Running Camp

I think running camp was a success, if I must say it, I will..."IT WAS GREAT!". Though I didn't run but once, with Jackson, up a small portion of a hill...the kids did run, a lot, and I think for the most part enjoyed it. Was it difficult? I hope so, I think so. Was it too difficult? No. Maybe not enough. But then again, we didn't want to completely scare them away. We ran lots of hills, both in daily runs, and hill repeat day. It was good. Hills are something that every runner must battle, and to despise them only (in my mind) makes you a weaker runner. They give you a challenge, and afterwards gives you a blessed reward. Doing them 6x might seem killer, but really it's mother-natures weight room. Your body against gravity. The 10k at the end of camp was by far the best. I am a proud 'momma'. I hate that run. It seems so fun to start with, but the last 'false flat' at the end gets me every time. I'm glad to know you kids (girls + Kade) ran it well...though maybe a few too many water breaks for some.

It's hard to give a top runner award, since everyone finished, and everyone was smiling (well afterwards anyway). Just think, you kids just ran more than 70% of America...ok I just made that up, but I'm sure it's close.

My awards this week go to multiple peps.
1. Kade, who was the solo male on many mornings and managed to KILL the 10k. It appears you most certainly should run XC afterall.
2.Becca- Hill repeat winner. She may have skipped the first day, but afterwards made sure her sisters realized they weren't going to be the only picture in the paper.
3.Next...Ok all the rest of the girls. I cannot decide. Daphne KILLED the 10k. Ally Hartley take note if they lengthened the XC course you would be in dust. I just hope we can get some speed in those legs this fall. Hannah- newbie, who threw-up- It's ok. Multiple people get sick and run and then run some more. We'll work on the sprint/vomit finish. We are thrilled you are running this year. Twins. I think you need to run more, that said you can still out sprint anyone on this team which means you get a bonus. We just have to get you up front to make those sprints count for points. Cesley (did I spell that right?) you are my consistant runner. That's not in anyway a bad thing. I know where you are at, and I know where you fit. After missing hill repeats it was good to see you on the 10k. Ludi- applause!!! First day out running and you did a 10k. A full 10k, plus a warm-up. That's amazing. With a smile. It's going to be a great year! Should Bob be mentioned? He did bring fruit...so yeah. Thanks to BOB for bring fruit, weird jokes, and for being the actual head coach. If he gets the uniform samples in he might move up the list  ;-) (JK...you couldn't top Kade, at least not wearing an Oregon shirt).

So questions? Those who didn't show for 'whatever' reasons realize we know who you are, and you missed a totally 'legit' time. (Shout-out to Thode who only came one morning; we appriciate the effort).

Honorary roll- Jackson. Who did run more than...well anyone who didn't come. And did it all in dinosaur shoes.

Coach Mary

P.S> If you read this leave me a comment. :-)

3 year old...

Well it's official folks. The little boy is 3, (though he protest that he is still 2).We had the BIG party last night. Jackson- mine 3, Nolan- brother in law's little boy 1, Bethany- 2nd brother-in-law's little girl also 1. Somehow I volunteered to host. Not sure why since my yard/garden is in the worst state of anyone's, but I did. I spent the entire past week weeding. I should have taken before and after pictures, it was pretty impressive. Especially since there are now TWO areas in my garden that are aprox. 12ft by 5ft that are completely tilled with nothing in them (thanks in no small part to plants that didn't survive and weeds that had previously taken over). There are actually 3 of these areas, but the one is still covered in weeds. It's on the corner so I didn't really worry about it. It's nice to be able to see my tomatoes and peppers, and the corn. But I worked a lot of hours in the garden, only to realize yesterday that I hadn't touched my house. So in a furry I cleaned bathrooms and vacummed floors and overall power-cleaned what I could between making ice-cream, potatoe salad, 24 cupcakes and one double layer square cake. In the end it was a success. No emergency room visits, no food poisoining, no full on family arguements. It would have been nice if I could have mowed the law one more time...but at least it got mowed. Now that the party is over, it's almost hard to relax. I still feel the pressure to clean and weed more. Heaven knows all those baby weeds are going to take-off now that they have sunlight. But I've tried to relax and open Jackson's toys as he 're-discovers' them today. Enjoying the fact that my little boy is 3, officially 3. In two years I will be shipping him to school, and 10 planning a 'teen-ager' party. I'm not one to cry, but it is going fast. He's napping now, and I really just want to hold him and remember how wonderful it was to do that the first time. I'm not sure what 3's are known for, but I'm sure Jackson will give me a good enough lesson in the year to come.

4th of July Run/Walk

It's been a really long week/month. Somehow very little by way of projects have been finished. My excuse: It's summer! Weeding the garden, mowing the grass, planting the last bits of flowers, and planning the 4th of July Fun Run/Walk. The walk was a huge success..well except for running out of race bibs, and the course not being on target...but otherwise we had a GREAT turn-out!! So now I am ready to sew a little and try to relax...'try' of course, there are still weeds to pull and grass to mow. Not to mention Willowcreek running camp next week. I should sew while I can.

Also...I made a BIG stick of butter last week. I was super excited! It was actually somewhat funny. We had 3 gallons of milk to pull cream from. So instead of doing my normal 4 cups I went for 6. Umm...not such a great idea. With-in moments we had whipped cream all over the counter! at 9pm Jason wasn't exactly excited about the idea. I cleaned, moved milk around, let the mixer work while I put Jackson to bed, and wha-la!! Butter ready in 15min. I think it took longer to clean the kitchen. The one thing we have noticed about our butter is how hard it is. That's the difference in the milk fat of our cows. It's great for pie crust and biscuits, however a little difficult to spread on toast. Still tasty though!