I've been under the false impression that in order to make blogging worth it, each and every post had to be some sort of literary masterpiece. Since I'm not in the frame of mind for such dabblings (or babblings) I have instead chosen NOT to blog much.
I guess I forgot that this blog was originally put together so that our families and close friends could enjoy the doings and going ons of our growing family and as a sorts of "family journal".
For those of you who are neither family nor "close" friends, keep that thought in mind as today I "dazzle" you with two very boring updates (that only a mother could love) and one rather silly story.
First, I finally took the plunge and painted our living room.
I've been itching to do it since the day we moved in but was delayed by actually closing on the house, and then a miscarriage, and then life as it generally is. At the beginning of the summer I didn't quite make it to Home Depot's memorial day paint sale. I was rather disappointed. Now I would have to pay full price for paint because there was NO way I was going to wait until Labor day for their next paint sale. Fast forward several months. Let's just say I have a rebate coming in the mail.
Here is a before shot (which I remembered to do only after I had taped off):
and the afters (gives a whole new meaning to accent wall, yes?):
Now I'm sure most people would have waited to take after shots until they had cleaned up, put the furniture back, and re-decorated. Not me. Because I have only accomplished the first two. Still working on the putting things back on the walls. Give me a break. It's only been a couple of weeks now. :)
On another note the dreaded hand, foot and mouth disease has come to visit us.
Kian's poor face. If you think this looks bad you should see his sad bottom. I did restrain from taking a picture of it and posting it here. That would just be bad on several levels but you can take my word for it. It's SO SAD!
Looking back, I seem to recall when Gabe had it, and again when Cael did, their cases were very similar to Kians. My kids have gotten off fairly easy. I've seen pictures online. This is nothing.
As you can see he's as happy as can be. No worse for the ware.
Which is where the funny story comes in.
Yesterday as we were sitting down to dinner it was my turn to pray. I began with several things we were grateful for, one of which being the ease our children had seen throughout this particular sickness (Gabe also got a fever and sore throat...no spots) and thanked Heavenly Father that Kian was so happy despite the discomfort and pain he must be in. I tried to go on but Kian, who had obviously been actually listening to the words of the prayer (which caught me completely by surprise...I mean he's only 2), so rudely interrupts my prayer, by yelling out, "I NOT HAPPY!!!!!", in his loudest, grumpiest voice ever.
A few snickers here and there from the older boys but I shrugged it off and tried to continue.
Again, "I NOT HAPPY." (snicker, snicker in the background)
I look at Rob, who was obviously waiting for my cue. I seized the moment, setting aside my usual "must set an exceptional example" way of thinking and burst out laughing. That set Rob off and soon we were all laughing loud and clear. Except Kian....who was still yelling, "I NOT HAPPY."
After a few seconds of truly delightful lightheartedness (of which we do NOT see a lot of), I quieted things down and quickly finished the prayer.
Our night continued as usual, except with an air of contentedness we hadn't felt around here in a long time. It was awesome!
So, I thank you, Mr. Golden Locks for adding a bit of lightness into our lives. You truly are a blessing from God. The glue that has bound our broken family back together.
I love you dearly....
even if the sight of you kinda grosses me out right now. :)
Tonight Cael got a nasty bump on his eyebrow and had quite the cry about it. In my efforts to console him, I reminded him that I knew just how it felt. "Remember the story I told you about when I got hurt there and had to get stitches." (my older brother Andrew threw a tin can at my head and it sliced open my brow. He also pushed me off the bathroom counter causing my chin to split open...more stitches...but that's another story).
Apparently the mention of this story caused Isaac some serious concern. He followed me with haste as I exited the room.
With a great look of hurt Isaac asked, "Mom. Why was Uncle Andrew so mean to you?"
To which I replied, "Well...why are you mean to your brothers sometimes?"
As I go on to explain that siblings just get frustrated with each and hurt each other, etc, Isaac interrupts to answer my previous question.
"But, I'm not." (frowning) "I'mtrying to do what is right. I'm tryingto be like Jesus."
His husky little voice was pleading for me to understand.
I was such a proud mama at that moment.
Yes...he IS trying. He's been praying for help every night to do just those things.
And so I reassured him...
"You are right. You are trying hard, aren't you?"
and then taught him a small lesson about repentance and forgiveness...
"And I think Uncle Andrew was trying too. Sometimes, even when we are trying, we still mess up. Then we need to say we are sorry and try to do better."
He looked mighty relieved. "Okay!" he says.
And off he went.
What a truly sweet (even if he is my most naughty) boy.
I used to wonder why I would always hear mothers exclaim in exasperation, "I can't WAIT for school to start." Then I became a mother.
Now I get it.
I'm always happy when summer comes around and more than thankful for a reprieve from "structure" and schedules. I usually carry this on through June and even most of the way through July. Then August hits and I am DYING to say "goodbye freedom" and "hello order".
This year was no exception.
I must say, however, that having TWO kids in full time school made the commencement of this year even more exciting. (squeal)
I'd like to say we went all out. You know, school shopped until we dropped, made a fancy shmancy dinner to welcome in the school year, gorged our pantry with lots of sack lunch goodies, and even woke up early on the first day to create a culinary masterpiece of wholesome breakfast goodness to get the brain going.
But...we didn't.
Instead we dug through buckets of hand-me-down clothes and found some pants that were in "first day of school shape" (otherwise known as hole-less and stain-less), ordered a few shirts from Target.com (which haven't arrived yet)and pulled dinner together at the last minute with very little thought. But...we DID go to Burger King for $.50 ice cream cones to "celebrate" the end of summer, I DID get up and make oatmeal for breakfast and I DID put a little extra something in their otherwise boring lunches....a string cheese. Yeah...I'm the BESTmom.
Don't be too jealous, though. I made up for my greatness rather quickly.
Gabe spent most of the morning in tears because I INSISTED on doing a bit of painful "doctoring" that just "couldn't be put off a moment longer". Yeah.....poor kid. I should have waited. Sigh....
I may not make "mom of the year" but the kids got out the door to school on time, with excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Yeay for school!
"Aw MOM...we're gonna be late."
Gabe- 4th Grade
Cael 1st Grade
It kills me to know that I could have had three in school this year. However, we decide to keep Isaac at home until next year (bummer). He didn't turn 5 until early August and my "mommy feelings" tell me he's just not ready yet. Even bigger sigh...... For now he will stay at home and help me entertain Kian.
There are HUGE benefits in that.
Happy School days everyone. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Going for a "tough girl" look...came out with a "there's something in my eye" look instead.
I went...I conquered...I found my "inner warrior".
Today I competed in the 2nd Annual Omak Warrior Stampede here in our very own adjacent town of Omak, WA.
Now, while these types of "warrior" races are popping up all over the country, THIS race has something NO OTHER VENUE does. "Suicide Hill" followed by a swim across the Okanogan River, then directly into the stadium for the last 2 obstacles. It was seriously intense.
Photo of Suicide Hill taken from the stadium by Rob
I decided months ago that I wanted to do this race. Why not, right? It's only a 3+ mile run and a few obstacles. "It doesn't matter that I really haven't been running a lot lately. I can do it."
I tried to recruit to no avail. Instead, I got a lot of "maybe next year" 's and "try it out for me and let me know" 's. "Alright then....I'll do it alone."
As the summer wore on I only went running a few times. I was so busy teaching aerobics at the church 3 times a week and having fun with my new ZUMBA fitness game that I just didn't make the time. "That's okay", I thought. "I'll do it anyway" (yep...get that from my dad, remember?).
So I FINALLY signed up for it on Monday of this week and went for a 5 mile run on Tuesday (complete with several high knees, hills, and butt kick exercises) in a final lame attempt to "train" for this thing. Hah..... First of all, the run just about killed me....and second....NOTHING could have prepared me for these obstacles.
There were ten of them, each put together by one of the race sponsers.
"Barbarian Barracade": 4 chest high barriers interspersed with low lying barbed wire. Over the barrier, under the wire.
Apple bins: 4 waist high, water filled apple bins loaded onto a flat bed trailer. Climb up onto the trailer, climb in and out of the bins (get soaking wet), slide down a long slide to get off trailer, and biff it at the end....just like everyone else.
"Knee High Hades": Tire Runs, climb over a heaping tower of tires, and more tire runs. Whew!
"Hay Fever": A series of hay bales to climb over including a 3 story pyramid. Exhausting...and itchy. I tried pulling some quirky ninja moves and was complimented on my "grace" by one of the volunteers. Ha ha ha!
picture taken by Rob just as I passed the first water station just passed "Hay Fever"
"Junker Jump": Climbing up and over, and up and over, 6 cars with VERY little room for recovery. UGH! But I had a bit of fun with this one. There was a photographer in the 5th car filming the contestants. I got right up next to the windshield and made, what I hope turned out to be, an authentic warrior scowl (as in super ugly) complete with "battle cry". I seriously hope I get to see that footage later.
"Warrior Wall": After ascending a long, steep hill we were immediately required to climb up and over a ladder type wooded wall. Holy Cow! It took me a while to catch my breath after this one. This was the FIRST time in the race I just about tossed my cookies.
"Black Out": Nearing the home stretch we had to drop down into a 15 yard (or so) underground tunnel. The top was sealed off with wood boards (which I was grateful for...I thought it was going to be completely constructed of dirt) and the ends were tarped off, making it very dark in there. I was crawling at a moderate pace but heard someone coming up behind me. I thought they were gaining on me and I couldn't let that happen. So I sped up.
"Suicide Hill": By far the funnest part of the course. A 225 foot, 66% grade, soft dirt (thank you horses) Hill. I was exhausted by this point and worried that my legs were going to buckle at any given moment, but I didn't care. I ran down that sucker, hoopen' and hollerin' the whole way. It was exhilarating.
(Because of camera malfunctions, Rob didn't actually get ME coming down the hill but shot a few people coming down after me ,once he lost sight of me in the river)
Then on to the most grueling part of the race (for me).
"River Run": The Okanogan River. The current was very swift, and it get's deep so fast that you can't touch the bottom. I didn't even try at first. I plunged in and took off. There was a split second, after less than a dozen strokes, that I reminded myself of how horrible of a swimmer I am and wondered if I would make it. "What if I can't do it?" I remember thinking. But I wasn't about to just give up. I closed my eyes and focused on swinging one arm after another. I tried to get in a few kicks here and there but my legs were just SO tired and weighed down by my shoes. The current was so fast it would cause my legs to criss-cross anyway. When I could finally touch on the other side, I tried to stand up and wade through it but the current was still too fast. It knocked me over several times but I just kept going. I was SURE the 4-5 people who were right behind me, before the hill, were going to catch up but when I looked back, I realized they were still in the river. I wanted to shout for joy but was too busy trying to stop my head from spinning and swallowing down the bile that was crawling up my throat. Yeah...that was the SECOND time during the race I almost vomited.
At this point I was so beat. The river bank on the other side was almost more than I could bare. I wasn't sure I had anything left. I struggled with myself for a second, because I NEVER allow myself to stop and walk during a run, but eventually gave in. For just a few seconds, I allowed myself to walk up the hill...take a few steps on flat ground....and then, once my head cleared....I started jogging again. VERY, VERY SLOWLY.
As I headed toward the stadium...and the last two obstacles ("Muddy Mayhem" and "Warrior Roast")...I made a decision. I was either going to give it my all...or die trying (which didn't seem like such a foreign concept at the time). I just couldn't give up.
I heard my children cheering just before I rounded the gate into the stadium and it gave me the energy boost I needed to keep going. I picked up my pace and finished the race with all the energy I had left. I even found enough energy to add in my "Family Circus signature move" (In your honor DAD!)....The Cartwheel! See for yourself...
I thought I was pretty close to the front of the pack but really had no idea how I'd done. As I crossed the finish line, the volunteer told me that I was the FIRST GIRL to finish.
NOW THAT FELT AWESOME!!!!
Turns out there were only 3 men head of me too.
I couldn't believe it. I mean, WOW! 4th in my heat....never would have guessed it.
It's always amazing to me what you can do when you put your mind to it.
When I would feel myself slowing down, or mentally getting tired, I would repeat to myself things like, "You're okay." "You can do it." "Just keep going." "One foot in front of the other." Once I even yelled to myself (in my head, of course) "YOU ARE A WARRIOR!" Me, myself, and I had a good outward chuckle about that one. I'm sure anyone near thought I was delusional or suffering from heat stroke. Ha ha ha!!!
In the end...I'm so glad I did it. What an experience!
Post Race with the kiddos
Next year, I think maybe I'll even train for it.
Can't wait to see the final results posted tonight.
For the first time in my life, I have been carrying a bit of extra weight long term (okay, so there what that time after first getting married....). I don't know whether the three miscarriages in the last year or my nightly indulgence of sweet sugary somethings is more to blame but it's become quite the problem. The kids are even starting to notice.
The other day I was loading the kids up in the car. As I strapped Kian
in his seat I was taken aback by just how cute his big chubby cheeks
were. I said to him, "Oh Kian....why can't 'chubby' look so cute on
everyone." Gabe, walking up behind me says, "Chubby does look good on
everyone." To which I replied, while grabbing the
rolls of fat that have found their home around my middle, "Well, it's
not cute on me." Gabe thinks about this for a second, shrugs his
shoulders and says, "But it's not UGLY on you either." Sweet unobservant boy.
I
laughed....hard. I could have kissed the boy (come to think of it I
probably should have).
and...
Yesterday, as I'm putting Isaac and Cael to bed, Isaac looks at me and
says, "Why is your tummy getting bigger?" *OUCH* "Is there a baby in there?" *Sigh* "No," I replied, "There is not." He just looked at me, as though he didn't believe me. Poor confused kid. The only time my kids have ever seen me "round" is when there
IS a baby in there.
I think it may be time to get serious about eating more healthy and loosing this excess poundage.
Not that it stops me from doing things (I finally signed up for the Omak Warrior Stampede which will be this Saturday) but it will make me feel more comfortable in my own skin (literally) and that's pretty important to me.
We'll see how it goes. (I sound TERRIBLY motivated, don't I...he he he).
