09/28/10: Morgan was painting with her watercolor paints and guess who thought they looked good enough to eat. I hope he didn't ingest too much cause I did nothing about it except let him drink some milk and brush his teeth.


09/27/10: A little crafty goodness: water bottle hangers for my scrapbooking event this weekend. They are also doubling as name cards.


09/26/10: Our very own peopleofwalmart.com. Morgan found it necessary to wear her new witch's hat (gotta love the $1 spot at Target). We had just got done swimming so she was still in her swimsuit and cover up.


09/25/10: Making her own supper!!!! Nice. She was making Fadoodles (spaghetti-o's)


09/24/10: I had a box that i put stuff in that I needed to take care of. You know bills to be mailed, things that needed to be returned and such. I set it on the front seat of my car so I could take care of them. It didn't work, it just started to multiply. Now there are 2 boxes


09/23/10: New dance shoes. Morgan decided this year she wanted to take dance classes instead of art classes. Too cute.


09/22/10: My desk has exploded. I was very overwhelmed at the moment so I took a picture.


09/21/10: Nothing like running thru the leaves on a fall day. The babysitter and Owen were playing outside when one of the kids started sweeping up the leaves and let Owen run thru. They also used the pile to hide stuff in.


09/20/10: Morgan has some great style. You see it correctly that is a rainbow stripped sweater on top of a olive green dress. Lovely.


09/19/10: This is what ducks look like that aren't around our house. It is hunting season.


09/18/10: Comotown. Our intentions were to go to the zoo but this is what happens when you have an amusement park right next to the zoo. Owen still isn't thrilled with rides.


09/17/10: Nothing like being cuddled up on the couch with a good drink watching your favorite show.


09/16/10: The last 3 days are pics of the fair (we didn't go all 3 days but I didn't take pictures for 2 days). Baby pigs, we saw lots of baby animals at the fair but one of our favorites is always the pigs.


09/15/10: Morgan "milking" a cow. She just had to try it. I wonder if she would want to try if it was a real cow.


09/14/10: Clay County Fair. Usually we get to go a few times a year but this year we needed to quick squeeze in a visit during the week. Always a favorite and especially now because Owen is obsessed is the train depot.


09/13/10: This is how I find Owen quiet often watching TV with his legs kicked up in the air.


09/12/10: Shopping with friends at Mall of America. One last outing with some mommas I probably won't see for a year (or more).


09/11/10: There are just too many pictures to decide on just one. This was an amazing day filled with amazing people and amazing experiences.


09/10/10: Our official race uniforms. Now we are ready for the First Twin Cities Mud Run tomorrow.


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08/31/10: Rain Rain Rain. Morgan insisted wearing a coat with a hood cause it was raining. I gave her her rain coat which she hasn't worn in a long time and I see the arms are too short. Oh well it will have to do for today.

08/30/10: Owen got a haircut tonight. Morgan's was no problem she sat still longer and actually it was probably because we didn't cut her hair for a long time and that is ok for a girl. But it is totally different with a boy. I guess I could let it grow. It didn't turn out very good this time. Good thing it is hair and we can try again in a month.

08/29/10: An Iowa sunset. To tell you the truth this is one of those days with many missed photo ops. We had a great day with the girls of the family. We went shopping to pick out birthday presents for the 3 with August birthdays. I meant to take a pic of the 3 of them but I found myself on the way home thinking that I hadn't taken a picture yet. So out comes the camera while driving down the highway. (Don't try this at home).

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08/16/10: Gas Prices on August 16 2010. $2.69 for Super Unleaded, $2.79 Unleaded, $2.89 Premium, $2.94 Diesel.

08/15/10: Just Owen Chillaxin in his car seat (I know there are lots of pictures of Owen in his car seat--this is my "Oh crap I need to take a picture today shots").

08/14/10: Playing at Gilbert Park with Nicole. Statema Family Picnic.

08/13/10: My favorite drink right now, White russian made with vanilla McGillicuddy's instead of vodka. Yum.

08/12/10: Good Morning Morgan!!!!

08/11/10: Shaved a whole minute off my previous 5k time. Considering it was 94% humidity at 10pm that was an accomplishment.

08/10/10: Morgan's horrible swimsuit that the colors have bled all over the place. Crazy, I don't know why it has done this.

08/09/10: Helping Mom pull weeds.

08/08/10: The little train at Arnolds Park needed a push.

08/07/10: Supper at Pizza Ranch.

08/06/10: Traffic was crazy coming out of Wal-Mart. Backed up from the intersection to the Wal-Mart entrance. That intersection is really crazy.

08/05/10: Eaten alive. Poor Morgan is a total mosquito magnet.

08/04/10: Owen is now tall enough to reach the top of the tv stand.

08/03/10: Kyle's send off for his 3rd Deployment with the Iowa National Guard. This time it is to Afghanistan, previously to Iraq and stateside in Detroit. Not to mention the help with the flooding in Iowa also.

08/02/10: Hanging out at the hotel before saying goodbye tomorrow. It doesn't matter what the occasion is, it is always fun to hang out with Evan.

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Oops

I changed the size of my pictures when I upload to Photobucket. Guess that isn't gonna work huh!!!!

Also, Started that last post a while ago, guess I am destined for 1/2 finished posts. I really need to sit down at my home computer and update this.

Yep, More pictures

I think I may have missed a couple days in the last couple weeks.

07/19/10: I took a trip up to Owatonna, MN to visit with a couple friends. It was a long drive for a couple hours of visiting but we had fun. This is Mr. Fisher. Owen and Fisher were born on the same day.


07/18/10: We went down to the beach by Arnolds park tonight. While Morgan loves swimming, Owen was content putting his toes in the sand.


07/17/10: A boy and his dog. There is no better friendship. Bo was laying on the floor trying to cool off (right in front of the air conditioner) and Owen thought it looked pretty good.


07/16/10: Technically it is Saturday the 17th, but I just got off work so in my world it is still Friday?!?! I haven't seen this hour in a long time. 1 am.


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07/13/10: People ask me what I do when it isn't tax season. Lots, right now it is quarterly reports for various businesses. It also seems to be IRS letter season right now as we have seen a few of those come in the last couple days. See I am busy, my desk is a mess.

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06/28/10: Playing outside in the back yard.


06/29/10: Another trip to the library. This has become a favorite activity for Morgan, Owen and I.


06/30/10: Up for a bike ride? My mode of transportation for today and tomorrow probably. I didn't want to leave Josh at home with the kids with no car so I left him the car and I rode bike to Spirit Lake.

07/01/10: I actually took pictures all along the bike path I took to work but I thought this picture was kind of cool. And it was the least blurry from moving!!!!

07/02/10: I finally was able to go and see the damage. Accidents happen. So the Suburban was supposed to last us a long time. Oops, not so much. Josh got in an accident on Tuesday night on the way home from work.

P365 weekend

So it is only a couple days, I think I can finish this post


06/26/10: A bike ride to the Taco House. Wasn't such a good idea since there was a tornado watch out, but we are all about adventure. Yep, you guessed it had to be picked up by Josh as a tornado was too close for comfort, and there was no way to get home dry without him.


06/27/10: Morgan and I did a fun run benefit for Kyra Klinghagen who is celebrating a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her Faconia Anemia

Another shot at a half finished post

Try again. Now I have a problem as I have taken most of my pictures off my camera and on my computer at home. So when I usually start these posts here at work I am going to have to finish them at home. Here we go again. This time I am going to work backwards

06/25/10: Lazy, Lazy morning. Both Owen and Morgan were zoned out to Mickey Mouse before we had to leave for daycare and work.


06/24/10:Gas prices today. I actually use Unleaded which is $.10 more than Super Unleaded so 2.74


06/23/10: A Trip to Arnolds Park with friends. We actually found a ride that Owen likes!!! It is the train and he sat all by himself (not on someone's lap). We had to go around the park twice in a row.

06/22/10: MMMM. Tastefully Simple, very yummy food. Tonight I went to a Tastefully Simple Party that my friend Traci had. Good food, Good drinks, and Great Friends.

06/21/10: Fathers Day was yesterday. We gave Josh a mini fridge for his bait and beer. I put it behind the couch, in kind of plain sight and Josh never even saw it for the 3 days it was "hiding" there.


06/20/10: On our way to go out to eat for Fathers Day. We went to the Asian Palace in Spirit Lake. Yummy Chinese.


06/19/10: I got off work early enough to go to the Drive In theatre in Superior. Morgan and I had a great time. We got to see Toy Story 3, and Morgan fell asleep and I watched Date Night. It is a must do activity again.


06/18/10: Meet Grace, Morgan's firefly. I told her that Grace wouldn't live very long in that jar. Good thing Morgan told me that all fireflies are named Grace. Grace actually did live for about 3 days in there. A lot longer than I thought she would.


06/17/10: Evan was at grandpa and grandmas for the week so we met him at the park to play for the evening. They all had fun running and climbing. Owen tried to keep up with those big kids.


06/16/10: A BBQ on the lake. Owen just wanted the cookies that they were using for smores. Silly boy.


06/15/10: Morgan is going to bible school this week and she gets dropped off at the office at noon so I took the oportunity to take her to lunch. KFC was her 3rd choice but the 1st choice that was feasible. Her first choice was Taco House, and second Mrs. Lady's.


06/14/10: On the way home I had to stop and surprise Jess, one of my HMM, who lives in New Prague. We were only 13 miles from her house. How could I not stop.


06/13/10: This is what happens when you drink some wine, are running on a lack of sleep, and a pesky fly keeps bothering you. Poor fly. He was treated to some wine and later some beer bread so don't feel too bad for him. However, he only had to live like this for about 12 hours


06/12/10: My friend Chris Brouwer insisted we take the token family picture on the steps with our "Paper Ho" t shirts. She is so much fun!!!!


06/11/10: Bethany and I got to go to Waters Edge in St. Cloud again this year with some new friends and a couple friends we knew previously. When we got there we were surprised at the number of snacks that they had brought. There were only 7 of us there.

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Seriously, Where has June gone.

Catch Up---Again!!!!

I have still been taking pictures and it is way past time to catch up. So starting from my last post of Picture-A-Day, which still isn't up to date either (missing pictures). Here we go. This may take a few days so keep checking back.
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05/25/10: Cuddling in Morgan's bed. Getting ready to read a book. Morgan is into the Junie B Jones series lately. They started reading them in school and now Morgan likes to read chapter books before bed. Usually only 1 chapter gets read a night but it is fun to see my little girl grow up. From Board books to chapter books.
05/26/10: Dirty feet-- a sure sign of summer and flip flops. Morgan had some really dirty toes tonight. She lives in flip flops for the summer which makes for really dirty feet.
05/27/10: Boat ride!!!! It was so nice not to take the boat out. However, it went downhill fast. The attitude not the weather. What happens is Josh gets to fish and I have to make sure the kids are happy and entertained and this makes for a stressed mommy. Owen was being difficult. I don't know if it was the life jacket or something else but it cut the trip short.
05/28/10: Thank you Mrs. Grimm and Mrs. Ostrum. A little gift for Morgan's Kindergarten teacher and teachers aid. A decorated paint can, filled with candy and a candy poem!!!!!
05/29/10: Our First trip to Arnolds Park for the year. Morgan was practically bouncing off the walls. Owen wasn't too fond of any of the rides. The only one he didn't scream on was the train. This could be a long summer.
05/30/10: Kisses for momma. Tonight Owen was giving me kisses but was being so nice about it. He would grab the sides of my face and plant one on me, lean back and smile!!!!! Love you Owen!!!!
05/31/10: Wet Owen. He fell off the dock. I can't believe it. Good thing I was close by him as I scooped him right up out of the water. He had been going up and down throwing rocks in. Usually we are very good about having the kids in life jackets even if they are on the dock but Josh had the life jacket in his truck and we were by the lake. Life jackets will now be mandatory.
06/01/10: Today after work we went to the library. This was Owen's first trip to the library. He had a great time and kept us busy. Owen loves books and kept pulling them off the shelves. We ended up checking out a few for Morgan and few for Owen.

Now what

So my life has returned to the boring day to day stuff we do. Trying to plan another run has been more difficult than I thought as Josh is still working Saturdays and I don't dare ask anyone to babysit at 8 in the morning. Saturdays are supposed to be for sleeping in. Plus in a week school will be out. Summer will begin. Plans are being made a filling up the weekends.
Today is our 10 year anniversary. I honestly can't believe how fast 10 years has gone by. What have we done with 10 years?? Here is a short version
Got Married in 2000. Josh started working at his current job in 2001 (which is supposedly still gonna end but there is no end in sight). Bought our house in 2002. Gena started her current job in 2003 (I think). Morgan was born in 2004. Went to Texas in 2005. Gena has her first Full-Time accounting job in 2006. Apparently 2007 was not very memorable. Owen was born in 2008 (ok, ok so it was almost 2009). 2009 Morgan starts Kindergarten, when your baby isn't a baby anymore. 2010--The verdict is still out on this year Josh got to go Paddle fishing in Missouri, he is supposed to loose his job was March, then April, then June, now July and possibly will be extended. Gena runs a 5k. Morgan learns how to read and spell her last name. Owen learns how to walk.

Told You So

I told you I could do it. I have a bad habit of doing things people say I can't. I probably gave my parents a run for their money when I was younger. For example, when people said that I wouldn't be back to work right after having a baby, I did it. 1 week after having Owen I was back at the office working 8+ hours a day. I didn't have anyone tell me specifically that I couldn't run a 5k but I am sure there were people out there who doubted. Hey, part of myself doubted also. However, I worked hard for this and I did it. Here is my race day story complete with pictures thanks to my sister Sara and brother Kyle. (This was the first time I had seen my family awake this early in the morning during Tulip Festival).

So this morning I couldn't sleep, so I got up and got ready and was ready to go at 6:50. I hopped on the computer for a little bit and then everyone else got up. I waited for my sister who was gonna be my photographer. We walked up town and I got a little nervous as I saw people lining up already. Realizing it was the 10k runners I went to look for my friend Rachel. She waved me down and gave me my race number. I got it pinned on with time to spare. While waiting I see my friend Shawna!!!! It was fun to see a familiar face.

Rachel and I have time for a quick photo op

The 10k is off and running and our turn to line up

Rachel and I head towards the back of the pack to start.



Here we are

I could tell I was going faster than I should and told myself to slow down or I would never make it. About 4 blocks from the Starting line was my parents house. There was a crowd there cheering me on--my parents, Josh's parent, an Aunt and Uncle, and my most important cheerleaders Morgan and Owen!!!!!

My brother Kyle hopped on the bike to "follow" me around the course--he took some shortcuts to beat me to the next spot. This is where I told him I was done waving. So he stopped taking pictures!!!!

There were many times that I wanted to stop and walk. I kept telling myself that that wasn't an option. I kept pushing on. Next thing I knew I was at the 2 mile marker, then the 3. It was a relief knowing I was almost there. I rounded the last corner and pushed with all I had.

I had no idea what my time was. I missed the clock they had at the finish line. I went and got some water and fruit, visited with a few friends, and cheered on my 10K teammates

As we were talking we spotted the laptops they had set up to check your time. The lines were long. So I waited it out and then logged in to see my time. I was in total shock when I saw my time of 37:53. 7 minutes faster than my goal for my first 5K. I am still in shock and have no idea how I did it. I have a guess though, thanks to all my friends and family who did believe in me and encouraged me to reach for my goal. I don't think I would have even tried if it wasn't for you.