The Big 30!

My cake made by Rick. The flowers were 3D!
Mason hitting the pinata.
My gift from Rick, Cathy and the boys... a swing for my porch!

I am a bit behind in my blogs! This month has been so busy and I can't believe fall is here. I had my 30th birthday at the beginning of the month. Let me tell you, I was not very excited about leaving my twenties! However, I guess we all must age! To celebrate the entrance into a new decade, Rob put together a surprise party for me! I was truly surprised! It was a Mexican theme complete with Mexican food, decorations, and a pinata. Everyone worked so hard on the party and I truly appreciated it.

Bruiser

Mason with a goofy look showing off his bruise!
Wagon Ride
Abandoned Kitten

Monday we were over at Rick and Cathy's house finishing up our canning. We canned apple pie filling and applesauce this time. Mason ended the evening by getting his first big bonker! He fell and he met the glider chair with his forehead and left eye! It immediately turned purple and swelled. He was a tough guy though! Putting the ice on his head was probably more traumatic than anything. I, on the other hand, had a bit of a hard time since it was his first big injury. I know it is the first of many though! The swelling went down by the next day and now we just get to watch the color changes!

The other exciting thing that happened this last weekend was finding an abandoned kitten. Clemens ran off and Mason and I were chasing after him. We heard a noise coming from a pile of leaves in our driveway. Underneath all of the leaves was this tiny kitten. I watched for several hours trying to find any hint of mom. The kitten was really hungry so, we took him in. A vet check revealed that he is only three weeks old and 8 ounces! He is full of vigor though and eats well. I will bottle feed him for another few weeks and then try to find him a home. The last thing we need is another pet! Although, Sydney seems to think that this kitten is her baby.

Four Miler Race Results

Prerace: Lyndsey, Julie, Marilyn, Cathy & Renae

Team 5 Fluco Flamingo Four MilersHalf Way
All Done!

The race is over! I finished well with my best four mile time this summer and the best part is my knee did not hurt! It was an amazing experience to run with over 2,000 women. There was pink as far as you could see! My time was 38 minutes and 55 seconds placing me at 582nd out of 2240. In my age group I placed 49th out or 223. The ultimate goal for the race was to raise funds for the Uva Breast Care Center. I am happy to report that the goal of $200,000 has been far surpassed! Donations will still be accepted until Septemeber 10th and the estimated total is $250,000! This is awesome! Thank you to all of the donors for making this happen!

Little Gardner

Mason has been so helpful with gardening since he started walking! He loves to be outside and we have spent more time outdoors now that he can walk. Mason has discovered the cherry tomato's that I am growing! He plucks them right off the bush and eats them. He has become much more stable in his walking and even tries to run now! It won't be long and I won't be able to keep up with him! His new words are hello, stick and go. He has been eating a ton so I think he has hit a growth spurt. In the picture above, hew actually fell asleep eating! He plays hard and he wore himself completely out! His favorite activity in the evenings is chasing the dogs and cat around the house. Mason has figured out how to throw the ball for Sydney and that Clemens enjoys playing hide and seek around the couch!

We have had a few thunderstorms lately. Sydney is terrified of thunder and she has run away a few times. Last week she ended up a half a mile down the road. We are not sure what to do about that. Most of the storms just pop-up with little warning.

Rob is doing well and keeping busy with work. I am busy with training for the four miler, finishing my master's degree and I added another day of work two weeks ago. I am three weeks away from completing the last class for my master's degree... yeah! That will be a huge relief!

Running for a Cause

Fourth of July 5K

I have recently returned to running and I am running in support of a good cause. On September 1st, I will be completing the Charloettesville Women's Four Miler with 2,700 other women. The funds raised from t is race will go towards the University of Virginia's Cancer Center Breast Care Center. My sister-in-law, Cathy, completed the race last year and has inspired me to complete it this year. I am also running in honor of my Aunt Susan and several patient's of mine that have battled breast cancer this last year.

I started training in June and every Saturday hundreds of women gather at the UVa track for a training session, support and guidance. It is truly amazing to be running with hundreds of women training for the same cause! Also, some of them are breast cancer survivors!

I unfortunately injured my knee during the 5K race on the Fourth of July. I had to stop training for almost a month but I am back at it again. I was able to complete the training program last Saturday and I ran 3.5 miles! I am hoping to be able to run the whole four miles but if not, I will surely complete it by walking.

I want to thank all of you who have already donated to support me and the Breast Care Center. Donations can be made online http://www.dominiondigital.com/womens4miler/donations.asp

just click on the link and follow the instructions. I will keep you all updated on my progress and wish me luck on the 1st!

Vacation details and Mason updates

Well, last Saturday we made it back from our vacation New York. Before I fill you in on the vacation details, I have to brag a bit about our little boy! It is official... Mason can walk! He has been taking a couple steps every now and then but Monday he really took off! I picked him up from the sitter's house and she said "Mason just walked across the living room!" Sure enough, when we got home he walked across our living room. He is still a bit wobbly but he is improving fast. He also started saying "bye" when he waves! Mason is a bit of a dare devil. His Aunt Cris bought him the bike in the above picture. He can get on and off by himself. He also has discovered that he can stand on the seat, hold on to the handle bars and rock... uh, oh!

Our vacation went well. We stayed with Rob's parents and Mason was able to get some quality grandpa and grandma time. Rob and I were able to go to the races and golf twice without Mason. It was weird being without him but, it was also nice being able to get out and play! I actually tied Rob in golf on the day we played the executive course with Rick, Cathy, Brad, Ben, Ryan and Blake. We also played a difficult 18 hole course with Rick and Cathy and I fared pretty well. Of course Rob always seems to do well too!

We had a huge picnic with family and friends at Rob's parent's house. It was planned on a perfect day before the heat wave came! On one adventure day we took a boat tour in Alexandria Bay around the 1000 islands. The 1000 islands are in US and Canadian waters. There are many mansions built on these islands. It was interesting to see as these houses were huge! We took a tour of Boldt Castle which is on one of the islands. We then headed to Maze Land. The boys had a good time trying to find the clues hidden in a seven foot tall hedge maze. We never found all of the clues after a couple of hours of looking. I think we were being tricked!

Our second adventure day was to the Corning Glass Museum. We saw exhibits with amazing glass detail. We also were able to make our own glass items. The things that we made were ornaments, glass flowers and wind chimes. It was scorching hot in front of the furnace but, we had fun!

The time went by fast and it seems that we couldn't fit everything in that we wanted to do. Mason was a trooper the whole trip. He slept well and was in a great mood the whole week. Aunt Cathy calls him the "angel baby"! Even though we had fun, it is always nice to return home!

Summer Adventures

Last weekend we were off to Williamsburg, VA. We decided that we needed to start seeing some of the sites here in Virginia and learn some history! The weather was beautiful allowing us to stroll around Colonial Williamsburg. We toured the Governor's Palace and the Capital Building and watched some reenactments.

Mason decided that he is a big boy now! He is refusing to eat baby food and wants to eat what I eat! We ordered his very own meal at a restaurant for the first time last weekend. He had chicken strips. I, of course, cut off the breading and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Mason wanted nothing to do with that! He grabbed a chicken strip, breading and all, and munched on it cave man style! Mason has also learned to clap. It is funny that he claps for himself when he is proud of himself.

We are headed to visit Rob's parents in upstate New York on Friday. It will be nice to see them since they have not seen Mason since he was two months old! He has changed dramatically since then! The hard part will be the nine hour drive. Luckily, we will have Aunt Cathy with us to entertain Mason on the way up, yeah!