Wednesday's Featured shop

This weeks shop is directed towards the feet of the little ones in our lives.



Lynndy created this store on January 30 2010.  She lives in Canada and has a wonderful story about how it came about and why she chose the name of her store.  I would encourage you to click here to read it: Her Profile.  She is a stay at home mom and creates in her spare time.  What does she sell you ask.  Well take a look.

This is an Asher shoe for baby boys.

These are footsie monster shoes for baby girls.

She has several different styles and and colors to chose from and they are all adorable.  She also sales some of the patterns in PDF form.

These would make great Christmas presents as well as baby shower gifts. 

Check out her store at Elephant Shoes Knits or her blog at http://www.elephantshoesknits.blogspot.com/

She has discount codes and information on her blog so be sure to check it out.

What do you get when you cross $400 savings and cake decorating?

I don't post a lot of posts telling you about great deals.  I spend most of my time just trying to find them.  I found one that was just too good not to share.  As you know I have take a few cake decorating class and thought this was pretty cool.

I saw on http://www.freebies2deals.com/ web page this deal: http://freebies2deals.com/2011/11/cricut-cake-machine-only-49-95-shipped.html

Right now you can get a Cricut cake machine for $49.95.  They are normally $449.95.  That my friends is why I thought I'd share this with you.  Saving $400 is just awesome.  I don't know how long this deal is going to last so if this is something you want to get someone for Christmas I would suggest going soon.  Good luck.  Here is a direct link to their web page:  http://www.cricutmachine.com/product_info.php?products_id=441

Have fun

Our Thanksgiving

Well today is November 28th the Monday after Thanksgiving.  I really hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Our week started out a little shaky.  My husband got sick Monday and I got sick Tuesday morning so last week didn't start the way we wanted.

We were both feeling about 90% on Wednesday and drove around to several stores to get last minute items for the big dinner Thursday and to help each other find some Christmas gift ideas.

Thursday morning we woke up about 8:40.  It was awesome.  My husband got up and started trying to find the big parade.  It was fun to watch it and remember.  About 2 years ago we were living in New Jersey during the holiday season and we took advantage of that and went to the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.  It was a good experience and one that will probably only happen once. 

While we watched the parade I cooked.  I started with cookies.  I had prepared the pumpkins Wednesday night so all the ingredients were ready.  I accidentally made a full batch of cookies.  I meant to only make 1/2 a batch but it turned out ok.   Then I made the pie.  After the pie was done and cooling I started working on the rolls.  I made only 1/2 a batch because my kitchen aide can only handle that much.  We learned how to turn some of that dough into cinnamon rolls that were delicious.

Then once the rolls were done we pulled the turkey out of the cooler and got it in the oven.  We ended up eating the big dinner at about 5.  That was fine.  It was just us and we weren't in any hurry.

 This is most of the food that we ate.  After the turkey came out of the oven the sweet potatoes went right in and the stove was turned on to cook the potatoes for mashed potatoes.  I also made stove top stuffing and opened a can of olives.

Here we are before we started eating.  Let me just say that the turkey was delicious.  It was so moist and juicy.  I almost wasn't sure it was done all the temperature said it was and it looked done. 

The sad thing is that we couldn't eat very much.  We snacked lightly throughout the day and then we put a little of everything  on our plates and I almost couldn't finish it.

We waited an hour or so and then had a piece of pie.  It was so good.  Things just taste so much better when they are prepared from scratch.  I am so thankful that my friend taught me how to cook a pumpkin.

How was your Thanksgiving?

A beautiful Monday morning

Good morning everyone.  I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend, a wonderful Thanksgiving, and have started the week off with a wonderful Monday morning.  So far things are going well here.  Granted we have only been awake for an hour but sometimes that first hour can make or break the rest of the day. 

We have a full day planned.  Here in about 20 minutes I will watch my friends daughter for a half hour and then she will watch mine for a half hour and I am so excited.  I haven't ran in over a week.  I really really really want to go for a run.  Now that my kids aren't sick we can swap again.

After that I will go visit with a friend and see how she is doing and then while Yana takes her nap I have some Christmas presents to work on.  When she is done with her nap then we need to go grocery shopping.  I was hoping not to have to go today but when I went Saturday I forgot eye solution and I really don't want to have to wear my glasses.  So we are going and if we are going I might as well get all the groceries I am going to need.  I also need to go to the post office and mail some hair clips I made to my sister in law.  She requested some blue and yellow hair clips.  I'll share those pictures later today as well.

I think at some point today I will take the girls for a walk to the park.  Sarah has been begging to go and it looks like it is going to be a nice day so we will try it out. 

I need to sit down and share pictures from last week and tell you about another door to door sales man that came by.  No we didn't buy but I'll tell you about it anyways. 

At some point this week I need to get caught up on "The Biggest Loser"  I've been so busy I haven't been able to sit down and watch it.  When the girls hit the hay tonight I will again return to the sewing room for a couple hours. 

Busy but it should be fun.  Have a wonderful Monday and I'll get those pictures on here in a bit.

Two New flower hair clips.

 I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  I'll share pictures and tell you about ours later.  Right now I just wanted to let you all know that I just posted two more flower hair clips to my store.  If you are looking for stocking stuffers or other cute gifts for December birthday's or Christmas these are sturdy but not expensive gifts. 

They are roughly 5 inches across and have an alligator clip on the back.  The clip has teeth to help them not slip around.  My daughter loves them.  They work great for girls and women of all ages.  My sister in law has asked me to make her some specific colors for some up coming pictures.  I'll share the pictures when I get them done.

There are more pictures on my store listings.  Come check them out here: Idaho At Heart

House full of sick people

Well last Thursday Sarah had the flu and then Josh got it last night.  This morning I realized that I had caught it as well.  So I apologize that I haven't blogged much today.  We have been lying around sick trying not to get our girls sick as well.  We are feeling better tonight but not prefect.  Hopefully with a good nights rest we will be over this by morning. 

I haven't had time on the computer to look for a featured shop for tomorrow so it might not be until next week.

Have a good week and a Happy Thanksgiving in case I don't make it back on before then.

My very first giveaway!!!

I hope that caught your attention.  The giveaway is not actually taking place here on my blog but I have joined with Kadydid Designs.  She is doing a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway.  12 different stores on Etsy.  Mine is included.  Check out her blog soon to know how to participate.  There are lots of cool things being given away.

I am offering a hair clip from my store.  Your choice if you are chosen.  So come take a look at my store.
Idaho At Heart.  I will be adding a few more over the next few days to give you more choices.  Here are a couple I will be adding.

Share the news with your friends.  We want as many people involved as we can get.  Even though we need to make sure we remember all the things that we are thankful for we can still do a few small things to prepare for Christmas.

Have a wonderful night.

My Thanksgiving list

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!  I am so excited for Thanksgiving this year for a few reasons.  The first to be mentioned but not necessarily the most important is that my husband and I have  not been eating starches and sugars and when we started we deemed Thanksgiving a cheat day.  So we are excited for the pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies I'll be making.

Other than that the most important thing is how much we get to talk to our children about what we are thankful for.  Yes, we should be doing this all year long but this week is special because it happens more.

I want to start a list of what I am thankful for. 

I am thankful for:

My Heavenly Father

My Saviour

My wonderful husband
Our two beautiful girls

My husband's job

My talents

My health

The house we live in

Wonderful family not living near us

Good friends

Food in our cupboards

Clean water to drink

Clothes on our bodies

Shoes on our feet

The cars we drive

Good books to read

Good music to listen too

Modern technology

Modern medicine

Everyday comforts

That is not all.  I could get down and start naming every little thing that I am thankful for but that doesn't leave anything for the rest of you.

Please come share what you are thankful for with us.  Please post a comment with what you are thankful for.  You can share as much as you would like.

Cloth vs disposable?

Tonight I was going down through the blogs that I am following and noticed a few posts about cloth diapers.  I know that my parents used cloth diapers.  I probably should use cloth diapers because it is cheaper and easier on the environment.  There are questions that I would like to ask all you who use cloth diapers.

1 - How many do you have to have on hand?
2 - Don't they leak? (that is one of my biggest concerns)
3 - How do you clean them if your child has a bowel movement?

I had more questions but as I am sitting here I can't seem to remember them.  If anyone would like to leave a comment and tell me more about cloth diapers I would be very appreciative.

Have a wonderful night.

Evening Continued

Well, I thought it was all over and done with when I posted last night.  I did stay up for a while waiting for her to come out and she never did.  I finally decided I was in the clear so I got all my stuff cleaned up and lights turned off.  I then opened their door to check on them and immediately knew something was wrong.  Their bedroom stunk horribly.

But if she threw up, then why didn't I hear or why didn't she come get me?  I couldn't see much in the dark so I thought maybe I had left something in her room that had throw up on it.  Much to my surprise that was not the case.  Sarah had either thrown up while sleeping or had thrown up and then fell back to sleep...in it.

It was all over the place.  On the head board, pillow, her face, her pajamas, and sheets.  I wasn't exactly sure what to do.  I know that sounds weird.  Clean it up is what you're thinking.  My mother in law recommended that I set up our wonderful camping mattresses for her to sleep on.  She recommended that I put a garbage sack down and then a towel for her to lay on.  That is what I did.  I gave her a pillow from the couch to use because her "grandma pillow" was soaked.

We, again, changed her pajamas, washed her off and got her settled in the living room on the mattresses.  She wanted water and I knew she was dehydrated by now so I gave her some...only to regret it later.

While she lay there I pulled the blanket, pillow, sheets and mattress protector off the bed and put them in the laundry room.  Then I pulled the mattress up and away from the headboard.  I wiped down the headboard and down farther only to realize that it had gone through the cracks.  So I cleaned off the top of the plastic totes under the bed and the room smelt so much better.

I relocated all the towels on the floor to the living room from her bed to the bathroom.  Then after talking her into trying to go back to sleep I went into my room to finish getting ready for bed. 

Then we started all over again.  She started throwing up where she lay.  I got her up and ran her into the bathroom only for her to dry heave for a while.  Finally her stomach was empty.  That darn water was to blame.  I told you it would come back to haunt me.

We again changed her cloths, got her a new pillow, removed the towel and put down a new one and tried again.  This time without water.

Well she hasn't thrown up since thankfully.  She did wake me up every other hour all night long wanting water and needing to use the toilet.  It was a long night.

She seems to be doing better.  She doesn't want to eat but she will drink so we are going with it.  She just isn't hungry and I don't want to force her to eat and upset her stomach.  We'll try a small snack here in a bit and see how she does.

I can honestly say that I do not enjoy the flu.  I don't like it when I have it and I really don't like it when my children have it.  I hope it is another 3-4 years before they get it again.  So far Yana hasn't caught it and I'm hoping it stays that way.

I have done 4 loads of laundry today trying to clean everything up.

I hope you all had a better night and are having a wonderful day.

What an evening!

Well this evening did not go at all like I had planned in my head. 

About 5:30 Sarah tells me that her stomach hurt.  I looked at the clock and told her it was because she was hungry.  It was, after all, dinner time.  So I ask her what she wanted to eat and she told me, "Mac and Cheese".  No problem.  We actually had some in the fridge so I just put some in a bowl and warmed it up.  I had set it on the table and was trying to get my dinner ready when she tells me again that her stomach hurt.  I kept telling her it was because she was hungry.  I mean she was playing earlier.  I wouldn't think anything was wrong.

Well she is standing by her chair getting ready to climb up and she throws up.  All over my kitchen floor.  I was dumbstruck.  I just stood there.  She just stood there.  She has never thrown up.  I say that again.  She has never in all her almost 4 years of life thrown up.  I just didn't know what to do.  First of all I was trying not to throw up.  I really struggle being around when others are. 

So we got her undressed and in the tub.  Yana was sitting in her seat so she, thankfully, couldn't get into anything.

I eventually got everything cleaned up and Sarah in her pajamas.  She seemed fine.  She didn't act like she had the flu.  Maybe it was something she ate.  Well I had made her a piece of toast.  No more Mac and Cheese.  I wanted something that would help calm her stomach so I turned to toast.  Before she could even take a bite round two.  She did it again.  This time I grabbed her and ran to the bathroom.  Sadly, in the process my pants and the carpet got a little dirty, not to mention her pajamas were plastered.  So she got to sit by the toilet for a while in her underwear eating toast and drinking 7-Up.

Eventually I got her into some new pajamas and put to bed.  So far so good but the house stunk.  So out came the floor cleaning parts that attach to my Hyla.  First I cleaned the kitchen floor then took a short break to clean up those parts.  Then I put the carpet attachments on and for the first time cleaned the carpet.  The house doesn't stink anymore.

So now here I am sitting her.  Hopefully I didn't disgust any of you but I just couldn't keep this night to myself.

Daredevil child of mine!

 Can you all see what I'm talking about?  She has no fear.  She loves climbing up on that rocking chair and she keeps trying to climb onto that kitchen.  She is so cute.  She pulls everything out of the cupboards and then throws them on the floor before climbing onto the kitchen.  She does it all the time.  She is so funny.  Sarah was never this curious.

 Here she is another time (not doing anything daring) but pulling everything out of the kitchen and I mean everything.  That is the first thing she does everyday.

She is learning how to walk and Sarah loves helping her.  Sarah was walking her around the living room.  The good news is that Yana is now taking 2 steps by herself all the time.  She just needs to work up to 3 steps lol.  She is so fun to watch.  She wont walk unless she has something in her hand.

Well my kids are so cute and hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Brown and white flower hair clip

I just posted a really cute brown and white flower hair flip to my store.

Here is just one picture.

This clip is just over 5 inches across and like the other has an alligator clip with teeth on the back.  My daughter's hair is fine and thin and these work great in her hair. 

Right now Thanksgiving is coming up and this would be a great addition to your outfit.  It would work great for any outfit all year long.  We also have Christmas coming up and flower hair clips would make great stocking stuffers for your daughters, wives, mother's, sisters, and any of the women or girls in your week.

Come check it out:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86329224/brown-and-white-flower-hair-clip

This weeks featured shop is.....

Sorry this is so late.  It has been a busy morning with the library, lunch with friends, nap times, sewing times, and snacks.

This weeks featured blog is:

Kennedy Bentley

The owners name is Brittany.  She sounds very creative after reading her profile.  What I learned about her is that she is 19.  Sounds like a go getter to me.  She opened her store August 7, 2010. 

One thing she said on her profile I really liked.  She said, "I Love how they can take a piece of junk and turn it into a one of a kind item."  I love that.  Right now she is selling Friendship bracelets that she makes.  She loves making them and has been making them for a long time.  It looks like she will be adding other things to her store so we should all keep checking back.

Here are a couple of them for you to see.

I have always loved friendship bracelets.  I don't know how to make them so I think this is the place to go if I decide I want one.

Here is a shortcut to her facebook page.  Come check it out.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kennedy-Bentley/178468212235293

Come check them out and share the news with your friends.  These would make wonderful Christmas gifts for your friends.

BRB

Ok well I just realized what time it was.  I am taking my kids to the library and then out to lunch.  When I get back I'll share the store of the week with you.  I hope you all have a wonderful morning.  See ya in a bit.

New Fall Table runner.

I just posted a new table runner to my store.  It is a Corn on the Cobb themed table runner.  There is green, orange and dark brown as well.  Sadly it is the only one that I will get done this year.  I have several more tops finished so I'll have them after the holidays if anyone wants one or I'll just wait until next year to post them.

Like all the others this table runner is very durable and machine washable.  They make perfect decorations for the home or the office.  They would even make a great gift for someone.

There are more pictures on my store if you want to see them.  Here is the link.  Corn on the Cobb table runner

New items on my etsy store

Well I just renewed a few items that would be great for this holiday season.  A few Kitchen grocery sack holders and a pullover bib. 



Here was one of the the grocery sack holders.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74644113/flowery-grocery-sack-holder



Here is my daughter modeling the white and flowery pullover bib.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/69038071/flowery-pullover-bib-for-toddlers

Come check out the other new things on my store.

Busy weekend

How was every one's weekend?  Ours was pretty good.  It went too fast for me though.  We really didn't do much.  Saturday we went to research some vehicles.  We are thinking about buying a car that gets better gas mileage.  With all the driving my husband does we think we need something for him that gets better gas mileage than his truck.  Like I said we are thinking about it.  He may end up with a work truck in the next 6 months or so and then we wont need a car.

Other than that I spent most of the time cutting material.  The time this year flew by faster than it should have.  Can you believe that Christmas is next month?  I can't.  Yana will be 1 next month.  This time last year I was almost done with all my Christmas present sewing and had a lot of things mailed to family.  This year is drastically different.  I'm just getting started.  I wasn't paying attention as the time flew by.

So I rolled my nifty sewing table into the living room so I could be with family and I stood there and cut material for hours over the weekend.  I'll share pictures in a bit.

We discussed Christmas presents for a our kids and for family members and friends.  We went for a walk or too.

Yana has taken a few more steps on her own.  She even did it while carrying around a tool box.  She is walking better and better and I think she will be walking soon.

What did you all do this weekend?

What a week!

Well we have been back since Sunday night and this week has been something else.  Can you believe that it is already Friday?  Here is how my day went.

Husband slept in and woke up about ten minutes before he was supposed to leave for work.  So I get up and make breakfast while he gets ready and the as he is getting up from the table he wakes our girls up.  I don't know if you have seen our table.  Here is a picture to help you understand how noise it can be.

We hired a very good friend to make this table for us last year and we love it.  Ok, so take a look at those chairs.  Do they look light to you?  They are very heavy and so we slide them on the floor more often than not and it is not quiet.

So my husband did just that and it for some reason woke up my girls.  So after the morning routine one of Sarah's friends came over for a half our or so and then they all went to her friends house so I could exercise.  I decided to walk rather than bike and it felt great.  I forgot what a workout you can get from walking.

Then we came home and Yana took a nap.  While she napped I sewed.  I got a fall table runner sandwiched, the free motion stitching done and the binding sewn 3/4 the way around it. 

Sarah had been invited to a birthday party today so we went to that and had a lot of fun.  The kids got to decorate a cupcake and then play with the other kids.  She had a lot of fun and thought we were at the park.

After that we went to the post office only to remember that it is Veteran's day.  Sad I know.  I do appreciate everything that the veteran's have done for us I just hardly know what day it is half the time.  This is the first all day that I have even looked at the computer.

I took the girls out back in the yard and we played for over an hour.  Yana just crawled around while Sarah and I chased each other and kicked a ball around.

After dinner we had a babysitter come over and my husband and I went on a date.  I love date night!  We went to the movies.  We watched "Real Steel" and loved it.

This weekend we don't have any huge plans.  Maybe go to the gun range, or just hang out at the house and relax.  I'll let y'all know on Monday.  Have a good weekend everyone.

A Late Wednesday's Featured shop

Since being back from vacation things are kind of off schedule.  That is why we are having Wednesday's featured shop today instead of yesterday. 

kadydid designs

Before I get into what they make and sell let me tell you a little about their shop.  This shop has been around since April 19, 2010.  Two sisters run this store together from the Phoenix metro area.  Their store was created from a unique experience with one of their children.  You should check out the store profile to read more about that.  Click here to see that story.  They love custom orders so as you look through the pictures here and on their store keep that in mind if you want something specific.

They have a lot of really cute things on their store.  They make burp cloths, car seat covers and fluffy tutus.

Take a look at some of my favorites.



I really like this car seat cover.  I use blankets and they are always falling off and blowing away in the wind so these are awesome.



Isn't this cute.  I am new to the whole tutu thing.  I have never made them and the ones I have seen are made with tulle.  I thought this was a wonderful idea.  This material is adorable and softer than tulle. This would be a great addition to your little ones Christmas season style.



Ok so I know that Halloween is over for the year but this was just too cute not to share it with you.  They are reversible as well.

Do you see something that you like?  If you do stop by and tell them.  They would love to hear from people about their store.  They are also putting together a Christmas giveaway pretty soon so keep an eye on their blog.  If you like what you see then there is another reason to follow their blog, twitter, or facebook page.  From the looks of it they off coupon codes and discounts to their followers.

BECOME A FAN & RECEIVE COUPON CODES & DISCOUNTS!!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kadydiddesigns
Twitter: www.twitter.com/kadydiddesigns
Blog: www.kadydiddesigns.blogspot.com



What a day!

Wednesday.  Ya that would be today.  Both of my girls decided that 6 was the time to wake up and man it threw off my entire day.  We did get some things done though.  We even went for a walk - entirely too early in the day.  We did the laundry and we played and Yana ate more than she had in the last few days.

I finally got something done in my sewing room.  Honestly, I hadn't stepped into it since being back from vacation.  I think I'm overwelmed and in my mind if I avoid it then it isn't there. While on vacation it finally hit me that Christmas is right around the corner.  I started making a list of Christmas gifts and the list is pretty long.  Since I love home made gifts and I love giving home made gifts.  I have spent all my sewing time getting things in my shop.  I need to find some balance in order to get the Christmas gifts done.

Unfortanetly that means that I wont be getting very many table runners posted.  I will get at least one fall table runner before Thanksgiving and hopefully at least one or two Christmas table runner posted.

I decided after this experience that I should start preparing for the holidays at the beginning of the year and that is what I am going to do next year.  I will start making things several months in advance.  I will keep posting flower hair clips because they can be done while my girls are awake and I like making them.

I will post the featured shop tomorrow.  My computer and the internet aren't playing nice together tonight and I can only open one screen at a time.  I hope that you have a wonderful night.  See you tomorrow.

New hair clips

 I just posted these three hair clips to my store.  One purple and zebra striped, one pink and zebra striped, and one that is more fall themed with brown and purple.  Each of them are about 4 inches across.  They are super cute and very sturdy.  I used alligator clips with teeth in order to help them stay in place.

They would work great for any of the women in your lives or yourselves.  They would work well with long or short hair and would make great stocking stuffers.  Come check out my store to see these and other hair clips as well as table runners and pull over bibs.  Idaho At Heart

Vacation part 2

I left off Halloween night in part 1. I realized that I forgot about our family get together on Sunday.  It was a lot of fun.  We made our own ice cream Sundays while blindfolded.  It was fun.

Here is Josh trying to scoop his ice cream.  I say try because people kept moving the ice cream on him.  It was a lot of fun.

Can you tell that she doesn't feel good yet.  She wasn't too happy still.  Her favorite spot was on the blanket to the left.

The three of them spent the entire time playing in that room together.

 I don't remember exactly what we did Tuesday.  We hung out at the house, cleaned, fixed, oh now I remember.  We (Josh, my father in law and myself) went fishing.  Let me tell you it was cold.  The wind was blowing making it worse.  I had 2 pairs of pants on and 2 shirts, 1 sweat shirt and a coat on.  Plus I took a blanket.  Who do you think caught any fish?  Well if you guess the guys then you are wrong.  I caught the only fish this time.  I'm sure we would have caught more but we were freezing.

Wednesday we went to the valley for doctor's visits.  Four of us went to the chiropractor's.  That felt great.  I think every bone in my body popped back in place.  There were other appointments and shopping that got done.  I registered for my half marathon.

Thursday we took my in laws down to the airport.  That was hard. We hate saying goodbye.  On our way back we went the scenic way and stopped at Mesa falls.

 Josh and Yana on the walkway.

Me and the girls.  Aren't they cute.

Friday we did things around the house.  Some family members came up and had dinner with us.  It was fun to visit and see how they were doing.  As they were leaving we noticed that it was snowing.  That made life fun.

Saturday my first alarm didn't go off which had me really nervous.  We had a 2.5 hour drive to make and it snowed a lot during the night.  I think we had almost 6 inches when we left.  It took us almost an hour to get down the hill which normally takes us about 30 minutes.  I was sure we were going to be late to Pocatello.

Driving was slow.  We were more concerned with safety than anything.  The girls were in the back.  Well we made it.  I say we made it but it was barely in time.  We pulled up to the finish line and I carefully walked (the parking lot was iced over) in to get my packet.  Then I went back to the car and grabbed my shoes, and a bag and found the closest bus.

The bus took us up to the top of the mountain.  Once there we used the porta potties.  I took off my sweats and put on my running shoes.  I also put on the shirt that we got in our packets....(I realized later that I had run the entire race with my shirt on backwards).  Did I mention earlier that it was cold?  It was windy, the ground was covered with snow and ice and it was still cloudy.  They had two bonfires to help keep us warm but they only helped so much.  There were after all almost 500 people waiting at the top of the hill.  The race was supposed to start at 10:13 but there were a couple of buses that were delayed so it didn't start for almost another 20 minutes.

When it came time to start we all walked carefully over to the starting line.  The gun went off and we all carefully started jogging.  It was slow at first.  It was downhill on ice.  I just took it as it came.  The first 2 miles flew by.  It was amazing at how fast that first aid station came....and went.  I didn't stop.  The 4.5 mile aid station came...it seemed like it took a little longer.  I was doing good keeping my pace.  I did stop for the bathroom and to get a drink of Gatorade and then I got going again.

Then the 7 mile one came a long and my stomach was aching.  I needed to use the bathroom again.  When I stopped to walk to the bathroom my left leg was almost not there.  That was the feeling.  I'm sure I looked really funny.  It was weird for me.  I ran 8 miles with no problems and at mile 7 I could tell the last miles were going to be harder than I thought.

I kept going and the next aid station was at mile 11.  They warned us that they would have stuff at that aid station that no human should ever consume and they were right.  The first thing I heard when getting close was someone asking if I wanted a swig of whiskey.  I just looked at him not quite believing what I heard.  I took some water and turned down everything else.

I was hurting.  My ankle ached, my knees ached and my shoulders were sore already.  This wasn't going to be good.  My goal was to finish no matter what but I did want to run the entire way.  That didn't quite happen.  By mile 12 I stopped and walked a few yards and then ran again.  From there that is the way it was.  I ran as far as I could and then walked for a short time.  Thankfully I don't think I walked more than 1/2 a mile out of the 13 but I did walk some.  I don't regret it though.  I did finish.  I did it.  I thought I could do it and I did.  Would I do it again?  Yes.  I don't think I'll do a full marathon any time soon.  I realized that I'm not quite ready for that yet.

My husband took some pictures near the finish line.

 The lady next to me and I played leap frog the entire way.  Towards the end we ran together cheering each other on.  It was also her first half marathon.  It was nice.  It helped me forget the way my body felt and concentrate on the task at hand.

To the right of us is the finish line.  We crossed it and my official time was 2 hours and 56 minutes and some odd seconds.  I don't remember them off the top of my head.  My goal was 2.5 hours but I finished and that was my main goal.

After the race I grabbed my close bag and a roll and left with my family.  We headed back up to Island Park and had dinner with my parents.  Then we sat and visited.  It was nice.

Yesterday we got up and got packed.  Then we said our goodbyes and headed down the hill.  It had snowed more over night so we left earlier than we normally would need to.  It took about the same amount of time to get down the hill as it did on Saturday.  We picked up my sister in law and headed to the airport.  We said goodbye to her and headed inside to get checked in.  My brother and his daughter came over to say goodbye.  It was so nice to see him.  We never like leaving our home.  Owasso has become our home away from home and I like it here but nothing will ever take the place of our home in Idaho.

We got home safely and unpacked.  It is good to be home.

Vacation part 1

Well our vacation started Friday the 28th.  Our flight flew out of Tulsa at 6:30 am so we got up around 4 in order to get our car packed and girls in the car and still be to the airport two hours early.  Our flights were on time thankfully.  We got into Idaho Falls around one.  My sister in law picked us up and we went and had lunch with my dad, brother and mom.

Saturday morning Josh and Sarah went out on the dock and went fishing.  Sarah caught her first fish.  She was so excited but wouldn't actually touch the fish.

After lunch we went to Island Park.  Josh's parents got in on Thursday.  We spent the night in Island Park and had a great time.  Saturday we drove back down to Idaho Falls for one of my best friends weddings.  She looked beautiful.  I was so excited for her.

After her wedding and dinner we headed to my dad's house.  We got there while my dad and stepmother were out so we let ourselves in and got the girls to bed.  Then we helped my dad move in some elliptical machines when they got home.

Sunday we took Yana to Community Care.  She got two teeth before we left on vacation but she was still running a high fever and not acting like herself.  Turns out she had an ear infection as well.  Once on medication she started slowly returning to the cute little girl that she is. 

She would actually go to my dad after that.

Sarah and I went to church with my dad and step mom.  Then we just visited for the rest of the day.

Monday we went to Idaho Falls and spent a lot of time with my mom and grandparents.  It was nice to visit and see how everyone was doing.

 Yana with my grandpa.

Sarah with my grandpa and grandma.

Later we got the girls dressed up and ready to go trick or treating.  We met up with my sister at my mom's house and then later met up with my brother and his daughter.

 Here is the costume I made for Sarah.  She looked so cute.

 This is Sarah's first Halloween costume and now Yana is wearing it.

My niece was a chicken.  It was quite a cute costume.

We started at my dad's office since he was about to go home.

Then we went to my grandparents and then my aunts house.  From my aunts house we walked around her block knocking on doors.  After that we dropped my sister in law off and headed back up to Island Park.

The girls fell asleep on the way to the cabin.

Well here is part one of our vacation.  Stay tuned for the rest of it.  Hopefully it all comes today.

Home safe and sound

Well it is Monday and we are home in Oklahoma.  Yesterday we flew out around 1:24 pm Mountain Standard time and got home around 7:50 Central Standard time.  The flights were good and our girls did fine.  Yana was really tired of being in her car seat by the time we got home though.

Today is going to be a busy and hectic day trying to get the house back in order, the fridge full of groceries laundry done, find time to exercise and just sit down to share our vacation with you.

Here is today's plan.  Right now I'm feeding my children,  then they will be taking a bath while I create a grocery list.  After their bath then we will go get groceries.  While Yana takes her nap I will go sew.  I need to vacuum, organize, put a new flag outside, do laundry, make more laundry soap, and share our vacation with you all.

In case any of you are dying to know, yes I did finish my half marathon on Saturday, but just to keep you all interested I'm not going to give you details until later.  Mainly because I'm out of time on the computer.  Have a good day.  I'll try to get a vacation post up this afternoon.

Saturday is the day...wait that is tomorrow!

As you all know tomorrow is November 5th.  Why is it the day you might ask?  Well, some of you know that earlier I mentioned that I wanted to run a half marathon while on vacation here in Idaho.  That half marathon is tomorrow.

I officially registered for it on Wednesday.  I ran 8 miles the last Saturday we were home in Oklahoma and then I ran 4.6 miles this last Saturday while on vacation.  I have been tapering and trying to get ready for tomorrow.  I'm sitting here looking up directions to the finish line.  It looks like I will be getting up really early in order to make it to Pocatello in time.  The race starts at 10:13 but since I will need to pick up my packet before the last bus heads to the finish line at 9:30.  I would like to get there at 9 so I have half an hour to figure things out and stand in line (if there is a line).

Am I nervous?  Yes.  Am I really nervous?  No.  In 2009 I was training for a 1/2 marathon.  It would have been my first race ever.  However, my shins couldn't handle it at that point.  After my 8 mile run that time I couldn't run for 2 weeks because my shins hurt so much.  I ran the 10K instead and loved it.  It allowed me to experience a race knowing that I could finish.  I learned a lot.  The one advantage that I had that day was that I knew the area.  I knew where to go to start.  This time I don't.  I am not familiar with Pocatello.  That is what makes me the most nervous.

I need to get up and on the road by 6:30 to make it by 9 and I have to find a park I have never been to.  I'm worried that my alarm wont go off or that I'll sleep through it.  Yana has an ear infection and has been waking up during the night which takes makes me tired.

I will finish this race.  I will run all the way (except when drinking at the stations).  I will finish strong and I will enjoy every minute of it.  I know that I can do this.  I am strong willed and very determined.  I'll let you know how it goes either tomorrow or when we get home from vacation.

Have a good weekend.  I know I will.