Summer Jubilee

The fourth of July was almost a month away, but I wanted to share some of things we did that day.  Unfortunately I was having problems with my camera so there are no pictures.  After my exhausting race we took the kids to see the poor animals that all the kids overly loved!  Blake and Ava got to touch a goat, calf and kitten.  This was amazing for a 1 and 2 year old.  Then we took them to ride Easter, a horse, it was their first horse ride (this is why I am blogging about it).  They proudly rode Easter while Daddy walked along to ensure that nobody fell off.  Ava clutched Easter's mane and Blake held on tight to Sissy.  We also watch a hometown parade with lots of trucks and cars.  Blake would on occasion elbow Daddy as if to say do you see what is coming next!  They picked up candy that was thrown their way and as a Mom I proudly watched my son give a piece of candy to a little girl sitting next to us because she didn't get any.  Talk about melting my heart.  Blake is so kind and considerate, I just love that boy.  We had a small picnic with Grandmother and Pappy that evening, but decided not to attend the fireworks this year.  It was a fun day with the family.

I also wanted to add that in our local newspaper of the race, no you can't see me, but my mom is in the background watching us (all 500+) take off.  I thought it was great to see her in the picture.

Firecracker, Firecracker, Boom Boom Boom!

Do you remember that cheer ladies?  Well, it's as old as I feel today!  I am proud to say that I did complete the Firecracker 5K in respectable time (under 40 minutes is what I consider respectable).  I felt great during the run and even afterwards, but today is another story.  At 4am when Ava began crying for me I realized getting out of bed was more than a challenge!  Luckily after rubbing her back for 15 minutes she was happy to go back to bed and so was I.

 Erin, Sara, Holly (before the run)

 Sara, during the run

Ava and Blake patiently waiting for Mommy!

The race was certainly an experience that I am glad that I took on.  I need to thank Holly for inspiring me and challenging me to do this for myself and check it off my bucket list.  I am so grateful to have a friend like her.  She is always putting others before herself and thinks of the small things that mean great deal to a person like me.  She prepared me for this race in countless ways.  For the past months when I would tell her about me running at home she always sounded impressed.  The last month she had me running the course every week with her and told me where the mile markers would be and more importantly where the water stations would be located.  She let me know that she always took a drink and even walked some of the course herself.  On our last run she presented me with a digital sport watch to help me track my pace.  When we did our final run before the race last week she limped her way with me (she has had a knee problem that almost caused her not to run) and we looked at our watches to see how long it took us to get to certain places.  We had a marker at a yellow house and I was thrilled when I got to that house yesterday and saw that my watch was at 28 minutes and just last week it read 32 minutes.  It gave me the boost that I needed to keep trucking along.  At the end of the race I got to see my shining family with flags in their hands and smiles on their faces.  Holly and her family were cheering as I came down the home stretch and Erin and Shane stood at the very end when I crossed and almost collapsed in their waiting arms!  I have to say it was it worth my sore body today.  Erin I am so glad that you joined us on this adventure.  You are so encouraging and I am blessed to have you as a friend and now a running partner (well, I may not be running every week in town, but we will meet up again next June to run).  Now Erin and I will have to look forward to the "Turkey Trot" that Holly is signing us up for:)  A special thanks to Holly for the special medal that Ellie gave me as I finished the race.  The inscription says "Sara 5K champ".  Also a big thanks goes out to Ed who gave me the opportunity every week to run with the girls because he saw this was important to me and encouraged me every week to keep it up.

Running Apparel

Doesn't this shirt just say it all!  Graciously my mom bought this shirt for me and I cracked up when I read it.  It truly depicts the picture of me:)  I definitely consider myself to be a super mom, super wife and super tired.  So if you are at the firecracker race next tomorrow, yes I said next tomorrow, look for me in this super purple shirt.  I am sure it will be hard to find me in the big crowd as I am whizzing by everyone.  (A girl can dream, can't she?)

An Egg Hunt on Father's Day?

Blake couldn't be happier to have had an egg hunt with his cousins.  My mom had this egg hunt because for Easter it was only Blake and Ava so we hide 2 dozen eggs that was plenty, so with all the eggs left over mom waited until all of her grandchildren could partake in the festivities.  I must tell on Breanna, whom graciously gave Blake some of her eggs that had candy in them.  She would shake the egg to see if there was money and if she didn't hear money she opened it to see if there was a dollar bill in it.  Any without cash she passed on to Blake making us all go "Ahh, what a sweet cousin".
Ava didn't participate because she was napping.  I was shocked that she fell asleep and napped for 2 long hours.  Good job princess!

It was Father's Day so as a tradition we eat crabs and shrimp and a variety of other foods.  I was thrilled that Ed was able to join us for a little until he was off to work.  We also had a slip and slide that kids slide down and chased one another with water.  It was a little chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

 Uncle Tom, cousin Mary, Uncle Jim, Dad, Brad still eating!

 Brady warmin up!

The Green Nun!

The kids also enjoyed riding Pappy's four-wheeler around the house.  Lauren even got to drive it!

 Blake, Ashley, Brad

 Ava, Lauren, Pappy

Breanna put Ava in the baby stroller and pushed her around!



Power Wheels

Blake and Ava love their "new" wheels!  Luckily Blake doesn't notice or care that he is sporting around in a Barbie 4-wheeler.  As long as it goes he is a happy boy.  Ava is fun to watch because she hasn't grasped that she is controlling the 4-wheeler.  Sometimes she is getting off and hits the button to go, but it makes her laugh.  I blessed to watch them experience the little things in life.

Trading Jillian for Bob

Well, as you know I am on a quest to get in shape so to help get there I have been "faithfully" running.  A couple of weeks ago me and my crew (Holly and Erin) asked a fellow friend that we graduated high school with to join us.  Now this sweet girl, Julie, has been a runner all her life and was warned that we were not runners so this would not be a workout.  Well, let's just say she had me begging to walk!  We had to run every hill we encountered.  When you are on the streets of our town driving you would probably ask yourself, "What hills?".  If you are running the streets of our hometown you would know them well.  It was a real workout and we did complete the 5K route, it may have taken us 44 minutes, but we did it.  Afterwards, I limped away on my poor hurting shins and aching heel and ate a poptart!  Not the best way to get into shape is to go home and eat, but I know my crew confessed to doing the same and eating things just as unhealthy as a poptart:)  Julie, my friend, I can't say that I will see you during race unless it is you on the home stretch and I will still be chugging along.  I also want to trade you in, whom we nicknamed Jillian from the Biggest Loser, for Bob the other Biggest Loser trainer.  Let me also point out that I didn't run for a week after that and yes, I am telling on my crew because they also didn't run for a week or more!  I love my crew!  To make matters worse we have been running on Tuesdays, but this week switched to Wednesday, I hope "Jillian" didn't show up a day ahead and think we stood her up.  We did complete the 5K route again and accomplished it in 43 minutes, which is a real milestone in our books.

Yard Sale Extravaganza

Over the weekend I headed to my favorite Kid Yard Sale.  This only comes twice a year, but boy do I look forward to it.  My friend Holly is the one that got me hooked on this yard sale.  I was never one to go to them, until I saw all that she was purchasing for a fraction of the cost and I certainly couldn't tell that were "used" items!

My Goods

I came home so happy that I found a train table for Blake's trains and even a power operated car!  I always wanted one of these when I was little so when I saw this one for $30 I had to have it for my kids.  So it is a Barbie one, but luckily Blake doesn't notice and is just thrilled to ride around on it.  When I got it out he said, "Who-hoo, Cool Man!".   When I told him the day before that I was going to a yard sale is there anything he wanted he told me a "goldfish".  Luckily they didn't have any for sale and I don't think he noticed that I didn't bring one home!  Note to my Mom:  DO NOT BUY A GOLDFISH!  Our deal is no more live animals unless approved by Ed and I.  Anyway I had a huge list and was pleased to have most on my list, including a Leapster that Holly insisted I buy for $2!  I am thrilled my purchases, even though I spent more than I wanted, don't tell Ed:)