YES!!!! He changed his clothes!!!!

Last year when I dropped Brock off at camp I picked him up in the exact same clothes. It is nice to know he actually changed them this year and he actually looks like he washed his hair!

Ok, I know it's probably the angle of the picture, or the swimming, but Yay!

Gee, Nice to see his spending money is going to the healthy drinks, like soda! NOT!

The Banker

So, My husband and I were driving somewhere this weekend when we begin discussing our schedules for next week. We both have 2 different appointments in different locations.

I volunteered him to take Reece and Zeb to the Dentist with him, since they love Zeb and Reece can keep an eye on him while he is getting his teeth taken care of.

Apparently Reece was listening, he articulated as only Reece can... "I prefer CASH!".

All Business that kid.

Go,Go,Go!!

Auntie Sara did Awesome today at the Janesville Tri!
Zebbie finished the run with her.

Need a Gift Idea?

I want this shirt!
I am a huge Grey's Anatomy fan, and I found this on their website.
** Hint, Hint! Excellent Christmas gift!**

Perfect Day for a Kite!

Thanks to a storm that ran through our neighborhood today, we had some debris that allowed the kids to make a kite. The wind was entertaining as it whiped some insulation they use on the outside of new construction basements through our backyard. We watched as it even had enough wind to lift it over the neighbors house!

Reece and Mini Reece!

Monday morning was pretty boring, but R. and Z. found something to do! Complete with backpacks, Lego guns and Hats. (Although Reece's hat practically had to be squeezed into.) They even happened to have the same color clothes on.
Then the afternoon we managed escape the house for High Cliff with Reece's Friend J.

After we brought J home we went to Office Depot, where they had some school supplies on sale already. Reece panicked when he heard what we were buying. "Mom, How many days until school starts?" He asked.

I didn't know. I should get on the ball and count!
But Now I do! 52! Wooo Hooo.

Huge Disappointing Day.

On Sunday morning I managed to get Duner to come for a run with me. It was hot outside. I wanted to run earlier in the morning but I knew Duner had to work til 2am so I didn't think he would be up to getting up too early.
It was hot, hazy and humid. We ran only 1 out of 3 miles, and that was torture. The Sun was blazing down on us. I realized about 1/4mi into it that I should have put on sunscreen.

Then we had to go to a birthday party for my Aunt. For some reason our A/C is not working in our car. We had to drive over an hour and a half to get to the party.In the heat. All the windows were down. We also had the sun roof open. Again I should have brought along Sunscreen I said as we drove away from the house. Of Course, I got a nice burn to show from it.

We missed getting into the movies at the Drive-in on Saturday night so We decided to try last night. I spent most of the time while Duner was at work watching the weather radar, since storms were rolling through the area. My adorable son Z, decided he wanted have a drink of water using a cap of a water bottle. Well, he managed to spill on himself so he lifted the lid up directly over my laptop. Before I could quickly close it, he managed to get some on the worst possible part. The keyboard. It froze up and shut down now. I can only hope that it can recover by itself, but I don't think the odds are good.

I have a feeling that was a VERY EXPENSIVE, cap of water. The kids must have known how made I truly was because in 2 seconds all 3 of them were hiding in their bedrooms, with the doors closed. I don't think I ever saw them run that fast.

We made it in with all five of us. Barely. It was starting as we pulled in. I brought along a lawn chair, pillows,blankets and the swim raft's we used the other day. I was glad I did. We all played musical chairs, all night long switching places. Ratatouille was a cute movie. Pirates was a disappointment. Way to long. Way too many twists and turns. I didn't like Spiderman 3 for the same reason. We finally drove out, after getting a jump for our car battery, at 2am. The movie was still playing, but I think it was close to the end. I know I wasn't the only one that thought the same, there was not a lot of cars left at that point.

Fun in the Sun

Today we hung around home until 1pm. With weather in the 90's, it was just too warm to NOT go swimming. Since we have a pass for High Cliff we headed out to the big lake. I brought my camera, but I never got to take any pictures!

There was a very nice breeze off the lake. One of the best parts of being at that beach is it's size. It is so HUGE that you don't feel like you are on top of anyone. The kids especially loved the big waves to play in, thanks to the breeze.

Zeb spent a large part of the time on a small raft. Once in a while the wind would take the end that Zeb was not on and flop on his head. It acted like a nice cover from the kids big water gun that they brought with them.

Brock and Reece took turns trying to drown Dad. I tried to teach Brock how to swim, like I do in Triathlons but it was too wavy today.

After an hour and a half, we decided it was time to air dry. We all forgot to bring towels, so we let the breeze and sun dry us off, then we headed home.

The kids don't know it yet but I think we will do the Drive In tonight. They are playing Ratatouille and Pirates of the Carribean. They kids are going to be so excited.

I better take a nap, it is going to be a late one.

FIRE!

From where this picture was taken you are facing our house. In fact, just out our front door you can see their beautiful backyard.

This is a friend of Reece's. His mom works at the local Y, I actually met her there before our kids met. They have a brook that runs through their yard and the boys LOVE to catch frogs, toads and minnows in it.

I don't know if anyone was home but I did see their van in the driveway tonight, so I think they were fine. We didn't know about it until the fire department was blocking off the road.
We took the dogs for a ride today in a local wildlife area. They were happy. We didn't stay there long, it was hot and open so we took them to a pond near our house. We had a empty Mountain Dew bottle and tossed that in the water and let them chase after it. They were fighting over the bottle as they came in each time. After the first few times they started swimming out into the pond even before Duner would throw the bottle. After that, we gave the a good wash job and put them in the kennel and never heard from them after that. They were beat!

It was a Lucky day!

That is what Reece thought yesterday. He got to see a parade where they throw Lots of Candy, got to see Jake, a friend he hadn't seen in a long time, got a brand new bike from the parade raffle, got to light off fireworks, got to have a fire, and got to make S'mores. Life was SOOOO Good for him yesterday.

On the other hand life was not so good for a dog that we had wandering our neighborhood. Some new neighbors moved in over Memorial Day weekend. They have 2 dogs and a cat that they let roam the neighborhood. We have a neighbor that doesn't like dogs at all. It is a very nice dog, but it has NO fear of the road and likes to wander pretty far. Many times it has been in the road and we have had to slow down for it. Tonight about 7:40, some local kids brought it over to our house, thinking it was ours. We tried to get it to go home but it followed the boys again to the neighbors house. With it being the night of never ending fireworks, and us living near two fast country roads, I called the animal control to pick him up. Our neighbors were not home. They left their garage door halfway open, and the animals not chained up.

This is a common occurance for our new neighbor and I brought the dog back once before and they guy just looked at me. They don't seem to care.

They also haven't finished moving their stuff from their garage to their house, it seems to be spilling into the driveway now. We just had some very nice rains and they left their kitchen chairs in the driveway along with some other stuff.

I am trying to be a nice neighbor, but we had a dog that got VERY SPOOKED, when it came to fireworks, and I would hate for that black dog to get hit because it ran out in front of a car.

Never ending technology

It was a nice surprise yesterday when Reece's friend H, helped us clean up after getting back from the cabin. That kid can clean! He vacuumed. He moved shoes, plants, rugs, chairs and ANYTHING that was on the floor. He picked up the tiny legos, and asked for something to get some stuck on food off the floor!! He continuely scraped the floor when there was some food stuck to it. He put my kids to SHAME! I now know they can do better! Later, when H. was done vacuuming , I heard Reece say to him "Lets not go upstairs because she'll make us do something else."

This morning I had Brock work on the bathroom, while Reece worked on making beds, moving boxes, and bringing in the garbage and recycling bins. Then after the cleaning was done, they were allowed to play online for a while.

They have the newest technology. They love this website called Ruinscape. They are able to communicate with friends, like H. while he is at home. So if H. can't come over or Reece can't go visit him they can still play online. It's funny because they have to type to talk. It's nice that we have the computer right in the living room so we can check on them anytime.

Since our kids have it so nice I think I will be a little more rough on them when it comes to cleaning and helping out around here.

My, What a tornado can do!

These are pictures from Lakewood, where the tornado came through. It is really hard to see just how bad it is unless you visit it.

On the left you have the fire department. In front of their building the flag pole was bent, not broken, over. You can't see it really well, but I marked it on the picture.




This picture was taken directly across from the Fire Station. I just think this is so neat. The front deck acted like a catch all for the tornado.














This was a common site on Hwy 32/64 in Lakewood. Many trees broken. Two roads are still closed due to the damage.













On the left is what it is supossed to look like on the right is from the tornado.














This is the debris that had to be moved off Hwy 64 in order for it to be usable. It probably used to look like the dark trees in the back of the picture.

Tonight my husband is at a planning meeting for an upcoming trip to Colorado in October. B. and R. are at a friends house, and Z. is downstairs playing on a video game he just picked out. I was able to pick out a movie that I wanted to watch. It was strange. No looking for a rating. No wondering what anyone else would think of it, just what I wanted.
Ahhhh.
It is a nice relaxing evening. I am going to be doing another Triathlon tomorrow morning, then we are going up to our little part of the Northwoods. Probably going to do some fishing, fireworks and a Movie for the boys and I. Duner probably the races up there. I am looking forward to having all week off. Not to do anything that we may have planned, because really we don't have much planned. We come home Sunday from the cabin, golfing on Monday with a doctor I work with and her husband.
I have a feeling the boys will be busy with their friends. Today the phone rang repeatedly from a few friends of the boys. Now that summer school is done, and summer sports are coming to an end, I think the kids will be having many more visits by and to friends. I am taking this small opportunity to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet...

Oh What a Relief It Is

After a filling meal at UNO Chicago we headed out to meet Auntie Sara and her man J.
J. had given Zebbie a HUGE box of legos, to which Zeb said to Reece,

You can share with me, Reece!

Reece was as excited at Zeb, we quickly dropped them off at home and grabbed the fixin's for s'mores, and headed out to the campsite she was staying at. After some biking and s'mores we headed home so I could get some sleep. Before going off to sleep I gathered all my gear so I wouldn't forget anything. I headed to bed when I figured that was complete. As I laid in bed I ran over the transitions from swim to bike, and bike to run, trying to think of anything I may have forgotten. Worrying about my rib injury. I changed my mind for the shirt I wanted to where. After doing a trial run on Saturday morning, I realized I needed some more fitted clothes, to help with the pain.

Bright and early on Sunday morning, the Algae was calling me.
I drove out just before 6am and called my sister to wake her up. I was surprised to see people already parking outside of the park. I kept going. I was able to park in the park, but not as close as I did last year.
After body marking and getting my timing chip, I headed to the transition area to set up. I saw Dez, who did her first tri last year, and Jackie, who did her first tri 3 weeks ago at the Trinity Triathlon that I did. There was so many people there already. I had a very open rack for my bike, I think at least 3 people didn't show up for the tri. A woman nearby was throwing a fit because she didn't get the right timing chip.
This is when your lack of self-confidence is non-exsistant. Imagine the most crowded beach in the world and your all going in to the water at the same time. Fat and all. Right next to these buff bodies with body fat of 2%, and then imagine having to stand next to them for 40 minutes while you go over your insecurities with the swim over and over in your head. Can you say intimidating?
The nice part of going in a few waves back is the water current is well established. If you want you can just lay there and let the other swimmers/water runners, in this case, just float you in.
Weeeee!
I did the swim in little over 9 minutes. I was boomin' with adrenaline at that point. I was so happy. I didn't get kicked. I managed to stay away from other swimmers in the lake and I wasn't exhausted! Wooooo Hooooo!
Ok, so now for the hill. I can do this. After the hill it is just a short run to the finish line. So far no pain!
I came out of the water and ran up the hill to the bike. J. was waving and taking pictures. I asked him where Sara was, he said she was out of the water a long time ago. I figured, I didn't expect to see much of her on the course. She was even swimming with a water proof camera and was planning to take pictures.
I grabbed my gear and went out on the bike. I just love getting up on my bike. I feels so much better than the bikes I used to have. I made my way up the hill, even passing a few people. The last 4 weeks of Tuesday night rides helped! I wondered how many of those I would see later on in the ride.
As I continued, I encounter a biker that asked if I was doing the sprint or the half. When I answered sprint, he quickly braked and turned around. I am not sure how he missed that one. I had a lady yelling directions, it was painted on the ground and LARGE signs where posted.

Every time I passed a biker I tried to say things like "Looking Good", "Lot's of people behind you!" I know how that helped me last year, plus it really helps the time fly by.

Before I knew it I came up to my sister. What the heck? I thought is that my sister? As I passed her, she said "I'll see you at the finish line!" I said "No way, you are going to pass me on the run!" Well, she wasn't waiting for the run, by the time I got close to High Cliff she was passing me! She said she forgot something, and took a picture of me with the water proof camera! Wow! She must have been flying!

I came in the dismount just behind her. I was frustrated by the amount of people standing around in the transition area. I finished off a Hammer gel, took a drink, off went the helmet and I headed out on the run.
Whew. Almost done.

I walked up most of the hill... why waste energy on the hill, is my thought. As I power walked, I passed a guy who must have bee 300+ lbs, I was looking for the right words to encourage him. That guy was working hard! Another girl came up behind me having an ASTHMA ATTACK! Now that is insane! She kept going!!! She was cursing as she stopped bent over. I told her just walk up the hill, and run the rest but she just kept going. I never did see her again.

As I started the swim I had started my watch. I peeked at it about 2 or 3 times as I made my way thru the triathlon. Just before the 2 mile in the run I tripped on a rock or a tree root and fell forward. Of all the situation's that I worried about I never thought I would have had to worry about falling on the ground.

I lucked out and landed just right, I was worried about my rib but the fact that it was in a rut from some motorized vehicles, that probably saved my rib, I must have hit on my left instead of right side first. I checked mentally. Hey I can still breathe! Yeah!

That short stop must have triggered something in my bladder to say, I have to pee. With every step it felt like my bladder was saying 'Ok, Are we there yet?'. I took turns, running and power walking.

Just before the top of the hill there she was again, MY SISTER! I thought she was ahead of me! She asked if we should run in together, but I couldn't push to hard because I was afraid my bladder wouldn't wait. Why don't they put port-a-potty's at the top of the hill?

As I came down the hill, Dr Al was yelling at me cheering me on down the hill! It was so easy to run down the hill. Just as it gets flat again, the crowds are cheering you on and you just keep going some how. I saw J. first. Then I saw Duner, and the boys cheering me on! Wooo Hooo! Its almost done already! And my rib is ok

After getting my print-out I realized just how well I did! At first I thought It was only 10 minutes better than last year, but then I read the print out...
Last year 2 hrs, 28 minutes.
This year 2 hrs, 4 minutes! (Obviously the bike helped)
5 minutes better in the swim, over 15 minutes better in the bike, and 3 minutes better in the run!

Down, but not yet out...

For years my husband has enjoyed the sound of my back cracking as he picks me up, when he gives me a hug. After last night, that will not be happening anymore.

I have a costochondal separation. Basically, my cartilage that attaches a rib to my breast bone has separated. It is kind of this nagging pain at the bottom of my rib cage. I felt great this morning when I woke up but as the day went on I got a backache. I was probably trying to compensate out of fear for what pain I will feel if I slouch. (which I so LOVE to do)

What worried me the most is I have a triathlon coming up on Sunday. It was Wednesday last night. My first thought was,

OH NO, breathing is very important for Sunday. It's not easy to breathe!

After a few minutes that went away. Then I started getting pains... I began to panic. I thought

"I won't be able to do the tri on Sunday!"

All of the training I did and I might not be able to do it? NO!!! I panicked. I started to cry when I thought of all the days running, swimming and biking.

Duner was feeling very guilty. He kept saying sorry and tried to hug me but was afraid to get to close. He was just about to leave the house to go to work for the night. I couldn't cheer up at that point. I kept feeling the pain and panicking. I rubbed on my rib cage and felt something shift. Like a floater piece of something. I found out later it was cartilage. I slept ok, but I could feel discomfort on my right side. I was consistently worried, waiting for the pain to get worse.

I talked to the Dr that got me into the triathlon thing in the first place, and he said to rest up until Sunday. Do NO swimming, biking or running. Just 'Try not to piss it off, You don't want to make it worse'. He wants it to have a start at healing instead of re-injuring it be for the Tri. We I have 3 good things.
1. Fat Floats. Maybe I will just be able to lay in the water and let the current of all the other swimmers pull me thru.
2. Lifeguards. They will have lifeguards, if I happen to get kicked or hit in my ribs. I will need assistance on exiting the water.
3. Once out of the water, I will be better. I won't be breaking any records this year I don't think. I can walk, I don't know about running. I can't imagine the bike will be that difficult with this injury, unless breathing deep is a problem by then.

I just can't see not even trying. I have people waiting for me at the finish line. I never thought I would have been able to ride up the hill without stopping, but I have done it now 4 times! It is a journey. It has to have a better ending than this... to be continued.

Just before this injury I was asking him about me being able to squeak out a biking jersey from the Fox Cities Triathlon club that I am in. They are a bit pricey, but I thought, If he doesn't think we can swing it, ok. He didn't say anything about it, good or bad. Ok. I figured we will talk about it later.

So guess who's getting a bike jersey soon.

Oh what a day

After a disappointing week for the boys, I decided to treat them for a fun day Saturday.

I took them Strawberry picking first thing in the afternoon. It's such a good feeling for them to accomplish something like seeing there buckets fill up. They are contributing to the family, and it makes them feel important. It was a great day to get out and enjoy the weather. It was warm but overcast. One year the mosquito's were awful, but yesterday there was none to be found. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of the kids.

Afterwards, I took the kids to Tom's drive in. We used to live near one, but it had been a long time since we went to one. This one was unique, since it had carnival themes everywhere. Pictures, games, and parts of rides used for seating. We had to get some groceries and I know how much worse it would have been if we hadn't eaten.

When we got home we dug out a canning kit. The place we picked the strawberries had some recipes that Brock wanted to try. It was a Strawberry Jam recipe. We had 8 jars that we filled with the jam. Brock was so happy when we finished he exclaimed "Finally we're JAMMERS!".
I didn't realize that kids strived to be 'jammers'.

After cleaning up we went for a drive to get some Father's Day things. Then we went to the drive in theater. They were playing Are we Done Yet. It was ok. I would have liked to see Shrek 3 or Pirates of the Carribean, but the kids couldn't agree.

The kids were so tired when we got home that Zeb walked in the bathroom and tried to pee, but he forgot to lift the cover and seat so I had a mess to clean up before I went to bed.

I have been trying to get a picture of Reece's new look. He has glasses now. He is near-sighted. He doesnt have to wear them all the time but he has noticed a difference. He now can see the clock on the microwave from the couch. He was excited about that. Reece was so worried about what Brock would say, he was trying to find a good comeback when he saw him. He really didn't say anything. Brock eventually said "I wish I had glasses".

Ok.
I think the kids get more excited over a clogged toilet than Christmas. Something is wrong here.

Time to go.

More and More and EVEN MORE!

We went to a co worker of Duners on Thursday to pick up some river rock that we are putting around the house.

First we had to wait and see if the pending storm was going to turn out to be what they said it would. Of course it wasn't (by us anyway), so we headed out to his house. He had accidentally gotten an over abundance of river rock. It was in his back yard so he used a 4-wheeler to help us load up buckets and throw them in to the trailer. We took 6 buckets at a time and drove them to our trailer. We did about 4-5 runs, then his wife came out and talked to us about all the plants she has. We walked out of there with 2 aloe plants and 1 other plant.

Friday night was spent moving the river rock from our trailer to the front of the house. Duner took Zeb to the races and Brock and Reece helped my move the rock. Reece was our shoveler, Brock the transporter and I was the dumper.
It took about 4 hours but we were able to empty it out before it got dark.

The next morning we washed out the trailer to bring it down to Madison to pick up a bed my sister no longer needed. We had lunch at a local truck stop and the boys discovered how cool her new man is. J is what she calls him in her blog. J had some computer games that Brock and Reece really liked. One was called Heros III. Brock actually wanted it for Christmas (yes already) he also wanted it for his birthday but it was out of the birthday budget.

We made it back home but Duner was about 15 minutes late for his part time job. They were slow so it was ok.
The boys helped me bring in the bed and set it up. We then too Brocks old bed and put it in Zeb and Reece's room. Now Zebbie has a big boy bed. He wanted the top bunk. I am not fond of that idea, but I have a feeling all of them will be spending a lot of time in Brock's room.
Reece invited a friend over before we were finished so he was in high gear to get his room cleaned up. He did so well I had him clean up the basement too.

The rest of the night I hardly noticed the kids. They were so excited about the new games. They were taking turns playing and cleaning/ helping me. We even had a little campfire in the backyard last night but the boys didn't join us. They said they didn't know we had one. ???

Today we spent the morning at a Breakfast on the farm. We saw baby cows that were born on the 31st of march. The boys tried to milk a fake cow. (Reece really liked that) They got to pet some horses, tour a working barn, got to meet Steve Kagen M.D (congressman) - he put our eggs on our plates for the breakfast, saw a turkey, Llama, peacocks and chickens. They really liked to climb on all the tractor's they had on display. We also got a hay ride in. (we lucked out our hay wagon had a canopy!)

It was a beautiful day to be out side, but now it is a nice time to regain my strength, I am going to take a nap!

And so it begins...

The summer vacation is officially underway for my kids.

They arrived home before noon today from the last day of school. Zeb patiently waited in the hallway waiting for Reece to open the garage door. I could hear Reece yelling with excitement that it was SUMMMMERR!

The past week had been a crazy week for them filled with field trips left and right. Brock went Bay Beach, Funset Blvd and to Shrek 3 (YES With school!). Reece went to a cave recently and the local library on a walking field trip. It was hard to figure out how much they would need for lunch money at the end of the year since they were on so many field trips that required a bag lunch. Unlike the prior school district they don't give you an option to buy a bag lunch from school.

They have 3 weeks of summer classes, more so to make sure they don't sit on their butts ALL SUMMER. Brock will be in woodworking, Reece will be in a class called Legos and Robotics. He REALLY wanted to be in it last year but he was too young, so he was very excited to be in it this year. Zeb will be having some speech classes to keep him in track with learning as he begins his school experience next year.

Yesterday he was screened for preschool, he did so well. I wasn't worried. He had been doing so well. One of the teachers that screened him said she will be his teacher next year! It was such a relief meeting one of the future teachers for our kids even before summer got going. It's completely opposite of last year when he was the last one that he had in school or even to know what was going on with him. He will be in school from around noon to 3pm every day. He will also be bused to school next year. He may even ride home with Reece. They will be going to 2 different schools, but on the exact same block.

I just finished cooking Lunch with Brock. I want him to get the hang of making healthy cooking choices, not just smearing butter freely or eating too much fat. He is actually into reading labels. It is good to see that!

Well, now I have to get ready to take Reece to the eye doctor. He had a well child exam not too long ago and they recommend him maybe getting his eyes checked. He is terrified of having to possibly get glasses. I want to get them early in the year, so if he has to where them they won't be so new, by the time school starts.

Hopefully, he won't need them yet, or it will be DRAMA CENTRAL!

Super Nanny in Kaukauna...

No it wasn't for our kids. See!
: )

Lil Angler 2007

Today was our annual Lil Angler fishing day.
I had forgotten all about it till Saturday.

It was a beautiful day to fish. We got there early and watched a carp meander through the weeds on the shore as we loaded the worms on our hooks.

Reece scored the first fish (after complaining that he didn't want to go this am, since he doesn't get any fish). He also went on to get 7 more. Mostly bullhead, but some pan fish as well.

Brock caught 2 bull head. Zeb caught 1 fish, it was a bull head too. Once I had to walk back to the registration to get a new hook and bobber because a carp broke the line on Zeb's little Batman fishing pole. Just about 20 minutes after I came back with that new bobber it broke AGAIN!! That was when we stopped using that pole. Zeb was done anyway. It wasn't long til weather started getting to look like rain, so they stopped it early.

We all went to High Cliff Supper Club to eat and get our prizes. It's nice because they don't really keep record of who catches what. Its just a fun day for kids. No competition. We crammed into the supper club with 325 kids and their parents and/or extended families and friends. I was glad we got their early because some people ended up having to sit way back in a side room. Each table took their turns getting their hotdog, chips and soda/water. We made the kids only take one hot dog and they were hurting. They begged Zeb for his chips and over half of his hot dog.

Zeb's name was called first from out family. He didn't get a BIG prize, but he had a lot to choose from. Each child was able to get 2 prizes. They had over $8000 worth of prizes. 3 were complete camping kits, one was a charter fishing trip on Winnebago or Lake Michigan.
Zeb picked a water sword. (Really cool actually) and he got a $20 worth of Gander bucks.
Reece was second he picked a water gun that in 1 or 2 directions.
Brock was last. He didn't have much to choose from, but he also picked at water gun and a fishing pole.

Wow, where did the weekend go?

What a very busy weekend for us.

And the Finish...

I began jogging out of the transition area. I follow someone that was walking so that felt pretty good passing her. about 1/4 mi we were offered a 'sports drink'. They would have been better just siting out the cups and let the rain water fill them. There was little to no 'sports drink' left.

I wanted to walk, puddles of water were making it hard to jog. Splish, splish, splash. I began to wonder if since my feet are soaked , does this qualify as walking/running on water? Hey, I need something to ponder. The rain kept pouring down on us. I began to wonder if my plants and trees were getting this same special treatment. Although they would have much prefered it over me.

I could hear some thunder off in the distance, hmm. I wonder if they would knock some time off for being struck by lighting? Ok. 1 mile down. Grr! That's all? I went back and forth fast walking/jogging. I was tired. My lack of practice was much apparent. I passed a few people that I shared my wave with, a few people passed me, but they didn't go as fast as they have in the past. Hey, at least I did pass that one girl and she didn't pass me yet! I know I am not last!

As I came in a woman named Linda was behind me, a guy was cheering her on BIG and started to run in with her I moved over and let her pass me, she was giving it her all on the way in. I was already in my ALL MODE.

As I came out of the trees I saw Duner and the boys moving to greet me at the finish line. Just I finished, I saw Duner I lost it. I gave him and the boys a big hug. The boys being so obvious kept saying "You look like your crying." Really??
It was so nice. I am defintely going to do this one again. Maybe next year, I can talk Duner into it, he says that one is too long... we'll see.

Update: The Results
I finished #39 out of 47 (for the females). But my Bike was better than Oshkosh Tri last year, and my run was better (and I even power walked for some of it). My swim this year was 1/4 of my last year swims, but I don't know how accurate they measure this.

2:28am it began.

No I didn't want to be up that early. But my brain kept worrying about missing or forgetting something for the triathlon. Helmet? check. water bottle? Check. Swim cap? Check. I kept going over a list in my mind. My swimsuit has seen better days but I had gotten a new one over winter. It is a two piece, the top is longer so it covers more. I am just not crazy about it. I had decided on a blue one piece, jogging shorts and a the new tank top that I had gotten from the people at the triathlon, but I just wasn't thrilled about that. I began to think about that other swimsuit that I didn't wear often and throwing my bike shorts on over that.

After looking at my watch at 3:30 am, 4:30 am, finally I just got up at 5am. Grrr. I wanted to sleep longer but I was too worried about everything. I grabbed the two piece and the bike shorts.
Ok we have a winner, but just to be sure I tried on the other option. Nope I decided it was just not going to give any upper body support (if you know what I mean) for the run. It was too worn out.

I forced my knotted up stomach to swallow some oatmeal and peanut butter on toast. I could only do half of the oatmeal. Something about oatmeal on a nervous stomach just doesn't do it for me. Maybe the thought of the flavor coming back to get me later was the reason. I don't know.

Anyway after loading my bike, helmet and bag in the truck I set off for my journey. I got there in no time. I even passed the same male turkey on the side of the highway as last night (no he wasn't fake.) He moved and pecked the ground. He was dangerously close to the highway, but he was gone later.

We had to lay our bikes on the ground (all 140 of us) yes a small triathlon today. I set up my gear and visited the bathroom. I met some friends from the tri club and checked out the swim. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining. There were clouds in the sky but nothing that looked bad, even though I knew we were supposed to get rain at some point today.

At 7:50 am they had all of over victims, er, triathletes wander to the beach for the start. It was waves of 15. I was #84. I was in wave 6. I was rocking from side to side to contain my nervous stomach. Some guy kept yelling to cheer on someone ahead of him, most of us were nervous. That is the worst part of the triathlon. Waiting.

I heard this was spring fed lake, which is why it was so blue and clear. Which for me meant cold water, normally, but we had a week of 70's and 80's so it actually was nice. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to get out of the water but at least I wasn't blue!

My swim was a nice zig zag pattern, not what the had marked out for us. I cut someone off and while correcting that mistake I cut someone else off. I don't know if I will ever get that down. Open water swimming in a straight line is hard. We saw some doing that in San Francisco bay. I wonder if they were in a straight line and just how did they do that?

Anyway, before I knew it the swim was done. Yay, aside from the Zig Zag, easy swim!

I walked out of the water and over to some steps and ran up the steps to my bike. While drying off I watch another triathlete run out of the transition area with his bike on his head, yes he had the bike on it's side and his head was through the triangle part of the frame. Wow, that's a first, I thought as he was running to the mounting area. My bike is lighter but I will just run next to it thank you!

Bike went great. It was a rectangular pattern, south into the wind, then west (and hill), north (curvy winding roads,beautiful tree lined roads, hill x 3), east (some hills) then South again into the wind. As I rounded that corner I SAW IT. Panic began to set in. Dark looming clouds were up ahead. YIKES! Skinny tires + water = TROUBLE! I was only a 3 mi stretch but I couldn't make it before the skies opened up and down came the rain. Hmm. I wondered if it would begin to hail what would I do?

I came in to the transition area with the rain still pounding down. I had put my back, towel and gear under a tree just in case but it didn't matter it was soaking up the rain. I took off my sun glasses and left then behind, fixed my hair (added a headband to keep the rain from getting my hair stuck to my face) and ran out of the transition area.

to be continued...

Part 1

We spent Friday night driving to Waupaca to pick up my registration packet. I could have done it on Saturday AM but I wanted to get a nice look at where parking and transitions were going to take place. I got a tank top instead of a t shirt, that was ok I was looking for a tank top to wear for that day anyway. They were just setting up the swim. It was easily done. My swim last year for a 1/4 tri was 11 minutes. This was half that. Ok. I thought it should take about 6 minutes, providing I don't swim out in to the middle of the lake.

I came home got all my gear ready.

A slow warm day.

It was in the 80's today. I made sure our windows were closed early in the am so we wouldn't have to put on our central air.
I spent the morning organizing the boys 'TO DO' list for the summer. This is to limit my frustration with them being off and 'bored'.
I named Brock the MASTER OF THE BATHROOM. He will tackle the dastardly germs, and fearlessly fight the soap scum. Not to mention, sustaining the shiny force field around the toilet.

Reece was named KING OF THE KITCHEN. He will seize the army's of dishes that come his way, while preserve the foods goodness by keeping the counters food free.

Zeb was named LORD OF THE LIVING ROOM. Of Course, I am not expecting him to really do much, but I want him feel like he has a job to do, like his big brothers.

So after I finished that, gave Zeb a bath, and picked up Lego city from the boys room, I washed out our garbage can. We have a bin that we haul out to the curb every week and bring it back when it is empty. I had wanted to clean it all winter, but with Zeb's school I just brought in the container and didn't have time to clean it. Well, the entire time I cleaned it a red wing black bird flew overhead. Apparently making sure I didn't come any closer to its nest than I already was.

Later Zeb wanted to take the dogs for a walk. I volunteered Lighting since he will eventually catch on. We didn't go far since it was threating to rain, so we came back and Zeb ran in the house to get a coat on to protect him from the rain. He came out and set up a watching post, as you can see. He was ready.

After supper the boys couldn't wait to hop on the computer, Reece had finished reading a book called THE SECRET KNOWLEDGE OF GROWN UPS. It has a cute way of telling kids why they need to finish their milk (or an atomic cow will blow up), not pick there nose (because it could affect their brain), and eat their broccoli. I can't remember why that was but it was cute.

So I let them play on the computer for a while. Apparently they can only sit on their butts so long in one day.

Tagged!

My sister Tagged me so it is my turn to write about why I blog.

1. Reason number one. What better way to keep memories alive. When it come to kids things go in and out of my head constantly! It is hard to remember everything they do or say. This way it is typed and logged for posterity.

2. Reason number two. Because I need some me time. It may just be 5 minutes. But it is nice to come and sit down for my blog and just type. It is my mental check. It is my way of hiding from the kids. They can see I am busy typing and they know they can wait til I am done to ask me questions like "Can I have a soda?" or "Can I have some Ice Cream?".

3. Reason number three. Communication. I hate being on the phone. I am answering telephones at work. I really don't want to do that at home anymore. Zeb still needs to work on the way he answers. "Who is it?", just doesn't sound very nice.
It is a nice way to let family and friends know that you are still alive and yet include them in your life, even when it is so busy.

4. Reason number four. I feel like I am a contributer, not just a lurker. I like to read other peoples blogs, some are big time lawyers, some are so funny I lol til I am crying, others are struggling with their weight just like most of us. Best of all they are real people. Not famous celebrities, that do what may or may not get the most attention. (or what their 'people' tell them to.


5.Finally Reason number five. If I EVER lose mind mind, er, Memory; I will be able to go back and read my blog to get a sense of who I was.

: ]
Wow! I didn't think I could come up with 5 but I did!!

I would tag some people but I only know my sister and parents read this. I don't know who else does. I know they do (according to my blog counter) but I don't know if they have blogs.

*Sigh* So feel free to comment and let me know of your blogs out there, so I can know who you are!

Back to the Oldies!

What a FUN CONCERT! We had a Spring concert for Brock tonight. I am lovin' the choir concerts in Kaukauna! I didn't get to have this much fun at Jr High concerts, when I was preforming!

We arrived 30 minutes early and were able to find a nice seat in the balcony of the auditorium. I let Reece pick our seats and he said he wanted to sit in the 2nd row. I suggested the first row, but he wanted the his row. He soon realized, when some people sat infront of him, how nice my idea was.
It is so funny seeing so many of the people that we take care of at work. Some people smile politely and don't say anything. You can almost see there mind desperately trying to figure out where they have seen me before.

They sang songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's. The Principal made a joke about how some of the songs didn't seem like oldies already. They sang My Girl, Feelin' Groovy, and a few different medley's. The even included an elvis and a blonde 'Peace and Love' girl. They all had matching t-shirts on and blue jeans. The 8th grader guys were allowed to wear shorts. The 8th graders were allowed to preform a Jr version of stomp. It was very cool. Zeb and Reece both enjoyed that part.

Spy Kids? Not MINE!

Our new neighbor building across the street came over a few weeks ago and asked us to keep an eye on their house. They had something sticky all over their livingroom floor. It was just on the wood but she didn't want anything worse happening.

Well, monday night I saw a guy walk over to there house. I just happened to be in Brock's room and noticed that the owner and builder's truck wasn't there. IN fact, No truck was there.
Strange, I thought.
Then, I thought maybe I better call the neighbor and ask if anyone was supposed to be there.
As the phone rang I began thinking about what message I would leave if she wasn't home. After a few rings she finally picked up.

As far as she knew the plumber was still there when she left, but he had a pickup truck. I looked up and down the street but no plumbers truck.

The guy first headed to the basement, then he came up and checked out the view in the back. I was giving her the play by play while the guy opened up a small fridge that they had for cold beverages. She said there was only water in it. He looked over to our house, I tried to back away from the window. She said "Good! Maybe he will go away." Duner was at work and I didn't have a car since our truck was getting the brakes worked on.

He then headed to the garage. I couldn't see what he was doing in there. After a minute or two he came out carrying two boards. He proped them on his shoulder and headed down the street. Keep in mind, this is 4:45pm in the daytime! He walked down to the new house that just had the concrete finished that day and put the boards down and went in the van.

He apperently worked for the concrete company that did the job at the site. We figured he needed the boards for somekind of finish work, but we didn't understand why he went into the fridge. I have seen too many episodes of the Discovery Channel's It takes a Thief.
I was begining to think about what happened one episode where a neighbor witnessed the crime taking place and they took the keys to the van. They then talked about how that was EXTREMEMLY dangerous. He could have gotten hurt or killed if it was the right thief. So I didn't want to be seen.
I was trying to read the phone numbers on the truck for the neighbor to call them but I couldn't read it. I asked the kids to see if they could see it with their eyes. No luck. They quickly ran outside to see if they could do better. Before I could even say NO they were out the door running to the other lot, the one with the dirt hill. Brock was more brazen and stood out in front of the house trying to read the numbers!
Thankfully the guy never came out from that side of the truck, I quickly yelled for the kids to get back in the house.
Brock reported back with the first 6 numbers on the phone number. I let him take his bike and ride to the corner and back to get the last 4 numbers. I kept thinking, this guy is going to come back and get revenge on us. I made sure we locked all the doors and windows. I hung up with the neighbor and she called the concrete company.

She called me back and told me that she was told that he was the finisher.

He had a been in jail for theft. He was relieved of his position at the company. I don't exactly feel good about that.

Great. Even more reason for him to come and take revenge.

I wish we had more neighbors, so he would know who it was.

Maybe he doesn't.
Maybe he didn't notice Brock Standing if front of the house staring at the truck.
Maybe he didn't hear me yelling for the boys to come in quickly.
Maybe. Right?

Feelin' the love...

The boys consider it great fun when I chase after then to give them a kiss. Sometimes they find a way to avoid it, sometimes they really make me work for it.

But Thursday morning was not their best day.


I was getting ready to go to work. The boys were getting ready for school. I had cornered the boys Reece and Zeb's room. Brock tried to lock the door but I had my hand on the knob and turned it so he couldn't lock it.

It didn't take much for me to force it open, since only Brock was holding it. Reece made a quick line to his hiding spot under the bed. I was next to Brock so he was my first victim. I easily pinned him and planted one on his cheek.

I then put my sights on Reece. He was under the bed still. I paused and thought what to do.

I didn't want to get on the floor because that was what he was waiting for me to do, so he could squeak out on the opposite side before I could get there.

So, I took the mattress and flipped it off the bed, so he couldnt escape on the other side.

"AAHHHHHHH!" he said. "Brock help me!" he panicked, but there was no where to go. He was trapped and the bars blocked his arms so he couldn't use his arms to block my kiss. I just reached in and planted one on him.

Afterwards I tossed the mattress back.

Later on that day, after school, Reece asked to play on the computer.
Usually I have them clean up something or do something to earn their time.

Before I could figure out what his would be Reece quickly touted "And I am not making my bed since your the one that messed it up."

Romeo, Romeo

I am now slowly getting a voice, I didn't sleep that great last night. We had some storms to entertain me between the coughing.

Today I took Zeb to his last day of preschool. He will still have his speech class 2 more times, but then he will be done for the year with that.

While we waited for the preschool to start today a girl named Emma came up to Zeb and said "Hi Zeb." (I told him say 'hi' back.)

Zeb: Hi.

Emma: Do you like my shirt? (It had a picture of and ice cream cone) My Gramma likes to eat this part, (pointing to the cone) but I like to other part.

Meanwhile Zeb's friend Sam came up to Zeb.

Sam: Hi Zeb! (he said as he petted him, he likes to touch Zeb a lot)

They started to kind of ignore Emma.

All of the sudden she puckers up and leans in to Zeb for a kiss. Complete with the wind-up and sound effects. : - 0

His reation?

Zeb: Ahhhh!!!! No Kisssing! he says as he leans over to me to hide.

Her reaction? : - x

She tries again!

: - ]

Whisper Quiet

Thanks to my allergies I can't talk. I can now whisper but very limited.
I have gone through 2 boxes of kleenex.

It is so frustrating to not be able to talk normal. I am trying to rest my voice so when I go in to work I can actually answer the phone. It is kind of funny. Since I have been whispering the kids started to whisper back at me.
hmmmm. That could be interesting.

I am having a hard time typing and wiping my face so this is going to be a short one today.

Mothers Day Weekend.

We headed up north this weekend to our cabin. I had picked up some movies and warned the kis to get their clothes packed. By the time we packed up the kids, dogs and 'stuff' it was 7pm and we headed out.

Since we brought back the pontoon boat we had it sitting in front of the 3rd stall. The 3rd stall is were we keep our trailer that we bring up for the dogs. One of the dogs seems to get motion sickness and always leaves us a present by the time we get where we are going, so we like to keep them in the trailer.

We decided to try to watch a movie but we got too tired and went to bed by 9:30pm, yeah I know pretty sad.

The next morning was my running day. I wanted to run 4 miles. As soon as I woke up I took our yellow (and more behaved) lab and went running down the road. We didn't get very far and he needed to leave a present right in front ot the local tavern. I managed to run down the road for 25 minutes and then I wanted to head back. I was happy that Lighting only got in my way 2 times. I nearly fell both times, but I caught myself.

After the run I had the kids help us load up some garbage from an old travel trailer that was in the yard. At the dump the kids enjoyed picking on some deer statue's that someone had dropped off near the dump. We had an old fridge from the camper, but we couldn't drop it off at the dump, we had to drive to another location. During the drive we discovered just how covered we were with TICKS. I had 8 and Duner had 6, then when we got to the location we checked better and we each found 4 MORE! We had 20 ticks on us. The kids each found one.

Zebbie FREAKED OUT when he saw one on his foot. It took extra long to get it off because everytime we found it he would try to shake it off his foot.

After lunch we played some games of horseshoes and got set to go fishing. We caught a couple large mouth bass and saw one really big one in the water. Brock wasn't so interested in fishing, and he had his swimsuit so he wanted to go to slippery rock so Zeb and I went and checked it out with him. A tree had fallen so we are now able to cross the stream quite easily. The water was too cold for normal people but Brock and some others ignored their body temperature.

Back at the cabin again we got ready to head to town. Duner took Zebbie to the races and I took Brock and Reece to Spiderman 3. I really didn't want to go, but this was a small theater and my other option was sitting at the races or cabin without being able to drive anywhere with Brock and Reece. That just didn't appeal to me. I could just imagaine them complaining about how bored they were.

After the movie we went back to the cabin, made some smores and headed to bed.

The next morning Zeb actually slept til 9:15am. That is when Reece decided to wake Zeb up. I don't think he ever said that before.
Reece actually came up to me and gave me a kiss and a hug, and later Zeb did too.
What a great Mothers Day gift.

The Ride

All day Sunday I was trying to rehearse what I was to say to the Fox Tri Clubbers at the monthly meeting at the Y.
I didn't want to ramble on, but I wanted to get as many riders to come. Dr Al wanted me to make the anouncement to 50 fellow Tri Club members that were in attendance.
The Fox Cities Triathlon Club now has over 600 members. Obviously attendance is Not mandatory.

We had a couple that came from Tennessee (just moved here because of the weather), she works a a local nuclear power plant. Dr Al cracked "Don't get to close" as he presented them to us. They are triathlon coaches.

Just before they were to begin their spot, I was able to spit out my quick statement that I had been rehearsing in my mind. I asked experienced triathletes to join the ride to give the newbies some pearls of wisdom. I was probably the color of a turnip. I was never so glad to sit down.

Judging by the look on some of their faces I thought no one was going to show up.

But, by the end of the meeting I knew I was wrong. I had 3 people come up to me and tell me they were planning on being there! Yikes. I hope it rains, was my next thought. I wanted it to take place but I don't like being in charge of people.

So, All day Monday I was watching the weather (30% chance of Thundershowers) and waiting (and hoping) the clouds were going to open up and pour. No luck. Afraid I going to forget something I loaded up the bike, helmet and waterbottle in the truck. I made supper quickly, and headed off.

I pull in to the parking lot of my work, where we were to meet and not a single car in the parking lot. Panic settles in. Ok, what if nobody shows up?

Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. I will get out of my car with my bike and wait for the others. It didn't take long and along came Dr Al. Yay! And another and another.... pretty soon we had about 15 of us. Some came on their bikes already!

One girl forgot her helmet, two more forgot their water bottles and one person barely made it before we left but we found an extra helmet for that one girl, but the ones without water bottles were out of luck.

The wind was appx 10mph out of the south. We headed east for .5 mile and then headed south for 6 more miles. Yes. Into the wind.
I wanted to stay with the last rider but there were 2 others that were doing that so it didn't make sense for me to stay back with all of them. That girl was REALLY SLOW. I wanted to tell her to shift up so she wasn't peddling so hard, but she also needed to raise her seat a bit. I felt the other more experienced riders could help her better than I could. There was more riders just ahead I wanted to mingle with so I rode ahead and talked to a few of those riders. All of them were glad we did this ride. Whew. What a relief.

Thankfully the ride back was easier. We had the wind at our backs, and were able to talk. I talked to a girl from the High Clif Triathlon last year, and she had a mountain bike too! We compared our times from last year. She did it in about the same time. I was better on the run, but she was better on the swim.

I had many bikers tell me how greatful they were for this ride. One experienced one said she liked this one better than the Tuesday night rides and asked if we were going to continue them? I would love to but I would like someone else to be incharge of them. I don't do leadership well. I will do whatever you want me to, but I am not a take charge type person.

**sigh**

Next weeks forecast right now? Monday 30% chance of rain/ thundershowers, again.
It is a great event. I would love to have someone else keep it moving. I don't even have my new bike yet!

What did I get into?

I opened up my big mouth and decided to lead (?) a group bike ride for newbie Fox Tri Clubers on Monday.

Dr Al came up to me and told me about a girl that had done the last Tuesday night 'Newbie' Ride. She was quiet overweight and had a old bike. The most she had ever rode was 10 miles.

The route they take on the Fox Tri Club rides are 22 miles. The go out to High Cliff State park, do the famous hill and come back. Yuck. I haven't done it myself because I am too chicken to ride all the way out there and then do the BIG hill only to ride all the way back.
I did it once by myself. Yuck.

Anyway, This girl was VERY SLOWLY getting the ride done. The club Never leaves a person stranded. One always stays with them on the ride to make sure they don't get lost. As she was in the finishing stretch, she got overwhelmed with helplessness. She began to cry and wonder why she ever tried to do this in the first place.

I completely understood her.

It is hard coming in last. It is hard being the last rider on a ride. I have been there. I just wanted her to know she wasn't alone. I knew of at least 2 other girls that rode slow.

So, I started a Newbie Slow Ride. Dr Al Recommended 18 miles. 9 Miles out to Sherwood and back. Well, I thought at least they should all be slow. It is not my usual day to ride but maybe the extra movement will boost off my weight.

So Monday night 6pm sharp I will be working my butt off,
for us slower bikers of the Tri world!

Torture

Brock was in Camp for school Monday to Wednesday this week. He and 3 buses worth of other 6th graders, gear, teachers and chaperones. We scrambled his belongings together on Sunday night. We had to quickly throw some jeans in the washing machine and have them dry and ready to go for the morning. I don't know why I bother, in reality I know he wont be using them.

He asked me to drive him to school. Actually said he CAN'T ride the bus with all his stuff. Ok. So I woke up early enough to slam the pants in the dryer so they would be finished in time for him to go. I was trying to figure out how I was going to send Reece off (on the bus), Run Brock to school and then bring Zeb to his speech class. All before 8:30am. Plus I normally give Zeb a bath on Monday AM's so I was hoping to squeeze that in somewhere too!

As luck would have it, Zeb's teacher had to cancel due to a sick child. Yay! One less thing I have to do. I had Brock load up the gear and left Zeb sleep (since Duner was home sleeping) and I was able to leave Reece hear as well. Double Yay!

We managed to find a parking spot and walked his gear to a side of the school where the others were setting their things. A boy named Jorge came up and made small talk with us as we walked. I never saw Brock walk so fast. When I told him that he said it was 'cause he was bored. He. He. I don't think so. He was embarassed. Rightfullly so. I wanted to make the most of it so I did what every Mom does when they are about to leave for a few days.

Gave Him a big hug, right in front of the kids.
Purest of Torture.
: )

Ah Choo!

Yes, it is offically Allergy season. I have had to take allergy medication daily.
Today Weather.com says Pollen is Very High today. I rarely sneeze more than two times in a row. But today I was sneezing 3 x in a row. It was so beautiful out I hated to spend it inside.
I set out some mouse and mole poison near our egress window and some bee killer near our gas meter.

We live in a construction zone, so I spent the morning picking up the leftover debris from the new home that completed recently. Since it is so windy around here, any garbage that maybe sticking out of the dumpster it goes flying onto either lots next to us. I can only look at the garbage so many times before I get sick of it. So I did some construction distruction.

Movie Time!

It has got to be the most uncomfortable but the most fun way to watch a movie. I love our local Drive In Theater. So much to do! Mini Golf, hay rides, basketball, and of course food and snacks.
It is the best time to go since you don't have to wait so long for a movie. It gets dark close to 8pm right now.
We dropped down the second row of seats and laid out our blankets, The boys claimed their spots. Brock wanted the middle, Reece the driver side and I ended up with the passenger side.
We had some soda's from a gas station and got some popcorn from the theater. We were set!

We had someone from Security come and ask us if he could adjust our hatch since some people behind us couldn't see. Ok we said. I thought for sure they were going to ask for our soda's but We must have had them all put away.

Meet the Robinsons is about a boy named Lewis that is left at a orphange, who just happens to be a genius. He is a lot like Jimmy Neutron in some respects. His hair, and his personality.
It was cute, but I got tired and missed part of it, but the kids liked it.

Wild Hogs we had already seen before but Reece wanted to see it again. Brock just wanted to sleep, so Brock and I slept while Reece watched the movie. Before the movie was finished Reece decided he too wanted to sleep.
We quietly left the Drive-In with both in the back sleeping. It was a much more quiet ride home than there.

In fact, Reece slept out in our Garage last night. He must have really liked it because I heard him come in and use the bathroom and go back out there! (with his gameboy)

That is a different way to camp out.

Ahhhh...

Ahhhhhh....
I am able to relax.
After a great workout, I got some dusting, laundry and dishes done. Brock and Reece spent the morning with K. We grabbed a bit to eat and headed to a local museum to see a Dinosaur exhibit they have there. It was less than an hour and we were done with it, but the boys actually enjoyed it. They also have exhibits on different things like water cycle, different types of rock and natural information.
After a stop by the gift shop we slowly headed home and the older 2 disappeared to a friends house. Zeb was bummed, he wanted to go with them, so we went for a walk and talked to a few neighbors and had Zeb find a new friend. R. He is 3. He has 2 older brothers smiliar to ours too.
We let him play for an hour or so and headed home.
On our walk home I got a call from Duner. He was on his way home from a bowling tournament and was hoping to quickly pick up Zeb and head to the Shawano races if he had enough time. After checking online when I got home, Duner decided he may be late but he was going to try. Zebbie was so EXCITED. We got some warm clothes, a blanket, hat, and ear muffs for him and he was ready. We sat outside and waited for Dad. Duner ran in to use the bathroom and before he was back Zeb was ready and yelling for him to hurry up. Duner was gone all day so we were discussing what happened today and Zeb yelled at us, twice!

Now I am just killing time before I take Brock and Reece to the Drive In theater today. (If they don't fill up too fast first!) They have the movie Meet the Robinsons and Wild Hogs.

Field Trip Turned TV spot!

Brock's Green Scene!

Check this out! (He is on after the advertisement)
Brock had a field trip to Marvin Gardens for school and channel 5 showed up last week!
Brock is on TV. He is the tall lanky kid with the Blue/Grey T-shirt that had dark red letters on it. (It said Teachers Pest)

Bye Bye Tooth.

Well, Today was my dreaded dental appointment.

I was going to show up just a little bit late, after I dropped off my son at preschool, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized if I did that he may be in a hurry and start to work before I am even ready. In the end, I would pay for it. So, I stopped by my mom and asked her to run Zeb to school so I could get there on time.
Lucky me, I pulled in the parking lot right behind the dentist. We happened to get out of our cars and walked in the building together.
"Morning!" He said.
"Morning." I replied. I thought I am glad he didn't say 'Good Morning', since it obviously was not.
I didn't sleep really well last night. Partly due to anxiety and partly thanks to Zeb waking up at 4am to turn on the TV to watch the news. He said he likes to watch the news, to me. (??? He is 4)
Ok. I just turned it down and went to bed.
The receptionist gave me a pep talk about how it is no worse than getting a filling. She said the worst part is the impressions. I said I didn't mind those when I had my braces. That was the best part of those! She said it was going to be a breeze!
After 2 shots of novacane he fired up the drill. We noticed 2 morning doves watching us sitting on the window sill. Funny. That is the last place I would want to be if I had a choice.
So far no pain. Whew.
When he finished, still pain free, his assistant made a temporary tooth for me. The dentist made a joke about my gums getting in the way so he had to put on some green stuff to shrink them.
I left after 45 minutes. I guess I could have gone to the Y and workout, but I didn't bring my bag and wouldn't have time to run there and back. I just spent the free time shopping for shorts for Brock. He out grew the shorts from last year and will need some others.
I went with Zeb to Mc Donalds for Lunch and had the soup and a hamburger. I ordered fries but they were too crispy. I was still a bit numb and didn't want to hurt my temporary tooth.
Within a few hours, my novacane wore off and pain settled in.
2 Advil and 2 hours later it is more tolerable.

Just Call

Reece found a new friend today. K.
He went to another friends house and met K. Later he came over for a few minutes then they went to K's house. Not thinking, I didn't ask for the specific address just a general location. I didn't realize just how large Hollandtown is.
Reece was supposed to come home by 6pm. By 6:10 Brock was asking if he should go find him. Sure, I said. 15 minutes later Brock came home out of breath. "I can't find him" Brock Said.
I finished putting supper in the oven and then we went out with Zeb. I hadn't been out on a real bike since last year. Yikes! It wasn't as easy as the stationary bike at the Y. I think I will go for a nice outside ride tomorrow, instead of the Y.
So, I road around some streets and thought I would ck and see if I missed him and he went home.
Zeb and I then headed out in the truck and drove around looking for Reece's bike. I had just turned onto a road when my phone rang. It was Reece, only an hour after I was supposed to see him at home. This time I got the address, and had the phone number thanks to caller ID. He was asking if he could stay for 30 more minutes. He said they were outside and didn't know what time it was. Since he did call I let him stay for 30 more minutes.
But Tomorrow he will be gounded.

Date Day!

We hit the golf course today. We had some coupons for a local spot. I had never been there before. We invited a friend of mine from school and her husband. She claimed to not be very good. She had to talk her husband into it. Duner was so excited. He loves golf. He has been on a league every thursday night for many years.
It was very windy today, but a very nice warm wind. We decided to get carts instead of the walking. Shortly after that it was apparent my friend J. is much better than she thought. Her husband on the other had had a reason to worry. He wasn't quite as eloquent as she was. He hacks at the ball like it is a weed, but it was nice to know I was the only bad one.
We didn't keep score since we were all out to have fun.
Fun we had, and some sun too!

We have a picture!!

Proof that he DID RUN!! Thankfully they didn't get any of me!! Yippee!!

Oshkosh Half Marathon Part Two...

So after Duner finished he said to me "Yuck, I am sweaty and stinky."
Apparently working that hard is new to him. I met him and gave him a big hug and that was thought. It was then Zeb's turn. We left Oshkosh and I drove in case Duner got tired but he was wide awake and talking the entire time.
In fact he couldn't sleep when we got home. I think he was so excited with what he had accomplished. What I love most about exercise is it makes people happy. I enjoyed the ride home. He was talking about how he needs to have the kids join him next time. NEXT TIME!
He actually wants to do it again! He said not a triathlon yet, but he didn't rule it out. He wanted me to find out about more of these to do them again.
Zeb's Turn...

Zeb was SO EXCITED, to be doing his run. He loved his t-shirt and his goody bag he got. It had a Frisbee, cup, energy bar and 2 pencils. I must have asked me 5 times if it was time for him yet. He was also adamant about how to get to the location. We found our way to Uncle Cory's house and parked in front of it. It was 2 blocks from the finishline and where the kids run took place. We walked up and began to see the older kids walking away with medal's around there necks. They just finished the 10-11 year old mile run. They were doing the 9 year old run and kids were running all over. We had to listen to the announcer to figure out when it was Zeb's turn. I had Brock and Reece bring him to the Start and I went to the finish line trying to get an action shot. No luck. The kids ran so fast I missed it. So many of the kids had white t-shirts on. He was one of the first 10 kids that is for sure.They must have told the kids to wait right there for the parents, so I had to walk around the fence to get him. They had given him his medal and he kept looking at it.
After the run, Reece must have been jealous because he kept asking Zeb to race on the walk back to the car. We stopped by Uncle Cory's to use the bathroom and say hi to Cory and Gage. It was 11:30am and Cory looked tired. He said Gage had been teething all night so they were trying to get a nap, but Gage woke up shortly before we got there.
After the event, we headed home and managed to take one more shot. Zeb's pretty please with himself. Reece didn't want to be left out of the spot light. He definitely wants to be in on the next one. Brock said Dad will make him, so he will be doing it anyway.

Oshkosh Half Marathon Part One...

Today was the Oshkosh Half Marathon and 5k. Guess what I did.
Yes the 5k...
Duner worked all night and then came home, changed his clothes and we left for Oshkosh. It was chilly out, but the sun was trying it's best to shine. We found a really nice close spot and parked. Duner never did one of these before, but he said he wasn't nervous. I was. I am a slow runner, so I think I worry about if I am going to be a huge block in anyone's way.
We got our chip timers. My number was 1432 and Duner was 1431.
We checked out a map of the run. As we finished we over heard someone telling them I am hoping to do a 9 minute mile. For those of you that aren't real quick, that is 9 MPH. My slow run is 5 miles per hour. My FAST run is currently 5.4 mph. Not much of a distance but you do anything for an hour (or a half hour) it is not easy.
I told Duner right away. Don't expect me to chat. If you feel I am too slow go! Don't wait for me. I was not going to kill myself. This was my first run outside this year. Otherwise I had done the treadmill at the Y.
Shortly into the run I heard someone say "Wow, it's hard to beathe out here." I had to agree. It cold spring air just grabbed all of your air. About .1 of a mile in, I let Duner go ahead of me. I was watching his hat bobbing in the people ahead of me so I could still see him. At mile one they wanted us to slide over to the left hand side of the road since the first runners finished the loop and were heading back toward us. I just happened to glance to my left and Duner was there walking on the side. "Hey!" was all I could muster. I just had to keep going. I wasn't going to walk any of it. I did happen to stop 2x for water, but I skipped the 3rd one. I know Duner was behind me at the water station, but I never saw him after that.
The run ended in a Ampitheater by the water. Just as runners hit the park they all tried to sprint to the finish line. ARGH.

I was so tired, I tried, I really did. It was going up hill and my legs were so tired that I felt like the wind just would let me. (really there was no wind)
I finished. Handed in my timer, got some water and chunk of cheese in the shape of an airplane! What a great gift! ...Oh, and here's your cheese....

I wanted to make 3 miles in under 30 minutes, but I am not sure that I did. I havent gotten the results yet, but I looked around for Duner but I hadn't seen him yet. I walked along the finish line watching the runners as they came in... No Duner. Two minutes passed. Hmmmm. I thought he some how passed me. Suddenly I recoginized a hat in the distance. It was Duner running up the finish line. I quickly found a spot on the side to cheer him in... I had to put down my cheese and water and yelled for him. He was tired. He smiled and waved. The clock said about 4 minutes after I came in. Considering he hadn't run that long EVER and he worked night shift all night, he did pretty well.

Puddy Problem

After Zeb discovered his gifts, one of which was silly puddy, Duner and Brock discovered how fun it is to play catch with. Duner stood in the kitchen throwing to Brock near the bathroom.
I was in the middle of cooking a rather large pot of Chili and didn't want it to become silly Chili. After a few wayward throws, I had enough. I grabbed the silly puddy and stuffed it in my bra.
DONE. No more silly puddy playing before supper.

I didn't want to take it out and set it somewhere and risk the chance of it starting up again, so I left it in there.
Well, We finished supper, cleaned up and sat down for a movie or two. After the first movie the kids headed off to bed. Towards the end of the movie I tried to adjust the strap under my arm and realized that I was attached to my bra. The silly puddy had adheared itself to me and my bra! It was stuck good.

Since we were alone, the kids were in bed, Duner was extremely willing to help me find all of the long lost orange silly puddy that had attached himself to me.
Of Course, the next day, Duner couldn't wait to tell the boys. They spent most of the day giggling in disbelief.

I have since spent my time researching various ways to remove the stuff from my bra. There is actually quiet a few different options I have found online. Freezing, alcohol, and WD-40 to name a few. I am currently freezing it to try and remove it first then I will go for the alcohol.

Easter

When I got home from the cabin Saturday ('cause we had 2 cars), I discovered that Zeb had already found a Easter 'bag' that I had hid for him. Thankfully I was able to avoid the other two from discovering their bags prematurely. I had gotten some candy from Dollar Tree. Only 12 bucks, you can't go wrong.
The boys were happy with their gifts.
We just hung out at home. We weren't really expecting to be home since Duner had originally wanted to be up at the cabin that day.
My sister had come up from Madison and was introducing her boyfriend to our family. He is a pretty nice guy, quiet, but nice. After eating at my Mom's house they came over to our house. Grandma sent them with 2 baskets of candy and a container of homemade beans. Brock LOVED that. Anything to make him toot with sweetness too, he is all about that!

Ugh! ONLY one more day til the kids are back in School!!

Where did the time go?

Already six days since I last blogged! Wow, time flies!
Let's see what have we been us to?
Last Week Thursday Duner took the boys up to the cabin for Easter Break. I had to work so I stayed home. I loved it! I went swimming, shopping and was able to quickly pick up my house before enjoying some wine, and going to bed. I am absolutely no fun when it comes to alcohol, I get so tired and just want to sleep. It was such a nice way to get ready for bed.

On Friday, after work, I came home slowly got ready to make my way up to the cabin as well. I didn't want to go. It is so boring when all you can do is sit inside. I used to love goin up in the winter because the open floor plan was so different from what we had at home, but now If we can't go swimming, boating or walking in the woods, I would rather just be home.

I got up there by 8pm, Duner and the boys were just finishing up their cherry pies cooked over the campfire. The whole cabin smelled of campfire. The boys were in and out the entire day. They were cutting up fallen trees and also our christmas tree from our house. They had fun burning but they had to come in a few times to warm up.

We all slept in the living room. We had decided to come home Saturday and so we didn't want to make all these beds to only sleep in them one night and wash the sheets. Duner hates to make any beds, so the previous night they had done the same thing.

Zeb had told Duner that he was all packed, luckily Duner checked what Zeb had 'packed' and found 7 shirts and that was it. So Duner packed 2 other changes of clothes. Zeb hates to be wet. He has a habit of waiting to late to go potty, so inevitably he has a couple drops that make him wet. He always changes his clothes then. He went though those clothes 2 x.

We watched a movie that night and then went to bed. The next morning the kids woke up before we did. I didn't sleep well at all in that sofa bed. Thankfully Duner had some donuts for the kids to munch on so I could try to sleep in a bit.
Duner and the boys went out to move some more trees and I got a chance to give the cabins bathroom a very good, and much deserved, cleaning. Zeb was afraid to use the bathroom with out his boots due to the dead bugs.
We also changed out the ceiling fan, the old one had died.
It was so nice to come home. We took different ways to see if there was a faster way. Duner had all the boys in the Durango with him. I had to grab something out of the Durango just before Duner got in and Brock said to me "What?? We're going with you?".
As if I am THAT bad.

Yet another one in the neighborhood.

We live in an ongoing construction zone. We were the 2nd house built on our side of the circle and since we moved in, 5 other houses were built. Just yesterday another on got started. The kids really like to watch the diggers shovel dirt. Yesterday we opened the garage door to find Brock standing outside just watching them move earth across the street. The newest home is going to be across the street from us. Duner and I both wish that we would have built over there because they will have exposed or walkout basements, easily adding extra living space to our home.
I am glad we are one of the first in the neighborhood. The kids love the dirt piles and big machines. Today we had a constant pounding, it sound like they came across a chunk of rock they had to break. We have seen some non-construction type people checking it out so we think it is already sold. Hopefully they will have more kids. The 5 new comers to the neighborhood there was 4 kids. 3 Girls and 1 boy. (I should say with 2 unknowns on the way, so technically 6 new kids.) It would be nice to have some new kids my kids can relate to. Some that didn't grow up in the Kaukauna District and didn't have many friends.
Although, our kids have met quiet a few new friends here in the neighborhood. In fact, they finally had played with the boys directly behind us.

Baseball Widow

It is offical. Baseball started today. Specifcally Brewer Baseball. This is the time of year that I become invisible when the Milwaukee Brewers are on TV or the Radio. Duner Loves his Brewers. We have tickets in May to see them play the Minnesota Twins with friends of ours. They (or should I say he) likes the Twins. I am fairly certain there will be some friendly jabs, to each other about the teams. As I write this Duner is completely into his game, which they are leading.

I just came from the dentist. I need a crown. It was recommended years ago. I have been avoiding it. Now it is fairly certain. I hate dental work. I had appx 9 teeth pulled when I was in elementary school, just to make way for the orthodontic work. Not a pleasent experience. I dreaded having to put my kids through that. Luckily, Brock's teeth seem to be coming in well, no othrodontics needed. Yeah! Reece will be the scary one. He had very tiny teeth and the new ones are HUGE. Hope fully the same holds true for Reece but I am a little more worried about him.

Oh, well, the Brewers just won, time to go get some stuff done.