Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

I remember when my best friends (Erin, Mary, Jenny, Ange) and I were growing up (junior high school days) we would take endless pictures of our crazy faces. I know every one of my girlfriends' crazy faces by heart. And I love that we can all be so silly and laugh at each other still, to this day.

We get together at least once a year for a weekend of gossiping, crafting, going out, and making silly faces while taking pictures. I vividly remember visiting Ange in California in 2005. We visited her older sister Paula (who is the queen of silly faces and taught us most of what we know) and met her husband and kids. We sat down for dinner with her and I'll never forget how fun it was. Dinner ended with everyone showing their silly faces like they were sharing what they did at school that day. I laughed so hard that I made a mental note to teach my future children this very dinner routine (I had just gone through a pretty horrendous miscarriage, so the laughter was much needed, maybe that's why it stood out so much). Think all of this is on my brain because we are in the middle of planning our next visit/girls' weekend and I have them all on my mind.

 This is a classic - was taken under the (closed) bed of Dino's truck sometime in 2005? But it clearly shows you how silly we get. Pretty sure we did the splits outside of the bar we were at this night, just before we hopped into the truck. 

 Same weekend, showing support for our favorite singer, Jen

 2006 with Jen

 Erin's Bachelorette party 2006

 Erin's wedding weekend in Vegas 2006

 Drag show in Chicago 2007

 The girls surprised me for my 30th birthday party in 2007 (I was 5 weeks prego with Iz here)

 Celebrating my baby shower at the lake in 2007

 Visiting Indy 2008

 The girls supporting me at a half marathon in 2010

 Go Cubs Go 2010

 Erin ran the last few miles of the Ch.icago Marathon 2010 with me

 Another Indy visit 2011

 Epic

 Given the amount of silliness I grew up with in these girls, I wanted to make sure to pass that quality on to my own girls. So I was tickled to see all the pictures the nanny took with the girls over the summer:

 Making faces with Nanny Natalie is second nature to them, and I freaking love it.

 And I've carried on the tradition of making funny faces at all times at home. Sure, we also talk about our favorite part of our day and what we did at school. However, we also share our favorite funny faces. "Oooh, that's a good one!" is said a lot in our house. Laney will bust out a silly face at any given moment and one of us is sure to comment on how awesome it is. We nurture silly in our house. Here's a few:

I'm so thankful for my girlfriends that I grew up with...for MANY reasons. But one of my favorite things my girlfriends taught me was how to have fun.

Gobble Gobble 2011

Goodness last week was a whirlwind for us and I loved every moment of it. Three day work week. Family and friends. Lots of visiting and eating and laughing. Yes, please.

The week started with Nanny Natalie spending the afternoon and evening with the girls on Monday. She took them to her house and Granny Panties (Miss Kay) and Mr. Dave spoiled them with a dinner and lots of play time. My girls adore Natty and her family and it simply makes my heart warm to know they love the girls just as much. Natalie also attended Izzy's Thanksgiving Feast at school, as Mike and I weren't able to attend. Izzy came home with an awesomely cool painted macaroni necklace while Laney came home with a card saying what she was thankful for: Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Ben & Dave. Not sure who Ben & Dave are...but Lane claims they are chipmunks. Mmmkay then.

 My dad & step mom arrive Wednesday afternoon to spend a few days with us. Mike took dad to his first Butler basketball game against Gardener Webb (who? doesn't matter...turns out it was quite an amazing game). Dad came home telling us how much fun they had. Anna and I were sharing a bottle of vino. That's my idea of a relaxing evening.

 Thursday morning we trekked down to Br.oadripple for the Dru.mstick Dash 4.5 miler. There were about 15,000 runners in attendance (a record) and needless to say the course was jam-packed. Not going to lie, I did enjoy a nice (slow) run with my husband and best friend; however, I will not be running this race anytime in the near future. Too crowded. Poorly managed. I'll stick with the smaller, less swamped races on turkey morning. Dad & Anna walked with the girls along the shorter course and we finished about the same time. Felt good to get my legs moving in preparation for a day of eating and drinking!

 Jaime and I ran with our BoMF buddy Eric

When I turned my watch on I noticed I hadn't worn it since my marathon. As we all know that I'm not proud of my time, I'm pretty proud of my mileage. It was bittersweet to delete. No matter my finish time, I'm thankful for my health and for the two kiddos in the background of this picture. I run for them. Not for time.

 

We came back to warm showers, naps and Mike cooking up a delicious meal. The day turned out to be beautiful so I had to take advantage with a few pics outside.

 Jaime and I have a habit of dressing alike. For a run or for a dinner out you can bet we're matchy-matchy. Love the stripes and polka dots. Love her! (And if any of our Perfect Stranger buddies are reading this, we are sporting the "skarm" in this picture versus the dreaded "farm." We talk about deep stuff on our runs. Or rather, when we take pictures during our runs!)

 Dad!!!

 Kiddos eating turkey

 Feller fam

 We headed up to the Fort after a late breakfast to spend the weekend with Mike's dad & step mom. As soon as we arrived we found out that Laura's dad passed away. Grandpa Cliff was 93 years old and led a full life: he was a WWII pilot and Captain, SVP at Linc.oln Life, father of 7, grandfather of 18 and great grandfather to another 18. We loved seeing Grandpa Cliff at the holidays and he simply adored the girls, always telling us how beautiful they were and how blessed we were. He will forever live as a legacy in our house, as Laney has some wickedly crazy hair that we dub "Grandpa Cliff" hair. Too funny. He will be missed!

We were able to spend a few hours with Bob, and the girls helped him decorate his mini tree upstairs in the loft. They both got a kick out of it...

 And the silly faces never end

 We cut the weekend up north short, for obvious reasons, and were able to get a quick visit in with Mike's mom before we left. Upon our return home I was excited for a little surprise I had in store for Miss Iz. I bought tickets for a local theater's rendition of Annie several months ago and told Izzy we were going to see the M.uppet movie. We got all dressed up (Izzy's favorite part of the day), met up with our neighbors Jill & Sam, and headed out to the theater.

 This adorable dress was a hand-me-down from the Tynan family and ever since Izzy saw it over a year ago she's been asking constantly when she could wear it. Was holding out for Christmas service this year, but she begged and pleaded and I just couldn't tell her no one more time. I did talk her out of her dress up beads and into her "wedding" pearls...ha!

Izzy still thought we were at the movies when we got into our seats. She didn't really realize what we were doing until the curtain went up. And oh boy did she giggle and wiggle and dance and sing. She kept on looking at me and telling me it was the best day ever! The first half of the show was an hour and 20 minutes and by that time the kids had already taken 1-2 potty breaks. Jill and I attempted to go back in for the second part..until we heard Izzy say, "I don't want to watch the movie anymore." Done. We booked it out of there and chalked it up to a great attempt.

lf on our Shelf. Coca. Tonight after the girls found Coca I overheard Izzy say, "Please tell Santa I'd like a castle. And that I took a nap today." Followed by a blown kiss. Laney asked me to bring her to Coca to tell him, "We don't hit our friends. I'm sorry." I couldn't help from laughing out loud. I'm one lucky mama to be these girls' parents!

And in the spirit of thanking, I'm thankful for: my devoted and ever-present husband, my silly and loving daughters, my patient and forgiving family, my awesomely amazing girlfriends (old ones, new ones, running ones, best ones), my job that I love and my health. And my foam roller :)

Doctor, Doctor!

The last week of our lives has been a touch crazy. Started with a bloody nose from me last Sunday evening. Lasted almost 2 hours. After trying everything G.oogle & my favorite Nurse suggested we ended up in the emergency room. At 11pm. Not fun. A little nitric oxide to my nose and we were home by midnight. Great way to start the week.

Then Mike woke Monday with a hunched back (to the left, not forward) and could barely walk without pain. Turns out he should have asked for help moving that mammoth-sized tv in the basement a few weeks ago (what initially tweaked his back). And 3 hours in the yard exacerbated the tweak. Let's just say he saw our coveted chiropractor every day last week. He's no longer walking like an old man, thankfully, and on the mend.

We finished out the week with a little procedure I had been putting off for 10 years; I had all four of my (fully-grown-in-and-plenty-of-room-in-my-mouth) wisdom teeth removed. I was extremely apprehensive, as I've heard horror stories from many friends. But I had zero pain post op. Zero swelling. And lots of milkshakes (eaten from a spoon, not a straw). It's been almost 4 days and my sockets are healing well so far. I'm ready to not eat like a 90 year old again. Mashed potatoes, apple sauce, yogurt, pudding. Gag. Mama wants a burger and fries!!!

As I entered the kitchen Friday night to get fresh ice packs I walked into this scene:

Laney has never been awake when Mike has brewed beer with his buddies. That didn't stop her from jumping in to help filter a very pale ale. She was so proud (think Mike was, too).

Little snug time with daddy before he left for the ND game Saturday morning

I hadn't made any plans for the weekend, as I thought I'd be laid out. Wasn't the case. After spending the entirety of Friday on the couch I was ready to get out and go. And go we did...right to the Chil.dren's Museum. Of course our first stop was the B.arbie exhibit.

Then a little digging for dinosaur fossils

After naps Izzy got out all of her sweets and made a cupcake shop (she loves herself some cupcakes, just ask Nanny Natalie!)

The girls playing a little dress up

Don't let Laney fool you, she is not the one into princesses (she just dresses up because that's what her big sis is doing). Ask her what she wants for xmas and it's "A BABY DOLL!" Of course we have 10 already. So there's that.

And this little princess of course wants all things princess for xmas. As if Disn.ey hasn't already thrown up in our play room.

Here's to a week not at an ER or doctor's office! Gobble gobble!

Lazy weekend & Craft night...

 This weekend we did a lot of jammie time around here. We left the house approximately 3 times: to meet Jaim for a run with the littles, to meet the same fam for dinner, and to grab donuts this morning. Don't be jealous of our exciting life. Sometimes, however, this is just the kind of weekend we need. Lots of snuggling.

 Playing around with hair curlers

 Jaim and I attempted a long run Saturday morning with our double joggers. We were excited to get our legs moving back on our favorite trail. Even more excited to attempt to involve our kiddos with our passion for running. Let's just say our attempted 10 miles was only 3 miles. However, it was gusting winds over 20 mph so I'm counting it as double. Yeah, I said it. Pushing 50+ pounds into the wind is not easy. I dare you to try it. Double dog dare you. Jaime and I were laughing so hard at times, as I'm not sure we ran even a 1/2 mile without stopping to feed fishy crackers, sippy cups, sunnies, blankets...it just never stopped. We laughed about it almost the whole time. Luke kept on asking if they were "winning." Jaime and I made sure to cheer the kids on at the finish. We won, dude.

 Friday it was my turn to host craft night again. We made jute covered door wreaths. Love how they turned out:

 Already hung mine and am very happy with it!

Short work week for me as I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed. Been putting this off for 10 years. Think I should have mine out before my kids do. Ugh...

Indianapolis Monument Marathon 2011

Last year at my first marathon I vowed I would never do another one. Ever. It was painful. My body failed me. And the training was long and grueling (18 weeks). But then a few months had passed and so did the memories of the pain. Kind of like childbirth. You forget how hard it was and want to do it again. February rolled around. Time for Chicago sign-up. I couldn't do it. But wait, maybe I could do it. I talked to my husband for hours about the pros and cons. Pros: it'd give me a great reason to stay in shape. Cons: it'd take a lot of time away from my family. Decision time and on February 13th I signed up for the Indianapolis Mon.umental M.arathon. Told Jaime I did it. She had a similar conversation with her husband. Then she signed up. It was official, we were going to run our second marathons in November.

We started training for the Min.i Marathon in February, ran the Mini in May, continued to train for R.agnar which was in June, then marathon training started in July. We've basically been training for 9 of the last 10 months. Phew. If you've been following my blog, you know that this 2nd marathon of mine was going to be my last. I am just ready to slow down my training. Ready to relax and enjoy sleeping in on Saturday mornings. Snuggling my family instead of bundling up at 5am for a 20 miler. I went into this marathon knowing this was my last.

Jaime picked me up Friday afternoon to head downtown to the marathon expo to pick up our packets and buy last minute necessities for the 26.2 miles. The anticipation and excitement (and nerves) started setting in. Did we carb load enough? Did we train enough? Did we sleep enough? Are we ready?!? Jaim dropped me off at home where I tried to keep my mind off of the race and remain calm. Easier said than done. I was a ball of nerves.

 Marathon morning was finally here and it was chilly willy. I ate my typical pre-race bagel and banana, took a shower, and packed gear for all types of weather. Jaime and her sister picked me up and we were off. We shared stories of pre-race nightmares, last minute fears and the game plan for the day. Quickly parked and found our way to the convention center to meet our running group, the Perfect Strangers. We put layers on, took layers off, used the potty, downed salt packets & last minute Gu, slapped on the BioF.reeze, checked our bags and took some final pictures:

 I swear by the end of this weekend I felt like I was one of their sisters. Jaime, Amy & Betsy...love these girls!

 Summer Perfect Strangers team (minus Meggie, Sarah & Meghan)

It was 15 minutes until the race started so we all made a bee line out the doors and into the cold. Walking to the start we all were laughing and in great spirits. Got into our starting corral and we gave last minute hugs, pace plans, and finally all of our gps watches got the coveted signals. It was time to start...and we were off.

Jaime, Betsy, Meghan and myself stayed together pretty much the entire first 13 miles. Was unbelievable to have friends to run with, as last year's marathon was a solo experience and painfully dreadful (and boring). I love, love, loved that this was a hometown race, as I saw SO MANY friends along the course (both in the race and on the sidelines):

Shortly after the start we saw our BoMF friend James running his first marathon. He had been featured on the news the day before and we joked about how he's become a local celebrity.

Next we saw fellow 12 Tutu/24 Tata R.agnar teammate Karie cheering us on in front of L.ucas Oil Stadium (go Colts).

Mile 1 we ran into our BoMF friend Danielle...she ran with us for a few miles.

Mile 2 we saw Meggie with her awesome Perfect Strangers sign right at the Monument.

Mile 3 we saw my good friend Lori cheering us on.

Soon after we saw Rob (fellow BoMFer) rocking his first half marathon.

Then we met a woman of 54 years old running her 191st marathon (11th this year!). She started running when she was 34 - she and her husband set the world record for the first married couple to run a marathon in each state in one year. Amazing. Truly inspirational.

Around mile 7 we saw Lori again and then Jaime's husband cheering us on.

Miles 8 through 10 were uneventful until we saw Meggie running through the middle of the road cheering us on (and nearly ran over!). My fingers were frozen sold at this point and I commissioned Meg to open a Gu packet for me and complaining how tight my hips were. So. Tight. Which wasn't a good sign so early on in the race. I knew I just had to make it to mile 12 where I knew Mike and the girls were waiting for me.

Mile 12 greeted me with my family. When I got there I gave some kisses to the littles and thanked my friends Lori, Katie & Rick for joining my family for the support.

Mile 13 we were approaching Br.oadripple and I saw 5 sorority sisters that I hadn't seen since college - I gave each of them a hug then kept going.

This next mile I saw the Moosbruggers chilling on their street corner cheering me on.

Around mile 14 is where I knew something was really starting to go wrong. My hips were so tight that I think my gait started to change. My calves started to cramp up so badly that I had to start walking. We ran into Beth from BoMF and her running crew here where I shared my pain with them. Told Jaime and Betsy to keep going, run their own race, I couldn't keep going at the pace we were at. So on they ran. They'd run about a mile then wait for me.

Got to mile 15 where I saw my family again, this time with our neighbors Matt, Jill & Sammy cheering me on as well. Mike gave me a quick calf massage and we were off again.

Miles 16-18 Jaime and Betsy continued to run, wait, run, wait and I was starting to feel guilty about them taking care of me. A medic rode by on his bike and I told him to keep an eye on me. I knew my calf pain was bad enough to be crippling, debilitating. I was worried. But I ran on when he said he'd keep checking back in on me.

Mile 19 was the last time I saw Jaim and Bets. And it was the mile that the medic learned my name instead of just my number. He fed me a mustard packet (he claims it helped with cramping). He could have handed me a bolgna sandwich and told me it would help...I would have taken it! I had tried bananas, Gu, chews, and water...nothing was helping. So I gladly downed his mustard pack. Shortly after this, I remember the one word that kept running through my head: deflated. I simply felt beat. I kept putting my head down and saying to myself I was deflated. And then I remember what my cycling coach in college told us all the time, "Do NOT put your head down! As soon as you put your head down you have given up!" So I kept my head up (thanks, Siri).

Mile 20 and 21 repeat above with medic. At one point he asked if I wanted to be taken away. I seriously contemplated it. Cried with him. Then decided I was going to finish this race even if it meant the sag wagon was going to pick me up after 6 hours on the course. I was going to do this. This was my last marathon. I could do it. (And thanks to Beth's husband Jeff for giving me some much needed pain meds somewhere near the IMA.)

Around mile 22 a man passed me who was also struggling but I could hear his mantra over and over, "I am strong. I am built to last." After listening to this I decided I needed a mantra. I repeated for the entire next mile, "I have two legs. They are strong. I have a beating heart. It is strong. I can do this."

I knew I had to make it to mile 23 where my good friend Karie awaited me to run a few miles together. See, Karie and I grew up together in elementary school. Sleepovers. Birthdays. You get the idea. We went to high school together and parted ways come college time. When the Facebook era came around we reconnected. We saw how close we lived to each other and I started following her blog. Knew she started running marathons and struggled with some similar issues and I just knew it was meant to be that she and I reunited. She ran R.agnar with us and ever since I've just loved having her as a friend. She is so special to me (she sent Jaime and I care packages last week and I wept reading her inspirational messages). So when I spotted from a distance her pink and purple tutu I immediately put my face in my hands and sobbed. It meant so much to me that she met me at such a hard mile. That she put on a tutu to run with me. I still get choked up at how good of a friend she has become and all that she gave me yesterday on that course. I did a lot of swearing. I did a lot of venting. We hugged numerous times. She told me stories...until she said, "Isn't that girl your friend? I read her blog!" I was near delierious at this point and had no idea what she was talking about until I heard a cyclist jump off their bike, letting it crash to the ground, and then realized it was Meggie.

Oh, Meggie. She had G.atorade for me. She had stories of all the other runners in our group for me. She had funny stories. She swore with me. She pumped me up. She ran along side us for 1/2 mile until she hugged me to let me go. I freaking adore her.

Karie ran a little more with me when James (my BoMF running buddy) came up behind us and gave me one last hug. I was so proud to see him finishing his first marathonn so happily. My, how much he has overcome in the last few years. If he could do it, so could I. Karie soon hugged me to let me finish my last mile alone.

Around mile 25 I saw aforementioned sorority sisters screaming "GO KEEL!!!" Gave me enough to keep going.

Then right before mile 26 I saw fellow Perfect Stranger Amy. She jumped in, pepped me up, shook me up (literally) and told me to finish strong.

I rounded the corner. Saw the 26 mile marker. Heard Danielle scream my name and shuffled my weak legs into the finishers' shute.

As soon as I crossed (and turned my watch off to a disappointing time of 4:38) I was wrapped in a foil blanket and greeted by my buddy James. He was smiling. Which made me smile. We embraced and that was all I needed at that moment. His hug told me all I needed to know. I finished.

I walked very slowly to bag check where I was greeted by Jaime and her sisters and our good friend Eric from BoMF (who just finished his first marathon!). Both were smiling and all I could do was smile for a few pictures, give a few hugs, then sit. I was proud of both of them. But I just needed to rest my legs. Called to tell my husband I survived. Then we changed our clothes and headed out to celebrate with our friends.

The next few hours are hazy. Actually, the entire remainder of the day was hazy. I fluctuated between awake and sleeping for several hours. Went to bed at 8:30 and slept for 11 hours. I. Was. Exhausted.

I woke this morning well rested and to a quiet home (thanks to my children who didn't even care about the time change...we all got an extra hour!). I reflected on the previous day and can only sum it up to this: I finished a marathon. And now I can breathe (and limp).

 Thank you to Sandi & Katie for your amazing signs!

 Mike massaging my calf cramps

 Hugging my close friend Jill

 Love Chris' sign..."Hot Legs"

 So happy to see James!

 Mile 15

Happy to see James again at the finish

 Finishers: Betsy, me, Eric, Jaime & Amy

Thanking my body for being so strong and not giving up. Thanking all my friends & family for their amazing support. I. Am. Done.