Interesting Conversation...

Yesterday as Blake was getting to the end of his homework, I told him to see if he could be done by the time I went up and got Luke from his nap and made it back down. He was not thrilled with my comment and ignored me like usual.

When I got back down stairs he said that he had a new plan for his homework. He informed me that if I would would like to see his homework it was going to cost me. He then said that this was going to cost a dollar and a coin every time! I decided to play along, and said okay let me see it and I will pay you later...nope he needed his money upfront. I never have cash so I was out until Chad got home.

When Chad got home he was explained the situation and then kindly gave Blake a dollar and a penny. Blake took the money and handed over the homework, and then gave this little evil laugh. Then he said I think I am going to write Grandma Cook a letter and tell her to pay me if she wants to read it! As he ran upstairs to put his money in his bank, he said "this is great, I am going to get so much money! "
Where did this kid come from??!!!!

Turkey Trot

Race day excitement...faked

I finished my first 5k and completed my 2 goals for the race. My first goal was to finish the race without walking. Check. Second goal was to finish the race in under 40 mins. Check. We got up Thanksgiving morning to find it raining. So now not only was I going to be cold, now I was going to be cold and wet! Thanks to my fan club Mont and Cheryl for showing up in the rain to watch Chad and I complete the race. I only wish I could have been faster so you didn't have to stand out in the rain so long.

Overall, I think I did okay I finished the race in 30:56! Chad finished the race in 22:47! Chad was so nice to finish his run and then come back to find me and finished the race with me. His last words of encouragement were "Hurry, and you can finish in under 31 mins...push it!" At this point I was dying but the finish line was just a few yards away so I slightly took my speed up a notch. The things I need to remember for next time is to stretch after I am done, and not step on my headphones and ruin them. Arrgghh!

Wahoo!!

After 10 weeks of training I can now run for 30 mins! In the beginning I thought this would have been much easier for me. But sometimes it was really discouraging to get up early in the morning and head to the track only to have the 70 year old man lap me!! (same man every morning) And when I would see him running it looked like he was barely moving his legs. The only thing I could tell myself to keep me going is that he has been doing this everyday for the last 20 years, and I'm just a beginner. So with my upcoming 5K on Thursday I thought I would go out and see what I could do. My goal was to get my three miles in 40 mins or less...I am really slow. So Monday Chad and I set out for the "big run". And to my surprise, it was not as hard as I thought and I completed my run in 33 mins! Thanks Chad for hanging with me at my pace, I know it felt like a Sunday walk for you. So now I am gearing up for the big race in the morning all I have to do is get my race day music on the ipod.

California

While we were in California we were able to fit in a lot of stuff. We were able to spend a day at Newport Beach, and surprisingly the weather was great! The water was a bit chilly at first but after a bit it was really not that bad--even Luke got in up to his chest! I love the beach, but the only down part is that the beach always comes home with you! I found sand in crevices that I didn't even know Luke had!

We were not planing on hitting the Disney parks this trip because it was so short, but then we found a great deal on park hopper tickets that we couldn't pass up. So we did California Adventures in the morning and Disneyland the rest of the day. And might I mention with no lines, we only had to wait 5-10 minutes for each ride! November is the best time for Disneyland, the weather was in the 70's and no wait!

The best part of the trip was seeing my kids get to play with their cousins. It is always a non-stop party! The "big boys" seem to play so well together and the things they come up with to entertain themselves are hilarious! This time it was the human slingshot! They spent most of their free time playing this!

Human Slingshot

I didn't even make it half way on to the beach before Blake was already in the water.

Luke lovin' the sand!

The waves at the beach were HUGE! Chad and Ryan thought they could catch some but I think they just ended up getting beat up. Chad you look nice in Ryan's slim fit rash guard!

Blake and his new favorite pose!

Luke showing his appreciation for the beach...all smiles!

California Adventures

After the Grizzly Bear Rapids ride, Blake got off the ride and said "I loved it and I'm soaked! Check me out mom!"

Luke enjoying his theme park adventure.

Luke and his new shades. Gearing up for the Bugs Life 3D movie.

Family photo.

Halloween

The Cooks

Peter Pan & Company
Chad and I don't really get into dressing up...but the kids loved it!

Luke the cowboy and his side kick Tinkerbell

Blake the Pirate Skeleton, Londyn as Tinkerbell, and Luke the Cowboy.

We were able to spend Halloween in California at my brothers. We had a great time and I don't think Blake has ever got so much candy. Plus you can never beat the weather there. It doesn't get any better then trick or treating in flip flops!

Motivation.

Like many of you know I have started running. And I am proud to say I have made it to week 6!! Hooray for me, I can now run for a solid 9 mins! This sounds lame I know, but for me this is huge. I started out at only being able to run for 3 mins so this is progress. But now I am in need of a little motivation.

I started out with a short term goal of making it to the Turkey Trot 4 mile run Thanksgiving day. If I made it to this then I could get a new running outfit, sounded really nice at first because I found some cute running gear. But now the thought is fading and I am okay running in old sweats and random Noni shirts.

So here are my goals:

• Turkey Trot Nov. 27th


• Moab Half Marathon Mar. 21

What should be my reward or motivation? What do you people do to keep going? Oh, and I am also in need of some new music to run to, any suggestions?

Is The Search Over?

Well I have been on a vacuum search for about 5 months now and have tried out several options. I got my first vacuum when we first got married and I think we paid about $60 for our awesome Dirt Devil! It was actually an okay vacuum, no real complaints. But when it stopped sucking I thought that I would venture out and get one that worked on carpet as well as hard floors.

(I have a fair amount of tile)
So I tried out:
-Hoover Wind Tunnel- it was okay, but was not sure on the bagless idea.
-The Hoover Wind Tunnel Cyclonic-bought this one because of the online reviews, but didn't think it had very good suction, and once again bagless. I decided that bagless was too messy for me and there was no Clean way to empty it.
-Kenmore Canister Vac- really liked this little number, it did awesome on my tile floor and had a bag--all a plus. BUT my house is much to small to have something following me around I kept getting cornered by the thing.
-Oreck- well all I have to say is this thing is light weight which was nice but there is no way this thing could pick up an 8lbs bowling ball...it had no suction!
-Eureka SmartVac- this is the one I am currently the owner of. And it has all the things I wanted so far. Bag, good suction, and does hard floors.

Thanks to many of you who participated in the "vacuum survey" and to the good people at Costco for letting me return them. I think that I have found one that I am going to try and keep for more then a month now. Last night I got my new vacuum and this morning I went crazy and did my whole house...not hard to tackle about 1200 square feet. But I loved it! It has this stair attachment that is called the Power Paw, and tell me who doesn't want to clean with this little gem? It shaves all the little carpet fuzzies right off.