Baker girl

What is it about the baker rack cupboard that is so fascinating to Keely Q?

Totally caught in the act

If I had a dollar for every time I put those sheets away

"The list"

Today we learned who Ashley's kindergarten teacher will be: Ms. Laugle. Word on the street is that she's "the best of the best" and the teacher that all the parents secretly want their child to have.

Back in May when Ashley's pre-k class visited the elementary school and one of the kinder classrooms, Ms. Laugle's was the room they went to. Ashley *fell in love with her* and chatted for days about how she hoped that would be her teacher. 

Wishes do come true!

Ms. Laugle is known for really engaging her students through song and dance. Seriously. It's like she was *made* to be Ashley's teacher. There could be no better match!

I'm am very thankful for Ashley's pre-k teacher who really took the time to make sold, well thought-through and educated student-teacher recommendations. I was relieved to see the problem child Ash spent her pre-k year dealing with is NOT in her classroom. After all, classmates are just as important as teachers. She'll have pre-k friends from last years class as well as brand-new students; a total of 18 little learners in her classroom.

We have Ashley's meet-and-great with Ms. Laugle Tuesday morning at 9 am. After that we'll have a special, Ashley-only breakfast treat at our favorite place Wildwood Cafe. I do believe their granola-French-toast will be in order!

And so it begins! Only a few days until our precious, spirited, loving, timid, sometimes difficult, funny, sensitive and loyal Ashley Louise starts down her K-12 path.

We went yesterday to scout out the list, but it wasn't up yet. I wanted to capture "the moment", but Midget obviously had something else in mind. What a corker!

It's official! Go, Ashley, Go!

 

Shrine Easter

This year cousin Ty joined in the Shrine Easter festivities. Ash and Natty always love it when they get to show off their family.

First thing on the agenda...

...The Hokey Pokey!
PS Ty pretty much stood like that the entire time!

Such a grin, Ty

Natty Kat working on finding her some eggs

The great Egg Hunter

Love that Ash isn't afraid to be a cheeser 

Too cute for words

Big chocolate bunny winners!

Natty scored herself a golden egg which means she was also a big winner

By far the best 4 looking kiddos there

Custom-made zoo

Let's get one thing out of the way: I know I'm spoiled. 

I get it. 

I understand.

I embrace it.

I appreciate it.

So when my babysitter sent me a pic of a cute little 'Stuffed Animal Zoo' and mentioned it's something Ash needs (oh how right she is!), I read through the how-to's and realized it would be fairly simple to construct.

And when I say fairly simple to construct, I mean for someone else.

Lucky for Jake, he's been extra busy lately filling orders, building stuff and running a successful business. This pretty much takes all of his time, so asking him to add 1 more thing to his already over-flowing plate isn't fare.

Plus, I can ask all I want, but the truth of the matter is there are only SO many hours in a day. :)

That's where Papa comes in.

All it took was a convincing call to Dad that his granddaughters needed him, and he showed up the next day with his engineer hat on, ready to build.

Yes. Spoiled. I know it.

Because I'm a top-notch cheerleader, I stood by and offered my support and acted as tool-getter when necessary. As much as I'd love to be a builder, my brain just does NOT function that way. All those numbers and measurements and instructions actually makes my head spin. 

Thanks, Dad, for spending the afternoon measuring, cutting, drilling, gluing and building. I don't know if the same can be said for you, but I actually enjoyed myself! I've got a whole list of other little projects I've collected (thanks to Pinterest). 

In other words, don't put your tool belt away just yet. 

Winter's coming and we'll need things to keep us busy!. 

Cruising Lowe's for supplies

Papa searching out the perfect boards

My shopping buddy

This is what happens when we stay too long in Lowe's 

The crazy came out

Getting our boards cut (so we don't have to pull out our own saws and tools at home!)

Time to get our build on!

Moving the project indoors

Solid!

The "helpers" got distracted with a song of 3 Little Fishies

Getting closer to being completed 

Natty for the assist 

This is what happens when Papa won't let Keely help

Drill-master

Love my window-girl

Of course she had to give it a shot

Done!

It was only a matter of time before this happened

Surprisingly she liked it

I'm in jaaaaaail!

The finished project complete with stuffed animals galore! 

Cop-a-squat

So Keely's "thing" is to sit climb up and sit on anything that's on the floor. If there's a tub or a box or even Riley's dog bed close by, she's on it.

And she's so proud of her mini-sized accomplishment.

Ready...

...set...

...sit!

Thank goodness my sisters didn't put their toys all the way away or else what would I have to entertain myself with?

Taking a seat on big sister's doc-kit toys with a toy fence section in my mouth - typical Wednesday around here

"Keep truckin' Mama..."

This was the text I received from Jake about mile 5.75 of my 10k race.

There has never been, nor will there ever be, a more inspirational message.

The Philomath Shrine Run, my first ever 10k, was August 17 and I CROSSED THE FINISH LINE.

Mission completion.

The first thing people asked was "How was it?"

Truthful? It was HARD. 

Like seriously I felt like I had never ran a lap, let alone multiple miles.

I'm up and running by 6 am. The race started at 9 am. 

3 hours difference. 20 degrees difference. 

Bad news.

I also roll right out of bed and hit the pavement, no breakfast, no water (I don't need a lecture on how this is bad form for my body, I know it). On race day I knew the no-food approach would spell disaster so I ate an egg and PB&J toast.

Which then sat like a giant boulder in my stomach. Multiple times I felt like it was gonna make a debut on the course. 

Thankfully it never did.

I was so very nervous.

Like so much I can't even remember the last time I was such a ball of nerves. 

Like so much that I kept pace with the first-place 10k runner until mile 2 (he finished the race in less than 50 minutes). 

I finally calmed down during that second mile and felt like I was in somewhat of my 'groove' - whatever that is.

But holy mother it was HOT.

I found myself dealing with things I had never encountered before: thirst, dry lips, heat and dry teeth.

At 6 am these things aren't even considered.

My mind was racing and bouncing all over the place, so I forced myself to calm down and pick a subject to think about AND STICK WITH IT. 

I spent a lot of time talking with God.

I also spent a lot of time taking in the smells of the course: blackberries, hay, weeds, diesel exhaust of the passing trucks, cut timbers at the mill and myself (because, yeah, I started to stink). 

As I cruised through the back-roads of Philomath I also let my mind wander to certain memories I had of houses and roads I passed, the little store that used to be at the corner of Hwy 30 and 20 and the way the town has changed in the last 30 years.

Basically I thought about anything but how uncomfortable I was!

I was greeted at mile 3 by Jake and my smiling girls. Natty Kat even hopped out of the stroller and ran with me for a minute. I'm sure I looked like a fool with a giant smile on my face for the remainder of the race just thinking about the support of my family and how sweet the girls voices were yelling "Go Mommy! Run! Run!".

About mile 4.5 I started to get tired. I had been in the direct sun the entire time, I had just conquered a little hill and I could feel myself running out of juice. I popped a Shot Block (a compact little fruit-snack-type full of electrolytes and the equivalent caffeine of 1 cup of joe), and I allowed myself a 20 second walk to regroup.

I figured I'd have this giant feeling of self disappointment as I walked, but it never came. Turns out all those times I tell myself "Run for you, nobody else. The only person you should be in competition with is yourself" had finally started to sink in. 

I was finally taking my own advice!

For the next 1.5 miles it was a mix of running and fast-walking. Once I made it to 5.25 miles I told myself no more walking and I stuck to my guns. As I ran past the house of a friend from high school I was delighted to see her sitting outside at her garage sale. We shouted a quick hello and both she and her mom cheered for me.

I'm not sure how I looked but I swear my feet never touch the ground because I felt so encouraged.

At mile 6 I got the *ding* of a text message and ignored it. But when it reminded me a second time, curiosity got the best of me and I maneuvered my phone out of my running belt. When I read the words "Keep truckin' Mama...", I knew I had it made.

I made my way to the end of the course, rounded the last corner and was once again greeted by sweet and beautiful Ashley and Natalie. As they cheered me on I completely forgot about the heat, thirst, aches and discomfort. Each girl grabbed my hand and we ran the last 100 yards, hand-in-hand, and crossed the finish line together.

I can't even describe the feeling.

I was certain I was the last person to cross but I learned later on a few more crossed after me.

Not that it matters.

I was nearly moved to tears at my accomplishment. I was (and still am) so proud of myself for pushing myself to a limit I never had before.

It's crazy because during the run I would think "You're crazy for doing this, Riane. Never again. Never ever again."

But as soon as I crossed the finish line I thought "Well that wasn't so bad." and that night I searched on the Internet for my next 10k race. I need to push myself again to prove I'm not a one-hit-wonder.

My official race time is 1:09:07 on a 6.55 mile course. I was hoping to come in closer to 60 minutes but I underestimated how my body would handle the heat.

But seriously, 9 minutes over my goal? That's nothing to be ashamed of. With a pace of 11:08/mile I absolutely cannot complain or be disappointed in myself (I'm generally a 9:45/mile). 

Jake, Ashley, Natalie and Keely all walked the 2k and their results were:

Jake & Keely: 35:56

Ashley: 35:45

Natalie: 35:51

For me it was an incredible day. I went to bed that night feeling accomplished and proud of myself. So many times it would have been easy to just give up (or make make the right-hand turn toward the 5k course instead of the straight-ahead for the 10k). I didn't have anyone holding me accountable. If I didn't perform, nobody but me would have been let down.

Well, turns out pushing MYSELF and holding MYSELF accountable is the best encouragement there is.

Encouragement, Jake style

Crossing the finish line with a few of the people that inspire me

Keely sure was happy to see Mama

I may never clear this race from my RunKeeper - it'll always be a reminder that I CAN

Crazy kiddos rocking some fancy race shirts

Know what sucks...

.....nebulizer treatments.
Kiddos as cute as mine should never have to deal with something so unattractive and unfun.

A fun trip to the dentist

Earlier today I had the great pleasure to take Ash and Natty BOTH to the dentist AT THE SAME TIME.

I must have been caught in an off moment when I agreed to that schedule...

Unfortunately Ashley inherited bad teeth. My enamel didn't fully form on my molars so they've always looked horrible and with Jake being a cavity-kid, our girls didn't stand a chance.

Stinks that your girls get your good (make that great!) traits along with your bad.

But whatcha gonna do?

In the next few weeks Ashley will get 3, yes THREE, cavities filled. It'll take 2 trips to get all the work done, although I wonder if the second trip will happen without some sort of kiddo sedative because I'm nearly certain she'll have a Stage 5...but I'm going to worry about that when the time comes.

Each girl did incredible with the new patient exam and Ash even let them take X-rays without a problem. Natty Kat didn't get X-rays and won't for a while. I was told that when her time comes it's going to be pretty difficult given her itty-bitty mouth (she gets that from her dad). That's another one of those things I'll worry about when the time comes.

Right now I've got enough on my plate.

Oh and when the dental staff tried to have a convo with MY girls about nixing their thumb-sucking habit, I promptly stepped in and killed it. I made it clear it is not their place to give MY children a timeline as to when to stop their habits. 

I'm a Mommy On the Verge. Tread lightly, folks. 

Who's ever THIS excited for the dentist?

Typical Natty Kat charm

She actually begged for the bib 

Counting her chompers

Ashley's all ready for her bib

Seriously who SMILES when they're in THAT chair, in THAT reclined position? 

Not even a flinch 

Ash is so proud of her X-rays! Those also show the adult molars that have popped through on both the top and bottom right of her mouth. AND the tooth next to the tooth she lost a few weeks ago has just started to wiggle. How long until Ash has that thing wiggled out?

Proud of themselves and excited about their dental-visit swag-bags