Mustang Mile

Mister participated in his first Mustang Mile this past Friday.  His school, Meridian Elementary (which ironically was the name of my elementary school back in Michigan... and we were actually the Meridian Mustangs too) has their biggest fundraiser of the year in September.  Every student is encouraged to participate so the school can meet their fundraising goal which this year was $35,000. Not only do the kiddos raise money but they run in the "Mustang Mile" together as a school to celebrate their fundraising efforts, followed by a huge school carnival complete with bounce houses, carnival games, food, and even a jail where they can put their teachers or bail their teachers out for $5.00 (all money of course going to the school.)

Each student was asked to raise $100 but Blaine had a personal goal of $300 only to blow that out of the water with a total of $425!   We wanted him to call everyone and ask but that was a bit daunting for him so he asked if we could send a letter and then he would thank each person with a handwritten note.  We are so proud of him for making an effort and getting involved with his school even though there were a lot of unknowns and new things involved for him.  And well, there was a bit of motivation too... There are several prizes to be handed out to students that are top fundraisers.  The top prize is a VIP lunch with the principal and the second prize is a limo ride to lunch.  Then there were a number of other smaller prizes, like a LEGO clock, which he is really excited about :)  I'll update if we find out he was a top fundraiser.  Oh but his Kindergarten class was in 1st place all last week!  Go Mrs. Vogt's class!!!

Update: Well, it took me over a week to actually get to the rest of this post (and in fact I didn't post the first part!)  Anyway... Mrs. Vogt's class came in second place and they earned an Oreo party for their efforts.  The students raised over $40,000 which exceeded their expectations.  Thanks again to all who donated.  We haven't heard if Blaine won a LEGO clock yet but I'm sure that news is forthcoming.

Before

Before... looking for his name on the sign.

After!

We had our first snow!  It was in the high 70's all week and then a ginormous cold front came in and by Friday morning we had almost two inches of snow and it was COLD.  I don't think the temperature got above 39 all day long.  Blaine's field trip to the pumpkin farm was postponed until this coming Monday when it is supposed to be in the 70's again.  We have some crazy weather here.

The kids asked if that one day was it for winter... I'm afraid not!  

My husband (and Mr. Elliot) = Warriors

You probably didn't know that I was married to a warrior.  Well, I am and Kari is also married to one.

According to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings. The first literal use refers to "someone engaged or experienced in warfare." The second figurative use refers to "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics."

I know two brave men that went to "battle" this weekend.  D and Mr. Elliot showed great "vigor, courage and aggressiveness" as they completed their first Warrior Dash.


I wrote about the Warrior Dash here (near the end of the post) a few months ago. 

They finished strong (and together... and in one piece) after 3.2 "hellish" miles.  Their final obstacles were jumping over fire and crawling under barbed wire in a mud pit.  Here are the fearless warriors before and after the dash.

D, Mr. Elliot and a Warrior-in-the-making (Blaine).

The Warrior Tent where results were posted.

This is a picture of the crowd, but this was nothing compared to when we left. Let's just say there was a lot of beer being consumed and there was a LOT of security!

 

Said "Warrior-in-the-making" fueling up while the guys ran.

Warrior-Princess chilling.

Muddy finishers.

Yes, that guy is for real. Scary, I know.  The two kids staring in the picture will be scarred for life now.

  

The fire that the warriors faced.

Here they are... only 30 minutes after they started.

Warrior-Watchers.

Warriors coming out of the mud.

Here they are folks!  (Yes, that's them.)

Awwww.

Congratulations David and Mr. Elliot.

You are my favorite Warriors.

5K... and we lived to tell about it

Working out hasn't really been on the top of our t0-do list for the last year. Between work, Blaine, pregnancy and now adjusting to a family of four it just hasn't happened. And boy has it shown! David and I signed up for a 5K a month ago but have only taken "training" seriously the last few weeks. This has been especially hard for me since in a former life I was a runner with a marathon, some half marathons and a slew of 10 and 5K's under my belt.

I am happy to report that we finished in under 33 minutes... and we ran the whole thing. David even pushed the double stroller and had Tug with him. He was a big hit along the way... women would scream out, "Way to GO double stroller guy!" And then they would scream for him. He said the pain was all worth it.

Our pre-race dinner was at EZ's diner. Blaine topped off his pizza with a strawberry shake.

He enjoyed it. A lot.

Here is Sister after the race. She enjoyed being bounced around - it helped her sleep through all of the excitement.

I forgot to post these. Here is the cake that Blaine and I made this week. Correction - I made the cake, decorated it and then Blaine improved it.

A Runnin' Momma

Yay - I did it! After my TV show appearance (on CBS KEYE 42-see link at bottom) I thought my stardom might cause my fans to slow me down... (LOL) but I finished the 10K (6.2 miles) in 58:12. I was planning to finish around 62:00 minutes, so I am pretty happy with this time.

Blaine and Daddy were able to catch me right after mile 5 (see, I'm waving) and then (surprisingly) we found each other after the race was over. There were over 18,000 (yes, thousand) runners, so finding each other was a big deal.

Blaine fell asleep on the way home and now we're enjoying a relaxing Sunday. I think Tiger Woods is playing today and there is the NCAA tourney, so I think the TV will be on most of the day. Good thing, did I mention it's only 50 degrees here! Brrrrr.

Here is a link to the story and video.

http://www.keyetv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=22957@keye.dayport.com&navCatId=5

Running, Mohawks and Target

What a wonderful weekend we had. Saturday was spent playing together at the house and then dinner out at Outback. This was the first time we fed Blaine his solids dinner out in public. What a production! First, we had to take a bib to catch the food and a bib to wear under that bib to protect the clothing. Then we needed the highchair cover and wash cloths for cleaning him up afterwards. Then, of course, we brought his cooler full of goodies with his spoon, sippy cup (with his special water), peas and brown rice, banana rice cereal and applesauce for dessert. They put us at the smallest table in the restaurant. I guess the 15 year old hostess didn't see me dragging in Blaine's diaper bag, my diaper bag and Dave's diaper bag, plus a cooler, a highchair shield and the kitchen sink. We managed. And have you ever been to Outback Steakhouse? They have steak knives bigger than Blaine and of course that's what his eyes found and wanted the whole time. I don't remember eating 2 loaves of their delicious bread, a salad and drinking three glasses of water... I only remember feeding, cleaning and managing Blaine (back and forth with David) for an hour and a half. It was quite the experience and we'll do it again, again, and again... :) We also went for a good run on Sunday - Blaine's got it made in his running stroller! And then spent time at the pool (notice his mohawk-courtesy of SPF 100) and the last picture is Blaine after a long weekend of fun, in the cart at Target, getting last minute items for the week. David also did yard work, while Blaine and I vacuumed for the 10th time this weekend (gotta keep up with the dog hair!) and did laundry. Now it's Monday - back to the grind for everyone, except Mister Man of course who will spend the day investigating his new world.

P.S. Happy 7 month Birthday Blaine!