Mud Run

Yesterday, was the big day.Natalie, I told you I should have worn my hot pink underwear and black sports bra! Look how much better the girls behind me in the picture look! :) There's always next time!
The few days prior...there were a lot of changes. Thursday night, Amber's husband, decided not to do it since lots of family were going to be in town. So my friend, Natalie, said she wanted to do it. Then she got sick Friday night. So my wonderful husband took the extra ticket last minute so I wouldn't have to do it alone. (Big thanks to Natalie and Chad's parents for watching our kids and to Amber B. for the ticket.) For those of you who are out of state or unfamiliar with this event...I'll give you the play by play.


4000 people bottle neck in the beginning...so SPRINT. Luckily we started in the front so we didn't get trampled!


Hosed down by fire trucks with FREEZING cold water.

Run through river. Shoes are heavy!


Run through soft sand. (1/2 mile)

Run HILLS. Lots of them. TWO MILES worth of nasty steep dirt hills. Breathe in huge amounts of dusty dirt that gets kicked up. But wait...there's a drink station! Gatorade + dust in throat= flem! Note to self: water from now on!


Obstacles start. I smile! Marines yell at me for smiling! "You smiling...you shouldn't have energy to smile...work harder!"
Climb over 2 walls that dump you into 3 pig smelling mud pits. It smells...but it's so much fun sloshing in the nasty mud.

Swim or run in shoulder high freezing reservoir (200 yards). I enjoyed it making me numb so I couldn't feel the pain from the hills. It was my favorite part...I could run fast in the water and passed a lot of people. Giddy!


Crawl through tunnels. Run 3 more hills. Climb 2 more walls. 3 more mud pits. Run up the "suicide hill." A steep hill with water running down. SLIPPERY! Run another hill.


Crawl under ropes through final mud pit. Another favorite. Everyone was crawling. But I just let my feet float and basically walked with my hands. It was faster.


All the obstacles, started and ended with slippery mud mounds like this one. I did not ease over these. I ran over them and flew in the pits. That's probably why I'm in so much pain. Sprint final leg. I finished in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Which isn't too bad since the fastest girls finished around 1 hour. Chad did awesome, too. I'm so proud of him!

I hated the first 3 miles. I kept telling myself, "I'd rather do 3 sprint triathlons! In a row!" But...the last 3 miles were so incredibly fun. I am in so much pain now. My knees, quads & feet kill. But I am so doing it again. I just have to prepare for the hills a bit better! I'll probably wait till I have another kid to do it again. But when I do buy the tickets, I'll let you all know so you can join in on the fun!

"Mom, I know what I want to be when I grow up..."

(This is on the way home from church about 2 months ago)

"Oh yeah. What do you want to be when you grow up?" (thinking it must be something she learned in class)

"A ROCK STAR."

"Really? What does a rock star do?"

"Well, they sing like this...(pulling her fist up to her mouth like a microphone) and they go like this (shimmies her shoulders!)

That's Great! We haven't discussed much of it since that day.

Now onto YESTERDAY...Alexis had her neighbor friend, Hattie, over. They asked if I could move the curtains that are on a tension rod out from the window so they can have what looks more like a stage on the window seat. They have their microphones all ready. We only own two. That's when I notice Alexis has retrieved Chad's x-box live head set. (with earphones and a microphone that wraps in front to her mouth. She looks very professional. So as I'm moving the curtains the girls beg me to have a seat and watch their show.

I said, "I'll tell you what. You guys practice and I'll run out to the car and get my camera to video tape you."

I don't video tape them much so I decided this was as good of time as any...and boy was I right!

WATCH THIS! I promise this 30 second video is so worth your time! (mostly the last 15 seconds) You may need to turn up your volume.



So who do you think should break the news to her of rethinking the rock star future...me or Chad? Maybe this video is enough for her to make her own conclusion.

I only turned the camera off because I was about to pee my pants I was laughing so hard. This might even be funnier to me because I have a very similar home video of my sister's and I doing a show for my dad on our trampoline when we were little. It's still so entertaining to me.

Whoops!

I can't believe it. Every year Amber Baltzer and I have said..."Let's sign up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run." And every year we miss the date to sign up because it sells out so fast. But this year, we remembered and bought tickets to the Fall Mud Run. After I bought the tickets I told Amber that I shouldn't have since I thought I would probably be pregnant by that time. No worries. I'd sell my ticket to someone to do it with her. Since March...I haven't even thought once about it.

Last night...I remembered when I was out with a friend. "Shoot. I signed up for the Mud Run and it's in a month and I haven't ran a mile since June. I'm dead." But really, I can easily work up to 3 miles in one month. I'm not pregnant like I thought I'd be. The one problem that neither of us saw coming. My friend has been trying to get pregnant for like 8 years. She's adopted two darling boys: Saxon (1 1/2) and Micah (almost 2 months)...but the craziest news of all was that she found out she was pregnant. After all these years and after everything she's been through to try and get pregnant. Obviously, things are done the Lord's way and Saxon and Micah were meant to be in her family. But now she can't run in the Mud Run. So her husbands going to run it instead. He will leave me in the dust on the first 100 yards.

It's okay. I can do this. I look up the exact time to see how much time I have to train...drum roll please...OCTOBER 18! Not one month away...TWO WEEKS away. And all my thanks to Amber who gave me the biggest shocker of all 5 minutes ago. It's a 10K, not a 5K. I am really dead. I seriously have to start running like twice a day. That pizza I just ate at Costco this afternoon is starting to make me want to puke! Literally, the thought of it all makes me want to puke!

Good Luck to me, eh? All the mind tricks I've tried to play on myself these past few weeks trying to tell myself it's time to start eating healthy and exercising...are now not on an "I'll do my best" status. Because we all know that doesn't work. Now it's changed to "URGENT: no excuses or you die in two weeks."

Not A Weed to Me!

Looks like a weed. Smells like a weed. Acts like a weed. Naturally, I expect you to disagree with my title.

However, every time I open my front door Carter runs out. Not to be disobedient or crazy. Nope. He is looking for a flower.
And not just any flower as can see in the picture above. What's wrong with this one? The stem is not long enough!

And...he's happy with this one. Sometimes he will pick one and it's just not up to his standard. He really is pleased with this one, though.
And this is why it's not a weed to me. Every day Carter runs out, picks a flower...and ALWAYS gives it to me. Then he runs back in the house like nothing ever happened...or he gets in the car if that's where we were headed in the first place. So every morning...whether we are heading out for me to go to work, do laundry, or run errands. I get this. Who wouldn't love "a weed" when it comes from the most sincere, thoughtful boy I could ever ask for! I hope he never changes!

All Girl. All Boy.

Don't you hate when you go out with your kids and you feel like everyone's eyes are on you. Well, actually you don't just feel it, you know it because you looked up and everyone is staring at your kids laughing...OUT LOUD!

After Alexis' soccer game last week we were waiting for our food at IN N OUT just sitting quietly. When Alexis' all of sudden desperately needs her pink jacket. I handed her the jacket thinking her desperation was her starting to feel cold after running for an hour. Nope, she reaches in the pocket of her jacket she had brought for the game...and proceeds to pull out 3 things.

1. Her pretend 3 way compact ("blush,eye shadow & nail polish in one" according to Alexis)
2. Her pretend lip-stick
3. A beaded dress-up necklace.

I was still in shock that she packed these things in her jacket, when she accessorizes with the necklace and looks in the mirror of the compact literally doing her make-up in the middle of the restaurant. It would be no big deal if she wasn't so infatuated with herself in the mirror. Admiring herself at all different angles adding "pretend make-up" where needed. The ironic part was that she was still in her whole soccer get-up! Cleats, shin guards and all! She was seriously so red faced and sweaty but continued on not acknowledging anyone was around us. The closest people to us were giggling.

Then Carter starts pulling the straw of his drink up and down making the most obnoxious squeaking noise...NON-STOP. So now the entire restaurant is looking at us thanks to Carter's noise. Then everyone starts laughing when they see my kids: My boy was making use of what he had at his fingertips. It wasn't the intended purpose but to him it was great entertainment. And my daughter so into looking at herself in the mirror and doing her "make-up" she wouldn't notice if the place caught fire...I BURY my face in my hands in embarrassment. Chad walks over. "Carter stop it." "Alexis...Amber where did she get those things?"

Then, I started to laugh. Why should I be embarrassed? Why is it my natural tendency to be embarrassed when my kids make us the center of attention? They weren't doing anything wrong. And no one was laughing at us in annoyance...just laughing at my kids, in a good way...I think.

Alexis...ALL GIRL. Carter...ALL BOY!

Why can't I just laugh with everyone else to begin with?
Why do I have to be embarrassed first. It was actually kind of cute. And I finally realized that!
But, please, tell me it's normal to be paranoid initially.

Alexis the Soccer Star

So, I must admit I was nervous for Alexis starting soccer. It's her first year and I've been wondering what kind of side line mom I would be if I had a "flower picker" for a daughter. Soccer was my life from age 4 till I went to college! So, naturally, I have high hopes that she will grow to love it as much as I did. The first week...she liked it, but hated being scored on...and was extremely upset when the other girls pushed her down. The second week, she started...and this little girl on the other team was a "shirt holder"...at a mere 4 years of age! So, Alexis learned quick last week...get up and fight for it! She's not out of control aggressive...but there is no messing with her anymore! She is a competitive super star. I know this is so bragging...but she seriously runs up and down the field like no other. If the other team has a break away she bolts down...steals the ball from them, dribbles it all the way up the kiddie field...and most of the time she scores. Before the game she told me her goal was to score 6 goals in tonight's game. (because she recalls scoring 5 last week, I recall 3 but who's counting!) We played tonight's team a few weeks ago and they wasted us then. But tonight, Alexis understood the game better and their was no stopping her. I don't think the other team parents realized the wind carried their voices down wind because they were all talking about her and how awesome she was. The parents on my team boosted my pride a little because they keep telling me...we definitely want you guys on our team next year because "this banner rocks and Alexis is awesome. She's in a league of her own and should probably be moved up to the next level." Their words, not mine. Who doesn't like a nice boost! Alexis reminds me so much of my friend Kim (Green) Baugh. We played soccer together since we were 4 and from day one she ran circles around everyone! I'm pretty excited I have a little Kim on my hands! Here's a super short video of one of her goals.

"People don't do that anymore, Amber!" says my sister

So, we go to Alexis' first soccer meeting a week ago. They've decided to do her age group different this year and make it only teams of 5. And while in attendance I realized something about myself: My brain doesn't send signals to my arms fast enough. The coach says, "we can order the banner or if someone wants to make it they can." What happens? My arm flies up faster than I thought possible. Then I react and my face showed it like: "Amber, what the heck did you just do!" But somehow, I decide...I want to do this. Because I get my kicks off of doing crafts. After I'm finished, I wonder if the millions of "don't touch, get back, Mommy's busy" were really worth it. Unfortunately, this should have only taken a day or two...but I worked two days in the middle. And I don't put things away mid-project so my kids got a lot of "don't touches" this week. But here's the finished product for my first soccer banner:
I made the whole thing out of felt. I cut out the letters and the girls on my cricut (the new paper dolls cartridge that I absolutely love) I had to cut it out on the paper...then I pinned it with sewing pins like a pattern on the felt and hand cut everything. I spray painted white behind the girls so their uniforms would stand out. I used ribbon for the bows. The soccer ball is all me. I know...I'm good. Just kidding. Their names were lots of fun to do. I used iron on paper to get the cute writing in black...then I used glitter glue to go over the wand and names! I am fully aware now...that the norm is now to order the airbrushed banners. But still...it was fun and I would definitely do it again. Besides, it was less than half the price than ordering it. My theory has always been..."Oh, I can make it for less!"
And here's my daughter who couldn't be more thrilled about starting soccer, her PINK uniform, and her team name "Pinkalicious" after her favorite book! (If you have daughters and you've never read it...go get it at the library. It's darling!)