Ten on Tue

Please note, blogger isn't working right. Sorry, about the huge spacing. I have tried to fix the problem but it wouldn't correct itself. Sorry, I hate this blog sometimes.

Random thoughts about our past week. I'm going to be a little bit all over the place so bear with me. Anyhoo, here we go!

1. My first 5k for the year, turned out be great! I managed to come in 3rd place for my age group (total of 24). I had my fastest time since 2009. I'm going to try to bet my time by the end of the summer. I'm hoping to PR under 27 minutes!


































2. Leroy attend the Cancer Challenge Trap Shooting event and brought home some really yummy Louisiana Crawfish Boil. Yes, I did try a Crawfish and wasn't to bad tasting it's very similar to Shrimp.

3. Pea Ridge Military Park...Landon and Wyatt needed to visit a historic site to pass of one of their merit badges. So, we headed over to the park and decided to make into a whole day event. We checked out the visitor center and watched the movies about the battle that took place at Pea Ridge. The park ranger gave the boys a little demo about the cannons used in the battle. Landon is holding a real cannon ball that was used in the battle of Pea Ridge. Very cool plus the kids were surprised how heavy it weighed!























4. We decided to take a bike ride around the park. I didn't realize how hot and humid it would be outside by the time we started the bike ride. The boys decided to stop half way around and pick Blackberries. Hopefully, no one got into poison ivy...lol!



















5. Two hours later and seven miles behind us we managed to finished the bike ride. I'm so proud of my boys. It wasn't easy but so worth it at the end. Look at the kids faces! All smiles except for Logan. He really struggled with the ride. At the end, he decided he was tried of being last in line. So, he took off on his bike and finished first but he had a car right behind him and he didn't realize it. All the boys were yelling at him to pull over but he didn't care. He wanted to be in first place.
















6. The boys also finished the Jr. Park Rangers Program plus the Seven Mile Bike Ride!

7. On a funny note...Landon kept asking who were the good guys? The union or confederates...they don't call the confederates "Rebels" for no reason.

8. On the same day...we decided to have a special FHE with two other families. Two other boys from Landon's Cub Scout troop needed to sign off on their flag ceremony badge. You would of thought bike riding seven miles in 100 degree weather would wear them out but it didn't.

9. We had a special flag ceremony/fhe lesson on 4th of July/Birthday Party at the church! We had so much fun...we played kicked ball, lots of yummy food, plus I was so proud of my boys doing the flag ceremony.

1o. Each boy took turns holding the flag and leading the color guard. Even Devin had to have a turn holding the flag. Landon had to get up in front of everyone and lead the ceremony. Plus during FHE, Logan raised his hand and gave the opening prayer. I'm so proud of both of my boys.

11. Now, we're headed off to go to MO up to the river. Play all day long in the water.

Cancer Challenge 5k Race Report

Sorry, about the crazy hair pictures! Okay, now to the race report. I'm so freakin excited about my time. I thought I would have a bad time. Let's back track a little bit. I haven't ran a 5k since last year. Yes, it's been over one year. I had been focused on training for two half marathons but then I ran into all kinds of running injuries. It's been a long recovery plus my knee is still bugging me.

The weather was perfect plus the course was really flat. I forgot to charge up my running watch so I just ran it with all of my heart and mind. I really thought I would be slow. I was so shocked when I round the corner and saw the finished line. It was in the 27:?? on the finish line clock. I did my fast hard sprint to the finished line and my chip time was 27:40. I thought I PR but it's not sooooo. My fastest 5k PR was back in 2009 at War Eagle of a time of 27:26!

I'm going to try to bet my time with another 5k race either next sat or in two weeks. It's so awesome to end on a positive note.

I did come in 3rd place for my age group which is even better! My running buddy came in 1st place for our age group.



Life is good!

Ten on Thursday

1. I managed to lose three pounds this week. It's been a hard adjustment with the kids being home all day and trying to still fit in time workout and diet at the same time. After this weekend, I decided it was time to get serious and start working on myself again. I ate way too much over the weekend on our camping trip. I decided that I would eat whatever I wanted. Bad idea...I gained a ton of weight. I really hate dieting but I can't just eat whatever I want anymore. When I was a lot younger; I could eat all day long and not gain a pound. I always super skinny and never worried about my weight but I have found out the older I get less food I need to be eating. My body doesn't need all of those calories. I'm really surprised by this. I'm eating three three meals plus two snacks plus two protein shakes. I drink one right after working out and one right before going to bed. Dinner time is always hard for me because I have a tendencies to over eat. Really, all I need is a small meal at dinner time. Half my plate should be greens/veggies, one some portion of grains plus one 4oz of meat. I hate to obsessed about food but I can't just mindless eat food either. So, I'm really happy this week I making a good comeback and I'm now under 130 pounds. I couldn't be happier.

2. Running isn't going so great at the moment. I can barely run three miles without dying. What happened???? I used to be able to run 10 miles with no problems at all. Last night, we meet up to go running...I mean my running buddies. We haven't run together in over a month. It was soooooo much fun but at the same time sooooo depressing. We had to take a break right after the first mile. We are literally having to start all over with our training. We were so embarrassed when Rush Running guys were running right past us and we were walking. Then, Mike Rush drove right pass us honking his horn at us while we were standing around trying to catch our breaths. So, we took off running. I thought the knee was healed but it's still acting up.

3. We went camping over the weekend to Devil's Den with the kids. We had so much fun...endless hours of biking, hiking, swimming, and attending the park rangers programs. I will post pictures at another time. We couldn't believe how fast the time went and next time we hope to stay a little bit longer. We were running all over the place. It's good to be back home.

4. Landon is attending Cub Scouts Twilight camp at the church. So far, it's going really well. Each night he hasn't made it home until after 10:00pm at night. It's a little late for me but it's okay because it's summer time. Landon did a couple of different things like shoot a bb gun and use a bow and arrow.

5. My friend Ashley picked up the other kids to take them to her churches VBS. It's great. Five nights this week free of kids. It pays to have friends outside the church. The kids are having a blast. Ashley told me last night that Logan was flirting with two girls in his group. So, Leah decided to tell me that Logan was flirting with girls and flirting with boys...lol! I thought for sure I was going to pee my pants. Leah's too funny sometimes.

6. The kids are attending a pool party in Rogers at the Country Club. The best part is the kid's Granny is picking up the boys to take them to her grandson's birthday party. Yes, no kids for the whole afternoon and evening.

7. The garden is a bust. No tomatoes on my tomato plants. I haven't been bothered to water my garden. I decided that I don't really have a green thumb and I could care less. What happened to me...I'm always changing my hobbies and interested. I feel bad about this but I seriously can't stick with anything. Maybe next year...the truck stand that sells veggies is starting to look good enough to me.

8. We have managed to read our scriptures as a family every morning. The kids can't watch cartoons until it's done. A good motivater for the kids. I don't read mine on my own. I feel bad about this but not bad enough to do anything about it. Hopefully, I'm not doomed to go to hell because of it. Sorry folks, I'm not super crazy about personal scripture reading. I love to read but I can't seem to stick with it.

9. Leroy's sick again...migraines plus sinus infections.

10. This weekend, I'm going to run in my first 5k for the year. I know super lame of me. I'm hoping for a good time hopefully, the knee wouldn't give me too many problems. Things are not going as plan in the running dept but I'm trying to stay positive.

Ten on Tue

1. Yesterday, Leroy ended up in the ER. The poor guy ended up blacking out at work. The ER doctor didn't find anything wrong with him but he was dehydrated. Leroy spent all of Saturday working on the house. He repainted the eastside of the house with all new paint plus replaced on the of the side boards due to those pesky woodpeckers. Anyways, he felt fine on Sunday but Monday he came down feel'n ill at work. He managed to get help at work but they took to the ER. I'm going to hate to see the bill from them being they couldn't find anything wrong with him except for being dehydrated. So, Leroy going to stay home and rest. Plus, I told him that he needs to make sure to drink more water and to get off all of the pop. I swear he will never learn his lesson. Last year, he had to have his gallbladder removed and I'm positive it was from drinking so much pop that caused him to run into problems.

2. I'm back to running. So far, it's going really slow. It's so hot and humid outside. My average pace has been around 11:00 minute pace which is super slow for me. The weather hasn't help the situation. I'm going to try from now on to get out the door before Leroy leaves to go work. Yesterday, I managed to run 3 miles until 35 minutes which is awful time but this morning I managed to run 3 miles under 30 minutes. The knee feels a little bit tight but nothing I can't deal with. Popping the cyst was the best thing ever!!!!!!! It hasn't come back so hopefully, it's gone forever!

3. I'm working on finishing up a couple of sewing projects this morning. The current plan is to finish up all of my unfinished projects and I'm taking the rest of the summer to do nothing. That's right...NOTHING! I'm really tried of working on goals and completing projects. The most I will be doing is reading a book or knitting a dishrag. I just want to lounge around the pool and work on my tan.

4. The kids are busy everyday playing with their friends and staying up late at night playing outside and trying to catch fireflies! It's so nice...not having to get the kids up early to catch the bus.

5. We're planning on taking the kids to Devil's Den for the weekend for Father's Day! We haven't been in almost three years. I can't wait to go back. It's only about 45 minutes from our house and it's a ton of fun. Last time, I was super fat and I can't wait to take pictures of me this time skinny. It's going to be a full circle moment.

6. I signed up all three kids for the summer reading program. Landon's going to read everyday for 30 minutes. I will be reading books to Logan and Leah! Logan is still struggling with his reading skills. I'm really worried that if I don't work with him he will fall behind. So, we will be working on two pages every day from Phonics Pathway reading book. Hopefully, we will be done with the book by the end of the summer.

7. Nothings happening at the moment. I'm just going to try to survive the summer with the kids. Last week, it was a hard adjustment but so far everything is going well. I'm learning to just ignore Landon's whining. We have a good schedule set up and it seems to be working.

8. My parents left for South Africa on Monday. We haven't heard from them but hopefully they are okay! I'm so proud of them!

9. Landon might be attending baseball camp but I'm not sure if I want to drive him to Rogers everyday for the camp. It's only three days this week but I'm feel'n really lazy at the moment.

10. I officially started my calling at church as the ward librarian. So far, it's working out great! It's going to be a prefect fit for me. One year, in high school I worked as a student librarian. I'm not sure if anyone remembers that but I'm in the highschool yearbook being a librarian.

ten on tue

1. Summer break, is almost here. Today, is the kids last day of school. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. Logan graduated from Kindergarten and Landon will be moving up to 3rd grade next year! Where did all the time go, my boys are growing up way too fast but they still need me. This is my last day of freedom before I will be on full time Mom duty. My neighbor is watching Leah at the moment; I'm trying to finish up a ton of projects! I'm trying to keep my schedule as open as possible for the summer break but it seems like every week is already full of commitments and such.

2. We're trying to plan our vacation trips for the summer. We're planning on going up to Chicago to visit my sister this summer and hopefully be able to see her new home. The big trip will be here in our great state of Arkansas. We will be hitting up four different state parks in less than a week. We will be learning about the civil war and learning all about our environment. We will be hopefully, boats, digging for diamonds, and lots of hiking.

3. I have a new calling at church. I'm no longer on the Enrichment committee. Nancy called said she was sorry to see me leave the committee; I was her right hand person. I feel bad leaving her but I'm so excited about my new calling. I'm the assist librarian. I will be working with my friend plus it's not to demanding of a calling. I'm really looking forward in being able to attend the enrichment activities and not be stuck in the kitchen all night long.

4. Landon and Logan both had their end of the year picnics. The kids really enjoyed school this year plus they both had excellent teachers!

5. My mom sent the kids a postcard from MTC. I told Leah that grandma and grandpa are both missionaries right now. Leah looked really confused...she asked whether not they we're still her grandparents or just missionaries. She's not really understanding the mission thing at the moment. Logan keeps asking me when we're going to Tennessee to visit grandma and grandpa. He keeps asking about the water park. Poor kids, hopefully, it will get easier with time.

6. I'm really proud of my parents going on another mission. I know it's not easy to leave your family and friends to serve a mission but they are setting a great example for the kids. I couldn't be prouder of them.

7. My knee is no longer hurting me. I decided to go ahead and drain my cyst. I wished that I would of done this months ago. I'm so ready to get back into the groove of things again. I'm not sure when I will be able to get away to go running this summer but I always have my dreadmill.

8. Landon's baseball team did really well this season. They won the last four games of the season but they ended up losing their tournament game. Landon was so upset. He cried for a good 30 minutes. The little guy wanted to win so bad. It's a hard lesson but he has to learn it's about giving your best and not being a poor sport when things do go as planned.

9. I managed to pick up a huge pile of summer clothes for the boys at a garage sale. I couldn't be happier. All the clothes for less than $20 plus some of the clothes were Nike!

10. I'm reading a couple new books and it's nice to be able to relax. I'm so tried of running around with my head chopped off. I like to be busy and productive but it's starting to take a toll on me. I'm so glad that baseball season is finally over. Landon's game schedule was insane. So, I'm off to get busy and get dinner prepped.

My Seven Dollar Haircut

My new summer hair cut. It's only the beginning of June and I'm already dying from the heat. We have been to the pool every day so far this week at the pool. So, I decided it was time to chop off some of my hair.

I have a ton of hair, it's seriously so thick it's like wearing a mop on top of my head. So, I decided to be brave and end over to the local beauty school. I always feel bad for the girl stuck trying to cut my hair. Not only is it thick but curly/wavy hair is next to impossible to cut. I only had one girl that didn't need the instructor to help to cut my hair. She moved on to open her own salon. She was really good but I didn't follow her. I'm cheap!

So, I decided on Thursday morning to drive over with Leah and get both of our hair cut. Leah's hair is still the same. She always gets a short stacked bobbed with bangs. It's super cute but she was the biggest pain ever. She did okay at the beginning but she decided she didn't want the girl to cut her hair.

I ended up holding her on my lap while the girl cut her hair. I wish I had a camera because the next part is kinda funny. While she was sitting my lap, Leah was busy playing with the student's fake doll head with hair. Leah grabbed the girls extra comb and spray bottle. Leah spent the whole time fixing the dolls hair while the she was sitting on my lap while the student was cutting her hair. I hope that makes senses. Overall, it worked out and plus it only cost me $7. This wouldn't of worked out at a real salon.

So, like I said before I decided to be brave and cut off three inches off my hair. The girl cutting my hair didn't speak english as a first language. I told her I wanted a stacked bobbed but she gave me a swing bobbed instead. I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not but the damaged was already done.

This morning, I decided to fix up my hair and Leroy told me that he liked my new haircut. I didn't even ask him for his opinion so I know he likes it. I'm not one to fix myself up for my hubby but it was nice to receive a compliment from him.

So, here's my seven dollar hair cut by the beauty school. I really haven't had a bad cut yet but than again the curls can really cover up any mistakes...lol. Plus, I had the girl fix up my eyebrows. Overall, I'm not complaining. No more $50 haircuts for me plus they always looked horrible maybe I was going to the wrong salon but I'm not complaining about the beauty school.

So, what do you think?

Ten on Wed

1. Nothing worse then the end of the school year madness! I can't wait for the school year to end. I'm so tried of getting up early and all the running around that comes with the kids being in school. The kids have to make up 8 snow days which is so crazy. I let the kids miss school yesterday, I really felt like we needed a four day break instead of three and I don't feel guilty about it either.

2. I'm really proud of my hubby for going to Joplin to help out with the clean up efforts. Leroy worked hard pulling a van out of someones front yard and cutting up fallen trees. Two stakes sent over 550 men to help with the cleanup efforts. This all took place over Memorial Day weekend. It was a huge sacrifice but it was a well worth it. Leroy ended up taking up the camper and he stayed over night in someone's business driveway. The owner saw Leroy trying to back up the camper into the area that was set up for those staying overnight. The guy walked over to him and offer his pad for Leroy to park the camper. Leroy was really happy about this and he didn't have to go down this steep hill with camper. Leroy saw things that changed him. The whole experienced was life changing!

3. Like I was saying about Leroy going over to Joplin that over a week ago, Joplin was hit by F5 tornado. I decided to drive up yesterday with the kids to check out the destruction. It's horrible...it was like being a war zone. The sight, smell, and it seemed so unreal. We only drove around a couple of blocks and it was really getting to me. We didn't stay to long but I wanted to make a point with the kids that Tornadoes aren't to be messed with. It's important to take the warnings seriously plus I wanted them to be a Little bit more appreciative for what we have been blessed with a home and a family. I have pictures but I will posted them another time.

3. On Monday, it was my birthday. I'm not 45 yrs old like Jenny suggested. Hello, I'm 33! Overall, it's been a great year. I have learned a lot of hard lessons. One of the biggest things, I have learned that I'm not in complete control of my life. No matter, how much I plan or figure out how things should work out. It doesn't always work out like planned. Some things, are completely out of my control. I don't like feel'n I'm not 100% in control of myself and my life. I have learned a big lesson over the weekend that I need to rely on the Lord. Everything happens for a reason and I have to turn some things over to him. So, I'm taking one day at a time. I have been so humbled it's not even funny but on a positive note I had a great birthday!

4. Our ward had a Memorial Day breakfast and flag ceremony by the boy scouts. Leroy was up in Joplin over the weekend and the High Priest were so worried that Leroy wouldn't be able to help them with the pancakes. Leroy is the official pancake master in the Ward. My hubby has some serious line cook skills. I don't recall their ever being a long line for pancakes. I'm proud of my hubby...he was so sore and tried from the clean up efforts but he still got up really early on Monday morning without complaining and flip up a ton of pancakes.

5. After the Mother's Day disaster, I decided to go ahead and plan my own party. I didn't want to be disappointed again, i figured he hasn't done one thing for my birthday in the past why would he do something now. I know that's awful but it's the truth. He didn't even attend my party but only for less than five minutes. He was busy working on our friend's van the whole time.

6. A long time ago, I wanted to have a block party. I'm thinking it was about eight years ago. I really wanted to but I was really afraid that know one would come. So, I finally decided back at TOFW that I would invite everyone that went to the conference to come over to a party at my house. Plus, I invited some of my other friends and neighbors. Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed at all. I felt the love. I just feel bad that one of my friends wasn't allowed to come to my party. I hate her hubby and I hope God gives her the strength to deal with him.

7. So, the simple party turned into a block party. My neighbors are so awesome! I know lots of people have neighbor problems but mine are best ever. I hope none of them move away any time soon. My neighbor let us use part of her yard and my other neighbor let us set up the sprinkler at her house. I was feel'n the love. My one neighbor gave me Nike workout top and pants plus a pair of workout shoes. I don't mean to brag but this is my blog. She's so freak'n awesome. I love you, Ms. Jennifer! My other neighbor, ended up grilling up all the food for the party. Did I mention she's from East Texas and this girl has some serious grilling skills. All of the food was juicy, moist, and not burnt. She helped out by making so many dishes and the set up alone to forever. She did so much work it's not even funny. I couldn't of pulled it off without her help.

8. We blocked off the Cud De Sac and had three stations set up in three different yards. A slip n slide, sprinkler, and baby pool plus tons of balls! The kids had so much fun! Plus, we had a massive water balloon fight. One of the couple's, we invited thought it would be fun to dump the water coolers over each others heads. It was so much fun! I'm going to do this again.

9. Two of my friends supplied the cakes. My neighbor drove all the way down to Fayetteville to get me a cake from Rick's Bakery and my other friend made me a cake as well. I was really worried about having hurt feelings but I was wrong. We ended up with so many people we needed both of the cakes. The cakes were Delicious. Thanks, again!

10. Landon will be performing in the School Talent Show tomorrow night, keep him in your prayers. He performed this morning in front of the school and everyone in his class told me he did a great job up on the stage. He will be performing his karate forms!

p.s. Every year, I get a little bit older but every year just keeps getting better and better. I would never want to young again. I'm loving my 30's. Every year, I grow a little bit more and I'm becoming the person I always wanted to be!

Plus, I will be posting pictures very soon!