Thirteen Thursday

Tomorrow I leave for Southern California. My lifelong friend, Jennifer, just lost her husband 3 weeks ago on Sunday. This Thirteen Thursday is dedicated to her and her daughter, Madison.

Thirteen Reasons I'm excited about seeing Jennifer and Madison and going to Southern California.

1. Jennifer has been my friend since we were just wee

Toddlers and I'm excited to see her because it's been almost 2 years since we've last seen each other.

2. I am excited to see her so we can catch up on all that's been going on in our lives.

3. I'm excited to go see Jennifer because we can talk about David and what we loved about him and how he touched everyone he knew. He had between 900-1000 people at his funeral. That shows me what kind of life he lived. He was dedicated to God, his family and others.

4. I'm excited to see Madison again and help her celebrate her 3rd birthday on Saturday!!

5. I'm excited to go to Disneyland with them. I cannot wait to see Madison while we are there and I cannot wait to be there and see all the Christmas decorations.

6. I'm excited to be going out to California because I have family there that I will get to see.

7. I'm excited to go see Jennifer because I got Dr. Phil tickets and for anyone who knows me, you know I'm a HUGE fan of his. She is not as much of a fan, but she cannot wait to see how crazy I get while there. Sorry in advance if I embarass you. :-)

8. I'm excited to see Jennifer because we get to stay up late like when we were little and just talk, laugh and cry late into the night.

9. I'm excited to be somewhere warm while all my friends and family freeze here in Chicago!!

10. I'm excited to see my old neighborhood where I grew up.

11. I'm excited to be going on a trip with NO KIDS!! The kids are not too excited about that because they love going to California with me.

12. I'm thankful to have a husband that is so understanding about these things. Love you honey. Thanks for making it possible to go out and be there for Jenny.

13. I'm excited to be able to go out and be with Jennifer and Madison for so many reasons. I love them very much and know that Jennifer would do the same thing for me. I'm here for you girl. See ya Tomorrow. Bring the Kleenix.

We rocked out!!

I took Tricia and her friend, Katie to a concert tonight. I dragged Katie's Mom too. She had fun even if she tells you otherwise. We saw Last Tuesday, John Reuben, Sanctus Real and my favorite of the bunch SUPERCHIC[K]. There was a local band that opened up the whole concert, but I'm drawing a blank on their name. These are all Christian Bands.

Here are a few pictures:

Here is Tricia and Katie with me. They are all decked out in their

Superchic[k] stuff and ready to go.

This is the band Last Tuesday. They were pretty good. Kinda Punk/Alternative. The lead singer was so funny. He had on long johns with his boxers hanging out. They were a fun band.

Here is John Reuben taking it up a notch. I have always like John's Music. He is hip hop and very fun to work out too. He really knew how to get the crowd going.

Here is Steve the lead singer of Last Tuesday helping John Reuben out. He climbed up on the speakers and poised for me. I was by the stage just up in the balcony. He had multiple piercings and very cool glasses.

Here is the band Sanctus Real. I really, really liked them. If you are my husband and you are reading this any of their CD's would make really good Christmas gifts. Again a more alternative sound.

And finally the band we had waited for ALL NIGHT. SuperChic[k]. They are an incredible group with a great messages for girls. I love their music and have a lot of fun listening to it with the kids. I really love their message and I was really happy to see all the ladies in the audience. Don't worry guys you were well represented in the crowd . At one point John Reuben came out with a shirt on that said GIRL POWER!! It was too funny!! The blonde in the picture is the lead singer named Tricia and the dark haired on is named Melissa. Pretty cool, huh?

This was the last night of a 2 month tour, so it was really fun because everyone kept coming out for the other acts. It was a great night and one that I am glad that I got to share with the girls.

Another bonus for the night is that I danced and moved for 3 1/2 hours. Talk about your good workout. :-)

Gotta get to bed. I'm tired. Night!!

This blog has been interuppted by a SNOW DAY

The kids are thrilled because they woke up to tons of snow and no school. It's an official

SNOW DAY!!!

Keith left for South America just in time for the first snow fall of the year. He informs me via email that it is in the 80's and sunny. That's ok he can rub it in because I leave for Southern California on the 8th for a 10 day trip. Here are some pictures just snapped outside my back and front doors to show you how much snow we got and it's still snowing. I wanted to get pictures before the kids and I go and play. Enjoy especially if you live somewhere warm. :-)

Check out the car. That's going to be fun to dig out!!

This is our back patio door. Check out how high the snow is leaning on our door and in the background is our table covered in snow. We probably have about a foot of snow. I'm not complaining though because I have a lot of fun in the snow and love that my kids get to grow up seeing all 4 seasons. Well, five here in Chicago because of Construction season.

Look at that snow just hanging off of our roof. It's really cool and really out there. I know exactly what is going to happen too. I will walk out there tomorrow or Sunday when it warms up a little and it is going to fall on my head. It will be something fun to laugh about.

I would love to stay and chat, but the kids and I have some snow to go and play in. I'll take pictures and blog more tonight or tomorrow. Have a nice warm day.

Keith Turns 40

Keith and my sister Lynn share the same birthday. They both turned 40 on Thanksgiving day, but last night I threw Keith his big 4-0 party. For those of you who don't know Keith loves to cook, so I threw him a cooking party. Everyone who came brought him a favorite cooking gadget or something kitchen related. I also put together a cookbook for him from friends and family. My goal was to have 40 recipes for him on his 40th birthday. At the time of his party I had 33. I'm still getting them from people, so it will be 40 before you know it. We played a game of match the cooking terms with their definitions and we also played the card game Spoons. It was a fun night of catching up with some old friends we hadn't seen in awhile and hanging out with family. It was a great night of celebrating the man I love most, Keith. Happy 40th Keith. I'm so glad we met and have had so many great years together and look forward to the years ahead. I love you.

Here are pictures from the party:

These are our nieces and nephews. They make cute little chefs.

Keith reading one of the many "You're Old Now" cards. Actually everyone was very nice to him.

Me and the birthday boy!! Awww, we are such a cute couple.

Our nephew Luke getting into the action. Of course he liked the paper better than the package.

Part of the fun was making our own sundaes for dessert. Yummmmy!!

This is where we played spoons. I never knew that people would get into it so much. We had people diving across the table, falling off chairs and having a realy fun, competitive time. If you haven't ever played spoons it's an easy, but fun game.

We had people at our house till well past midnight. It was a great time and a great memory that we will remember for years to come.

For those of you that came to the party I thank you for making the night so special and for loving Keith as much as you do. He appreciates you all and we appreciate your friendships.

Thriteen Thanksgiving Thursday

13 Things I love about Thanksgiving Day!!

1. Being with Family
2. Turkey
3. Mashed potatoes and gravy
4. Sweet Potatoes
5. Pumpkin Pie
6. After Thanksgiving Day Sales.
7. Curling up on the couch and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade with the kids.
8. Thinking over the past year and all that I have to be thankful for.
9. Keith's birthday (the big 4-0 this year)
10. Having the kids home from school to hang out with.
11. Talking with relatives from out of state on the phone.
12. Friends
13. Cooking with the kids. A new tradition we started this year.

Thirteen Thursday a Day Late

Just like I promised. . . .

Thirteen Reasons I love Walt Disney World

Us with Mickey Mouse at the Chef Mickey's charactor breakfast.

1. Mickey Mouse- do I need to say more.

2. Grandparents who let us use their timeshare for free everytime we go.

3. Seeing my kids faces light up while watching a parade or waiting in anticipation for a ride.

Playing with thier toys the night of the Very Merry Mickey Christmas Party.

4. Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror at MGM Studios

5. Parker finally being tall enough to go on most of the rides.

6. Keith playing Who Wants to Be A Millionaire a Million times. Honey, you will make it to the hot seat next trip. I can feel it. :-)

7. Going to Albert and Victoria's with Keith.

8. Going on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad over and over because of no lines during the Christmas Party.

Grandma Anne, Grandpa Jim, Auntie DarDar, Keith and the kids waiting to ride Big Thunder Mountain. Parker was finally tall enough.

9. Having my best buddy, Darlene, along for the ride and having our girls night out.

Auntie DarDar with Tricia and Parker in Dinoland at Animal Kingdom.

10. Growing up at Disneyland as a kid was so much fun and now my kids are getting to have the same memories as me, so some day they can take their kids too.

11. Going at Christmastime and seeing all the lights and seeing a beautiful Nativity Scene and hearing them read the Christmas Story right out of Luke at the Christmas Concert at Epcot.

12. Charactor Breakfasts- I love meeting all the charactors without all the lines and you get some decent food too.

13. Seeing the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey every time I go and realizing that Walt Disney and Disneyland are all because of this one man's dream. He is the ultimate example of DREAMING BIG and GOING FOR IT!!

No matter what you want to do go after it and never let anyone say your dream is silly. DREAM BIG AND GO FOR IT!!

My Sears Tower Climb

Today was the day. I climbed up 2,109 stairs, 103 Floors to raise money for Cancer Research. I forgot my digital camera, soI ran to Walgreens and bought a disposable camera. I will be posting my pictures at a later date.


Yesterday, November 11, was a long day. I had Tricia's 9th birthday party. I had to have it in the evening because of her basketball schedule. I had 24 kids over at my house from 4:30-7:30 and then some family and friends visited for awhile. Towards the end of the night I was worried because my back started hurting and I had my Sears Tower climb in the morning. I took some medicine, prayed and headed to bed.


I woke up around 6:30 this morning. My start time for the climb was between 9:20-9:30. They were starting people every 7 seconds. I was feeling really sick when I woke up. My best buddy Darlene came with me to the event even though she couldn't climb with me. She drove and I was able to recline my seat and relax. I felt like I was going to throw up the whole way there.

We arrived in good time and parked in a parking garage and headed into the Sears Tower. I looked up and saw what you see in the picture above and thought to myself, "What did I get myself into?" I was a little overwhelmed, but excited at the same time.

We got inside. I checked in. My stomach was still hurting, but now I was excited. I said bye to Darlene and got in line for the climb. I stretched out and waited. It didn't take long for me to get to the door. I started and by floor 12 I couldn't remember why I thought this had been a good idea in the first place. I was told that there would be water every 10 floors, but there was no water to be found, so I started to worry a little. It ends up the first water station was at floor 22 and then from there on out it was every 10 floors. By floor 30 I knew I was going to be able to make it. Having the water stations every 10 floors was great. I just kept my focus on the 10 floor goals and before you know it I was half way at floor 53. I couldn't believe I had made that far. All the volunteers were great and they really were encouraging when you stopped to take a little break. I stopped at each of the water stations to bring my heart rate back down and that is what helped me be able to do it.

There were people of all shapes and sizes. There was a baby in a backpack carrier. I saw her before the climb started and I saw her pacifier on one of the stairs on my way up. There were lots of kids with their parents. It was neat to see all the different types of people out for such a good cause.

The one thing that grossed me out was that people were spitting in the stairwell. Somewhere between floor 80-90 I finally said something to a guy. He spit some big old spit right in the middle of the stairway where I was walking behind him and I said, "EWW, that was lovely." He said, "I'm sorry" and I said, "tell the person that has to clean it up not me." He didn't really say anything after that, but I had made my point.

Between floor 50-60 I was thinking about my Mom, who will be gone 10 years on Christmas Morning. I was thinking about the people I know that are affected by cancer. I have some friends going through some tough times right now. I did this climb for them, in honor of my Mom and to encourage people of all sizes to get active, so they don't risk the chance of dying young. I hope that I can make a difference and show people that no matter what your size you can do anything you put your mind to. I spent those 10 floors praying and then I started to get teary eyed, so I had to stop because I knew I couldn't climb and cry. I wore a bandana that said on the front, "Going Vertical for my Mom 1943-1996" On the top it said, "Mom, I miss you."

It was really a good day and I encourage any of you in the Chicago area to do this event next year. There is also a climb in the John Hancock builing in Febuary, but it is already sold out.

Thank you to everyone for your emotional support as I took on this challenge and thank you for your donations to a good cause. Counting my $75 entry fee I raised $315.00. Parker called me this morning while I was driving to the climb and asked me if it was to late for him to sponsor me. I told him I could give them money and he could pay me back, so he sponsored me for $5 out of his own money. That meant so much to me.

I will post pictures as soon as I get my camera developed. Thank you again for all your support.

Much love,

Melissa

PS. I forgot to tell you I did the climb in 1 hour and 27 minutes. Go Me!! The guy who came up first did the whole climb in 13 minutes.

Cool Haircut

I don't know who this is, but isn't this the coolest haircut ever? Enjoy!!

Thirteen Thursday

Here are thirteen reasons I love my husband, Keith.

1. He loves me for who I am.
2. He has never tried to change who I am.
3. He makes me laugh.
4. He is the best Dad ever.
5. He tolerates Disney World even though there are other places he would rather go on vacation. Costa Rica here we come.
6. He cheers me on at my triathlons.
7. He never has told me I am too sensitive.
8. He has always allowed me to dream and never has told me I cannot achieve those dreams.
9. He made it possible for me to be a stay at home Mommy.
10. He has helped me recently with going back to school with my self-confidence and letting me know I can do it even when I have doubted myself.
11. He is my #1 fan.
12. He is proud of me when I can spout off sports statistics that I learned from listening to the radio, watching ESPN or reading the newspaper even when he's not home. He tells me he brags about my sports knowledge all the time.
13. He is my bestfriend.

Next week, my Thirteen Thursday topic will be, 13 things I love about Walt Disney World. :-)

Triathlon Dates for 2007

I am so excited. I have nailed down three of my four triathlon events for the summer of 2007. I really needed to get these dates because I have let myself go and have gained weight and haven't been working out much, so getting these dates on my calendar has been a good thing. Anyone that wants to come and cheer me on can. I would love that or better yet, why don't you come and do one with me. Here's my 2007 triathlon schedule.

June 24th, my thirteenth wedding anniversary, I will be doing the US Subaru Women's Triathlon series in Naperville, Illinois.

July 8 I will be doing the Danskin Women's Triathlon in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin.

August 12th, I will be doing the Naperville Sprint Triathlon in Naperville Illinois. This one is Co-ed.

These are all Sprint Triathlons. My goal for the Us Subaru Triathlon this year was to do it in under 3 hours and I did it in about 2:30. My goal for it in 2007, I want to do it in 2 hours or less.

My goal for all three is to jog or run the 5K at the end of all three of these Triathlons. I want to do a fourth one, but haven't found it yet.

In May I will be visiting friends in Costa Rica and hope to get some biking or running in there. I cannot wait.

What is your goal physically for yourself. Even if you don't do big events, set some goal, get it on your calendar and start planning. This has really helped me get refocused today.

4 days until my Sears Tower Climb. GO ME!!!!

My New Triathlon T-shirt

My friend, Darlene, got me a Triathlon t-shirt for my birthday. It says:


Almost drowned
Crashed my bike
Puked on the run

When's the next Tri?



I love it!! My next Triathlon is in June and I cannot wait. Have a great Saturday!!

Thirteen Thursday

This is a new edition to my blog. Every Thursday I will be writing 13 postive things covering all different topics. Today I am going to write 13 things that will be better when I lose 100 pounds.

1. I will be able to run with my kids.
2. My kids will be able to wrap their arms all the way around me to give me a hug.
3. I will live longer.
4. I will be able to help others reach their goals.
5. I will be able to compete in triathlons and not have to worry if I'm the biggest one there.
6. I'll be able to fit in all the seats at amusement parks and movie theaters.
7. My husband and I will be able to go on adventures and do things together without me getting winded.
8. I will be able to try out for AMAZING RACE and if I make it I won't be the fat girl that gets elimated first.
9. I will feel so good about myself.
10. I will be able to shop for clothes in a regular store. That is going to be so weird. :-)
11. I will be able to be a better teacher once I get my teacher's degree.
12. I will be soooo happy.
13. I will know that no matter what my goals are I can reach them because this is a HUGE goal that I will be reaching.

I have renewed my goal of losing weight again. I have had some setbacks, but that is not the case anymore. I deserve to be healthy. My family deserves for me to be healthy. My new goal is 60 pounds by the end of April. That is 6 months. If I reach this goal I will be the weight I was on my wedding day. That will feel so good.

Have a great day and try and think of 13 positive things today in your life. Later!!

Trick or Treating with Skates

Parker won a sweepstakes where he got to go Trick or Treating with Skates, the Chicago Wolves Mascot. For full story on how he won see my post from October 28, 2006. We had a lot of fun with him. He was full of tricks and treats. This will be a Halloween my kids will not forget. Enjoy the pictures. Here's the whole group right after Skates arrived. We then headed out to get our treats and play a few tricks on people.

Here is Skates with Parker on the way to the next house to get more candy. Tricia is behind them. She was an astronaut.

Skates helped Parker put his costume back on and this is what happened. Parker is getting eaten by the evil gingerbread man.

Skates made himself comfy at Parker's friend, Andrej's house. Here he is trying to find something to watch on TV.

Here he is drinking their milk. He also used their bathroom and went upstairs where he found a Chicago Wolves Hockey puck. It was fun and my friends were great sports as they are HUGE hockey fans. Both Andrej and his brother Alex play.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE PICTURES

Climbing for Cancer

I have a link where you can go and sponser my climb for cancer if you would like. Again, I will be climbing up the stairs of the Sears Tower on November 12, 2006 to raise money for Cancer Research. Please click on this link to read more and decide if this is a cause you would like to be a part of. http://drcrf.convio.net/site/TR?px=1110662&pg=personal&fr_id=1080 Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

My next physical challenge

I wanted to let you know my next physical challenge for myself. Instead of doing a 5k this fall I decided that I am going to challenge myself in a new way. I am going to climb up the Sear's Tower. On November 12, 2006 I will climb up 2, 109 steps, that's 103 stories. I will be doing it to raise money for cancer research. This is a group that raises money for scientist to do research on cures for all forms of cancer. Since my Mom died of cancer, 10 years ago this coming Christmas, this is an important issue to me.

Here is the link, so you can read about it. Also, I will let you know in the next couple of days where you can send donations if you feel like sponsoring my climb. http://drcrf.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=1080&pg=entry

I would love it if any of you Chicagoans would join me for this adventure. Steve, Amy?

Gingerbread Man's Revenge

Parker won a sweepstakes. He got to go to a Chicago Wolves Game and be on the ice in a costume contest.

He was a Gingerbread man seeking revenge on people who bite the heads off of Gingerbread men. Tonight he was biting off the head of an IOWA STARS Goalie. Here we are waiting for the game to start.





Here he is on the ice with his competition. From right to left: Power ranger, hulk, dracula, Parker, Big witch, little witch and the only other real competition, a hockey puck. He's behind the camera man. We knew when we saw the competition that the only one we really had to worry about was the hocky puck. AKA Tyler.

Here is Wayne Messmer announcing the winner of the costume contest. It came down to the hockey puck (Tyler) and Parker and the crowd cheered the loudest for Parker. He won 2 hours of Trick or treating with their mascot, SKATES. We cannot wait.

Here was our only competition, Hockey Puck, er, um I mean Tyler. The neat thing about this, is that The HockeyPucks, as Tricia calls them, live in the town where my kids go to school and he goes to the catholic school down the street. So guess what? Hockey Puck gets to go Trick or Treating with Skates too because we invited them to come. They are really excited.

We had a great night despite the Wolves losing in overtime to the Iowa Stars 5-4. Stay tuned for pictures from our Trick or treating adventure.

At least I'm not this lazy

I've really been getting back into working out and eating right again. Someone sent this video to me and I was cracking up. I am doing a lot better than the people in this video. Watch it and be motivated to get moving. Enjoy!!


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4687643663537018301&q=stuck+on+an+escalator&hl=en

New Blog

I have started another blog that I thought some of you might be interested in. Poetry has become a new hobby for me. I use poetry to get my thoughts down when I'm stressed, when I want to eat or just because. I have just posted a new poem about becoming a teacher. I will be posting one that I wrote when I was tempted to go to Starbucks. I drove right by it as I was writing a poem in my head. I will also be posting past poems that I am very proud of.

If you would like to check it out go to:
www.poetrybymelissa.blogspot.com

Have a great day and enjoy!!

Harvesting our Gourds

Happy VeggieTales Gourds

Keith and Tricia decided to plant a few seeds in our flowerbed. Vines started growing, so we thought we were growing pumpkins, but it ends up we were growing gourds. It was a really fun process of watching them start as beautiful yellow flowers and then turn into yellow and green bumpy gourds. Today was a beautiful sunny day and a perfect day for Keith and the kids to harvest their gourds.

Here is Tricia cutting a big one off the vine.

Parker had a lot of fun harvesting the gourds. Here he is checking out one.

Here are Tricia and Parker with the Fruits of their Labor.

Keith, Tricia and Parker headed off to the neighbor's houses to deliver some gourds to them. They all loved them and some even put them in their front yard fall displays right away. It was really fun to watch the kids excitement as they told me about sharing them with the neighbors.

Watching the kids harvesting their crop made me think of my relationship with Jesus Christ and how I am so thankful that at a young age a seed was planted in me. That seed was knowing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and He rose again. He did this for me so that I could be forgiven of the things I had done wrong and would do wrong in the future. He did that so I could spend eternity with Him. Once I accepted His gift and prayed to ask Him into my life, I became like a plant that that grew and was harvested by Jesus Himself. Don't be left out in the field unharvested. Please if you ever have any questions about Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for you, feel free to ask.

New workout buddy

I have a new workout buddy and I'm so excited. We will be working out on Tuesday nights at the YMCA.

Cindy and I met last fall at ETC preschool. I was a teacher's assistant in the 4's class. Jack is Cindy's son and was in my class. He came about 3 days a week. After awhile Cindy and I started talking. I found out she just moved her from another town. She has a daughter a year older than Tricia and Jack and Parker had a lot in common. We got together and the rest is history. We get along great and our kids do too. Our kids will be going to AWANA, a mid week kids church program while we work out. The church is right down the street from the YMCA, so it will be very convenient for us to go and workout.

This is Cindy and I a couple of months ago at a scrapbooking night.

We went tonight and got in 30 minutes on the elliptical or as one of Cindy's friends calls it the eucalyptus machine. Next week we are going to work out 60 minutes. It's so much more fun with a friend.

Here is a picture of our kids on our boat this summer. They loved going tubing. They are all becoming such good friends.

Last week I lost 2.2 pounds on weight watchers. I am back going to meetings after taking most of the summer off.

I'm back in the mood to lose weight and am doing well. I will be going to Curves 3 days a week, the YMCA 3 days a week and taking Sundays off. It feels good to be back.

Let me know how all of you are doing. Keep on keepin' on and if you haven't started yet, get up off the couch and get going. You'll feel so much better.

Here are a few bible verses for encouragement:

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Philippians 4:13
I can do everything through Him who gives me strength

Babysitting Luke

My Aunt Meepa does a great job of babysitting me. Here I am all buckled in next to Tricia. She took this picture of me. We just dropped Parker off at his friend Jack's house and we are heading to Tricia's violin lessons. I love to hear her play.
This is me taking in the sceneary around the property where Tricia takes violin. Mommy don't worry Aunt Meepa washed my hands after we were done with the photo shoot. Notice my cute Elmo outfit Aunt Meepa put on me. She also made me wear these silly Elmo shoes too. I was starting to untie them there on the right. I was dying to get these things off.



I was trying so hard to get that Elmo shoe off. I did not want to wear them anymore and then all of the sudden. . . .


V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!! Look Aunt Meepa no more Elmo shoe. Aunt Meepa was so nice she took off my other one and did not make me wear them anymore. I've got her wrapped around my little finger.

While working on getting my shoe off I was listening to Tricia play the violin through an open window. I started to sing really loud and later Tricia told me she could hear me. I didn't realize I was that loud, but between getting my shoe off and hearing Tricia play I was one happy camper.

After violin we went to a meeting at Tricia and Parker's school. I got to go in Parker's class and Tricia really helped me to be happy so I wouldn't cry during the meeting. Another baby kept crying so I was really good. Tricia told me that when I go to Kindergarten this would be the school I would go to, so I really took everything in, so I will remember it when I go back.

We went to pick up Parker after that and then I went to Aunt Meepa's house. I cannot seem to remember much after that.

Aunt Meepa here. After we got Parker I got Luke to sleep and Tricia set up a Bean Bag Chair for him and now they are having an overnighter in the living room. She couldn't stand the thought of sleeping upstairs when her little cousin was sleeping in the living room. They are both sound asleep. Tricia and Parker both loved helping me babysit and cannot wait until the next time.

Tah Tah for Now!

Pictures from my second triathlon

On August 13,2006 I competed in my second Triathlon of the summer. I already posted my results a couple of blog posts back, so this is just to let you see pictures and read a little bit more about my day. ENJOY!!

Here I am getting my numbers put on the morning of my triathlon. I was number 1021.

Here I am singing the national anthem waiting for the swim to start. The man behind me (labeled mamma's Boy in blue) was 32 years old (our ages were written on our calf) and had his mommy there to put on his swim cap. It was so cute!!

Here I am coming out of the swim. Giving Tricia and Parker a thumbs up.

Here I am getting my bike out of transition on the left and heading into transition on the right. Tricia took the one of me on the left and Parker took the one of me on the right. They were pretty much my photographers of the day.

Thumbs up!! The bike was a little bit harder this time, but I was able to persevere and finish what I came to do, a triathlon. Go Me!!

This is the best picture Tricia took all day. She was trying to get me crossing the finish line. When I saw this picture I couldn't stop laughing. She said, "Mom you were running so fast it was hard to get your picture." Too cute!!

The picture above is the one Tricia took right after she took the above picture and this picture of me is right after I sprinted across the finish line.

Doing this Triathlon was very hard. I was not as in shape as I had wanted and almost didn't even sign up for it, but as I saw my husband and kids on the sideline I knew I could do it. I did a lot of praying that day too and the Lord helped me and gave me strength that I didn't even know I had. The second I crossed the finish line I knew that triathlons are definitely something I want to do every summer now. My kids kept telling me how proud they were of me and they both want to do a triathlon next summer. I'm so glad that I can be an example to them of what living a healthy and active life is.

Just today the kids were going to go play out in the neighborhood. They were going to start off roller blading, then scooter and then ride bikes. Tricia yelled upstairs and said, "Mom do you mind opening the back of your Mini Van? We need somewhere to sit to do our transitions!" It was a very proud moment for me.

Next up on my healthy journey is a century ride on October 1st and lose 20 pounds by Thanksgiving. Please ask me how I am doing with that along the way. I need the support of others and really appreciate all of you so much in my healthy journey. I couldn't do it without you. Thanks.