On the other side of The Half

The update you've all been waiting for! :)

(Catch up here)

Saturday, the 17th, we ran our very first half marathon.

WOOT!! It was SO FUN! I highly recommend it :)

I'm still having trouble believing it myself.

My parents came over before 6am Saturday morning so our babies could sleep.

((I have the best parents))

I don't eat that early in the morning. Yuck. Add serious nervousness and I was willing myself not to vomit. And I ate anyway. Yuck.

But by 7:30am we were pounding the pavement.

As usual, before we even finished the first mile, I wanted to walk. But I pushed through it and kept moving for 13.1 full miles! And at a consistent pace that was complimented :)

Every few miles we were cheered on by a sweet friend who's in our Life Group! It's amazing how encouraging it is to see a familiar face throughout the run!

At 10 miles, when I officially passed into uncharted territory, Derek seemed to develop a bounce in his step. He had a sort of giddy pride. If you know him, you know what I'm talking about.

He was an amazing running partner. I was a little afraid he'd spend the empty time encouraging me to breath and have good posture and relax, etc. But instead it was a very pleasant all morning date! I love him.

We were coming around the pond and approaching the finish line searching for Marie's bright pink vest but couldn't find it! Just as we were about to cross the finish line we spotted my momma snapping a pic...

Ends up they had trouble finding the finish line and managed to pull up just as we were finishing! So the kids were still in the car. But Marie was very happy to see us and the cookies we (by we I mean me) were willing to share.

The official time was 2:17:05

I accomplished both my goals:
1. Ran the entire time
2. Did not come in last

I was back on the road yesterday. Wow, I really love running.

But I pulled a tendon or something in my foot and was told by the chiro today that I need to take a week off. We'll see.

Thank you for following us on this journey! It was seriously so amazing. I couldn't have done it without all of your prayers! I felt them! I'm not just saying that! I've got a cold now, but the day of the race I felt great. I was so encouraged by all the support.

Thank you.

Thinking about doing another half end of October. Who's with me? :)

Hair cuts and a prayer request

If we're friend on facebook, you know that we (Jack, Derek, and I) got haircuts last night. This will be my second time donating a foot of hair to Locks of Love.

Derek loves looong hair. I mean I've actually been a little concerned if I cut it too short, he'd leave me! (Okay, not really, but he certainly wouldn't be thrilled!) But he loves the new do. He spent like 15 minutes last night brushing it and playing with it. It was nice.

Of course it's not short. It's still long. But it's different! And actually has a little style to it for the first time in... well much longer than I'd care to admit.

Now on to the motivation for this post -

The Half is in TWO DAYS!!!

I'm very excited. Very nervous. Totally pumped. Totally freaked out.

But right now my concern is my health. Thanks to an 85 degree day followed by a 65 degree day, I'm feeling kinda ick.

So please say a little extra prayer for me (and Derek!) that we stay/get healthy and just have a great time on Saturday.  I wouldn't mind being sick in bed for two days following the race, I just need to not be sick for these next two days!

Thank you, Friends. Please tell me how I can pray for you!

Oh beautiful naptime.

The perfect time to count my blessings...

41. An eager-to-learn 3 yr old beauty

42. Fall decor

43. Uncle Erik's soccer games.

44. Cousins

45. Room for 3 car seats in the SUV

46. A husband who tells me just before my first 10 mile run - "You could run 15 if you wanted. It's all in your head."

Taken during a 9-miler.

 47. A sister in Christ who prayed for us and allowed herself to be used by God to bless our family.

48. The Wakarusa children's resale!

Marie is absolutely obsessed with her princess pj's.

 49. Amazing homeschool curriculum!

50. Chick-Fil-A ... My sis-in-law and I got free food for ourselves and the 4 kids we had running around us! Amazing food, amazing service, amazing company!

School!

We just completed our first week of preschool!! It was so fun!

I'm babysitting my neighbor. Marie loves "teaching" Tay.

The first day Marie's attention span only lasted about half an hour. But by day 2, she was all about it! She talks about school all the time and gets excited when I tell her it's time to do school.

And in just one week I've seen a vast improvement in her tracing skills and her understanding of uppercase and lowercase letters. She's also doing amazing with coloring/painting inside the lines, and she doesn't have any trouble identifying any letter. I've never specifically worked with her on what numbers look like, but she blew me away with knowing 1-10 almost perfectly!

There's so much to learn and so little time!!

We know exactly why we're homeschooling. And sometime soon I'll write that out. But for now, I'll just leave you with, we believe it's what God wants for us to do right now.

And we love it!!!

I'd love to read any of your thoughts on homeschooling!

By the way, we're doing Erica's preschool curriculum. Highly recommend it!!

Multitudes on Mondays #31-40

This morning I couldn't stop thinking about all the many things I'm thankful for and had no idea how I was going to stick with just 10 for today.

Wow, in a very sudden turn of events I'm not in a super thankful mood anymore! Both kids had sudden melt downs outside in front of our neighbors and for the whole neighborhood to hear.

I mean the all out screaming-and-flailing-and-throwing-themselves-on-the-ground meltdowns.

Yes, BOTH.

But now, several spankings and snuggles later, they are quiet in their rooms, hopefully ready for seriously long naps.

So that brings me to #31:

31. NAP TIME.

32. Green peppers from the garden

33. Cool, fall weather

"Mommy, it's cooooold!"

34. Hoodies. Woot!

35. Life Group

36. Our amazing house that makes having tons of people over so much more fun!

37. First day of homeschool

38. Amazing homeschool blogs that I couldn't live without - Confessions of a Homeschooler and Blog, She Wrote (and so many more!)

39. A job for the husband, even if he has to work on Labor Day.

40. Unexpected check in God's perfect timing.

Well, isn't that the whole purpose of multitudes on mondays - to focus on our many blessings even when we really don't feel like it?

I really do feel better :)

What are you thankful for today? Make sure to link up!

Painful humility

We're going through a sort of rough patch. There have been several occasions where I've felt like we've been kicked while we're down.

See, we're broke. Not the kind of broke that people always seem to be. I mean really broke...

Some bills are being left unpaid...
Food in the fridge or cupboards are thanks to family, friends, WIC, and free coupons from Kroger...
Derek rode over 100 miles on his bike this week because there was no money for gas...

That kinda broke.

And I've had a pretty crappy attitude about it. (Don't ask Derek, he'd probably describe it slightly different than "pretty crappy").

Of course God has yet to leave us without what we need. But for whatever reason, I tend to have the attitude that one of these days He's going to. Even though He won't. I know it.

Are you getting a little insight into my ridiculous attitude?

So, it's yesterday. I promptly got the mail like I always do. I've always loved getting mail and when people make fun of that (and yes several people have!) I always say, "I'm waiting for that random, unexpected check to arrive." Or some kind of fun package is always nice ;)

Two pieces of very boring looking mail, made out to Derek, was all we got. This is actually very normal. But on this particular day, with the help of my bad attitude, I decided I was giving up. Mail was no longer going to be exciting for me. It had failed me so many times. I tossed the mail on the table and trudged away gloomy about one less thing to get excited about each day.

It's evening. Derek is home. I decided it was leftovers night (which means we're all hungry). Derek opens one piece of mail. Not a bill! Something to be grateful for. Then he opens the other piece. He stares at it for a few minutes. Then whips out his phone and starts dialing a number on it.

L - "What is it?"
D - "I don't know. I'm calling to ask."
L - "Are they asking for money?"

In true Derek fashion, he doesn't respond. He just tosses it to me.

There it was. That "random, unexpected" check I'd been waiting for my entire life.

$310 worth of check.

"For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin." (Ps. 38:18)

No, I didn't instantly confess. But let me tell you, I was humbled in the worst way.

It hurt. Like physically hurt.

I fought it for a couple minutes. I cried for a couple minutes. Then I hugged and kissed my husband, apologized and told him I love him.

And asked for pizza. And soda. And gas for the car.

And he delivered.

And so did my God.

I've been torn in a beautiful way... painfully humbled and graciously provided for.

Ouch!
Phew.

"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned... 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit...

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

(Ps. 51)

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting." (Ps. 136:1)

The Babies

So Jack is 14 months old.

14 months old?!?

{Breath in, breath out}

I've really been having a hard time grasping this. I think I keep wishing him to stay little that I'm missing him grow up! He whips out things that by this age he should be doing, but I'm still blown away!

So let's see, he is getting the hang of walking. (This video was taken a couple weeks ago).



He squeals and says, "Dadda!" when Derek gets home.

He announces to me when he has a ball. It sounds something like, "bah."

He loves to play peek-a-boo.

He will occasionally sign thank-you, and sometimes just say it. (Often sounds like "gunk gunk" just like his big cousin used to do!)

He is not in the least bit afraid of the trampoline or the slide.



He's learning to snuggle in and listen to me read without demanding to play with the book (learning being the operative word).

He can officially throw a ball as far as his big sister.

Today he said "bye" for the first time while he waved.

Okay, I could go on and on. Wow, I just love that kid.

It is definitely time for some discipline. He can throw his tantrums, that's for sure. Oh I just can't bare the thought of spanking him, but I already see the repercussions of my lack of disciplining! I'll get on that, I promise!

Marie is so fantastic. She's in learning mode! She's always asking questions and she remembers everything! You know the experts always say to use every day experiences to teach. It's so fun now that she responds, remembers, understands. She's learned about light reflecting recently. She counts everything but usually if it's over 3 it goes something like...

"1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11!"

That 4 just throws it all off!

She's learning letter sounds and seems to finally be getting the hang of colors. I can tell her to find something blue, for example, and she'll find something blue. But if I pick up something that's blue and ask her what color it is, she just doesn't seem to get it.

I know she'll get it soon enough.

(We start preschool here at home on Monday!!)

She is one serious athlete. Oh and dancer, but daddy doesn't like to talk about that :)

She's mastered somersaults (Jack is learning them too!) and the "sit stand" on the trampoline. Derek can bounce her five feet into the air and she'll land on her feet. She loves riding her bikes.

Her most recent obsession has been drawing/coloring. There is always a plethora of sidewalk chalk murals all over the driveway, back patio, trampoline, and Lexi. And some of the pictures I can actually make sense of!

Her bestest pal and fellow mess-maker.

She's begun to call herself (and one of her dolls) "Marie Wove."

And she sings. And talks. And sings. And talks.

And sings.

And talks.

The world would be incomplete without her.

I cannot believe I get to be their mom.

God is good to me.