ABK FALL MEET 2010 - GO CHASE!

Chase did awesome at her first meet at her new gym...America's Best Kids. She was so nervous, she didn't sleep for 3 days because she was running her routines over and over. She was within .025-.10 all meet of taking it all but what a great first step into a new realm of competition!

Cascade Lakes Relay 2010

Here's the album...the pics say it all...except that I didn't feel in shape. I ran the 10 mile hill climb at Granite Man the week before and thought, hey, if I can train 5-6 miles I'll surely be able to push it to 10 for the race...I did. So I thought that theory would work for CLR since my longest leg was only 6.6 miles. WRONG...I forgot about the other contributing factors that DON'T work in your favor when participating in CLR...like...no sleep for 2 days, hot weather (I run at 6 am at home to avoid the heat), lack of good nutrition, cramped in a car and running 3 times in 1.5 days instead of 1 time every 3 days. Anyway, things to work on for next year...train and train hard! All in all, I love my team of runners and our support team that cooked for us at the end of the race and set up a great celebration house to come together and laugh, share and hug hug hug!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2073067&id=1492913698&l=e41d0d1eb6

Granite Man...

Granite Man race...Josh and crew put on the Granite Man multi-race this year...hopefully the first of a long future putting on a great event in the Rogue valley. Geoffrey and Jett resting up at the end of a long day of setting up the courses and riding Segways!

Sister Picnic

Why it took us so long to think of it, who knows but we finally did...Sarah and I drove an hour and met Baboo (and baby Eva) in the middle on I5 and had a picnic, bride's maid dress fitting and 5 hours of great sister time.

Update...

Oops...the end of the tournament got very crazy but in the end, we took home 2nd place. Not only were we spared another 2 weeks of baseball and a week in Portland for the state tourney...we gained our SUMMER!!! Hallelujah, we are relaxed happy campers now enjoying the HOTHOTHOT weather, boating on the lake and an open free schedule...ahhh...big sigh...

Jett is 1 team away from winning the all-star tournament...

It's been a LONG 5 days and we have 2 to go hopefully to take home the district championship! Go Jett!

Locks of Love...3 ponies officially cut off...

The plan was for me and my girlies to cut all of our hair off together...I wasn't ready for a crazy short bob so I waited...today I cut off 10 inches and feel like me again...ahh...long hair is not me...ah...this feels GREAT!!!

4th of July

Sailor and I ran in the 4th race and she did her 2 miles in 17 minutes...she wanted to pass everyone she could...I had a hard time keeping up!
Jett getting a massage on all of his painful baseball parts...

Jett chillin' at the parade...

My family/employee getting ready to run in the Ashland 4th run...

A fun June...

For Sarah's birthday and Father's Day we partied with Steve Martin and his banjo band. Oh my...he is amazing and when he encored to "King Tut"...we went crazy crazy...

Jett received many praises and 2 marriage proposals after a week as a counselor at Vacation Bible School. He loves working with the 2-3 year olds...they LOVE him!!! I am so proud of my boy for living many years as a kid at VBS and now giving back to the new little ones by loving on them, creatively getting them to listen and being a jungle jim for all to climb! Great kid!

Auntie Sarah's graduation

The girls and their little cousin...
The bro and sistahs...
The whole damn fam...

Game 1...WIN...18-3...

Jett started the game pitching and did well. He got a triple and a double today...something he hasn't done in a game maybe EVER! The stands were filled with a sea of red ATP (Ashland Town Pride)...lots of people from the community and our younger 2 all-star teams, one that just won their tourney and is heading to state...we hope we follow... One W down, 4 to go!

12 years in the making...

For Jett, it's been 12 years in the making. For Josh, it's been 26 years since it happened for him. Little League 12 year old All-Stars...the big guys...Little League World Series potential! We're not holding our breath to go all the way like Josh did back in the day when his team went to Maine for the LLWS but we'd like to make it out of our own backyard and up to Salem for state. The anticipation (I refrain from using the word "fun" because I become a competitive, anxious ball of "FUN" starting tomorrow!) begins Friday night and continues through the holiday weekend and beyond.

My boys (coach and son) grabbed lots of spotlight in the first article of the tourney today. Jett's quotes are so cute! :) Go Ashland!!!

Setting the D6 stage | DailyTidings.com

Congrats Jett!

My sweet boy just played his last game of his 7 year little league career...Jett and Josh's team came in 1st place for the past 3 years and this weekend took home 2 trophies for both season and tournament champions! We still have all-stars which will be in Ashland just a few blocks from our house...perfection!!! I am feeling very sad not to sit at our beautiful fields watching my babe play the game he loves. The player's parents are a family, the siblings love their thrice weekly playdates at the fields and cheering on all the same boys year after year has come to and end...boo boo hoo. We're on to middle school ball which is just a short little stepping stone to, dare I say...Ashland H.S. Grizzly Baseball! Slow down life...slow down!

Chase's Spring Exhibition Show

Here's a little snippet of Chase's show...I'll spare you the longer version! :)

Dad and his girls

Front yard soccer is their thang!

A little bit of Jett in action...

Here ya go Grammy...Jett used to be a relief pitcher and he's turned into one of our 2 starters...hmmm...wonder if he'll switch from catcher...momma hopes not, his knees are praying, "yes, please", I'm sure!

War on Vaccines

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vaccines/view/

This Frontline show was filmed in Ashland this past week. Chase appears in it within the first 7-8 minutes during her gymnastics class. I live in an amazing town but man, let me tell you how nuts so many of its residents are. I will be a very grumpy mommy if my children come down with a new strand of some terrible disease because some nutty Ashlander didn't vaccinate their child. Ugh...Ashland is a zoo...come visit sometime, there's lots to see!

My 1/2 Marathon, a story told...

(in the white tank)




I just returned from a very fun family weekend...actually only about 1.5 days out of Ashland. We got to see the Cougs NOT hit the ball and lose 2 games against the Ducks...boo hoo. But on a happy note, I finished an interesting experience this morning. Here's the tale...
At 6 am Josh took me into Eugene to Hayward Field...home of Prefontaine and Track Town, USA. I arrived in the midst of 8000 runners of all ages...I was most impressed with the huge number runners over 40...super inspiring.

7 am I scrunched into the huge mob to begin my first 13.1 mile run.
Miles 1-3 I was one of the hundreds of cattle chugging along, well over my pace time because I could barely move.
Miles 3-5 The herd started opening up, I picked up my pace, shed a couple of layers and the race was on.
Miles 5-9 I'm feeling gooooood...I think I could run FOREVER. The cheerful observers had awesome signs and encouraging smiles and the gatorade/water stations were a lifesaver.
Miles 9-11 Still enjoying the run, warmer weather but eagerly looking for the big blue banners waving in the wind with my next mile marked on them.
Mile 11 My feet are starting to talk to me, for the third time since I began running I pushed the tears of "oh my gosh, I'm really doing this" back down.
Miles 12-13 Wow, that went fast and I hope my toenails are still intact and oh man, keep chuggin' because the spectators are getting thick and I don't want to look like I have no gas left.
Mile 13.1 Wow again, I entered Hayward Field with a track full of runners bolting to the finish line and a stadium full of cheering friends and family. About 20 yards to the finish line I see Josh, then Chase and Sailor waving and smiling. I gave them a big happy wave and crossed the finish line with an abrupt thought, "I'm done, really, already."

So, aside from the stinky runners, weird goo squishing out of a runners armpit, hurdling over a super flat squirrel on the road, the 70 year old beating me, gatorade up my nose at mile 8 and periodically getting elbowed by eager runners...I had a blast!

The course was beautiful and easy, the weather was perfectly refreshing and digging deep within to keep my legs moving for 2 hours was so amazing. I prayed for runners I passed or saw across the meadow on the return loop who were working so hard but were going to probably struggle down the road because of their age, weight or inexperience...It inspired me to see them committed to the race, to their health and the experience...I prayed they would have peaceful endurance, encouragement and enjoy their day.

I was so happy to hug my family after the race and see how excited they were...and probably relieved knowing my 10 weeks of training and being crazy about finding time to run is OVER...for now...Cascade Lakes Relay: 216 miles with my 11 teammates in July is next...way fun! However, note to self, don't eat curry the night before, it can sneak up and cause some worry along the way.

Stats: Finish time 2 hrs 5 minutes, 9:34 miles pace time, top 26% of all half-marathon runners, top 25% female runners. This is my personal best, my training pace time was 10:00 miles but its funny how people watching you run on the sidelines makes you run faster...gotta look like the race is easy, right??!! :)

Thank you God for a healthy body to run, a supportive family and the desire to try new things!

Boulevard Coffee...check it...

We have a new and much improved website. Check it out: http://boulevard-coffee.com/. My favorite part is our barista bios under Cafe/Galleries/BC bios. Fun stuff...I love my business and staff...they're super duper!

55 hours...

I'm on the 2ish day countdown until my first, and probably last, 1/2 marathon. We leave Saturday morning for a fun filled weekend of Cougs/Ducks baseball, family time and 13.1 miles to boot. How can running seem to amazing and exhilerating when I'm NOT doing it and then once I'm doing it, ugh, I feel like a weakling? Wish me well that I'll be exhilerated DURING my race on Sunday.

State...and it is finished!

Chase did great at state. She got her personal best All-Around score, two 9.1s and a 9th place Floor Ribbon to boot. My favorite part was that she had fun the entire competition with her 2 teammates she was with for her session. They played, giggled, cheered and enjoyed FUN competition. Now with 3 meets under her "leo", she is ready for a break from competition a summer of fun skill building with her team. Cousin Jessie, Auntie Baboo and I sat in the bleachers to everyone's envy...we brought seat cushions and didn't suffer too long after 5 hours. The pizza, chocolate and girl time helped too...

As I'm posting this, Chase said to me, "Um mom, I don't mean to be rude but should the blog no just be about me?" She's absolutely right...no more Chase on the blog! :)

State...Here we come...

Chase and I are leaving for her first state meet in Eugene in the morning. She's oblivious to the nerves part of it at this point but I think once she sees the venue and all the nervous gymnasts that are competing it'll set in. We are excited about getting out of town, bringing cousin Jessie with us and staying at Auntie Baboo's house. Here is Chase's 9.70 on the vault, her best score ever so far, at her last meet where she earned her first, 1st place medal. Oh boy, here we go!

Easter and more Easter...

Easter is my personal favorite Holy-day! We spent the morning at church with our church family, lunch with friends and the afternoon with just the 5 of us watching movies, playing Life and swimming...ahhh...God is good for giving me the perfect day. God is good all the time and today my baby, the final of us 5, made a pubic profession of her inward confession to have Jesus in her heart! Her baptism was so special, our youth pastor and special friend, Ken, was her chosen "dunker" and lots of very special people came to see her special moment.





Chase's Baptism with Pastor Ken and Daddy ending in a prayer for Chase.

Easter Eggs, Friends and Bunnies...

We spend our holidays with our special friends...I mean family...the Michiels. We played games, dined and dyed and watched old home videos of us all together from 10 years ago when we were all so much younger and...we'll just say younger. :)

Bowling cousins

Grandpa Greg came for a visit with Josh's aunt and uncle and 2 cousins...the girls played played and played!

 

Family Art Wall

Mom, this is for you. I hung up all your old art cards you sent me with the painting my kids did. Now we have a family art wall.

Spring Break Handspring Clinic

I dropped off the little missy with 1 back handspring under her belt and I picked her up with 3...gotta love the air trak.

I'm waiting to feel like a runner...

I'm 4 weeks into my 10 week training for the Eugene 1/2 Marathon. After running a few races last year and my wonderful 216 mile relay with my Twisted Blister team, I took the winter off. I've been running for a month and waiting for it to get easy. I struggle every time I run. Saturdays are the long run of 4 each week and tomorrow I was supposed to run farther than I ever have in my life...10 miles. I have company in town so I decided tonight I'd tackle it. I ate what I needed to, stayed especially hydrated for an extra day but by mile 9 I was dizzy, foggy and ready to heave. However, I'm done right this second and so very tired. Oi Vey, 11 next Saturday and not sure if I can go through that again. Lord help me stay motivated, run the good race, the race marked for me...

I need to keep Paul's words in Hebrews and Corinthians at the forefront of my mind: ”So let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" and ”Run in such away to win the prize“. My prize will be great accomplishment for something I thought I could never do. For the last 20 years I've said I'm not a runner...I'm waiting to feel like a runner still but after my Eugene adventure, I hope I can finally believe it!

Spring Break in Squaw Valley with the SF 49ers

We LOVE our trips to Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics with our friends, the Annens. The weekend is full of outrageous blessings from the amazing food, incredible skiing, beautiful resort and 2 days living amongst Olympians and the San Francisco 49ers. This weekend is the annual "Celebrity Winter and Wine Fest" to raise money for the 49ers Foundation (a youth outreach organization). I was especially excited this year because one of my favorite Olympians, Dan Jansen - 1994 speed skating gold medalist, was around and I actually got to have a conversation with him...AND A PIC, thanks to my brave husband! Thank you thank you Annens for including us again this year!

Locks for my Lovlies

The 3 of us have been growing our hair out FOREVER and Sailor finally said, "ENOUGH, CUT IT OFF". We've all struggled having so much hair but all in the name of a good cause, "Locks for Love". The girls were motivated to donate their hair for wigs for children with cancer but that is all that motivated them. Their new do's are easy, fun and ADORABLE! My day is coming too but I wasn't ready to go as short as they did...coming this spring...

 

Mary Mary Quite Contrary...

Today was conference day at school to kick off Spring Break. I thought I'd share my favorite part of our conferences today for the kiddos. Chase's first grade teacher shared with me a response she wrote to a prompting...a writing assignment they do often.

The prompt from Mrs. Gardener: Mary brought her pet skunk to school.
Chase's response (I'll translate afterwards): Maree had a babe. his name wase Jesus. he is the hale spirit. I love God. he tuk my sin o wae.

"Mary had a baby. His name was Jesus. He is the Holy Spirit. I love God. He took my sin away."


Um...not sure what to say about that except my heart is bursting with sweetness for my daughter. I love that when she hears the name Mary, there's only one thing she thinks of...not skunks or school but Jesus' momma...Amen! The comment on her report card from her teacher was, "I am enjoying Chase immensely and consider myself fortunate to be her teacher! She is a hard worker and willing to take on new and bigger things. I appreciate her deep sense of right and wrong. She is willing to take on the injustices of the world an be the champion to the underdog. She knows who she is and what she believes and willingly shares that with others. Thanks for sharing her with me!"

Now if that doesn't soften my heart for all those times she's being a stinky sister, nothing will! Thank you Jesus for speaking into my child...now please let it reflect on how she interacts with her siblings!

Chase's First Gymnastics Meet

Breakfast at Boulevard Coffee. Jane taught me how to sew yarn into Chase's braid buns to keep them tidy and stuck in place. Ahhh...the things you learn on first meet day. She lost her 2nd front tooth the night before so I'm sure the big gaping hole in her smile helped the judges with cuteness points!


FLOOR 8.25


VAULT 8.55


BARS 8.05 (turn volume off...I'm being loud! :)



BEAM 7.95


Rylie 3rd place All-Around and Chase 4th place All-Around! They both qualified to compete at the state tournament next month. Wahoo!

How perfect are you?

A perfectionist mind-set can sap your strength. It’s endless. There is always another class to attend, project to start, project to finish, relationship to nurture, room to organize... No prison is as endless as the prison of perfection. Her inmates find work but they never find peace. How could they? They never know when they are finished.

We must remember that we were perfectly made...not made to be perfect. That's the greatest new...its not our job to be perfect, its someone else's. So relax, enjoy, check that measuring stick which you measure all your doings and make sure it's a realistic stick!

From my brain today...

Happy Birthday to me...

I like to throw myself birthday parties every year...a great excuse to get my girls together and do something unique and fun! This year I decided to peer pressure my friends into doing my new favorite cross-training exercise...Bikram yoga. This class is 90 minutes long in a room that is 103 degrees. Let's just say...SWEATY, STINKY, INTENSE STUFFINESS AND SWEATYSWEATYSWEATY!!!

I love my friends for being adventurous and willing. Everyone did great. At least we're all still smiling in the after pic. We followed yoga with showers, of course, and then I made them yummy dinner and a movie at my pad. The night was a blessing and I felt loved...thanks all my chickies for getting your sweat on with me!

All I want for Valentine's Day is my...front tooth