Hot Yoga!?!?!?

I have never been one who really got into yoga, let alone HOT yoga.  I really don't like to sweat, unless I'm running or REALLY working out.  I don't think it's possible to get a good workout "stretching".  I even tried hot yoga with some girlfriends, but didn't really get into it.  Then Jake got into it about 6 months ago.  He even got Andrew hooked on it.  So, when the kids started school I was able to try an express class level one.  I didn't hate it.  I actually liked the ache I felt in places but not unable to walk, like I would hurt when working out with weights.

That's why I went to a level one 75 minute class today.  It was really a good class.  Katarina was the teacher and the soon-to-be owner of the studio.  If her new schedule works with my crazy calendar, I could see myself going a few times a week instead of working out at the gym.  Who knows?  Maybe in a few months I'll become more flexible.

I'm BACK!!!

I'm not even sure if anyone will be checking this anymore...but I feel a need to start blogging again.

I just turned 39.  The last year before "40".  A lot of people I hear dread turning 40.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  Not the fact that I'm getting older.  Falling apart.  Missing my youth.  But that I have lived almost 40 amazing years (so far) on this planet and LOVED every minute of it.  With that being true, why wouldn't I look forward to more?

My son just turned 10, "double digits", and is growing into this amazing, caring, smart, young man.  My daughter is 7 and attended her FIRST concert with me this week.  KATY PERRY!!!  I see her energy and joy and passion for life and it becomes contagious to anyone around her.  My husband tells me, shows me and instills in me more love daily than when we got married.

This might be MY LAST YEAR before 40, but I'm hoping it is just as rewarding as the last 39 years have been and my next 40 will be.

A glimpse in my Saturday

I realized the other day I haven't been blogging as much as I wanted to, so I thought I'd just give a quick update and sample of a Saturday in the life of me.

Yesterday was a busy day.  Jake would tell you they are ALL busy.  But this time I managed to capture it in photos.

Our morning started with Jake planning to take our new puppy, Yawkey to the vet.  So that means he had to take my car and leave me with his mini coop (which is a stick).  I took the kids to Exploration Place where we met our friends the Pates.  Their daughter, Holly has type 1 diabetes.  We were a part of her team walking 2 miles to raise money for a cure.  The kids did a good job walking the 2 miles, except for the complaining the last half mile. :)

Our Holly's Hooligans

We finished the walk at 11:00 and drove through Wendy's to get a quick lunch and headed to the North YMCA.  Allison had a 12:00 soccer game and Owen had one at 1:00.  We made there with just enough time to eat our food, get geared up and get to the fields.  We look so ready for soccer!

My soccer studs.

Allison made her first soccer goal!

Going for my "mom of the year" award, I just remembered that Allison was having her team pictures after the game.  YEP!  That's my baby in her team pic with a giant green butterfly on her face!!!

The Baby Jays

Jake met us at the games, I went to volunteer at church at 3:00 then went home to get ready for my date night.  We went to dinner with the Carpenters and then to see the Zac Brown Band.  It was a long, but really FUN night.

Shawn, Jake, me and Erin waiting for the show to start.

Diva Dash 2013

It was a cold and rainy morning.  That's how some horror stories start, but this is describing one of my favorite days.  Today was the Diva Dash 5K and Lil Princess Fun Run.  So, I signed Allison, Jen and myself up for it.  When my alarm went off this morning and I heard the rain, I instantly decided to SKIP the run.  I woke up and went to inform Allison of this new turn of events.  Her response was all it took for me to quickly change my mind.  She was crying big crocodile tears.  Her breathing was heavy and all she could get out was, "But MOMMY!  I.  WANT.  TO.  RUN."  Next thing I know, I'm lacing up my shoes and pinning her bib on her shirt.

The weather was less than ideal, but the company was more than adequate.  She inspires me to persevere.  Even when I think it doesn't matter.

This was Allison's FIRST run.  She was so determined to do it.  My 5K started at 8:30.  Allison hung out with some friends, in the freezing rain waiting.  I ran my run in less than 29 minutes!  I wanted to make sure she wasn't changing her mind.  She hugged me when I finished and I asked her if she wanted to go home.  Even though her teeth were chattering, she shook her head.  We waited another 30 minutes in the wind and rain.  Then it was her moment.  They lined the girls up by ages.  Allison was running with about 15 other 6 year olds.  Their distance was 250 yards.  She asked me to run with her, but I was the only mom out there.  So when the horn blew, I told her to go and I'd follow.  The pack of girls ran solid.  Allison ran the WHOLE way!  As soon as I caught up with her, I hugged her.  Told her how proud I was of her.  We walked to get her medal and headed for the car.  After we got in she started to cry and say, "Mommy, I was the last girl to cross the finish line!"  I turned and looked at her and said, "Sweetie, I am so proud of you.  It didn't matter when you crossed that line.  It matters that you finished and did your best."  She's already planning her next run.  She might be little like me.  :)

Allison and me, before

Allison waiting in the rain. 

This was Jen's second 5K!!! 

Our swag from today.

Kiss The Cook

It's so cold outside, I'm "forced" to cook dinner at home.  :)

So I am excited for dinner tonight!  I made Portuguese Chicken Soup.  I'm not a GREAT cook, but I'm determined.  It was so much fun.  It smells AMAZING!!!  Here is me documenting the event.

Prep Area

Saute onions, celery and garlic 

Add the rest of the ingredients 

Bring to a boil

Now, I heat up the rolls to serve with it and enjoy the rewards of my hard work.  :)

Zombie Apocalyptic 5K

ZOMBIES!!!!!

That's right!  They were everywhere!!!

OK, so maybe it was just makeup.  But it WAS a lot of FUN!  I signed up for the Zombie 5K over 4 months ago.  It sounded like a great idea...4 months ago.  4 days ago, I was having second thoughts.  This race was sending us descriptions of some of the obstacles I would encounter.  Here is one.

THE BARN:  I would enter a dark barn filled with many hay bales.  I would have to climb over said hay bales to reach the exit using only the light from some strobes in the ceiling.  Did I mention there would be ZOMBIES in there too????

The idea of the run is you get a belt with 3 flags attached.  You run the 3.1 miles and go through several (13 we think) obstacles.  The whole time you are being "hunted" by the zombies.  Their mission is to take our "lives" (the 3 flags).  We are still to cross the finish with no flags, we just won't qualify for any prizes.

I will be COMPLETELY honest.  The first 15 minutes were the HARDEST 15 minutes I have EVER ran.  And I lost all 3 of my flags in that time frame.  The silver lining, after my last flag was gone, the zombies stopped chasing me and just scared me now and then.  I did make it through the first 5 challenges without losing all of them.  But the BARN was hard!  Here are some of the pics I took.

Julie and I, pre race

Julie was making friends. 

 My bib number.

Zombie Survival 101

A cute sign 

Gina, myself and Julie

(notice our flags are there) 

Not planning on becoming a meal. 

 Zombies in the first field we had to run through.

The BARN 

Best Pic EVER 

 An ACTUAL wedding party.

They really had a wedding here.

My girls and NO FLAGS!

We are the "undead".

Change...

I am loving the CHANGE in the weather.  I pulled out my sweaters and boots!  Running outside is actually enjoyable, again.  It starts to get me into the BIG holiday season ahead of us.

My kids are growing like weeds and seem to CHANGE daily.  I always remind myself to make a mental note of those cute moments.  Save those pictures drawn on a whim.  Make those ten minutes to just cuddle.

But there is another CHANGE that is taking place in our lives.  Most of you know, we are moving.  But it is starting to seem more real as I type it.  My wonderful husband is going to be going "back" to Boston to get 3 months of cardiac training and 1 month of ICU at Boston Children's Hospital.  He leaves at the end of December.  Once this training is complete, he will then move to Nashville, TN.  He has accepted an offer to be a pediatric/cardiac anesthesiologist at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  So the kids and I will stay here in Kansas until the end of the school year.  We hope to sell our house and move into a new house in Brentwood, TN the first part of June.

With all of this CHANGE, I am always reminded of a quote I read.
"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar."  So with all this CHANGE, I'm praying for courage.

San Diego

The view from our room. 

Last week, Jake and I had a get-away to San Diego.  He was there for a conference, but that didn't stop us from having some fun.  We met a few of our friends there (Georges, Smiths and Petrie).

The first night we decided to take in a Padre's game.  It was fun to catch up with our friends and watch a close game too.  We even ended up on the JUMBO TRON!!!!

Petrie, Smith and Jake

The next day we decided to hit Mission Beach and go for a bike ride.  Everyone had their own bike, except for Jake and I.  We decided it would be "fun" to ride a tandem bike.  I will say this, the back seat is NOT the place for a control freak.  Jake was in charge of steering, braking and changing the gears.  And he would do this without warnings!  We lovingly refer to this as "marriage counseling".

Jake and me

Glow Run Wichita-2012

Last night was the Glow Run 5K, here in Wichita.  I made a team up of the most amazing women.  They ranged from novice to expert in fitness and they ALL had a BLAST!!!  Here are just a few of the pics from it.

My car load of eager runners. 

Jen and Tayrn, this was their FIRST 5K. 

Most of the runners from RHSC. 

Jolyn and I, our post-run photo!

Color Run Fun 2012

For those of you who like to get exercise and get a little dirty (not mud this time), you should look for a Color Run close to you.  It was FUN!!!  I wasn't able to run it (see previous post) but I speed walked the whole thing!  In fact, about 80% of the people walked it.  I was PASSING lots of people.  Talk about an ego booster!!!  This fun run was in KC, which means a "girls trip".  The trip was "memorable".  Here are some of the pics from the run.

Angela and Jill.

Me and Angela. 

Snorkel Crew-Me, Lea, Kris and Amanda 

Look at all the white shirts!!!! 

This is where the finish party is. 

Pre-run picture. 

 FINALLY!  The start line.  I was in wave 11.

The finish line. 

This "would have been" an awesome pic.  But some dude photo-bombed it with his hand!!!! 

Post-run picture. 

Me, Angela and Jill

Kidney

I'm not a radiologist, but just by looking at this picture and seeing what is measured, I would guess...that isn't normal!  Unfortunately, it is a pic of my abdomen. In the last 2 weeks, I've seen a general surgeon, radiologist, 2 urologists, 2 different admissions teams and a pre-op clinic.  I've had a sonogram, 2 different CT scans, chest X-ray, EKG and several tubes of blood drawn.

Apparently, there is a small funnel that leads from the kidney into the ureter to the bladder.  Mine has an obstruction.  They call this a UPJO.  It is blocked, for some unknown reason, and fluid is backing up causing it to swell.  This swelling is causing fluid on my right kidney.  They call this hydronephrosis stage 4+.  At one of my CT scans they said the kidney still looked healthy.  So that brings us up to today.

At 10:30, I will be checking into Wesley Hospital to have surgery.  I will be having robotic laproscopic pyloplasty to remove the section of the area that is having problems.  I may have to stay at the hospital 1-2 nights, but then I'll be home.  If you get a moment, think of me and hope everything will go well.

What I've learned being a mommy...(so far)

Mommy and Allie on go-karts. 

Mommy and Owen on go-karts.

Today wasn't Mother's Day, but it may as well have been.  After school the kids, Jake and I went to All Star Sports.  Last time we went there it was less than stellar.  This time, we drove the go-karts and played mini-golf.  We had a blast!  In fact, this evening I decided to blog about SOME of the things I've learned being a mommy.

1. Not all girls like to go do dance class, but ALL girls love to dance to the music.
2. Not all boys like to play the competitive sports, but ALL boys like to be the hero in the game.
3. All animals are cute, until you are face-to-face with them.
4. Sometimes friendships are built on the proximity they are to you.
5. Time-outs are good... for EVERYONE!!!
6. You have the time, for the things that you make the time for.
7. The smallest things really do mean the most.

Girls play SOCCER!

Allison and Coach

Yep! Spring soccer season has started at the YMCA. But this time, it's Allison's turn to show her skills. She's been waiting for this for over 2 years!!! And to make her even happier, Mommy is her Coach. Yeah, you read that right. I agreed to coach her Pre-K soccer team. I don't really know much about the game, so I should fit in real well with my players. My team is made up of Allie and 5 other kids we just met (one girl and 4 boys). The parents are good, the kids are excited and we actually made a few goals during our first game. (Notice I didn't say WIN. They don't keep score in Pre-K. There isn't even a goalie. But we did score a few.) I'm sure this season will be a learning experience for ALL involved.

Time to Breathe.

This is how I feel today. It is Friday. I made it through a BUSY week. We are leaving tomorrow morning for our Spring Break, to Boston!!! I've been so crazy, I HAVEN'T EVEN PACKED YET!!! For those of you who know me, know that this is TOTALLY out of character. But instead of taking the next 30 free minutes to do that, I will catch the world up on the Arnetts from the week.

Remodeling-Master Shower

We built our house in 2007. It's our "dream house". We love EVERYTHING about this home... except the master shower. My husband has never been completely satisfies with the shaky door and the stark white plastic pan. I didn't like the fact that water was slowly leaking out and rotting the base board and making the tile yucky! So we decided to hire a contractor and remodel. We've been VERY lucky! The guy is amazing. His workers are punctual and very motivated to get the job done quickly and right the first time. So on Monday morning my adventure began with the delivery of the new shower pan. It's not done, but I thought I would share photos of the phases that have been done this week.

Before (UGLY)

Phase 1-demo, done!

Phase 2-new pan install, done!

Phase 3-water proof the new wall, done!

Phase 4-set the new tile, done!

They still need to come back and grout and then the new shower door will be installed. So those pics will have to happen after we return from our trip.