Laura Got Married!

Lee, Myself and Luke at Laura's Wedding

We had a lovely day as a family last Saturday at Laura's Wedding. We started early and packed all our stuff to head to a cold soccer game and then straight up to Adam's folks to drop our kids, get ready and head up to Baraboo. On Friday I had no idea what to wear and then remembered that I had my Gramma O'Malley's black crepe dress. Perfect. I had a friend talk me in to wearing red lipstick for the first time in my life. I had earrings from Anna's costume bin and a fun yellow bag that Stef and I got at the flea market a couple of years ago. I was proud of myself that the only thing I spent money on was the lipstick.

I enjoyed visiting with Lee and Chelsy and Luke and Elissa—it’s just fun to be together. The wedding was beautiful. Laura was a doll. I wish them the very best! Can’t wait to chat with her about her new life and the adventure of being married.

Johnny's Sketches

Even though the subject matter is a little dark, I smile when I see Johnny's sketches. The dynamic way that he depicts the scene is really impressive to me.

Fancy Day

Yesterday morning Johnny woke up right away without any sort of fall out and reminded me that it was fancy day at school. It was very important to him that he had a tie and a belt and the right coat. I was really surprised that he even wanted to take part. I had to convince Anna that since she is part of student council that she absolutely had to participate, but Johnny didn't second guess himself in the least. It was fun. Johnny looked handsome.

Lakefront Marathon

I had a great day at the Lakefront Marathon up in Milwaukee, WI. The weather was absolutely perfect for running and I definitely rested into it loaded with carbs. Alex and I headed up Saturday afternoon, listening to 90’s radio which brought back all sorts of odd memories. We went to the expo, checked out the logistics, had dinner and went to bed. That morning I was excited to see that the temps were just above 40 degrees, making it comfortable. We went and parked and loaded onto the shuttle bus—the funny thing about this race is that they bus you out 26.2 miles and then let you run the way back. We started at a high school and were able to hang out indoors which I thought was really nice. It reminded me of Cary March Madness. About 3000 runners lined up for a 7:30 start. I had done just enough training for this. Not enough to have wild expectations, but enough to be solid. The only marathons I have run have been in 80 degree temps, so I was curious if this cooler weather would give me the boost I needed to break 4 hours, even though my training wasn’t really there for it. As soon as we started I loved it—the trees were gorgeous, the scenery was interesting and it wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded with people. I didn’t feel like I had to zigzag around. There was enough crowd support to keep you motivated. At about 10 miles, I tried to lock in my pace and settle in. The one thing that stunk was that when I hit my garmin at the start line, it didn’t start. I didn’t realize this until about a 1/2 mile in. So I never had my exact time or pace during the race. Anyhow, I chugged along feeling okay. The course wasn’t perfectly flat, but the rolling hills were not anything to be concerned about. I mentally just hack the mileage down and do a gu every 5 miles or so. I did take a couple of salt tablets just for good measure. About 22 miles I felt my pace fall off a bit, but then I had a good mile in there at 23. For whatever reason I just could not keep quite where I needed to be. I think it would have been helpful to get another 20 mile training run, but with the shin injury from the summer I was just happy to be out there with the training I had. There was a fun descent going back into Milwaukee and we ran right on the Lakefront. I finished hard and I feel like I gave what I had for the day. I actually felt horrible right after the race, but pulled it together and went to the massage tent. I still didn't know my final time. After Alex finished and we both were treated by the massage tent people we gimped to the shuttle bus to take us home. Hilariously the 40 degree temp difference only made a 49 second difference in my last marathon time. Still a PR though!

My Hudson is 6

Hudson just born

I laugh every time I think of Hudson’s birth story. I was a wreck mentally. I had opted for a home birth and he was 14 days past my due date. As my fourth child, I could not imagine that he would be late and I was certain of my due date. In my head I had been running a race to the finish line and the finish line just kept moving further and further away from me the closer I thought I was to reaching it. I finally decided that I should just go on with my life and the baby would probably never come.

Saturday October 7th was a beautiful day. My friend Amy called me to see if I wanted to meet her to swim (I swam the entire pregnancy in a giant blue speedo). But I decided that I would just take a walk to the local farmer’s market with Adam and the kids instead. I remember Adam telling me to hurry up so that we could go and then feeling like maybe I shouldn’t go after all. From there things fell into place. I called Stef who was going to be my doula and Amy and my Mom. My mom and dad took the kids and I went to my room and was able to focus and relax. I remember Adam running out for Jimmy Johns. When the Dr. arrived I was already at 8 cm. The birth was amazing, my best friends were there one was holding my hand and the other was praying. My mom was there for it all too. Luckily Adam made it back from Jimmy Johns on time to grab my other hand. It was a boy! Hudson Taylor who had to be weighed on a musky scale wrapped in a towel because he was too big for the first scale the Dr. tried to weigh him on—10 lbs. 5 oz. A couple hours later the kids were brought to meet their new baby brother after they had napped at my folks house. It is a precious memory in my mind and one of my most favorite days on this earth.

Heritage Beam & Board

We are going full-bore getting the barn wood salvage business going. This week I have been working a ton and getting things tweaked up, brochures ready and what not. Tuesday night we headed up to WI to get a photo of both the families. The barn sale is a go and that will be a fun focus for the next two months. Adam is up with Seth building more furniture pieces and finishing up the big table that they have been working on. This weekend is the Lakefront Marathon and Hudson’s 6th birthday. My house is a mess. There is a lot of work to do.

Flea Market Day.

Stef and our only sustenance

car loaded

I have a thing about the flea market. It is one of my favorite days. Stef and I go every year and we always have a good time. Some years are better than others, but I have never ever not enjoyed myself. This year the summer was so packed that we decided to do the end of September one that was nicely paired with my birthday. I went to get Stef, we got coffee and some cash and headed up for the day. I love not being rushed and just being able to chat thoroughly and be inspired by different people’s creativity. Stef and I never even come close to seeing all the stuff. We spend the day looking and thinking about our families and fun things we can do to be a little more organized or just create something cool. This year we didn’t even eat anything other than popcorn the entire day. You forget about food when there is so much to see. At the end of the day we had wheeled and dealed, filled the car with stuff and headed back. This morning as I was walking around me house I was smiling because I have flea market finds of years past everywhere I look—having fun with my best friend is simply the best way to decorate.

34! 34! 34!

Birthday sign made by David

Typically I stay up late the night before the kids’ birthdays and I make signs and a cake. Often I cut out the number of their years and put it up around the house so they can be celebrated as they walk around for the day. When I went to bed last thursday night, I was a bit restless—around 2:00 am I heard voices and knew the kids were executing some sort of plan. The morning of my birthday I got up to run with Brittany and as I opened the door there was a birthday sign taped across the doorway. I stepped under it not wanting to break through it, as is the typical procedure, and saw that all down the hall were signs and notes from the kids. They had a paper chain made from notebook paper, streamers and the whole works. There was a note exclaiming that they did it all and “DAD DID NOT HELP!”. The part that made me laugh were all the numbers 34! 34! 34! everywhere reminding me to be excited about my new age.