Football

The football season is just flying by. Both boys are playing again this year and are enjoying it. They both play wide receiver, mainly. It's fun to have them playing the same position. If you drive by our house, there is a good chance you will witness a game of football of some sort going on in the front yard. Be it a game of catch, some full-on pads for all out tackling (often involving a tough 7-year-old sister, also in full pads) or a game of touch. The boys sure love their football.

Both boys teams are a bit on the wrong side of a winning record for the season so far, but are enjoying themselves anyway . . . thankfully! We have had some great family and friend fan support, which means so much to the boys (and their parents!).

It's so fun to watch your kids do something that they love . . . and our boys love their football!

The elementary school kids get to have one night game under the lights on the turf at the high school each season (all their other games are at a grass field at a local park on Saturday mornings). They are SO pumped for their night game. Our 5/6 team (the Raiders!) plays tonight and we are excited to cheer loudly for #11 and his teammates! Hopefully the weather holds out and the game will go on and we won't get too wet in the process!

And their football playing keeps our laundry room busy as well . . . here is an entire load of football stuff drying on the line after particularly muddy games for both boys last weekend. One game in the rain and two games in the mud after a whole lotta rain the previous day!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2302. day camp for Anna
2303. a fun night with a couple girlfriends :: laughter and a chick flick
2304. Joe's first day of archery
2305. Anna's first day of soccer
2306. Kirb home again :: for an extended stay this time!
2307. snuggling with Joe first thing in the morning before anyone else is awake
2308. my monkeys climbing trees
2309. a good 5K race
2310. packing Jacob and Lydia for camp {and the fact that they mostly pack themselves and we just double check makes it extra-great!!}
2311. having my clothesline functional once again
2312. a perfect summer day
2313. a fun housewarming party for good friends with a beautiful, perfect new home
2314. having church at home {they van needs some work}
2315. two kids safely dropped off at camp for the week
2316. family bike ride
2317. TONS of fun old cars in town for the weekend :: sitting on Snelling watching them drive by. a few even honked their fabulous horns {horns sounded so much better in the 50's and 60's. way more unique than they are now}
2318. an evening spent at the park
2319. organizing 5 kids worth of came-home-on-the-last-day-of-school papers
2320. crafting
2321. when your kids do things that surprise you and bless your socks right off
2322. a great husband who supports, encourages and loves me when I'm not doing so great {and when I am}
2323. prayer
2324. the funny things our kids say, that make my day

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

no. 2

I ran my second 5K yesterday morning. It was the "Run for the Roses" race, which is part of Roseville's annual Rosefest. Running it was kind of a last minute decision. When I checked the weather on Friday afternoon, the Saturday morning forecast looked beautiful, so I decided I'd give it a go. The race started at 8 on Saturday morning, so I got there about 7:15 to register. I got my bib and my official shoe-lace race timer thing, took a last potty break and headed to the starting line. There was a 5K and a 10K, as well as a 10K "Roll for the Roses" that people did on roller blades. The "rollers" started 5 minutes before the runners. All the runners started together and then the 5K and 10K routes diverged a ways down the road. Not too far into the race I picked two ladies :: one I was NOT going to let cross the finish line before me and one that {although a bit of a challenge} I was going to work hard to beat. The first lady has worked out at the same Y as me for years, and although I haven't ever had a conversation with her and don't know her, I remembered that I ran pretty much neck and neck with her in my 5K last month, and so I was determined to beat her. The 2nd lady was a little ways ahead of me for most of the race and so, I figured, she would be a good challenge and push me a little harder. Shortly after the first water break, a particularly good song came up on my iPod and made me cry. Now, I'm a cryer, there's no doubt about it, but I wasn't expecting this. It kinda hit me out of nowhere. Nice, just what I wanted, to be crying mid-race. Then, right before the finish, a woman just ahead of me ran by her husband and kids who were near the finish cheering her on and she grabbed her little guy's hand {he was probably 3 or so} and ran the rest of the way with him. So, not surprisingly, I started crying again. Perfect. So very me! I came to the finish line {with one shoe untied -- it came untied when I was nearly at the end and I figured I was safe to finish before I tied it. Thankfully, I was right and didn't trip or anything} ahead of both my two goal ladies {whoo hoo} and more than a minute ahead of my time from last month. So, I was excited about all that. However, on the downside, I did get beat by the first two 10K finishers. {Turns out they run twice as fast as me. Super!} And also, there was a lady just on my tail that I overheard telling someone that she was a great-grandma. Holy cow! So, there you have it. My second 5K is in the books!

it must be january

. . . the other day when I got to the Y all the treadmills were full. ALL of them. There are lots! Then yesterday when I got there, the childcare was at capacity. They gave me a pager and told me I was #2 on the waiting list and they'd page me when enough kids had left that I could check mine in. Crazy! Oh well, it should settle down a bit pretty soon. Right?

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts":

1759. $20 found on the ground and no one in sight who may have lost it
1760. IKEA
1761. fun times at the Children's Museum
1762. backyard fires still in mid-November::1763. tree-climbing girls
1764. a good 6.23K walk/run as a family on Saturday morning (even though I walked 25% of the race at the pace of a 3-year-old who didn't want to ride in the stroller, we didn't come in dead last)
1765. a fun, much-needed, laughter-filled dinner with girlfriends
1766. finishing a great book during my workout this morning

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

Walking to preschool

. . . and back home again::

Done and . . . done!

Well, we're both officially done with our Lazyman triathlon. Over 225 miles biked, 55 miles ran/walked and 5 miles of swimming between the 2 of us over the last 4 1/2 weeks. I'm so proud of us! It was lots of fun, now I think I'll celebrate with some Peanut Butter M&M's!

Lazyman update

Well, Kirb is DONE with all his miles! He worked really hard last week and just finished up his last few miles of running this morning. Way to go, babe! I have a little biking left to finish this week and then I'll be done too; I wrapped up my swimming and walking/running last week! Soon we will be the proud owners of new t-shirts. Hooray!

Lazyman update: Week 3

Well, we finished our third week of the Lazyman Triathlon. It is an entire Ironman Triathlon {2.5 miles of swimming -- which, at our Y, comes out to 41 laps in the pool, or 82 lengths -- 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running/walking}, but you get 5 weeks to finish. So far, so good. We're done with 3 of our 5 weeks, which, in case math isn't your gift, is 60% of the time we have to finish. Here's what we've logged so far:

Shana:
Swimming: 36 laps {88% done}
Biking: 66.7 miles {60% done}
Walking {with a few small hints of jog/run}: 23.1 miles {89% done}

Kirby:
swimming: 26 laps {63% done}
Biking: 88 miles {79% done}
Running {most of his actually was running} 14 miles: {53% done}

Overall, we're even a little ahead of schedule. It's been fun so far, but it is a lot of work to make sure you can log a decent chunk of miles almost every day. We were gone all weekend, so we didn't get much done then . . . although I was planning to log a few miles on the hotel treadmill, but since it was in the room with the pool which was probably 80 degrees and steamy, I only made it about a mile before I thought I might die, thus ending the weekend workouts! Thanks for cheering us on . . . virtually, if not in person!

On your mark, get set . . . go!

Well, it's official. Kirb and I both signed up for the "Lazyman Triathlon" at the Y. It's an entire Ironman Triathlon, but instead of doing it all in one day, {like the crazy ambitious, in seriously amazing shape people with insane amounts of energy and endurance . . . and who I also must add, often poop their pants as they go} you get 5 weeks to finish {and I promise not to poop my pants!}. So between today and the 9th of August we have to {each} swim 2.5 miles, bike 112 miles and run {walk, more likely} 26.2 miles. I, for one, need a little incentive so I thought it would be fun to sign up. Plus, I'm kind of a "responsible" type, so if I said I would do it then, by george, I'm gonna get it done. Also, the $10 I had to pay to register is also a big incentive for me, not to mention the t-shirt I'll get when I finish!

Kirb put in 17 miles on the stationary bike this morning, I went later in the afternoon and logged 7.7 miles. So, we're on our way. I'll update once in a while and let you know how we're doing. I'm excited!