The Blakes

New workout

2012-02-07T09:05:00.002-06:00

This morning, Robin and I did Zumba. We borrowed it from Jo so we could do it on the Wii. It was pretty fun. I could throw it in once in a while to shake things up. Hopefully I'll get 5 miles in tonight. It's snowing - again - but lightly, so hopefully there won't be too much accumulation, since the side streets are pretty slick this morning.

HUGE surprise!

2012-02-06T08:41:00.004-06:00

I got an email from Active.com last night and almost didn't open it, but it was labeled as "summer races in your area." Ok, I'll give it a look. What was at the top? WARRIOR DASH comes to NEBRASKA!! June 9 & 10. I signed up immediately, of course. Robin probably thought I was going insane, having a stroke, or both. I sent out urgent texts to my kids that I took earlier this school year. They're registered! Woohoo! I'm going to try to get more kids to go this time, since it's in the summer. The race is listed as Louisville, NE, which is the exit you take when going to the SAC museum, so I'm familiar (kind of) with the area. I'm sooooo excited!

I got 5 miles done on Friday, and I did my workout that my buddy sent me. I was supposed to do the Army PT test. I did ok. I wouldn't have passed, though. Not in a million years. I did 28 (the last ones probably shouldn't have counted) pushups, 102 crunches (not situps), and my 2 mile was 19:39. I was proudest of my 2 mile. I should be able to go faster, but since I've never actually timed a 2 mile before, it was a pretty good effort.

Cael's been having a rough time lately with not listening, and acting just plain crazy. We talked about it last night, and decided that all of his toys would be put away. We made a chart, and he has to earn 6 stickers to earn a toy back. This morning he got one for listening and getting through our routine without any hassles. Tonight, if he's good, he'll get another sticker. He might even get a sticker if he sat quietly in the gym instead of running around like he usually does. He was very proud to get to put the sticker on this morning. He also lost movie privileges, so he has to earn those back as well. It was a pretty smooth morning, I must say!

Week 6 via Ben

2012-02-06T08:41:00.001-06:00

Week Six: Getting over the hump. Recommitting.

It's been a month now and this is when people start to relax. This is when New Year's resolutions fizzle out. The holidays are over, the Super Bowl is over, the cold of winter has us curling up in a ball when we could be out running.

Don't settle. Push the pedal.

WEEK SIX CHALLENGES:

(Since we're all at different places in our health and fitness journeys, there will be some differing challenges.)

Focus on your excuses again. Write them down and defeat them.
Commit to exercising all seven days even if it's just active recovery.
Get outside the box. One day, do an exercise routine you've NEVER done. Go to Zumba, try a swim class, go rollerblading. It doesn't matter what it is, but give it your all and push hard.
Beginners: Do 180 minutes of exercise this week. And 150 jumping jacks.
Intermediate-Advanced: Do your scheduled routine but add a workout from your partner. Message your partner telling them to give you an assignment.
Stay connected with your partner.
Send the Men in Black to my apartment to zap out the Super Bowl. Do not want to remember.
Push hard, guys. We have to stick with it even when it's getting monotonous.

And please remember, this is just a kickstart. Keep working on the things you need to work on to better your life. Maybe this encompasses all of those things, maybe it doesn't. But you know as well as I do that it's worth it to keep doing it.

Saturday I'll make an official submission thread. By Sunday, post your weekly reflections, results, and thoughts there. Be sure to take pictures if you can. Get creative.

Do good, do life.

I've been in my bubble

2012-02-01T08:41:00.002-06:00

so if you haven't heard from me, I apologize. I knew when I started marathon training again this would happen. Basically, it's workout, school, run, home, make supper, talk to Allen, bed, get up and do it again the next day. Throw in Cael's activities, and you've got a full week. I'm not complaining, though. It's just how it is right now. Tonight is Cael's first football practice, so I'm sure I'll have pictures of that. He had to get a mouthguard. He and his daddy have a wicked gag reflex, so I had to cut off the back of the guard so he could get it in his mouth without gagging. He's been wearing it a little every night just to get used to it. Tonight should be interesting. I'm sure it will look more like chickens running around than football. Entertainment at its best. I didn't get a run in last night just because we went to WR, and Cael fell asleep. I grabbed enchiladas, and headed home. I'm going to the gym after our teachers' inservice today, though. 5 miles. Oh ya. Next week's long run is 9 miles. That's kind of a pivotal one for me. It's the beginning of the "long" long stuff. If I can get comfortable doing the 9, 10, 11, and 12 stuff, I'll be pretty comfortable from then on. Still hoping my GU isn't going to attack my stomach, otherwise, I don't know what I'm going to do for fuel. I made a workout for my buddy. I hope she likes it. It's run a mile, weights, run a mile. I used to do that one last year when Allen was losing all of his weight. I should probably do it too, come to think of it.

This week...

2012-01-30T10:46:00.004-06:00

This week, Cael starts flag football, so I had to move his gymnastics times to Friday for the next couple of weeks. His teacher said that she's sad that she won't get to see her little Green Lantern for a while. :( Oh, he'll be back, don't worry. Today is Robin's birthday. Yea! She gets the day off of school, so she decided to sleep in. I slept in as well, but then I realized I should have gotten my run in, since this afternoon will be pretty much crazy. It's going to be beautiful for the next couple of days, so I'm hoping to take Cael to Wood River tomorrow so we can run a little together on the track, and he can play in the sand while I do speed work. Then we'll stop at the "enchilada store" (the grocery store in WR) to grab some enchiladas for supper. They're Cael's favorite, and they're handmade by some ladies in town. Delish. The only ones better are made by our former neighboors, the Soto family. Still working on goals and getting my pushup number up. Robin and I will hopefully remember to recount in the morning. This week, I need to think of a workout for my buddy. Hmmmmm. Gotta think a little on that one.

Week 5 via Ben

2012-01-30T10:46:00.001-06:00

Week Five Theme: Back to the Basics.

We're nearly done with the first month so it's time to dust off those goals we made at the beginning and figure out where we stand. It's also time to think about The next month of the year. Remember, we don't look at New Year's Resolutions as yearlong pipedreams, we set realistic quantifiable goals and we work toward them.

WEEK FIVE CHALLENGES:

(Since we're all at different places in our health and fitness journeys, there will be some differing challenges.)

On Feb 1st, write down the goals you made during week one and assess yourself.
Whatever the result, turn the page and write five new realistic and quantifiable goals for you to achieve by March 1st. (Remember, it's a leap year!) Maybe they are a continuation, maybe you have new goals. Whatever the case, write them down.
On Feb 1st, max out on pushups or hold your plank. Write the number down.
Beginners: Do 160 minutes of exercise this week. (40 minutes 4 times?) And 100 jumping jacks.
Intermediate-Advanced: Do your normal routine, but add 300 jumping jacks into your week.
Keep planking and pushing up!
Oh hey look, we're having lots of cool sales on Do Life gear. BUY SOME OF THAT. lol just kidding. OR AM I?
Stay connected with your partner. Keep the conversation and accountability going. On Wednesday, create a special/fun workout for your partner and send it to them. Complete the one they send you by Sunday.

Saturday I'll make an official submission thread. By Sunday, post your weekly reflections, results, and thoughts there. Be sure to take pictures if you can. Get creative.

Do good, do life.

Long run

2012-01-28T19:24:00.002-06:00

I got 7.3 miles in yesterday afternoon. My pacing buddy got me through 4 of them. Once again, my pace was crazy on nike+. I tried so hard to keep the same pace after she left, but it dipped. Oh well.

Critterman

2012-01-28T19:15:00.003-06:00

Critterman! He was at the Hastings Museum last Thursday evening, so Cael and I had a date. He was pretty cool, but Cael was disappointed there was no lion. An opposum.

A ring-tailed lemur. A baby Burmese python. Cael going in to touch its tail. "It feels like plastic!" There was also a red tegu, a blue-tounged skink, and a barn owl. It was a fun evening - especially when Cael ordered for me at Hunan's. What a gentleman!

100th day of school

2012-01-28T19:05:00.003-06:00

The 100th day of school is on Tuesday, so Cael is supposed to take something that has 100 of something on it. He decided to make some volcanoes with shooting lava. Each volcano has 50 toothpick lava spikes coming out. I was impressed that Cael thought of it all by himself. For his counting things, he's going to take a strand of 100 Christmas lights. :)

Sooooo tired

2012-01-25T07:25:00.002-06:00

And no, it's not from training. Cael is sick and was coughing all night long. Poor kid. From about midnight on, I'm not sure how much sleep we got, but it wasn't much. He's sleeping now, so I'm just going to let him. It will do no good to wake up an exhausted, sick kid and force him to go to school. I'll check around 11 and see where we stand. If we can just get his cough to subside, I think we'll be ok. No fever or anything, so that's a relief. I will be getting a humidifier though today. Darn Nebraska winter air is so dry, I'm sure it's not helping things at all. I'm going back to bed as well. No need for both of us to be dead on our feet. I'm hoping to get rested up so that maybe I can run a little this afternoon. Pretty sure no gymnastics today, though. :(

Strange...But True!

2012-01-24T09:31:00.003-06:00

So, as I got to know my buddy yesterday, I found out that they are stationed at Ft. Knox, KY, and her husband is originally from Kearney and went to UNL. Hmmm, interesting. What year did he graduate? 1996, and he was a band geek. Hmmm, interesting. Did he, by chance, know Alex Sommerfeld? Why, yes. Yes, he did! He also hung out with Rhonda Anderson (I went to Concordia with her). My world just got smaller. Craziness! ALSO - I run with a Nike+ sensor and wristband. It tells me how far I go, how long (time) I ran, calories burned, and average mile pace. Last Friday, I did 6 miles, and last night I finally uploaded my workouts into my computer. It gives me a graph of pace for each mile. What I saw was just really weird. The first part of my run, I was running next to a girl that runs about the same speed as I do. We fall into the same stride and silently push each other. Runners call this "pacing." So, we pace each other. On my graph for this run, I notice that my avg. pace for the first three miles were - 9:35, 8:54, and 8:57. Really fast for me! But, of course, I was being paced. The last three miles, after my pacer buddy left, were - 10:43, 10:43, and 10:42. I had the treadmill on the same mph the entire time, and yet, I had very different paces. I never thought I could get such different results while being on a treadmill.

Couple Cael stories

2012-01-23T12:43:00.004-06:00

I just had to throw these in here: Last week, I was taking Cael to school, and I had the mp3 going. Toccata and Fugue came on. I skipped it, and Cael protested, so I turned it back on. We pulled up in front of his school and he lets out this long scary laugh. "What was that, Cael?" "It was an evil laugh, mom. This is a spooky song!" I laughed really hard as he got out and ran to the front door with his arms up and laughing his evil laugh. That's my boy. Allen's, actually. THEN, last week, Cael was using the nurse's bathroom in the office (the reason is a whole different story) and he came running out into the outter office. The secretary (the mom of one of my students) asked him what he was doing. "At home, we have a lid so we can shut it so the germs don't get out. There's no lid, so I had to run out really fast so the germs didn't get me!" Now, in his defense, he's been watching "World's Dirtiest Man" (Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs") that shows what happens when you flush. So, I understand, but it's still really funny.

My buddy

2012-01-23T12:16:00.004-06:00

Well, I found a buddy. She's an Army wife in Kentucky, 31, and is a teacher. I think we match up pretty well. My goal this week is to get to 7 or 7.5 miles this weekend. I don't have much time, so I need to kick it into high gear. I'm going to do 4 miles of hill work tonight after school. Robin and I did Killer Buns and Thighs this morning. Thank you, Jillian Michaels. Level 2! And we didn't completely die. Woot! As long as I take my meds for my stomach before I run in the afternoon, it hasn't been an issue, which I'm quite thankful for. Guess we'll see what can be achieved this week!

Week 4 from Ben Davis

2012-01-23T12:16:00.001-06:00

Welcome to Week Four! Let's get to it. (for best results, print this page) Week Four Theme: The Power of Community. Quote: "Everything is better when we do it together." This week is all about teaming up with someone. Specifically, meeting someone on these forums, and becoming accountability/inspirational partners for the next two weeks (at least). When I first started, one of the first things I did was enlist my brother as a motivation partner. We became a team and I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. Throughout the years on my blog I've forged hundreds of more friendships and it's one of the reasons I've had success so far. When I first started I would have never imagined finishing a marathon or Ironman, but they became possible with a team. It's not even a question. It's fact. WEEK FOUR CHALLENGES: As soon as you can, find a partner on these challenge forums. I'm making an official buddy thread where you can all meet up. I'd suggest keeping the communications inside the thread rather than the dialog system so we can all see who's still in need of a partner. Once you guys have connected, start with the dialogs and I would even suggest trading emails/FB info so you can stay in touch more readily. Throughout the week, discuss with each other your goals, victories, struggles, etc. Get to know one another. It doesn't matter if you're on two entirely different planets physically. Encourage one another based on what they need. Keep up with each other. You're going to get out what you put in. Hopefully your partner doesn't become uncommunicative, but if that happens, just come back and find another without calling him or her out. If for some reason you don't want to connect with someone here, make a concerted effort to buddying up in real life with someone who you can share the journey with. By Wednesday, share five specific goals with each other that will be reachable by the end of week FIVE. 12 days. (This challenge will work in conjunction with next week too). Retest your pushups/plank. Get to know each other outside of exercise-only. Don't share anything you're not comfortable with, but make an effort to know your buddy. On Saturday, message your buddy with four reasons they impressed you this week. You will not be submitting for yourself this week. You will be nominating your buddy and telling us why they had a good week and deserve to win.

Weekend

2012-01-22T19:19:00.003-06:00

I went to a speech meet yesterday in Central City, and Cael stayed with Robin. Obviously, she wore him out. At the speech meet, my novice duet got 2nd, and my novice entertainment got a superior. Friday, I got 6 miles in. It felt really good. I would really like to get another pair of my Asics Tri-Noosa 6's. However, there are NONE left anywhere. At least in size 6.5. Boo. The 7's will come into stores during the last part of February. Tradehome Shoes is going to call me when they come in. In the meantime, I got some Saucony ProGrid Kanavara 2's. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm excited to tomorrow.

A couple good things

2012-01-17T08:56:00.002-06:00

I am now registered for 2 spring races. March 17th is the Wilderness Trail race in Lincoln. I'm signed up for the half. The Lincoln marathon sold out in 2 weeks, so I couldn't get in. Oh well. I'm excited to do this one, though. I've never done a trail race, so it will be a neat experience. It will also be a good gauge for how I'm doing as far as training for a marathon, since I'm signed up to do the St. Louis marathon (full) April 15th. Gotta train, gotta train, gotta train. It will also force me to figure out my stomach issues. I've been doing ok as long as I take my meds regularly. I also have gone to the chiropractor twice in the last two weeks. My ribs were out and then my knees. I think my ribs are back out now, since Robin and I worked out pretty hard this morning. But, I need to be able to keep the 26.2 magnet on my car without saying "I ran a marathon once." :)

Week 3

2012-01-16T09:02:00.000-06:00

This week is an old-fashioned scavenger hunt free-for-all! Keep working your pushups/planks and keep rocking the exercise, but the week is simple. Whoever gets the most challenges done wins the week. Winners tie? Prizes for everyone tied. Hope you all have a self-timer on your cameras. There are apps for that if you are using smart phone. [photo proof required for every single item!] [each item worth one point unless otherwise stated] Policeman/woman in your town wearing a Do Life shirt (2 points) or holding a homemade Do Life sign (1 point). You sitting on or standing next to a tricycle with a racing bib on. In public. Bonus points for helmet and sunglasses. Statue in your town wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) or wearing a Do Life sign around its neck (1 point). Ballerina pose during your next workout. The biggest chalk Do Life logo you can make. Outdoor basketball court? Screenshot of your longest walk/run of the week. (http://mapmyrun.com in case you don't know how to map a run yet. Or any other mapping/GPS device.) You holding your biggest excuse on a piece of paper while defeating the excuse. You holding the DVD of AIR FORCE ONE starring HARRISON FORD the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Bonus point for your best Harrison Ford face. GET OFF MY PLANE. You in grocery store holding a pineapple and a watermelon. At the same time. Your super healthy grocery list. You ignoring a warning sign. You holding a "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" sign at the local library. You with 80+year-old. Both giving the peace sign. $18.87 in change. Picture of a homemade smoothie. Your hand must be in front of it giving a thumbs up. Recreate a famous picture/painting. You wearing seven shirts. You with as many other people holding Do Life signs. One point for every two people. 16 people = eight points. 100 people = 50 points. You wrapped in Christmas lights. And them turned on. I'm sorry. I know you JUST put them away. You in plank or pushup position. Outdoors. Picture of you finishing your toughest workout of the week. Or a re-enactment of your reaction upon finishing. Do Life Dog. (open to interpretation.) You at the most famous location in your town. Wearing Do Life shirt (2 points) holding Do Life sign (one point). You with an apple on your head with an arrow through it. You pointing to your city in an actual atlas. You in a music store rocking out. Do Life Cat. (open to interpretation.) You wearing your favorite sport's team's gear. Double peace sign. You holding a sign with how many minutes you worked out this week. You with someone named Richard. If your name is Richard, you with someone named Lauren. No cheating! ("they won't know his name is actually Bob...") You sitting in bleachers cheering on a game that's not being played. A homemade painting of your biggest goal. No deductions for lack of painting skillz. A lawyer's business card. Five bonus points if the lawyer's name is Larry. You standing beside a Ferrari. Picture of you on a treadmill. (2 points if the time is 30+ minutes and you appear to have actually done the 30 minutes.) You. In a boat. You on the top floor of a building. You high-fiving the grocery store cashier. You in a top-hat. You running in a top-hat. Good luck, guys! Deadline is Sunday night. I'll have picture-posting guidelines in official submission thread on Saturday evening. Keep running. Keep rocking. Keep writing down things you did well at the end of the day.

Told you

2012-01-16T08:57:00.002-06:00

Told you the week wasn't over. Yesterday, Cael and I went to Wasabi Bistro in GI. Their California rolls have cucumber in them, so my son now likes sushi. Anyway, we looked out the window, and there was some unsightly trash in their rock garden (it's been really windy lately). so on our way out, Cael picked up the big pieces and we threw them away. Not a big deal, but at least some trash found it's proper place. Get ready for week 3!

Good things

2012-01-14T16:36:00.004-06:00

This week I got a lot done. I ordered a FitDeck Junior for Cael. He thinks it's pretty cool. It's a deck of cards that has exercises on them. He gets to pick 5 and we do them. He's excited that he's pretty good at them. As far as doing well this week, I got up this morning and went out to take some pictures (see previous post). It's something that I've been meaning to do for a while, and I finally got out to do it. After taking the pics, I went to the gym and got on the treadmill. I didn't go very far, though. I think I should've gotten on the elliptical. Oh well. I got Cael signed up for youth league flag football, and he's excited about that. I need to get him some new shoes for that since the ones he has are dying. I also got signed up for a trail race in Lincoln on March 17th. I'll be wearing orange, of course. There's a full and 1/2 marathon, and a 6 mile. I'm doing the 1/2. I'm just hoping it's not frigid. That would not be good. As for paying it forward, last night I was at Papa Murphy's getting some pizza(take-and-bake). There was an older man using one of those walkers that you can also sit on. He finally got his pizza, but really didn't have a way to carry it (the seat wasn't big enough), so I offered to carry it out for him. There was a room full of people, so I figured we could get his pizza to his car somehow. I know I was supposed to do 2 things like that this week, but the week isn't over yet. Maybe tomorrow. Oh ya, and I've lost 3 pounds. Go me! :)

Trees and sunrise

2012-01-14T11:07:00.002-06:00

This is probably stupid, but when we lived in Wood River, I would drive to GI every morning. That's not the stupid part. But, there were two trees out in the middle of nowhere, and I would see them sillouetted by the sunrise. I loved seeing these two trees every morning, so I went out this morning and took some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Christmas

2012-01-14T11:04:00.001-06:00

This is right before we went to Cael's school program. So glad Grandma Breinig got to come!

Start of week 2

2012-01-09T12:38:00.003-06:00

I have things that I did well on Saturday. Really. I was quite proud of myself, actually. I went to the gym while Cael was at a birthday party. I decided I wasn't going to run, since I did kind of a long run on Friday. Sad, I know. 3.5 miles isn't long, or at least it didn't used to be. I'll get there. But I did 20 minutes of intervals going forward (elliptical), then I did 10min backwards. I didn't let myself stop. I know, 10 min isn't that long, but have you gone backwards on an elliptical? Ow! I felt good about it, though. Last night I sat down and seriously could not think of anything I did significantly well. I guess we'll just move on through to week 2.

Week 2

2012-01-09T12:37:00.001-06:00

Week Two Theme: Paying it Forward. Quote: "Do unto others." How many times have you been having a crummy day and all of a sudden someone does something for you or says something to you and it completely changes your day? Perhaps it doesn't happen enough, and that's where this week comes in. For these things to happen on a more frequent basis, we have to be ready to be the ones to do it. Being fit and doing life is more than exercising. We're still gonna rock our bodies this week, but we're also going to be mindful of others. This week is all about perhaps pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone. You can't be afraid to do it. Well, you can be afraid, but you also have to be willing to face that fear. WEEK TWO CHALLENGES: (Since we're all at different places in our health and fitness journeys, there will be some differing challenges.) Do something out of the ordinary for a stranger. Find a way to brighten someone's day. Pay for an elderly couple's meal at the restaurant. Give a homeless man a blanket. Volunteer. Compliment someone. Do something out of your way. Something, maybe, you've never done before. Do something else. Yep, that's (at least) two times this week, you'll be going out of your way. Reassess your pushups (or plank) today or tomorrow. And keep working them. There are pushup and plank plans all over the internet, or make up your own. Stick with it! Reassess your goals. Where are you? How are you doing? Do you need to change anything? Beginners: 150 minutes of exercise (or 20 minutes more than you did last week). Intermediate/Advanced: 30 extra minutes of intense work like last week + 200 jumping jacks. (all at once or spread out) Write four things you did well. Every night before bed. And please remember, this is just a kickstart. Find your own ways to do this challenge. Find the mindset. This week, we're looking out for others while we also shape ourselves. Homework! Questions to answer in this thread before Submission Day: 1. Tell a story of how someone went out of their way and changed your day or your life. 2. Where are you right now physically? Where do you want to be in 11 weeks? 3. What area of your life from last week can you improve on this week? Food? Exercise? Family? Career?

Family pics

2012-01-07T12:22:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!

4 things I did well (Friday)

2012-01-06T21:30:00.002-06:00

Did "Killer buns and thighs"(30min) and ran 3.5 miles (45min or so) at gym. 1. tried new veggies. 2. only ate 1 piece of pizza after my salad. 3. ran the most I have in quite a while. 4. took my vitamins (I've been forgetting).

4 things I did well (Thursday)

2012-01-06T21:26:00.004-06:00

We did yoga for 30min in the morning and we all went for a walk (with Cael) for 45min. 1. Gave a former student of mine who was shadowing me some confidence in teaching (I hope). 2. made sure Cael and I went to bed at a decent plan. 3. made a yummy supper. 4. Had Cael lead exercises in our walk.

4 things I did well (Wednesday)

2012-01-06T21:22:00.003-06:00

Ran 20min after school. 1. I took my meds before I ran 2. I ate a salad at supper. 3. I got out of Omaha without my GPS during morning rush. 4. I remembered to get Cael milk when we got back to town so he could take it to school. Somehow I'm finding it really hard to find things I did well without saying to myself "I did that well, but..." and then think about all the bad stuff.

Week 1 challenge

2012-01-06T21:09:00.003-06:00

My goals that we were supposed to make are: 1. Exercise specifically with Cael at least 2x/week. (Right now we sometimes play on the Wii, and we play together, and he has gymnastics, but not a specific exercise time). 2. Start 1/2 marathon training, making sure I get my long runs in today (1/2 hour at the gym after school doesn't really get me too far). 3. Eat more/different veggies (I usually do eat veggies, but I haven't been very consistent as of late). 4. Lose 6 pounds (I'm at 130lbs. I hat that! I feel gross). 5. Go to bed on time. No later than 9:30. (Lately it's been 10 or 10:30. Robin and I work out around 5:45am, so I need my sleep. Biggest excuse: Physically not feeling well. (stomach issues) Remedy: Take my meds and stay away from the crap I shouldn't be eating. Pushups: I did 13 regular pushups. I used to be able to do more. I was disappointed.

2012-01-04T12:41:00.002-06:00

I've got Christmas pics, and family pics, but not with me, so I'm not going to post those right now. I do however have an interesting challenge going on. Ben Davis, author of the blog Bendoeslife.com, is pretty amazing. He lost a lot of weight and is a real inspiration to a lot of people. I wish I would have found him when Allen was losing all of his weight. Anyway, he has a website dolifemovement.com, and on it, he is issuing weekly challenges. I will repost them here and invite you to do them with me. Robin and I will be working our way through them and hopefully I will post our results. If nothing else, it should be entertaining. We've had a slow start to this week, since Allen was here, and I just took him back to the airport today. I'm going to jump in this afternoon with running during Cael's gymnastics class. Here's the first week's challenge. WEEK ONE CHALLENGES: (Since we're all at different places in our health and fitness journeys, there will be some differing challenges.) Write down five quantifiable goals for yourself. Emphasis on quantifiable. And they must be realistically achievable within one month (more on this below the challenges). Assess yourself and write down your current stats in all five areas. Do you want to lose six pounds? Find out exactly where you are now. Do you want to run a 35-minute 5K? Write down your current time. Etc. You might need to get creative with assessments. That's okay. There is no requirement on your goals or your assessments. By Monday night, get on the floor an do as many pushups as you can. Modified (from your knees) or regular. It doesn't matter how many you can do. Write this number down in a notebook or word document. Pushups will be a "fun" recurring litmus test throughout the 12 weeks. Beginners: Do 120 minutes of exercise this week. The exercise can be anything physical as long as you're working that heart rate. Walking, running, cycling, rollerblading, yoga, weight-lifting, anything. Intermediate/Advanced: Add 30 minutes to your average week and push the intensity during those 30 minutes. It doesn't matter if it's five intense minutes during six different workouts or one extra intense 30-minute session. Identify your biggest excuse. Write it down on a wall in your house. Then in your notebook write a way to eliminate that excuse. Not enough time in the day? "Eliminate American Idol and Glee." Sorry Each night before bed, write four things you did well that day.

2011-12-17T16:30:00.004-06:00

What's this? A book with a carrying strap?

A Kindle case! So proud of myself.

Teacher gifts

2011-12-16T19:45:00.003-06:00

For teacher gifts this year, I used Wordle.com to make word clouds of Cael's teachers' names. He gave me the words to use and I typed them in and printed them out. I cut them out and mounted them on scrapbook paper and framed them.

I also found a few cute jars and filled them with M&M's. I found the idea on Pinterest.

It's that time again

2011-12-14T09:23:00.003-06:00

for Christmas programs. Cael's school program is tonight. Robin and I have been hearing the songs for it for quite a while. I'm sure we'll be able to sing along. Allen comes home on Sunday, so we'll be getting a DVD of the performance so he can see it. The church program is on Christmas Eve, of course, as it is every year. The great part of Cael's school program is that it's directed by Brenda Lambert. She was our band teacher when Allen and I were in high school. The other day she was walking across the parking lot going into school when I dropped Cael off. He ran to her and they walked into school together. That was a little weird seeing my old teacher walking into school with my son. I think he's her first 2nd generation student. We get to go get Allen in Omaha on Sunday. A couple of friends from church are going to be there as well so we can all hang out and "play." Allen and Keith have been looking forward to this for quite a while. I believe go-karts are involved. We're excited to have Allen home for longer than a 4 day weekend. He'll get to Nebraska on Sunday and leave again on the 4th of January. He gets longer than I do for school! He'll be going to the doctor while he's home for his hip. He's pretty miserable. All he wants to do is to be able to run again, but right now, it's so painful, he really can't even walk too terribly far without a lot of pain. Please keep him in your prayers. I'll post pics of tonight as soon as I can. You can be sure there will be pics of Sunday as well!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T19:30:00.003-06:00

"Oh, let us give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. And His mercy endures forever." He truly does. No, this Thanksgiving was not perfect, but there is still so much to be thankful for. Last Tuesday I had to go get Cael from school since he had thrown up. I came home with him and didn't go to school on Wednesday. He seemed to be doing better, so he stayed home with Robin, while I went to Omaha to get Allen. We were on our way back Thursday morning, when Robin sent us a text. Cael had thrown up at 5 that morning. In her bed. Oh boy. We're on our way. Luckily, Robin has a pretty strong stomach, not to mention a pretty good washing machine. She's awesome. So on Thanksgiving day, we went to Allen's mom's house and had lunch. Cael didn't eat much, of course. After that, we headed to Arapahoe to have supper with my family. Cael seemed to be doing pretty well by that point. Since Allen has been having an issue with his hip that is not being resolved, we decided to try to get him some help when he came back. My mom was amazing and called around to find someone who could get him a cortizone shot. There was a guy in McCook that she had worked with at one point and was very willing to look at Allen. We headed up there Friday morning around 9am. Holiday hours = open at noon. Ok, so we headed back to Arapahoe to Kerrey's house. All of Allen's siblings came, as well as his dad and aunt and uncle. Lunch was great, and in the afternoon, some of us went out to shoot some clay. We borrowed Allen's nephew's bb gun, and Cael got to shoot for the first time. He's right-handed, and left-eyed. Problem. Allen's says he's going to teach Cael how to shoot left-handed. Once we got things figured out, he was hitting those clays! Pretty cool! I'm not sure who was prouder, kiddo, or his daddy. Guess who's probably going to get a bb gun for Christmas? Around 5pm that afternoon, we headed back up to McCook. The guy we were supposed to see wasn't there. Very frustrating situation. We called my mom on the way back and she wanted to take Cael to the movie, so we dropped him off and headed back up to Kerrey's. I wasn't feeling the best, but I thought it was just because of the stress of the situation stirring up my stomach issues, not a bug. We headed back down to my mom's. Allen's stomach had been getting bad for a couple hours, and I got sick right away. No one really slept all night. Between Allen getting sick, and me moving to the couch so I wasn't squashed in between the boys, it was a bad night. My mom got up in the middle of the night to get Allen some medicine, then she made us some soup for lunch the next day. Allen and I agreed that she's a saint. I'm sure she's going to get sick, and I feel really bad. Unfortunately, Robin is sick in bed right now. I'll do my best to take care of her. Hopefully I can get back to 100% soon. I hope Cael and Allen can, as well. Even though it was a rough weekend, we still have so much to be thankful for. We are thankful that everyone traveled safely, and that we got to see everyone. We are thankful for moms who take care of us, even though we're 32 years old. We are thankful for amazing friends that don't get mad when our kid throws up in her bed. We are thankful that God has a plan, even though we have no idea what it is yet. The doctor wasn't in McCook for a reason. Not sure what that reason is yet, but we know that there is one, and we are thankful that the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith. Allen's situation is a difficult one, and it's putting a lot of stress on him, as well as me. Thankfully, it's not putting stress on our relationship. We could be yelling at each other, and focusing our fear and stress on the other, but instead we pray and trust the fact that there is a plan that we know will come to fruition. We just need guidance from above. We are thankful for all of you, and we hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving. We are truly giving Thanks Unto the Lord.

Halloween

2011-11-14T15:25:00.003-06:00

I know, I know. It's the middle of November. My camera was broken over Halloween, and I just got the pictures today. Sorry. Cael was...Green Lantern! He told everyone. No. Seriously. EVERYONE. "Trick or treat. I'm Green Lantern!" And if there was someone else in the house that didn't come to the door... "Hey! Hey! I'm Green Lantern!" Kids on the street. "You're a cute kitty! I'm Green Lantern!" EVERYONE. He was pretty darn cute. By the way - Elly was Minnie Mouse. But she didn't tell everyone. :)

Scare-a-thon

2011-10-30T17:49:00.003-05:00

Last night LeAndra and I went to McCook to run in the AmFirst Bank Scare-a-thon 5k. LeAndra was an elephant and I wore my viking helmet from the Warrior Dash. We were pretty darn cute, I must say. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. We went to Walmart after the race and kept our costumes on. We got a few weird looks, but we really didn't care. We had an awesome time. It was a fun race!

Weekend in Missouri

2011-10-19T19:37:00.009-05:00

This last weekend, I took 3 kids with me to Missouri for a mission trip/race. Thursday night we met my friend, Dan Wing in Carthage so that we could go work in Joplin the next day. We were sent to Emily's house. She's a shut-in that didn't actually suffer any tornado damage, but still had some clean up to do. Technically, all of Joplin's residents are tornado victims, but some have houses, and some do not. At Emily's house, we picked up a lot of trash, took out 5 bushes, and got a dead limb out of a tree.

Emily showing our crew what bushes need to be taken out. The little boy is Louie, Emily's 8 year-old grandson that lives with her. He attatched himself to Dan for most of the day. You could see that he needs a male role model quite badly.

Josiah getting the dead limb out of the tree.Me picking up trash.

Joplin. You could tell the line of destruction. There were houses, and then there were not.

The hospital. We were told that there used to be trees all around it so that it was hard to see it.

My favorite picture.Aren't these flowers beautiful?

This is what they were growing on. This is a pile of what is left of someone's house. There were Christmas decorations, children's toys, towels, a baseball cap, and who knows what else in this pile. I can't even imagine having all of your belongings bulldozed into a rubble heap like this. Heartbreaking.

Amen. and Amen.

Me and my kids at the Precious Moments chapel in Carthage.Pre-race. We ran the Warrior Dash in Old Monroe (by St. Louis). It was awesome!

This is a huge pile of dirty shoes. You could donate your shoes when you were done.

We met up with a good friend, Jennifer Leonard, that Dan and I went to college with. The boys ran together while we took pictures, and the girls ran together.

The Warrior Fires. Yes, I jumped over that.One of the 30ft. obsticals. This was one of the easiest ones.

Mud pit! Loved it!Jen and I finishing together.

The dirty Warrior Dash crew.:)The kids and I are going to do a chapel on Tuesday to share our Joplin experience.

Daddy's home! video

2011-10-11T17:01:00.004-05:00

Too short of a weekend

2011-10-10T08:41:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend with Allen. He came in Friday night to Grand Island, so it was very convenient for me to go get him. Robin kept Cael that night, and in the morning, we went over to the house. The look on Cael's face was priceless. I got a video of it, so I'll post that as soon as I can. Allen needed to go to Complete Nutrition to get more vitamins, and then he picked out some tires for my car. He also went to the chiropractor, and he's feeling a lot better. Hopefully he'll be able to start running middle of this week. We met up with his family for lunch at Hunan's, of course, and then headed out to Helgoth's Pumpkin Patch. I'll have pics up soon. We were planning on going to church, but family snuggle time at the hotel was just too comfy, so we didn't get there. We got to take our time getting ready to go to York for lunch with Allen's dad. It was a relaxing afternoon. We got back to GI and the boys each got a Dilly Bar. That's been a tradition since Cael was pretty little. They never miss a chance when they're together. I made Allen's favorite supper for the boys and Robin, and then we spent the evening watching tv and snuggling. This morning was kind of rough, of course. We got to the airport and Allen checked in. They let him stay with us until the last possible moment he had to be on the plane. This was the first time that Cael has really cried when Allen left. Broke my heart. Thanksgiving is only about a month away. Much better than 3 months.

Update

2011-09-14T15:46:00.003-05:00

Allen is officially a 1 Charlie candidate! Yea! Only 2% of his MOS are chosen for that. It's the elite of the 25S. He got in to the chiropractor on Saturday and is feeling a little better. I'm sure he'll be going every week for a while. Sooooooo, he also found out that he won't be finding out if he's in 1 Charlie for sure until January 15. If he's let in the door, he made it. If he's denied access, then he goes and finds out where he needs to go for duty station. Crazy, huh? Since that's the middle of January, and it would take 6-8 weeks for just the paperwork to be done to get me to Georgia, I would just stay here for the school year. If not, I'll be with him as soon as I can at the duty station. That's all I know for now!

I missed one

2011-09-06T14:08:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I missed posting this one! What was I thinking? This is on the Niobrara Wildlife Refuge. We just decided to go on a whim. So glad we did!

Labor Day weekend

2011-09-05T18:52:00.005-05:00

My friend from college, Louisa Jerke, and I took Cael on a fun Nebraska roadtrip. We started out in Columbus at a bbq with the Blake siblings. Then we went to Valentine to Fort Falls and Smith Falls. Then on to Chadron to the State Park, Alliance (Carhenge), Bridgeport (Chimney Rock), and North Platte. It was a fun weekend!

News

2011-08-25T10:24:00.002-05:00

Allen called me this morning with the news that he was selected to go Strategic. He's very happy about that for a myriad of reasons. He was told that there might be a 6 week hold-over until he got into class again, but he actually gets to start on Wednesday! Yea! No mowing lawns or raking lines in sand for him! Also, he'll be back on days! Yea! ALSO, his class is a feeder class for the 1 Charlie group. He was on the lower end of the high GPA's, so there's still a chance he could get chosen for that. That would be awesome, since 1 Charlie guys are 100% non-deployable. He doesn't know when he would know about that, though. So, to summarize, Allen got great news this morning, and we still have no idea where we're going or when. :)

SOLD!

2011-08-23T15:24:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's sold. The house, anyway. It was truly a God Thing. It always is, but He made it quite obvious. I had been praying fervently for the house to be sold, and even was praying Sunday (8-14) afternoon when I was mowing the lawn after coming back from Arapahoe. I was making supper and was covered in eggplant parmesan when the doorbell rang. There stood a young couple with a printout of our house in their hands. "Can we see your house?" SURE! Come on in! After looking around, they obviously loved the house and told me that they would call their realtor and bank on Monday. They actually called their realtor as soon as they got into the car. I was planning on hearing from them on Thursday or Friday, but they REALLY want my house, so I signed papers on Wednesday. God is Good! Check one thing of the stress list. Now I need to get moved. Closing date is Sept 15. I'm hoping to get my stuff moved the weekend of the 10th. I've got 4 senior boys and our assistant principal coming to lift my heavy stuff. Hopefully I'll have a stock trailer as well. My goal is to have all the little stuff (boxes, tubs, etc..) moved before then. I've been making trips in the evening with a car load here and a load there. I'm thinking I need to get another unit just because I don't want to say "Oops, not enough room," on the 10th with everyone waiting on me. Cael is doing ok with the move so far. It was kind of rough at the beginning, but we sorted out the facts that we're not leaving any of our stuff, and we'll be going to be with Daddy soon. If we can't sell the house, we can't be with Daddy. He had it in his mind that Daddy was coming back to live with us, and if we didn't have our house, we couldn't be together. Poor kid. He's happily helping pack his things now, though. Speaking of Cael, he started Kindergarten! My baby is a big kid, now! I did fairly well with the first day of school. No tears for either of us! He is loving school and is making lots of friends!

Allen's hero in GI

2011-08-09T19:45:00.003-05:00

This afternoon, Cael and I got to go meet Rulon Gardner. We were super excited, since he's one of Allen's wrestling heroes. We took Allen's wrestling shoes for him to sign. As we were waiting in line, the 'MC' of the event was asking the kids questions to earn a Subway gift card. He asked "in what city was the Olympics where Rulon won his 3rd place medal?" Athens, duh! So Cael answered correctly first and got to go up onstage. He was pretty proud. So was I. We got up to talk to Rulon (Jacob Schwan, one of Allen's wrestlers was with us), and I told him about how Allen lost his weight so he could go into the military while watching him on Biggest Loser, and the inspiration he got from watching him. Rulon's a great guy. Very humble, very down-to-earth, very personable. So glad we got to see him! He was going to bend down to take a pic with Cael, but then he just picked him up and put him on his shoulder. Cael thought that was pretty cool. Afterward, a guy from the local radio station asked me to explain the story about Allen's shoes, so I guess I'll be on the radio!

Back in Nebraska

2011-07-20T07:47:00.002-05:00

We are back. I really hate unpacking, and I have a heck of a lot of it. The car needs to be cleaned out in a bad way, since there are sand and cracker crumbs everywhere. I guess it's back to our lives here. Hopefully we'll find out Allen's duty station at the end of August.

Last days

2011-07-18T18:19:00.003-05:00

Cael had to have a set of ACU's just like his Daddy's. My tough guys. He wanted a set of PT's, too. But then again, so did I.

One morning, I noticed that both of our chains were laying on the counter together.

Cael and I stopped at Fort Campbell, KY on our way to MO. Since my dad was stationed there before he went to Korea, I wanted to be where he once was. I'm sure it's changed a lot since he was there, but it was still a good feeling being where he had been many years ago. There were some old aircraft and artillary across the street from the museum (which wasn't open yet).

"Home"

2011-07-13T14:51:00.003-05:00

You know, "home" is a state of mind. Right now I'm in Georgia, and I'm "home." Allen is here, Cael is here, and I'm here. We're together, so we're home. Being here for 2.5 weeks, I've gotten very comfortable, and have found my way around Augusta pretty well. I think the car could go from the hotel to the base and back by itself by now. On Sunday we'll have to head back to Nebraska, which is technically "home." It won't feel like it now, since we've been with Allen so long. We can't wait until we can be with Allen permanently. Leaving him after basic training was hard, but not as hard as it will be on Sunday. We've been a part of military life for several weeks now, so it's almost become "normal." All I know is that Sunday is going to suck.

Hilton Head Island, SC

2011-07-10T11:11:00.003-05:00

We decided that since we were only 3 hours from Hilton Head, and none of us had ever seen an ocean, we'd drive there on Saturday. It was pretty cool. First we had to get sunscreened up. My lens was fogging up from the humidity. Race ya!

Cael loved it!

Anyone who knows me at all knows that this took a lot of courage.

Cael wanted to take a picture of us. We were waiting to go to supper.

Hilton Head Lighthouse.

View of the marina from the top of the lighthouse.

It was a LOOOONG day. Cael was asleep before we got off the island.

July 7th

2011-07-07T15:46:00.002-05:00

I finally took the pics I was really wanting to take since the second day I got here. Here's the sign at the main gate. That's a hard one to take. It's right after the checkpoint, so you can't stop.

This is the sign right outside of the barracks. PHB!

I remember my dad having a picture of a sign like this. It was pretty much the same situation.

Keep off the what? Where?

July 4th

2011-07-04T17:35:00.003-05:00

Today Allen had to go back to base. We get to see him everyday for the next 2 weeks, though. He has put in for passes for the next 2 weekends, so hopefully he gets those approved. That would mean that he could spend the weekends with us without having to go back to barracks for formation and bedcheck. Check out the scruff on him! He shaved everyday since Feb.23. He didn't shave once all weekend! We didn't care. But, (sigh) time to get ready to go back to base. This is the main gate to Fort Gordon coming in from the north heading south. I took this from a ways away. You have to show your ID to the MP's before you can get through those gates.

This is Signal Towers. Notice there is only one, yet it's called "Towers." Weird. Lots of upper brass work in there. Allen had to do some cleaning detail in there, and said it's nerve-wracking with all that brass around you.

Cael and Allen played catch while we were waiting for formation to start.

Tough guys Burke and Blake. They were at Fort Leonard Wood together, and now they are members of Bravo Co. 551st Signal Battalion at Fort Gordon. PHB! That's the company motto. (Physical training, Haircuts, Barrack maintenance.) Allen taught Cael to yell in a tough guy voice "PHB!" as we walk around the base.

June 30- July 2

2011-07-03T09:56:00.006-05:00

We got to our hotel Wednesday afternoon, and got to go pick up Allen Thursday after formation. Here's Allen heading off to join his company formation. There were several people waiting for family members like we were. One was a family with a 5yr old boy named...Kale! Fast friends.

Snuggle time!

We found the pool!

The entrance to the Augusta River Walk. Very pretty area. Downtown Augusta really isn't that big. A very nice. smaller Southern city.

There was a farmers' market right outside of the entrance to the River Walk.

At the farmers' market we bought some fresh Georgia peaches. Yummm!! Juice was running down our hands.

This is just one of the large, beautiful houses that we could see from across the Savannah River in South Carolina.

A Japanese Pocket Garden on the Walk.

Time to cool off in the "fountain" in the middle of the market.

We took a Riverboat tour. Captain Jim was a good tourguide.

This was a cool house that was on top of "Granite Mountain." Story is that a 100yr old doctor lives there. He still goes to work everyday and delivers babies.

White-water rapids. No boat, other than kayaks, go past those.

Cool cyprus trees in the river.

Cael got to drive the boat!

A nice lady took a picture of us.

We're so close to the coast, we have lots of options for fresh seafood. Yum! We wanted to try raw oysters, so we ordered 6 on the half-shell. Allen had 3, I had 2, and Cael had 1. You don't chew them, just swallow, so Cael had to eat one in several different sessions since they were too big for him to get down all at once. We all liked them! We also had fresh crablegs. We're not sure Red Lobster is going to be good enough ever again. Rhinehart's Oyster Bar was a great place! It looks like a total dive inside and out, but we got there at 4:30, thinking it was pretty early, but the parking lot was already quite full. You can see the table we were sitting at. They were all wooden picnic tables. Kind of cool.

Thursday morning

2011-06-30T07:19:00.002-05:00

We get to see Allen today! Last night, Cael and I went on base and found Allen's barracks. We didn't explore too far, but at least we found that, and can make our way there and back. Allen can show us the rest later. Then we went to Food Lion to get some groceries. Eating out for every meal is expensive, so we got some groceries so we could eat in our room. We have a microwave and a mini fridge, so the possibilities are endless! Got some fried chicken (for Cael) a rotisserie chicken, a pasta dish to heat up, some roast beef, some lettuce salad, watermelon, breakfast stuff, plates, and a couple other items. I can do a lot with that stuff. Gotta be flexible and creative. My dad would be proud!

Are you serious?

2011-06-27T17:25:00.002-05:00

Day 1 of traveling is in the books. Phew! It was pretty uneventful, but there was a lot of internal freaking out. Not because of the driving. That was pretty easy. I even made it through KC without GPS. I-70 East. Follow it. Not hard. I had to go to York and south to I-70, though because of the flooding in the eastern part of the state by I-29. No biggie. I was on the interstate when a sheriff pulls out of the median and screams up behind me. He stayed there for 6 or 7 miles without doing anything. I was going 72 in a 70, so I really wasn't worried, just a little peeved. THAT'S when I realized that I DID NOT put the registration and proof of insurance in the new car. I bought, registered, and plated it last Tuesday. Why didn't I just put those very necessary documents in the car right when I got them? I have nooooooo idea. My brain was mush by then, though, so who knows what I was thinking. I cleaned out the car last night and put the folders in the house. The sheriff did a nice job of reminding me that I needed what I didn't have. Sooooooooo, I called Dan Wing (Cael and I are staying at the Wing house tonight) to get his church's fax number. Then I tried to call Brent and Kass (the only other ones who have our house key) to go over and get the said documents so they could fax them to me. No answer. Allen called, so I spilled my guts and apologized for being so dense. He called his mom, who I walked through getting a proof of insurance online, then she went to the courthouse, got another registration, faxed it to Dan's church, and then priority mailed the registration to Allen in Georgia. (sigh) I'm praying that's the worst of this trip. If I didn't have that stuff, and the MP's decided to randomly stop me at the gate, I totally would have been SOL. SO, THANK YOU to Allen and Lynda. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!

Getting ready

2011-06-26T10:14:00.002-05:00

Cael and I leave tomorrow for Georgia. We'll stay tomorrow night at the Wings' house in Sweet Springs, MO. They'll be at Six Flags, but said we can use their house as a stop-over point. Thanks! :) Tuesday night we'll be staying in Nashville, then Wednesday we'll finally be in Georgia. We're going to stay at a Holiday Inn off-base, since Allen can't really be in any on-base lodging. He has his weekend pass, and is working on getting weekend passes for the rest of the time we're there. We're getting pretty excited to go see him. It's only been a little over a month since his graduation, but we really need some extended time with him. Hopefully I'll have plenty of pics soon. We have to go to Topeka and across on I-70, since I-29 is flooded right where we need to go. I hope we also get some good news tomorrow from our realtor, since our house is being shown at 4:15 tomorrow. Hopefully things go well. I've got a lot to do between now and leaving in the morning!

Good news

2011-06-16T13:01:00.002-05:00

Allen had a PT test this morning. Thank you for all of your prayers! He passed! Well, he wasn't told he didn't pass, and in the Army, no news is good news. He has uniform inspection next week, then he'll be phased up (Phase 5 - he can go off-post), and he'll have a weekend pass for the 4th of July weekend, so he can spend 3 nights with us! Yea! I got on-base housing for at least the first 6 days, and the lady that I talked to this morning is helping to figure out accomodations for the rest of the time we're there. We'll probably have to move around a little bit, but that's ok with me. Our house was shown this morning, and I'm just waiting to hear back from the realtor. God is good. I just have to remember that. The house will sell when it's supposed to, God will help Allen with what he needs to get done, and I need to hand all of my worries and stress over to Him. Easier said than done, but I'm doing my best. And God likes our best.

Dirt

2011-06-07T22:35:00.004-05:00

We had a t-ball game tonight. The coaches decided to play all 3 innings, although I'm not really sure why. The kids were playing in the dirt, and not paying attention at all. Of course my son was playing in the dirt in the first inning, so not much changed. He's just funny. The bath water was a little muddy tonight.

Iowa Trip 2011

2011-06-05T19:12:00.004-05:00

This year I went, once again, with my cousin Cathy Callan to Des Moines to run the Dam to Dam. Cathy's sister and her daughters, as well as her nephew live there. Cathy's parents, sister and her family live about an hour away from there, so I get to see lots of family while I'm there. Cathy, Cael, and I left on Friday around noon. It's usually a 4.5 hour trip, but due to an accident on the interstate, then an accident on the detour, it was a 6.5 hour trip. Luckily, Cael is an excellent traveler, and was very patient through the whole traffic jam. We ate at Panera with Karen and the girls for supper that night. Cael loves their house because they have a trampoline and a dog that chases a big blue ball everywhere. He plays with both of them constantly when we're there. Saturday, we headed downtown Des Moines. Uncle Kenny came with us to watch Cael while all of us ran. Cael ate 2 bags of popcorn during our race. Here's Cael stretching before his race. Here we are after the 5k. Emily, Sarah, Me, Cael (didn't want his picture taken) Alison, Cathy, Uncle Kenny. Cael lined up for the 5 yr.old race. He ran so well! He got a ribbon! Uncle Kenny got some toys out and was playing with Cael. This was at their house in Marshalltown. It's been quite a while since I was there. It was fun watching the two play. I'm sure my dad would've been right in the mix. Saturday night we went to Doug and Cheryl's house for a bbq. Aunt Shirley's cousins were in town for a visit, so I got to meet them. Cael, Caleb, and Zoey were busy playing together blowing bubbles, and lots of other stuff. Cael thought he'd have a bubble for dessert. Cheryl had a farm set. Cael had to show those city girls how to wrangle some horses. Sunday, we went back to Des Moines to drop the girls off, and headed home. It was only a 5 hour trip, since we stopped to eat lunch at Council Bluffs. We got home around 5pm. It was a fun weekend!

More leadership

2011-06-01T13:29:00.002-05:00

Last night, Allen, in his infinite wisdom, pointed out that the room commander's schedule was inefficient, and then showed him a better way of doing things. Apparently, the other guys in the room liked it so much, that when Allen came back from the bathroom, his name was on the door as the room commander. There was a vote when he was gone. Ah, democracy. He's pretty good at making schedules, and that's one of his duties now, but of course he had lots of practice at the bakery. His managerial skills are coming out, and he's having a hard time keeping his mouth shut. But, he's getting chances to be in charge and lead the way, and that's what he likes to do and what he's good at, so, Go Allen, Go!

T-ball

2011-05-26T21:51:00.003-05:00

Tonight was our second game of the season. T-ball is so entertaining! Here's our team warming up. Coming in for a score! Whose kid is this? Seriously? Oh wait, he's mine! Must be late in the game, he's gotta pee, or he's signaling to the coach that he's going to steal home.

Day at the track

2011-05-26T16:44:00.003-05:00

Allen and I have been taking Cael to the track when we do shorter workouts since we've lived in Wood River. And since that time, he's been running with us. We went today and had a great time. I'm trying to get him to build up to a mile this summer, so we ran a warm-up lap, then he hung out while I did my speed and progression workout. After I was done, we did 2 laps of running the curves and walking the straights. He noticed a pair of starting blocks on the track and asked what they were for, so I taught him how to use them. Now, neither Allen, nor I have EVER had to use those because 1.We were never in track and 2.We're not fast enough to be sprinters. However, Cael wanted to know, so I thought, what the heck? He put himself in the blocks, I started him like in a race, and that kid took off! And then he just kept going! With Momma cheering him the whole way, of course. So - a mile total for the kiddo today. He's excited to go back because we'll do 3 laps of walk/run. When he can do 4 of those, I'll have him run 200m at a time with 100m of walking. We'll build up nice and slow. Gotta start somewhere!

First t-ball game

2011-05-24T08:27:00.002-05:00

Cael is on the Big O Tires t-ball team for GI Youth Baseball. I took him to GI because our Assistant Principal, Chuck Oliver is coaching, and he got us onto his team. It's a good group of kids and parents. I started a Facebook page for the team so other parents can upload and download pictures of their kids. I'm a big picture taker, so there are already a lot of pics on there. These are just a few. Cael eating snacks with his teammates after the game. Coach O and his team. good game, good game, good game, good game, good game, good game... Batter up, Cael! He sticks his tongue out for everything he does, as it turns out. Running, hitting, catching, throwing. Kinda funny! Luckily, it's an hour, or 3 innings, whichever comes first. No score is kept. Everyone gets to hit. Everyone gets to field. It's a good learning experience for the kids. Fundamentals, sportsmanship, and patience are things everyone needs to learn, no matter what you're doing in life. Next game is Thursday night!

Mids

2011-05-18T20:39:00.002-05:00

Allen is now on the "mids" schedule which means that he goes to bed at 3pm, gets up at 10pm, formation at 11pm, class from 12am-6am, and PT from 7-9am. Allen was not looking forward to the whole situation, especially since he had to move barracks as well. I told him that something positive was going to come out of the situation. Something. Better teachers, better classmates, better something. He needed to find something positive, or he would go nuts. So he is now co-leader of the class, and he likes the new company better than his old one. His PT is harder and he likes it a lot better. Positive things - yea! Here are some links to Cael's preschool graduation. It was a hoot! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9IW1HBNZQI, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4CJHRXuTg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJS4jr42ZI

Georgia

2011-05-15T20:18:00.002-05:00

Allen is now at Fort Gordon, GA for AIT (Advanced Individual Training). He's all processed, and is getting to start classes this week. This is a good thing in that he was told that he might not get to start for another 2-3 weeks, or even until the beginning of July. He does, however, go to class from 12am-6am. PT is then from 7-9am. Bed check is at 3pm and wake up is at 11pm. He has to move to a different barracks across the street so he can be with guys that are on the same schedule. He doesn't like that very much, since he was just getting settled in with the guys in his barracks. The hours will feel like old Hy-Vee frying days, but it's not forever, and he'll get used to it. Unfortunately, he has to go back to regular schedule for the weekends, and it will be weird when Cael and I go to see him. At least we'll have the mornings and a little after lunch to be with him. Right now, the main thing that we're worried about is getting the house sold. If you know anyone who wants to buy a house in Wood River, send them our way! Everything kind of hinges on that. Prayers, please! At least right now we get to talk everyday, and soon he'll get internet so we can skype. Thanks for all of your prayers and support! Blessings on your week!

Graduation

2011-05-08T19:39:00.003-05:00

Entrance gate Sign at entrance. Spinozi and Blake singing the Star Spangled Banner. Family.

Color Guard and Star Spangled Banner

2011-05-07T08:13:00.003-05:00

Back to Barracks

2011-05-07T07:46:00.004-05:00

Family Day

2011-05-04T15:53:00.002-05:00

Family Day is over, but we have Graduation to look forward to. Allen gets to sing the National Anthem tomorrow with a female soldier in front of everyone! I'm really excited!

Marathon

2011-05-04T15:52:00.001-05:00

I'm a marathoner! I never thought I'd be able to say that! (Never thought I'd WANT to be able to say that.) My running partner, Dan, came to WR on Friday, and we took Cael to my sister-in-law's house so he could play with his cousins while we were in Lincoln. Dan and I left around 9 to Lincoln and went to the expo at the Embassy Suites. We picked up our packets, and I got a cool wind jacket. We hung out the rest of the day, and made it back to my father-in-law's house early for bed. (Ya, like we could sleep much.) We left the house a little after 5:30am to head to the starting line. We needed to check our bags, warm up, and wait for people to line up. The whole time, I was worried about the wind. Wind in my biggest nemesis when I run. There was a breeze, and it was chilly, but it wasn't too bad - yet. We found my former student, Cathy, who was running the half, and lined up. The gun went off and here we go! - standing still. Walk about 4ft. Stop. It took about a half hour just to get going through the chute. The support in Lincoln is awesome! So much energy! I was cautiously optimistic about how my stomach was feeling. This was not the day for my ulcers to decide to misbehave. 4 miles. Good. 6 miles. Good. 13 miles. Good. Could it be? God granted me a stomach-pain free day! I felt stronger than I ever have on a run. Around mile 10, Dan started slowing down. I asked him if he was going to drop to the half, since I could tell he was not doing well. This is the guy that has run 19 miles without stopping. Needless to say, I was a little worried. I stayed with him for a while, but my hips started to stiffen since I wasn't striding out. I asked him if I could keep going, and he said yes. I felt really bad leaving him behind, but if I would've kept at that pace, it would've been bad for my whole body. I made a pit-stop at mile 17.5, but I really didn't stop running until mile 19. That was after I had made the turn around. I had watched the weather (duh, I'm Red's daughter, remember?) and it said a NW wind. The WHOLE last 6 miles were headed NW. Soooooo, that meant a stiff headwind the WHOLE way back. I had to make it from Holmes Lake to the Stadium. I only walked about 2.5 miles of the whole thing. I joined the 5:10 pace team around mile 22. They pulled me through probably the worst of the race, and for them, I am truly grateful. I lagged behind them around mile 24.5, but I made sure to keep them in my sights. Around mile 25, I lost them completely, because there was a guy that needed some motivation. We could see the stadium, so I got him to run with me. "Look! There it is! We're there, man!" He stopped a couple of times. STOPPED. And bent over. "Don't stop! Your body won't let you start again!" He said he couldn't breathe, so I told him to breathe through his gut, and his cramps went away. I lost him with about 1/4 mile left. As I turned the corner to go through the tunnel to the stadium, I started to choke back tears. This was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Ok, God and I had ever done together. There was no way I could've done it without out Him. I crossed the finish line with my face on the jumbotron and got my medal. I looked around for the 5:10 pacer ladies and gave them my heart-felt thanks. Cathy found me and we congratulated each other. Then my sister came running towards me. It was so awesome to see her! She got pics of me coming in, crossiing the line, and with my medal afterwards. I'll post those soon. I found out, after my massage, that Dan was picked up at mile 21. His stomach and kidneys were not letting him run like he wanted, and was in a lot of pain because of it. I felt so bad for his situation, but 21 miles is nothing to sneeze at! He pushed himself really hard, and I'm proud of him. After Dan found the car (that took some doing), Dan, LeAnn, and I went to lunch. I think LeAnn was just amazed that I was upright, much less smiling and in a good mood. I just want to thank everyone who supported me through the whole process, and I'm looking forward to running some 5k's with my sister this summer!

A novel

2011-04-28T08:50:00.002-05:00

I got a 9-page novel from Allen in the mail yesterday. He told me the whole story of last Saturday, and why he was freaking out: They went to a track to do their 2-mile run after they did push-ups and sit-ups. His attending DS wouldn't tell him how many of those he did, and he got yelled at when he tried to sneak a peak. So they went to the track, and could take a battle buddy with them to help motivate. He took Villalobos, because, in Allen's words, "that little Mexican can really haul ass." Villa did a great job of motivating him and talking to him the whole time. What he DIDN'T do, was count Allen's laps. 8 laps for a 2 mile run. Allen ended up running 9, and so turned in a failing time. Ready, set, FREAK OUT! Villa went and talked to DS "Satan" (as Allen calls him) to explain the mistake, but he was told in not nice terms to 'go away.' Luckily, he must've checked into it, because Allen's name was never called for a councilor's certificate, which is what you get when you fail. So - yea! He also had to do a moving target range to be able to graduate. They had a laser sight on their M16's, which is supposed to help you aim better. He failed the first time. He failed the second time. By this time Allen was very frustrated and worried, because he knows he shoots better than that. He decided to take all of the high-tech stuff off and go back to regular sights. He completely dominated that round. I guess high-tech isn't always the best way to go. On that one, I'm thanking his dad for teaching him how to shoot. When he last wrote, he was down to 197lbs. They asked a DS if they could get a scale in their bay, and have been tracking their weight. After supper, fully dressed, he was 200lbs. Pretty good, I'd say. He wants to maintain at 205 or 210. I'm not sure I'm going to recognize him on Wednesday! He didn't think he'd make it all the way through, but he surprised himself, and I'm hoping he's realizing just how strong of a man he really is. I mean, we all knew it, but he needed to find out for himself. Don't you love it when we're right? :)

Passed!

2011-04-23T17:37:00.002-05:00

Allen passed his PT test this morning! Yea! He said there were 10 that had to retake, and 5 passed. Thankfully, he was one of them. They were told that if they didn't pass to tell their families not to come to graduation because they won't be in it, and they won't be able to see their families. Cael and I are excited about going to see him! First, I have to get through the marathon on May 1st!

Saturday

2011-04-22T08:11:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is Allen's "do over" for his PT test since he missed it by one sit-up. Last Sunday, Webster made Allen do sit-ups to see if he could get 36, since he only got 35 on Saturday. He did 40. He knows he can do it. Now he just has to do it. He did the push-ups fine, and he came in his running time with 4 seconds to spare. That makes him nervous, but I'm sure he'll be ok. Prayers, please! There were a couple kids that didn't get the push-ups, and one that missed his run time by 2 minutes. Allen's the closest to passing. We'll have only 3 hours with him on the 4th, and 7 hours on the 5th. Actually less than 7, since we'll have to get back to base early because everyone will be trying to get through the gates. They need to be there at least 10min before the pass runs out. I know Allen wants to play catch with Cael on Wednesday, then Thursday after graduation we'll get lunch, and the boys will get a Dilly Bar. Allen has requested that we then hole up in the hotel as a family as long as we can after lunch. Tuesday night, I get to meet the other wives of the "4 Amigos" (4 Amigos = Blake, Webster, Woodall, and Villalobos). We've even been invited to Villa's wedding in Arizona. Unfortunately, the rest of the guys will be in AIT still, but I think they're planning a Vegas trip for us when they're done. Sounds like a good time to me! I'll post pics of grad week as soon as I can. If anyone has anything that they want sent to him, I can take it with me, or if you would like to help get Allen's laptop, I'm going shopping on Tuesday after Easter, and I want to make sure to get everyone's name on it. Thanks, everyone!

Easter Eggs

2011-04-18T20:15:00.003-05:00

On Saturday as we waited for Daddy's call, we colored Easter Eggs! Allen missed passing his PT test by one sit-up. His official results weren't in when he talked to us, but hopefully they passed him. If they didn't, he has one more chance on Saturday. I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll find out when I get his letter that he's sending out today. Cliff hanger! Otherwise, he's doing well. They had a combatives (wrestling)tournament on Saturday as well. He won every match he had, but, of course, he got passed over for the platoon representative. 2 more weeks and he'll be done. Send your letters this week, but probably nothing after Friday or Saturday. Thanks for all of your support! Keep praying!

Last PT test

2011-04-15T08:52:00.002-05:00

Allen's last PT test is tomorrow! Pray, pray, pray! He's also been doing more combatives, which I'm sure he loves. After the PT test, I think they get to have a combatives tournament. Can't wait for the phone call tomorrow!

2011-04-12T13:08:00.002-05:00

Allen told me on Saturday that he would be sending me a surprise. I was so excited to get the mail yesterday! These were taken at reception, so he said that his face has thinned out some. Love it! :)

Combatives

2011-04-10T20:35:00.003-05:00

Allen did combatives Saturday morning. I was excited to hear about how it went when he called that afternoon. He said it was kind of boring. They didn't get to live wrestle or anything. They were just learning techniques. Kind of blah. I then went on the FB page, and several wives/fiances were talking about how their men were tired or beat up from combatives that morning. Haha! Guess having a wrestling background does really help, right, Brad? There weren't any pics of it, though since they had to go inside (it was really hot, I guess), and they can't take pics inside the barracks. By "they" I mean several of the DS's wives that help take care of the Bravo Co. FB page. The guys were not looking forward to today though, because Bridgham was in charge of them all day. He's counting down the weeks, and thankfully, there aren't that many left. 7th week is starting! Get those letters out this week! Thank you for the prayers!

Blue phase!

2011-04-08T13:06:00.004-05:00

They are officially in the Blue Phase (Last phase of training.) I got a phone call during 2nd hour today because they got 20min to talk to whomever they needed to about finances. You know, since if the gov't shuts down, they won't get paid. Yea, gov't. Hey, I got an extra 20min call out of it, I guess. They got certified on their rifles today. He was one point away from "Expert" but only certified as "Sharpshooter." I'm still proud of him, of course! They do combatives tomorrow. This is what he's been looking foward to the entire time, since it's basically wrestling. I'm praying that his knee and/or shoulder don't give him trouble. He and Webster are "Battle Buddies" which means that they are paired up for training exercises. They work really well together, so Allen is really happy about that. The DS that hates him is still making everyone miserable, but, as I was reminded, this time next month, we won't have to worry about it. Hooah!

Double checked

2011-04-05T13:52:00.003-05:00

I double checked my letter from the CO, and it says that at the end of the 8th week we should stop sending letters. I got a letter yesterday that was the most positive one so far. Along with getting fitted for his dress blues, he said that he thinks he'll look good in them. Reading between the lines, he's saying that he'll be wearing them for graduation. Cael and I are getting excited to go to MO so we can see him. I've been talking to Webster's wife on Facebook, and getting know several other wives as well. (Webster is the one that became Allen's friend fairly quickly). It's fun talking to Allen's friends' wives. We're all over the country, but we have one thing in common that binds us together. Unfortunately, none of those guys will be with Allen in Georgia, so he'll have to start all over with getting to know people. Hopefully he'll be with another good bunch of guys like he is now.

Phone call

2011-04-03T15:18:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Allen called at 3:20. The play started at 3:30, so I missed the first 10 minutes, but it was a very small price to pay to talk to him for 20min once a week. He got fitted for his dress blues (Class A's) on Thursday. He had a bit of an ego boost, since he is once again in an "athletic cut" jacket and he's lost another 2 inches off of his waist. He gave blood yesterday, which will be in Afghanistan on Tuesday, so he didn't want to miss that opportunity. They will also be certified on their rifles this week. That shouldn't be too terribly difficult for him. He had a PT test yesterday, which he failed, but he has taken 1:40 off of his run time, so that's improvement. He asks that we pray not only for him, but for his friends of the 4th platoon. I told him I would pass that along. The guys chose "the old man" to say a prayer for them yesterday before the PT test. He was surprised, but honored at that. He's still having a hard time, but May will be here soon. 5th week is over. I think the light at the end of the tunnel is actually a light, and not a train ready to run him over anymore. I know that they've gotten their pictures done, but I don't think he's going to mail them home, since they get messed up in the mail. Thank you for all of your prayers and letters. I think it's the 8th week that they suggest stopping sending your mail. They're out in the field the last week, and it takes almost a week for our letters to get to him anyway. I'll double check on that. Blessings on your week!

Rough week

2011-03-31T19:28:00.003-05:00

Last week was really rough for Allen. He was called out a lot, and he's struggling with that. He did, however, get to go to a Lutheran service on Sunday. One of his good buddies, Villalobos, went with him, since they aren't allowed to go alone. Villalobos is Catholic, but gave up his Mass service to go with Allen since he knew that he hadn't been able to go to a Lutheran service yet. Allen was even asked by the pastor to help with Communion. He felt very honored by that. He's been shooting lots of sub machine guns and grenade launchers, which he likes, but of course the fun gets sucked out of it. Keep sending letters, cards. Please pray for courage and strength for him to get through the next weeks successfully. This will be the end of week 5 for him. 4 more to go! Thanks, everyone!!

First Class!

2011-03-25T08:28:00.002-05:00

I know Allen sent out a lot of letters this week, but here's what he's been doing: He was commended by a DS at the shooting range last week. We all know how much Allen loves to shoot, so we shouldn't be too terribly surprised by this. The DS looked at his target and said, "Out-f***ing-standing, Blake! You'll kill some hadjies with shooting like that!" Don't be offended - I'm just relaying what he said. He also did really well in the grenade throwing. He only missed one target, so he earns a "First Class" pin for that "If I graduate." He still has that doubt in his mind, so please send encouraging messages to him! He's the only Lutheran out of 192 soldiers, so he's been going to the generic Protestant services. He says they're "ok," but he'd rather have a Lutheran service. His DS was less than enthusiastic about letting him go to a different part of base to attend a Lutheran service, but he's still going to try. His good buddy, Webster, will go with him if he can work it out. It sounds like those two are getting to be really close, which I am thankful for. Allen's not a 'lots-of-friends' guy. He's the 'one-or-two-close-friends' type. Webster is a family guy as well, and he wants to meet the people in Allen's pictures (I guess he talks about us a lot - imagine that!). Hey, at least he has new people to tell stories to! Keep the letters and prayers going! He really looks forward to any news at all. Even little stuff that you think is stupid makes him feel like he still has that connection. Also - prayers of healing for his knee, and prayers for his upcoming PT test on Saturday!

Saturday phone call

2011-03-19T14:37:00.003-05:00

I was worried about this week's phone call, but Allen seems to be doing better. He said he's doing a better job of keeping his head above water, for which I am thankful. He's made some friends with the 9 guys that he shares a room with. One of them is a family guy just like him, so they clicked pretty fast. I'm glad he has someone to talk to there. This last week he got to go on the obstical course, work with the issue rifles, and throw live grenades. He said that the Army can suck the fun out of most anything. Throwing the grenade was pretty cool, though. His nickname is "Grandpa" or "hey, old man." He doesn't mind, and plays it up. They razz him about being the first one to bed and the first one up in the morning. They also remind him to take out his dentures before bed. He's doing better, but still needs lots of support from home. Make sure those cards, letters, and prayers keep going!

Crazy Outfit Day

2011-03-13T11:35:00.001-05:00

For National Lutheran Schools Week, we had a dress-up schedule for school spirit. Crazy outfit day was Friday.

Another letter

2011-03-11T17:13:00.003-06:00

We got another letter today. Yea! He went to the gas chamber. He says it's really, really nasty. I'm sure I could have guessed that. They go in with their masks on, and then have to take them off and stay in there for so long. He didn't say anything about puking on the DS's boots, so that's good, right Brad? :) There are some major screw ups in his platoon, so they're getting smoked a lot, and it's pretty rough. He's hoping that he gets some mail soon. He's practically begging for mail, so make sure to keep the letters (and prayers) going! Remember, he can't receive any food, or anything like that. His mail is inspected when he opens it, so if you send it, he'll get smoked for it. Not good. :(

Allen's address updated

2011-03-10T17:03:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone. I got a letter from Allen, and he's holding up ok. He wants lots of mail! In writing him letters, it needs to look like this, or it will get delayed. (First line)SPC Allen R. Blake (Second line)Co B, 2/10 (Third line)495 Iowa Ave, Unit 22 (Fourth line)Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473-8958 (Reverse side of the envelope) 4th PLT

Allen's address

2011-03-07T17:34:00.006-06:00

SPC Allen Blake, Co B, 2-10 Infantry, Unit 22, Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473-8958 on the other side of the envelope put 4th PLT. Please send encouraging messages to him. He's really down because his knee and shoulder are giving him a lot of trouble. Graduation will be May 5th. www.wood.army.mil/2-10IN

First Mail

2011-03-03T08:35:00.003-06:00

We got mail yesterday! Yea! Two letters, actually. One Allen wrote on Saturday, the other on Sunday. He said he was done processing, and would be shipped to his training unit on Monday. He already had blisters on his heels from his boots, but he has a pretty high pain tolerance. He said that he looks like a soldier, but doesn't really feel like one yet. I'm sure that's changed now that he's actually training. He's getting yelled at now, like a real soldier. :) He got to go to church on Sunday, which lifted his mood somewhat. Hopefully he'll be kept busy enough to not feel so down like he did in reception. He heard that the first 4 days are the worst, and he agreed. I should be getting his address within a week, and I will make sure to pass it on.

Airport Antics

2011-02-24T20:44:00.002-06:00

This is what we did at the airport for 7 hours. Plus people watching. That's always fun.

Party in Lincoln

2011-02-24T20:21:00.007-06:00

We had a get together with all of Allen's siblings in Lincoln. It was fun to have everyone together! 1 parent, 4 siblings, 4 spouses, and 10 kids!

Party at our house

2011-02-24T20:10:00.003-06:00

We had a party for Allen at our house. It was full! It was also the first time that our pooltable has been used. We had our HLHS family, college family, wrestling family, church family, and grew-up-together family all in one house! It was pretty cool!

Let the Adventure Begin

2011-02-24T19:22:00.004-06:00

The last few days have been up and down for us. Tuesday, we left to go to Omaha. Leaving the house was harder than we thought it would be. It is Allen's last piece of normalcy, and when we left it, everything was unknown. Plus, we will never be a family in our house again. We will hopefully get it sold soon, so the next home we will be in together as a family is out there - somewhere - far from here. That in itself is scarey. Not necessarily bad, just unknown. Tuesday we went to Bellevue to get Allen's transcripts. This has been a loooong process, but Allen is now a college grad. Yea! He entered the Army as an E4. We then went to the hotel and hung out. Allen fell asleep before Cael did. He was pretty exhausted, and he had to be on the shuttle to MEPS at 5:20am. We went to MEPS the next morning and got to see Allen's oath ceremony. Pretty cool. Then he was put on another shuttle to the airport. His flight was at 5:15pm, and it was only 10ish am. We had a long day at the airport, but we were all together, so it was good. We did a lot of people watching, and Cael even got a nap. We left Allen at the security gate at 4:30. He texted me a few times on the bus after he got to St. Louis, but he wanted to sleep as much as he could before he got to Ft. LW. I didn't blame him. I got a 5 second call at 11:11pm telling me he got there safely and he loves us. He's where he needs to be. That's all I know for now. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Getting Ready

2011-02-17T08:40:00.002-06:00

I haven't been updating lately, but we've been getting ready for Allen's departure. Several parties have happened - one at Texas T-bone, one at our house, one this weekend in Lincoln. I'll put up pics as soon as I can. Monday night, Allen was really tense when I got home. He couldn't find Cael's SS card, and he needs to take it to BCT with him. Where is it? What did we do with it? Lots of praying was going on. Plus, he's worried about getting his official transcript so he can be an E4 when he gets to Ft. LW, instead of an E3. He got everything done, now he just needs the piece of paper to prove it. Bellevue University hasn't been so gracious in that department. We also want to get some hospital bills paid off, and pay off the car. Worry, worry, worry. If you know Allen, he thinks that's his job. Really. Well, Tuesday, God laughed at Allen for all of his worrying. He found out that his recruiter had Cael's SS card. the registrar at CCC got his transcripts sent to Omaha to Bellevue. Allen's recruiter's boss's boss is here all week from Denver. He told Allen not to worry about his transcript. HE'LL take care of it. I would really like to be in on that phone call. AND Allen got his tuition reimbursement check for last semester. TAKE THAT all you worries!! We needed some wins, and, of course, God made them happen. He always does. Why are we surprised when it happens? I don't know. Because we're sinful, and trusting is hard. Cael is sick today with a fever and cough. It sounds like a lot of kids at preschool are sharing the "fever/cough" love. I just don't want Allen to be sick when he leaves. Cael knows that Daddy's leaving, and he's not terribly pleased. We are doing our best to keep good attitudes and be very optimistic. Daddy has to leave because he's not the Daddy he really wants to be. He'll be back. We'll all be together again, and we'll get to do lots of fun stuff and go to lots of cool places. If Cael sees a map, he says he either wants to live in New York or Texas. Both are possibilities. We'll find out toward the end of AIT, so it will be a while. Our house will be put on the market next week sometime. We are praying for a fast sell. The handyman should be done today fixing all the stuff we haven't gotten to in the last year. Sorry this is so long. I guess that's what I get for not updating more, huh?

Sledding

2011-01-23T19:45:00.004-06:00

Last week Cael and I went to Ravenna to go sledding with the Keiligs. Mike pulled us behind the 4-wheeler, but Cael didn't like that too well, since he kept getting mouthfuls of snow, then we fell off. I ended up just pulling him on a sled behind me while Mike pulled Ethan and Elly. It was a good workout, and I was pretty sore the next day.

Our Little Chef

2011-01-10T08:55:00.004-06:00

Linguini had Remy, we have Cael. Cael has been really into helping us in the kitchen lately, which we are definitely encouraging. Last night I was making my Baked Mushroom Chicken, and since it takes a while to make, the boys helped. Cael and Allen coated the chicken in the wheat flour, then egg/milk, then the panko crumbs while I browned them. Cael was also in charge of taking the stems off of the mushrooms so I could chop them up. Food is so much yummier when you help make it! :)

A day at the museum

2011-01-08T19:59:00.002-06:00

Today we went to the Hastings Museum for their monthly "Preschool Playday." Today's was entitled "Blast off!" The kids got to make a 'magic' telescope out of a paper towel tube, streamers, and sticky stars. Pretty darn cool, according to the kiddos. They also made an orbit toy that has a 'sun' in the middle on a stick, and a button planet swinging around it on a string. Look out! You could get hit. We also went in to the planetarium for a short show of some stars and some basic things you could see in the sky. Of course, like the mother-of-the-year I am, I forgot my camera. ooops. Cael's really been into rockets, spaceships, and astronauts lately, so we figured this would be a great day for him. His only gripe was that the planetarium part wasn't long enough. We need to take him back to see a full show there, obviously. All in all, it was a pretty good day. We posted a lot of stuff on Craigslist, as we're trying to continue to downsize as much as we can before we list the house. If it doesn't snow too much tomorrow, there will be someone coming to get Cael's dresser tomorrow. If you've helped us move, you know what an absolute bear it is. Solid oak. We want something lighter and easier to move for each one of us. Guess we'll see what happens.

$350 Kitchen makeover before/after

2010-12-31T19:19:00.004-06:00

These are taken the day we moved in. New floor, new paint on the walls, cupboards, and trim, new curtain rods and curtains. You can hardly tell we have 5 different styles of cabinets and 3 different styles of countertops.

Project

2010-12-29T08:49:00.002-06:00

The kitchen project is underway! I have the walls painted, and now the cupboards and trim need to get done. The walls are "almond toast," the same color as our livingroom. The cupboards and trim will be "cottonseed." Kind of a light cream color. Doing the cupboards are going to be a pain, but hopefully they'll get done soon, since the kitchen is completely torn apart. After the painting, I need to put down new floor tile. Phew! I'll post pictures when it's done. This is the biggest project we have to get the house ready to put on the market in February. We still have trim to put up in the dining room, hallway, bathroom, and our bedroom. As well as finish our closet, and fix some siding on the back side of the house.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T18:25:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve and Christmas were pretty good for our family this year. We were at church Chistmas Eve for Cael's program. He was a cow, and this is his buddy Ethan, the donkey. Ethan and Cael found one of the kitchen carts and decided to entertain themselves. They would push each other and then spin around. Meemaw Keylon was "taking orders" for supper at the window. We had supper with the Keylons, Gaschos, and Reynolds clans.

It's getting closer...

2010-12-20T21:11:00.002-06:00

Allen is back to working out, thank goodness. I'm just glad that he's feeling better. He has the day off tomorrow, so he'll be back out there, running. He bought a balaclava the other day, which I was very happy for, except it was a day late for me, since I did a 12-miler in the snowfall on Saturday. I didn't think my face was frozen, but when I tried to yell at my buddy, Chloe the farmdog, to go home, I realized that I couldn't talk very well. Unfortunately, that was only about halfway through my 12. Allen tried it out on Sunday afternoon, and it worked pretty well. He's got to be ok running in the cold. MO in February is no picnic.

On the mend

2010-12-07T20:36:00.002-06:00

Allen's attempts of getting rid of his kidney stone on his own was not successful, so today we had an appointment at Good Sam in Kearney. The doctor decided it was time that Allen was rid of it. 45 minutes later, the doctor brought me a small vial and showed me what was giving Allen so much pain. He's still in pain, but at least we know that this will end eventually. Healing has begun.

A trip to the ER

2010-11-29T15:17:00.002-06:00

Sunday morning, Allen got up at 2am so he could go to work at 3. He was experiencing some pain similar to what he's had before in his side, so he took some medicine and set off for work. He got to the edge of town, but had to double-back and come home. He was in a lot of pain. For those of you who don't know Allen well, he has quite a high pain tolerance. Cael and I got up to get ready for church, but something made me stall. About 9:30, he told me that something was definitely not right, so we called his sister with the symptoms and then headed into the ER. 3.5 hours and a CT scan later, he has a kidney stone. I told him that people say it's worse than childbirth, but he told me that he'd rather do this 100 times than go through my childbirth once. This too shall pass, but it needs to do it faster! At least he only has one, and it's "small" (3mm), so hopefully it will work its way out of his system sooner rather than later.