Made the first footprints in the snow this morning in my running shoes :) What a wonderful run! The snow had just started so a good pace was still possible, and is there anything better than running with snowflakes on your eyelashes?!






And now here I sit in the livingroom watching the snow fall. The boys had been here with me watching a movie and eating popcorn, but now they have taken off to go meet friends in the street behind us for a snowball fight. Will probably wander round with the dogs for a bit. But only after my quiet cup of coffee beside the fire :)

Not much to report even though I know it's been a long time since my last entry. We are in the midst of Cade's basketball season. 3 games next week, 2 the following week then off to Scotland we go.

Braeden is not in any sports right now. He didn't get to complete football season due to his heel injury, and basketball for him doesn't start until after the holidays. So he has buried himself deep in the Harry potter series. He is on the final book!!!!!

And that's it for now. 2 weeks today we will have arrived in Scotland.

Love to all

Lucy xxxx

Just looking at my weather app and saw a warning for Banchorys weather.
" potential disruption due to wind"

I may be 40, but this has started a fit of the giggles.


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Good morning. It's Saturday and I'm sitting drinking my coffee reading through Facebook and blogs to see what everyone is up to. Just read dads Friday the 13th incident. Braeden had a Friday the 13th incident too.

The day started well. Did a 10k route with running buddy Regina. It was a great run day. Felt strong and finished in 52:22. Got the boys off to school, headed up to work to run a quick errand then Costco shopping time. Almost home, thinking unload and then get the house cleaned before time to pick Braeden up from school, when the phone rang. Redwood school. "Braeden's had an accident in the play ground and hit his head. He has a gash and we think you should come look at it". So with car full of groceries headed straight to the school. Yep, it was a nice egg on his forehead complete with gash. Home with me he came. I have butterfly stitches at the house so cleaned him up and applied those. Then concussion watch for the next hour.

How many times does a parent do concussion watch over the period of time in raising a child????? I have lost count of how many times I have. Both my boys play tackle football and never had an incident with that, but boy they both have had their fair share of injuries off the football field!!!!


So needless to say getting his helmet on for practice Friday was not an option. He went down and helped coach and listened to some plays, as he is really hoping he can play today. It looks better today, and I have some materials that I will use to put some extra padding over the area to protect it in a helmet and we will give a try, but I'm not hopeful. He may need to sit this one out.

I'm a single parent for the week. Scott has headed up to eastern Oregon with his dad to go bow hunting for elk.


It's going to be a busy week. Work, school, 3 practices for both boys, and 2 games for Cade mid week then weekend game for Braeden . And then how to fit in my workouts? I'm training for the grants pass half marathon end of October. So really don't want to fall behind in my training. It's definitely going to take some creativity. I'm following a "run less run" faster plan from a book I've been reading. 3 targeted workouts, a bike workout and a swim workout a week. The full length of my street is a 1/4 mile, so my track workouts will be there this week. Neighbors are going to think I'm crazy :) my tempo run will be done with Regina on Friday after kids have gone to school so lets hope it's not another hot one. It's been hitting 100 here still. But I've yet to figure out how to get my distance in. It may have to be a treadmill run with boys playing downstairs at the Y. Ugh I hate treadmills/ dread mills ;).


Need some photos now. Just some random ones. Can't remember if I've used them before.


Cade's first day back at school


Headed to Braeden's game last weekend





His number.


This one probably only of significance to me, but as Cade stood looking down on the high school field last week, it hit me.......he will be here next year. Crazy. Just feels like yesterday he was the size of Miller.


So that's it here. Hope alls well with everyone.

Love to all

Lucy xxxx

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It's been a long time since I blogged. Frankly I've been too exhausted. The smoke from the fires, particularly intense the last week of mum and dads holidays here paid a roll on my health, there was the worry of poor Kellys predicament, so glad she is doing so well now :) There was the weekend of camping with 7 boys for Cades birthday celebration, and last weekend we were off camping again, this time with the Carpenters :) so it's been go go go. Oh, and this week on the way to Cade's football camp there was a moped vs a car accident right in front of us. Cade and i witnessed the guys head going through the windscreen then him being thrown through the air and landing in front of us. First time I've ever had to call 911 and be the first to respond to the injured. Thankfully he's going to be ok, but some broken bones :(

Today is my Friday off, and although I have a lot of cleaning to do, house and trailer, I'm sitting enjoying a coffee in bed after an awesome run with Regina. We did 5.75 miles, first mile 8 min 54 sec pace, mile 2: 8 mins 44, mile 3: 8 mins 40, mile 4: 8 mins 10, mile 5: 8 mins 13, and the last stretch of 0.75 mile at 8 mins 18. Feeling pretty proud :) and loving my garmin watch. Thank you Scott :)

Today the boys and I are headed to Medford. Cade wants to spend his birthday gift card from Kelly. Sounds like he want some kind of fancy cool headphones :) and I have to pick up my race packet for tomorrow. The Color Run 5k. Very much a fun run, no PR being done here as they through colored dust at you throughout the race. Their motto "do you believe in unicorns" :) can't wait. The team I signed up with from work are all walkers, but I will be breaking loose from them after the start cause "a girls gotta run" :) and I just found a friend who signed up with another team and they are all taking their kids so sounds like Kate and I will be sneaking off together to run the course ;)

You want to see some photos don't you :)








Some of Cade with birthday cake :) theme, his favourite football team Oregon ducks














The boys camping weekend














And some of the weekend of camping with the carpenters. Such a fun weekend. Scott and Chase took all 7 kids out on the boat for 4.5 hrs Saturday, and 2.5 on Sunday leaving Kambria and I to have loads of great quality girl time. We lay on floaties in the lake the entire time sipping on drinks, chatting and talking running. Perfect!!!!!

Right, I should get this show on the road. Bill (father in law) heads this way today to help Scott with the finishing of the outside of the "man cave". He sleeps in the trailer and right now it is still as I left it when we got back last Sunday after 7 kids sleeping in it :)

Love to all

Lucy xxxx

Happy birthday Gary!!!!!





I am so excited for his first half marathon this Sunday, but hate that he's having to do it with an injury.

Will be there with you in spirit cheering you on.
In the great words of my sister "trust in your training". You have def done the work. And you have had some phenomenal runs. You got this!!! Just make sure and take a ton of ibuprofen for your shoulder before the race, and make sure you've got some with you for as soon as you are done :)

I will blog again later this weekend to update on everything Cade, Braeden, man cave etc. but for now I have to sign off. Got to head to Medford to get Costco shopping etc done

Love to all and big birthday hugs to my wee brother ;)

Lucy xxxx

Happy early Father's Day to my wonderful dad!!!!


We are leaving for our camping trip so won't have service to call on Sunday :(


Given I forgot to post your card, and I knew I couldn't ship your present its a virtual Father's Day card and pressie for you


- These are waiting for you when you arrive in Grants pass


I chose this one because it is for "the mature connoisseur"


Next a "mom hefeweizen". Made me think of Grannie Stewart :)


And lastly........... The girl said in the store it was good without being gross.


I was prepared ahead of time with your card then completely forgot to mail it. Sorry.

Hope you have a wonderful day. Will be thinking of you xxxxxx


Lots of love and hugs


Lucy xxxx

My house is clean, the kids are quiet, so I've poured myself a glass of red wine, stolen some of the kids chips and have decided to get caught up on blogging/facebooking.

Which of my loves will I start talking about???

Lets start with wine, this is a lovely glass of wine I am having right now :)


And I promise I have only had a couple of sips so far, so this is not a red wine induced ramble you are reading ;)

Next love, running. Had my first 10k race on Saturday. I've done 5ks, 5 miles, 10 milers, and half marathon but never a 10k race. Strange seeing as that's my favourite length of training run. I was very excited to finally be racing this distance. Got up at 6 so to be able to have coffee and breakfast before my 630 cut off time. Race started at 830. Prepped the kids chocolate chip pancakes for their breakfast then took off before they had woken. The race was part of the "gold dust days" celebration in gold hill, about 20 mins south of where I live. I parked, then walked through the Main Street where vendors were setting up their stalls for the street fair and parade. I was a little early so wasn't too concerned with the small number of runners at that time, however by 820 when they started to talk you through the routes, there was a 5k as well as 10k that day, I realized that this was going to be quite a small event. And even worse, it appeared to be a small event of pretty elite looking runners. And, I wasn't quite following what he was saying about the course, therefore the anxiety began to build "I don't know where I'm going and I'm not going to be fast enough to keep up with the others to follow them".
Off went the gun. I wasn't ready. I had read this was a no ear phones race, however I could see others with their buds in ready to go. I began to scramble with my iPhone, pulling out my buds that I had stashed for further on in the race if needed, and scrambled to get everything in place while running the first half a mile. Bear in mind this ran through the Main Street of vendors cheering you on so I was taking in my surroundings, smiling and thanking them, whilst trying to get my stuff sorted. Not a good start for my form/technique. We crossed a wooden bridge, turned a corner, then there it was, the first incline!! Not too bad, very doable, I just hadn't realized there would be multiple of these along the way.
I wasn't In a good place mentally. I knew I had passed a couple of women, but the others seemed so far ahead I thought I was running at the back of the pack. My legs were only getting into the zone for a few minutes at a time and then would feel like cement. Was i racing too soon after my 13.4 mile training run Saturday, followed by a race pace 10k training run on my birthday, then a half an hour of full out sprints on the Tuesday after which my knee had hurt so I had taken the rest of the week off???? And my lungs felt tight, was that from the smoke from the fires in grants pass the night before??


It was a challenging race indeed. But this is what I love about his sport (after the fact) that you have to fight with your self doubt, fight with the urge just to quit and go do something else and push through the pain and fatigue to get you to that finish line. And when you look you can find the prompts to help push you to keep going. The man in his 70's, passing you, telling you "you've got this" and you watch his effortless looking stride and work to mimic it. The realization that the extra loop is shorter than you thought, and then the couple of women close to the finish line yelling extra encouragement to help you finish strong. I looked at the clock disappointed to see it said 56 mins 4 secs. I had wanted 2-3 mins less than that. But you know, for how I felt on that run, it could've been a lot worse. And it immediately prompted my brain into my training plan for my next 10k on 4th of July :). So these chips and choccies by my side. No more after today ;) it's get serious time to see if I can pull out a PB in a month. Got to get serious as that coastal run could be a windy one. But I will be ready!!!!!!! At the end of the day, I came in about 22nd of the 36,with an average pace of about a 9min mile, and amazingly came in in 2nd place for my new age category now I'm 40 :)

Ok, time to wake you all up with a photo of my other loves


Here they are after the football championships Saturday.


3 games Scott had to coach. Braedens play offs, followed by Cades championships, followed by Braedens teams championship game. All games were so fun to watch. Action packed, edge of your seat. And in the end, they both clutched a 2nd place trophy, but what they gained was so much more. Great friends, great achievements and ready for post game celebration. So off to the sushi buffet we went :)









Well, it's time to finish up. Got some dinner dishes to get cleaned up and a load of laundry to move through. No rest for the wicked :)


Hope alls well with everyone

Love to all

Lucy xxxx

It's an occasion to write a blog. Both Gary and Dad have, and of course it's Kelly's birthday so I need to give a shout out to my wee sis. Aka the most beautiful and fit preggers lady I've ever known ;)


-








Ok, now I am sad. Looking for photos brings it home that I have not seen any of my siblings in almost 3 years!! Cannot wait until Christmas. My goal of a race per month this year is making the year go by a wee bit quicker so that is good, but I still feel like wee Luca, who when I told him when we would see him said "but that is so long!!" :).

This is my last week in my 30's. I think I like the sound of 40. Life is great. My 2 wee boys who are not so wee just bring so much entertainment to life. It is now I begin to realize what opinionated so and so's Scott and I are as I hear the boys really starting to form and voice opinions. Very anti smoking, as they cough loudly at the neighbors who smoke outside. Very anti drugs. "Why would anyone mess with their brain that way". Very pro balance in life ie physical activity is important but so is down time and family time. Voicing their thoughts and being a part of any discussion is now something we contend with. I feel more at risk now of being embarrassed by something they say than when they were toddlers. For example when talking to one of the grandpas I know at football practice who was asking me why I hadn't achieved my mileage I had hoped to get on a run a couple of weeks ago, I was explaining that the heat had got to me, and Braeden said 3 times, increasingly louder "she got the skits". What a lovely man he was to pretend he hadn't heard him :)

Speaking of Braeden I haven't posted many pictures from his birthday, have I? Thank you to everyone for all his birthday money. He was thrilled and with all of it he has purchased his first laptop. I know he is young, but he has been begging for one for over a year. And the clincher was when we were at Cade's parent teacher conference recently, when we entered the computer lab to see the teacher, Braeden's eyes lit up, he was in pure awe of these old school computers and whispered "I can't wait until I can do this". I had at that time thought this may be an idea for Santa this year, but thanks to both sets of grandparents, uncle Gary and aunt Carole, aunt Kelly, aunt Laramie, Uncle Mark and Great aunt Cindy, and great advice from Uncle Ross, he has purchased a laptop that he says is "boss" :D


This is Braeden with his 2 buddies he had come home with him from school on his birthday. Isaiah on the left (wearing glasses) is his absolute best buddy right now. On the right is George who he likes a lot but they aren't in the same class anymore, but are on the same football team.


Those of you on Facebook have seen this one, so this is for Gary's (and Ross's, does he read the blogs??) benefit :)




There was lots of trampoline time. I like this one because of the look on Lincoln's blue frosting stained face ;)


And here is Cade with Davis in the background.

Being the royal prince, both my boys are, there were 2 birthday celebrations. This one on the day, then one with grandma, papa, aunt Cindy and aunt Laramie the weekend after. And we have the pleasure of a surprise appearance from cousin Kaytlyn. That was lovely. She turns 18 in July!!!!


We've also had Mother's Day here since I blogged last. I had a lovely day with a fantastic dinner grilled by Scott. Again the facebookers have seen this photo but here it is again for the sake of the others.


Grilled romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts, scallops and lobster. Absolutely to die for. And don't worry mum and dad, I have made Scott promise to make this when you come over :)

So lastly, I took a couple of photos with each of my boys on Mother's Day. Not the best quality shots, but I think I will start doing this every year, just to have record of them with me each year.


Cade took this photo with his phone


And then I made Braeden step away from his Xbox for a split second to take this :)


Hope alls well with everyone.

Love to all

Lucy xxxx

What a week!! Poor Braeden got the scare of his life when his school went into lockdown and he had to spend almost an hour under a desk in the computer lab, lights off and door locked, because of an armed felon running from the police who decided to run toward the school. Thank goodness for the speed of response from the police and school staff. The police called the school to report this felon was in their area, school locked down immediately and after a 5 car response, the guy was apprehended. They found him crouched down hiding in the doorway to the school. I shudder to think what could've happened, and Braeden actually thought he wasn't going to see me again, that the underside of the desk was the last thing he would see. Heartbreaking to think he was thinking these things. So it's been a rough week for the wee man. He seems ok by day, but each night he has had a wee meltdown over insignificant things. So last night, he slept with me. Scott is great at giving up his space in the bed when one of the boys needs mommy time. So here I sit, in the dark with my coffee waiting for him to wake.

On top of the trauma he had state testing this week and I think he's had a growth spurt. That poor boy has just been hit with everything!!

Other than that just the usual week of football practices and running. Thursday I had decided was my long distance day. After a week of rest following the pear blossom I wanted to get back into training and add a mile to the 10 miles I had done at pear. I had figured out, if I took off about 4 and took a couple of hours to run that still put me back about 6 so I could go pick up Braeden when he was done with his practice so he didn't need to sit through Cade's practice. All went to plan. Scott got home at 4, I directed the 3 of them to the chicken noodle soup and smoothies for dinner, and off I went. After 2 miles I returned the dogs back home. They were not coping with the 84 degree temp. I took off again, but at the 5 mile point the heat had gotten to me and I had to run for the bathrooms in the park. I soaked my bandana again thinking this would help but it was not to be. I quickly realized that no amount of positive self talk was going to get me the miles I wanted, that this first run in the heat was going to have to be cut short. So at 7.8 miles it was over :(. I had put my smoothie in the freezer before I left, and I swear it was the best thing I had ever tasted!! And the green tea with honey that I had waiting for me in the fridge hit the spot too. Ah well, you can't always do what you want. Lesson learned, no plans for long distance runs at 4 o'clock in the afternoon when it's in the 80's!!

So this weekend is football games Saturday morning, shoe shopping for the boys and my Costco run in the afternoon. Sunday Scott works so that will be house cleaning day and just hanging out.

So that me up to date on my blog. Gary??

Sorry, no new photos. Need to start taking more. I've gotten out of the habit

Love to all

Lucy xxxx


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Happy weekend to everyone.
It's 650am and I am sitting all alone at home. Scott left for work early this morning. We go live with our new computerized documentation throughout the hospital this morning. Going to be pretty hectic today for him I think.
Kids are gone. Braeden spent the night at his buddy, George's house last night, and Cade is at aunt Laramies as Scott and I had a night out with friends. We went to the theater to see Dana Carvey, the comedian who was on Saturday night live, and was the blond kid on Wayne's world.


He was hilarious!!!! I laughed so hard that I had to massage my cheeks frequently throughout the show. We were in the 3rd row which was absolutely perfect so we got to see all the little facial expressions he puts into his impersonations. I loved it when he likened Toddlers to having an Ozzie Osborne in your house. The walk, talk and mannerisms are so true of that of a toddler. Hilarious!!! And his comment on the parenting style of today where instead of just yelling at your kid "go take a bath!!!!" It's now a case where dad pitches the idea then mom reacts with surprise and excitement. Oh my gosh, he had that nailed :) His impressions of both George Bushs was soooo funny. He had this funny little dance he did when he did George W. said he just felt that this was what was going on inside of George W when he talked, and you know I think he is right ;) cracked me up.
I would highly recommend going to see him if you ever got the chance. Such a great night.

Last weekend was a busy weekend. Friday night was Scotts 40th birthday then Sunday was Easter. That made for a very sugar filled weekend extending into the week :)




Here's the birthday boy as we sung happy birthday to him.


And a close up of the cupcakes, mum likes to see these things you know ;) we also had lemon meringue pie and birthday cake flavored ice cream :)

Easter Sunday was a rainy day here which was perfect. I got my 10 mile done then home to make dinner and hang out with the boys. Along with way too much chocolate, the Easter bunny also brought the kids some board games. Braeden got a drawing board game, he loves to draw all the time, and Cades is called "the last word" perfect for my wee pre teen ;)

I had forgotten to get dye for the eggs, so I used my hairdryer to melt old pieces of crayon onto the eggs to decorate them. The photo didn't really bring out the color, purple and green, but this was a fun easy task.


Haven't posted any photos of my boys yet!!!



Here is Braeden, waiting at the orthodontists office, reading an article called "how to play for a living" :)


And here is Cade and I yesterday. Middle school was closed for the day so he came with me on my distance run. He ran the first mile with me, then we got his bike for the remainder 7. After 4 miles we were downtown and had a quick stop for an Italian soda for him at the coffee drive through in the center of town. It was nice having my buddy to chat to the whole way.

So that's the blog updated now. Time to do housework, take the dogs to the park then I expect kiddo pick up will start fairly soon.

Hope everyone has a good weekend

Love to all


Lucy xxxx