Thanksgiving Contribution

Well, we survived another Thanksgiving holiday with our family on the road.
I have come to the conclusion that holidays aren't supposed to relaxing or enjoyable, just memorable.
In our annual tradition we headed north to spend the weekend with my parents and siblings. We always hot the road Wednesday afternoon as soon as Luke's last kid is picked up. (Seems like there are always parents who forget their kid for a few hours. Free babysitting? I don't know.)
Anyways, our memorable weekend began when Tubbs needed to be picked up early on Wednesday. (Only my child would need to be picked up early on a minimum day.) He had a headache, so I put him in the bath tub and gave him Motrin. Shortly after he began vomiting. He said he felt much better and was hungry for lunch so I fed him Cheetos and a sandwich. We thought he was ok and maybe it was just the headache that caused him to get sick. A few hours after his initial vomit we packed up the car and picked up Luke from work, ready to hit the road for Roseville. In Luke's school parking lot Tubbs vomited again. It was a nice yellow from the Cheetos. I thought I was going to toss my cookies.
We texted my mom to let her know what was going on and asked her what we should do. We asked Tubbs if he wanted to go home or hit the road...and of course he was ready to go for it. So, he vomited in a large McDonald's cup inside of a plastic shopping bag for the next 320 miles.
Lovely.

The kids passed out after it got dark on the road
We stopped at one point so I could empty Tubbs' vomit cup and it spilled on my arm.
Again, I thought I was going to lose it.
I had to take a photo!


The next day was Thanksgiving and by the time our turkey dinner was on the table I was nauseous and couldn't eat one bite. BUMMER.
Luke was the next victim who began getting sick through the night.
By Saturday afternoon my 20 year old brother was vomiting and needed to be picked up early from work.
By the time we arrived back home Sunday afternoon we received a text that my brother's 2nd grader was vomiting.
And this morning on Facebook I read that my sister's 3 year old son began vomiting through the night.
So, we brought a nice little virus with us for Thanksgiving.
That was our family's contribution.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Sick Girl

So,Halloween night Petunia started getting red bumps around her mouth. By early the next morning they looked like blisters. Never seen it before so we thought it was from her pacifier. I took her to the baby sitter's and within an hour I receive I call: she has spots and blisters on her feet, booty and hands.
"ugh...."
and more "ugh!"
Poor little girl had "Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease." Bubba got this once before when he was 2 1/2 and went to pre-school. But this case was far worse. It wasn't pretty. I never knew you could get blisters on the outside of the mouth too.
I didn't bother taking her to the doctor since I knew what it was and unfortunately there isn't anything you can do for this nasty virus....except wait it out. So, we all took turns staying home with her during the week and giving her lots of TLC and attention.
I took her to the gym with me Friday and Saturday and I think this is where she might have picked it up. I know, I know...technically she could have picked it up anywhere BUT this was the only environment where she was exposed to other kids/toys. Who knows. But I am kind of skeptical about taking her back with me for a while. This virus has knocked us all out for a while.

She was cranky without her pacifier....so to make her happy we gave it to her. But we boiled lots of pacifiers over the week!


She didn't want to eat much so we bought lots of Popsicles and Go-Gurts.

She liked reorganizing my cupboards.

This was a cranky little bug by Day 3. Not a happy camper.


When the Tylenol kicked in (and she was rested) she was in a playful mood. I know she liked being home everyday and having lots of attention.
I was home with her Monday/Wednesday, Grandma took Tuesday, and Luke was home with her on his birthday (Thursday).
What a week! Thankfully, Petunia has recovered and living back in a bubble for a while.(I wish!) :)

Halloween 2010

Tubbs' pumpkin with his yellow crocs.

I am not sure who let this kid have a knife....

Petunia picked her pumpkin and waited patiently for daddy to carve hers.

This year Bubba wanted to be Harry Potter. Tubbs wanted to be Mario, but Party City was all out....so he settled for some scary thing from Harry Potter named "Dementor." I have never read the books or seen the movies so it was a mystery to me.

Dumbo's little sister, Jumbo. This was Bubba's first Halloween costume...so we recycled it.

Getting ready for Trunk or Treat Friday night. Its Harry Potter in crocs! :)


"Jumbo" was fascinated by Dementor and not scared at all. I thought it was hilarious.


Halloween night we wandered around the neighborhood with the Montana family for a bit. Then we headed back to the house and handed out candy until about 7:30. Fun evening...and luckily I was able to retrieve 2-3 Almond Joys from the kids' bags. :)

Petunia loves her babysitter...who was dressed up as a fairy.

Checking out their treasure.

First 10K Race

What can I say about my first 10K...besides I am glad its over! Its my third official race and I guess I decided to do the 10K instead of the 5K to push myself a little further. I have never ran 6.2 miles in one run before, so I actually woke up early this morning VERY nervous and unable to go back to sleep. Luke, in his usual supportive fashion, told me I would be fine and couldn't understand what I was worrying about. The competitive spirit in me didn't want to be "fine," I wanted to do well. What exactly "well" meant I didn't know. I wanted a miracle to happen....and come in first! :)


Well.... that didn't happen but I did finish the race with a time of 57:19.
I might have caught Valley Fever, but I finished!
Man alive, the last half of the race, the wind and dust kicked up TERRIBLE.
I was running into the wind and thinking to myself "If I would've just ran the 5K I would be done right now. I am an idiot." :)
The dirt was blowing so terrible when I wiped my mouth on my hand, my hand was smudged with mud. When I cleaned my ears out in the shower afterwards, my Q-Tips were black.
Ewwwwwwww.

The beginning of the race.

There were 250 people who ran the 5K and 150 people who ran the 10K. There were way more people today than in my first two races. This got me even more nervous.
Why?
I don't know.
I think part of my nervousness was the fact that I didn't know any of the runners. Originally there were a number of people I knew who were going to run. The guy at work who gave me the registration form bailed at the last moment as well, in order to play golf.
Go figure. Fun over exercise? And my best friend ended up not being able to run after being up all night sick.
So... I was on my own. Kind of.
Luke and the kids are great cheerleaders. They waved and cheered for me when the race started and were there for me at the finish line. Thinking of them kept me running the last 1-2 miles. I was very thankful to have them there for me. After the race was over I checked my phone and there was an e-mail that Luke sent to me about 30 minutes into the run. It was so inspiring me and it warmed my heart that he thought to do it. Another reason why I love my husband! :)

Bubba came running up to me as soon as I crossed the finished line.

My run as tracked by GPS. Its always interesting to see how I did.

I love nikerunning.com