snowy days

How I love to play in the snow with the kids! I have so many fond memories of snowy days growing up and it is such a joy to watch my own children explore the fluffy white stuff! I got to teach the kids the how's and why's of building a fort.

Trever digging a snow hole 'doggy style'.

Oh, how she loves to swing!

The quieter side of Jayce, no silly faces or odd expressions...just the realness of the moment.

Amanda's Duathlon

So...it's official, I completed my first duathlon. I was even a part of the Tulsa Area Triathletes for the day:) Pretty fancy stuff for this small town girl. To be completely honest I was ready to turn around and go home, like a puppy with it's tail between it's legs, when I first arrived to the river on the morning of July 25th, 2010 in preparation for the big race. I looked around at all the seasoned athletes that surrounded me and thought I must have been terribly mistaken to think that I can do this. Good thing my mommy was there to keep my head up and reassure me that I was going to do just fine! The first 5k started promptly at 7:30 and I started off with a great pace, preparing my body for the 30k bike and 5k finishing run that were awaiting my arrival. As soon as I saw the transition area I took off in a full-fledged sprint, ever so eager to hop on my bike and take off, only to be sadly disappointed that I was to run right past the transition area for another miles worth of trail running. No biggie, I will just shake it off and keep on....

The 30k bike was much easier than I had expected. The route was flat and smooth and I was able to pump out a whopping 16mph pace, compared to the 11-13mph pace that I trained at. In no time at all I was back to the transition area parking my bike and preparing for the final 5k run.

At this point in the race I had started guzzling all the water that was offered to me. I was even taking time to stop running so that I could drink down all that was offered to me. FYI--this was a bad choice. I became so water logged that I felt nauseous. This in combination with the heat and my fatigue led me to walk some of the final 5k. Funny thing is that every time I would stop to take a walk break, someone would come by me and urge me to run on, and so I would. All in all though the race was unbelievable and I finished with an astonishing time of 2:15:54 . I will without a doubt do it again next year and my goal is to finish in under 2hrs!

I owe lots of thanks to my family for all of their unfaltering support(thanks Shannon for always being there to cheer me on, and for racing all over the place with the kids to catch a glimpse of me-love you baby;) (thanks to mom dad and Reny for enduring the trip down to see me), thanks to Tim at Fitness Together for all of his support and guidance and most of all thanks to God for allowing me the strength to compete:)

Texas trip

What a fantastic time we all had in Texas with the family! Shannon and I headed down with the kids to Temple TX on Friday to meet Charles and Melissa at their house. We arrived at 9:45pm and were happily greeted by the whole family. I was sure their kids would be asleep but they were all up anxiously awaiting our arrival:) We stayed up for a while visiting before we decided to hit the sack and get some rest.

Saturday I enjoyed my first cup of coffee fixed up to taste good by Charles. We enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls prepared by Melissa. Saturday afternoon we headed to Ft. Hood to look at all the military vehicles. The kids had a great time-upon arriving Jayce woke up and said "Oh Wow, look at that Humvee"! We stopped at the store on base and I went in to buy some water. I felt odd around everyone else who was purchasing cigarettes, and liquor. I was glad Charles came in to purchase some ice and stand in line with me:) Then we headed to the lake where Shannon grilled up some hot dogs and chicken. After lunch we enjoyed the water slides and then went down to the lake to let the kids swim. I personally enjoyed watching the eagles soar overhead the most! We got back to the house around 8:30 and Shannon and Charles kept the kids and grilled some burgers while Melissa and I went for a run. It was such a beautiful night to be out, stars were so bright and clear! We put the kids to bed and started watching Fireproof, but turned it off just as I started falling asleep. My catnap was enough for me to be revived until 3:am discussing the Medical book of injuries to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan with Charles and Shannon. The highlight of the day was when Charles gave me some Iguana scrubs that are so comfy!

Sunday started with some more Starbucks coffee and then Melissa went for a run/walk. We covered 5 miles before we were done. We packed up for a pick-nick lunch and headed off to swim at the pool. Unfortunately the pool was closed so we loaded up the kids and headed off to a splash pad. Everyone had a great time playing in the water, except Melissa who tried so hard to stay dry but ended up getting soaked when Shannon and Charles figured out how to get enough pressure in the water gun to reach her on the bench she was sitting on. After the water park Shannon and I headed to San Antonio with the kids to meet Grace and Larry at the hotel. We all ate had dinner at the hotel restaurant and then headed up to bed.

Monday we headed off to enjoy the sites of San Antonio. We started at the Alamo and then headed to La Villita (it means little village and was a collection of stores) where I found some cool wooden roses I wanted and Grace found some stained glass she fell in love with. After the village we headed to the towers of America where we rode the glass elevator up 75 floors to the restaurant at the top. The view was spectacular and the restaurant was very elegant. Our meal started with some complimentary bread and sesame crackers. The sesame seed crackers were so yummy I took a box of them home with me with much gratitude towards our waiter. We finished off the day at the Wyndam office while G and L upgraded their vacation package.

Grand adventures were in store for Tuesday. We(Grace and Larry, Charles and Melissa and us., Kris and Jen and kids and us) all headed out early on our way to Sea World. Our first Sea World adventure was letting the kids feed the dolphins. We saw the beluga whale show, shamu show, and the water show. Larry rode on his first roller coaster accompanied by Jen and the kids rode a few kiddie rides. Kris and Jen headed back to their room and the rest of us went for a ferry ride downtown San Antonio and topped the night off with dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. Upon arriving back at the hotel Melissa, Ashlyn and I decided to race the rest of the group up to our room via stairway. Full bellies and exhausted giggly girls did not fare as well as the elevator riders, but we sure did have a good time:)

Wednesday we headed to IHOP for breakfast with cousin Charles and Melissa and the gang. Then we headed to the outlet mall for some serious shopping. We made one last stop for lunch at McDonalds before heading home. We went as far as Temple Tx with C and M and I got to see Melissa's school that she works at (Melissa's monkeys). Then off we went on our way back home...the trip went well until we were about 1 1/2 hrs out and their was a semi-trailer that caught on fire and traffic was at a stand still for an hour. At 2am Thursday morning we were ever so happy to be home!

We had a terrific time with good food, amazing family and lots of fun! Can't wait till we can do it again:)

Mommy and Maddy Time!

Maddy and I went to the Kaleidoscope museum for some much needed 'mommy-daughter' time!

After several attempts to set up a picture together we were able to capture this picture with both of us looking in the right direction and not looking goofy :)

Maddy using the gigantic toothbrush. It is literally bigger than her head!

How I love this smile, what a beautiful girl!

Meet Maddy

Madeline Rose was born on June 25th, 2008 in Tulsa Ok. She is one tough little cookie:) She loves to rough house with her brothers (and even wears their clothes) and shows her artistic side all over the walls of our house! If there is an adventure Maddy is there! She has curls to die for (yes they are natural, she got them from her daddy), and the prettiest blue eyes ever. Quite the charmer, she will have you wrapped around her finger in less than 5 minutes. Favorite meal: anything besides cottage cheese which she says is "ewwww....gross!". Hobbies include: getting dirty, coloring, reading books, playing ball, climbing counters, jumping (off anything she can climb onto), and swimming.

Meet Jayce

Jayce Nicholai was born on August 25, 2006 in Wichita, KS. Jayce was a very laid back baby and brought our family many joys! He has been blessed with the ability to teach others. He is very outgoing and loves to make new friends whenever we go out. You can always count on Jayce to make you laugh:) He will be starting preschool on August 12, 2010 and is very excited! He will be in the same class Trever was last year so he already knows that he will get to play with Ms. Ellett. He enjoys playing soccer, playing football, digging for bugs, camping, swimming and reading books. Favorite food: cheeseburgers and salads. Favorite book: The Big Red Barn. When Jayce grows up he wants to be a pediatrician.

Meet Trever

Trever Wayne was born on December 13, 2004 in Wichita, KS. He was a very easy baby and loved to giggle from the start. He loves to learn and started preschool when he was 3 (only because he begged me every day to be able to go to school). He just finished his 4 yr old program at BAPS (Broken Arrow Public Schools) and will be heading off to Kindergarten on August 12, 2010! Trever is a very compassionate and empathetic child and would do anything to help someone in need. He enjoys playing soccer, playing with legos, swimming, riding bikes and running with his mommy:) Favorite food: pepperoni pizza. Favorite book: his bible. Interesting fact: Learned that he could roll his tongue before he turned 2!

Meet Shannon

Born in Georgia, Shannon has deep southern roots. His family moved to Missouri when he was a young boy and he has many fond memories of growing up in the Ozark Mts. As a young teen Kingman Kansas became his home with his parents and younger brother. Broken Arrow OK became our home in June of 2007. Shannon is a design drafter at Flowserve Corporation. Flowserve is the recognized world leader in supplying pumps, valves, seals, automation, and services to the power, oil, gas, chemical, and other industries. They have more than 15,000 employees in more than 55 countries. He has been employed with them since August of 2008. Prior to working for Flowserve, Shannon worked at Flight Safety International on night shift as a simulator technician. Favorite meal: Cube steak, rice, biscuits(grandmas famous recipe), and lima beans with sweet tea. Hobbies: Dirt biking, playing golf, listening to bluegrass, restoring old vehicles, and dismantling anything and everything he can touch. Interesting fact: Slightly OCD about having clean hands!

First Blog

I am so excited to start blogging! People ask "why do you want to blog?", my answer is pure and simple, to share our journey through this life with the ones we love :)