Rodeo!

Jason's whole family went to the Rodeo last week. What a blast!

Some of us met up before hand for a cowboy dinner at Cracker Barrel. Rudy was quite impressed. I think mostly 'cause of the toy store they have in the front of the restaurant. It was the easiest place ever to wait for your meal with kids, although getting him back to the table for dinner was a bit tricky. :)

Rudy was turbo excited through the whole almost 3 hours of rodeo. He goofed off with his cousins, cheered for the cowboys, oggled all the cool vehicles that came rolling into the arena at one point or another through the rodeo, and gobbled junk food like red vines, peanut M&Ms, cotton candy, and a snow cone. Pure toddler bliss, I'd say.

He held through strong all the way home, and fell into an exhausted sleep about 11:00 (maybe even 11:30) that night. We had a bit of a bumpy day the next day, but all that fun the night before was worth a little thin skin the next day. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for the fun family outing!

Making fishy faces with Daddy.

Watching some poor soul being tossed off a bull like a rag doll.

All the cousins!

Revving up for the bucking horses.

Watching the cowboy holding on for dear life.

After the cowboy got 'saved' by the other cowboys.

Our little family. :)

Playlist Peace

So, Jason and I have determined that we both have different motivations behind having a playlist on a blog.

Jason wants it to be an expression of who he is, with a sampling of his musical tastes and favorite bands.

I want it to be an unobtrusive, welcome guest to my musings and add to, not distract from, my blog writing/reading pleasure.

Therefore, we have come to a peaceful resolution, in that we have posted both our lists, giving the viewer the choice of their auditory experience while visiting the blog: His music, Her music, or None at All.

I'm pretty happy with the arrangement-Jason may not care enough to really be happy with it, but he's satisfied. :)

Rudy's Got A BIKE

My mom found a mini bicycle at a garage sale a couple weeks ago.

The day before, I'd bought a bike helmet for Rudy at DI, because he's been so interested in riding bikes and whether bike riders remembered their helmets or not. I figured Rudy could ride his big wheel 'bike' with his helmet on, and feel a bit advanced.

On his rocket red and blue 'real' bike, he's feeling quite advanced-stellar, even. The first few days it was like Christmas morning every day-and after every nap. The first thing he'd ask for upon waking was to go outside and ride his bike. Hence, I'm in my pj's in this shot:

He's still lovin' it weeks later, though he's thankfully not so obsessed with it anymore. (2 year old obsessions can be rather high maintenance, if you can imagine.)

He's not interested in the pedaling mechanics yet-still enthralled with the amazing steering ability he's got. (This baby's got a WAY better turning radius than his big wheel.) Hopefully soon he'll be less than content for me to push him around and decide to tackle pedaling.

Jason is One Rockin' Dude

We had a BBQ to celebrate Jason's victory over yet another semester of classes. Some semesters seem harder than others. For me, at least, this was one of the harder semesters. Between work, school, home and car 'issues', (not to mention a sometimes needy pregnant wife), poor Jason was run ragged.

He did amazing in his classes, though, and even better, managed to balance his time through it all so we still felt like we had a husband and daddy.

This guy...he's pretty cool, you know? ;)

These are just a couple shots of Rudy-Daddy time. Jason makes Rudy feel so special and loved. He's such a great dad! Rudy looks up to him so much that when Jason went out to mow the lawn in his tan shoes, Rudy was sure to request that he wear his "Daddy shoes" too before heading out to help. (Rudy has a pair of shoes that are similar to Jason's.)

This is Jason teaching our little super hero proper firework safety-dousing the leftovers before putting them in the trash.

Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy

I saw this on Facebook this morning. Usually I can't stand Conan, but he hardly talks on this clip, so maybe that's why I like it. ;) I love the reminder about how great we really have it.

The New Playlist Has Arrived

Well...I find that I sometimes turn the volume down on my computer when I visit the blog now that the new "Jason" playlist is rolling. I love some of the songs, but others are just a little too 'in your face' for me. I'll leave it on for a good week, at least, maybe longer...but maybe not. :)

Freedom Run 2010

Just over 13 weeks ago, my friend, Marla, and I embarked on a run/walk training program designed to spit us out ready to run a 10K injury free.

It's been my little quest to prove to myself that I can do hard things, that I'm a strong woman(because sometimes, I feel anything BUT strong). Through the training program, there were several hurdles to be overcome-early mornings after nights up with a sick child not the least of them.

Through the Grace of God, however, we arrived-ready to run, ready to claim our place among thousands of others who had come from all walks of life to run (or roll, as it may be) together in a celebration of so many things: Freedom, health, friends, family, departed loved ones who have left their prints on our hearts.

"Patriotic" costumes are encouraged, so Marla and I both dressed up according to our comfort level and personality styles. Can you tell who's a bit on the crazy side? Thank goodness I have Marla to keep me a little grounded at least. :)

My heroic shot just before the start signal.

I chose to put "Be strong and of a good courage" on my cape for a variety of reasons.

1) It comes from Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, withersoever thou goest." It's the 2010 theme for the youth program in my church, so it's been on my mind, and has really been a strength and comfort to me through the year as I've faced challenges both large and small.

2) It reminds me of the courage and faith demonstrated by Gaye Merrill as she faced, fought, and eventually was taken by cancer. She was a great influence in my life to remind me never to just give up if things get a bit rough. She fought with poise, faith, and even love. That's the kind of fighting I want to do.

3) It seemed to fit the patriotic theme as well-it has taken men and women of great strength, courage, and faith to lay the foundation for freedom, and to continue to protect that freedom through the years.

Reaching the mile 6 marker...just a few more steps to go 'till the finish line, baby!

Thanks to my rockin' sister, Rudy met up with me just past mile 6 to finish the race with me. He really wanted to run the race, so this is what we figured out for a solution. At first he was hesitant about running in the street without holding my hand, 'cause normally that's the ULTIMATE 'no-no'. After I showed him how police officers were making sure NO cars could drive on the street, he loosened up, though.

The crowds kinda got to the kiddo at the end, and I popped him up on my shoulders for added security. I think he may have still been freakin' out a bit...but nothing he didn't recover from immediately when he got to put on 'his' finisher's medal. :)

My fellow crazies, the vikings. Man, do I love a step out of the norm once in a while. :) Rudy's totally checking out that chick's ax...I'm sure he's thinking..."Whoa! that is is one serious pokey!"

Victory finisher's pose.

Victory pose with Rudy

'traditional' orange face pics

Rudy enjoying the fruits of his labors. :)

Training for this race has been a great experience. I love that Rudy thinks running rocks the world. He loves to hop in the jogger and participate in my runs, and he'll often turn a walk into a run. He's run for about 5 blocks straight before, just because.

I like to think I'm teaching him to value the precious gift of a healthy body that he's been given, and to find joy in nurturing it and strengthening it. I hope he will develop a strong enough sense of wonder and reverence for his body to give teenage friends' invitations to pump it full of poison a second thought at least.

I loved having Rudy along for the last .2 miles of the race. What a treat! Thanks for making that happen, Heidi.

My only regret is that Jason had to work, so he couldn't be there. Maybe for the the next one, though.

While standing in line for my last minute pee break before the race, I met another preggo runner. She did the 10K at 31 weeks-which is really inspiring to me that perhaps I'll make it to my next goal race: the Swiss Days 10K in early September. If all goes well, I sure would love to run through to my darling baby's birth. I think it would just make getting back in the saddle again that much easier (or less hard at least).

I really want to pursue my life long dream to run a marathon...and if that's gonna happen, I'd better get started training soon after my babe is born, so I have time to train and run the thing before baby hunger strikes again. ;)

4th of July

We went to my parents' house for a family BBQ and fireworks on Saturday. What a blast! Heidi, my ever awesome sister, brought along stick on tatoos. Rudy and I put matching tats on our bellies. Jason stood by his "Tats (especially stick on tats) are LAME" opinion. Oh well, at least he obliged to photograph our body art. ;)

And Rudy stayed up for his first ever late night fireworks show. It was worth every rocky minute the next day to see his whole body respond with absolute glee as he watched those fireworks go off. He had a little glow stick that he would wave and say "Magic Wand....POOF!" to make the fireworks explode. Wish you could have heard his shrieks, whoops, and hollers of triumph when he timed it perfectly and a giant display of pyrotechnics followed his "POOF!" command. Sigh. It was just a great night, full of wonder and delight. Thanks for having us, Mutti and Vati.

A couple of Videos

I'm so grateful for the support I feel from my religion as I face raising my children each day. Here's a beautiful testimony of the love and support we as mothers can feel from our Heavenly Father:

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

And here's super cute video of Rudy singing the itsy bitsy spider. I love that little guy!