Kindergarden jump start

Yesterday Ben had his first day of school kinda......First Five has a program for children entering kindergarden that didn't attend preschool, we do the free preschool that is a mommy and me thing not real preschool. They go to mock school from 8:30-11:30 for 2 weeks. For a kid that didn't want to grow up and was not excited about kindergarden Ben loves it! I cried yesterday when I dropped him off and he was like c-ya mom!Lucas is really having a hard time with it, he wants to stay when we drop him off and go to school too! When we got home Lucas was like I miss Ben and started crying that we left Ben at school. I am going to fork out the cash and put Lucas in a cheap preschool this fall. This morning Ben was up at 6:30 dressed himself and was ready to go, I hope this behavior continues throughout his academic carreer unlike Jacob who hates to get up and I have to rush to get ready! The days drag by but the years fly I can't believe Ben is in school.

My surfer dudes

Steve has dreams of family surf trips and taking his boys out with him when he goes surfing. He got one step closer today. Jacob went out with him. Every time we've gone to the beach so far this summer Jacob spends most of the time in the water, bogeyboarding or body surfing and now surfing. It's funny when I was in high school I always wanted a surfer boyfriend, there were lots of posers but I ended up marrying a real surfer! Now he's sharing his love of surfing with Jacob and he enjoyed it. I couldn't believe he didn't complain once and he did wipeout alot!
I can't believe how big my boy is getting! I am so proud of him!
He actually got up 2 times.
This is my favorite picture...what a stud!
Steve is such a great teacher. He has alot of patience and does most of the work. It's very hard to turn a long board and paddle out. You get worked alot. So it's nice to have him helping you out!

Mother's Day 2009

For the first time in a long time I got to spend Mother's Day with my mom! It was so nice to have Grandma here. We went to church and I got to sit with my mom in Relief Society. This is a big deal because I am the only member in my family and I feel sad about experiences I have that I never get to share with them. I was blessed this day because we sang 2 of my favorite hymns, one "love at home" and the other "Teach Me to Walk in the Light", this paticular song has special meaning because we sung it at my baptism and my mom was not there. So I got to sit by my mom and feel the spirit as we sang these songs. For me that was a great Mother's Day gift from my Heavenly Father. I will never forget it.

Post Marathon

I love this girl, Shawna she is my most hard core friend. I would have been so lonely through out my training and at the start of the race if it wasn't for this girl. I've talked her ears off and "copped a squat" so many times around her and she still loves me! We stayed together until mile 13 and met up at the finish, I think her time was 5:10 ish. This gal works full time, exercise instructor part time, has a social life and still managed to train for a marathon....she's awesome! Thank you Shawna for sharing this experience with me and being my friend. We drove home together stinky and sore. When I got home I had a sweet surprise.........

Ruthann watched the boys and helped them make posters and signs and hung them on the garage and in the widows. My favorite was in the front window" Our mom ran the L.A. Marathon today!" All my neighbors kept congratulating me which was kinda cool!

My boys were so impressed with my medal. Ruthann got me a really cool box to mount on the wall to hang my medal, bib, and race photos in! Then we partied up at the Fenske's, yummy food, Iwasn't all that hungry but my knees were in alot of pain.I iced them the whole day every time I would sit or stand for a long period of time they would stiffen up. I taught a spin class the next day and my class thought I was crazy but you wouldn't believe how good it felt to get my muscles warm, I kept the resistence low. It took me about 2 weeks to fully recover and feel normal again. One thing would stop hurting and then I would realize another new pain/soreness!

I ran 2 straight miles for the first time yesterday, I think I'm going to do a 10K on the 4th of July. I love to run! I used to run to be thin, not anymore f.y.i. you would think you would lose weight training for a marathon not me I gained 5 lbs! Mostly muscle my claves got gynormous and my quadsjust call me quadzilla! So I'm focusing now on losing muscle and getting lean! Always gotta have a goal!

L.A. Marathon 2009...I did it!

It feels amazing to accomplish something you've wanted to do for the past 3 years but didn't have the guts to go for it and just do it! I finally did it! For those of you that don't know I ran the L.A. Marathon on Mon. May 25. A marathon is 26.2 miles. There were over 15,000 runners so it was a slow start, it finally started to break up around mile 2. I was great until mile 20 when my knees, hips, and feet started to bother me. By 25 the pain was almost unbearable, my knees felt like they were going to buckle and snap, my feet were throbbing, and my hips were incredibly tight at this point it is all mental. It is amazing to see mile 26 but that last .2, the finish line seems so far away. The crowd lining the streets cheering you on feels incredible, like you are a celebrity. I crossed the finish line and cried not because of emotion or satisfaction but I've never experienced pain like that but it's worth it like the signs people were holding say "pain is momentary but glory is forever" It's true I'd do it all over again.
My time was 4:40, I'm a little disappointed I must confess I thought I'd do better. Maybe next time? I like awake at night wondering where I went wrong? What I could've done better and these are the 2 things I have come up with...I should have foam rolled out the night before, I should not have switched out my shoes 2 weeks prior but my old ones were done! Better planning and have 2 pair of shoes alternating while training.

Steve and my mom came down to support me. It was so great to see my mom's big hair and her cheerful face around the corner at mile 18, thanks for coming you'll never know how much that meant to me!
I just want to encourage you all if there's anything in your life that you've been wanting to do and it seems impossible.You've got to visualize yourself doing it and don't give up! You can do anything you put your mind and whole heart into!
Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm and well wishes!

The Soup

Yes it's me and Joel McHale! If you watch the E channel you will know who he is, if you don't he is hilarious and he hosts a reality clip show. My friend Nicole has a friend who knows a guy that works for E and got us tickets to a taping of The Soup last night. It was hilarious as always and Joel is a super cool guy. At the end of taping he thanks everyone for coming and shakes their hand, I asked for a pic cuz I love the show and I had to have some visuals to go with my bragging! Bruno, the judge from Dancing with the Stars made a cameo but I don't watch that show so I didn't really care. We went out to dinner and had a fabulous girls nite out! A shout out to Rebecca for watching the boys until Steve got home from work! Lucas will not stop talking about Matthew and all the fun they had!

Agoura Great Race: Half Marathon

Shawna and I before. It was soooo cold! I couldn't feel my toes until mile 3, they were so numb from the cold. We did the Pacific Half instead of the Chesebro this year which was all street. We thought it would be easier and didn't really train at all. We were wrong! It was all up hill on Kanan rd. and around Malibu Lake down and around and back up hill to the finish at Agoura High School. The scenery was beautiful but you couldn't really enjoy it because there was one hill after another!

Me crossing the finish line, I know I am a dork! My goal was to finish under 2 hours and my time was 1:59:06, I barely made it but I felt fine after I wasn't sore the next day except for my shins from the downhill on the pavement. So I'm pleased to announce this was the beginning of my training for the L.A. Marathon on May 25! It is on Monday this year, it's usually on Sunday as most marathons are and I want to be obedient to the Sabbath so I know this is meant to be!

Shawna and I after. I talked Shawna into doing the L.A. Marathon with me. She is my most hardcore friend and she likes to push herself as hard as I do! Wish us luck!

This year the race had extra special meaning. Last year my friend Ginger Clinton that passed away ran the 5K and she was very proud of her accomplishment. To honor her memory a big group of us, her whole family included, all participated in various races. We all wore red shirts, her favorite color, with the word "Happiness" on the front and her initials on the back. It was very cool to see all the red shirts and remember Ginger. Honestly a couple of times throughout my 13 miles I called on Ginger to help me, I felt her spirit and presence there. She was such an awesome person! I miss her so much!

Disneyland again

They were even stressed about "Small World".ME: "It's not scary. It's just a bunch of dolls singing." Boys: "Are the dolls scary?" it's finally open with some new additions and the boys loved it like I knew they would

It was a little chilly but sunshine all day, even Jasmine and Alladin have their coats on.

They changed Tom Sawyer's island to the pirate's hideout...this was new for us.

It's "Captain Underpants"!

I was up on the computer and Ben calls me and says "look mom I'm Captain Underpants!"

I had to grab my camera and blog it, I can't wait till he's 17 and show these pics to his friends!

If you've read the books you know what I'm talking about!

Lucas, the drama boy

This kid is all drama! He's definately a Leo, just like his mama.

Bonding with Sara

We made a cool club house out of a big box. Ben adores Sara and tries to do all he can to make her happy. Lucas on the other hand not so sweet but he loves her just the same he just has an annoying way of showing it, she's a tough cookie never once has she cried because he did something to her.

My little niece who is growing way too fast has a bad case of seperation anxiety from her mother.

She screams and is inconsolable whenever her mother leaves the room. Not even her father can calm her down. So when Maryann asked for some help with this problem I was all to happy to help....it's hard to bond with a child when she only wants her mommy and this is my daughter that I'll never have so we need to bond! Anyways Maryann has been bringing her over tuesdays and thursdays and sneaking out for a bit. Yes she cried but she did let me hold, console, and read to her which was nice and last thursday she didn't cry at all! She whimpered when she noticed MA was gone but didn't cry!

Student of the Month!

Fifth grade has been a challenge for Jacob. He doesn't pay attention in class therefore he misses instructions and it's been affecting his grades. His teacher is awesome and really cares about Jacob. He got him into the afterschool homework/tutoring program which was a huge blessing for me because Mon thru Thur. I dreaded homework time. Jacob and I now have nice conversations after school instead of annoying fights over homework. I got a call from Mr. Keatts and my first reaction was now what...he's had behavior problems. I was pleasantly surprised to find out he choose Jacob as the student of the month because of his improvements and he was calling to invite me to the award assembly. This is when I am grateful I don't have a job and of coarse I would be there. I was so proud. I cried of coarse. I love my little "doots". I am so proud of his hard work and efforts to improve! I of all people know how hard it is to pay attention and not talk when it's not the appropriate time. I also know how important school is and this is the point in his life when he is either going to fall further and further behind and eventually give up and hate school or work a little harder, be successful and hopefully excell like I know he is capable of doing.

I am also very proud of Ben and Lucas who sat through the assembly, it wasn't short and Jacob was the last person to go up, they were very well behaved and they cheered real loud for their big brother which was cute.

Does anybody Blog anymore?

Or is everybody on Facebook? I caved to the pressure and invitations to be friends and I'm on it. I was very skeptical and negative but it's been so fun connecting with old high school buddies but it is consuming way too much of my free time!

Sick of birthday cake!

Ben choose to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese. I despise this place...but it wasn't my birthday!The party got off to a bad start...Steve had an unexpected campout with the scouts so I was left alone..I got one of my ctr 9s to be a mommies helper ...the minute we walked into the chaos I was inline to pay for the pizza and tokens, Ben had to go pee but didn't tell anyone and didn't know where to go so he peed his pants naturally. Luckily I had a bunch of clothes in the back of my car that I've been meaning to drop off at the Salvation Army, they were a a little small but they worked...the one time procrastination paid off! My friend Sarah, Brooklyn's mom helped me out alot too...thank goodness for friends...the kids had a really good time and Ben said it was great, that's all that matters!

It's official..his party with friends wasn't until friday but his actual birthday was the monday before, he was very upset about this and said he was not 5 until his party with his friends.

He had 7 friends to help him celebrate: Taylor, Emily, Brookly, Blake, Jonathan, Sophie, and Matthew and his brother Lucas who had a hard time being happy for his brother, he keeps complaining "when is it going to be my bday?"

After several parties and much cake the birthday festivities are over! Steve's is the 14th and Ben's is the 19th. We had 2 family parties one with the Fenskes and another with the Woznys (who surprised us with a visit on the way home from their trip to the Grand Canyon) I made cupcakes for Steve and his scouts on his bday and then had cupcakes last night! Believe it or not...cuz I love cake...I am sick of cake!

Christmas

This is a great lady and I'm not kissing up Steve. Her family is so important to her and she so selflessly gives, cooks, cleans, babysits, and is an awesome grandma. Thankyou Ruthann for being you and letting us take over your house for the week.We had some good times and made some great memories!

Steve's brother David, his wife Cinthya(she's a really cool dancer), their boys Dylan and Preston, along with Uncle Paul came home from Utah for a week. We went to FO FO Figgleys, too bad uncle Paul threw up in the car and had to go home. Luckily he felt better Christmas morning!

I love this picture. I also love no matter the distance between them when cousins get together it's like they've never been apart. Ben adores Preston he was by his side the whole week! It was very cute.

The highlight was the Wii, grandma Fenske got one for the boys to play and we got our own from Grandma Karen and Marty. Jacob is awesome on guitar hero. I like boxing. It's funny I'm pretty fit and the next day my back was sore from it...great workout! The other night Steve and I stayed up golfing just the two of us. It's a great gift! Thank you Fenskes and Woznys!

We had such a great Christmas this year! The whole Fenske clan was together for the whole week and my mom and Marty came up Christmas day. It was so great to be with our loved ones except my sister..someday we will spend Christmas together girl!

Happy New Year

Can you believe Christmas has come and gone and we are already into the 2nd week of 2009?
I haven't felt like blogging lately, there is lots to blog about. I just haven't been in the mood. Maybe another day! Anyways Happy New Year!