Work and Rewards

It took over a year, but the plan to rid our property of the cedar trees 3/4 of our family is allergic to has taken place!

We had plans do have this done days before Chad's cardiac event last summer.  Needless to say those plans fell away quickly and we were finally able to get this done last week.

Chad worked on cutting up these 5 giant trees during the week and then Saturday the boys and I helped out loading and hauling away.  The boys (and my dad for the last load and use of his chainsaw) were a HUGE help!  Chad had promised if they worked hard all morning they would be rewarded....and you can see they liked the results of what hard work can do. :)

 And the work went fast enough that we were done just in time to attend the KSU Spring Game Saturday afternoon in the warm but windy weather.  I think I'll use this picture above to show the boys they really do like each other on those days when hugs are not given out so freely?

Just an Ordinary Tuesday

Just an ordinary Tuesday night at the Bunger's.

Collin "lost" tooth #2! And just like the first, in shark-like style, his adult tooth was already up behind his baby tooth that had been very wiggly for several days. He was sure it wasn't ready to come out. Just ask him, it clearly was not! I asked if I could wiggle it , grabbed on, he flinched...and we found out he was wrong. ;)

We also discovered we have the feline version of one of the Avengers living in our house this evening. 

Something spooked Leo tonight so badly that he took off on a sprint, ran THROUGH the screen door (taking it off by the hinges). Then Leo (aka Bruce Banner) jumped off the deck and proceeded to run headed long into the fence. Not once, but twice. As my sister said about him and this episode...HULK SMASH!!!! We still have no clue what spooked him so much. But our brand new screen door that was less than 48 hours old has bit the dust....

Just another ordinary Tuesday at the Bunger's.....

Rest and Resurrection Rolls

Finally gorgeous weather AND a weekend at home! The boys and I spent most of the morning outside while Chad volunteered at our church to clean up after several trees were cut down.

We had our first patio lunch of the season with nothing but the finest chicken nuggets and corn dogs.

And when the boys asked for their technology time, we even did this outside. They called this their secret Mindcraft hide out and Leo was their mascot.

And I relaxed and read in the warm sun....

Then we remembered our church was having an Easter party this afternoon, which was a good distraction as the boys and their good natured getting along seemed to have crashed dramatically just before this realization!

Easter crafts and my favorite.... Making resurrection rolls!

We talked about these and the meaning behind them the whole way home!

And of course you can't have an Easter party withou an egg hunt! 

What a great Saturday! And Chad finally got in on the relaxing with his new hammock.

Race Bling

It seems the extravagance of finisher medals has increased significantly since my first half marathon in 2010.

As seen in above comparison shot between my first 1/2 marathon finisher medal from the Lincoln Half in 2010 to last week's Rock the Parkway Race!

Leo has now been with us for almost one year. I could probably stop the kitten chronicles I started blogging when he first joined the family....

But he still acts like a kitten...even though he now looks more like a lion he is so big. The boys are ready to be outdoors more often with the warmer temperatures and as you can see in the background of this picture, so is our "indoor only" Leo.

8 is Great?

Saturday I accomplished my main goal and completed my 8th Half Marathon.

It was very warm Saturday in KC and humidity started high even before the 7:30 a.m. start time.

We spent the weekend with Meghan and Kevin and had a great time! This was Meghan's first half marathon and she did awesome! Kevin ran his second half and PR'd by 10 minutes!

I also met up with and ran with another friend, and former EMS Eagle, Amy. Without Amy, I'm not sure I would have finished this race.

I wish I could say this was a great run for me, but it was not. It was warm. It was windy. It was humid. And I was slow. And around mile 7 the wheels really fell off for me. I walked up the next hill. The rest of the race was basically a huge struggle for me. Amy was so great! She stuck with me and encouraged me...even though I was NO fun to run with, I know!

This was my second slowest half marathon finishing at 2:18. But I did it and half marathon #8, while not so great, is in the books.

About to Rock

Less than 12 hours until Rock the Parkway begins!

Are we ready???? Mixed reviews in general from the group. Will we rock it....I say, yes!

We have carbo loaded, we have drove the course, the bibs and timing chips are in place. It's almost go time....my 8th Half Marathon is almost here.

Baseball and Back Issues

Sunday we spent the afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium watching the final game against KU this weekend.

It was a great day for baseball and we got great seats along with meal vouchers. Perfect for one of Collin's favorite parts of going to the game...snacking!

Mitchell taking in the action of the game.

And the ice cream bowl KSU plastic baseball caps made for great entertainment after the treat was long gone!

Even though I have been down most of the weekend with unexpected back issues that have kept me from running the past few days, I am hopeful that rest and a few more visits to the chiropractor will have me ready for the half marathon next Saturday.

But this kind of family fun was a great distraction from not being able to get my scheduled run in this afternoon. :)