Finished

I finished my first race ever today. Hopefully it will not be my last. A few weeks ago I started to train for my first ever 5k. I am not a runner so my expectations were not much more than go, do your best, and have fun. I can say for sure that I met my expectations.

I had a goal to finish in 40 minutes. I know to most people that would be easy but for me each step was a challenge. I can honestly say this is one of the first physically challenging things I have done in my life (besides child birth). It has felt great to have a goal that is a REAL stretch for me.

I think it was special for me to see the kids watch their mother do something hard. Something that does not come naturally to me, something that has taken great effort on my part. Many times while training Abby would look at me and say, "Mom, that looks like it is really hard." and she was right. My cute family met me at the finish line cheering me on with a fun banner they had made.

It was an honor for me to go and support some of my great friends who all ran the half marathon. My eyes teared up as I saw each one of them turn their last corner and make it to the finish line. They trained hard and are such an inspiration.

We each finished and met or came in just under our race goals. I ended up coming in a little over 37 minutes. I walked more than I would have liked to but I also ran much faster than I do at home so I guess it all worked out in the end.

My cute hubby decorated our car we took to the race over night and it was a great way to arrive at the race. My new goal is to keep working at running an entire 5k and then take it from there. Overall, it was a great experience and I am proud of myself. It just goes to show that no matter how old and out of shape you are you CAN set difficult goals for yourself and just do your best. I'm glad I did!

Carn Family Reunion (revisited)

I just got a disk of some of the other pictures taken at the family reunion and I had to put up some of my favorite shots. Including the long awaited, "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair" shots.

Ethan and his cousin Scott playing battleship back to back.

This is Logan and his adorable little cousin Finley. They are only a few months apart and enjoyed chillin next to each other in their strollers.

I LOVE this one of Ethan being the rasta man in our family talent show.

The kids getting lectured before the big family picture on following rules, holding still, always smiling and not getting dirty! Abby looks thrilled, doesn't she?

Kids swinging like crazy on grandma and grandpa's swing. I love Ethan's toothless grin in this one.

Girly cousins laughing it up at grandpa being funny.

Last but not least....I seriously wish I could get this picture bigger so you could see even better how ridiculous this was. Angie's face said it all. I was so dreading this moment thinking it was going to be terrible but I must admit it ended up being hysterical and one of my favorite moments of the trip. Did I just say that? Diane, don't get any crazy ideas for next year!

Back to school jitters

The first day of summer vacation and the last day of summer we always celebrate with a yummy breakfast at Bob Evans. The kids look forward to it each year. I am always amazed at the looks we get as a family of 7. You would think we had horns growing out of our heads or something :)

Back to school arrived this morning. My house while still filled with two busy boys is quiet and lonely. I already miss the pounding footsteps running around. The giggles...the forts...the endless summer days have come and gone. My poor little Sam is not going to know what hit him now that his 3 best friends are gone for 8 hours a day.

The kids were all so excited to be back at school. Seeing old friends and hopefully making a few new ones as well.

To my three big kids:

I am excited to see you learn and grow this year. Make new friends and be a good example. Know that I love you and that you are never alone. I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures this year. I look forward to see your smiling faces jump off the bus steps each day and give me a big hug. Remember who you are!

Love,

Mommy

Getaway

Last weekend Charlie and I had a little getaway. Every second about it was wonderful. The first night we stayed in a hotel in Canada just across the river from downtown Detroit. The view was great.

The next morning we got up and did a run/walk along a beautiful path right along the river all the way down to that bridge you can hardly see. I thought I was going to die and I have not been able to run since...but that is for another post. The weather was beautiful and I could not have asked for a nicer morning. We went and had some breakfast and then checked out and headed to our next hotel.

When we got there we put our suits on and headed for the pool and hot tub. We were the only ones there and it was so relaxing. We went and laid out on some pool chairs in the warm sun. When was the last time I actually got to lay out? It was fabulous. We were so tired from all of our relaxing that we went back to the room and took a two hour nap! After 4 months of no sleep I can tell you a nap in the middle of the day and two uninterrupted nights of sleep in a row made me feel like I died and went to heaven.

That night we were able to go to the temple which is always such a great experience. Then we went out to eat at the Melting Pot. YUMMY...if you have not been, you need to go.

The trip was short and sweet but I am always amazed at what a difference it makes to get away just you and your hubby every once in awhile. It reminds me that I am still that fun loving person that Charlie fell in love with years and years ago. It reminds me of how much I love my amazing husband. It was wonderful to get out of mommy mode for just a bit and be nothing other than a wife.

Then we were back to the reality that is called life. We came home and went blueberry picking, we went fishing, and we canned peaches. The kids had such a great time with grandma and grandpa and we can't thank them enough for allowing us some great one on one time. I can't wait to do it again!

Laundry Room Finished

My laundry room project is finally complete. My washer has found her matching mate and they are very happy together. I owe a huge thanks to my in-laws for picking it up for me and driving it out here. I am quite pleased with how it all turned out. I found my idea for the pedestal and the door here.Above was my sorry excuse for a laundry room and below is the reward after many many days of hard work. Hmmmm...does this mean I have to enjoy doing laundry now?

I am thrilled with how the pedestal turned out and I also love the door project. It was so easy and really adds just that extra touch I think.

Here is my sink before and after. Who ever thought I could get so excited about a sink?

I am loving the cabinet still and I especially enjoy my drapes that cover up all the ugly floor cleaners. As much as Charlie and I have enjoyed working together I think we are calling it quits for at least a few weeks to catch up on all of our nights of lost sleep. Our next project on the list is new sinks /counter/cabinet for the kids bathroom but I am going to enjoy my laundry room first for a bit before diving into the next mess.

Watch out 5K here I come!

Ok so just typing my post title made my stomach get a little queasy...but alas it is true. Less than a week ago I got a new toy. Her picture is shown above and I will from this point on lovingly refer to her as Bertha.

Bertha and I had a great plan. Considering I am not a runner and never have been a runner we thought we would start things off slow. You know, get to know each other bit by bit. My plan was to try the couch to 5k program. It gives you 9 weeks of training to prepare you for a 5k. I had in my mind that I would just go at my own pace and if I had to repeat a few weeks so be it.

I was pretty proud of myself considering that in my entire life I have never ran more than 2 miles and that was only once or twice. To be 33 years old having had 5 kids and one who is only 4 months old running a 5k sounds like an impossible task.

Unfortunately or fortunately (however you choose to look at it) some of my amazing and inspiring friends are all signed up for a race in 5 weeks. Did you hear that part? Yup, 5 weeks not 9 weeks. They have all been trying to convince me that I should sign up as well.

So with extreme fear I am ramping up my training schedule to possibly attempt to run the entire 5k in just 5 short weeks. The race is a run/walk and I have a strong suspicion there might be more walking than running for me and I am trying to be ok with that. Regardless of how much I do it will be more than I have ever done and I will be proud to cross that finish line.

So there it is friends. I will do my best to train my heart out and be there to join you as you cross the line as well! Wish me luck (I'm gonna need it)!!!!

Blueberries

Last night we went and picked some of the most delicious blueberries I have ever tasted. The kids LOVE picking and they actually do a really good job.

The weather was beautiful, it was truly a perfect night. We went with some good friends and picked for about an hour and we got over 20 pounds! We love blueberries in our family and these ones were so sweet they are almost like eating candy. Our friend called them "blue sugar" and boy was he right.

Logan was a great sport and we all had a great time. I can't wait for a year full of blueberry muffins, waffles, and crepes! My mouth is watering just thinking of it.

Laundry room project

As I mentioned we are working on the laundry room as well. While it will still be several weeks before it will be completely finished I thought I would share what we have finished so far.

This was our laundry room cabinet before. It was a huge ugly mess and not very pretty to look at. So I got my wheel turning and below you will see my ideas come to reality.
We painted and I LOVE the color. It looks very green in this picture but it is not green at all. I made some curtains to cover up the vacuum and all the floor cleaners. We added some doors to hide all the laundry stuff and I found some great baskets at Lowe's from the Martha Stewart collection that I love. I think the end result is MUCH improved.

I can't wait to show you more as we complete it step by step.

Kitchen Sink Project

Charlie and I have been busy worker bees this weekend. Since we moved into our home the only projects we have done is paint and put in some new carpet. I caught the "project" bug the last week or so and now we have some fun ideas to work on the next few weeks.

The first project we decided to tackle was our kitchen sink. Don't let the picture below fool you. The faucets were leaky and old and the sinks finish was so worn off that it stained terribly and we have hated it since we moved in.
Projects always take WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY longer than you think they should. In my mind I was thinking...sink out sink in, how hard can it be? While I can't say that it was hard it just took about 5 hours, a lot of mess, and some very heavy lifting.

Here is our hole, waiting for it's new owner!

Here is a glimpse of the mess that my kitchen was all day Saturday. How can one sink require so many tools?

Here is the final product. From the picture it does not look all that different than before but in person it is beautiful and well worth the effort. I love that the sink is still divided but not all the way up so it is still very easy to wash pots and pans by hand.

Charlie and I love doing projects together and we have had a fun weekend working as a team. We are currently working on the laundry room as well and the project after that will be the kids bathroom. I can't wait!

Day at the beach

Each year we try and make it to the beach at least once with all the kids. It takes some work to get there but we are always glad once we make it. It was a beautiful day with friends and the kids had a great time.

It was a little cool that day so all the men built a "hot tub" complete with seats and cup holders. The kids played in the hot tub most of the day so it was well worth the effort.
Here is a picture of just some of the people that joined us that day. I was not great at taking pictures this trip...maybe it was because I was too busy trying to make sure my 5 kids did not drown.
It was a great day and I should get all the sand out of my car just in time to go again next year!

Carn Family Reunion 2010

We arrived home a few days ago from a wonderful Carn family reunion. The trip began when we all met at the Carn compound and made our first trip of many to our favorite restaurant Portillo's! The cousins were all excited for a fun filled week ahead.

We had the opportunity to bless our not so little baby Logan at Charlie's parents home with all of his brothers. Logan's little cousin Finley was blessed as well. How did we not get a picture of the two of them together? Oh yeah, there were 35 people squished in one little room...I guess it was too crazy for pictures.
Here is Logan with his proud papa. What a special day it was to bless Logan with so many family members around.
Then the packing began. It took us 5 vans and a truck filled to the top to get to our destination. We were headed to The Grand Bear Lodge and brought enough food with us to feed a small village.



This was where we stayed. We had two lodges to fit 35 of us. They were a great place for us to all gather together and spend some family time.





The lodge has a great indoor water park with a wave pool, lazy river, and fun water slides. The kids had a blast here and we went at least twice a day if not more. One of my favorite memories was our family train of tubes floating around the lazy river. There were so many of us that the tail end of the train almost reached the start of the train!

The lodge also had a great little amusement park and mini golf but we also spent plenty of time at the lodge with fun planned activities. We played a great round of family feud, made bottle rockets with Grandpa, played bingo for the grand "Fanta" prize, and we even had our very own talent show. The talent show was quite a hit. My favorite moments were Spencer singing and dancing to," Eye of the Tiger" and believe it or not I really enjoyed the all girl act singing to ,"I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair." Charlie promised to get it on video but he ended up messing with the baby. Someone did get a cute picture of it though and if I get a copy I will post it later.

Here is a picture of the overall craziness of the lodge. When you get 35 Carn's together you can hear us from miles away. I was glad no one was in the lodge next to us!

Here are the kiddos on the way to shoot off their rockets. It was REALLY hot but the kids had a blast...literally!

This is how we all felt at the end of the trip.

A great time was had by all and I am grateful to my in-laws for putting it all together. I loved almost every second of it :) and I am glad my kids had some good quality time with family that they do not get to see very often. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Below is a clip of what our family did for the talent show and just a small bit of Spencer's awesomness!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I opened my email this morning after 5 days alone and 4 more ahead still to go. The kids were all screaming and fighting and it is 9:30 and I am already tired and I got to watch this. It was just what I needed. Thanks Charlie...I miss you!

Cedar Point

Charlie got it in his head a week or so ago that he was determined to go to Cedar Point. It had been a LONG time since I had been on any big roller coasters so it sounded like fun. We got a babysitter for the entire day and took off with some friends for a day of terrifying fun.

This was right before our first ride and before I knew what I was getting myself into! We rode Millennium Force first. This ride has a 300 foot drop at 93 mph!

We also rode Top Thrill Dragster. I honestly think I died a little on this ride. It accelerates to 120 mph in just 3.8 seconds. It sends you right up a 90 degree incline and sends you straight back down a 420 foot hill!

Another big one was Maverick. This one drops down a 105 foot hill at a 95 degree angle...yes, that is 5 degrees past vertical!

Here are some videos of just a few of the rides we went on. None of the videos were taken by me. Trust me I was holding on for dear life and closing my eyes and going to my "happy place".

This was our last ride and the only ride I put my arms up on. It was the train ride around the park with a top speed of 10 mph!

Did I have fun???? Yes, after all I had no kids for 11 hours and spent the entire day with my hubby. Am I thrill seeker????? No, I have decided that I like the ground and if I am going to splurge on a fun filled day again I think I will pick the spa next time :)