The Second Endeavor at Hospital Hill

Yes, we were all crazy enough to do it again this year, but it was still a fun little get away! :) I have to attempt I didn't do as well as last year and last year definitely wasn't the greatest for me, so I wasn't completely happy about that, but it was still a fun and learning experience. Last year I didn't focus on hill training at all and this year I focused on it so much that I didn't get the benefits of training without the hills. So, I was stronger on the hills, but with the combination of heat I slowed down and something was up with the pace group I was making sure I stayed ahead of, because although I was ahead of them my time was slower than them....kind of weird, but oh well. I finished and I felt much better than last year!I think the only thing that was really bothering me at the end of the race was a blister that had started to develop around 3.5 miles and both of my toenails on my big toes...one of which was already black from training on a lot of hills and my shoes needing to be a little bigger(ugh, now I know). Of course, I don't know if it's just this race (lol, or just me in general), but every time I feel like I'm about to die at the end! I was thinking though, it's kind of like when you have a baby (naturally) and you feel like you're going to die, but as soon as you have the baby you kind of forget how bad it was and before too long you're ready to do it again! Of course, the pain is no where near the same, but maybe some of you get the idea! Lol, so all that being said just to say that even though it's a tough race, you still kind of want to do it again....obviously since we did it again this year! :) We are thinking of trying a flat race this fall since no one else really got better times either and we kind of want to try something that isn't nearly as hilly! I definitely want to, I've only been running a little over a year now and not consistently (unless I was training) and I've only done two races, both of them being Hospital Hill, so I would love to see how I do on a flat course!We actually don't look too bad for having having been running 2+ hours in hot humid weather :) Although, I don't think it was quite as hot this year, it was definitely more sunny and still way too hot! I didn't get any pictures on my camera (forgetful me) so I had to steal these pictures from Hillary. :)All cleaned up and in our new "I conquered the hill" t-shirts! I wonder how many people that look at this picture would realize that the "young looking" girl on the right is our mom. :) Hopefully it runs in the genes, cause I would love to look like that when I'm her age! Of course, the lady at the desk during check out, couldn't believe that I was as old as I am or that I had two kids....hmmm, I'm not so sure that's a compliment.
We had a fun time...although for me I missed Jacob being there; he tried to get off of work, but that didn't work out so he had to stay and work and my awesome sisters Kayla and Adalie were stuck with the two "monsters"! lol :) They said they didn't mind, but looking after these two.......isn't easy! I'm thinking next time we do a race I'll see about leaving them with someone here at home so it's easier on everyone. They did do soo well during all the driving and it was a lot of driving in two days for kids, but they were so good the whole way...of course, Bethany had to remind me at random times on the drive home that she didn't get to see me run! I don't think she's going to let me forget either, cause it's been almost a week since the race and she will still randomly say "I didn't see you run, mom",in a very injured voice...it's funny. :) Oh, and Abigail now wants me to teach her how to run fast so she can race with me...it's cute when your kids think you can run so fast and they want to be like you. :) Hmmm, I wish I could run fast! :D

The Ornery One...

I know I've been neglecting the blogging world, but hey, sometimes that happens when you have two kids. :) Even now, Bethany is digging in the fridge, because obviously, having just eaten lunch and now eating crackers isn't enough for her. *Sighing*...she is soo much of a handful and she literally never stops needing something or getting into stuff.Doesn't she look so cute and innocent...haha...what I didn't know at the time was that she was diaperless! Yep, here I was thinking "she's being so cute and I'm getting some cute pictures"...till she decides to pull up her dress to reveal that for some unknown amount of time she has been going around without her diaper. And although she tells me quite adamantly that she will not pee on the floor, it has happened before! It did make me laugh as I ran inside to retrieve the diaper though, so it wasn't too bad. :) I guess this would be a more fitting picture of her orneriness.... :) Yep, she's definitely ornery, but cute at the same time I have to admit. :)They both love to dress up, but Abigail wasn't in the mood for pictures that day so I will have to post pictures of her playing dress up another time.

Well...

I haven't forgotten about my blog, but there seems to be a lot keeping me busy lately. Nothing real exciting, just the everyday happenings of a mom with two kids....one (Abigail) in the middle of being potty trained. Which I must say is going really well! We started about two weeks ago and after the first couple days I would forget to constantly be asking if she needed to use the potty and she would come to me and say she needed to. So I'm pretty happy with her progress, of course, we've had our share of accidents....one being that twice when Jacob or I raised our voices and it startled her she would have an accident and end up crying about it. So, I've tried to be careful about suddenly saying something when she's around. :) She's done really good when we've been out to church and stuff; I do put her in a pull-up on those occasions, but she's so thrilled about using all the different potties that she loves telling me she has to go! This past Sunday as we were pulling up to church I reminded her to let me know if she needed to go potty, to which she replied in surprise "do they have a potty?!" She usually has to remark about something in the bathroom too...I have no clue why, but lately it's been about the little trash cans so every time we go into a new bathroom she has to look for the trash cans and then talk about them! The part I really don't like....is the touching...why do they have to touch EVERYTHING! The wall, the door, the toilet...literally everything! I keep telling her that they are dirty and have germs.....*sigh* it doesn't seem to effect her. I guess I'm just used to going into a public bathroom and trying not to touch anything!
Bethany keeps telling me she wants to use the potty, but I have a feeling things would be a lot more difficult if I were to start training her right now, so we will give it a little more time. She does tell me constantly she has to go potty and I'll tell her she's still to young to potty train so she just needs to go in her diaper, to which she usually tells me "no!" I guess that's good that she doesn't want to go in her diaper, but I really think she needs more time before we get serious. I do need to start watching what I say to her, because lately every time I pick her up she pushes my cheeks together and tell me "chubby cheeks, chubby cheeks!" She's our little clown/entertainer and if Jacob and I are talking and start laughing she immediately starts laughing and then starts telling us some story! It's pretty cute when she'll randomly start dancing all crazy cause she wants us to laugh at her....it's works every time too!

Well, time has gotten away from me and the girls are up, so my day begins....hopefully soon I'll be able to post some pictures!

We're Sick....Again

I don't know that I've even been sick this much in such a short amount of time...we're literally gone from being sick for almost 3 weeks to feeling like we were finally getting better, just to get sick again. They've both been really nasty colds and I'm beginning to think my nose has been permanently damaged(and therefore my taste buds too) because even when I had been starting to feel better I still wasn't able to smell anything very well. And those of you who know me, know that I have an extremely sensitive nose, so it's rather trying to not be able to smell very well and therefore I can't taste anything very well. I told Jacob today that I haven't been able to smell the girl's poopy diapers for over 3 weeks...not that I actually miss that smell (because I most certainly do not miss the smell of Bethany's diapers), but it makes it difficult to know when they are poopy unless I actually go around checking their diapers. Which conveniently, Abigail has started announcing (very loudly) when Bethany is poopy (I'm beginning to think she might have a nose like I do...or I rather, like I used to) and Bethany has gotten very used to backing up to me backwards so that I can check her diaper. But besides me not being able to smell most things, we've also been dealing with fevers, coughing and of course, the yucky snotty noses...I won't go into details there because, well...those of you that have kids know what I'm talking about! Kids and snotty noses = grossness, especially if they don't like to keep their hair things in!
We were able to get out to church last Sunday, which was extremely nice, but it's not looking hopeful for tomorrow...I just hope it's not another 3 weeks before we get to go again. I have been keeping stocked up on library books, which when my head isn't killing me, I've been reading so that's helped a lot. I've really not been happy with my running schedule though, especially this last week where we were having 70 degree weather and I was only able to get out one day and run because the rest of the time my head was...yep...killing me and I was coughing and dealing with nose issues. I had been looking forward to getting to start my training program on the week is was going to be so nice outside, but instead I'm going to be slightly behind where I wanted to be...oh well...I just hope I'll be able to run on Monday!

Oh, and I do have more pictures to post, but they will have to wait until next time. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Bethany will literally do anything and everything Abigail does...including trying to look like her! I love how they held hands the whole time and I absolutely love the dresses my grandma made for them...they are so cute.
The whole time I was trying to take pictures of them, they would randomly start hugging each other and end up laughing and rolling around on the couch....it was funny and cute!I know I got a little carried away with all the pictures, but it's hard to choose just a few to post and I thought it was fitting for Valentine's Day.

Around Valentine's Day, I always remember the first time Jacob asked me to be his Valentine's 5 years ago while he was down in Texas at Tech School and I was here in Missouri working at the Capitol. We were emailing each other a lot, since that was the only way we really got to communicate...then 3 months later he asked me to marry him when he got to come home for a 3 week break after Tech school. We hadn't even seen each other since right after Christmas, so we definitely had a long distance relationship, but it was all worth it when we finally got to be together! I love my Jacob and he's still my very best friend and Valentine!

Random

It's time for some randomness from me.....so get ready for.....random pictures and any random things that pop into my head! Sounds wonderful doesn't it! Some days we all just need a little bit of randomness! :)And of course, life wouldn't be right without the occasional "scary spiders" to be an amusement to some of us!The girls literally would not touch or go close to these things for about a week...they would also jump and start crying if anyone put one anywhere near them! Then Bethany started to get brave so she started coming up to them and grabbing one and throwing it as fast as she could, then running away. And she would repeat that multiple times until both her and Abigail decided they were fun to play with and they now carry them around and fight over who gets which one! :)

Having smoke detectors in the kitchen are so annoying. Not that I ever burn food or anything, but you know, the occasional time something spills into the bottom of the oven and then proceeds to smoke profusely no matter what you do, while you frantically wave towels or cookie sheets at the annoying thing till it stops beeping. Talk about annoying. I guess that's part of living in a small enough area that pretty much anywhere in here is close to the kitchen. Another thing, is our computer happens to be right underneath the smoke detector, so I'm really hoping it doesn't go off again....I'm sure you can guess why. Oh, and I'm making oreo cheesecake and no, it's not burning, it's just leaking out of the bottom and then burning....so now the oven will need to be cleaned once again. I need to start writing on certain recipes to put a pan on the bottom rack to prevent this from happening...you'd think I'd remember by now though! :)
They discovered (awhile back now) how to get in the pack n' play, which provided a lot of amusement for them...not so much for me, seeing how they would literally fall on their heads into the bed, scaring me every time! What is it with kids and finding things that they think are fun, that scare their parents?! Bethany, especially, seems to constantly find things to do that involve "trying to kill herself" activities...or so it would seem.

Yesterday, Jacob and I escaped to the wonderful land of Wal-Mart, leaving the girls with his parents, and enjoyed just getting to walk around holding hands. :) We did have some things to get, but we definitely took our time and just enjoyed the time together...even if it was in Wal-Mart, which is pretty much the only place to shop in this small town. I don't think I've ever been in a Wal-Mart that got so into Valentine's Day....it was actually kind of nice with all the pink and red everywhere!

Well, now I'm going to go and cuddle with my hubby and watch a movie! :)

Fun With Face Paint!

At first Jacob was going to paint Bethany as a cat, but then decided that a clown would be more appropriate! I would have to agree.....and she enjoyed it a lot as you can see.... :)
She got quite the kick out of looking at herself in the mirror (please excuse the clutter) and if you look closely you can see she's licking away....I have a hard time imagining it being very tasty though!
Abigail is all ready to become a cat.....while Bethany is....well, being Bethany! :)
The cute cat!

As you can see these pictures were taken before Christmas, so I'm trying to do some catch-up. It looks like we're going to be having some wintery weather for the next couple of days, so hopefully that means more time on here. We'll see though, we're also working though a cold and the girls have been rather crabby today....well, hopefully it was due to them not feeling good! :)