Summer Races

This summer I plan to run the Freedom 5K Run on the 4th of July as well as the Brew 2 Shoe 10K in August.  I am hoping this will keep me motivated over the summer months and in decent shape when I start training for my 6th half marathon that is this coming October in Kansas City.  

Chad has a HUGE race coming up June 9th where he will compete in his first ever Half Ironman!!!  He will be swimming, biking and running a combined total of 70.3 miles......AMAZING!!!

I will be excited to cheer him on for this event.  He has been training hard and we know he will do awesome.  I can't even begin to imagine taking this task on so I will be sure to post lots of pictures from the event at Lake Clinton one week from Sunday.

 I wanted to add these pictures to my blog as I had forgotten to post a few of the other good shots that I got (after a lot of thwarted attempts) of the boys at KSU Garden's early this month.

Summer Vacation 2012

We have just returned from a vacation to Minneapolis, MN to see my sister, brother-in-law and our nephew Daniel.  They were such wonderful hosts and we had a great time!  Here are some highlights from our trip.

Going for a walk on the trails near Amy and Doug's house after we finally arrived!

At Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America

Waiting to enter the Minnesota Aquarium at the Mall of America

At Elm Creek Park...what an awesome playground!

Two days of lots of fun activities and no nap turned into this at the park....

Water Park of America!

We had so much fun and this trip was a great way to start our summer!  The boys did a great job with the 8+ hour car ride home today.  I haven't ran for over a week, so after an entire day in the car and a weekend of bad for me foods, Mitchell and I went for a short bike/run this evening to stretch our legs.  While we were running by Anthony Middle School, we talked about how old Mitchell would be when he went to school there and he did the math quickly to figure out how many years that would be from now.  Then he said "I wish you were working there next year mommy."  When I asked him why he said "so I could see you every day when I go there."  This made me smile and I told him I hoped he still felt like seeing me that much seven years from now.  He didn't skip a beat and said "of course I will!"  And then he quickly moved on to wondering when Star Wars the Clone Wars would return with new episodes again. 

We had a great vacation and we have two wonderful little boys! :)

First and Last of 1st Grade

Today was Mitchell's last day of 1st Grade.  And wow what a year it has been!

1st day of 1st Grade

Last day of 1st Grade!!!





We are so proud of Mitchell.  With the help of his wonderful 1st grade teacher and the staff at his elementary school, he has had an amazing year!  He loves to read, catches on and performs very well at math....and is just excited to learn new things.  I know I had many concerns about how his school would be affected by his craniofacial surgery this past fall...not to mention the impact it could have on him emotionally/socially.  Mitchell has continue to blow us away with his ability to overcome and succeed.  We are truly blessed with his health, healing and growth into a pretty wonderful 2nd
grader. :)

But before 2nd grade begins...it is time for summer!  Bring on coach-pitch baseball, basketball camp, art class and swim lessons!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Collin!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Collin Riley Bunger!!  You make every day an adventure, and I wish my memory could hold all the silly, sweet, funny comments and things you do to bring joy to our lives.  4 years ago was a rollercoaster ride we didn't expect with you, but since then you have shown us all the strength, will and determination you possessed from the day you were born.  I can only imagine the great things life has in store for you.  We love you more than any words in this blog can express!!

Snakes on a Cake

Please try not to confuse the title of my blog with the 2006 stand out movie "Snakes on a Plane." :)

We celebrated Collin's birthday a few days early this weekend with Chad's family and had a great time!

 Collin was very excited about his cake!  He had been asking for a cake with snakes on it for his 4th birthday for about a month and had been pretty consistent with this wish for his birthday cake.  When he realized they were toy snakes that he could have after he blew out the candles.... he was in heaven!  Boys.

 Grandma Bunger, our nephew Wyatt and Mitchell.  We had a fun filled Saturday together in Manhattan!

 Collin gets a birthday kiss from Wyatt

The next two pictures are from our afternoon outing to the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan.  Before supper the boys got to go back to the hotel pool and swim...it was certainly a great way to celebrate Collin's 4th birthday!

 What a great weekend full of fun and birthday celebrations!  With his actual birthday on Tuesday and a trip to "Cousin Daniel's House" on Friday....he is full of anticipation!

Both boys got an additional surprise gift this weekend....sleeping bags!  They are both looking forward to using them on our vacation to Minneapolis, MN next weekend and also when we go camping in Nebraska the weekend of our anniversary.  Mitchell even slept on the floor in his last night, while Collin slept in his sleeping bag on his bed.  I'm not sure anything could make sleeping on the floor (or the ground) that much fun for me to do it, but they both look pretty darn cute curled up in them. :)

So Long, Farewell

After 7 years at Junction City Middle School, it is almost time to say good-bye.

It was a hard decision to leave. I have truly enjoyed my job as a middle school counselor at JCMS and have met some wonderful people as well as made many lasting friendships along the way. While my heart is heavy to leave this amazing building of students and staff, I am also excited for the new opportunities that await me for the 2012-2013 school year!

Starting this August, I will be the middle school counselor at Eisenhower Middle School in Manhattan!  I am nervous to start over again, but at the same time I was very impressed with the staff at Eisenhower and I am looking forward to working with the students and staff at EMS.  The boys are also excited for me to be working closer to home as I have heard from many of the teachers at Mitchell's elementary school that he has told them all about my new job. :)

Even though my time at JCMS is almost over, I know the friendships I have made will remain after I am gone.  I am grateful for all I have learned during my years in Junction City and hope that I can apply these skills to make a positive impact on the students and staff at Eisenhower starting next fall.

My Brother Likes Me

Mitchell and Collin are 3 years and 9 months apart in age.  And for the most part, these two get along pretty well (although they do have their moments.)

Monday after my commute home from JC I picked up Mitchell first as usual and we headed to Collin's preschool.  Mitchell always asks if we HAVE to pick up Collin and usually makes a little frowny face when 9 times out of 10 the answer is yes.  Today's reaction was no different and he trudged along with me into Collin's preschool class after we drove across town to pick him up.

Collin was playing a very cool number and alphabet game on Ms. Leah's Ipad when we arrived and was thrilled to show us how the game worked and how well he knew his letters and numbers.  Ms. Leah also let Mitchell try the game and while Collin was so excited to answer all the questions, he politely and excitedly asked Mitchell if he could answer the questions.  Mitchell, being the great big brother that he is, let him and Collin sweetly responded to Ms. Leah "my brother likes me."  It made both of us smile, they are both such great boys and they really do love each other very much. 

This moment is also something I can remember the next time a spirited foam sword fight takes a turn for the worse in the middle of the living room.

Mother's Day 2012

What a wonderful Mother's Day it has been! 

 After celebrating Chad's 35th birthday last night with the Ingram's by going out for supper and to the KSU Baseball Game together, I was treated to something I still secretly love to do if I can get the chance this morning....sleep in!  Chad made a  wonderful Mother's breakfast of blueberry pancakes and then I went on a 4 mile run using my new Timex Marathon GPS Watch.

 And an even better treat for the weekend....the deck is finally finished!!!  New deck furniture and some great new planters filled with flowers we got this weekend and all of Chad's hard work has paid off.  It looks awesome!

I told the boys on the way to supper this evening that this was the best Mother's Day yet.  I am truly blessed!

Happy Birthday to my husband...you're officially a speed limit!

Wishing my amazing husband and fantastic father to our two boys a very wonderful 35th birthday!

Collin has argued with me this morning that the above picture couldn't be daddy because "Daddy's can't be babies."  Happy Birthday to my handsome, older husband who just keeps getting better with age.  We love you very much!

Outtakes

It would seem I didn't learn my lesson from last year's trip to the KSU Gardens to get some shots of Collin for his upcoming birthday!

So I just had to include some of the outtakes from Sunday's morning outing.  As you can see, it could have started out better.....

 Are we done yet Momma???

Okay, you can run to the fountain, just don't get wet yet please!

He got wet.

 So we took a break so our shirt could dry off and I practiced some deep breathing.  The next three shots below are playing peek a boo around the corner trying to get some shots of him both smiling AND looking at the camera.  I'm pretty sure you can see the exact phrase of peek-a-boo in each picture!

PEEK

A

BOO

Mitchell took a picture of Mommy giving Collin a pep talk and perhaps even resorting to bribery.

I did finally get some really good shots of the boys that I will share on a later post.  Sometimes, I think these outtake pictures are as precious (although not so precious for me at the time) as the pictures more suitable for framing. :)

Running On

It took a week, but I finally got back into my running shoes this afternoon.  My left foot is still bothering me (we meet again, plantar fasciitis) but I was still able to run a little over 3.5 miles.  It was humid, which seems to be a common thread to most of my recent posts about running, but I was able to maintain an easy 9:38 pace and finished the route around our the surrounding neighborhoods in just under 33:40.

 Saturday I took Mitchell to Jr. Wildcat Fantasy Day and he did some running of his own on the KSU Football practice field. 

Now that OKC is in the rearview mirror it is time to look ahead!  This summer I hope to run a couple of 10K's before starting to train for my 6th Half Marathon in October. 

Teachable Moments

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

- Lance Armstrong

Sunday night I listened to Chad have a great conversation with the boys after we got home from Oklahoma City.  We were both exhausted, sore and had talked a lot on the way home about the weekend and the race.  Oklahoma City is a great place to visit if you have never been and we really enjoyed our time together...just the two of us.  However, after all the hard work and training we did,  the results of our run was a bitter pill for both of us to swallow.  We were home just in time to read books and have a little time with Mitchell and Collin before bed and this is when Chad had his talk with them.

He talked with them about how he thought of them during his race today (Sunday) and how he really wanted to quit because it was hard, he wasn't doing well and was struggling a great deal.  But then he told them he thought of them and how he couldn't imagine telling them that he had quit.  And that in life there would be things that would be hard and may not go their way even after they had put a lot of work into it.  But it is important to finish something once you have made a committment to it.

It was a great moment and so true!