Nick's 11th Birthday

So here are some pictures from Nick's late night birthday party. It really was just thrown together very last minute. I couldn't believe that in a month we could not come up with one day or time to have his party except 8:15pm on his actual birthday. Everyone but Alexis actually made it closer to 7:15ish and so we just ate pizza without her. I tried hard to get my mom to let Nick just open his gifts without waiting for Alexis to get done with her gymnastics practice but she would not have that. So we waited. Mom mom did all the decorations and went out and got a cake (actually 2 cakes b/c after she ordered one he mentioned something about an ice cream cake and even though he told her not to go get one when he realized she already ordered a cake...she did anyhow).

 



So here is Nick with cake number 1. Nick wants to be an author so my mom did a book theme. The cake was originally designed to look like the bible and so my mom just had them change the colors and put different words.

Here is Nick with his ice cream cake. It worked out fine b/c we just gave everyone a slice of both and didn't have to use ice cream.

I still can't believe I am old enough to have an 11 year old.

Nick with his presents.

Nick started with his cards. His cousins gave him a gift card so he could pick out what he wanted.

His great grandma also gave him a card with money. Always a good gift at this age.

Here he opened the Madden 13 for XBox. He had just opened the Call of Duty game. That was a struggle for me to know if I should let him have it or not. All the neighbor boys have them but it says a much older age. I gave in b/c he watches all kinds of violent movies (Star Wars, Lord of Rings, etc) and he is one of the most gentle kids I know. Probably a poor parent choice, but he got it.  

Gift from my parents...Junior Ice hat. That is his hockey team. 

 Nerf gun from my us.

 From here on down you will see a common theme. Legos. They came out with some new ones recently otherwise I would say we have nearly all of them. Maybe I exaggerate but it feels like we have them all.

 Another Lego.

 Another Lego. There really was not anything else to get him. Christmas is going to be impossible. I have NO ideas.

 Ummm...another Lego

Oh another nerf gun (b/c we don't already have a million of those too:)

 Another Lego.

Probably his favorite gift if I were to ask him. My mom got him this new awesome hockey bag but it hadn't come in yet so she just wrapped a picture. It is bigger and has a place for his goalie pads on the outside of the bag. It looks cool, and he was very excited to get this. It came in yesterday!

 Finally another Lego.

At this point the kids were exhausted b/c it was there first day back to school after 2 weeks off and it was now after 9pm. Let's hurry up with the cake...

 Nick's cousins just sort of looking at the cake thinking, "really Nick you didn't blow them ALL out."

 

I think he had an okay family party. I still promise him that one night we will let him have a couple friends over and either go skating or do something else fun.  His best friend, David, will be one that he picks to stay over for sure. Now just have to find a time that would actually work out for everyone. Okay now I have to get going to feed these kids and get them ready for a freezing night of trick or treating.

Yay Colts

I could not come up with a title and considering the Colts had a nice win today, I just went with that. This weekend is thankfully almost over. I am not a fan of call weekends! It has not been horrible by any means, so I won't complain. I did see 19 patients during our 2 hours of Saturday walk-ins. That seemed busy but otherwise babyland and calls have been okay.

As soon as I figure out how to steal my sister's pictures off facebook, I will post a few pictures of Nick and Alexis from their trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Sounds like they had an awesome time. Alexis basically plays with her cousin Caleb and Nick plays with his cousin Cody. The 4 of them really do get along great. Friday night we hosted small group again. Basically you always do 2 weeks in a row. I was having my first ever back spasm that I blame entirely on the fact that I cleaned the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I had to turn like a statue to talk to anyone. It was sort of miserable. I was back to normal by the next day..thankfully! I am enjoying our current small group study. Jenny's husband, Matt, is leading it this time. We are doing a study called How People Change (How Christ Changes Us By His Grace). It is really good so far.

Also on Friday, I saw Shane again. More tools and stretching. I got the feeling he thinks I am a little crazy for attempting the full next weekend. He asked me a least a couple times, "you sure you don't want to just do the half" and "are you SURE you don't at least want to attempt running before the race?" I said no to both! I am way nervous to run so I figure a 26 mile attempt should be my come back run! I am gonna suck.  If it is going horrible, I will turn off with the half but it would have to be going really bad for me to do that. I think I would rather walk/run the second half.

Saturday was busy for me from work standpoint and for Clark from kid standpoint. He had to pick up big kids in Noblesville. Get Alexis to her practice in Zionsville. Get the trio to their practice in Carmel. Go back and get Alexis. Come home and get the boys in costumes and to a BD party for their friend in Brownsburg. Then he had turn around and get Nick back to Fishers for his practice. I was in charge of picking up the trio after I worked. All we do is drive, drive and then drive some more. Saturday night was low key. I think we just hung around talking about how tired we were.

Today we had to get the kids up at 4am so that Clark could take them all to Ohio for Nick's hockey games. I was off the hook because I had to go to work and round. I was not off the hook from getting up at 4am and getting them ready. I tried to pretend I was asleep when Clark got up to get in shower hoping he would do everything but of course he said, "Christy you need to get up and get the kids ready." Darn my play dead act did not work. Nick was goalie for the first game and Evan was goalie for the second. Finally the team won two games. I think these might be the first games we have won. I got several text updates from Clark during the games. I rounded at the hospital and then headed to the YMCA. I was really dreading this cross training work out, but I got it done with just a few interruptions from patients. I did a total of 3 hours. Started with 1 hour on the bike. Then 1 hour on elliptical. Finally another hour on the bike. My butt was numb at the end and I was as wet as if I jumped in a pool. I still wear a big sweatshirt and shirt under to sweat a lot. I was gross. My weight went down about 5-6lbs in sweat. Don't worry once I rehydrate and eat it comes right back. Clark and I got home around the same time. Just in time to watch the 4th quarter of the game and OT. Clark took a brief nap on the couch and now has headed up to Carmel for his hockey game. I need to get the kids geared up for school tomorrow. They have been off for 2 weeks so we are a little off the school night routine.

So that is pretty much my weekend recap. Not much else to talk about. Tomorrow is Nick's birthday! You can read my story of how he came to be from my post 10/29/10. I won't retype the entire story. When I looked back to make sure that post was still there I realized just how many posts I deleted back in Jan. I guess that post is now my first post. I didn't even leave all my leg surgery drama ones on the blog...weird!!  I guess I got a little delete happy. So unlike me! Thankfully I have it all in blog to book form!

Hope everyone has a great week. With the upcoming election I am praying a lot for our Nation!

Cautiously Optimistic

I am not sure I should put this in writing, but right now I feel cautiously optimistic about my hip. I would say that at this point I am 98% pain free during any and all activity. Now keep in mind I have not and will not attempt to run. I still think that will hurt, and I really don't want to do that just yet. I am thrilled that I am back to normal with everything else however. I have been feeling good for about 4 days now. I think maybe the steroids just took longer to kick in than the predicted 3-8 days. For me it was more like 10 days. It is also possible that it was the NO running that made the difference. Now I really just have pain at night (which is getting better and better) and on my first couple of steps in the morning (although even that was gone today).  I am obviously thrilled with this progress. I still believe my never ending prayers are working.

I have tried to stay fairly active from a cross training standpoint. Here has been my last few days...
Saturday: 1 hour on bike, 1 hour on elliptical
Sunday: nothing..took kids to zoo
Monday: 2 hours on bike and 1 hour on elliptical
Tuesday: 1 hour on bike
Wednesday: 1 hour on bike, 1 hour on elliptical

I really miss running but am very happy that I am able to do bike and elliptical without any pain. I did get to experience what I assume people talk about in marathons when they say they get leg cramps. I had this happen on the bike the other day. It came on suddenly and my calf was a knot and I had to jump of the bike to try and stretch my leg in ways I could tolerate the pain until it resolved. Gosh I hope that doesn't happen to me when I run b/c I am certain there is no running thru that until it goes away. I really do hate the elliptical. It sort of feels like torture. I try and watch netflix to make the time go faster but literally I watch every single minute and count down the entire time. On the bike I can read, but I can't do this on elliptical b/c too much up and down. I would like to try and get back in the pool just to add something different. Even more than that I really really really want to get in the water treadmill. I think I will get the green light from my PT next time I see him b/c I am doing well.

So anyhow, that is my latest hip update. I am happy but have no doubt that the pain will return when I run. So when do I run again?? Well...November 3rd. I am going to run (and likely walk) the Monumental marathon. I already paid for it. I trained for 4 months for this race. I am totally out of running shape right now so just to finish without the 'too slow' bus picking me up is my new goal. I thought about changing to the half and running with Jaime, but I don't think I could keep up with her at this point. Keith is going to do this race with me. Yes my super speedy friend is going to torture himself with boredom and slowness.... for me. Maybe I will get to repay him someday by being part of his support crew when he does his 100 mile run that he really wants to do. He will be running under Clark's name so as to not ruin his good record and starting corrals in the future. I hope running is like riding a bike. I am a little worried that with so many weeks off running, my legs won't remember how to do it!

Okay enough about all that! Kids are still on break. This 2 weeks is starting to feel long from a mom standpoint. It has made finding time to go to gym challenging and expensive (b/c often use the depot). The big kids are now with my parents for the next two days. My mom took Alexis to a Jordyn Wieber gymnastics' clinic today. Basically for a lot of money she gets to do this clinic and get her autograph. She is there right now, and I hope she is having a great time. I can't wait to hear all about it. After this they are going to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days. My sister and her kids are also going so they will be hanging with cousins. I don't think my mom has this figured out yet but it is only a matter of time before she no longer gets away with just taking the big kids. The trio is going to start getting upset that they are ALWAYS left behind. The rest of us are just hanging at home. I really wanted to get a sitter and go see Argo with Clark tonight but of course he has a laboring patient. May try again tomorrow and if that doesn't work out..I will go alone.

Next Monday is Nick's birthday. We have been unable to find a single day where we can celebrate his birthday b/c every single day is busy with sports, etc. What we ended up coming up with was just a quick (and I mean quick) get together with my parents on Monday night after the trio's hockey and Alexis' practice (which ends at 8pm). I feel horrible about this. It is going to be so lame. Here Nick have some gifts and eat some cake and sorry we really didn't have time to think about your birthday...oh and sorry if I missed you opening any of your gifts b/c I am answering the phones since on call but can you hurry it up b/c it is late and you guys have school...... Hopefully we can find a day in the next month or two that he can have a couple of friends over and at least go skating or something he might like. 

Speaking of schedules... our life has officially become a nightmare. So many conflicts. For example on Nov 3rd Nick has a hockey game in Ohio at noon. Alexis has gymnastics's meet at noon in Plainfield. Trio has hockey practice from 10:45-almost noon, and I will still be running/walking the monumental marathon at noon! Doesn't that sound like fun to figure out. Basically my only solution was trio skips their practice, and Clark takes all boys to Ohio for Nick's hockey and my mom gets Alexis to her meet. I try and run/walk faster to see if there is any chance I make any part of the meet...very unlikely. Remember it was Alexis who really wanted me to try and run my race so I knew she could not get mad that I would miss her meet. I should mention we only found out the day and time of the meet yesterday. When I told Alexis about missing the meet she said, "I think it is cool that we will both be doing 'our big thing' at the same time." Whew...glad she was not mad.

I think that is enough blogging for now! Hope everyone is haivng a great night!

Zoo Boo 2012

We finally had a day at home with both parents and all children. We started our Sunday by all going to church and praising God. Then we decided it was such a beautiful day we should go to Zoo Boo. Apparently everyone else had similar thoughts b/c it was packed. I have never seen the zoo so busy. We bought a membership, so we didn't feel the need to go thru everything today. I knew Clark was leaving us early to head to his Sunday night hockey. After that I didn't last long b/c it was hard to keep everyone together, and I was tired at that point. I think the kids enjoyed the day. Alexis has a new costume for this year but did not wear it today b/c it is an all white angel and she didn't want to get it dirty. Last years costume worked well for today. As the for the boys...I no longer have any say in what they pick so it was all random.



 

Here is Ryan as Wolverine?

Landon wanted to be a Ninja

Here is the whole gang. Nick was a zombie hunter and Adam was Commander Rex

Going thru the line to get candy

Ryan

 I found it fascinating watching the elephants eats pumpkins

 Landon is such a character

 Adam and I were the only ones willing to wait in line for the train. It is his favorite part.

Landon

 Ryan

 Really trying hard to touch the sharks

What a gorgeous day to be outside!!!
Oh and I almost forgot. Huge congrats to both Alvaro who ran his first marathon and came in under 4 hours on Saturday and Alan who finished his 8th marathon today!! So proud (and a little jealous) of both of you!!!!!!!

Random photos

I was just going to include these pictures in my last blog post (written a few minutes ago), but I got so wordy and stuck going on and on that it just didn't fit that particular post. The first few pictures are what I came home to after work yesterday. The quality of the picture is horrible b/c just with my phone, but you get the idea. We were hosting small group, and we were one of the dessert couples. I had left Clark a picture of a cake I saw on Kathie Cooks blog that you can find under the list of blogs I follow. I thought it would be fun for the kids to help with. When I got home Clark was just a cooking away. I love how he wears the apron our previous babysitter had the kids make for him. The Kit Kat, M&M cake turned out great. He made one white layer of cake with a chocolate layer on top. He made his own chocolate sause and then also used store bought frosting to help the Kit Kats stick. It was great! I think everyone enjoyed it. 

 

 Clark worried the adults might not like the very rich candy cake so he also made individual apple pies. They were delicious! It is my favorite pie that he makes. SOOOO yummy!

 After small group is over we let the kids come up and get food. Several of the kids were missing but everyone else was loving the cake and ice cream. I LOVE my small group!! LOVE THEM!!

This morning I took a few pictures of the boys at hockey. I dropped Alexis at gymnastics, watched for an hour then headed to hockey. Clark got the boys there and ready but then had to take off to get Nick to Ohio for 2 hockey games. The mini mites were cracking me up. They are so funny to watch.

 Ryan

 Landon

 Adam

 Ryan

 Landon

 Adam

Now I am off to drop the kids at the Depot and go to gym to ride the bike. After all that food I ate last night, I can not miss another day of working out!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!