Rock the Parkway....

 Every April I run a race.  Rock the Parkway to be exact.  Two years in a row I ran the 10k version.  And loved every minute of it.  And every year I'd say "next year I should do the half because it's such a great course".  This year I had no choice.  They eliminated the 10k option.  I ran the half.  One thing I never took into account for an April half is training through the winter.  Yuck.  I'm a fan of taking an outdoor running hiatus in the cold winter months, then making my debut during a 10k.  I discovered around mile 9 how much I dislike spring half marathons.  Unfortunately for me, it was only mile 9.  I still had 4 more to go.  I finished with my slowest time ever.  And sadly, I'm breaking up with Rock the Parkway.  It was a great relationship.  But we're now parting ways.  I did collect the medal.  And wore it with pride.  And then of course ate a great lunch with some good running buddies.  All in a days work.

 Jenn, Sherri, Me, and Christine post race sporting our bling.

Of course I need to include the post race, post shower shot.

Good bye Rock the Parkway.  It was fun while it lasted.

Mathematics.....

It is known that Ethan is a mathematician.  As a sixth grader, this would be his third time competing in this particular competition.  Also his last year in this specific event.  In seventh grade they move on to another group to compete.  If a student places in the top 3 in one or both events, they move on to state.  This is also the third year Ethan was invited to attend the state competition held in Springfield Missouri.  He won first place in problem solving.  Shawn was the lucky one that got to take him to the state competition at Missouri State the following month. (If I haven't mentioned it previously, Ethan is also taking 7th grade advanced math as a 6th grade student.  In 7th grade he'll take algebra.  And as an 8th grader he will need to be bussed to the high school for his math class.)

Ethan was also able to attend a week long math camp in Bolivar Missouri.  An extensive in depth look into math.  They also taught him ways to improve his skills when it comes to competing in math competitions.  It's not hard to see that Ethan has a knack for mathematics.  A gene he must have  inherited from his father.

I love to see the Temple....

It was awesome to be able to take our kids to the Kansas City Temple open house.  They are old enough that they enjoyed the spirit felt inside the Temple, and will be able to remember the experience. We are blessed to have a Temple within an hours drive.  We were attending the St. Louis Temple which is a 3 1/2 hour drive.  Huge blessing to have one so close.  After the open house we took the kids to Red Robin for lunch.

Kennedy looks irritated.  She was angry that I was taking a picture, and most likely posting it to some media outlet.  She was actually enjoying the day.  We don't usually take our kids to sit down restaurants.  We're more of a drive thru type family.  It was hilarious to listen to the kids as they ordered from a real menu.  The waitress was outstanding.  My boys were amazed that every time their drinks were close to empty, they were turn away for a minute and when they turned back they were full again.  They thought it was magic.  I didn't tell them it was just a very good waitress.  I'm grateful for times like this day that I get to spend with this little family of mine.

Easter.......

I was stumped for Easter this year.  There were no Easter egg hunts planned by me, or near us that I was aware of.  I've always shied away from big community events due to crowds.  But.  Because of my laziness  lack of planning, I decided the community center hunt is where we would be the day before Easter. 
It was raining off and on when we awoke that morning.  I couldn't find anywhere that said the event would be cancelled due to rain.  So we went.  We had to park a zillion miles away and walk.  I honestly at that point almost just gave each kid 20 bucks to not make us continue.  But my kids excitement outweighed my under excitement. 
Can I just say that the community center puts on a fantastic event?!  Due to the intermittent rain they held the hunt inside.  Which pretty much consisted of dumping a bajillion candy filled eggs on the floor and limiting everyone to 20.  Easy.  Especially for my 3 year old.  The hunt lasted .0006 seconds.  At the most.  But they each got the candy their hearts desired.

It was outside that the real fun was happening.  Local community members brought their prize animals to be fondled by children of all ages.  Ducks.  Rabbits.  And even goats.  My kids loved them.  The one that surprised me the most?  Jack.  He spent most of his time with the ducks.  He even considered foregoing the hunt to be with them.  He was so gentle.  You could tell the ducks trusted him because they kept trying to climb onto his lap while he was holding a different one.  Of course, it was after Presley choked lovingly tried to hold one that they would clamber to Jack when anyone else entered the pen.  Maybe I should get a farm for Jack?

I now have a new found appreciation for community events of this variety.  We will make sure and attend this event again I'm sure. 

 

My Birthday.....

All I wanted for my birthday this year was a new bike.  A road bike.  (I already have a mountain bike)  I rode my mountain bike in triathlons last year without any complaint.  But.  Everyone kept saying how much easier it is to use a road bike in these events.  Shawn obliged and this baby made it's way into my life!

 I love it.  And after riding this bike I'm not sure how I was really able to go such distance on a mountain bike.  Crazy how light this girl is. 
Kennedy wanted to make my day special so she made me this sign and decorated the mantle.  She also made me a cake.  This girl has the makings of a great mother.  (Besides.  I did use my special day to take them to the Easter egg hunt)

I wonder if this one year older will make me wiser?  I could use more wisdom trying to raise these kids.  Number 5 has taken everything I learned with the first four and thrown it out the window.  I'm like a first time parent in a mother of 5 body.  Not such a great combination. 

Pinewood Derby........

This is the first year Jackson was able to compete in the pinewood derby for scouts.  I took note when Ethan was a cub scout that the pinewood derby is the event of the year......for Shawn.  This year Shawn went all out ordering all kinds of whoknowswhat on the Internet.  Boxes of interesting objects showed up daily for a week.  I didn't even ask questions.  Because honestly?  I didn't really want to know what he was up to. 
Shawn and Jackson spent a lot of time working on this car.  Last minute time---because that's how we roll. And it's what Shawn's busy schedule allows.  I have to give Shawn credit with this one though.  He let Jackson do most of the work.  He was very patient and stood back through most of the process.  Because Jack was doing so much of the work alone, Shawn made him practice each step before actually performing said step on the "real" car.  I have to say, I was a bit nervous when it was the day before the derby and we had 3 finished practice cars, but no real car ready to compete.  Boys.  Shawn was able to leave work early the morning of the derby, so he pulled Jackson out of school for a finish the car extravaganza.  They were sanding wheels until the very last minute.  Due to the time crunch, Jack didn't paint his car.  He went with the all natural theme.  And.  It worked.  Jackson took first place over-all.  He won all of his races.  Shawn couldn't have been more proud.  In fact, I'm pretty sure just the word pine wood derby lights up his countenance.  Boys. 
Sadly, I was too busy to actually take pictures of the event.  And Shawn was too occupied discussing what makes the proper derby car to the other fathers to take his own photos. 

Christine Little was in charge of this event and it was hands down the best one I've ever been to.  She had special pit crew tags for the scouts to wear so they could sit in a section just for them to view the races.  She had all kinds of concessions that fit the car theme.  She was so organized.  She had an individual award for each boys car, and a trophy for Jack as the overall winner.  Nobody left empty handed, and everybody left smiling. 
Now that Shawn has all the equipment he acquired for this last derby, I'm sure the next one will be just as over the top.