RUNNING IS MY STRAWBERRY WINE.....

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Friday morning I got up to go running as usual. My runs have not been very good lately. I was really starting to get bothered by it. My legs just feel so heavy and I just keep thinking, how much further, but I keep getting up and running anyway. I have been trying to decide why it is so hard and I had just decided I was tired. We average about 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night with only about 2 of those consecutive so it was natural to assume. I was headed out there door on Friday when I saw Karli's Ipod laying on the counter. I grabbed it thinking it would be fun to listen to some different music. I thought I had made a mistake as I was skipping through the horrible rap music and then "Strawberry Wine" came on. What a great song! I started thinking about how simple things were when I was 17 and then I started thinking that Steph is 18. Things seem so complicated at that age but yet now I know that is some of the simplest time. Everything is so exciting and you're discovering who you are and what you want to do. You make crazy mistakes and no one seems to care because you are still a kid but yet you are old enough that you are no longer really answering to anyone. It was all so much fun. I hope Steph knows these are great years. She will experience so many things for the first time and will be so focused on "her". Things are simple, you do for you. Then I started thinking how much I loved that time in my life but how now I am so much happier. Isn't that odd, the time of my life that I remember having so much fun yet I think I am happier now than I ever could have been then. Things are so busy and demanding and there is so much responsibility now, how can this be the happiest time of my life? Raelynn and Cooper! My focus has changed from me to them and it is fantastic. I always talk about the kids and never mention Terry. I just think it is understood how much I love him. He is who made them possible. Anyway, before I knew it I had ran 4 miles and didn't even realize I was running. Finally I had went to that place again. The place you think about nothing but get all your answers to everything. It felt really good. I think there has just been so many things that have been on my mind that I could not just go run without thinking about all that there was to do when I got back and worrying that if I wasn't back by 6am Terry would over sleep and Cooper wouldn't get fed or remembering something I hadn't yet added to my "to do" list. It just never seemed to stop until that song came on. Needless to say, I downloaded on my own Ipod and hope it will take me to "that place" again when I run.

The 4th was a lot of fun. We spent the day celebrating my nieces birthday and then headed to Fort Leavenworth to watch their fireworks display. It is always a wonderful display! We take food and drinks and blankets and just spend the evening eating way too much and relaxing. I know the fireworks display was as good as always but honestly I barely watched them myself. In the years past Raelynn has been terrified of the fireworks. She always tells us it scares her ears. So this year I got ear plugs for her and Cooper. It worked wonderfully. Raelynn lay there just watching them, and talking a million miles a minute about what she saw. She even removed her ear plugs towards the end. I loved watching her. It was so exciting for her and her little eyes just glowed. The only time I took my eyes off her was when I was looking at Cooper. He hay in my arms mesmerized by the awesome lights as well. He eventually faded off to sleep but the two of them were just so beautiful there under the fireworks being so happy and innocent. It was the best fireworks display I had ever been to and I honestly could not tell you about a single firework I saw. Earlier in the evening Raelynn had held sparklers as well. She was so cute! She was a little scared and that just made it more exciting for her. It was truly a wonderful 4th of July!

So today we recovered from a late night. My Mom, Karli and Sherri are over at Sherri's packing things up for her big move. Next weekend will be her official moving weekend. I am very happy for her and she and the girls are very excited. I am sure I will have much more about this next weekend but I am just not ready for all of that yet.


Last Thursday, Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Karli tood Tristen, Dillon, Raelynn and Cooper to the Topeka Zoo. I am sure Bonnie had a temporary lapse in judgement when she decided to do this but according to Raelynn and Karli, they had a great time. I have not yet spoke to Bonnie and can't wait to hear her side of it :) but Karli and Raelynn couldn't stop talking about it. I wish I could have gone with them but am so glad they had a great afternoon!