Reason # 5

to hate Circuit City....
Our computer monitor decided to die. Yes, not even 10 months old and it dies.
Apparently the salesman that sold us the computer didn't include the monitor in the 'optional warranty' that we purchased.

Lovely.

The recommend we call Gateway.... THREE phone numbers later, they tell us our monitor will cost us $40 bucks to have them LOOK at it.
**sigh**

I love Best Buy.
I love Best Buy.
I miss Best Buy.

We hop in the car and head to Circuit City to chew someone's ear off, but by the time I get there common sense takes over and we decide they won't exchange a monitor no matter who I talk to, so we just have to chalk that up to a learning experience from Circuit City and bite the bullet and get a new monitor. GRRRR.

We grabbed a new keyboard too since our space bar only worked part of the time. (Which is partly why the blog has been quiet).

Now 4 hours later...
1 new monitor
1 new keyboard (cordless no less, it was cheaper than the corded)
1 new mouse (it was included)

Finally!

Ok, now Breathe! Ahhhhhh.

After much running around the kids and I made it up to the cabin late Friday night. We washed the kitchen counters and fridge down and popped in a movie. Brock won the coin toss so we watched Blades of Glory. I didn't care too much for it, but Brock was dying to see it. After trying Zeb's movie Called Kart Racer, we ended up putting in Reece's movie, In the Army Now, since Zeb's didn't work. I had to talk Reece in to getting that movie, but he LOVED it so much he watched it twice.

We got together for a horseshoe tournament this weekend at Crooked Lake. Duner and his Brother team up each year. Last year the had a really bad loss to kick them out in the 2nd round of play, so this year the goal was to make it past that. They succeed! They made it into 4 rounds and then a couple of older guys that have played much more than Duner and Cory, kicked their butts. But they were still happy. They made it further than they did before.

That night we lit a campfire and let the boys dig a large hole to fit Zeb in it all the way up to his neck. We stopped the fun when the boys began to dream up tunnels underground and rooms big enough for more than one person. They were so dirty, we made them bathe before getting in bed that night.

They had so much fun they decided to dig the next day too!
We gathered up the boys, and some fishing gear and headed out to a small pond. The boys caught about 12 Pumpkin Seed fish.
We didn't expect to catch that many fish, so we didn't bring anything to keep them in. We had to release them all.

After lunch we walked through the woods near the cabin and picked out some wild Sweet Ferns. The kids also got a nice lesson about poison Ivy. Thankfully, no one got a rash or anything, but we came close. The woods we were in had roads made of sand, Zeb and baby G loved that. They slid, rolled and ran around on them. The boys loved the carpet moss they found in the woods.

We ended up coming home that night to get the kids ready for the upcoming beginning of school the next day.
Of course the kids waited until the last possible moment to tell me they don't have this or that.

It was so nice to get that over with. Reece was afraid he wasn't going to wake up in time, but by 6am he was fully dressed with his backpack on. The boys were very excited to get the day going.

The list never ends...

I have a constant to do list running through my head.

• lay grass seed for bald spots lawn at home.
  
• paint cabin
• plant tree spikes for tree at home.
• kill hornets or wasps at cabin.
• don't forget to turn on hot water at cabin (never fails, I wait til I want to take a shower to remember this)
• water trees at home
  
• water plants at home
  
• laundry
• make a food list for cabin.
• pick up house.
• kill dogs (just kidding) they are just really noisy tonight.
• remember paint, air chuck, and bug spray for cabin.
• remember to buy dish detergent for work kitchen. I just used the last of it today.
• check on laundry
• find out why the kids have the TV on and no one is watching it.
• Get a new keyboard. The one I have, the space bar doesn't always like to work. Grrr.
  
• pack clothes for cabin
• rent movies for weekend.
• bring some bikes up for the weekend?
• buy some asphalt sealer for the driveway at the cabin?
• Kill kids that are whiny and crying???? Ahhh, only 5 more days until school... who's idea was the 'waiting until AFTER THE HOLIDAY'?

Wow, that is quite the list, maybe I need to get out my Complete Book of Pocket Positives and get some encouragement.

Yikes!

Are we done yet?

Today was Ducks Unlimited at the EAA fairgrounds in Oshkosh. We decided to bring only one dog, the lucky dog today was Lighting. He generally listens better. After letting Dad sleep a peaceful 2 hours, we woke him up and headed out. He was actually very much awake and ready to go.
After parking, we headed directly to the dog area where we tried our dog with others to see how well he was at retrieving. I am so glad it was Duner up there with the dog.
After getting into the water, he lost the dummy and began swimming in circles. At least the dog before him was worse.

After that was canoe and kayak time, catfish fishing, rockwall climbing, bike riding, archery and paintball shooting.The boys had fun. Zeb was a little pre-occupied with the thought of going to the races today. By the time we finished the Rock wall he kept suggesting that we need to leave so "Mom can drop me and Dad at the races."

Unfortunetly, I wasn't able to lose the other two.

So I am home with the older two boys...




On a side note... Let the Exodus begin.... I think the neighbors are finally fed up Crazy neighbor Craig's driving everyone has decided to leave our old yard!
House#1 (Almost exactly across the street)
House #2 (Next to House #1)
House #3 ( 2 doors away from House number 1)

Today was school shopping day with the boys. We began at a shoe store, found a buy one get on FREE event and got one pair for each. Then we headed to the Outlet Mall in Oshkosh to see what they had there.

Someone told me there was a pretty good deal on some shoes at a store down there, I didn't find any shoes, but I did manage to pick up a few shirts for Zeb and Reece.

We shopped at Oshkosh B'gosh, Some shoe store, Old Navy Outlet, The Children's place and Land's end outlet.

We also managed a stop at a few fun-for-Mom stores, like Ralph Lauren and Bath and body Works Outlet.

The kids Loved the Bath and Body store, it was completely hands on activity for them. They were allowed to smell and Try just about everything.

One of the items they tried was a smelling area for room fragrances line called Wallflowers. They fell in love with a fragrance called Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, so we picked it up.

I talked Reece into putting it in his room, now the boys keep coming up from the basement looking for my Chocolate Candy Cane cookies... YUM! Not really the ice cream but still sounds good!

Pre K shot day

I like to prepare my kids. I don't like to surprise them with getting shots. This time it was Z's turn.
He is entering preschool at the public school, so he needed to have immunizations. Four to be exact. Yes 4. That is his age. It is hard but not impossible to reason with someone that age. I hear all kinds of 4 yr olds SCREAM, when it comes to the shots. Brock was just about IMPOSSIBLE to reason with when it comes to shots.

Anyway, I warned Z the night before about him getting shots. I told him he would get some medicine so it would not hurt so much, before we even left for the doctor appointment. I worried about it some more, and I kept trying to reassure him he was going to have medicine to help with the pain. I told him it wasn't going to take the pain away, but it will hurt less. Again, I just really don't like to lie to my kids. I will joke around but lying is just not a good thing to do to them.

Z fell asleep next to me on the couch that night and when he woke up the next morning, the first thing he said was "I don't want any shots."

**sigh**

"Sorry honey, but you will be getting your shots" I replied. Bummer. Sleep didn't help anything.

So I gave the Tylenol before hand, brought his tough brother R with us for support, so he could tell him how he doesn't mind shots at all.
They brought in the shots. I asked for an extra nurse, just because Brock is such a wimp when it comes to shots. We laid him down and I tried to side track him, while the double teamed him. He whispered "OW, OW, OW" a few times but otherwise did GREAT! No screaming, wailing, or hitting from him!! I have seen teenagers do worse than him.

And then they were GONE!

So I was outside, when it briefly wasn't raining this weekend, and I kept having to look at my watch to see what the date was. What a temperature change from last weekend. I swore that it was September already. It was over cast, rainy and chilly this weekend, all weekend.

On Sunday I figured I would fully take advantage of the crappy weather to kill some wasp's or hornet's that made a nice home by the dog's kennel. They said on TV the high temperature for Sunday was 61 degrees. I know how much they hate cold weather, so flying wouldn't be so easy for them. I bought a bonus package of wasp and hornet killer, that said it could spray up to 27 feet.

The kids wanted to help take care of them so I had them watch from behind the dog privacy fence. They had they perfect view of the action, but they kept trying to sneak a better one.

As soon as I sprayed they started dropping like rain. It was perfect for this. I kept spraying until I used up all the spray, just in case. You could see where they had baby wasp's or hornet's and I wasn't taking any chances, everything had to go.

We have a ladder but we left it up at the cabin. If I could have gotten on top of the roof I was going to us a shovel to get the nest down. Brock was insistent that I not wreck it, since he wanted to see if the queen was in the nest, but since I couldn't get on the roof, I had to use water to knock it down. I tried to spray just the top of the nest, but after a short time I had to shoot towards the middle of the nest to get it moving.

Parts and pieces began to fall down the siding. The more I shot, the more stuff fell down. Soon half of the nest fell down. The kids scampered over trying to see the nest. They were disappointed to see the condition of it. Nope. They don't hold up well to high pressure water. The kids decided it was no longer fun to watch, so they went on their way playing what they were before we started with the bee's.
I finished spraying down the rest of the nest and put it in with the dog waste. It had nicely sealed container and the contents were going into the trash for pick up the next day. All that was left was some black marks where the nest was hanging on.

Now that we know they were there, I am sure the kids will let us know when more appears again.

Ha! Take that you nasty beasts!

Yay!!!

Boy's Paradise

Thanks to happy miscalculation on our part we were able to take the kids out to eat last night and to a place I like to call Boy's Paradise.

We loaded all the kids in to the car and went out for supper at Mr.Cinders. Zeb sometimes orders and sometimes doesn't but after the peanut and butter sandwich that Brock made for Lunch, he was hungry for supper. He ordered the Mac-n-Cheese with apple dippers (apple dippers are the newest favorite for him). We happily watched as he chowed down his mac-n-cheese, then worked on his apple dippers. He actually ate 3/4 of it!

He was very well behaved, it was Brock and Reece that wouldn't take there hands off each other. Constantly poking, tapping or pushing each other. They were a little excited. We ended up having the kids separate and were not allowed to even look at each other, that was actually quite fun to watch that. Reece finished his sundae with his hand up by his face the entire time. If he would briefly forget he would let out a Homer Simpson 'D,Oh!' and put it back.

Reece ordered a Cheeseburger with fries, a usual for him. He ate just over half of his burger, and then a small sundae (it was included with the meal).

Brock ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. He ate all of that, then he just wanted to go, so he didn't want his sundae.

Duner had the All You can eat Whitefish. I had my typical grilled chicken sandwich and cup of chili.

We finished our food and headed out the the paradise.

Lil' Zeb likes to call it Golden Corral. We keep explaining to him that Golden Coral is a Restaurant, but he has short term memory loss when it comes to this. He also knows the location to it but not the actual directions. It is conveniently located just off a highway, so when we took the exit before it Zeb told us we were going the wrong way. We explained to him we were taking a short cut and he was happy with that.

We purchased a package, which was cheaper,and got in line for the go-carts.

For August, it was a little chilly, so I wasn't looking forward to it.
We all hopped in to a car. Dad with Zeb, Brock, Reece and I in our own. Thankfully, the heat off the engine kept me warm. I was stuck the entire time behind Reece. He takes up the entire track when he drove! If you get to close to someone they shut down your engine, so I had to slow down.

I went once, Duner took Zebbie 2 times and once by himself (cause all the double go-carts were taken), and Brock and Reece got to go 3 times each.
Needless to say they didn't want to leave, but Duner had to work.

As soon as we got home Zeb was asking to go back there.

And when he woke up this morning what was the first thing he said?
"Can we go to Golden Corral today?"
"No, and it is called Badger Sports Park." I replied...

What was his 2nd question?
"Where is Brock and Reece?"

I think he is in search of some allies...

Road Trip!

So as we headed out on Saturday the kids were excited to say the least. They began chanting 'Road Trip, Road Trip... ' before we even left Appleton. Our Camry has the basic of air conditions, called open windows. After about an Hour and half Zeb asked "How much longer?" Happily I replied "Only 30 more minutes."

As we arrive in Downtown Wisconsin Dells it is 3-4pm and the street is full of people and traffic in all directions. The kids are excited but when we turned left onto the road with the Hotel on it they become beside themselves with excitement. Wow. Look at that! Can we do that? Can We go there? Were phrases I heard over and over. We found our hotel with no problem and check in. We quickly became the minority there. Three Chinese looking women were checking in and many dark skinned and hair people around us. He scooped out the view of the indoor water area and it was filled with African Americans. It is so different to see that in a Wisconsin town, even if it is a tourist place. A lot of the staff seemed to have a strong accent of some type. Ordering our food was interesting. The guy was very nice though.

We spent our time going between the indoor and outdoor area. We got a life jacket for Zebbie, but we were unsuccessful in getting him to go down the water slides they had.
We took a break from swim time for food about 6:30pm, just in time for the Packer Game. We went up to our room, via stairs due to the elevator being down, ate and took some time to let the food digest. The kids were to excited to sit still so they found the arcade. It was on level 2. Our room was on level 3. We only gave them a few dollars but only 1 dollar at a time, so they had to keep coming up by us for more money. Finally we headed back for 2 more hours of swim time.

Zeb did a constant flip flop between the kiddie slide and hot tub. (probably to warm up) Toward the end of the night we actually go Zeb talked into the deep water, with the life jacket, to doggy paddle by HIMSELF. He was so pleased with himself.
I tried to work with swimming for all the kids. Brock actually does a very good front crawl. He kept his head in the water face down, only turning as he should to breathe.
Reece's technique is a work in progress. He still has a tendency to arch his back to breathe, instead of turning his head.

Unfortunately, we had to go to the room to hit the bed.

We woke up bright and early to goto a favorite restaurant of ours called Paul Bunyan's.
Can you say YUM?

We quickly attack our buttermilk donuts, as they bring out our drinks. Brock- Decaf coffee, Zeb- milk and Reece-Orange Juice.

As we finish our donuts out comes the scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausages, ham and pancakes. Our server asks us if we would like biscuits and gravy, but we declined. Zeb said yes, but he was just about up for anything, even though he hadn't yet finish his donut.

We quickly finished out food an hour before the water park even opened, so we browsed the gift shop for a while to waist time. Zeb got a truck and car that was on clearence (half-price), goodboy Zebbie! Reece got a bow and arrow set with tiny suction cup arrows. Brock got a mini pirate set, Duner got a new T-shirt and I got a anti-gas sign for my house. (Yes, I know that would help..).

We get back to the hotel change into our swimsuits, sunscreen ourselves, and check out. Our hotel was directly across from the water park. We quickly found a parking stall and began to exit the car.

After getting our wristbands for Noah's Ark, Zeb immediately sees the Stingray slide and decides that is the first thing he wants to go on. Not the best choice. After we get to the top, we found out Zeb can't sit on our laps, so only one of us can go. Duner quickly chickens out after seeing the drop so I am it. Zeb had to sit backwards because they want the heavier person in the back. Zeb's tiny little butt, just barely staying in the tube. As soon as we move to the edge I realize just how bad this ride is for Zeb. As we are going down on part of the slide to head to the other, he folds in half. When we reach the other side I quickly grab his leg, just in case he would panic and try to get out. After losing my sandal under his butt, the ride slows down quickly. When we stop Zeb has a hard time getting out of the tube. He wanted to make sure it really stopped.

The next was bumper boats, then Flash Flood. The boys didn't want to go on that ride so they waited on the bridge to get soaked, as Duner and I rode the ride. It was so empty that we got to go on 2 times in a row. They have special nets and railings on the bridge due to the powerful water that comes due to the boat. It was very fun for us and the kids. I don't know which ones got more soaked, us or the kids.

The rest of the day was spent on various tube rides, rope gliders, short slides and in the wave pools. Zeb found some kiddie pool areas that he throughly enjoyed. The older kids couldn't wait to head in to the wave pools, I hardly had a chance to tell them about not going to deep before they wandered in. Luckily the waves go in timed waves. They turn off the waves to tell if anyone is having a difficult time in the water. After the first time, a lifeguard actually had to jump in a save a boy that was near Duner and Reece. He looked to be about a year or two younger than Reece. He was ok, just shaken up.

We managed to sneak in the 4-D theater, that had the smell of pickles, the feel of air and water, and real floating bubbles. We also stopped by the Noah's Incredible adventure, that Zeb loved.

By the end of the day, we had sore feet and thirsty mouths, but we all loved each and every minute of it. As we left, we wondered, what can we do there NEXT year???

Reece's Triathlon 2007

Reece was in the water warming up here... Very Nervous. After a stop at the poly john (aka Port-a-potty) He confessed he felt like he was going to toss his cookies.

Coming out of the water after the swim! He did great in the swim! Coming out in 3rd place. He later told me "Mom, my legs were SO tired after the swim. I liked the run better than the swim." His swim goggles were only for looks, they never made it to his eyes. He completely forgot about them until he was getting his bike helmet on.

Just Finishing the bike, heading in to transition area to start the run.

Wow! What fun! Here Reece is holding up his Medal. I love that all the kids get a medal. Brock is pretending to be sad in this picture, Geez, can you tell?
I had a blast watching the 2 and 3 year olds do this. Zeb would be awesome. It was cute to see them walk the swim (only going up to there waist) and run out to the transition area. One little boy was carried the entire swim, crying just like a siren, but as soon as he came out of the water, he was movin'! I think Reece's entire Triathlon was maybe 20-25 minutes max. It went quick but he was so tired. This was a great self esteem booster for him. He worried about it so much. He didn't mind when other kids would pass him, he said he told a few of them 'good job', as the passed him. I was glad to hear that because he is so competitive. We didn't stay for the trophies. Reece didn't think he would have gotten one. (He did take his time in transition, so I don't think he did either).

He did a great job, just tri'n.

Now, on to Wisconsin Dells...

His Final Countdown...

Ok.
Swimsuit. check.
Socks. check.
Shoes. Check.
Goggles. Check.
Towel. Check.
Bike. Check. Safety check of bike. check.
Helmet. Check.
Gee, Did I forget anything? I guess we will find out. Tomorrow is the big day. Reece is VERY nervous. Mainly about the swim. I think this is almost as stressful for me, trying to make sure he has everything he needs. I can't imagine having more than one doing this tomorrow. Yikes!

Busy Saturday...

Where do I start? Boy, what a crazy weekend!
I began it with a 3 mile run, not record breaking but I did it. I had been running on a treadmill the last 2 times so Saturday I wanted to see if it helped at all. Not yet.
We then went shopping for landscaping. We wanted to get more in our yard than the limited items we have now.
Large trees are NOT cheap. I have tried with 3 small trees, with no results. We visited 2 local plant nursery's and 2 local home improvement stores. I was hoping to get some year or season ending plants but they aren't quite on sale yet. We did get a birch that was kind of sad looking but it is larger than normal, so I am hoping we can nurse it back to health.

We then had to get ready for our neighborhood block party. Duner had to work but the rest of us still went. We met more neighbors that are building than we did of people that just moved in to the neighborhood. We met 3 neighbors that are building homes and 1 that just built behind us. They have twin girls that kept them very busy, so they didn't stay long.

They had a pig roast, which really grossed out many girls but not my family. Of course they were all checking it out. It was stuffed full of wieners and sauerkraut. Also, they had cob's and cob's of CORN. YUMMY! First it was soaking in a tub (of sugar water, I think) then they used a metal barrel cut in half the long way for a grill to grill the corn on. The kids were in heaven. Brock said he had over 10 ears of corn. I heard another kid had 18 ears! They had a blast. There was a water ballon fight and a pinata was a hit. Reece got bummed out because he was next in line to hit when it was busted. The candy seemed to ease his pain a bit.
Zeb had to use the bathroom, but asked if Their toilet took 'took long ones'. Meaning he had to go #2 but was afraid to plug up the toilet. After some reassuring he visited the restroom.

Duner stopped in from 8:30 to 9:20, then he had to work at his other job for 4hrs. I let the kids tell me when it was time to go, finally Zeb wanted to go home after midnight so we headed home and went to bed.

The next day I learned Duner stopped by after work and there were still people there. He stayed for a little while and then headed home, too.

Attention to Details

Since the kids discovered the scale, we have noticed a few things.

-We went though 3/4 of a box of saltines in 24hrs. 60 calories =5 crackers.

-One ate an ENTIRE box of microwavable sausage links 700 calories
(500 from fat- no more buying those!)

-We went through TWO gallons of milk in 48hrs.

-We went through 2 bags of Chips in 48 hours. (They were on sale 2 for 5.00)

-I can feed my kids and I, for under $10 bucks at a Taco Bell. Now, with the Fresco Style Tacos, Healthier (minus any drinks). Not my husband though, his tacos are 2 bucks each!! He is the expensive one!

I put Zeb in charge of physical therapy for the boys. B. & R. had to do whatever Zeb (the endless ball of energy) loves to scooter around the block. B. & R. had to go around with him as many times as he wanted!! He was good after 3 times.

I showed the kids a neat website that helped them realize how activity and food work TOGETHER. They need to eat no more than 16oo calories if they are going to sit in front of a computer or game system all day. They can eat 2200 calories if they are more active.

It showed them how many calories are burned if you do different activities, such as, jump rope, running, biking, swimming, walking, playing a board game (which is only 68 calories per hr).

After one of the kids noticed some fruit pies that Dad picked up, we checked out the calories. OVER 350~! I told him according to the website if he was going to eat ONE he had to ride his bike for one hour before he could have one of those, in order to burn over 350 calories.

Where did the weekend go?

We drove up to get Brock from Camp on Saturday mostly uneventful. We would have gotten home sooner, but we had to stop for gas, food and potty breaks x 2.
After we got home we welcomed our newest nephew over. His Mom had to work and his Dad had something else to do so we baby proofed the home and let him play. Zeb was playing really well with him considering he was used to being the 'baby'. I had to laugh as Zeb got frustrated when G would pull apart the track. He fell asleep about an hour before his Dad said he would. I guess we wore him out.

Apparently Brock has gotten into some fertilizer but I don't know where. Man, did that kid grow this summer!! I bought him some jeans while he was at camp, I asked him to try them on yesterday and they were short. REALLY SHORT. They were one size larger than the size he was in last year. He is just about to MY height and he is only 12! He is going to pass Dad up soon! He was 14 and now he is a size 20~! Not because of the waist either. The store didn't have any size 20 so we had to go in to the Young mens department and get 29 x 30 pants for him. The waist is a little large, but since the jeans are all cotton I am hoping they will shrink a little in the wash.

Today we are gearingup to take the boys Rafting today. I think everyone is pretty excited about it. Brock was preparing to make 8 sandwiches (1 per hour for him and Reece) and bring 2 liters of water and bring something to keep him occupied. Well, I have to get the troops ready with a good breakfast.

Reece is my stresser. He called me from home while I was in Madison, because he was worried about a black 'thing' on his toe. ???? (Which was gone by the time I got back, of course)

So we were watching Shaq's Big Challenge the other day on TV and he asked if we had a scale.

He dug it out and stepped on it. He was over double of Zeb.

Now I have been trying to get him to stop eating out of boredom, or excess snacking. since school let out.

Well... He REALLY is now motivated to move it into gear. He has been watching the calories this week as he runs on my parents treadmill. Yesterday he burned 53 calories today was over 100~
Last night he did 10 push ups, but was lacking in the sit ups portion. But he is determined.

Is he EVER!

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?