April 18, 2010 Susan G Kohmen Run

My friends from work and I decided to do the Susan G Kohmen Run (walk). It is a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness. It is the first time I have ever done the event and it was a wonderful surprise! Soooo many people turned out to support the event. In fact, my friends and I were hoping to use the run as a training day for our half marathon and we couldn't. There were too many people. At first it was a little frustrating, but when we thought about how many people were there and the reason everyone was there....our frustration quickly went away.

(I didn't take my camera on the actual run so most of these pictures are from Jackie's camera. Thanks, Jackie.)

Just waiting and talking some "pre-race" strategy! (That usually means what time to get in line for the porta-potties.) Oh yea, pink is the signature color for Breast Cancer Awareness.

We were hoping someone was missing us!

Deanna and Brenda were the runners of the group that day!

Sheila and Terri!

Deanna and me. (Sometimes I am part of the runners group but am nursing a knee injury.)

While we are waiting for the starting gun. All of the cancer survivors, have a pink balloon.

When the race starts, they all release their balloons. How impactful to see all those balloons!

Of course, our post-race tradition....

We have forced our tradition on the gang!

Our signature blog pic.

This was one of the best days I've had! I hope to make it a yearly event!

April 25th...Shannon's 20th Birthday!

Shannon turned 20 this year. A milestone for sure! She is no longer a teenager. I am no longer a mother of teenagers! She decided it is time to move out and would be moving out with her friend, Cassie, in June. A birthday is a perfect time to get started on stocking up on some important "apartment needs".

She decided she needed light in the apartment. I am assuming it is to help her see when she is studying.

I'm not sure why she is practicing this....I'm still thinking she needs the lamp to study with. Of course, if one has lamps, one needs lightbulbs. (That's something a mom thinks of.)
Something a brother thinks of (after living on his own for several years) is....
That's right, cleaning supplies!!! Yay...Scott! (and Holly!)
....and water balloons??? (Um...thanks...Scott!)

Oh....a Target gift card! Perfect! Thanks, Scott and Holly!

Of course, a girl isn't all about the apt. She's got to have an American Eagle gift card, too!

Grandma and Grandpa always help celebrate with a great card and a little something special.
Grandma loves having her picture taken!

Thanks for cooperating, Grandpa!
What would a birthday be without cake?

Happy Birthday, Sis! (Holly was at her sister's bridal shower..we missed her!)

Great At Taking Pics.....Not So Good at Blogging??

Apparently I have been taking a ton of pictures but have not been doing a lot of blogging. I noticed this when I looked at my blog and the last date was April 25th! Yikes! I am now on Summer Vacation...a great perk to teaching...so I am going to get caught up! I will be able to cross this project off my list!

I will try to catch every one up with the last 2 months of my life! Hope you enjoy!

Easter 2010

I'm slowly getting caught up on some blogging (you probably noticed). We went to Easter dinner at my parents' house this year. Scott and Holly were here so I joined them for church the night before...that was so nice! Loved the service and dinner after.

The kids always have a busy morning on Easter. They have a traditional Longhorn breakfast with their dad's family, come here to see if the Easter Bunny left anything special and then we all head to my parents for more family time and food.

This year the Easter Bunny must have decided the kids had different needs than baskets. There treats were left in a kitchen bowl with matching cups. Shannon's even came that way. He must have heard that she is moving out in a few short weeks! (She found hers when she first got up..no pictures allowed.) Sorry about the blurriness of one of the pictures.

Although we never forget the meaning of Easter, we sure seem to eat a lot on this day. I guess it's what we tend to do when family gets together. I wonder why that it. Anyway, more of the food fest....


An Easter tradition...

Our meat slicer...:)

So pretty...

and, of course...dessert....
And of course, after our tummies are full my children ALWAYS take a nap. Right, Holly? :)

It was a beautiful day!

March 26th is an Important Day!

Look Scott, I got the date right! What does it mean when a mom had her son's birthdate wrong on his school records until about 7th grade? Sad, but true! My due date was March 25th and he arrived on the 26th. For some reason, I filled his paperwork out wrong at school. When he got to middle school, he finally asked if I could PLEASE fix that. He was tired of the school trying to celebrate his birthday on the wrong day! Definitely not too much to ask, wouldn't you say!

I invited the family over to celebrate his 24th birthday. (I don't suppose I could convince anyone that I had him when I was 12, could I?) Hard to believe I have a child who is almost a quarter of a century old! Sheesh!

We had a great time. I love spending time with my parents and my kids and it's even more fun when everyone is together all at once. (I was having some camera operator malfunctions so I don't have many pics. Thank goodness I always have Dad for a backup.)

Don't they look so serious here....I'm not sure what the conversation was.

Apparently, the story had a happy ending!
A guy is never too old for a Best Buy gift card!
It's kind of fun to switch up the birthday cake for a birthday pie once in a while!

Wonder what he wished for....maybe that his mom would stop making him blow out candles?

Look who was worn out from all the festivities.....(actually, she's the only one who worked that day!)

I'm so lucky to be able to have these special moments with my family!

St. Paddy's Day Run

We have been having a Biggest Loser Contest at work since the beginning of the new year. This has sparked a great exercise craze with my friends. It seems that we have a 1/2 marathon goal on Memorial Weekend ( some of the girls are doing a triatholon..that will not include me!) In order to train for the 1/2 marathon, we have been signing up for some "fun runs" to go along with our training schedules. It is great! We have some runners and some walkers in the group. I sort of fit some where in the middle.

Today was my first one of the year, the St. Paddy's Day Run. It was a 5 miler! There were over 1000 people signed up. My goal was to run more than I walked and to finish in one hour.

It was a chilly...26 degrees when we headed out for the race. BRRRR! Somehow, I had pictured a much nicer, sunnier day when I signed up. We were still smiling tho..we do that a lot when we are together!

We finally found our way to the starting area. I didn't want to carry my camera since I was going to make a serious effort at some running so my good friend, Jackie, took some pics and shared with me. Here are the "runners" of the group. (I refer to myself as a ralker though.)

Deanna and Sandy. (They are the real runners!)

Here are the walkers! (Jackie, Wendy and Sheila.)

They bumped into Nurse Patty from school. She hits all the major local runs. Go Patty!

The sun came out and it really warmed up! I was wishing I didn't have my jacket. It was a great course and a beautiful day and we all finished and were all happy with our times. If you are wondering, I did accomplish my goal! I finished in 54 minutes and 26 seconds! (Thanks Deanna for the carbo loading dinner the night before!) It so wonderful to have such a great group of supportive friends. We felt like we were number 1!

After waiting for a long time to find out we didn't win any prizes, it was time for our post-race coffee and some food! We were starving!

Ahhh! Coffee!!!

The Bloggers!

Our shirts! I really like them!

We decided to get a little festive and accessorize for the day! Don't you love those nails!

My reward for working hard...potato bacon quiche! Don't think I'll be the Biggest Loser this week but it was sooo worth it!

And, of course, our traditional picture....can't wait for the next run!