Chloe after 2 days of ski school...we were very impressed!

The cousins....Whit, Tom B., August, Stella, Clarah
Creighton, Chloe and Counts Elizabeth (missing are Allie and
Stephen Junior)

Benton and Alexis got August a Razorback ski cap for his
birthday and he loved it and pitched the biggest fit EVER
when Whit had it on....gave us all a good laugh after all
his screaming! (Stephen Junior is behind August)

Here's Chloe coming down the green hill in front of the
Red Lady ski lift

On the way there we passed a sign that said to be aware of
horse and buggy's then we saw this one just inside Colorado

Chloe and I on day 3 of skiing going up the Red Lady

On the way there we went through a
very big snow storm after we saw that horse
and buggy, it was scary at first as I don't have
all wheel drive on my car but we made it nonetheless

Let the pictures begin, this is the minute we got in the door
me, Kara, Alexis and Counts Louise all wearing
Birdeye Printing hats, Counts Louise and Stephen changed
their business name from Logoworks to Birdeye Printing
after a New York business named Logoworks made them
change their name.....

Tom B, Whit, Allie, Stella, Clarah Creighton and Counts Elizabeth

This is what walking in ski boots will do to you after Day 1,
here's Chloe needing to take a minute....

Chloe and her ski school buddy Hanna from Holland Hall in Tulsa

Me and Jackie, day 1 and a GIANT shout out to Ashley
King who generously allowed us to use their ski gear
(I wasn't sure we'd ever go again and didn't wanna invest in
a ton of gear so she, Sarah Jane Martin and fellow 6th
grader, Kelly Glover loaned us things to get us by) and
thank you all so much!!  And it's green sharing ski gear too...

Whit told me in car riders last week that he
was going to snow board and that his daddy
told him he didn't need any lessons....
well after 2 days of lessons this joker did
blues with me...I was impressed and then scared
when Benton, Tom B and Martin and I witnessed
Whit do a somersault on his snowboard...it hurt his
back but that joker got up and kept on

Counts Louise, Benton and Alexis on Day 1...we all
skied together while the kids were at school

Stella, Chloe, Tom B and Whit

I rode up with Whit and Tom B on the Red Lady 

Sunday of the trip was Counts Louise and Stephen's 12th
anniversary, yes on St. Patrick's Day so we had a champagne
toast with leftover Cook's Grand Reserve from Huff's baby
shower...it was a nice toast to them.  I actually videoed their
wedding when I was pregnant with Chloe...it was a great
wedding with Lauri Kate Heisler singing, she is so talented

Chloe at her first day of ski school...you can
tell she's not too sure about it...:)

Day 1 of down hill skiing, this is lunch at Utley's Cabin at
Mt. Crested Butte.  It was a delicious lunch and we all cracked
up when our dumb waiter didn't take the time to split our bills
and Alexis and I had the chore of doing the bill...it literally
took us 2 days to get it right.  Good Lord!

Day 2 of ski school with her teacher Fred from Sante Fe, NM
On his report from her first day was that she learned to ski
really well until she and her ski school buddy Hannah bit
it off the Red Lady lift and the chair hit Chloe in the back of
the head while Hannah rolled down the hill...hahahahahaha!

Day 2 skiing, Benton, Martin, Kara and I all did blue trails
while Jackie and Alexis stayed on the greens

It snowed Sunday, was clear Monday and Tuesday then
it snowed again on Wednesday night and Thursday

This is Day 3 of skiing, Chloe and Whit after 2 days of ski
school and did great, I was really impressed by both of them

Here's Whit and Martin and Benton and Tom B. in the
background

A view Thursday from the house we rented and after the 8
inches of snow...

We celebrated August's 3rd Birfday on Wednesday...he's
 the screaming-ist boy ever, and I mean ever.  I think he
screamed non-stop all week

Here we are Wednesday going up the lifts...Chloe and Jackie
finally mastered getting off the lifts without falling :)

Benton and I rented skis the final day in
Crested Butte to ski since we got 8 inches
of snow Wednesday night...it snowed most
of the morning...this is on the Silver Angel
Lift that takes you to the top of Mt. Crested
Butte...it was dark, extremely windy and the
snow felt like sleet on my face

Benton has no fear I don't think
of anything...he's smiling here loving
the weather and final day of skiing while I totally struggled
Thursday, that is because, I think, Jackie and I Cross Country
Skied Sunday about 3 miles then I'd skied Monday, Tuesday
Wednesday and now on Thursday...my legs were like
rubber bands but Benton did great, of course!

This little guy appeared every evening...he acted like a dog,
not scared at all just hanging around for food we thought.
Later Benton found out that if you feed a fox and get caught
you would face a $1,000 fine..boy we were glad no one saw
Martin feed him Alexis' leftover Elk leg Tuesday....

Needless to say, the hot tub was a hit and a great corner to
scream in (thanks August)...here's Chloe, Stella, Allie,
Clarah Creighton and August, Counts Elizabeth's in the back

August had a gun and was pointing it at the little fox....hahaha!

 Friday, March 22, 2013

Day 5 Chloe and Tom B. went on the
Zipline with Jackie and Alexis while Benton
and I tackled skiing in the snow storm

Chloe took this of our cars yesterday morning

We're on our way back from a week (yes, a week, this is only the second time we've been away from home, Birdeye, ever in our lives for more than 7 days) in Crested Butte Colorado.  Alexis and Benton fired up the trip back at New Year's wondering if all of the cousins were old enough to do a Spring Break ski trip.  I learned several things on this trip...1. In doing research for this first time snow skiing insulin pump wearing diabetic, you have to store your glucometer on your body to keep it warm enough to take your blood sugar reading and to ski with peanut M&M's for sugar and protein in the case of a low reading; 2. When you buy your 3 day lift ticket, they give you 4 days to use it so you can give yourself a day of rest...well I didn't figure this out until I was skiing on day 5 straight with Kara's unused lift ticket and skied with rubber bands for legs (Jackie and I took a private lesson for Cross Country Skiing on Sunday and skied at least 3 miles)...give yourself a day of rest people; 3. For those who know me, you know I have suffered from motion sickness since I was a child and I think it sets you up for altitude sickness which I have had during ski trips in high school to Colorado and had a mild case of if along with nose bleeds this past summer.  So I kid you not, Saturday when we arrived I woke up that night with nausea and very rapid pulse, 145 to be exact and had it again after making coffee Sunday morning.  Thankfully, Kara had Diamox on her and I took a half a tablet for a few days and also took some Zofran and made it to our 9 am cross country lesson panting the whole way through.  It finally subsided at the end of our 3-4 mile route but I huffed and puffed the whole way; 4. When sharing a house with 3 other families, make sure you have a room that you can shut off from the loud mouth family members and make dark so you can sleep.  I did pack my own fan to help with the noise but didn't figure out to use the hideaway sofa until night number 2.  Chloe and I shared it and had Jackie on a twin bunk bed with kids.  I don't think any one person slept in the same bed except for Stephen and Chloe and I; 5. Give Jackie some help when backing out of an unfamiliar driveway covered in snow, he backed into a driveway snow drift...we had to leave it till lunch when Martin and he boiled water to break the ice so we could back it out...hahahahaha!; 6. Try not to pack too much food or clothes...I had 5 outfits I didn't even wear and have a cooler in the back of the car with tamales, cheese and crescent rolls in it.  7. Roll with it, everyone has ideas and thoughts on where to eat and all...I rolled with it and I give Jackie the credit for keeping me piped down; 7. Keep your cool: Kara's steering wheel malfunctioned (and this after a many thousand dollar bill of repairs at Volvo) and she called the dealer in Memphis and they said it had to go to the dealership in Colorado Springs 4 hours away, I told her to ask the guys at the parking lot if they know of a local mechanic that might could look at it and a guy said he used to have a Volvo and the steering would jam on it, so after she and I worked with it for 15 minutes, this total stranger did some Volvo Magic and got the thing to crank, we couldn't believe it and didn't want to take the tip money from Kara but she insisted.  WOW, he saved a tow to Colorado Springs!  As you can see, it was a very eventful week with 8 adults and 9 children under 11 years old in one house.  It was fun, memorable and we may consider it again in the future...

2013 Little Rock Half Marathon, Little Rock

Our Half Marathoner Group...Martin and Kara, Stan and Beth,
Me, Ben Meyer, Jackie, Stacy Boeckmann Riley and Ashley King

Before we left for the race,  I got cabbage, lettuce,
broccoli and onions in the garden..I hope they last,
I put a top over them so the chickens
won't get in there and have a snack...they love to eat in the yard

I love Winnie Bob's daffodils, they're coming on strong

Dixie, a great photo of her.....

This is the spinach I planted back in November

Dixie's ear cracks me up...she's so precious

Sunday, March 3, 2013

I had to think on my fingers and count how many times I've run the Little Rock Half and I believe this was the 6th but one of those being the relay in 2011 when I was trying to rehab these 41 year old knees.  Jackie's done 4 more than I have because I've been doing the Midsouth Kids Marathon for the last few years and he's been running it. We had a great turn out for the Little Rock race and everyone had really good times which is great especially since not one person in the photo has really done much training this year (except for Stacy who beat us all on times).  We did hard core training last year and really just winged it this year, which is fine too.

I had my new Dexcom sensor on today, I was a little nervous because I had an insulin pump, the Dexcom and an Ipod all on my waist band and not to mention the sensor bulging out of my belly button area.  But it all worked out and the Dexcom gave me a sense of confidence for 85% of the way.  My blood sugar was up then down then up then down and I just drank at the aid stations, used shot blocks and turned the pump off to make it.  I did mention to Jackie at the end of the race that I still had fuel in the tank and wished that I'd pushed it to shave off 3 minutes off my PB (personal best time), I never really knew my pace along this 10th Half Marathon of mine and he remarked that I should get a Garmin but I'm not sure that I want that mental energy waste, so to speak.  In other words, I'm so jacked up on watching the blood sugar and making sure I've had my advil, eaten the right carbs, hydrated the day before and morning of, that I'm not sure I can handle another thing on the race day list.

I've also added photos from the garden I got into the ground recently and precious Dixie, who's still waiting on a forever home.

Here are the times for us that finished the half today starting with the fastest:

Stacy Boeckmann Riley 1:54, Martino 1:55, Stan Bradshaw 2:00, Ben Meyer 2:11, me 2:16, Jackie 2:19, Beth Bradshaw 2:32, Kara and Ashley King 2:37.  Congrats all you Cross County people!

***Update:  We adopted Dixie out locally, she's with a family with two young boys.  She's so sweet.