Race Day

Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon

This was big.
Bigger than anything I've done before.
13.1 miles, 27,000 runners.

It was a really fun way to see Seattle. They closed down portions of I-90 and we literally ran down the freeway. We started in Tukwilla, ran along Lake Washington, through a tunnel, by Safeco and Quest Fields, and ended in Seattle.

I have 2 great friends who make the perfect running buddies. I wouldn't have done this without them.

We went to pick up our running packets on Thursday and just for fun got our runner's fortune. That was a mistake.

Mine predicted that I should pack an extra pair of shorts in my fanny pack because as most serious runners know, accidents do happen. Yikes!

As if that wasn't bad enough, later that night I got a fortune cookie and it said, "Good things come slow - especially in distance running."

Race day started early. We got to the starting line with plenty of time to check our gear, stretch and mingle with other runners. The feeling is not something I can describe. It was neat to be a part of such a big event.

We all wore pink shirts so our families could spot us easily. Knowing our fans would be around mile 11, I began looking for them amongst the sea of faces. I wasn't sure I would see them and hoped our pink shirts caught their attention.



I wish I had a picture of the view I had. It wasn't hard to miss a stroller, 2 dads and 7 kids, all wildly waving and cheering while holding posters with our names on them. It was the perfect boost to get me through the next two miles which were the hardest of the entire race. I kept feeling like the end had to be around the next corner, and it wasn't. It seemed to go on and on. I felt exhausted and wanted to slow down but I knew after all the hard work I had put into this race, I would be so disappointed with myself if I didn't finish strong. Crossing that finish line and realizing that I had beat the time I set out to get felt good, really good!

1 hour 51 minutes 22 seconds
8:30 average mile
695 place out of all the women
1781 over all

I couldn't have done it without the support of my family!

And, I'm really glad that I didn't need that extra pair of shorts!

The End

So far, all of my kids have gone to Miss Cindy's Preschool. She is fabulous and we all love her!

Today was the end of the year party, I suppose you could call it preschool graduation. Emma made a really cute book for her teacher titled 10 Things I Love About Miss Cindy. She talked about the favorite books they read and songs they sang and about how much she loved her teachers real witch costume at Halloween. She also mentioned that she wanted to have her for Kindergarten next year... and forever. Too cute!

Miss Cindy has a morning and an afternoon class. Here is the whole clan.

And the official certificate. Congratulations!

The kids enjoyed pizza, cake and lots of playtime. This picture below is my favorite of the day.

Austin loved this car. I had one similar for Linsey and Hunter at about this age, too bad I didn't keep it around. It would be perfect for this summer.

If I would have discovered the car sooner, maybe he wouldn't have dumped all the shoes off of the shelf.

I guess the end of the school year is finally here. Linsey and Hunter have all of Wednesday and 2 hours on Thursday and then the Summer fun can officially begin!

#1 Dad!

Everyone in our house agrees that Jared is pretty cool. In fact, we think that he is the #1 Dad! Father Day this year was full of yummy surprises. The kids and I all worked together to make one of Jared's favorite dinners.

Linsey made him a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting all on her own.

Jared's favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon is taking a nap. The kids can't hardly believe that's a treat, but busily worked on making posters to greet him once he got up. He slept for quite awhile. I think they made 11 signs.


I think I overheard him telling someone that from where he was sitting at the dinner table, he could see four. I think he felt loved.


After dinner, the kids had planned to escort daddy to the couch, turn on the TV, and get him a quilt while the rest of us did the dishes. It was simple, but oh so complex at the same time. They whispered and hushed each other towards the end of dinner, reminding each other quietly of who had which job, who would go first and when to start.

I'm so grateful for Jared. He is a huge help to me all the time, he's very thoughtful and is always willing to help out with the kids. He can't resist stopping whatever he is doing to tickle or play with them. I loves that he teaches them to work hard and supports everything they set out to do.

Oh yeah...May!

Well, it seems like we celebrated Austin's birthday and then I blinked and there went the rest of May.

Here's a little of what happened at our house while I was busy blinking.

Every year the first grade puts on a very cute Mother's Day program. Hunter was so sweet and I love that they teach the kids to put a corsage on their moms, escort us to our seats and serve us. It's so special and the program was darling!


My parents came out for a visit. My dad went with Jared and Hunter on the Father and Sons outing while my mom and I had fun relaxing at the house. Saturday we watched the kids play soccer but mostly kept busy with the neighborhood garage sale.


The garage sale is quite the event. Cars line the sides of the streets, you can barely find a spot to park. My kids always love to sell cookies and this year they also sold cinnamon rolls.

After several hours, I was ready to call it quits and put a FREE sign out, but Linsey wasn't ready to be done at all. I told her she could lower prices on any items and sell things for whatever she wanted and I went inside for lunch. I came out once and she had made a sign to sell VHS tapes for .10 and they were buy one get one free. That's a deal! :) She stayed out for almost 2 hours on her own even sold her own bike.


Emma has been making these letters at preschool over the last school year. When she brought home the letter "Z", it hit me that the end of the year is really approaching and kindergarten is right around the corner!

Last Saturday I ran the Green River Marathon with a relay team. I ran 7 miles, really it was a fun way to get in a long run as part of my training to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon later in June. Wish me luck!


While I was off running, Jared was home taking the kids to their last soccer games and soccer banquets. (Sorry Jared.)

Hunter plays HARD and is definitely aggressive out on the field! He's fun to watch. I always laugh when I go back and look at pictures of him playing soccer because his tongue is usually hanging out!


Linsey has been playing with the same team and coach for several years. It's been lots of fun! Unfortunately, they aren't going to coach next season so we'll be trying out a new team in the Fall.

Linsey was able to go to her end of season soccer party, but Hunter's was during Linsey game so we had to have a party of our own at home. It wasn't quite the same, but I think he still had fun.


Then, that evening Linsey had a piano recital. Thanks Grandma Jeanne for making the trip out! She performed her song perfectly and we all enjoyed the yummy treats afterward.


This week Linsey was a finalist for the Fourth Grade Spelling Bee. The word she went out on was English. She spelled it right but forgot to capitalize the E. I would have missed that one too. Darn.

And just to make you laugh, it's WACKY HAIR DAY!

Hunter especially is thrilled with this new hair cut. Too bad it will only last one day.

And that is the month of May...(and some of June)!

A Fun Weekend with the Cousins!

Memorial Day Weekend was looking pretty gloomy. The weather forecast was rain, rain, rain. Our traditional camping trip was put on hold and we weren't sure quite what to do. A last minute change of plans left the cousins looking for something to do and we had been trying to find a weekend to get together so rain or no rain, we decided to play... and we played hard!

They arrived Friday night, just in time to say a quick hello (which means run around the house screaming with excitement) and then go to bed.

Saturday morning everyone got up bright and early. We went down to the church to play soccer and a game of kick-ball (it was raining).

I was surprised at how intense the kids played.

This is what I did.

Then, we came home and Tally and I got a nice quiet visit while Austin was sleeping and Jared and my brother Chris took all the older kids for a bike ride to the new donut shop and park. They were gone for nearly two hours which was lovely. After our late night visiting, we were glad to catch a nap. Once they got home, the kids watched a movie while the dads took their well deserved nap, we ate dinner, and then headed off to the roller skating rink.

Everyone did great although I will admit the first hour was rough. By the end, even Emma and Gavin could go around the rink on their own.

The boys got a little crazy, but that's nothing new.

Sunday morning came way too early. I'm not sure how we made it to 9 a.m. church on time, but we did. After a quick lunch, we announced an hour of quiet time. All the kids grumbled, but within minutes of laying down the house was quiet and all 8 kids and 4 adults slept for nearly 2 hours!

We went for a big family bike ride.. 4 adults, 2 bike trailers, and 5 kids speeding around us made quite the sight I'm sure.

The kids worked out some energy at these work-out stations. It was perfect!

We came back to the house and enjoyed a yummy dinner then relaxed a bit.

Monday morning my sister-in-law Tally and I took the two older girls and Austin and headed off to the mall for some shopping. It really was fun! Both Linsey and Savannah LOVE to shop and were thrilled with their new matching outfits. I wish I would have had my camera all day long to capture the moments when they found the different things we bought, skipped through the mall, and sipped from the same soda at lunch.

I did get a couple pictures once we got home. This was one of my favorites.

We found matching sports t-shirts for the boys too. They had fun walking to the store to get treats and then going to a movie while we were gone. I guess it poured rain on them, but hey... little boys love puddles and rain.

We went to a Mariners Baseball game Monday night.

Here is all of the group, all but Tally who is taking the picture.

The Mariners lost, but only by one run. We still had fun, the highlight of the night was when Hunter and Zach were dancing silly and made it on the jumbotron.

Austin was a trooper.

We finally gave in and got the ridiculously overpriced cotton candy for the kids.

Tuesday after packing up, we went to a nearby park for one last energy burning activity before the cousins had to load up and make the 5 hour trip home. Honestly, I don't know how they even had any energy left. I was exhausted.



Here in the Seattle area, a little rain doesn't stop us from having fun. Emma always reminds me that I LOVE rain because it makes her hair curly. It's true. I do love the rain!