Susan B. Anthony 5k & 120 miles Update

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but I've been following the Couch 2  5k program to help me be able to jog a whole 5k without stopping to walk. I listen to a podcast & he tells me when to jog & when to walk & it has been a great way for me to train.  This has been one of my goals for a little while & when I stumbled onto this program last year after my 1/2 marathon I thought it was awesome. The only bad thing is that I never really followed through to the end of the whole 9 week program. I would start & stop & start & stop again. Well....I'm happy to report that I finally got to week 9, which is jogging for 30 minutes straight with no walking intervals!!!! I was so excited to be going on to week 9 that I sat down at the computer to find out when there would be another 5k so I could go out & claim VICTORY for myself. It just so happened that the day I was to do week 9 was the same day as the Susan B. Anthony 5k & they lowered the price to only $15 so I was really excited!!! All I had to do was find a babysitter. It just so happened that my mom called & wanted to come hang out & see the boys & I asked her if she'd like to watch the boys while I did my 5k. She said yes!!!
Hurray!!! So Saturday morning my mom came over & off we went to the 5k. I particularly like this 5k because it's all girls & it's not quite as crowded as a lot of other races & they have lots of really cool drinks & snacks!!!

Here's Blake all bright eyed & bushy tailed.

Here's a pre-race shot.

And here's the after shot

(yes...that's a GoGirl...love those...nothin like my caffeine rush after a jog )

I did it!!!  I did it!!!  I really really did it!!!
I am happy to report that I jogged the whole 5k or 3.1 miles with no walking & I didn't feel like I was going to die when I finished....that's a huge thing for me.
My official chip time was 42 minutes & 14 seconds....
which is a little more than what I was hoping for but
Who Cares!!!!
I accomplished one of my fitness goals & that is the most important part.
My next goal is to get in under 40 minutes & then I'll set another goal. 
This was also the week that I hit 120miles for my summer challenge of 120 miles in 3 months!!
Yay Shannon!!! 
The challenge isn't over until 8/31/10 so I continue to report my miles & I am up to 146 miles right now.  I think I'll be able to get to 150 no problem.  I honestly have not budged past losing 5 lbs & it continues to fluctuate up & down which is frustrating but I am sooo happy that I can say that I can jog for 42 minutes without walking.  It's amazing to me.  I'm actually going to restart the Couch 2 5k with my friend Hollie & that should be fun.  I'm also starting a new Winter Challenge starting on September 1st & going through December 31st.  It's called Cat's 500 Fitness Challenge.  If any of you are interested in keeping healthy this winter click on the link above & join in the challenge.  You still have a few more days to join.  It should be fun...& maybe just maybe I'll lose a few pounds too.

If you are interested in the Couch 2 5k program go look it up.  There are a few different podcasts out there but my favorite is Robert Ullrey's...it's electronica, house, dance music...which I LOVE & it made my runs so much better than me putting my own playlist together. 
Go check it out...you'll be glad you did.

Stillwater Cove & The Firepit

One of the beaches near the house is Stillwater Cove.
Here are some fun beach pictures of the boys & Grandad.

(click on any collage to see larger)

Here's Grandad teaching Blake & Sonny the fine art of roasting hot dogs & marshmallows

over an open fire.
(isn't that cool how I put the firepit as the background....ohh I'm having so much fun learning!!)
I'm so glad the boys got to go & have fun at the "Coast House"!!

Hangin' out at the Coast House

I've been having a lot of fun with Picasa lately.
Here's a few collages from the coast trip I put together.
Click on any collage to see larger.


Blake & Sonny playing a little pool in the garage of the "Coast House"
with Grandad.

I love all these picture with Sonny & his Great Grandad.

Just having some fun. I'm so grateful that my boys get to know their Great Grandparents.
They are such a blessing to have in our lives. This "Coast House" is so fun to go to & I wish
we could get out there more often but I'm glad the boys got to go for a mini vacation.

A Trip to the Coast (part 1)

Blake & Sonny got to go on a little trip to the "Coast House" with Grammy Sisa.  We haven't been in a long time & it was a great opportunity for them to go.  So I packed them up & loaded them up in Grammy Sisa's car & off they went.  This was the 1st time I've sent Sonny on a long weekend without me.  If I remember correctly, Blake was about the same age the 1st time he went without me too.  No biggie, he was fine because he had his big brother with him.  Although I did have to convince Sonny to go because all he wanted to do was play PS2.  They were grounded from it for a full week & they had just come home from spending the night @ Grandmother & Grandad's.  He finally said yes when I told him he could play when they got back.  He's 3 & 1/2!!!!  Stinkin video games!!  It was very quiet with the 2 of them gone & I didn't know quite what to do with myself.  But Brad & I did get to hang out by ourselves which was nice & we even went to Church by ourselves....that was weird.  No wiggly kids to keep quiet. 
I asked Lisa if she'd take pictures so I could put them up on the blog & she did.
There's quite a few & I didn't want to collage all of them because some of  the pictures are just so nice that I wanted them to be separate.  (wish my camera took nice pics like this all the time...had to say it!!)

Below are some of my favorite pics from the trip...
a post with the collages will follow....I know you can't wait!!!!

Here's Sonny out by the treefort behind the house.
Look how big those trees are!!

Here's Blake by the same trees with some kind of pose goin on.

Sonny!!

Blake!!
Blake got to take his bike & had lots of fun!!

I ♥ my boys!!!

Crazy Cat Lover

Blake & Sonny are like their dad in so many ways & different in many others.
These pictures tell you how much Blake is like Brad in their love of cats!!
I think it's great that Blake loves to "catch" the cats & make them snuggle with them.
Sometimes he snuggles too much & gets in trouble.
Here he is snuggling with "Brobee".


This must've been a few months ago cuz Blake has short hair in these pictures &
it is not short now....in need of a haircut but he will only let
Aunt Amelia "trim" it for him.

At least the cat looks like he's resting peacefully :)

Rocklin Splash Park

Brad & I took the kids out to a Splash Park in Rocklin on one of his days off. Don't you just love that feature?? I sure do. It's so fun for the kids to run around & cool off & you don't have to worry about if they can swim or not. It was fun to go check out one that we hadn't been to before. Sonny had fun yelling out "fire attack" again & Blake tried to stay away from the bees that he thought he might get stung by. It was a nice afternoon & I wish that we would've gone out even more to the splash parks but this summer has been so on & off with the hot & not so hot days. This has been kind of a weird summer...but I'm ok with that.

Fire Attack Swimming!!

Like I said, we've gone swimming a few times this summer. This particular day we went swimming @granmother & grandad's with Bryan, Kimi & Libby. Blake also invited his friend Josh to come along. It was a fun day of jumping off the diving board & sides of the pool. For some reason Sonny decided to start yelling "Fire Attack" every time he jumped & then we all started saying it whenever anybody would jump in the pool. Then someone got the crazy idea to put Libby's "big wheel" in the pool & ride it while swimming. Libby was yelling that it was too dangerous but do the boys ever listen....NOPE!!! Everybody had a lot of fun on this HOT summer day!!!

Pioneer Day Festivities!!

Pioneer Day was July 24th & I think it's the 1st time we've actually gone to any of the festivities. We started the day off by meeting up with the DeGraff's & then walking up to the church. (gotta get those miles in). There was a pancake breakfast before all the fun & games started & it was really good. Then we ventured over to the fun. There was a little petting zoo that had bunnies & baby chicks but we didn't stay there too long. Of course Blake had to get his face painted & Sonny was up for it too & he held sooo still. It was so cute to watch. They both got black widows. Then they tried their lines at fishing. They got sour candies & that was funny to watch!! There was root beer & cotton candy galore!! Then there was the "horseback riding". The line was loooong but it sure was worth the wait to see the smiles on my boys faces. Blake snuck up into line with his buddy Nolan so I missed the close up of him but he said it was fun. I should've gone up there with him because we wouln't have had to wait so long but we didn't. It was a hot wait & Sonny was impatient but he was sooo excited when he finally got up on that tall horse. After all the fun we got a ride home with Grammy Sisa...it was just too hot to walk back. I am grateful to all the pioneers who made the journey to the Salt Lake Valley & all the trials they went through.

Eclipse...Finally!!!

Did you think I forgot??

NO!! I didn't forget.

I just havn't been on top of my blogging & I'm trying to get caught up.

Anyway....YES...I went to one of the midnight showings (12:10am to be exact)

of Eclipse on June 30, 2010.

I joined several friends...Jaime, Heather, Amie, Julie & a few others. It was soooo fun & I was super impressed with this movie. The BEST one yet!!! It was sooo good that I actually went to see it again 2 more times with family & friends both times!!! It was sooo good & I can't believe it's been a month & a half & I haven't seen it again. Haha...I will wait til it comes out in the "cheap" theaters & of course I will be purchasing it when it comes out on DVD. Anyway...it was tons of fun & can't wait til the Big 2 part movie comes out but I will be waiting for a while....*sigh* I love it!!!

Umi Goggles

So....Sonny has discovered goggles. But these are not just any goggles...they are "Umi Goggles".
You know...the kind from UmiZoomi!!
He loves these things & I just think it's so cute that he associated them with the show. He likes to just wear them around & he'll wear them swimming too.
Well...this particular night he wanted to wear them in the bath & I thought, what the heck...so I let him.
I tried doing the goggle thing with Blake when he was little to keep the water out of his eyes but it never seemed to work. On this particular night & this particular kid, it worked like a charm!! It was fun & we didn't have to stop to wipe his eyes every time the water got in. My little bugger wouldn't hold still long enough for a decent picture but...you get the idea.

Washable Markers

Blake has a couple friends he likes/hates to play with. 
On this particular day they were having fun together & decided that they wanted to wrestle. 
Blake said he wanted to make it look like he was bleeding so could he PLEASE use the Sharpie markers??!!  (he loves those things)  I said NO WAY!!  Then I finally said he could use markers only if they were the "washable" kind.  And so he did.

Look at this tough guy!!

 

I am scared of you!!!

I didn't realize he was going to make a whole costume for himself...but oh well...it came off in the shower.
Don't you just ♥ washable markers?
I sure do!!