Running is fun

Seriously, it is! Back in high school I started running because I injured my knee in basketball (and didn't know that I actually more than likely tore my ACL at this time), and couldn't participate in sports with side to side action, otherwise my knee would give out... not fun!
Anyways, I started running track in high school and fell in love with the 800meter. This is twice around the track... not really long distance, but not a sprint either. And I was good. I hate to toot my own horn, but really, I won a lot of races back then. (Went to State my junior year to compete... but totally failed there :) )
I gave up running a bit after high school... admittedly got fat, and then decided to join the Navy 2 years later. And needed to get in shape before bootcamp.
So I ran.
Now, I don't remember how far or for how long I was running before I went to bootcamp, but running did help me lose 20 lbs before I left. Which is always good, right?
Well, bootcamp really wasn't that hard. I passed easily.
But I kept running.

I ran when I was stationed in California, learning Russian. I would go through my list of vocabulary words that I had to memorize while I ran along the beautiful ocean. (oh, how I miss that place) My favorite memory is saying dostapremchatelnoste while I ran... it means places worth seeing, if I remember correctly. It still is my favorite Russian word. I ran many miles there.

Then in Texas, I ran and ran around the old flight line. My ex-boyfriend would run with me sometimes. But it was Texas and during the summer, so it pretty much sucked! My favorite story from there was when we were doing a "fun run" which is basically a run that you had to go to (you know, attendance was taken and stuff), and my good buddies- Bianca, Bryr and Traci - were all there with me. Bianca HATED running (yet she looked great and smoked like a chimney) and immediately after attendance was taken and we were running for fun, she headed back to the dorms to smoke with some wise-ass comment (oh, I love you Bianca).
NOW, Bianca is a marathon runner who is super fast and super fit, and oh how I envy her (and am so proud of her!)

When I was stationed overseas, in Japan, I took up biking too. I would bike to work (4 miles) and then run home. Sometimes I would take the long way, which doubled the distance. And then the next day I would run to work and bike home. I was in the best shape of my life. And I LOVED running.

It has always been the time for me to decompress I guess, and answer all my questions that I had been pondering, and sometimes coming up with some really good answers - or not.

Well, I started running again. Monday was day one, and boy was it hard. I had a million excuses to NOT start running until after the holidays. And then, I just decided to do it. And it felt good. Until I got home :) Then I was SO sore.
I hadn't ran in a year and a half.
A YEAR and a HALF, people!
My knee surgery and then pregnancy were my reasons for not then, but since my knee is fixed up and I am gladly not pregnant anymore... I had to do something.

And I ran again today. I am a little less sore right now too.

I am so glad I started back up... now I need to keep it up.

I will keep you (whoever reads this... wait, WHO reads this?) posted.

OH! And I just purchased a Vitamix (used of course) so now I think I am getting back on the green smoothie wagon! I would love to lose some more of this baby weight (16 lbs to pre-Soren, and about 35 to pre-Colton ISH!)

Truthful Tuesday:: the craft room

This is where some magic happens... and many many messes! 

In order to just get that one last thing done, sometimes I resort to handing scrap fabric and scissors! But really, I tend not to craft much when the littles are awake... except during "quiet (movie) time". 

Right now, in the works are a bunch (32) bibs that are so thick and nice, some reversible pants, flag banners, (all for a craft show) and some Christmas presents. 

Whats going on in your craft space? 

The babies bouncer is usually occupied by the cat... I had to coax him off to put the sleeping baby there!

So Thankful

These are my people, and I love them so!

Being November, the month of Thanksgiving, I am going to try to reinstate Thankful Thursdays. There are oh, so many things to be thankful for. Sometimes this is hard to remember when your days are filled with much of the same, day in and day out; but at this time in my life, I am slowly realizing that it is all about the little things. Hopefully there will be time for "bigger" things in the future, but right now, I need to practice being present and marveling at all the things that happen. So here goes::

:: thankful for chocolate. My mother in law made some awesome chocolate truffles while she was here last week, and I have been eating like five a day. At least!

:: the weather! I can't believe I am saying that, but I am so thankful that it is at least feasible to get the kids in their sweaters and socks (and other paraphernalia) and go out for a walk!

:: husbands. Well, mine in particular! Without him, I would be a mess. Truly, a mess.

:: good friends with good ideas. Enough said.

:: baby carriers. Like this one and this one. My favorite. I have so many carriers, it is not even funny! One of these days, I will do a blog post about carriers and the good, the bad and the ugly! And two of them I have made, and those are pretty awesome too.

:: Coca-Cola from Mexico. You know, the kind with real sugar in it? The best! And in a bottle.

:: Timers. The kids are really loving the new timers from Ikea... and so do I.

:: Dinner in the afternoon, or Linner as we call it. Tyler is on swings right now, so he heads to work at 230pm, and doesn't get to come home for dinner. So instead of making dinner nightly for me and the rugrats, we decided to have dinner mid-day. Today was the first day, and I think I like it.

:: family. I truly love my family. The six of us are pretty awesome together. I can't wait to see what comes next for us.

:: my extended family. They are pretty awesome too. Such a great support from afar. My parents have been with us for the birth of each of our babes... that is pretty cool. And the other parents come soon after!

:: vacations! I am pretty excited for our Florida vacation coming up in December! Even with the plane ride with four kids and lugging four carseats... I think it will be awesome!

So what are you thankful for? There really are so many things to just give credit to... I will try to keep this up!

First real haircut for Kellen

This is before:: crazy Einstein style hair, and our little rascal!

 This is the after Mommy got one side, and he got grumpy :)

This is Daddy fixing what Mommy didn't do right, and no sucker bribing could fix. (Although I kind of thought the huge "tuft" of long hair I left coming down the front looked kind of cute)

This is Daddy buzzing it, while he was bribed with apples (of all things!)

Finished product :: PURE ADORABLENESS!!!

This boy is at one of my favorite ages! He loves to voice his opinion in his new-found language and LOVES to tell us "NO!" I happen to think he is one of the cutest things around  and usually end up holding in laughter when he bosses me around. Oh, my he is trouble.

And I love him so.

My little boyka-boyka--boo!

Truthful Tuesday

Here is a glimpse into our house on most days... notice all of the kids and cat on the unmade bed... this is right before naptime. The two littles nap and Colton and Ayla rot their brains with a movie.
Notice the far corner with an array of baby paraphernalia to try and get me and Soren through the night. It occasionally works :) Really pay attention to the dirty diaper under the rocking chair... yeah, that happens.
The kids are in what we call a "rat's nest"... which essentially is a bunch of blankets and pillows piled on the floor for the comfort of the user.

Just thought you guys might want to see.

Jack

Sadly, we lost our cat, Jack last week. He will be greatly missed.
We received him as a gift for our wedding from Tyler's mom. One of her coworkers had found him and a sibling in a rockpit.... he was our rockpit kitty. He looked awful... crusty runny eyes, and a bloated gut... turned out pretty cute though!
We brought him to North Carolina from Oregon. He traveled from there back to Oregon for an extended visit, while we set up home in Montana. Then he came to live with us there. He made the drive down with us from Montana to Texas, by way of Arizona. This kitty was a traveler... and a pretty good one too (by seeing his picture above, he liked the dashboard :) )
But for some reason, he had a death wish. He refused to be solely an inside kitty, and would escape to the great outdoors any chance he got... and he would lounge in the road and slowly saunter out of it when a car came by.... we knew this could be a problem. But we also believed that with a speed limit of 20mph, and assuming people paid attention, he would be safe.

Tyler and the kids were outside, as usual on our nights here in Texas, and Colton runs inside and says MOM! come outside!
I knew from his voice that something had happened, and I just prayed my kids were all safe (and Tyler too).
When I came outside with Soren, Tyler had Kellen corralled, and he said sadly that Jack had been hit while shaking his head, so I knew he wasn't going to make it. A couple cars were stopped in the road, but I didn't care. I started crying.
For a cat.
A man said "I'm sorry" and walked back to his car.
I assumed that he was the one that hit him... he was the only one that said he was sorry.
But Tyler later informed me that a woman had been the one... and she said nothing to Tyler or I.
Come on?!
Seriously? You accidentally kill a family's cat... a family that pretty much was right there and saw what happened, and you just continue on?
I was pretty upset about this. My kids saw there beloved cat laying on the grass, taking his last breaths. We said nice things about him and all took turns petting him.
Colton was the only one of the kids that seemed to understand the finality of it all.

But the next day, Ayla looked at me sadly and said, "Mommy, I didn't get to pet Jack..."
I started crying, again.
For a cat. For my girl who didn't get to let go.

Kellen stood at the window and pointed outside and kept saying "Jack, Jack."

I cried. Again.
For a cat. For my kids first experience in death.

Even a week later, I look at the spots he frequented.
Above the fridge to get away from the kids.
On top of the laundry hamper.
On the window sills.
Curled up on the baby blanket.
In a spot of sun to warm his soft fur.

I miss him. I wish I would have pet him more, when he needed loving, instead of pushing him off of my lap. But I absolutely do not miss him trying to lick my face! I hated that.
It is always amazing how loosing something/someone you love makes you love more; harder.

You are missed, Jack. And loved.
I am crying again.
For a cat.

Halloween

 Hope everyone had a great Halloween. I think it is going to be one of my favorite holidays... for a couple reasons.
The kids love to dress up,
They will do practically anything for candy,
An excuse to have friends over for low key celebration,
....
and the Wicked Witch as a success!

I decided to make the kids costumes, or at least parts of them this year. I have to say, I loved looking at them and seeing my hours of work look so darn cute!

Colton wanted to be a wolf, so this is what I came up with:: I didn't use a pattern, just measured, measured again, cut, sewed and hoped for the best! In my opinion, it turned out rather cute! I wanted him to be able to play with it in the future.

 Ayla was Little Red Riding Hood... mostly because I suggested it and wanted them to kind of  "GO" together. If she had her way, she would be a princess every Halloween. So we compromised and I told her that we could pretend that LRRH was a princess also.... for her, I made her cape for her birthday.

The two little boys were gnomes of the woodland ge-nome (get it!?) Ha... I saw a lot of kids in pictures dressed up as garden gnomes... but my little gnomies were beard-less. I knitted their sweaters, finishing up on Halloween. I also knitted their hats, but was done with those a while ago... Soren's was actually a little snug (I blame Tyler for his big head!), so we didn't make him wear it the whole night. They were just so darn cute though. I just loved all of them.

 Look at these cute boys!

We went trick-or-treating with some good friends (Little Kasey is above... kind of grumpy) and then after we went back to our house, met some more friends and shared some treats!

Fresh squeezed apple cider, some fruits and veggies and some raw snacks. Yumm!

Then after everyone went home, the kids picked their favorite 10 pieces of candy and we set the rest out for the Wicked Witch to come collect in the middle of the night.

Earlier in the week, I had mentioned they could trade their candy for something off their Amazon wishlists, if they were approved by the Wicked Witch. They liked this idea, and picked their gifts and hoped they got approved.

(The approval was if the gifts arrived in time!)

They were! and so happy this morning when they found their gifts.
Colton chose a lego airplane,
Ayla chose some butterfly wings,
Kellen got a garbage truck/street cleaner,
and Soren really wanted a diaper cover!! Ha ha!

Anyways we had a great night and I can't wait till next year!
One of my favorite things was that the first piece of candy Kellen received, he carried around till we got home! It was Smarties, of course! Also, he I was urging him to say thank you, and he kept saying thank you to the candy bowls... silly boy.

They grow up so darn fast though... Soren is now officially 4 weeks old!