Happy Halloween!

Today was full. Full of fun, laughter and mess making! It started out with some dress up... turned to some rousing pumpkin carving... was followed by more dress up... continued into a Family Fun Fest at a local church... and ended with a "walk" up and down the street (otherwise known as Trick or Treating). We'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Happy Halloween!

Portland Marathon

I figure I should probably get a post in about the marathon here before it's been a whole month since it happened...

But, I have to start with 2 weeks before the marathon. September 20th, Amanda and I headed up with our families to Billings, MT for the Governor's Cup Half Marathon. This was really Amanda's race, but I totally couldn't say no to running a half with her - they are so fun. So, I was sadly unimpressed with the organization of the race, but the race itself was amazing. Amanda and I ran together for the first 2 1/2 to 3 miles. After the first mile, Amanda was pushing me to go faster and I had to say, "Seriously, we just ran an 8 minute mile, you're going to be hurting in the end if we keep this up!" The second mile we ran in 10 minutes and it felt really good and really easy, so I started to speed up. Unfortunately for me, that was Amanda's goal pace so we said goodbye and I headed off on my own. My goal for the race was to take it fairly easy, but aim for 9 minute miles for the first 10 and then run as fast as I could for the last 5k. I didn't want to run my hardest, since everything you read about marathon training says you really shouldn't run a half marathon any closer than 4 weeks before your big event... But, I have a hard time not giving something to a race. :) Anyway, this race was absolutely the funnest race I've run in my entire life! It wasn't too hard, the distance was really refreshing after several 20-22 mile weekend runs, it was full of chatty, cheerful runners and I didn't have any true all-out goal so I could just enjoy myself. I felt super strong and fit throughout the run and was definitely pleased with another PR this season. I killed my last PR by 6 minutes without even trying!

And then I hit my taper weeks. Amidst travel and vacation to Oregon. This meant not much exercise and lots of eating out. I tried really hard to be good, but found I slacked on my running even though my schedule was already quite diminished, just wasn't as active as I am in general and had a hard time feeling normal after eating even healthy restaurant meals. By the time the marathon hit, I was ready, but not super excited. I felt sluggish and heavy. Luckily, after talking with a couple of other people, I realized that's kind of normal during a taper phase. Unfortunately, I think mine was escalated by the travel experience.

So, marathon day dawned cool and comfortable. Seth got ready to head back to Wyoming for work and my family figured out the details of trying to see me to cheer me on along the course. We headed into Portland in the dark and I made my way to the starting line. I found myself feeling quite nervous and grateful for the pre-race chatter around me. I met a couple of other gals who were running their first marathons and we talked for a while. I planned to run with a pace group and lined up for the start...

From the first step across the line I felt crowded, nervous and emotional. All I could do was think about how hard I'd worked in training, how many hours I'd pushed Eleanor in the jogger, all the conversations I'd had with Amanda out and about in our running shoes and how badly I'd wanted to get to this point. I found it hard to concentrate on the fact that I was finally doing what I'd set out to do.

The pace group started out fast. Really fast. I stuck with them for 2-3 miles and then realized they were 6 minutes ahead of pace. So I slowed down. By the 10K mark I was still 3 minutes ahead of pace, but I decided to hold it. Unfortunately, I never quite found my pace. I had a hard time getting into a groove while so many runners passed me and I had to weave through others to pass them. I didn't feel like I had quite enough room to swing my arms freely or breathe until I was already 10 miles or so into the race... I guess that's what happens when you train on deserted early morning roads in Wyoming. Usually I was met with horses stares and took care to jump over snakes, and in this setting I was running in a continuous line of 12,000 people!

Between miles 8 and 9 there was a double-back. During this time I watched carefully as the pace groups passed on the other side. Almost as soon as I'd passed the 4 hour pace group the 4:15 crept up. Relieved that I wasn't crazy, I stuck to my pace chart and hit the half-way point right on track. That was exciting.

As soon as I got out on highway 30, however, I started to get chilled from the wind and found myself feeling hungry and sluggish. This was around mile 15. By the time I hit the hill heading up to the St. John's Bridge, I knew I had to slow down. So, I did. By mile 17 I was several minutes behind pace. And, I was struggling to feel okay with that. As I crossed the bridge, I was overcome with emotion and the beauty of the place I was running. I took some time to look around me, to notice the huge line of people in front and behind me, to take in the early morning look of the city and to try and enjoy the running again. I was pressed to remember my two goals were 1. to finish and 2. to run the whole way. And, I was doing it! So, I held my much reduced pace, began to pray for all the people who had supported me through the process and tried with all my might to have fun again.

My family stood, cheering me on around mile 19. It was wonderful to see them, get to kiss Miss Eleanor and tell them I was doing fine. From there I found myself looking for my Uncle David for more cheering around mile 20. And then mile 22. It was wonderful to know I would be seeing family members during these difficult miles. I continued to move slowly. I continued to fight low blood sugar. I continued to run and feel just fine, and worked so hard to keep my moral up and my mind focused on how strong I am and how amazing it was that I was running a marathon at all. By the time I got to mile 23 I was actually feeling pretty good and had picked my pace back up pretty substantially. I worked hard to keep steady and not give too much before the very end... I fought angry thoughts about the runners around me who began to walk, looked like they were really struggling and looked like they were hurting. I couldn't figure out how I was suddenly in line with those who were having such a hard time - and I sped up again. By the time I turned the last corner and saw the finish line, I had really picked up speed. Through this last kick I realized I had WAY more energy left than I had thought. Although my quads hurt, my energy and stamina were there - and I had underestimated them! Thus, it was a strange and bitter-sweet ending to my journey. I was SO PROUD of myself - and I still am. I was SO HAPPY to have finished. And, I was disappointed in my time - but I'm still trying not to be. I have no idea why I can't be satisfied with what I've done and content with simply finishing a MARATHON, in 4:26, while raising a toddler!

After crossing the finish line, I was overcome with emotion again. Embarrassingly, I had a couple of women ask me if I was okay. :) Honestly, I was just feeling so proud, happy and relieved to be done with the journey. And journey it definitely was! I really feel like the training itself was so much more than the event - and happily I think. The training was also the really difficult thing to fit into our lives. So, I'm very tempted to run another marathon, since the event itself was fun and I'm sure I learned enough to do better next time just from experience alone, but I'm not sure I'm tempted right now to train for another marathon. :)

Here's (some of) what I learned:
I am strong and capable
I am ridiculously stubborn at times
I need to start out much slower and work to run the second half much faster
Thus, I won't waste my time on a pace group again - I'll just do my own thing from the start
I need to sleep more than 4 hours the night before
I need to eat WAY MORE than I did the morning of the race
I shouldn't underestimate myself
The journey is much more important than the end result
Running a marathon closer to home would be wise
I think I'd like a smaller sized event a bit better
My family is amazing and wonderful and supportive
Runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds
Finding my pace from the beginning and running by feel rather than a watch would result in a more enjoyable experience

And here are a few pics from the day. These were taken by Hannah and only sort of capture the feeling of the day... but the professional ones along the course were exceptionally bad and not at all flattering this time...

My cheering squad

Eleanor waiting on the side of the road
I've spotted them! And I head in to say hi and give Ella a kiss.
Goofy smiles at the finish with my dear-ol' bro.

Catching Cold and Other Silly Details

Ella's been sick the last few days. Again. We're not sure what's wrong with her, but were suspecting a return of her seemingly chronic sinus infection... until I seem to have come down with it. Now I suspect it's just a beginning of the season viral thing. Luckily, it's not swine flu! Sheridan has been hit hard lately.

Anyway, I'm feeling overwhelmed with life at home, sickness, potty training, dog training and the normal day-to-day tasks. I keep thinking I'll have some time to sit down and blog about more interesting things, but the time never comes...

Here is Eleanor, taking over the puppy's box as usual. :) Both of them are growing like CRAZY! Eleanor has recently started using two word sentences such as, "Hi, Daddy" and "Daddy work?" She is also learning loads of new words every day. We have to be very careful what we say around her because it almost always comes out now. Sometimes I make very reactionary comments like, "Eeew. Gross!" when dealing with the dog... and thus, Ella's vocabulary has grown to include a lot of "icky"s, "yucky"s and "gross!" Not my favorite.

Oh, and the dog does have a name: London. She's had a name for a long time, I've just slacked on letting y'all know.

With potty training and the advent of sicky snuggle time, Ella has gotten a lot of reading in lately. This is a very fun development! She now knows many of her books so well that she's named them: "Bee-Bo," "Blanket," "Potty," "Ni-ni Horsies," "Horsies," "Apple," and "Amen." (Their actual titles are "The Belly Button Book," "Jesus Loves Me," "Time to Pee," "The Big Red Barn," "Horses and Ponies," "Colors and Shapes," and "The Baby Bible." We love seeing how she is connecting so many ideas in her little head and conveying them to us through her discriptive words.

Eleanor has also begun to show a great interest in Jesus and praying. As soon as we sit down to eat anything she says, "amen, amen, amen!" It is wonderful to have her so excited to pray with us and good to have a present reminder as to just how important our example of prayer is in her life. I think yesterday alone she asked me for "amens" at least 8 times - all through the day at different tasks. She is also very interested in my Bible. For a while she was calling all books "Bible," but has now realized mommy's purple book is the Bible. She'll sit on my lap in the mornings while I do my Bible study and ask, "God?" and "Bible?" It's hard to know just what I should be sharing with her now, but we do a lot of talking about God and Jesus loving her, helping her get well and wanting to hear when she is both happy and sad.

Wow. Now that I sit back and re-read what I just wrote I realize we've had a lot going on in our house. It was feeling like I haven't done much, but I guess it's good to have a reminder every once in a while that just focusing on our family is doing a lot. :)

The other thing I just finished (until a friend brought more apples to me today) was canning our apple butter. Yum! So, all y'all better watch out for Christmas 'cuz it's coming your way! Sunday alone I canned 24 half pints and there were already jars on the shelf!

More Playing with Gracie

These girls were fun to watch. Like all kids their age, they had times of love and times of frustration with sharing. It was especially fun to watch them interact with each other and their daddies. Those guys sure do know how to play!

A Single Day of Autumn

Between snow storms, we had one gorgeous fall day. Ella and I took advantage of the weather and went for a walk. And, I actually remembered to bring my camera! Enjoy.
These were all taken in front of the house that is directly behind us. The gal who lives there is super nice and has tons of leaves in her yard every fall. We, on the other hand, have virtually no leaves... lucky in terms of raking, but a bummer in terms of piling, jumping and taking pictures.

Dear McMenamins,

Thank you for saving my morning. Thank you also for reinvigorating a long lost love.Unfortunately I will have to ration you carefully throughout the coming days, but know you are greatly appreciated!

A Tired Mommy

Gracie Girl

On our trip to OR last month, we stayed for the majority of our time with my cousin and her family. It was wonderful to spend time with them, let the girls play, have some comfortable space to ourselves and have a real crib for Ella to sleep and nap in. Eleanor just loved Gracie and woke up one morning late in our vacation saying, "I play Gracie."

Eleanor still asks me, "Gracie?" When I tell her we're going _____ and she'll get to play with her friends. It makes me very happy she loves that Gracie-girl, but sad we're so far away. I hope these kiddos remember each other enough next time we get to see them that they'll be able to pick up on the play where they left off.

Sliding in the bonus room - Ella loved this little slide and would run upstairs and say, "Set, set, set!" before sliding down (we think she meant "Ready, set, go!"

Gracie in one of her fun hats!

Ella and Gracie playing with slinkies on the bed. These two loved bouncing on the bed together!

I just received a bunch more photos from Hannah of the two girls as well as more of our adventures. So, stay tuned!

Playing Puzzles

One of the perks of potty training was some intense, focus solely on Eleanor time. We read books, built towers of blocks, chased each other through the house and put together puzzles. Each of these activities is getting more and more fun as Ella grows and gets more interactive. She's getting pretty good at identifying many animals, doing some matching and putting together simple wooden puzzles.

And, on the potty training front, Ella has successfully moved on to going potty for caregivers both in the nursery at church and at daycare. Way to go Eleanor!

Backyard Wildlife Take 3

So I posted about the deer yesterday morning and not 5 minutes later our next door neighbor comes knocking at our door... she says, "Look in our backyard! There are 2 big buck back there and we didn't want you guys to miss them."

So Ella and I head out to check things out and this is what we see:

Pretty cool, but they are definitely pests... so I was grateful they were next door. They bedded down back there and looked like they would stay for a while.


Ella and I then headed out for our morning activities and when we came back I sent the dog out to go potty. But she didn't really go anywhere, she just stood on the deck. So I looked up and realized the buck were in our yard, eating our very dead garden! And the roses!So I guess you can't really tell from the pictures because our camera has a good zoom on it - so the ones of the deer "far away" don't look so far away - but this last pic was really close to the house. These animals are big! I just can't imagine being this close to a moose or an elk... and I'm glad those two haven't shown up in our backyard!

Backyard Wildlife Take 2

How interesting to look up and realize there is a buck just beyond the fence in your backyard! He was beautiful and bedded down in that yard for most of the day. It was really fun to look at him with Ella. She knows "moose" and "elk," but still has trouble identifying deer. I think this experience helped her in that regard. Although, she typically just identifies all horned creatures as "buck"... a true Wyoming girl!
And this picture is just to make you smile. Our funny girl who is obsessed with shoes...

Another Year Older

So, yesterday was my birthday. It also happened to be the Columbus Day holiday and federal employees get it off. Thus, Seth was able to be home all day with us! It was a great birthday present. He also allowed me to head out with Amanda for pedicures and we all went out to dinner. All in all a good celebration.

The best part of the day, however, involves our dearest Eleanor.

For the past 3 days we have been working intensively with Ella on potty training (and with the dog, too!). Saturday and Sunday she worked at it and we worked at it and all in all we were totally frustrated and exhausted. Monday morning I woke up and thought, "Today is my birthday. I don't want to work so hard today. Oh, well! At least Seth will still be here to pay attention to the dog." Wonderfully, however, Eleanor woke up in a great mood and told us right away she wanted big girl undies. She then proceeded to have NO ACCIDENTS ALL DAY! We rocked the stickers for dry pants and the M&Ms for pees in the potty. It truly was a party all day long in our house!

Here's the big girl in her Minnie undies:
We still have a lot of work to do to get Ella 100% potty trained, but I'd say she's 80% there. We're still working on the poop thing - timing is definitely an issue. :) And, Ella's still a bit afraid of big potties, so having her go outside our house is still a challenge. She is getting better already, however, as the nursery workers at my Bible study this morning reported she told them she needed to go potty twice and was successful once for them.

We are very proud of our big girl and I am totally relieved that life won't be continually as difficult as it was last weekend. :)


P.S. If you are a mother of a child in diapers, DO NOT get a puppy you need to house train at the same time you begin potty training your child!!!!!

About the Beach

So, we took a 2 week "vacation" of sorts out to Oregon at the end of September. The trip was wonderful, busy and not quite long enough to fit in everything and everyone we wanted to see...

Normally I like to do things in chronological order - probably because I'm Type A, but also because it's helpful when we look back over the blog as a "scrapbook" of sorts - this time, however, the posts will show up amidst our present lives and in no particular order. Today I'm feeling wistful about our visit to the Oregon Coast, missing the fresh coolness and muted blues as I look out my window at yet more snow falling. So, here are some pictures from our first walk on the sand and Eleanor's first experience with the ocean.












This last picture is my favorite. Living in Wyoming makes me acutely miss the dampness of the ocean, the smell of salt water and the look of flushed cheeks and windblown hair that come with a fresh return from a walk on the coast.

We stayed in the Captain's Cabin at Harbor Villa (part of Twin Rocks Friends Camp) for our time at the coast. This was graciously opened to us by my brother and his wife since Jeff works at the camp. We were able to meet Daniel, our 4-month-old nephew, for the first time during our visit and enjoyed catching up with Jeff and Emily. We also were treated to fresh Pacific salmon, introduced to the Chuck-It (thanks, Owen) and played some rowdy hands of Find the Queen. Good times.