101st Annual Thanksgiving Day 10k!

So for those of you non runners out there a 10k is 6.2 miles, and this one started at 9a.m. and since we live an hour and ten minutes away we woke up at 5a.m., in order to eat a good breakfast before we left. The night before, as we were looking up the weather, things didn't look good I wasn't sure that it would be a good idea to take the kids out to stand in the freezing cold rain while Kevin strove to give himself a cold. We decided as we went to bed that we would wait and see what it was like in the morning and if things were icky Kevin would go on his own.

Well morning came and it was beautiful, warm, a little overcast but nothing to bad so we woke up the kids and had some pancakes. We loaded the car taking with us every extra heavy blanket we owned just in case the weather turned, but it was looking like it was going to be a great day for a race.

We arrived early and parked the kids all needed to go to the bathroom so we started dressing them in jackets and shoes. It had started to drizzle so everyone grabbed their umbrellas, Kevin headed off to get registered and scout out a place for us to wait while I took the kids to the port-a-potty. There was no toilet paper so we used baby wipes some of the kids did not think that was fun, also Koen hated wearing his rain coat and kept trying to take it off he finally realized that it was keeping him dry and settled down.

Once everyone had gone to the bathroom, the wagon was packed with blankets and snacks, the kids were decked out in rain gear and Kevin had returned we headed off to the starting line! On the way we hauled the wagon up three flights of very steep stairs, on the way back we hauled it down, as we were pulling out to go home we saw the wheelchair ramp.

We had a little time before the race was due to start so as is usually the case with a runner there were last minute trips to the restroom. We decided on a spot for us to wait and I started walking there while Kevin ran back to the car for one more blanket, the rain had started to really come down and we were getting drenched, I was using the blankets to try to keep the kids in the wagon dry. I laid out one blanket on a bench and then everyone sat down and we wrapped the other blankets over us and then held our umbrellas over our heads to keep us mostly dry! Once we were in our waiting position and Kevin was in between the 6 & 7 minute pace sign we were ready, we only had to wait a couple of minutes before the race started! The rain decided to take a break so that was nice.

There were so many people running, even though I knew where Kevin was and he would pass no more than five feet from me I still missed him as he passed! Some runners in an effort to get out of the crowd were running up on the side walk and jumping over obstacles, one guy almost took out a tripod with a video camera on it. It took 20 minutes for all the runners to go by and the last of the walkers, so we only had to wait about 10 minutes before the first place runner came in. He looked about 25 and he was not looking to tired, the second place finisher was a little older but it was harder to tell his age he seemed around 30-35. The second place female was in her late 50s I think, and the first and third place females between 25-30. These ages are guesses if you want to know exact you can look it up on the website.

Kaiden was very excited and almost joined the race for fun but he was nervous to run by himself. Instead he decided that he would jog in a large circle until the first place guy crossed the finish, he almost made it (I distracted him with fruit snacks).

Once finishers started coming they were pretty steady so the kids lined up to cheer, once Keith saw Kevin he started to really cheer encouraging his dad to "kick their butts dad!" it was funny. Kevin finished close to his aggressive goal of 37.09, he got a 39.03 time. As soon as Kevin passed by the rain started again so we packed up quickly and headed to the car! I could say that the freezing rain put him off or the wet shoes, perhaps I put a laxative in his pancakes so he had to stop for a "break", any number of things could be the cause of his 2 minute delay. One thing is for certain it was definitely not a lack of skill, or stamina on his part, I personally think they put needles on the timing chip and that caused him to run slower.

This is the website you can look up the race results if you are interested, Kevin said it was not very user friendly but here it is anyway, Result site.

Little Itchy Creatures Everywhere!

So today was the primary program at church and the kids have been practicing and singing around the house for the last couple of months and I have been looking forward to watching them in the program! This morning we woke up just like on every other Sunday morning and rushed to get ready, I told the kids that there would be a prize for the first one ready! Evelyn won the prize Kaiden was ready Keith was getting ready, Kevin was getting Koen ready, and I was doing Julianna's hair when I see this tiny little bug crawling in her hair!! YEP we have LICE AGAIN!!!!

It is so gross! OK so I check Julianna thoroughly and it doesn't look like it's too bad this time but hey any lice is bad right, Kaiden was grossly infested and Keith and Evelyn and Kevin and I were clean! Kevin took Evelyn and Keith to church while I stayed home to work on hair!
Kaiden's we buzzed pretty short and washed with vinegar and then combed out the eggs, there were so many I could see them crawling around on his head, GROSS, I ended up shaving all his hair off because the lice shampoo is expensive and if there is no hair then there is no lice!
Julianna only had THREE lice on her head and once we washed her hair with vinegar I couldn't find any she had about 15 eggs in her hair so I think we caught it right at the beginning, I did wash her hair with the lice shampoo and we will retreat in 7 days just to be sure but I don't think it will be as bad as the last time. It did help that her hair is not currently blond so I could easily see the eggs!!
So once everyone was home from church Keith decided he wanted his hair like Kaiden's so I decided to go ahead and give him a buzz, and what do you suppose I find LICE!!! Yes Keith had lice as well so I am glad that I decided to shave his head!!
I rechecked everyone and I am fairly certain the rest of us are good, but today was the lice day at our house. I am not looking forward to the rest of the school year, we have already received 5 letters home about lice in the classrooms, I can only imagine that there is an epidemic!
We are implementing the coats in backpacks law and absolutely no sharing anything that touches hair!! Man my head is itching just writing about this!!
The worst part of all of this was that I missed the program!

The Zoo!

The penguin habitat was really fun they were swimming and you could touch the water so when they would jump or dive in we would get splashed! The downside was that it was super cold in there!

This photo was taken on the grounds at the Saint Louis Temple.
The Hippos were awesome there were about 6 of them swimming around in the water and every once in a while they would come up onto the land. Each of the kids stood for about 3 minutes to be able to get the perfect picture with them!

Some fun pictures of the kids at the Saint Louis Zoo!

You can't really see him but there was a huge Gorilla back in the shady area.

Happy 1st Birthday Koen!

So Koen turned one today, I can hardly believe it's been a whole year! He is walking and definitely communicates in his own way (mostly he growls)! We love him very much and are glad that he could be a part of our family.

This is a photo of him eating his spaghetti birthday dinner! It really shows off his teeth!

Birthday's and such...

Here is a little update about each of the kids!

Koen will be turning ONE! on the 7th, we are not planning on doing anything grand just a small cake, and fun with the family. He is walking and climbing on everything, it is fun to see him working things out in his mind. He loves Juilianna and will always choose her over almost anyone. He growls a lot and it's super cute to here him make noise with his lips and hands.

Keith is not doing preschool right now, I am just working with him each day out of a work book, he loves it and calls it his "mom school". I like the sound of that way better than home school! He is as busy as ever always into things, and obsessed with super heros! He wishes he could go to school so he can be on the cross country team, he does get to practice with the team so that is holding him over until next year. He is turning four on Sept. 15th and he has requested "meat, just meat mom" for his birthday dinner! I am not sure that I can do the just meat thing, but I think we will probably have grilled chicken and some of his favorite veggies.Evelyn loves kindergarten and is very proud that her behavior folder comes home every day with no marks on it! she is learning things she already knows, but I think its good for her to have them solidly planted in her brain. When we took her for her eye exam she was bitterly disappointed not to be getting glasses, but I think she will grow to appreciate the lack of eye wear! She is still campaigning for a dog so we will see what happens in the next couple of months.

Kaiden turns EIGHT on the 12th he will be baptized by Kevin on that day, and we have a nice little program planned for him. He has chosen steak and potatoes for his birthday dinner! He ran in his first cross country meet on Sat. even though he had been sick the two days before, he is definitely his father's son! He did well, it helped that the kids took the wrong turn and ended up running the middle school course instead of the elementary. The longer distance is what really makes him stand out. He is enjoying 2nd grade and loves his teacher, he is doing much better with reading and his headaches are going away now that he has reading glasses.

Julianna is starting to not like school which is sad for me. I think all the moving from school to school has been rough, although some of the kids here remember her from before which has made the transition a bit easier. She is also running cross country this year, although at first she didn't want to run the races. I told her she just had to put on the uniform and go support her team, once we were there she allowed them to give her a number and she did the warm up with the team and when they called them to the start line she lined up and ran! it was nice that I didn't have to push her to participate, she did well coming in 15th over all and 2nd on our girls team. I think both Julianna and Kaiden do better with the longer distances, it boosted her self esteem to be able to beat some of the kids that are faster than her at practice. She told me that she set certain goals and just tried to run to make those goals, and every time someone passed her she tried to remember to tell them good job! When she came around the corner for the finish line she had a smile on her face!

We Moved! Again!

So I feel like we move a lot, but this time I think it's permanent. So a quick synopsis of the last two years would be... We loved Saint Joseph MO, Kevin liked but did not love teaching! I loved being a YW leader and the kids loved their school. When Kevin decided he wanted to go back to being an engineer it was bittersweet we knew that most likely meant we would have to move. We are excited to be back in Georgetown and Kevin is thrilled to be back with Lexmark, we are not however thrilled to have to unpack. I am sad that we are no longer close to family but I love being near all my KY friends again, it really felt like I was coming home.

Julianna was having a hard time with the idea of moving again she is going into 4th grade and has been in 3 different schools. She will also be missing her very best friend Rachel, but she is excited to be reunited with all her Georgetown buddies especially Nikara.

Kaiden was so excited to move right up until the last week and then he hit it off with a boy in the ward and suddenly moving didn't sound so great anymore. He is excited to be back in KY but he will miss Jared.

Evelyn was sad to leave friends behind and she was even more sad to leave having her own room behind, but she has her best friend Ashleigh so things are right in her world.

Keith was to young to remember KY and he is really to young still to care where he lives as long as he has his family. He does think that the backyard in Georgetown is way way better!

Koen is teething and crawling and climbing on everything!

We are all doing really well and I will be posting pictures later today.

Ice skating

pillow fight

Kaiden's first grade class singing Yankee Doodle

Hair cut!

So Evelyn got a hair cut! I don't have an after picture since my camera battery died but as soon as I find the charger I will post one. I also have a few more of the before, she loves it short she says it feels lighter and is less hot!! Her hair right now is just past her chin and has just a little layering for body. Here is the after picture that I promised a while ago!

Random pics of the kids