Mayor's Marathon

June 19, 2010 I ran my 1st half marathon. Some great friends encouraged me and together we trained for 10 weeks. It was so rewarding and challenging.

Within week 3 of training Terra said that we should set goals. Her goal was to finish it running and challenged Lindsay and I to do the same. We laughed at her!!! It's amazing that 7 weeks later it was more of a reality to run it than a dream. I had a somewhat set goal of 2 hours 10 minutes. I think that I could of made my goal if I hadn't made some rookie mistakes. 1) I didn't take care of a blister that came on a couple weeks prior. During the race I thought for sure it was bleeding because I was in horrible pain by mile 10. 2) We didn't train for huge hills and trails. That was huge in this race! There was about a 1.5 miles where it was on a trail. And it was muddy, and had pot holes and rocks. I was scared the whole time I was going to twist my ankle. 3) We planned to start at the very back of the marathon because we didn't want to get caught up in the foot race at the beginning and get tired. That was a huge mistake! It literally took us a couple of miles to weave through walker, strollers, and people who had a slower pace than us.

So happy to be finished.

Most supportive husband ever!!! He didn't complain (too much) with how much I would be gone running at nights. (We usually started our runs between 8-10 at night. It's light outside so why not.)

Milestones

I usually don't attempt to potty train till 3. Before then it seems to be a huge waste of time of trying to get a kid to do something that they don't, and aren't, ready to do. I rather save my frustration and use that energy for something else. SO...I don't feel like potty training. Jackson's birthday is in September and I'm not motivated. He's been asking to use the bathroom every once in a while but seems more content wearing a diaper. So the other day, kinda of as a joke, I told Caleb and Kali that the first person who could potty train Jackson I'll give them $20. To them that's like a billion dollars! Kali has been the one to try. Well when I say try she usually makes him go in the morning and that's it.

In other news out of no where today Lincoln started holding his own bottle. Aaron laid him down on our bed and he just continued to hold it. This one excites me more than a diaper-less butt!

Gecko Girls

Kali had a soccer game last night and she totally rocked it! She's definitely a rock star.

Do you see played #4 on the orange team? That girl has a kick that can just blast that ball (I think we need to check birth certificates...kidding). Kali was up against her all night and at one point Kali shot the ball at the goal and #4 was on defense and blasted that ball....right at Kali's face. It hit her so hard it knocked her backwards on her back. Of course I freaked out and ran onto the field expecting to see a broken nose or at least blood but Kali just sat up and kept those tears in her eyes. She was refusing to cry. It just happened to be the first quarter and she went to the sideline and sat with her team and was back to playing after their time out was over with. Her coach came up to me after the game and said, "I swear you have the toughest daughter ever! I can't believe that she got back up and played." I was pretty proud of her.

Side note: I made a deal with the kids that if they score a goal I'll take them to McDonald's on the way home and get ice cream cones. I must admit I was sad, too, that there were no ice cream cones last night (there was last week). Hoping that Thursday Caleb will win some for us.

And here is the other half of Kali's cheering crowd. Lincoln just sits there and smiles. The rest of the kids could care less and opt to play on the playground. I love this time of year.

Little Bit of Life

So I haven't been blogging forever so I must be up to something right???Yeah life!!! I really wish I was one of those people who could take the time to sit in front of a computer and blog every day..anyways.

Aaron has been on a long trip this past week so I have been sewing at nights. The other night I was sewing and had Hulu playing some shows on the computer for me to listen to and I finally checked the time. It was 1:30 am. By the time that I put away my stuff and settled down the sun was already starting to light up the sky again. Right now sun set it close to midnight and sunrise is around 4am.

So during my all night sewing parties I made Kali's skirt and matching head band. I think I'm going to whip out a couple of more because 1) they are extremely easy to do and 2) because my girls must of grown and all their summer skirts from last year are a little too short.

Yep Lincoln is getting huge. I had to put away his 3 month old clothing the other day and break out the 6-12 month stuff. I had to admit that I was a little weepy. Knowing that officially he's the last one and growing up so fast is just going a little too fast.

Some of Lincoln's other accomplishments are rolling around, eating solid baby food, and sleeping usually from 8am-9pm (that's my favorite one).

I love love love my boys!

Other things happening in the Larsen household: Aaron has been flying a lot lately. He's currently gone on some trip to Idaho, Alabama, and California. Good times are when he calls me and tells me stories like, "we started up our engines in California and smoke was coming out so bad they thought they were on fire. So we turned them off, turned them back on and it seemed to be okay so we just left because we wanted out of there." I'm going to have to remind him to not tell me these stories until he's safely home. Me: I've been training for a half marathon for nine weeks now. The longest practice run we've done so far was 10 miles and I felt great when we were done. It's approaching really fast and I'm so excited for it to just be over. You can only practice for something so long before you just want to actually do it. Kids: Caleb and Kali are playing soccer which I just LOVE to watch! Kali is also dancing Hula which is a crack up to watch all these little girls shake their hips. Jackson has this new obsession with Toy Story. Started around Christmas time and since then we have collected the action figure, underwear, clothing, shoes, backpack, fruit snack, hat, and on and on. I like that he's so into something but it's a really drag when we go into the store and he sees something that has to do with Toy Story and then repeatedly asks for it. Maddy is just being Maddy. Probably the easier child because she has no problems entertaining herself with her gizillion Pet Shop toys or Polly Pockets. She mostly plays outside each day with her little group of girls. (Our circle is filled with girls!)

Anyways, I'm going to try and blog more. I mean seriously it's been 3 months. I started this to keep a journal for the kids to someday look upon and I've been slacking. I might not do it every day but at least once a pay period should be suffice.

Enjoy.

Keeping track

One of my besties made me a giant ruler to keep track of the kids
growing. When you're military you don't get the privledge of marking
your kids' height on a doorway bc you move round so much. This way I
get to take this board with me no matter where we go. I marked my
height and was surprised by how close Caleb is to me. Pretty soon his
mark will surpass mine. Gulp.

Making a statement

I've been thinking for a long time about making a board with a strong
statement as a reminder to our family. So last week I finally made it.
It's 8ft long and 7.5 inches wide and says it loud and clear. I live
walking into our family room and getting a little reminder.

*smile*

Maddy just puts a smile on my face. These little pets put a smile on
her face. With these little pets Maddy requires no attention from any
one. She just plays and plays and plays..,,

Getting longer

I had to take this picture last night while I was cooking dinner. The
days are getting longer. Yesterday while driving the kids to school it
hit me that it wasn't pitch black outside. I can't wait for some
midnight sun! Yesterday was also the first time in months we had sun
shining through our windows. It makes me so giddy!!!!!

New buddies

Jack has fallen in love with these Toy Story toys. Thanks Yoyo!

Legos

Jack just realized how cool Caleb's Lego people are. This is what he
was up to this morning. Last night I found the Lego people laying on
his pillow tucked under his blanket.

Thank you!!!

At night while I'm cleaning up and trying to get Jack ready for bed
Caleb gets Lincoln and takes care of him. They just sit on the couch
and snuggle and it's a HUGE help. Thank you Caleb!

Cheekers!

I love kissing them.

The 'crazy' hour

It seems like around 5 o'clock is when things get busy at home. Kids
are finishing up homework, I'm trying to cook dinner, Aaron's coming
home from work, dinner needs to be on the table in one hour and
cleaned up 20 minutes later bc someone has soccer practice or scouts.
Kali the other night was trying to cheer up Lincoln by putting on a
puppet show while I was cooking. She tried hard but he had dinner on
his mind.

Jackon's nursery class

I got this picture from my friend's blog. These little people are
growing so fast. Just seems like yesterday we were all pregnant with
these lil ones. Jack loves to go to nursery. It makes going to church
so much relaxing when I don't have to stress about him.

Loves!

All the kids are so thrilled to have Lincoln in the family. Jackson loves loves loves to hold him.

He gets excited everytime he gets to. I'm sure they're going to be great buddies.

And lucky Lincoln has 3 mommies.

Lincolns' blessing day

Aaron blessed Lincoln today. I'm so grateful to have a husband who holds the priesthood and is worthy to bless out family with it. Aaron blessed Lincoln with many wonderful things. But I think what stuck in everybody's mind the most was when Aaron said, "I bless you with the ability to fend for yourself from your siblings..." Aaron said that he heard a chuckle within the circle. Well at least he'll be one child I won't have to worry about when I hear all of them wrestling and fighting :0)

I thought I'd take some pictures this morning (because I've become horrible at that) of the kids. Maddy is so funny and I just loved this one. Her eyes are so beautiful!

Jackson was being so serious and wouldn't smile...so Maddy was helping. Look at the smile on her face. She loves her brother.

I love this picture!!!!!! Even with Jack's serious face.

I actually see a little bit of myself in Maddy.

I can't believe within this decade Caleb will have a missionary badge on when he wears his suits.

Good ol' Team Larsen picture. It's impossible to get all 7 pairs of eyes on the camera at one time. Let alone Lincoln's head won't even hold up to face the camera.

I sure do love my family.

First bath

All my babies have screamed their way through their first bath- but not Lincoln! He absolutely loved it! He actually ended up falling asleep.

Christmas dresses

It's a must in this family. Don't they look cute?

Santa's Letter

How fun is this?! Everybody in the family received a customer letter from Santa in the mail. Santa talked about the things that each person were up to and how he was so proud of us. Look at the post mark- North Pole (AK)

Woo hoo- maybe I'll get some Danskos that match this envelope???

Jackie didn't understand but sure was happy.

Caleb still believes.

Dad's not excited....

Cutie pies. Maybe next year we'll drive up to North Pole, AK to see Santa. It's a couple of hours away and some of Aaron's friends did it and stayed the night there. You can meet Santa and everything! Wouldn't that be a great memory for a kid?

Lincoln

Lincoln Aaron Larsen was born on November 29th, 2009. He weighed 8lb 10 oz. Lincoln truly is an answer to prayer because without that prayer I'm sure Team Larsen would of stopped at 6 team members.

I feel so blessed to have been able to have my mom and her wonderful husband, Duane, come to town to help us with the kids. There is no doubt in my mind that if that wasn't the case that my friends would of done it wonderfully but it's so different when it's grandma. I also would like to thank Duane for letting her come. We live so far away and it's expensive to come to Alaska and he has never complained. Thank you also Duane for all the work you did on the house while you were here. We truly love you!

I have this exact picture of my mom holding Caleb 8 years previously.