bird bath

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade right?  Riiiiiiiight....sometimes easier said than done, and I often tell people to think positive when so often I don't think positive myself.  When one of our beautiful pine trees died last year I was not happy.  Not only was it going to cost me a lot of money to have it removed, it was going to make our row of 8 pine trees in a row look weird, since this tree was in the middle.  I think it was my dad who suggested I have them leave the stump fairly high so I could turn it into a birdbath or something like that, but I think I might have thought about it before he mentioned it.  Anyway, the stump had been an eyesore until this past Saturday when dad and I found the perfect birdbath top to sit on it!  The colors match exactly, and it looks like it has always been there.  I've found myself staring at it over the past few days, don't know why, it just looks so inviting! 

vacation!

My parents took Lola back to Fort Scott yesterday for a whole week!  Dad gave Lola a bath last night, and he took off her diaper while she was standing next to the tub...guess what was in it!?  Poop of course, which proceeded to plop all over the floor.  He yelled for my mom to come help him.  Ha ha, that's what he gets for not checking before he takes it off!  We did that once and always check now.  

We leave tomorrow for a 4 day trip to Sonoma, Ca.  Wine country here we come!  We are staying in a guest cottage at Forth winery, which is supposed to be quiet and peaceful.  I'm so excited!  Will post pictures when we get back. 

Training

I need to start my training next week for the KC ½ Marathon in October. I have been running but not nearly as much as I should be…it is just too hot and humid. Yes, I can get up early but I have been having a difficult time doing that, and even then it’s still 78 degrees with the heat index in the 80’s already. Ryan is going to run the full marathon and started his training program a while ago. I don’t love running, but it is a challenge to me and I feel good after I’m finished. I ran the KC ½ back in 2007 and my goal this time is to beat my previous time which was 2 hours, 1 minute, and some change. Ryan ran it with me and he really pushed me. If it weren’t for him I probably would have finished around 2:15 or 2:20. Ryan then ran the full marathon in 2008 while I was pregnant. He just mentioned the other day that it seemed much easier to train for that marathon than it is for this one…duh, really? You think it was easier before we had a baby!? Of course, he had much more free time back then! ;)

Time away!

I keep seeing people post on Facebook that they are leaving their kid(s) for the first time either ever or for a certain amount of time. One girl has 4 kids, and I think the oldest is at least 10, and she has never left her kids for more than 5 days. I feel like I should feel bad because in Lola’s almost 18 months of life, by the end of this month I will have been away from her for probably 2.5 weeks since she was born! But…I don’t feel bad! I feel like it’s healthy to get away sometimes. I also still enjoy my girl trips and even my work trips (sometimes).

home sick

Home with a sick kiddo today.  She was sick yesterday too and oh so cuddly.  Ryan was eating it up!  She cuddled and layed on his chest most of the day.  He has been waiting for a day like that for a while.   :)    I don't exactly like being home with a sick child because we can't go anywhere and are stuck inside. 

I’m going to try and get better about keeping this blog updated. Hmmm, let’s see, what’s new? Our basement dried out after the flooding incident a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we are still at the mercy of the City’s stormwater system unless we spend a small fortune to have our basement floor ripped up and some pipes re-worked with special valves. We can’t afford that right now! So until then, we hope for nice light rain showers that don’t last more than an hour and only happen every 4 or so days. Yeah right! Actually it has now been over a week since it last rained so things are really drying out.

Our back yard finally looks somewhat like a yard now. The grass has grown and I’m still watering it daily to keep it from frying in the 95 degree heat. There are patches that don’t have grass, but there is enough to call it a ‘yard’ and to actually walk around on it. I will do some more seeding in the fall when it gets cooler. Mom and dad are coming up this Friday to help me complete a few finishing touches that will make it look a whole lot better.

We hung out in Fort Scott this past weekend for the FS High School All-School reunion. It was technically my 14 year reunion but our class decided to just go ahead and participate instead of doing something next year. We didn’t have a great turnout but it was still fun. We even ran in a 5k and both did fairly well – Ryan came in 6th and I came in 9th (I think). We got to hang out with my cousin Kate and her little boy Liam. I cannot believe the difference between a 2 year old and a 17 month old. It makes me look forward to the next 6-7 months. You can actually hold conversations; they can put together small sentences, and just generally communicate better.

Lola and Liam playing in the water

Ryan and Matt Foster running in the Fort Scott Tiger Trot 5K

Me running in the Tiger Trot