Meridian Barn Sour 10k

I've signed myself up for one race a month this summer, pretty much just to keep myself from getting lazy.  Can't stop running when you've got a race every 4 weeks.  Anyway, yesterday I ran the Meridian Barn Sour 10k.  This time Tyson and the girls came with me since it was located at Settler's Park in Meridian.  The girls played at the park while I ran and then met me at the finish line.

I've been training for a half marathon (yes, I have lost my mind) and so I've taken my pace down a notch during my regular runs so I was nervous about what my time would be with this race, but I ended up coming in at 57 minutes 16 seconds, which is 36 seconds slower than the Lake Lowell 10k, but I'm happy with it.  I had actually expected it to be worse so I was pretty happy when I turned the corner and saw the time clock.  Lily tried to run the last bit with me.

I made the mistake of trying out some new socks though, and it was bad.  They sat strange on my ankle and rubbed my left ankle raw, as in, my sock and new shoe were both very bloody.  I'm hoping that it heals quickly because I really can't afford to take time off from running since my half is less than 3 weeks away and I've got to get in a 12 mile training run this weekend.

My girls are so good to me though, here I am taking off my bloody shoes and socks right after the race and Charlotte is handing me a drink.

Baking with My Babies

My girls like to bake with me.  They want to be involved with every step in the process from measuring out ingredients, mixing, baking, and of course, consuming.  This is what my kitchen looks like when cookies are in the oven.

 We are still working on learning patience.

 Tyson got an opportunity to experience cooking with the girls and learned just how "helpful" they can be.  He was craving some no bake cookies and offered to make them himself, of course the girls had to help.  And yes, they brought me aprons to put on them because we like to stay clean while we are working in the kitchen.

 Charlotte was searching for a new recipe.

Summertime Fun!

Lily has been asking to go swimming almost everyday so this evening I took the girls to Lakeview Park.  They love this pool, and so do I.  I can let the girls play and watch them both easily by myself, which is good since we usually go while Tyson is at work.  They ran around and swam as long as I would let them and we all had fun.

They love to go swimming and I love their smiles and how tired they are when we get home, it sure makes for an easy bedtime.

Mother's Day

 My aunt has this great tradition, each year on Mother's Day she has photos taken with each of her children.  I've decided to adopt it for myself.  Partly because, as the mother, I am pretty much always the one behind the camera, rarely do I get photos of my children and I together, so I thought that it would be fun.  This year, however, Mother's Day was a little busy around this house and my would-be photographer was super sick so I put it off a week.  This Sunday before church Tyson took a few pictures for me and I love them!

 My sweet little Charlotte is such a joy, she laughs, plays, and keeps me on my toes.  I just couldn't image life without her and her spunky little personality.

 Lily has the sweetest disposition of any child that I have ever known.  She is happy, curious, and an active learner.  She amazes me every day!

Sunday also marked a big day for our little Lily.  She finally has long enough hair to make a ponytail!

I also had a fun little project last week.  I have been dying to make these tiered planters that I found on Pinterest a while back, but pots can be spendy!  Shopko had them on sale last week for 50% off which made the project totally doable, so I picked up the planters, painted them, and stacked them up.  I can't wait for all of the flowers to finish filling in.  I love the bright colors against our very bland colored home.

College of Western Idaho Graduation

On Saturday May 12th Tyson graduated from the College of Western Idaho with his associates degree.  We are so proud of him!  He has been going to school full time, even summers, for two and a half years now while working full time out at the prison.  I'm not sure how he has balanced it all and still managed to be such a great husband and father.

 Daddy and his proud little girls!

Tyson is getting to take this summer off from school, hooray!  He is enrolled at Boise State University for the fall where he will be studying social work and addiction studies.  He has great goals and plans for the future and we are really excited about where things are going!

Lily's 3rd Birthday

Our baby girl officially turned 3, I have a PRE-SCHOOLER!  I will keep calling her my baby, probably forever because she was my first baby.

For her birthday we gave her some garden tools AND her very own bed in the garden.  She loves to work with daddy and has enjoyed working with him with her own little tools.

When I took her grocery shopping and asked her to pick out a cake mix she went straight for the chocolate one.  When I got home I asked her what color she would like the frosting to be, she said brown.  She also picked out chocolate ice cream.  I don't know where she got this from, I like chocolate, but it is not a favorite for me.  But this girl just LOVES it!

For the first time she actually blew out her candles, or at least two of them, daddy got the last one.

We love our little Lily!  She is sweet, silly, and full of love and curiosity.  She loves to learn, sing, and dance. She enjoys playing with her friends and does her very best to run the nursery at church.

Lily's Birthday Party

This year for Lily's birthday we decided that she would get a little party with a few friends.  It was small and simple, but the girls all seemed to have a lot of fun.  It was cold this morning with some really gusty winds, but they died down this afternoon, allowing us to play outside.

Since Lily is my little gardening queen we potted flowers for each of the girls to take home and grow.

The wind kept the pinwheels going much of the time, which the girls loved.

 Tyson's graduation gift came a bit early and my surprise was ruined (darn that FedEx guy!) so I set it up this afternoon and I'm sure glad that I did, the girls loved swinging in the hammock.

 Snack table

 I just made a little cake since I also made cake pops.

 Cake is always good!

 And so are presents!  Lily worse that dress-up dress to bed tonight.  I'm wondering if I will ever be able to get it off of her. 

We had a great time, I can't believe how quickly my baby girl has grown up!  I swear that she was a tiny baby just the other day and now here she is, a kid, not even a toddler anymore!