And the Winner Is...

ALMOST Jacob!! For the past three years, we have participated in a "Spooktakular" Kids K race the week before Halloween. The boys are always there to cheer me on at my races and I LOVE the thought of being able to cheer them on in something I love.

Well, this year Jacob had a goal to be in the top 10 finishers. It seemed like an obtainable goal, so we talked it up on the way to the race. When they lined up at the starting line, the coordinator explained the race course. It was a bit confusing, and Jacob informed him he didn't know where he was going. "Don't worry, they'll be plenty of kids to follow." As the kids started running, Jacob broke out in a full on sprint. Oh no! I hadn't prepared him. We didn't talk about pacing himself and I thought for sure he would lose it quickly and slow down. But as the kids turned the corner and started running back towards us, Jacob was still running strong and in third place. I was so proud of him!!

(love this picture!)

And then, as he passed me watching in wide-eyed wonder, the girls ahead of him slowed down and Jacob kept going. He had just taken first place. I was exstatic!! My son was in FIRST PLACE!!! I had never had that feeling that Jacob must have felt at that moment: Leader of the pack. What a feeling!! My son!! Yeah, yeah...Oh no, why is he turning?? Suddenly there were no kids to follow, and instead of going straight, Jacob had turned at the cone and was heading back towards us, while the other kids continued on the path. My heart sunk! By the time I got over to him, he had figured it out and took off back with all the other kids. He fininshed the course, passed many of the runners back up and ended up coming in fourth place!! Which is fabulous, but left us all wondering "what if he hadn't turned?" The race coordinator felt so bad about the situation and gave Jacob a medal. In our book, he was the winner.
One of the reasons I love races so much is because of the little life lessons that can always be learned. Phil and I talked about how proud of Jacob we were. When he found out he had taken the wrong path, he could have given up and stopped running, but he didn't stop to pout. He quickly turned around and finished good and strong. If Jacob can quickly and eagerly get back on the straight and narrow path when he takes a wrong turn in life, he will sail on to the finish line as he did yesterday. Great job Jake. You're my hero!

Cut it out

One of my favorite things to find scattered about the house these days is the collection of pictures that Micah has produced over the past few weeks. His favorite thing to do lately is to get pictures from the computer, color and cut them out (he's is excellent with the scissors for his age) and play little games with them. We have star wars pictures, cats, baby dumbo, puffles, dragons and all sorts of little creatures. I love to see my kids be artistic and creative with their blossoming talents!

Home again, home again!

At last!! It's been an exciting week for our family. My parents arrived home from their mission last week. They have been in Cherbourg, France, serving faithfully and whole-heartedly for the past 18 months. It has been a wonderful experience for them and our whole family. Phil and I enjoyed meeting the wonderful people there and they have built some lasting friendships. But...it's time to have them back and we are so excited as you can see!!
It was a little slice of heaven for me last week as the family gathered together. The beautiful fall weather was PERFECT! The kids played and played. We enjoyed a family game of baseball, great food and just having mom and dad back at their house. It felt so lonely to go there without them. We're grateful they went and grateful to have them home again. Welcome Home Grandpa and Grandma!!

The Family that works together...

gets Lego Star Wars. Yes, we do bribe our children. Do you ever need that extra boost of encouragement to help them do something and do it well? No complaining, no negotiating, just a productive evening? With not much daylight, we needed one such boost this evening. We have hard working boys, when they want to be, and tonight for the above reason, they wanted to be!!

It was great. Phil mowed the lawn and the boys and I cleaned out the overgrown, rotting, squishy garden. The boys were so helpful. Jacob especially. By the time the rest of us finished our dinner and found working shoes, he had cleared out about half of our pumpkin patch. And he just kept going. It was fantastic. I have to admit on a cool, fall evening I was in heaven out there working with my family. It just felt good.

The other great thing was the enthusiasm we were able to muster out of the neighborhood children. By the time it was too dark to see each other, we had recruited 6 other kids to help us. Actually, they came to us. I guess it just looked like too much fun! The three girls became the cheer squad with loading arms and a bundle of energy. The boys became the muscles of the group, hefting bags of squashed tomatoes and pumpkin vines.

So, all-in-all, it made for Friday evening cheaper than the movies, dinner out or playtime at Kangaroo Zoo. Just $10.99 for a Lego Star Wars set. Well worth the money.

Soccer Mom

I think I just found out what it means to be a soccer mom. This whole season I thought it meant stuffing food down their throats, rushing off to soccer games, splitting up and switching off kids so Phil can get to his church meetings AND see as much soccer as possible, telling my kid to get out there and play like a man, cheering for the "Candy Cane Crabs!" (red and white striped uniforms, of course they'd be called the candy cane crabs!), searching for bathrooms anywhere in the vicinity of the soccer field, consoling Micah twice every Wednesday night as each boy savored his soccer treat, and finally finding joy in watching kids knowing where the ball is AT ALL TIMES!! Yes, it's been great season for all of us.

But just now, Micah, Ben and I took on Jacob in a game of soccer in the front yard. What started as a scrimmage between Jacob and I turned into a lot of fun as we played at dusk in the cool, crisp, autumn weather. Although our team lost, we all got a good work out and enjoyed the game with minimal tears. Little Micah has certainly benefited from watching on the sidelines. What fun to be out there playing with all three of them!! I'm happy to finally experience the real definition of "soccer mom." Love you boys.

Blessed!

This about sums it up!! (no exaggeration!) By Friday morning I was quite discouraged and didn't know if I'd be able to even run on Saturday. Phil gave me a blessing which calmed me down and boosted my confidence immensely. We were headed down to St. George. The race was incredibly hard for me, but I finished!! I was grateful to be able to do it after training so hard and I beat my record by 2 minutes!! The whole 26 miles, well maybe only 23 of it, I said this was going to be my last marathon, but...I totally reserve the right to change my mind!!

Sounds like life to me...

Fan or not, you have to admit that country music most often serves a dose of reality. A song I've heard quite often on the radio has this chorus:

Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me

It begins with two men talking. One is complaining about all that is wrong in life and the other is quite unsympathetic. It's life. We all go through it. And it is so true.

Which is why after four months, 612 miles (yes I kept track) and only 2 days away from my fourth marathon, I should not be surprised to wake up with a sore throat and a stuffed up head. It's incredible, inconceivable and well, inevitable! If it wasn't a sore throat, it would be a child throwing up all over on the way down to the marathon (which is what my lucky running partner experienced last night!)

So I guess I'm telling myself to suck it up and deal with it. Thanks to a fellow running instacare doc, I've got some meds that will hopefully make it all better and I'll have a great marathon. Come what may, here we go!