Tuesday, June 23, 2009

He Said I Run Like a Girl...I said he could too if he Ran a Little Faster...

Today was the closing ceremony for Regan's school's Mini-Marathon program. Kids who chose to participate would use their morning recess twice a week to run the paved track at the school. Their laps were punched on their punchcards and tracked all year long (minus the snowy months). The goal was to run 26 miles, which is no small task. There were only a handful for 1st-5th graders that actually ran that far, but Regan was given an award for reaching a half-marathon of 13 miles. So cool. We are so proud of her.
Here's all the swag that they were going to give away at the closing ceremony. Those are all bags of gift certificates, Gatorade, water bottles, etc. that were provided by local running shops, as well as the awesome PTA volunteers that ran it all year long.

Here she is with her prizes and her punch card. It is such a cool program. For every lap they get a punch on their card. Three punches is one mile. At certain goalpoints, they get special beads for their lanyard, like feet, tennis shoes, etc. Regan was really excited about this program all year. It's one of my favorite programs at the school.
In other news, our garden is on a record-setting pace, in spite of the late frosts that attempted to thwart our efforts. We have tons of lettuce and some green onions. We're looking forward to a great harvest of tomatoes, potatoes, squash, zucchine, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermellon and canteloupes. Right now, we are just starting to pick raspberries. We are hoping for enough this year to actually make some jam. We had our first picking last night for Family Home Evening. Not many of these raspberries will ever see the inside of a jam jar...not when there's vanilla and chocolate ice cream in the freezer. Yummm.
Anyway, here is our first raspberry picking. It may not seem like much, but this is just the beginning. There are tons still green on the bushes. This is literally more than we got all of last year combined.


And here is Jeff picking away and wondering if it is really necessary to document EVERYTHING. Yes, Jeff, it is necessary. Now smile. :)

Then, just a little pat on my own back. This is what the girls and I made for Jeff and his dad for Father's Day. I totally admit to TOTALLY ripping off the idea from Bakerella, but I actually made it, so that should count for something, right? We thought it turned out really cute. If you can't tell, and don't go to the trouble to follow the link, that is a yellow cupcake for a bun, brownie for the hamburger patty, and different icings for the condiments. On the side is some sugar cookie "french fries". That's my kind of happy meal.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A Father's Day Shout Out

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. I know a lot of great one's, and I hope you have a great day. A big thank you goes out to my own Dad. There are so many things I have learned from my dad, often just by watching him. One of my greatest loves is reading, and from as early as I can remember, my dad has been instilling that love for books in me. Thanks dad. Happy Father's Day.
Another important dad in my life is Robert. Technically he is my father-in-law, but he is much more to me than that. He never hesitates to come to my aid when I call and ask for help, ask to borrow something, or for a favor, and trust me, I do that a lot. On top of that, he is the father of one of my favorite people, and although there are many times he would probably choose NOT to claim responsiblity for raising my husband, he did a great job, and I'm forever indebted to him for the man/husband/father he raised. Happy Father's Day Robert (I'll see you later tonight for Father's Day goodies and to bring back some of the aforementioned borrowed items :)
Last but definately not least, Happy Father's Day to my husband. He does so much for our family, and is a constant example to me of patience and caring. My favorite thing about Jeff is that he understands that kids should be allowed to be kids, and he loves to join in. From jumping on the trampoline to watching Sponge Bob, Jeff is Regan's and Hadyn's favorite play date. For all you do for us Jeff, Happy Father's Day. We love you.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Where I Fall in the Hierarchy


Yesterday Hadyn told me this:
"Mom, I still like you,
but I think I like my balloon more than you.
It's just so much fun."
It's not even a fancy mylar balloon. No helium...currently no air. Just a give-away balloon from Regan's race Saturday.
It's comments like this that really make motherhood worth it... :)

Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Capitol Classic

We could not be prouder of Regan today. It was such a fun day, where the fact that my firstborn is growing up way too fast was thrown at me many times. Regan and her friend Katie ran in the Capitol Classic Kids Run. It is for kids ages 6 to 14, and is a one-mile race from the Boise Train Depot, down Capitol Boulevard to the State Capitol. Of course, as seems to be the Luke girls' luck, it rained until about the time the race ended. Regan and Katie didn't seem to mind. They had a lot of fun and made us all so proud.
Pre-Race with Buster Bronco...GO BSU!


Doing a little warming up...

Runners, take your marks... Get set...


GO!

Coming in with a strong finish.

Regan goes for the pass



Run a race and still look this good...


Good friends