tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446845204946553592024-03-05T04:27:16.317-08:00Sellers on the RunThese days, it feels like we never stop moving. See if you can keep up!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.comBlogger555125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-85533386712680013172014-06-16T06:54:00.000-07:002014-06-16T06:54:46.460-07:00State Champion<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gavin ran in the USATF Nebraska Association meet this weekend. As many meets as he has won, he has yet to be a USATF state champion. He has done it at AAU - but not USATF. I was sure this would be his weekend - after all he was undefeated on the track coming into this meet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wasn't able to see him run Saturday for the 800m as I was in Lincoln with Sam for t-ball and the meet was on the north side of Omaha. I got the text that he came in second and knew immediately who had beat him. There is a kid that runs for Omaha that Gavin has gone up against in regional meets ever since he first started running the 1500. And this kid has beat him every.single.time. Gavin had beat him in preliminary meets this season, but this kid almost always pulls out a PR in the meets that matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So come Sunday, Gavin was motivated to win. We hadn't told him that this kid had been beating him since 2012, just that he had a slower PR. Gavin was nervous, but also confident in his abilities in the 1500 - he knows the distance is better suited to him than the 800m. We spent Saturday evening trying to discuss strategies, confusing the poor kid, and in the end just said "you know what you are doing. Run your own race."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunday was a beautiful day for running, without the crazy wind we had on Saturday. Gavin warmed up, and then had to rush to check in - they ended up starting the event 12 minutes early! They were running half an hour late the day before. At least he didn't sit around getting cold before his race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I always stand on the 100m start line and Chad stands at the 1500m start line, halfway around the track from me. The biggest thing we had told him was to not look back - he has improved a lot of things in his running, but this is still a bad habit. I promised him that with the two of us on opposite sides of the track, we would communicate and let him know how close people were to him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the race, Gavin shared his strategy - he figured since the kid was a strong 800 runner, that he would go out fast, so Gavin wouldn't push the pace the first lap. When he passed me the first time, 200m into the race, he was right behind this kid, and I shouted at Gavin to just stay on his shoulder and not let him get away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">About 350m into the race, Gavin must have realized the pace was a little slow, and passed him and started to pull away. He ran a nice steady race, and each time he passed me, I told him to hold his pace and form, that he was putting distance between himself and the kid behind him. When he crossed the line for the final lap, I saw him to pick it up a little more - and was a little worried he was going to burn out. By the time they reached the straightaway on the opposite side of the track, it looked like the kid in second was getting tired - but didn't want to underestimate the power of the final kick - Gavin has a lot of endurance, but less raw speed. I was just hoping he could hold on, and I had no concept of whether or not it was possible for this kid to close the gap if he went into a dead sprint or something. When Gavin passed me a final time, I could see the second place kid was still going to fight for it, so I told him he needed to GO! Just look forward and go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He did - running to a first place finish and a time of 5:19.44. In addition to a gold medal, and a spot on the podium, they gave all the first place finishers champion t shirts!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is the only picture I got at the race. I was close to passing out at the end from all the yelling and not breathing going on for 5 minutes. We celebrated with ice cream on the way home!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-45138688339442148392014-06-14T14:37:00.000-07:002014-06-14T14:37:01.031-07:00T-Ball timeTwo posts in one week? You are welcome. Don't expect any more for two months :)<br />
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Today we had to divide and conquer with Chad taking Gavin to Omaha for the USATF state meet, and me taking Sam to his first t-ball game of the season. Y sports is really popular here in Lincoln, unlike in Johnston. The t-ball and soccer fields are awesome! The coach was also really good, this was the same format as i-9 league in Iowa with a half hour practice and a 25 minute game. Practice was very focused and they worked on fielding grounders, catching a ball in front of them, and catching a fly ball, then ran the bases, worked on throwing (with proper technique) and hitting.<br />
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After practice they played a quick game and got snacks and drinks. We were hoping to make it work to get to Omaha to see Gav race, but Sam's game ran a little over and Chad told us to stay home. Gavin ended up running 2:38.8 for 2nd place, was only about a second behind first place. He is bummed to not be the state champion, but he runs the 1500m tomorrow.<br />
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Here are some great pictures from Sam's game today.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-56868694203076548252014-06-13T10:38:00.002-07:002014-06-13T10:40:52.826-07:00We're Busy!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I keep setting goals to update this blog more frequently and time keeps slipping away from me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spring season kept us busy - both kids played soccer with Capital Soccer Association, an awesome club that I am so happy came up first in google search when we moved to town. The coaches care as much about the kids as we did for the kids we coached in track. They really focus on technical skills and the kids have come a long way. Gavin is getting to an age where the soccer games are so intense - they are really fun to watch! Sam had a one hour a week session where they spend most of the time focusing on drills, and then 15-20 minutes scrimmage time. He has one more year (fall and spring) before he moves to a one practice / one game a week format. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img height="225" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GvwLZUuoKq1Mdyb-t5BC-iJ-gYrHC6-xdTMRomqH7jA=w1598-h899-no" width="400" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gavin had one last tournament during Memorial Day weekend. All he needed to do was get through the weekend uninjured before turning our focus to peaking his training for track nationals at the end of July. In his second to last game, he went down funny on his knee trying to keep a ball in bounds. It instantly swelled up so off we went to the urgent care clinic. Fortunately it was just a sprain and he was only down for a week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In running news, both boys participated in the Mayor's run where Gavin ran the mile twice, breaking 6 minutes for the first time in a road mile. Sam did an awesome job running his second mile race of the year in 11:24.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gavin has been rocking his track meets. The last one he attended in Omaha he was the clear winner in the 800m (2:38.83) and 1500m (5:19.23). No one close to him. He is starting to get quite the fan club, a little girl came up to me after the 800m and said "was that your boy in front? He's really fast!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He even got some good words from little brother "wow, Gav is pretty much the boss at running!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam and I had a special project one weekend planting a container garden of veggies and herbs on the back deck. He had fun posing for the camera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" height="225" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9XpcLBnwbzmoa--zi8gXzfOiu2bKQm44GMnAoBzG4lM=w287-h162-p-no" width="400" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And last weekend Chad and Gavin ran a rainy hometown race. <a href="http://respecttherun.blogspot.com/2014/06/race-report-havelock-charity-run-10k-on.html" target="_blank">Check out Chad's race recap here. </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Next up - Sam starts t-ball this weekend and it's state track meet time!!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-46658003837689527062014-03-29T12:24:00.003-07:002014-03-29T12:24:48.453-07:00Sellers Boys at the State Farm Run<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This morning the boys all ran at the State Farm race here in Lincoln. The little guys ran the mile and Chad ran the 10 mile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was Gavin's first race since cross country season; he's been running easy 3-4 times a week but hasn't done any speedwork since indoor training ended. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam ran the 1k at the Iowa Games cross country meet last summer, and trained for this race by running around the block once, a 4 minute treadmill session and a 5 minute treadmill session. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite warming temps this weekend, it was 28 degrees at the start of the race! I was worried about how Sam would hold up running the mile for the first time, and in not so nice conditions. Fortunately we were spared the typical Nebraska wind!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/o3YjX81QYi01uXFH9c36JMcQdJ9KNY0yBlKUJ8PAUHs=w125-h222-p-no" />Getting ready - warm under layers are a must!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img height="320" src="https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/1458608_10201785272377989_581634413_n.jpg" width="180" /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I mean - I rarely get a good shot of them together and this is too cute for words - in the van before the race</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The race was at the State Farm complex in Lincoln and it was awesome that they opened up the cafeteria and restrooms for people to use and stay warm before the race. Sam and I stayed warm while Gav did a little warm up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We headed to the starting line about 5 minutes before the start. Sam and I hung out in the middle while Gavin slipped in at the front. Sam complained about cold legs a little while we were waiting, but mostly he was a trooper - a lot better than I expected!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We took off and I stayed behind him. For a while this morning he was saying he didn't even want me to run with him, but Chad thought that was a bad idea. I'm glad I did though, as he kept checking to see where I was. For the most part he was able to jog at an easy pace and not go too fast, before we hit a quarter mile we had to take a little walk break. Shortly after that, we saw the bike coming towards us (the course was an out and back) and I kept my eyes peeled for Gavin. He was in the lead pack with two other boys! We also saw Chad cheering him on, and I was able to get his attention and he cheered for Sam too - that gave him a big boost.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once we hit the turnaround, I told Sam we were half way done - I was a little worried I would hear "ONLY half way??" but he was in good spirits. We had a decent little uphill that we walked part of, and then to motivate him, I said "Sam, I bet you can pass that little kid ahead of us" - that got him back running again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gavin had finished the race - coming in 2nd!! 2nd over all out of 266 runners. Wow.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img height="190" src="https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1.0-9/1625665_10203351285325002_1659886279_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks to Gav's soccer coach for getting this picture for me!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then he came back to run Sam in. It was so cute when they saw each other, Sam asked him how he did and told him good job and Gavin was so supportive of Sam. I took off for the finish line to snap some pics.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/bkQZVi0lMWP2n3mj2-xKMfskfqOXrWnysWXnjZYsbwg=w396-h222-p-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you extreme zoom in on this pic, the cheering look on Gavin's face is priceless - proud older brother<br /></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MAF0MqfK5OgvXVu7OqklF3xtAR6jI-lzq5mLZWCUxyI=w396-h222-p-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And if you zoom in on this one, Sam has a hell of a game face heading towards the finish</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BhB53U8FWrvKUTsHhNCQP7RIQDojx1Li7wE6AIB0BkM=w390-h219-p-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Check out that form</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HuBM1CngO4iowpNya7ox83hs8q960nBU_6ykhX9cCM8=w390-h219-p-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Clock time says 11:37, but his official chip time was 11:28</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chad taking off for the 10 mile</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chad wasn't happy with his race, but he came in under an hour for ten miles which sounds insane to me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From there I ran by Panera to get some food in the boys while Chad ran to the soccer fields. Gavin had a soccer game at 11:30 so we had his gear in the car. He was pretty upset that he had to go to a game, but perked up after getting some real food in him. He ended up playing a great game, scoring a goal for his team! They won against Gretna. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In short, a great start to the racing and soccer season, let's keep the wind away, but I could take some warmer temps!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-40464324229462173882014-03-23T06:41:00.002-07:002014-03-23T06:41:42.707-07:00It's Been a While<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You'd think with Chad not working, I'd have more time to write, but to be honest - being chained to a computer all day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is fire up the laptop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So here is a rundown of the last few months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Christmas in Des Moines - kids spent a couple days at Grandma Betsy's, then we were in Des Moines for a few days after Christmas. I was able to work out of the Johnston office and it was great to catch up with old friends and the kids friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">January - Sam turned FIVE!! What? He wasn't already five? He is getting to be quite a handful. Super smart with a a sassy attitude. Most recently has asked if we could pay the school $10 to skip him to 2nd grade (he starts kindergarten this fall), is doing math at a first grade level and is bored at pre-school because they don't learn enough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">February - it was cold. We survived. Gavin played on a rec basketball league and loved it! The team was pretty rough, but by the last games he was making a basket or two each game. Gavin also played in a fun indoor soccer tournament in Gretna Valentine's weekend. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">March - it's still cold! Chad ran, and WON!! his <a href="http://www.xperiencems.com/AngryCowRaces/?page_id=2448" target="_blank">first 50k race</a>. The Stampede Run put on by Angry Cow Adventures in Roca, NE. It was 8 degrees out. He is amazing! We took an awesome ski trip to Steamboat Colorado over spring break. Pictures to come (promise). We've been back a week and this weather is seriously getting old. It was super cold for Thanksgiving and it's still super cold almost four months later. My kids are nuts they are so cooped up - it's been a rough weekend behavior wise, despite Chad taking them to the kids museum yesterday and out to lunch. Also in March, Chad helped organize the <a href="http://www.lc10k.com/leprechaun-chase-10k-iowa/" target="_blank">Leprechaun Chase</a> in Des Moines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speaking of kids museum, the <a href="http://www.lincolnchildrensmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Lincoln Children's Museum</a> is awesome. At Gavin's age, he is probably starting to get a little old for it, but I would say for ages 3 - 7, this place is great. There are so many fun, hands on things to do there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures from one of my cell phones since I happened to have it plugged in to the computer for another purpose. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBM83XUKSf46h0SuX-RKcxAnCgEsrJ02HAEMJn1p2fDT8ggeaTd9FU0KUlB0oXbplnB6mViHvuoBu1u2p82_oadj0pjj0eSdMPNP_ZmW2580bZNDFl3OcuMyPm_AgVAVarPGJbRXwnegc/s1600/20131224_140444%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBM83XUKSf46h0SuX-RKcxAnCgEsrJ02HAEMJn1p2fDT8ggeaTd9FU0KUlB0oXbplnB6mViHvuoBu1u2p82_oadj0pjj0eSdMPNP_ZmW2580bZNDFl3OcuMyPm_AgVAVarPGJbRXwnegc/s1600/20131224_140444%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kids with Grandma Betsy at Christmas</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTypau7ocwDooYNcqIi74vP6Gc2ZuR0Sxh8afk52pzhe6QzV0DFR7wnXbFCvAd8hiVgME9TK5uaEnvVOc4AbCwH30MhE9M5fFV0yk137kFWhokprqYnnszSUIQ32A70QCXxSAZadvOq4/s1600/20131224_194505%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTypau7ocwDooYNcqIi74vP6Gc2ZuR0Sxh8afk52pzhe6QzV0DFR7wnXbFCvAd8hiVgME9TK5uaEnvVOc4AbCwH30MhE9M5fFV0yk137kFWhokprqYnnszSUIQ32A70QCXxSAZadvOq4/s1600/20131224_194505%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bridie's cousin Taylor helping Sam with Lego's</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD7Pc33CUlbK03Vv87x1Ej4jqL69-X5RUH3e-z0KVV4_yZ4ZiE3DHQr-xvdsitxgvepYCClqbqYe-rF_7XzGxi0p73I9XnC3E26BTVcPeM-IRjsPn3zVHjWCmTLBSKnA4eD-e9f2ydBQc/s1600/20131224_194549%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD7Pc33CUlbK03Vv87x1Ej4jqL69-X5RUH3e-z0KVV4_yZ4ZiE3DHQr-xvdsitxgvepYCClqbqYe-rF_7XzGxi0p73I9XnC3E26BTVcPeM-IRjsPn3zVHjWCmTLBSKnA4eD-e9f2ydBQc/s1600/20131224_194549%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bridie's cousin Heston (Taylor's brother) helping Gav with micro machines</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWDCl4I7mLpFbL7INQhLWMqbcKRmRdcltC34NqzRleG50Tdelbe2iTQvK9fJ56q_505-GftxsNfDFDSS7beZ_ujJIOX0o2xqUMUd8uAviaA94YQFf3l26rXzf_X-EIOz2ns0JtqF8_D4/s1600/20131225_073240%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZWDCl4I7mLpFbL7INQhLWMqbcKRmRdcltC34NqzRleG50Tdelbe2iTQvK9fJ56q_505-GftxsNfDFDSS7beZ_ujJIOX0o2xqUMUd8uAviaA94YQFf3l26rXzf_X-EIOz2ns0JtqF8_D4/s1600/20131225_073240%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam is in that "can't take a normal picture" phase</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqijiDAQ4QoFZ-nuy-MfY-RTfsDraD93XIEDVSHYpBZjd1UcUTzQ-f02MuKbnLlYtnS2Gwuy44pdWLNnJ68CV07KwqFOukxGkSNSZa0eaQJWaQ-XAXDfNpAxsnQTDxeigM9pJ5CHXkvIA/s1600/20131224_183050%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqijiDAQ4QoFZ-nuy-MfY-RTfsDraD93XIEDVSHYpBZjd1UcUTzQ-f02MuKbnLlYtnS2Gwuy44pdWLNnJ68CV07KwqFOukxGkSNSZa0eaQJWaQ-XAXDfNpAxsnQTDxeigM9pJ5CHXkvIA/s1600/20131224_183050%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam and my cousins son Hayden, in a chess match over Christmas</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37cJS1ESj9qhDWqd09kb675JdCbFmPsNCFWyNgYceGlN5LaC_cW1IakNGMq_1zvJVP4x88xn_TB7uq6KtmPpKAQFCFTY6WQXL_50AEnLe5yYFc23-aIE1dPrK0Z3SU8CP3H_LwqXWI1w/s1600/20131225_141528%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37cJS1ESj9qhDWqd09kb675JdCbFmPsNCFWyNgYceGlN5LaC_cW1IakNGMq_1zvJVP4x88xn_TB7uq6KtmPpKAQFCFTY6WQXL_50AEnLe5yYFc23-aIE1dPrK0Z3SU8CP3H_LwqXWI1w/s1600/20131225_141528%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My niece, Miss Eisley, showing off her mad ballerina skills</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaHut5rPZczZpCWAWoA9XeSC6owZeYy4a9BqmZeayxdI-cPwtKuDc05TdKdpUPgeVicAVisvnrcvj1CzVuSMVRA5_L4pUC_a2gqCKJxzCEfXhORRxadkQvVGHW9kxH0bKQuv3t5-XDNE/s1600/20140210_122955%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaHut5rPZczZpCWAWoA9XeSC6owZeYy4a9BqmZeayxdI-cPwtKuDc05TdKdpUPgeVicAVisvnrcvj1CzVuSMVRA5_L4pUC_a2gqCKJxzCEfXhORRxadkQvVGHW9kxH0bKQuv3t5-XDNE/s1600/20140210_122955%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the state writing test, Gav's school had the parents come and meet the kids for lunch and the kids presented their writing. I loved this note that was on all the lunch tables.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuOhwSpACa4vtOVzIz9unuMmi_rBYfkcCcvoZHaoN2H27bTIwt_1SdayKrXqBMu9M0v-KSnWmXFrhLU746aE-tZQ-tm2wi8M7xbTj3n-vJnX-DQb7RZjyNXRi8LFYJnJJi6103vo2CSE/s1600/20140315_120640%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuOhwSpACa4vtOVzIz9unuMmi_rBYfkcCcvoZHaoN2H27bTIwt_1SdayKrXqBMu9M0v-KSnWmXFrhLU746aE-tZQ-tm2wi8M7xbTj3n-vJnX-DQb7RZjyNXRi8LFYJnJJi6103vo2CSE/s1600/20140315_120640%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Children's Museum - mug shot</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Pol4OXgERR0QkK55pyTvGic_HKfr6DZdvbLDFcBhhbN6n4rhKvOGtlsDupE-5cEN-3gIrIaiHQl1SuopznjtQKrzWiRMEDs4BDnkweHWGZqgzvu94mxeHgOrRAZz7SEUt-YtJoS3ndA/s1600/20140315_120706%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Pol4OXgERR0QkK55pyTvGic_HKfr6DZdvbLDFcBhhbN6n4rhKvOGtlsDupE-5cEN-3gIrIaiHQl1SuopznjtQKrzWiRMEDs4BDnkweHWGZqgzvu94mxeHgOrRAZz7SEUt-YtJoS3ndA/s1600/20140315_120706%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Children's museum - motorcycle</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeg1ZmzSKN8pPHAUTcR913rprv4RoNSeyqk3zdAWuKoijSz-JrsY8irzC5pDc4KR8hr509B8o98UOmTVw1OPr60st8lEzvuGkiZ4rZxhCel9I_B2azijYMIMX1ju_AfKcDy7-sdsGg8tU/s1600/20140315_132230%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeg1ZmzSKN8pPHAUTcR913rprv4RoNSeyqk3zdAWuKoijSz-JrsY8irzC5pDc4KR8hr509B8o98UOmTVw1OPr60st8lEzvuGkiZ4rZxhCel9I_B2azijYMIMX1ju_AfKcDy7-sdsGg8tU/s1600/20140315_132230%5B1%5D.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At a church by our house, there is a rock maze. On a rare warmish day Sam and I took a walk through it.</span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-15237121837317435032014-01-26T14:19:00.001-08:002014-01-26T14:19:43.884-08:00New Mexico Pics<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soooo....apparently I'm more than a year behind on updates here. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">January in review: after spending almost two weeks in Iowa, it was back into the swing of things. Gavin started basketball through the Y, indoor soccer league, and indoor track at the Devaney center, which is a hydraulic banked indoor track at the University of Nebraska. He's keeping us busy Sunday through Wednesday nights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam took a break from indoor soccer, and we got him signed up for karate. He is going Tues & Thurs nights and is doing SO great! He loves it, and is picking it up so quickly. It's also through the Y (and $18/mo - super cheap for two nights a week!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chad went to AZ to the <a href="http://www.aravaiparunning.com/coldwater-rumble/" target="_blank">Coldwater Rumble</a> 20 mile trail race and took <a href="http://www.aravaiparunning.com/ultracast/" target="_blank">4th</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And here are some way old pictures from our trip to Albuquerque in December 2012 because I have yet to unpack the camera cord and can't unload all the pics I've taken this year!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7B8QdwJTlys68Ac1avVjKucFUequdJ1NCF-MickZdOl075w65CZILW2W6SJCKn4zf7RVF3dyzdehZlxbEbuSG7bdUrG3PFcI0il4DYGWfPygqB1HI-G2-WMNZRka84b4rmBygSkk37w/s1600/XC+Nationals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7B8QdwJTlys68Ac1avVjKucFUequdJ1NCF-MickZdOl075w65CZILW2W6SJCKn4zf7RVF3dyzdehZlxbEbuSG7bdUrG3PFcI0il4DYGWfPygqB1HI-G2-WMNZRka84b4rmBygSkk37w/s1600/XC+Nationals.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS83jJ7tI62XY-JaZ8JXyEjAF1HJiCk11BzxBer13uU9iQXalTWLCJpIBSJPX4gB8krvl-R9_ejRYp3LFzIiU_WkjbfMPM_7IccfK95_c-iPSW1HDm752hyphenhyphenPz9CIUiTl9NQ5_9UsmO6M/s1600/New+Mexico2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzS83jJ7tI62XY-JaZ8JXyEjAF1HJiCk11BzxBer13uU9iQXalTWLCJpIBSJPX4gB8krvl-R9_ejRYp3LFzIiU_WkjbfMPM_7IccfK95_c-iPSW1HDm752hyphenhyphenPz9CIUiTl9NQ5_9UsmO6M/s1600/New+Mexico2.png" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMsy7JQhhZZRwT_6lw7F5RLWmadVOfNgRSK5yeuNDwr-lGYjnpwwQfT6ry1NAOjv9JE2M2TUwZViozAoBKWrm2IGLmBWI7D-HT6XEoMxYsLV5nTV-KokfFWAw_mXq1IPWoB6140hkmmo/s1600/Fotor012616090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMsy7JQhhZZRwT_6lw7F5RLWmadVOfNgRSK5yeuNDwr-lGYjnpwwQfT6ry1NAOjv9JE2M2TUwZViozAoBKWrm2IGLmBWI7D-HT6XEoMxYsLV5nTV-KokfFWAw_mXq1IPWoB6140hkmmo/s1600/Fotor012616090.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The flag for the National Anthem was hung from a hot air balloon - it was so beautiful</span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-6682716122757485192013-11-18T10:30:00.002-08:002013-11-18T10:30:52.155-08:00Birthdays, Anniversaries and the End of the World<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The boys, who usually fight like rabid dogs (no exaggeration there), played very well together last night for about 40 minutes. Gavin wanted to go to bed and we <b>made</b> him stay up later than usual because they were playing so nicely. I mean, they were running through the living room trying to smack each other with balls, but I guess that's what playing looks like when you have boys?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So anyway - boys playing well together means the end of the world must be near. Or hell is freezing over. Don't say I didn't warn you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Trying to give you all a week in review on the regular since we up and moved. I've not been terribly successful, but I'll keep trying!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This weekend Sam had indoor soccer training and Gav had his state xc meet. Chad has a bum ankle so is taking some time off from running - which meant he got to take Sam to soccer and I went to a Zumba class at the Y. I have not been to Zumba in years and it was so much fun and such a great workout. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was beautiful weather here on Saturday and I think the kids spent at least 5 hours outside playing with all the kids in the neighborhood. I say it all the time but it's such a great little community here for the kids. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunday we headed to Omaha for the Nebraska state xc meet, the last big race of Gav's season as we are not making the trip to a national competition this year. It was a little windy and chilly but much better than the nasty weather we had last year in Iowa for the meet. He was hoping for second, but got out a little slow and never could close the gap. He came in third with a time of 12:36 for a 3k. The two boys that beat him are 10 yr olds and they will be moving up an age group next year. Gav is positioned well to be the one to beat next year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gav and I are going to do a turkey trot on Thanksgiving day, a 5k. I'm coming off down time due to a femor stress fracture, so it'll be interesting to see where my fitness is. We have a wager going - if Gav beats me by more than a minute, I owe him $20. The kid is fast, so it may be an easy win for him, but I am hoping all the marathon training that I put in, and the spinning and weight training I have done during this recovery phase have not shot my fitness all the hell. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friday we celebrated our 10 year anniversary, which is to say, we told each other "Happy Anniversary" and marveled at "holy crap, we are old". Today is Chad's birthday - but after hearing him analyze the pro's / cons of a Keurig coffee maker while looking at the Sunday ads yesterday, we brought his gifts out a day early. Including - you guessed it - a Keurig. He's turned into quite the coffee drinker these days. We are planning on hitting up a restaurant with the kids tonight for a birthday dinner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gavin starts chess club today. In Mexico there was a huge chess board by the pool and now the kids are obsessed with chess. So I bought a cheap $6 set at target and they are always wanting to play with Chad. But sometimes Sam steals the pieces and plays his own game "ultimate chess wrestling". Hysterical.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Aaaand....here are some really random pictures from earlier in the year that I don't think I have posted. These are all from May 2013.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQi82pcdgPRQvwSNIfyH07OZAbTMWPzU1MOi9h4iwgqXbQnRKovNIwiswqtd9c5KWQS3y24UcoxkxnFv1DBWam-MSyxBDh-IsZjYf_o9I9jG6EC1AvYQWxvrBu0b-8ixHz9KYb8o9K9no/s1600/IMG_2839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQi82pcdgPRQvwSNIfyH07OZAbTMWPzU1MOi9h4iwgqXbQnRKovNIwiswqtd9c5KWQS3y24UcoxkxnFv1DBWam-MSyxBDh-IsZjYf_o9I9jG6EC1AvYQWxvrBu0b-8ixHz9KYb8o9K9no/s320/IMG_2839.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-50822072001400131202013-11-06T06:31:00.002-08:002013-11-06T06:31:44.115-08:00The Baby-er Baby and Other News<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">November is always an emotional time for me, somehow most of the best and worst moments of my adult life are all wrapped up in November. It's the month we grieve losing Ella, wistfully wonder what life would have been had Gav been born on his 11/27 due date, remember his scary surgery, celebrate marriage, Chad's birthday and Gav's homecoming from the NICU. I can't believe it's been ten years that I have been on this journey - I feel like life as I know it started ten years ago at my wedding, when everything changed so suddenly just days after. Time doesn't heal all wounds, but it does make them less fresh. November used to have me on the brink of tears for a whole month, and now it's (almost) just another month. It is also prematurity awareness month. While I would never choose for things to go the way they did, I have to be grateful for the journey and how it has shaped me. I find myself oddly thankful for prematurity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So there is my November thankful moment, since <i>let's be honest</i> this is likely the only post you'll get from me this month!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Life continues to be good for us here in Lincoln.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Outdoor soccer has wrapped and Gavin has been tearing it up on the local road racing scene, he even won a 5k in Beatrice a few weeks ago, as in was the first runner to cross the finish line, not just age group. His first youth cross country race was this last weekend where he took 3rd out of 8 kids in his division. We just got his report card and I am excited to start seeing 4's pop up - they use a 1-4 scale with 3 being on track for expectations and 4 being above. 2's need some work and you don't want to see a 1. He's been a solid 3 student, so seeing those 4's is a great accomplishment!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam is doing indoor soccer and continues to do well at pre-school. This kid's brain amazes me. His vocabulary is out of control, and he is getting into math, choosing to play flash card addition problems on his Kindle. He is also a major SASS.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last night he told me "Mom, Gavin was a baby-er baby because he had a binky and I didn't, right?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I said "yes, but you are definitely way naughtier"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a reflective tone, he simply replied "yeah..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sam cracks me up on a daily basis, he is witty and smart and he knows it. Gavin is working hard at school and sport and becoming more and more re</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">sponsible all the time. Weird how they have to grow up? I tried to pick him up this morning (just to see if I could) and it was not easy. One of these days I'll look down at him and realize he's no longer smaller than me!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are a few pictures from our trip to Mexico, in case I never get around to recapping it. Who wants to take bets on that?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpdTVDzhyphenhyphenW4uXZZlKAamRtVNRSVHI1q-dVCdzRuYjej-N0c_XVXDlK6fvBqzXVd50vqKOR11v5agACfRnRnsXqL4DE0jehwwOQpcD4SBbwH-vmvQ0RpBtmPtfeXszePywOzQV8wVnmkk/s1600/20131015_084606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpdTVDzhyphenhyphenW4uXZZlKAamRtVNRSVHI1q-dVCdzRuYjej-N0c_XVXDlK6fvBqzXVd50vqKOR11v5agACfRnRnsXqL4DE0jehwwOQpcD4SBbwH-vmvQ0RpBtmPtfeXszePywOzQV8wVnmkk/s320/20131015_084606.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gav enjoying a bubble bath at the hotel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflBakvs_l63VRerbBBniI1BRf9eSiYLchGIaNEbaBeLiOMRmFgRyQye8QoYsz1K9X2T1ewtnIlERacSWspG3Ah8Ll4RgFCR_rfMnCyojk57YRSj2KOLb6Rt45FbVYGQccr2LBzUgZqQ8/s1600/20131017_104622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflBakvs_l63VRerbBBniI1BRf9eSiYLchGIaNEbaBeLiOMRmFgRyQye8QoYsz1K9X2T1ewtnIlERacSWspG3Ah8Ll4RgFCR_rfMnCyojk57YRSj2KOLb6Rt45FbVYGQccr2LBzUgZqQ8/s320/20131017_104622.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach bum</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kOkOJgR3U4mLCNoHeL6wmEKPEJu5KIF7_3av5abKsTtS5e2GBqnXy8GNvHhXMsR-s04Cc8Qx84T9aLRnBPyiUv6yBcwhCsJyEp_MQq_ztwbnoDYlP8RGUkDAMOuAGqRqRwFBZndxL2o/s1600/20131017_105347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kOkOJgR3U4mLCNoHeL6wmEKPEJu5KIF7_3av5abKsTtS5e2GBqnXy8GNvHhXMsR-s04Cc8Qx84T9aLRnBPyiUv6yBcwhCsJyEp_MQq_ztwbnoDYlP8RGUkDAMOuAGqRqRwFBZndxL2o/s320/20131017_105347.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The parasail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wMBDbjh5T8yJ3bvz6X8xcAfLJ8dM4_LT9p4jAnjSNqT_1VHQUF0d0tX1NWl9Ol2siBwjco2CoieJFX6Yk3Ctdn67h9lRQAopjCrLlmdFHuy1NHIs6WLen4s5chC8fpq-_K4cGlVkIww/s1600/20131017_110419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wMBDbjh5T8yJ3bvz6X8xcAfLJ8dM4_LT9p4jAnjSNqT_1VHQUF0d0tX1NWl9Ol2siBwjco2CoieJFX6Yk3Ctdn67h9lRQAopjCrLlmdFHuy1NHIs6WLen4s5chC8fpq-_K4cGlVkIww/s320/20131017_110419.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boys</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Yr3_KwBQydNmyBmpMP430MbHB-v104YANV5YdrtpB9wjNRcoZrk4Q2zYSNegPHuS6uz8Xe9ByBo0Wr4Hh8ncPlzrhaIwbVJ_8u4hV7yM2cbsx3nlb6yokAMzDCGON-vese1iDQf_7o8/s1600/20131017_110443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Yr3_KwBQydNmyBmpMP430MbHB-v104YANV5YdrtpB9wjNRcoZrk4Q2zYSNegPHuS6uz8Xe9ByBo0Wr4Hh8ncPlzrhaIwbVJ_8u4hV7yM2cbsx3nlb6yokAMzDCGON-vese1iDQf_7o8/s320/20131017_110443.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fam</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /> And a few pictures from our trip to the nearby Roca Berry Farms - pumpkin patch. This place had tons of things for the kids to do!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's the King of the <strike>World</strike> Haypile</td></tr>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-70837002597355406832013-09-09T12:57:00.001-07:002013-09-09T12:57:23.978-07:00Sam's First Soccer Game<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both boys are playing soccer with Capital Soccer Association here in Lincoln. From what I can tell, it appears to be a pretty serious soccer league with well trained coaches. Gavin is about a month into his season while Sam just started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The little guys just meet once a week on Sundays and practice for 45 minutes followed by a little scrimmage. Aren't their uniforms so cute??</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjaDeL8A1yweTPcdMI8Dx9LDYZvM-SsY4Xtbfc3QrRpo0eIfzuifA8mEmO9UctJLqkfgkdYHOoho4NZ_v5H5oY6pMNcEHHf0DBftpEm2u_Eq0MzhVwrA496ErlnLY8nlDciehdYIdtxhA/s1600/2013-09-08_15-52-54_323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjaDeL8A1yweTPcdMI8Dx9LDYZvM-SsY4Xtbfc3QrRpo0eIfzuifA8mEmO9UctJLqkfgkdYHOoho4NZ_v5H5oY6pMNcEHHf0DBftpEm2u_Eq0MzhVwrA496ErlnLY8nlDciehdYIdtxhA/s400/2013-09-08_15-52-54_323.jpg" width="223" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was 99 degrees out at the start of practice. His cheeks were red before they even started playing!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin had a game in Omaha, so Chad took him there and I took Sam to his practice / game. Afterwards we each took the boys out 1:1 for dinner. It's really nice to spend that one on one time with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam handled practice and the heat like a champ and said he had a lot of fun, especially when he scored a goal. I was squirting water on his head during water breaks but by the end of practice the water was very warm! We stopped by the gas station to grab a cold drink and then headed to Red Robin for dinner.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where he showed off his karate moves</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And acted like <strike>a total goofball</strike> himself<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to say, I love Red Robin! They have a salad I am obsessed with, plus it was way cheap to eat there. We started off with a little plate of fries, I had a salad, Sam had a corn dog kids meal with fruit and a drink, and we shared a dessert. All for $18! My budget loves it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it wouldn't be a day with Sam without a hilarious tidbit coming out of his mouth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Sam: Mom, what are you?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Me: ummm......a momma?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>{shakes head}</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Me: a girl?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>{shakes head}</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Me: well, what am I?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Sam: you are a WOMAN!!</i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-31779027811824441072013-08-29T10:08:00.000-07:002013-08-29T10:08:00.447-07:00Hey Mom....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hear this from Sam at least 20 times a day.....more if we are in the car for any extended period of time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey Mom.....(random fact)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey Mom, did you see (random thing out the window)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey Mom.....(random question)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey Mom.....(joke only funny to him)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week he had a pretty good one.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey Mom, Kelsey said she wants to be a police girl when she grows up. But I told her she has to be a policewoman. BECAUSE that doesn't make sense. It's a policeMAN, there is no policeBOY. Policegirl doesn't make sense, does it? Nope, she has to be a policewoman.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty smart for a 4 yr old...</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-57910482876420580792013-08-28T10:04:00.001-07:002013-08-28T10:04:07.797-07:00Gavin is NINE!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh my goodness....I was looking at old photo's and I don't even remember this little boy..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin is growing up......like I wrote real words in his birthday card and he read them aloud and took them to heart..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has had such a great year and we are so proud! He had a wonderful year in third grade and is doing awesome so far in 4th grade in Lincoln. He is out playing with neighborhood kids here, zipping around the neighborhood on his bike, or running laps and telling us about everything he sees in the neighborhood (a state trooper lives one street over!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can not believe this is the same kid that I was just hoping would breathe on his own nine years ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He's not a perfect kid, we're not a perfect family - I hate blogs that are all roses, all the time. We are normal people that have our moments, and he can be stubborn and hot tempered and grumpy and mean to his brother. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, more often than not he is sweet, and kind hearted, and thankful. He works hard, he likes hugs, and would be so great to his little brother if little brother weren't always starting trouble :) He is funny, has a quirky sense of style, and wants to be an individual. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night we celebrated with a dinner at home with all his favorites - steak and baked potatoes on the grill, roasted carrots, jello cake. He got some super cool DJ style headphones from us and has a couple more gifts coming in the mail this week - unfortunately I didn't get the order in on Amazon quick enough to make it yesterday! Just Dance 4 and his very own Garmin GPS running watch should be arriving soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hate that the years seem to be flying by! This last year has been pretty amazing....it is so fun now that he is older and we can do more things together, skiing, running, kicking the soccer ball. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After nine years of parenting, you learn that it's not slowing down any time soon.....so I'm just going to remind myself to stop and appreciate all the good moments. I am so thankful to have this child in my life!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-66993970715710851112013-08-14T06:46:00.002-07:002013-08-14T06:46:25.061-07:00I think we are going to like it here<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, Gav survived his first day of school, timed math tests and all :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After school we came back to my office for a bit and then to the hotel to hit the fitness center and pool. I wasn't feeling it so cut my work out short, postponing it to today and instead we went out for Cherry Berry! Good trade, don't you think?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our house is right by a Super Target, which is super dangerous. We had a small list of things we needed (shower rod, curtain, rings, etc). We ended up with decorations for the kids room and a whole lot of other stuff as well. I never got around to decorating our house in Johnston, so it is kind of fun to decorate the kids bath with matching accessories, hang posters in the kids rooms, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got to the house and the new carpet that we installed on the first floor looks so good! Good thing we replaced it since the neighbor girl told Gav she saw the little kid that lived there pee on the floor one time. Gav was horrified. I spent some time scrubbing some schmutz off the fridge......I'm thinking I can never buy a used house again. I realize that makes me incredibly privileged (and I totally acknowledge that I am) - but other peoples dirt and residue totally skeeves me out!! There is definitely a cleaning list we will need to work through, windows, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gav went outside and played with the neighbor kids for a good hour while I worked on the house and dinner. He brought his buddy Cole in to show him around the house. I was so happy that the kids were so welcoming and friendly! There's just kids all over the place in this neighborhood. I didn't a chance to get outside and talk to parents, but hopefully tonight I can do that and get in on a carpool to school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning when I dropped Gavin off at school, he didn't want me to walk him in. I just dropped him near the doors and he immediately saw a kid he knew and started talking and walking in with him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So overall, things are going really well here and I am excited about how well Gavin is handling the transition. He seems to have a confidence that I didn't have til I was an adult - now I love walking into a situation where I don't know anyone and chatting up new people, but I don't remember that as a kid. I was shy about approaching people first, and Gavin just puts himself out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I just hope it goes as well for Sam once he gets here!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-10842835519926220242013-08-13T07:17:00.001-07:002013-08-13T07:17:10.015-07:00First Day of School!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin and I are hotel living in Lincoln! We checked into the Holiday Inn yesterday and are living there for the week. We closed on our house last Friday but we won't have our stuff moved until next week. More importantly, we won't have internet til next week. That was the deciding factor :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a rough first soccer practice with his new team last week, Gav had a GREAT practice last night. They play at a big sports complex, so I took the time to get a 5 mile run in. By the time I came back to watch practice, he was easily chatting with the other kids (and impressing them with his stomach roll parlor trick).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped by Red Robin for a quick dinner, and then hit the hotel for bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin woke up excited and not at all nervous about his first day of school. We parked on a side street and I walked him in - seems like a lot of people were walking to school or parking and walking (there is not a bus program in Lincoln). We found where the 4th graders were lining up and got him into his line. I tried to ask a couple parents about the pick up process, but they were either new as well, or walked. I'm afraid it feels a little disorganized, but we'll figure it out. The good thing is that there seem to be quite a few new kids in Gavin's class, so he is not the only one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another good thing I noticed is that the traffic doesn't seem to bad in the morning (at least in the south part where our house / school / office is).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I am counting down the hours until I get to go pick him up and hear all about his first day! On the agenda for tonight is getting signed up at the Y and making dinner at the new house (and then coming back to the hotel to sleep - good thing everything is close to each other!). 4 hours and 37 minutes.....this day is going fast!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-19306057625101098422013-05-25T14:01:00.000-07:002013-05-25T14:01:09.571-07:00John Wayne Bday Festival<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been a LONG time since I posted, and hopefully one of these days I'll have time to catch you (yes you, all three people that read this!) of all that's been going on. The Sellers have been doing well, kids got through the end of the school year, Gavin and Chad are having amazing racing seasons, and we are exploring some exciting opportunities on the career / job fronts. I'm so grateful for our health and all the good things in our lives, because there are others I know that are fighting job loss, cancer, and other life altering events. Count your blessings people!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam went to grandma Betsy's for the weekend, so Chad and I went out to Winterset to run a small 5k that was part of a line up of events for the John Wayne celebration. Gavin came with us to cheer us on. The fitness sports website had 9:30 start time listed, so we went out there, registered by 8:30 and thought we had plenty of time to warm up. I went one way to warm up a couple miles and hit the restroom, Chad went another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got back to the van at 9:11 and Gavin told me the website was wrong, the race started at 9, and dad had been able to jump in the race. I have to admit I was really, really bummed. I was looking forward to it, my training has been going well, and with a small field I had a chance of taking the win for the women. But then I tried to remember the big picture and that this was not that big of deal. Stuff happens. Gav and I jogged up to watch the finishers come in and yell for Chad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the race, Chad was going to cool down with the guy that won, and another guy from Pioneer that came out and ran the race. He told me to join them, and it could at least be a decent tempo (close to race pace) run for me. Ha! Yes, Chad's easy cool down pace is my race pace. I kept up with them a good mile and a half and started fading. So we eased up a little, but still got a couple good faster (for me) miles in. Then we did another couple miles at my cool down pace. So, I didn't race, but I got in some good miles and ran with the Hubs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin really wanted to stay for the pie tasting, but it didn't start til 12:30 (it was 10 am still!). Our Pioneer friend hopped in our van and we took off to see the covered bridges. Along the way we passed a winery, with the tasting room open at 11, so after seeing a couple bridges, we stopped in the tasting room. Gavin drank a sprite while I sampled all their wines and the guys sampled the beer. Iowa wine has sure come a long way from the sickly sweet stuff they used to be!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally we made it back to Winterset for pie time. We also stopped into Mi Pueblito for lunch and it was amazing mexican food! They had this smoky, tasty hot sauce that I am now regretting not asking to buy a big cup of to bring home. If you happen to be in / near / driving through Winterset, you can not go wrong there, especially with their lunch specials ~ $5 a plate for a ton of food.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now we are relaxing at home, we head to Cedar Rapids for a track meet tomorrow.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-5849641959724640512013-03-17T19:20:00.000-07:002013-03-17T19:20:07.664-07:00Ski Trip 2013 - 1st ski day<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First day of skiing done and I am EXHAUSTED!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The drive yesterday went very well, we made awesome time and the kids were as well behaved as could be expected. As soon as we hit the mountain we got into some weather, again, to be expected. Rain turned to snow turned to icy roads. But I'll take an hour of stressed out driving because it meant fresh powder!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We are staying at Cirque Lodge at Copper Mountain, on recommendation from a friend. It happened to be a fairly good deal too. We are in a two bedroom condo and it has an awesome deck, nice features, and we have a ski locker, gym, pool, hot tubs at our disposal. It's a bit of a walk to get to the lifts, certainly not bad if it were just me, but far for little kids. Copper Mountain does have these carts all over the place though, that you can use to haul your equipment (and children) around. <em>Remind me to tell you how fun it is to pull a cart + 40 lb preschooler, plus our skis through fresh powder after a long day of skiing. Partially uphill. </em>At least I am getting a <strong>full</strong> body workout.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo: View from the deck" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="403" src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/c156.0.403.403/p403x403/481177_4655795357342_1160263255_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="403" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">View from our deck</span></strong></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo: Someone is excited to be here" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="403" src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c136.0.403.403/p403x403/181073_4655791717251_813677491_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="403" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Someone was excited to get here</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sam was signed up for ski and Gav and I skied together. Everything went very smooth at ski school drop off and Sam wasn't nervous at all. Gav and I headed for the ski lift - which wasn't very busy! I don't know if it's just like this on Sundays in general, but we were never waiting in lines.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo: Happiest mommy ever with these too" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="403" src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/c199.0.403.403/p403x403/418857_4661171811750_828316425_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="403" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dropping Sam off</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We sailed down some green runs and Gavin had no problem remembering how to ski. It was snowing pretty hard the first hour or so, and then the rest of the day it snowed on and off. It was nice at the base of the mountain, but really cold when we approached the top of a couple of the lifts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We progressed to some blue runs and then tried to plan out a black. I do find the signage at Copper a little hard to follow. We had a hard time sticking to our planned route due to a trail cutting across a mountain and not being able to make it over there. In the end we only hit one or two black trails, they were really hard! And Gavin does not ski easy - he is really cautious and doesn't get out of control but he also doesn't stop til he gets all the way to the bottom. I love how cautious he is, but that means more turning (more work for the quads) and then not getting a rest break (Copper has really nice, long runs) was making me cramp up a bit. I was also diagnosed with iron deficiency Friday, so the fact that my muscles are not getting / storing / using oxygen as they should doesn't help. Constant lactic acid pain is not the most fun thing.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo: Really? Why are you taking my picture when we could be skiing??" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="403" src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/c156.0.403.403/p403x403/62752_4662969856700_1161842209_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="403" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Last picture, he was getting tired, cold and kinda over it</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Around 2:15 we headed back to the lodge where I would have to pick up Sam at 3. Gavin was done skiing, so I set him up with some hot chocolate while I carried his ski's back to our condo and got the ski harness for Sam in case he wanted to ski more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I picked up Sam from ski school, and was a bit bummed with the results. He couldn't stop, could barely snow plow and could only turn right. Oof. We went into the lodge and met up with Gav and Chad and Sam promptly started melting down while simultaneously insisting he was ok to come on the ski lift and down the hill with me. Against my better judgment, we took off. He cheered up once he got the ski's back on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We made it on and off the lift without consequence. Woohoo!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I started out trying the harness and he just fell backwards. We then did the Sam skiing between my legs while holding on to my poles, and it worked as long as it wasn't too steep. He was pretty tired by this point and just getting him to put his weight on his own legs (instead of leaning back on me) was nearly impossible. I think it took us about 45 minutes to make it down the run <em>(remember what I said about the nice long runs? I take that back) </em>and not only were my quads on fire but my lower back as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to talk him into another ski lesson tomorrow, but I have reservations because I'm not sure he got a lot out of it today. I've heard good things about the harness, so I am now off to google You Tube videos on how to teach a 4 yr old to ski using one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wish me luck. And strong muscles. And patience. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Oh and the hubs? He dropped Sam off with us at ski school, helped Gav and I get our gear on, checked out the village, and did some snow shoeing!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-45516330216966362452013-03-11T09:19:00.002-07:002013-03-11T09:19:32.869-07:00I'll Love You For A Million and 71 Days<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">~ quote by Samson Sellers</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sam, as many 4 yr olds are, is a complete split personality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On one hand, he is loving, sweet, sensitive and attentive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The other side is devious, trouble making, mouthy, and temper tantrum-y. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Both happen in the extreme.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When he is in a loving mood, I get showered with lots of "I love you's" and smooches. He'll usually say something like "I love you for the WHOLE weekend, mama!"</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A weekend seems like a pretty long time for a little kid after all! As we went back and forth with how long we'd love each other, he topped out at a million and seventy one days. Good enough for this mama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Another great example of his caring spirit - my fellow preemie mom friend's daughter Daphne just had a kidney transplant last week. She's four, and recovery has been tough. She needs to start moving around more to aid in recovery, so I thought making some video of Sam dancing around would inspire her to move, shimmy and shake a bit, if nothing else, it might cheer her up. We made one Saturday and the next day he woke up and asked how "Daph-a-nee" was doing and if she was still in the hospital. When I told her that she was, he wanted to record another video for her. I have linked them below if you want to check out his moves!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-3907980421569318322013-03-08T08:31:00.003-08:002013-03-08T08:31:28.110-08:00A Boy and His Cat<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Gavin loves this cat so much! For those that don't know the story, we picked out Meatball from the rescue league in January of 2007. He was already named Meatball. We knew he was the cat for us, and for Gavin as a pesky-to-animals two yr old when Gavin reached into his cage, picked up a little ball and chucked it right at the cat's head. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Meatball didn't even flinch, bite, or meow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ever since then it has been true love. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrmq6Pjtq90lne__V9GSGXCkwWhlOKMwutMTmPhA7eV8oGZ04sM7nDxKlZPPtznz-uGKgAGlZLYOaYAzwPDNdHLYyUP398mwIjSG4G1Wxai1JPrLWVp6nDkinXC2zDm6n18Wi7A7KF6k/s1600/2013-01-12_13-59-14_374%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" jsa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrmq6Pjtq90lne__V9GSGXCkwWhlOKMwutMTmPhA7eV8oGZ04sM7nDxKlZPPtznz-uGKgAGlZLYOaYAzwPDNdHLYyUP398mwIjSG4G1Wxai1JPrLWVp6nDkinXC2zDm6n18Wi7A7KF6k/s320/2013-01-12_13-59-14_374%5B1%5D.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;">Meatball really loves this. I promise.</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-49252474825005772292013-03-05T05:24:00.000-08:002013-03-05T05:24:00.180-08:00Sam Has Big Goals<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Saturday morning, Sam bounced out of the bathroom and announced:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">"I'm going to wear my skeleton underwear ALL weekend!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Shoot for the stars, kid :)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-11752075929427080252013-03-04T05:23:00.001-08:002013-03-04T05:23:17.496-08:00Gavin can Hold a Ten Minute Plank<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You are going to be getting some really random posts. I have lost the cord for my camera, so I can't get the pictures off of it until I get a new one. In the meantime, enjoy the randomness and camera pics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One of the exercises we do during our core work out at track practice is the plank. We usually hold it for a minute, kids whining and complaining the whole way through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The kids all seem to have abs and six packs on the brain, so they are starting to challenge each other. First, Gavin held the plank for 2 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then a few days later he held it for 3 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Saturday morning after practice he held it for 3 min 10 sec.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Last night he held it for TEN minutes. He wasn't worn out from running before hand, but still. That is super ridiculous.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-43048706981720052392013-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:002013-02-04T05:33:02.694-08:00Sam's 4th Birthday Party!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam was supposed to celebrate his birthday last weekend, but an icy winter storm led to cancellation. We just didn't want to risk people getting hurt on the roads. So we picked up his Batman birthday cake and took it to Grandma Janet's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nice people at Monkey Joe's allowed us to reschedule at the last minute, so yesterday we were at Monkey Joe's with eight wild four year olds. The only casualty was a busted lip (Sam's).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always hear about all these boys that Sam is friends with at school. His class is pretty much all boys except for one girl who is now his "girlfriend". Every day I hear the tales of their adventures playing Avengers. When I pick him up at school he is always playing and happy, but I have never really seen them in action.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh.my.goodness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is such a joy to see Sam with his buddies. They are a great little group of kids, and they just ran around the play place in a pack, switching off which kids were buddying up for different bounce houses. They were all just so happy and delighted and excited to be there together. I so much appreciated the sheer childish delight that I saw. It makes me so happy knowing that every day he goes to school he is spending time with kids he really enjoys. And a lot of them will be going to his same elementary school!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We made it through the party without incident. Only upset moment was when his friend who is our neighbor burst into tears. He was at a disadvantage not knowing the other kids besides Sam, so they turned on him as the "bad guy". After trying to get Sam to tell everyone he wasn't the bad guy (at that moment Sam was in tears about his busted lip) poor F broke down crying. I quickly made all the kids at the table tell him he wasn't the bad guy and the tears subsided. Whew. Crisis averted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Birthday, my Sam. You are such a crazy ray of sunshine, happiness and optimism. You balance out the rest of us in the family that may have a tendency to be a little darker, sensitive and dramatic. You live your life with a constant mischievous twinkle in your eye - and while this is sometimes leading to trouble, I wouldn't change you for anything!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photo: This cool kid is super excited for his birthday party!" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="403" src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c137.0.403.403/p403x403/541603_4237122290777_668786361_n.jpg" width="403" /></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-52153074707875358522013-01-11T06:02:00.000-08:002013-01-11T06:02:45.797-08:00A Letter to My Boys: On Diversity & Acceptance & Being an American<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I don't write about myself too much here, but yesterday I encountered something that is weighing so heavy on my heart. I did use it to have a good discussion with Gavin, but my hope is that they can read back on this blog and see the person that I am, and who I hope they are growing up to be. This is such an important topic.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Yesterday a good friend - one of my best friends - told me she was drawing a line and only going to be spending time with similar minded people that she found common ground with. The basis for being similar minded was political views. She's always been very conservative. I've always been fairly liberal, but not outspoken. We've never discussed politics. It was a huge blow to me. This was my maid of honor. I think she might be listed as second in my will to look after my kids if for some reason my brother can't. Yeah, we were that tight.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To Sam & Gavin:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I am so proud to be an American. There are so many amazing things that this country stands for. We were founded on the ideals of being a democracy. People have the right to think for themselves, and we vote for the people that we believe will steer the country in a direction that we want to see it go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We are a country founded on diversity. I have heard so many terms over the years "melting pot", "mixing bowl". All to say that we are all different - we come from different places, we have different beliefs, we have different ideas on how the country should be run. </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">These are such good things.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sometimes there are more people that think differently than us than think the same. Sometimes we don't agree with the way the leaders of the country are doing things. The great thing is that, <strong>we can disagree</strong>. We can speak out, and we can voice our opinions, and exercise our right to influence the outcome by voting. It doesn't mean it always goes our way. That's ok because while we may not always agree with how things are being done, it doesn't mean that the other side is fundamentally wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There is a difference between being firmly grounded in your beliefs and being divisive and narrow minded. Don't limit your relationships to people that think exactly the way you do. Celebrate your differences. Let them challenge your belief structure. Being a republican doesn't make someone a bad person any more than choosing to wear jeans while you prefer sweat pants makes someone a bad person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Learn about your differences. We have an amazing opportunity to learn from each other - explore new religions, other cultural traditions. Understand that what your family and home structure looks like might be very different from someone elses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We might not always understand, or even like, someone else's opinion. Don't allow your view of another human being to be limited to just one facet. We are so much more than "just" our religion/political affiliation/job/gender/ethnicity/sexual orientation. Surround yourselves with good and loving people, and accept that you won't see eye to eye on everything. Differences are not a reason to dismiss people. Tolerance and acceptance is about loving someone even when you think they are wrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When evaluating a relationship ask yourself: <em>does this person treat others fairly? are they kind? </em>If the answer to these questions is yes, none of the other stuff matters. If you have someone in your life that is a good person, that supports you, that you enjoy spending time with, <strong>none of the other stuff matters</strong>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Some of my favorite people in my life have vastly different religious and political beliefs. I don't like them any less for it. I welcome discussion on those topics because I'm always curious to learn the reasons why people feel the way they do. But honestly, I don't even give it that much thought. We find common ground in working together, in our life history, in running, in being parents. Yeah, sometimes we may migrate towards people that think the same way we do, and that's ok too. </span><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How boring would your world be if you surrounded yourself ONLY with people just like you?</span></em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I leave you with saying that I am so lucky for all my friends and family and the diversity that is represented amongst all of them. No one says it better than Ellen DeGeneres in her sign off - </span><br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Be Kind to One Another</span></em></strong><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-47611365543843779242012-12-28T07:28:00.001-08:002012-12-28T07:28:19.241-08:00Gavinisms & Samversations<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello friends, long time, no post. It's been a crazy month - traveling to NM for Cross Country Nationals, a re-org at work (resulting in more work for me, a new boss, and no more compensation), the Sandy Hook shootings, and the holidays - well, it's been a seriously emotionally draining month for me. It's hard for me to put words on a page when I get in a funk like this. My life is good. I have nothing to complain about, especially not at a time when so many are mourning the loss of their sweet children. It's doesn't seem appropriate to talk about how national tragedies affect me - even though it affects us all, it doesn't come close to how it affects those directly impacted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And you certainly don't need another post about how lucky and grateful I am - I've written plenty of those, and I still feel lucky and grateful. So, it's hard to write.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll finish recapping NM and the holidays another time, instead I'll leave you with the latest funny from the kids. </span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gavin was at my office yesterday morning. We've replaced paper coffee cups with re-usable mugs, and there are red mugs in the break room for guests. Employees have green mugs that we are responsible for keeping track of. I gave Gav a mug of hot chocolate, and as we were standing around with our coffee mugs, chatting with my (former) boss, Gavin said:</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I feel like a real businessperson with this mug!"</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam woke up Christmas morning with a story on his mind. As soon as he woke up he said:</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Mom, you know about the Angels that have to guard the garden?? There was a <strong>sneaky snake</strong> that poisoned the apple. And they weren't supposed to eat it, but Eve gave it to Adam, and he ate it - and that's how they got in trouble with God! And now the Angels have to watch over the garden."</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I posted this on FB tagging his teacher, who was so proud that he pays attention at "Jesus time"!</span></em><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sitting on the couch, <strong>right next to me</strong>, playing on his new Kindle Fire:</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Mom, I just feel alone right now. I feel really, really alone."</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heartbroken to hear this, I prod him on how he could possibly feel alone when I was right next to him. He felt alone that I wasn't playing his game <strong>with</strong> him!</span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Telling me about his day yesterday:</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Mom, it was a bad day for the Avengers today. There were so many bad guys, and not many good guys at school today!"</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He and his buddies play Avengers all the time at school. They all are a character and from the stories I hear, these are very elaborate games that they come up with. Hopefully good will prevail.</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Avengers - assemble!!"</span>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersellers/8258387989/" title="Santa fe train "sam, give me a nice smile" by bridie sellers, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8258387989_a9c6ffdeaf.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="Santa fe train "sam, give me a nice smile""></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-20155533168850247272012-12-06T16:37:00.002-08:002012-12-06T16:37:40.286-08:00We Made it To New Mexico!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning we had a very uneventful plane trip to New Mexico via Denver. Only hiccup was a little bit of a delay getting out of Denver and it was minor. When we landed in Albuquerque, we got our rental car and went stratight to the cross country field where Gavin and I ran the course and practiced a fast finish. It's a nice flat course, and hopefully the elevation won't bother him too much! He drew a really good starting box slot, so he should have the best possible conditions for a great race.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The house Chad rented is awesome, and he is the official travel planner of the family now. It's a nice big place in a newish development. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersellers/8251318190/" title="In our front yard at the new mexico rental #runcation by bridie sellers, on Flickr"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="In our front yard at the new mexico rental #runcation" height="500" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8346/8251318190_735b210464.jpg" width="500" /></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not the house that you can see in the pic, but the one right next to it is for sale for just $400k if you are interested :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are off to the grocery store and to grab dinner. Trying to be a better blogger, so look for mini updates throughout our trip!</span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-39239766417876155142012-11-05T13:21:00.003-08:002012-11-05T13:21:56.453-08:00Sam's Freakin' Bucket List<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam Sellers, as always, is precocious and keeps our hands very very full. His latest joy is the very liberal use of the word "freakin'".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As in "I don't want you to go to your stupid, freakin' job today".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or when he is mad, he simply just yells "freakin'!!".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He apparently told Chad a couple weeks ago about his bucket list. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He wants to:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go Fishing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ride a Train (and he wants to sleep on it)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fly in a Helicopter</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are planning our trip to New Mexico for USATF Cross Country Junior Olympic Nationals and there is a train we can ride there. Chad told me that we could fulfill one of the things on Sam's bucket list. I hadn't heard them yet, so Sam jumped up and rattled them off for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, that freakin' kid.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09823563232341010867noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1544684520494655359.post-35865485757693614722012-10-28T17:01:00.000-07:002012-10-28T17:01:30.984-07:00Sam: Soccer StarSam has been playing soccer with i9 sports this fall. I helped coach the team and twelve 3 & 4 year olds are a lot to handle!<br />
<br />
Yesterday was his last game - of course, just as he was starting to get into it. The kid does not like the cold, and unfortunately most of his games fell on pretty chilly weekends. Somehow the nice weather has all been reserved for the work week this fall.<br />
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