plenty to do with the park and a moonwalk we rented. And we had a pavilion for shade. Since donuts contain so much sugar and the party was so early in the morning, we decide to give out cookies instead of cake. They were bagged so they could be taken home if the children or the adults had already consumed their sugar limits! :)

It was an absolutely fantastic, stress free party. Garrett had a blast and got everything his heart could desire! It was just so so much fun! I'm going to be so sad when my guys are 10 and don't want parties anymore. I have so much fun doting on them for their birthdays.

On his bday I baked a cake and we enjoyed more sweets for my sweet guy.

Here are some pictures! And here is one of him when he was born. Can't believe that's been 2 years!!!!

Corbin's last game

My little guys last tball game was this past Thursday. I, for one, am so glad the season is over. Corbin, though, is a little sad. He enjoys playing. It's amazing seeing the difference from 1.5 years ago to now. Now, he actual stands (or sits) at his position and knows what to do when he gets the ball. It's really cute to watch. He has been practicing his sliding, so he was running home and got close, he realized he was too close to slide, so he stopped, went back a few feet and then slid in. It was hilarious and oh so very cute!! He goes up to bat and always looks at the stands to see who is there watching him. He gives a thumbs up and is giddy about us cheering him on. Gosh I love that little guy.

Not sure if we will stick with baseball or let him try out other sports, he wants to do football but it will be another year and a half until he is old enough. So we shall see. It's just fun getting cheer on my boy, no matter the sport. I love being a wild and crazy boymom!

Here's a pic of Corbin ready for his last game. :)

What good is it?

I have some pretty clever kiddos. They have managed to figure things out very early on in their short lives. We have child proofed as best we can but I have started wondering what in the world good is a child lock that my kids can out wit.

At 8 months old, Corbin could remove the plastic things in the sockets. This made me worry he would electrocute himself, but I couldn't do anything but watch him like a hawk. At 15 months, Garrett could open the cabinet child locks. This makes me worry about chemicals and him ingesting them, but yet again their is nothing I can do about it. Both my kids by the age of 20 months have managed to be able to get out of the arm straps of their at seats. The simply can unhook it, which makes me worry about their safety should I get in an accident. Both kids by the age of 18 months figured out they can push a chair over and climb onto whatever they want. Making me also worry about Safety.

So, what good are child locks when you have kids that can outsmart them. Do you have any tricks??

Last day of prek3

Crazy crazy sad day. The last day of Corbin's 1st year of school was yesterday. I cried, I celebrated and I laughed. It was a mix of emotions. I went up to the school and had lunch with my little man, we gave his teachers Scentsy Warner's and bars. We gave his class cute cookies, and I read a book to Corbin's class. The kids got to watch a movie and I got to talk to his teacher for a bit. She was the best teacher Corbin could have ever had. She told me that my son is gifted and that she thinks he will be very advanced in math and science (to no surprise to me since he an engineer for a dad). She said how much Corbin thrives when he's learning and she just made me feel good about our decision for a school next year. I left sad that she won't be his teacher anymore, but feeling so blessed that she was this year.

It was a very good day. And I had a very happy 4 year old, but he kept saying how much he was going to miss Frankie (his best friend this year) which made me sad. But, we've made plans for seeing Frankie many times.

We came home and made our summer request list... It's long, but we have a long time :). Hopefully it'll all happen and some learning will also happen! Here's his list (I had to write it obviously) and here are pictures of Corbin on his last day!

Summer!

Tomorrow is Corbin's last day of school and I am very giddy over it.  Garrett loves his time with Corbin and so he is going to love it too!  School days for me now are very hectic...  I have to wake the boys up early and we don't get to have our chill and relaxing mornings, instead I am shoving breakfast down their throats and running out the door.  Then I drop Corbin off and 2.5 hrs later I have to try to get Garrett down for a nap just so that I can wake him up by 1:30 to go pick Corbin up.  Garrett has gotten older since last August and an 11:30 nap isn't going over very well, so he ends up exhausted later in the day.  It's just hard on school days to get anything done.  PLUS-  Corbin only has one more year till kindergarten and I feel like I have a million things I want to do with him before he starts.  The days he is home, we have until 1pm before I put Garrett down for a nap.  We get to lounge in pjs, play outside, and go to whatever we want to do!  I love that :)

I think that I'm going to let Corbin put together a list today of a bunch of things he wants to do before school starts again next year.  (Which, by the way, did I tell y'all he was accepted to Lutheran south academy and will start their 3 day ALL day program next year?).   I hope that I can get around to letting him do all kinds of fun stuff, and maybe have a little learning in there too :)

Tomorrow, I ordered some of the cutest cookies ever in cute packaging to bring up to all the kids in his class.  I also got his teachers some Great gifts and I'm going to go up to his school and eat lunch with him and let him hand out his stuff.    Check out how cute they are!

Tomorrow, plan to be inandated with last day of school pictures, and Corbin's to do list for the summer! :)

Differences

When I sit down and think about the many people that I spend the most time with, like our family, old friends, new friends, mom friends, church friends and so many more, I realize the number of differences their are between us. I mean, here's a short list of differences we have:

Religion, politics, parenting style, the way we spend (or don't spend) money, the way we eat, the activities we do, our sense of humor, how outgoing we are, and so on and so forth....

When I think about the many differences, I try to think of a common denominator between me and the dozens of people I spend time with, and this is what I come up with: it doesn't matter! God found a reason to put us into eachothers life, and I wouldn't change any of them for anything. It doesn't matter to me if your catholic and I'm not, if you spend every dime you ever make or if you save every penny in your pocket, if you whip your child or choose other methods, if you eat all organic or McDonalds daily, if you tell bad jokes or if u don't tell any jokes or if you sit on the couch all night or choose the gym. It really makes no difference to me at all. That's what makes life so interesting. If we were all the same, life sure would be boring.

There are times I sit and wonder why we don't have things other people have or why other people don't do things the way we do and when I sit and think about why I'm sitting and thinking about that, and i really feel dumb. Because it doesn't matter at all. I'm very blessed by so many amazing people in my life and I'm so so appreciative of each of them, no matter our differences!

On a side note, the boys and I went to midtown for the Houston fire museum with several friends. Here's a quick picture of my and my big man.

Let the training begin... Again

Last weekend I ran in my first ever 10k race. And considering I set my goals 3 months ago in the running thing and my goal for a 10k was not until October, I was shocked that I was actually able to accomplish that. To some 6.2 miles is nothing, but to me 6.2 miles is crazy!! I mean I couldn't even run A minute 3.5 months ago! So then I decided to reconsider my goals. I've stuck to this and am moving through my goals way faster than I had expected. I changed my October goal to be a half marathon by then. That's 13.1 miles!! Not sure if Ill be ready for it not but I started training yesterday and its only 9 weeks for the training, so given I stick with my runs, I should be well on my way.

Running, not only is good for my waistline, it's also a fantastic was for me to release the stresses of my days. Yesterday I was snappy and just stressed and worried and everything else. I went for a run and all of a sudden I had thought my way through some problems and I had moved on. I mean an hour to myself just listening to my breathing and my feet (and sometimes my music), is just plain therapeutic. Sometimes I pray, sometimes I just think about stuff, and sometimes I really think about nothing. Whatever feels right. It's just helpful!

My husband has been sitting back and encouraging me through my healthy changes and I've been telling him to join me. To which he has always had an excuse but yesterday, he actually was looking at my training apps and wanting to download them. He now really wants to get a double jogger and start trying to do it with me! My excitement about this is beyond belief. If he will push the stroller and come with me sometimes, it solves my issues of having to leave him right when he gets home and it will make me comfortable running in the dark. That's awesome! I'm so excited that he truthfully wants to get healthy too.

This healthy kick is contagious. I love seeing friends and family making little changes to be a little more healthy. It's been fun making this life change!

Here is my crazy awful finish line photo! The finish line pictures are always a hot freaking mess, but oh well!