The Great Race

Wednesday, Abby, Josh and my best friend Amy ran in The Viking Sunset 5K (for the adults) and kid's race (for Abby). It was amazing to see our daughter who just 6 months ago could not walk running in a race around the Geneva high school track. Just a couple short months ago, Abby was not even able to run. I am SO proud of how hard she has worked to rehabilitate her leg and how far she has come. Yay Abby!

This was the first time Amy ran a 5K so it was really cool to see her make that accomplishment. It's so neat to have a friend that I have known most of my life and get to witness many of each other's milestones. Although Josh has completed a 5K and a triathlon, this was the first time I actually saw him cross the finish line. I was really proud of my husband! I will not understand the joy that they get from running on purpose, but I am proud of them for taking it on.

On to the photos:

Waiting for the kid's lap to start

With her Daddy

Getting to ready to run



Josh and Amy before the 5K




Coming towards the finish line!

More from Abby's birthday

More pictures from Abby's 7th birthday. These are of her opening of her gifts at home on her big day.

Opening the silly drawing I made her that announced she was getting a room re-do for her birthday. That's really all she wanted.



We let her choose the paint color for her room. Not surprisingly she chose a bright pink. We also let her help paint.



When her room is all organized and put back together (we are about 80% done), I'll post some pictures of it.


Abby and Grandma

Me and Abby


Abby and her Daddy




For her birthday dinner we took her to Pizza Villa which is basically a DeKalb landmark. Their pizza is great, they have cute decor and a small game room.





Sample of their cute unique decor:

Blowing out the candles on her brownie cake:

Abby's 7th birthday

Saturday was Abby's 7th birthday! We celebrated with a party for her and her friends from school at Land of Wonder in DeKalb. I highly recommend having your daughter's party there if you are in the area. The rates were reasonable and the director was so nice and professional. The girls got to dress up in princess dresses, have a little bit of makeup put on and/or nails painted and choose dress up shoes and accessories to wear. Then they had a very cute little tea party, danced and played games. There was a little area for opening gifts and Abby got to sit in a special chair while she opened her presents. She had such a good time and she felt so special. Below are the photos from her party.




the birthday girl!








opening her gifts....






Abby and her Aunt Cassandra....

So far 2.3 pounds lost on the low iodine diet. Hopefully I will continue to lose more until the time that I go hypothyroid to minimize my weight gain during the hypo period.

My little mermaid

Despite the cooler weather, we are continuing to spend a lot of time at the pool. I don't necessarily swim every time we go, but Abby does. It's really nice for me to have the quiet time watching her swim or reading a book. I am also working on teaching her to swim or at least dog paddle. She's catching on. At least enough that she can now go on the smaller water slide by herself because she is able to swim to the wall at the end.

When it's warm enough for me to swim, during adult swim I do laps while she sats at the edge of the pool. When it's chilly I read. Today Abby told me she was bringing a book with to read with me during adult swim. I didn't think much of it other than that it was a good idea. When we got to the pool she asked me to hold her little bag which contained her book and I saw her reading choice: "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. She told me she'd already read the first page. LOL, she is a good reader but not ready for that one yet. After the pool we went to Borders and she got to buy her first chapter book so she has something umm...appropriate to read. I'm so glad that both of my children share my love of reading.

Some pictures of Abby in the pool:

In case you are wondering why the photos are only of Abby it is for 2 reasons.

1. Evan is old enough to realize it's too chilly to swim. Whereas Abby is just happy to go to the pool still.

2. Evan is 14 and suddenly hates being photographed.

LID (an acronym for the dreaded Low Iodine Diet)

Today is the first day of the Low Iodine Diet that I need to be on in order to make my cells hungry for iodine. And why would they want to be hungry for iodine, you ask? Because on August 5th a nuclear medicine tech will take me into a little room and give me small dose of a radioactive isotope. And this will be taken up by any thyroid cells floating around my body. This will be my 5th scan of this type. It's always a guaranteed week of fun with all the hospital visits, butt shots (thyrogen), radiation, waiting and the not being able to calm my feelings of panic with some therapeutic chocolate.

It's early in the day, but I already feel sad about the LID. Breakfast today was a banana. I love bananas. I love them in banana splits. I love them in banana bread. I really love them in milkshakes. But this banana was plain and quite unaccompanied by my usual morning chocolate coffee complete with milk and sugar. You see I could still have the coffee, but without the milk. Yuck.

Happily this morning I stumbled across the DearThyroid blog where thyroid patients send in their "thyrants" or little notes to their thyroid. It definitely made me chuckle on an otherwise difficult morning. I have a message for my thyroid today and it's simple....

Dear Thyroid,

I hate you.

-Megan

Hair

I got sick of my fading tri-colored dye job and decided to take matters into my own hands. After all, who can afford a salon dye job these days?
Please excuse my craptastic webcam pics. It was easier than using our camera.

Here's the before (no make-up...gah)





And the after with chocolate cherry by Wella on my hair:

Friday Five: 5 Fun Things We've Done This Summer

It's hard to believe that summer is about halfway over. In just over a month the kids and I will be heading back to school.

5 Fun Things We've Done So Far This Summer:

1. Swim. This summer was the first that we bought pool passes. The weather hasn't cooperated a lot, but we have made the best of it. It's been a lot of fun spending so much time at the pool.

2. Going to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate Abby's leg being all healed. There's nothing as fun on a hot day as being inside playing skee-ball.

3. Hanging out at the park. Our library had a fun party at the park a couple weeks ago and we took Abby. She had so much fun bouncing in the bouncy thing and it was exciting for us to see her do something that only a few months ago would have been impossible for her.

4. Riding on a paddlewheel boat.

5. Spending time with our wonderful friends.

Skeeball is serious business...

We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese last week to celebrate the end of Abby's days of dealing with her broken leg. No more orthopedic doctor and no more physical therapy. I love the way she plays skeeball. She needs a running start. Look at this short video clip. Very silly.

Love & Marriage

If you are a wife or a husband, then you should really this post over at Mom-O-Matic. It will make you want to awwww and maybe a little more....

Life Lessons

My good friend Jeri sent me this list in an email today. I like this a lot. It's one of those things that you should probably print out and put on your fridge or cubicle or wherever to remind you that life is good and worth treasuring.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."