Cancer ninja

What the heck does that title mean?

Next month, I am participating in "Relay For Life," an event that raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Our Rincon Vista team has decided that our slogan is "Laying our ninja moves on cancer."

The event consists of our team running on the Empire track overnight - there will always be at least one of us on the track.

Why?

Cancer never stops. So, for one night, we won't stop.

How can you help?? Funny you should ask! You can donate cash towards our goal.

How much?

Completely up to you.

How to donate?

Click HERE! Then go to "donate" and follow the instructions. Couldn't be easier.

The best part?

After donating, you can feel less guilty about doing this:

While I'm doing this:

Plus, I'm sure to "shout out" to you from my blog.
Does that help? Or hurt! ha ha!
So... give it some thought.


More birthdays = good.
Less cancer = good.
Me running = good.
You sleeping = good.


See?!? Nothin' to lose.

UPDATE!!! My first SHOUT OUT goes to... drum roll please... ELIZABETH RILEY!!! Thank you Elizabeth for your donation - it's my first!
I'll do a separate "shout out" post for future donations, but wanted to say THANK YOU to Elizabeth right now :)
Whoop!

Nothin' clever...

I have nothing clever or specific to write about today. Still, my kids are cute and it's been a week since I blogged. So here I sit...
It's been a week since I blogged for a couple reasons. One, I liked signing on to my blog and seeing our Ragnar pictures. Click here to see them again!
More, though, it has been a week since I blogged because we've been sick. Specifically, first Lilly was sick. Then Zac. Then Zac and Lilly. Then Zac was more sick than Lilly but I thought Lilly was more sick then Zac. Then me. Then Lilly, because she wants to be just like me. Now Jer.
Whew! What a week!
Let's slow it down a bit...
Sunday evening, after Ragnar, I noticed Lilly was coughing quite a bit. Interesting. We went to bed and she was up a bit of the night coughing. I promised myself I would give her her nebulizer in the morning.
Monday morning, I tried to get her up and she was a wreck - exhausted, fever, cough, the whole thing. Thankfully, my mom was able to take off work at the last minute, so I took Lilly to her and took Zac to school, and off I went to work.
That afternoon, I heard that Lilly was feeling better but when I picked up Zac I heard that he had been miserable all day! Sheesh!
Jeremy had Tuesday off, so I made appointments for the doctor for both kids. Jer took them and reported back - no ear infections, just bad colds. Keep doing what we're doing. Check.
Wednesday morning I had the kids loaded up in the car and Lilly was just miserable, so I decided to be a good mom/bad teacher and take the day off with her. Still took Zac to school so I could baby her all day. This is when we decided powdered sugar donuts really help.
Zac came home from school feeling fine - a runny nose and grumpy in the evening, but grumpy evenings are normal for him!
By Wednesday evening, Lilly was still miserable and coughing and fever... so I called in for Thursday.
Thursday was more of the same, for both kids.
Friday, I took Zac to school and Rob was able to stay with Lilly in the morning until Jeremy got home from work around noon.
I had doctor's appointments already scheduled for both kids for Friday afternoon - Lilly's was her 3 year well baby (do they still call it baby?) check up and Zac for his second dose of H1N1.
Come to find out, year 3 is where they start wearing paper "dresses" and stand up for height/weight... all the "big kid" stuff.

Zac liked that the drawers aren't child locked like at our house!

So, Lilly got checked out and is just great. 50% in height and weight, and developmentally doing awesome (ok, my words not his. But still. She's awesome).

Doc took one look at Zac and asked how he was doing (since seeing him on Tuesday... remember?)

I say "Oh great! He is so much better! Still a bit of a runny nose but otherwise, just fine."

Doc asks about fever or fussiness.

Nope, no fever. Only fussy before bed. Sleeping great.

Still, doc glances in his ears.

Double ear infection.

Here is the look of a boy who has a terrible mommy who thought he was better when really he was getting worse.

Soooo.... off to the pharmacy to get antibiotics.

Then... off to DQ of course to get ice cream. Didn't I mention blizzards and ice cream once being the cure all? Oh yes, here it is.

Side note - after dinner and ice cream we were playing for a bit. Zac walked away and I watched him disappear into the hall (the only open door was his room) and waited for a minute. Then, out he comes carrying his pajamas, brings them to me, and hugs me. As in, Ok mom, this is fun and all but please, would you mind helping me into these so I can go to bed?
Super cute!

Ok, moving right along... while I was out of the classroom this week, my students created this book cover for Love Of Reading week. They were supposed to pretend a book was being written about their class, and create the cover. I was happily surprised to see that they did it even though I wasn't there, and it turned out cute!

1000 Ways To Annoy Your Teacher

By: The 7th Grade Bozos.

I love that each kid is illustrated and identified by name.

I love that I am there, tied up and being carried away by a couple of kids.

I love that they called themselves Bozo's... which I may or may not call them in class. A lot.

I LOVE that they won the school Book Cover Contest. Yeah, I'm a little competitive.

We Ragnared like Rock Stars!

You know that feeling, when you've been looking forward to something fo SO long, and then it's gone?

Like, the day after Christmas? Or your birthday?

You had SO much fun, but can't help but be a little disappointed that it is over.

Yeah, that's today.

We Ragnared like Rock Stars!

I'm thrilled to be home, safely. I'm thrilled to be hanging with my kids. But this huge thing that I've been looking forward to (and dreading, at the same time) is over.

It is AMAZING that I have narrowed down the pictures to these. In fact, I'll probably post some more down the road, especially once I get some from other's cameras. But, here is a start.

Here are Kendra, Shyla and I before we left. Well, Kendra and I left and Shyla took her daddy home. We had a LOT of stuff!

We drove to Prescott that night (Thursday) and stayed in a hotel. Friday morning, we decorated our van! There were a total of 12 WONDERFUL people on our team, but we were separated into two vans, so most of my pics are just of the 6 people in my van. Again, more pics from the other van hopefully soon!

Anyhow, Van 1 (not my van) started and ran for 6 or so hours. Then, van 2 (mine) met them at an exchange and it was our turn! I was the first runner from our van!

I got off to a rough start. I think I was nervous and not really sure what to expect, so those first 4.2 miles were the roughest of the weekend for me.

Here are Kendra and I after I handed the "baton" to teammate Scott.

Some miles later, Scott handed off to Kendra. This was a MISERABLE leg for her. This is the ONLY picture of her happy, because it is the ONLY picture of her going downhill.

She basically ran up a mountain.

If I had her leg, I probably would have curled up into a ball and started crying. Seriously. It was BAD.

But, luckily, it was Kendra and not me and she powered through like a champ!

After Kendra was Kristin, who then passed it on to Karen. Both of them did awesome, of course!

Jeremy (not my husband, but Jeremy who is married to Tessa who was in Van 1) finished up our first round. I like this picture because of "Mr. Ninja" behind him! ha!

After Jeremy finished, we had a break while Van 1 did their legs again. Then, it was our turn. Again, I started us off, this time with 8 miles. I started at just about midnight. There are no pictures of the night runs because they woudn't have turned out with the reflective vests and headlamps and all. Or, at least, I don't know how to take pics like that.

It was dark. And I ran on the freeway with my headlamp and flashlight and my van of wonderful teammates pulling over every half mile or so to cheer me on and make sure I was ok.

It was crazy hard and crazy fun at the same time.

Sadly, towards the end of Scott's run we were stopped because of an accident up ahead, and diverted a couple of legs down. We don't really know the details, but it sounds like someone was hit by a car. The good news is that it sounds like the person is in stable condition and will be ok. Thank God. The rest of our van couldn't run their second legs and had to wait to the thirds.

So, we got some rest while Van 1 ran their legs, then we were back at it in the morning.

I like this picture of Kristin because I am 95% sure that that is her husband, Scott's hand who is reaching out to give her 5.

Here is Scott handing off to Jeremy, who will now run the LAST leg of Ragnar! As he finished, we all (all 12 of us) ran through the finish line together!

And, Kendra and me with our medal's waiting to eat a well deserved dinner after finishing!

Just some odds and ends:

-At one point we paid $2 to sleep inside an elementary school for an hour or two while we waited to do our nighttime runs. That was one smelly school by the time Ragnar was over, I'm sure.

-There was SO much laughter from our team, and a few tears. I wanted to cry a few times myself.

-Kendra almost got carsick on the way to our first leg. ha!

I definitely can't wait to get and share some of the whole team shots from the weekend!

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR TAKING GREAT CARE OF LILLY AND ZAC!

and...

THANK YOU FRENCH TOAST MAFIA!

Do you like seafood?

See? Food!

Sorry... couldn't help myself!

"Look how big I'm are!"

One of my favorite lines of Lilly's these days...

She's so excited to have moved "up" a classroom at school. She and Aubrey are together now and she is doing just great!

Ragnar time!

Oh boy. It is time. Ragnar.

Have I told you about Ragnar? I think I have. But let me recap:

12 of us are crazy enough to have rented two vans with the goal of running a relay race from Prescott to Phoenix. Over 200 miles.

We'll each run three legs of the race.

It's supposed to rain. A lot. And be cold. Very cold.

And I'm very, VERY, excited.

Why? Maybe I'm a little crazy. But, it's not like anything I've ever done before. And, even if I do a terrible job, I like to push my limits a little.

I'm a little proud of that aspect of myself.

Still, I'm nervous. About the running and the weather, sure. But mostly about how much I'm going to miss these two faces:

So... here I go! Wish us luck!

Oh, and don't worry, I have a few little gems set up to post while I'm gone!

The aftermath.

This was Lilly at about 3pm after her birthday party! She was OUT!

That evening, she opened a couple of last presents. This was from Grandma and Grandpa Yager! I love her face here...

And even moreso here! She was so excited to get a very pretty dress and a bathtime Dora! THANK YOU grandma and grandpa Yager!

FLASHBACK to last year! My babies were still babies then!

(Will I be saying the same thing next year?)

And, a little further... 2 years ago!

I hope I'm taking enough pictures, and enjoying the little moments enough!

ADDITIONAL: I am so lucky to have great friends. Especially great friends who also love pictures and blogs! My great friend Natalie just completed THIS POST (Mom, actually click here on the words "this post"), which you have to check out! For one thing, Lilly is one of the stars of her post. Another thing, she just does a great blog in general, and it's worth checking out. Go ahead. Do it. I'll wait.....

Pretty great, huh?

Lilly's 3rd Birthday Party!

I'm watching Lilly play with her new toys while Zac naps. The house is picked up and quiet. There are leftovers in the fridge.
My little girl has had her 3rd birthday party.

Today was a whirlwind! Last night Jer came home after work sick, and he didn't feel much better this morning. I got up early to make Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones, and luckily the kids slept in a bit so I had a good start on them.

Lilly woke up EXCITED! Here she is waiting for her friends to arrive.
The party would start 2 hours later.

We had decided on a 9:30 am party, so we planed a waffle bar and other breakfasty items. Stevie is the king of the waffles!

And, yep, that's the same "Carlos" shirt he was wearing last night.
Why? Because I asked him to wear it again.

Why? Because it makes me chuckle. Thanks Stevie for humoring me!

The food was ready! We had our complete waffle bar along with sausages, PB&J scones and the ladybug cookies! Yum!

Zac was ready to party. And eat.

Lilly, Aubrey, and Soren eating at her little table. It ended up being a nice enough day to eat and play outside.

Cake time! Isn't she beautiful?

She made a wish and blew out the candle!

The squeal she let out when someone said it was time for presents was likely heard around the world!

So many presents! Our family and friends are so generous!

Lilly was generous with hugs, as was Spencer! This little guy loves a good hug!

Awwwww!

We played one party game - pin the bracelet on the Dora!

Here is a collage of the contestants!







Turns out, everyone won a prize. Except Natalie, I don't think you got a prize! I owe you one!

Wow. She is three. I have a three year old. BABY Lilly is ... 3.

Wow.

Thanks again to all who attended or even sent birthday wishes!

A very special 20th!

As you all know, the 20th of every month is special.
Three of the twelve months are even more special. February, May, and December.

Lilly is officially three years old today.

There are some things about Lilly at age three that I want to remember forever. She is creative and has an imagination. Most days, I have to call her something completely different, like Dora, or baby puppy, or mommy. She has lots of real friends and lots of imaginary friends. She is relatively rational - I can explain things to her and, even if she doesn't like it, she will usually go with it. Unless she's tired, then all bets are off.
She can tell me stories about her day, and listen to mine.
She tells me she loves me, and to have sweet dreams, and to "eat beans" (Kendra used to say that instead of "sweet dreams," whereas Lilly says both.)
She makes jokes and laughs and laughs at them.
She is kind, and loving, and funny, and independent. She is my little girl.

We went to Vail Pride Day today, a big community event in Vail. Then, we came home and napped, then out to dinner at Risky Business.
Me and my kids. Happiness.

3 years old and 14 months old, respectively.

The Forgacs crew, with Shyla coming in at 9 months old. Not sure how old baby Carlos is on Stevie's shirt.

And my folks. Dad thought we looked like tourists taking so many pictures at dinner.

Happy, HAPPY birthday sweet Lilly!

On another note, Ragnar is getting frighteningly close! We had a packing party last night to go over details and get together a lot of our gear. I took a few pics, but some just turned out funky. These two, however, turned out totally blogable.

Andy sitting creepily close to Kristen.

Scott sporting the reflective vest (yep, it works) while Brian nerds it up on the computer.

It is going to be a long, fun, and painful 36ish hours!