Rambling Updates & Thoughts

1. The new school year has started, which is leaving me feeling extremely overwhelmed. Landon's running for Vice President of Student Council, Logan and Leah are in soccer, plus we're remodeling the house. All of the homework, shuttling kids everywhere, attending meetings, I signed up again for PTO (seriously, someone stop me), plus all the stress of the kids. I'm also working on Landon's campaign slogan. I'm STRESSED!

2. This morning, I tired to workout but I couldn't get into it. My mind is running in a million different directions. Plus, Logan wants me to help him sew a gigantic size sleeping bag plus make these really cute wooden pumpkins.

3. Landon's Fall Ball was canceled due to lack of enrollment. Landon doesn't know yet but it's going to be real ugly when he finds out. I'm still waiting to hear back from Soccer people. I might end up coaching but I'm still waiting to hear back from the Soccer Gods who are black mailing me into coaching a team or Landon wouldn't be able to do Soccer. I hate SPORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love to run but anything involving a ball "I HATE IT" is not my thing. I would feel better, if I had some control over the situation which I don't at the moment unless the Soccer Gods write back to me.

4. Leah is a little terror at the moment. She's really good during the day but as soon as her boys get off the bus. She's a full blown DEMON!!!!! She's tormenting the boys all afternoon. She's down right mean to them. I'm not going to put up with it today. She will sit in timeout all afternoon if she starts up trouble with her boys. She misses them and wants their attention but the way she's going about it is wrong.

5. I'm ready to run away and start all over some where else. Who's life is this, I hate it at the moment. I'm being really whiny, I don't care! I need to get it all of my chest.

6. The remodel job is coming along nicely, but it's loud work. I try to stay out of the house as much as possible but it's not practical. We are adding onto the house by making the sunroom twice as big plus it will be 4 seasons with a new deck. We need more space. The job should be done in about 8 weeks.

7. Leah told me that she wants a lot of fake babies for her birthday plus a real baby girl. She wants to go buy her a real baby and wrap it up! I told her that I would talk to her daddy about it but it might be difficult to get a real baby for her birthday...lol! She told me that if she had a baby girl sleeping in her room she wouldn't get scared at night and come into our room anymore at night.

8. Landon's campaign slogan is coming along. We need to start working on the posters which need to be turned in by the end of the week. Here's one of the slogan's but it will be up to Landon to decide at the end.

"Land Landon with a Landslide"

"Vote Better-Vote Landon!"

"Choose Landon S. and Get Action!"?

Plus, I want to make a T-Shirt for him to wear at school. What's wrong with a walking billboard? Something like "Vote Landon"!

I need to make a trip to Hobby Lobby!

7. Screw working out, I'm going to get my hair highlighted and cut!

8. Afterwards, if I have time then I will swing by the store and pick up supplies.

9. Okay, I'm feel'n better. I need to get a grip on myself.

10. Oh, Leroy and I will be celebrating our Wedding Anniversary this weekend. I think it will be "13" years of blissful marriage. Of course, nothing is planned and we will probably not do anything for it. Real lame! I know, Okay!

Ten on Tue

1. Happy 4th of July...I know it's over, but I still had to post one last salutation for the holiday. This whole weekend has been non-stop celebrating!

2. Parties without end...Yes, you read that right! How many people do you know get to celebrate their birthday plus a holiday at the same time. Every couple of years, my birthday will fall on Memorial Day but Leroy Jr and Leroy Sr get a double celebration each year!

3. Birthday Boys...The birthday boy's celebrated another year together! Leroy's sister and family came down from Kansas City for the combined party. Uncle Lawrence did some serious BBQing again and the brisket was excellent plus the ice cream cake from DQ was delicious! I'm sure my thighs are showing it...hee hee! We went down to the lake after the festivities. The air finally started to cool off due to a storm blowing in but it past over us, thank goodness! The kids plus their nephew went fishing at Lake Loch Lomand but they didn't catch anything...bummer! Leah and Eric went swimming in the lake! All was going well, until Eric went a little bit too far out in the water and I had to jump into the lake to rescue him. Oh, I didn't have a swimsuit on, so I had to jump in fully clothed. So, I ended up swimming around in the lake with the kids. Overall, a fun night with the family!

4. Bella Vista 4th of July Fireworks display...Sunday evening, we headed over to Lake Loch Lomand Dam to watch the fireworks show. This is a family tradition, we go every year. We decided to park right up in front next to the dam to watch the display instead of going in the back like we normally do! Big mistake, watching the fireworks up front was fun but trying to get home was a complete nightmare. The drive home ended up being over one hour to get home. Arghh...the cops weren't being nice and it took forever. Lesson learned back to parking in the back lot and hopefully we will get out faster next time.

5. Old Fashioin 4th of July celebration...My best friend "V" invited us to come join her families first ever 4th party at Lake Loch Lomand. Now, this party was really interesting because we really didn't know too many people at the party. I'm really shy around new people but it only took me a few minutes to jump right in and have a blast. The party was held out at Tiree Park at the lake. I'm thinking about maybe hosting my own party out their for the kids. The park had a nice Pavilion, shuffleboard, park, horse shoes, bathrooms, and of course lake access! The kids had sooooo much fun. Landon won a set of Hillbilly Golf and the kids had a ton of fun playing with it. We managed to do all of the typical party games like water balloons, horse shoes, playing at the park, fishing, and swimming at the lake. The end of the party we all went down to the lake and they put on a HUGE fireworks show. It was so long, that we decided to sneak out and leave early. The kids were so tired from staying up late the night before watching the fireworks at the dam. So, Leroy thought that "V" and me were up to no good. He was sitting down at the pier with us and decided to spend most of the night riding his bike. Yeah, we were up to no good but we didn't dunk him into the lake that will be next year's plan. We surprised him with everyone signing "Happy Birthday" right before the big firework's show!

6. 4th of July Firecracker 5k race...Landon and I decided to wake up early and head down to Lake Atlanta in Rogers for this race. I ran in this race about three years ago with my old running partner and this year I decided to give it another shot but with my son. Let's just say that Landon kicked my butt. It's official, I can't even keep up with my son anymore. Landon managed to come in 3rd place for his age group which is awesome because he hasn't practice or done any training at all. This kid is a natural!

7. Important Announcement...I almost forgot, we will be remodeling our house. We will be adding onto the sunroom by making it bigger plus it will be 4 seasons plus we will be adding a new deck! Hopefully, we will be starting on this project in about two weeks! The sunroom will be like a really big family room. We have been wanting to do this for a very long time and it's about to happen!

8. A healthy Body...is not to be taken for granted! I have learned a couple of hard lessons this year about not taking a healthy body for granted. I feel like all of my sport injuries have finally healed but I need to learn to listen to my body. I'm getting older, it's time that I make sure I'm eating right, getting enough sleep, and listening to my body. I feel so blessed but I need to make sure that I don't ever take it for granted!

9. New Opportunities...I just signed up to become a Heritage Makers consultant. I'm probably not going to start up anything until the kids are back in school in the fall. If you haven't started digital scrap booking, you're missing out. It's so easy plus it's not messy like regular scrap booking.

10. Civil War History...Living in the South, we have the opportunities to learn more about the civil war. Landon and Wyatt his friend needed to visit a historical site to earn one of their merit badges. So, we headed over to Pea Ridge National Park which is a National Park. We spent literally the whole day exploring the park and we went on a seven mile bike tour of the park. The kids even managed to become JR. park rangers.

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.