It's November?! Wha?!?!

Halloween has come and gone and we have the candy to prove it!! Man, I was excited to get the candy out of the house so I would stop nibbling on it...but as soon as we emptied our bowls to the last trick-or-treaters of the night, we unloaded the boys' stash and it filled right back up!! Ugh! The funny part is we took them to a community Halloween Party in New Strawn and they got their buckets filled up in a matter of 45 minutes!! So we hit Decovin's teacher's house and then headed home to pass out candy...Decovin and Camden were satisfied with what they got they actually BEGGED to stay home and help Aunt Christy pass out candy! So that's what we did! It was AWESOME!

We had 94 trick-or-treaters in all and the boys loved seeing all the kids in costume! It was fun! We all stayed out on the porch and passed out candy! It was a very fun, chilly, but fun night! And just like that! POOF! It's November!!! Weird!

This month will probably start the holiday hustle and bustle and before we know it, it will be 2011! Crazy! I've already started Christmas shopping, I have a long ways to go, but I have at least started! :-)

Happy Voting Day! See you at the polls! TTFN!

Pumpkin Patch, 5K, Pumpkin Carving

Bob & I took the boys to Louisburg Cider Mill's pumpkin patch this past weekend. They had a lot of fun! We got to take a hayrack ride to the pumpkin patch and cornmaze...we decided to do the cornmaze first since we didn't want to carry our pumpkins through the cornmaze!
Here are the boys (holding hands) while Decovin guides us through the maze!

Unfortunately, it started POURING the SECOND we finished the corn maze and we hoofed it back to the cider mill to pick out our pumpkin up there instead of in the actual patch...oh well, they had fun despite the rain...We picked up some cider donuts and apple cider slushes and headed out!

We met up with my parents and sister at my grandma's assisted living home where they had a "family night"...we had dinner and listened to live music! Grandma was so excited we were all there...even though she couldn't really remember who I was. (I hate alzheimers!)...sigh...anyway...

On Saturday morning Bob & I participated in the Linn County Tri-Ko 5K they had at the Linn County Park. It was fun and Bob & I both placed in our age division...Bob got 2nd and I got 3rd. I would like to mention that I sprained my ankle during this race...the first patch of gravel we hit and I rolled my ankle HARD! I walked for a bit to get it back to "normal" and while I did this, BOTH girls who placed 1st and 2nd in my age division passed me. So there is a good chance I COULD HAVE placed first...boo! Oh well. There's always next year. My ankle is still a bit swollen today (Tuesday) but looks and feels much better than it did...

On Sunday we decided to carve our pumpkins. Decovin drew his all by himself while Camden had a "little" help from dad! Bob carved them of course...but this was the end result. I carved the one on the left! They are cute! Fun times! Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

1/2 Marathon. Check!

I did it! I finished my very first half marathon in 2:52:33! We ran/walked the course but I would say we ran well over half of it! It was awesome and the atmosphere was AMAZING! I WILL DO IT AGAIN! There were over 11,000 runners that day! CRAZY, yet exciting all at the same time!

Anyway, if you would like to see pictures from the event go to:

www.actionsportsimages.com
click on "order photos" (you do not have to order any, this is just how to get to the pics themselves)
then select: Kansas City Marathon 2010
Type in Bib #4532

Enjoy! It was GOOD fun!

Alzheimer's Walk

Well, the boys and I made it to Overland Park for the annual Alzheimer's Walk! Not only did I reach my goal of $200 in donations, we also had a GREAT time! This year they had an AWESOME "Kids Korner" where the kids got their own shirts, rub on tattoos, balloons, spider rings, fake vampire teeth and stickers! It was great and it totally occupied our time til the walk started.

Thankfully, Bob's cousin, Krissy Lohmeyer, does this walk every year and she met up with me so I was able to use the restroom (wasn't sure how to manage two toddlers, a double stroller, and a port-a-pot...lol!)...so Krissy watched the boys for me so I could do that! Phew!

We ended up only doing the one mile walk for a couple of reasons...1)Krissy's group was doing the 1 mile so I could walk with them and have someone to chat with. 2)there were SOOOOOO many participants (which is AWESOME) that the pace at which we were walking I could have crawled faster! The boys kept saying: "Go faster mom!" I usually am bookin' it when we go on walks around town...so they were getting restless. So needless to say, we just did the one mile and it was plenty for all of us!

We didn't stick around for the free lunch as the line to get said free lunch was longer than the race!! And the boys would never have made it. Just as well, we went to Sam's club to meet up with my parents anyway and from there had lunch and then up to my brother's house for a day of cousin fun! McKendra taught Camden how to make a "silly face"...LOL!

It was a beautiful day!

Thanks again to all those who donated to the cause! You are AMAZING!!

I'm on the Move to end Alzheimer's

I am participating, for the third year in a row, in the 2010 Memory Walk in honor of my grandpa, Paul long and in honor of my grandma, Maxine Camden. Please help in the fight to find a cure! Donate today!
Click Here to Donate

Broken bone #1

So last Thursday evening (September 16), Decovin, Camden and daddy were wrestling on the floor like they always do. Then they started jumping from the couch onto daddy, which they often do also (unfortunately)...well, at one point Camden jumped off the couch and Bob leaned over to catch him and at the same time Decovin jumped off the couch but missed Bob all together and landed on his shoulder onto the floor.

Poor Decovin yelped and cried for quite a bit but we tried to just "ignore" it so he would calm down and not focus on it...usually this works as it generally isn't an actual injury...and he will get right back into playing, etc...

When he didn't jump right back into playing with daddy I knew something might be wrong but I didn't want to over react (like I tend to do), so we let him use an ice pack and I gave him some motrin and put him to bed that night...

The next morning he woke up and was still saying his shoulder hurt and he hit it on something at one point and just LOST it...so that was the deciding factor for me to call the doctor...got him in and they did several x-rays and he was SUCH A BIG BOY during this as I couldn't go in with him b/c I had Camden with me also...but he didn't cry one bit! He did AWESOME! But alas, it was a broken collar bone...so the doctor slinged him up and sent us home.

He has to wear the sling for 2 weeks and they said that there will probably be a bump on his shoulder for quite awhile...poor dude...but he has done AWESOME. He minimally complains about wearing the sling and he is still happy and bubbly and can still use his arm for the most part. He's taking it with good strides! :-) I love that little guy!

KC Zoo Run for the Polar Bears!

So Bob & I did our very first race together last Saturday at the Kansas City Zoo run for the Polar Bears!!

It was really fun and we had a great time...however, I am now decommissioned for at least 4 weeks to rest my knee that is not in working condition currently. So I will do other forms of cardio in the mean time so I can continue to do 5K's with my hubby! Such a fun way to spend time together! :-)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Happy Monday!!

Knee update...

On Friday I had a cortisone shot injected into the side of my knee after being diagnosed with Ilialtibial Band Brusitis. The doc said it could take up to 3 days to take effect...unfortunately, 3+ days later and it hurts MORE now than it did before the shot. *sigh*

Not sure what my next move is going to be but this half marathon is looking less and less likely to happen for me. I cried about it a little yesterday...silly to cry over but I have worked SOOOO hard training for this to have to just stop cold turkey, which is what I fear I need to do in order for my knee to heal.

Other than that, not much else is happening. Decovin is still going to preschool and LOVING it! He is doing EXTREMELY well with writing but struggling with coloring...he is a bit of a perfectionist and therefore has mini-meltdowns if he goes outside of the lines. I thought maybe it was just how he acted with me at home and would be fine if Miss Tina said it was ok to go outside the lines, but alas, he had a meltdown at school the other day and missed out on playdoh time b/c of it. :-( Not sure how to rectify the situation but hopefully he will grow out of it. :-/

Story Hour at the local library has returned and the boys love going. They get to listen to some great stories, sing songs, do a craft, and play with other kiddos! This week it was VERY packed! It's a fun activity we like to do together! It's at our little library located in New Strawn, which is just 5 miles north of us (we have a library IN Burlington, but this one is more geared towards Camden's age, etc). After story hour all the moms and kids go to the park so the kids can all play together outside (as long as it hasn't rained)...and on our way home I usually take the boys home on the scenic route over the dam and they LOVE looking at the water and Camden loves to look for boats and buoys! :-) Fun tradition I think! I love taking the scenic route...something I grew up with from my dad! Love that I get to pass on this tradition!

Ok, time to take the boys outside to play!!

Eeeek!

As most of you know, I am training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles)...However, as of a couple weeks ago, my left knee has been giving me grief. I have rested it and iced it, and stayed off of it, but as soon as it feels good, I run again and it hurts again...I don't want to give up (that's not my style), but I don't want to be stupid either. I'm trying to decide what my next step is. *sigh*

where does the time go?!

I feel like I JUST posted on here but it was actually over week ago! I'm becoming such a slacker! YUCK!

So Bob had his 6 days off (actually 7 with holiday) and we had quite a fun filled week! We made it to the Topeka zoo, shopped, my sis-in-law and her family stayed over for 2 nights, and we made it to my parents house for an overnighter that included a cookout (first of the year), and visits with my great-uncles! It was busy but fun!

First Day of Preschool!!

Well, Decovin is off to his first day of preschool and Camden and I are home alone again! :-/

I can't believe he is in school again already! Where did the summer go?!?! Decovin didn't bat an eye as we left and was smiling big when we did leave! He actually asked me (after I told Camden we had to go): "Do I have to go too?" He was glad I said "no"...lol! He loves Miss Tina!

Happy Birthday McKendra!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Niece!

McKendra Renee Long

Born: August 19, 2006

Time: 8:47am

Weight: 7lbs, 15oz.

Length: 20 inches

McKendra, Age 1:

McKendra, Age 2:

McKendra, Age 3:

McKendra, Age 4:

Lake fun...and some not so fun!

Our summer vacation to the lake was really fun...well, for the most part. The part where Camden started our trip off with an ear infection and really really sore throat was not the most fun...I'll admit.

We actually had to stop at a Minute Clinic at CVS pharmacy on Saturday morning to get him some antibiotics for the trip. Thank goodness for that Nurse Practitioner! Saved our week! He was grumpy and whiney, with good reason, for the first few days but it didn't keep him from having fun in between the meds! :-) We swam at least once a day EVERY day we were down there, sometimes 2 and 3 times! We went out on the boat several times and jet ski too! It was so fun and I'm glad we got to go this year! Bob's little sister, Elizabeth and her fiance came to visit us the last weekend we were there too...the boys REALLY LOVED that! :-)

So we all worked on our tan and none of us got sunburnt except for Bob on the VERY LAST day! His fault of course. :-) The boys got so used to the lake water that they would climb/jump into the water all by themselves (with life jackets of course) and swim around all by themselves! Camden kept saying: "Look mommy, I swim all by myseff" :-) It was real cute.

We arrived back home later than we wanted to on Sunday night as the Jet Ski decided it didn't want to start and we had to tow it to the ramp to get it home. So that was a wasted 2+ hours! Ugh...then Decovin had us stop 3 times so he could go to the restroom and then we had to stop for dinner...so that was a little bit dramatic but we made it home and we are all now rested and pretty much back to normal...well ALMOST normal...

The boys are currently living the basement with all of their possessions!! ALL OF THEM! We are currently in the middle of a makeover project on their rooms and we thought we could get it done over a 2 day period...boy were we wrong...so they have been residing down here until this weekend. They will be going to my mom and dads (bless them) for the weekend so we can finish up the project and get them back into a room. With doors. Ugh! I'm already tired of the makeover and we still have the rest of the house to go since we decided to paint all the trim throughout the house white!!! GAH! I just keep saying, it will all be worth it in the end! Let's hope!

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Where to begin...I said I was going to be better about this so I wouldn't have to think about what all has happened over the last several weeks. ;-/

3rd of July. I participated in a 5K in Lebo, KS where I beat my last time! I ran it in 31.09 seconds. My first race was 31.54.

4th of July. Had a blast! Aunt Ruthie & Uncle Bob threw an awesome shindig! My kids LOVED the lake fun! They were in and out of the water ALL day!!! Food was awesome, company was awesome, the games were awesome, and so were the fireworks!!! Camden LOVED THEM! He kept saying: "Popcorn! Popcorn!"...hahaha!

July 10. Participated in "Midnight Bomber" 5K Run in Iola, KS. History behind the event: In July 1905 Charley Melvin, an avid prohibitionist recently released from a mental asylum, stole 1,500 sticks of dynamite and blew up 3 saloons in downtown Iola, Kansas. The 12:26AM blast was felt 12 miles away and sent political shockwaves through the state and nation. Iola annually commemorates this historic event with the Mad Bomber Run, a 5K run/3K walk that begins at the site of the dynamited saloons. It was REAL fun! There were 9 of us girls that teamed up to run together! It was super fun. The only bummer was I had just started the beginning stages of a summer cold and was not 100% up to snuff but I ran the whole thing and still managed to beat my first 5K running it in 31.42!

Christy came to visit for 4 days and helped me out tremendously by watching the boys for me here and there while I ran errands and/or went to my Turbo exercise class! She also helped me by using her voice...since mine was lacking due to my summer cold, she was able to get onto the boys for me and read them their bedtimes stories!(Thanks Christy so much for all your help!)

Amanda came for a couple nights also and we had a great time!

Ok. Neurology update...had an EMG on Tuesday, everything is good...normal. So now I am scheduled to see a pain doctor in early August for a steroid shot in my back! OUCH! But I'm looking forward to having some relief!

Took Camden to the dentist today and Bob went to Home Depot...where he is gathering items to "renovate" our home...EEEK! I'm nervous/excited about this adventure! Will keep you all posted as best as I can!

Hope everyone is doing well and staying cool in this BRUTAL heat!

Oh P.S. Biggest news, I am currently training for a half marathon (13.1 miles) in October in Kansas City! I am SUPER NERVOUS! But I will try my hardest!!! The craziest thing I think I will do in my lifetime! LOL!

Experimental Phase Complete

So I went ONE WHOLE WEEK with ZERO caffeine. Which could explain my lack of computer time this past week. I have BARELY logged onto Facebook/Hotmail/Blog! I had such a headache all week with the withdrawal I didn't CARE! LOL! I even iced my head one night it was so bad! OI!

The end result is, I'm not sure it was THE culprit of my numbing BUT it helped SOME. I still got numbing on day 7 of all days but I was sitting in the doctors office talking with the doctor when it started up. So his thought is it could be stress/anxiety induced. Lovely! So there is no medicine for numbing...just tingling and for pain. Since I have neither of those, he is going to do an EMG on my nerves to make sure I don't have a pinched one since I have chronic low back pain. They may even give me a steroid shot in my back to help alleviate said pain. Which would be SO nice seeing as how I haven't had a solid all night sleep in years. I toss and turn ALL night b/c of the pain. I've just learned to "deal with it" I suppose. So there may be light at the end of the tunnel for me afterall. I will keep you all posted.

P.S. I drank a cup of coffee this morning and seem fine. I am going to finish off my stash of coffee grounds at home and only have one cup a day. Once it is gone I will probably switch to decaf. Afterall, it's the flavor I love so much! I didn't realize how much of a caffeine addict I was until I stopped drinking it. Oh well. Such is life.

I am going to be running in another 5K this Saturday then it is off to Aunt Ruthie's for the 4th of July festivities! :-) Looking forward to some fireworks with the kiddos! :-)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Experiment

So since I have been having this random numbing throughout my body I thought I would try my own experiment to see if I could eliminate the numbing myself.

I decided that for one week (starting this past Monday), I would give up caffeine. I decided to do this after one afternoon of drinking 3 cups of coffee after 2pm. I noticed I was real jittery, anxious, and my numbing was hightened. Not sure if the numbing was coincidence or not, I thought I would give a wurl anyway.

So I am on day 4 of no caffeine at all. After the first 3 days of mind blowing headaches on top of T.O.M. (grrrrr), I am starting to notice I haven't had any numbing for a couple of days. I still had numbing on day one and day two but not day three and so far not today. So we'll see. I do still have an appointment with a neurologist on Monday...so it will be a full 7 days of no caffeine to see if my theory is true.

Anyway, I miss coffee SOOOOO much. I truly just LOVE the taste! But I want to feel better too, so if it means giving up the good stuff, so be it!

Oh, on a fun note...I'm planning on doing another 5K next Saturday on the 3rd of July. Wish me luck...I haven't been "training" as much as I should be.

Slacker, party of one!

Ok, so I haven't been so good on the upkeep of my blog lately...

I don't think anything TOO exciting has happened since I blogged last. Maybe why I haven't blogged. But I will start my blog out with the cutest picture EVER of my kids! LOVE THEM!

The biggest NEWS is we have a new nephew! On May 24th my sister-in-law, Tabitha, gave birth to Logan Ryan. 8lbs, 11.9oz; 21 inches long! He's real cute, real squishy and real sweet!

The "biggest" thing I think we've done is we took the boys and our niece to the Kansas City Zoo. It was a good day to go and everyone did great! No meltdowns, no major whining, etc...it was quite a mild day!

The biggest "bummer" news is I have been having random unexplained numbness throughout my body. So I went to the doctor and he ordered and MRI of my brain and neck area. They both came back "normal"...thank goodness! Now I am just waiting on the next step which is likely a visit to a neurologist. Hopefully I can get some answers soon. Luckily I am experiencing no pain and no muscle weakness...just the numbing. I'll keep you all posted as to what I find out.

Other than that, not much else exciting has been going on. Trying to stay dry in all this rain which has put a damper on our summer fun! Limiting our pool visits to only twice so far this season! We have been in our little pool in our backyard more but haven't lately as it is a swamp in our back yard! *sigh* Hopefully it will dry out soon!

Anyway, that's all for now! I'll try to post more regularly! :-)

Wellness Waddle 5K!

Well, I did it! My very first 5K that I RAN through the WHOLE THING!! I'm pretty proud of myself as I have never been a "runner"...it was awesome! Bob even surprised me and showed up at the finish line to get my picture going across the line! How sweet was that?!?! :-)

I didn't place but I'm ok with it...my goal today was just to run the WHOLE thing! And I did in 31.53 minutes.

Happy Birthday Kameron!!

My nephew is 1!!! Big boy!

Born: May 18, 2009
Weight: 7lbs. 12 oz.
Height: 21 1/2 in. long
Time: 12:22pm

Such a sweet boy! :-)

Hosptials are no bueno!

Well, as most of you know by know Decovin has been in the hospital since Wednesday afternoon. It all started on Sunday night with a fever the day we got back from Hawaii. We took him home and he seemed fine other than the fever. He woke up next morning still with a fever but seemed ok, just a little run down. By noon he had thrown up and was really not feeling well. He threw up one more time and then by dinner time he was fine (or so I thought). He ate dinner, played with Bob & Camden, and went to bed. No big deal.

Next morning he woke up with a fever still and then started throwing up AGAIN! Ok, ok...I'll just ride this day out, he probably has a 24 hour flu bug that just needs to run its course. He's still drinking lots of water and was peeing...he stopped eating, but understandably. I wasn't worried. He threw up about 5 more times throughout the day and I told Bob if he throws up even once tomorrow I'm taking him in to the doctor. Well, he threw up at midnight and again at 6am that following morning...so I called the doctor's office when they opened and they had an appt at 1:15...so we made it through the morning without throwing up but he did a lot of "hovering" over the trash can.

The doctor checked him over and decided to get blood drawn since he was sooooo lethargic, etc. Well, his white blood count was up to 56,000. Apparently, a normal count for a kiddo his age is usually between 10,000 and 13,000ish...so his was through the roof!! It basically told them he had a super bad infection somewhere in his body. The doctor said he had dual ear infection and a sinus infection also...so that could have been it soley??? We had no idea. He decided to admit him to the hospital to get him much needed fluids as he was dehydrated and super lethargic and not to mention that crazy white blood cell count!!!

Ok, they send us to the E.R. to get an IV started...I hate getting an IV b/c they can NEVER get it in in one shot b/c my veins "hide"! Bleh! Turns out, Decovin inherited my veins. Poor lil' dude. Also, as a side note, 3 EMT's showed up to help "hold him down", etc if need be...so here poor puny lethargic little Decovin is surrounded by 3 pretty burly dudes and a nurse!! He was terrified...he started screaming and crying and the nurse had stuck him and then tried to "fish" for the vein for a good 3 minutes or more...long enough that his arm was turning purple from the rubber band thing they use! Well, this was making me sad for him already, then Camden started crying b/c brother was crying which in turn made me cry...Ugh! It stinks trying to be the one to "hold it together"...so the nurse gave up on that arm and then the EMT had to try the other arm...well imagine Decovin's "excitement" about this news...More crying all around for us and we finally had the IV in!

I had to call Bob at work to come get Camden, so he booked it over as fast as he could and was there for about 15 minutesish before he took Camden home. No sooner than Bob left then the lab people came by to draw more blood for a culture test!!! Oh poor Decovin...SERIOUSLY! He was poked 4 times w/in an hour! He was real jumpy anytime anyone got near his arms!

He pretty much slept off and on that first night, then by morning he seemed to be a bit more perky but he still wasn't eating and he kept having stomach cramps and thinking he was going to throw up again...bleh...so they came in and had to draw MORE blood only to find out his white count had only gone down to 41,000...which was good it was going down but not good enough to get sent home. So he watched cartoons all day just hung out. Bob came in around 9:30am to relieve me so I could go home and shower, etc...I took Camden with me so he could eat lunch at home and take a nap. I came back around 4pm to swap out with Bob again.

He had the ebb and flow of stomach cramps the remainder of the night until he finally went to bed around 9:45. He slept all night and woke up a little after 7. He said he was hungry and when breakfast came around he actually ate some eggs and a bite of banana...they had to come in again and draw blood yet again...he screams now. :-(

Good news, Doc came in about an hour later and said his count is down to 14,000...not completely normal yet but low enough we can be sent home! YAY! They also did look at his chest xray and found he had a touch of pneumonia in his upper left lung quadrant. So that was all aiding in his ickyness. :( Poor lil' dude was just real sick.

So now we are waiting to be released and in the meantime, Decovin asked to take a nap! And he is actually sleeping...I think the blood draw was too much for him this morning and wore him out. Thank you to everyone who was thinking and praying about us! We really appreciated it!