41

hi all.

last year i had trained for months and ran 40km on a trail to celebrate turning 40.

(read about it here)

then came home to an amazing birthday party.

this year was a lot different.

this year i turned 41.

since my parents will not see my boy for his birthday next week they came to celebrate both our birthdays.

on the sunday (since my husband would be at work monday) we did the gift thing.

my boy and i opened our gifts.

he got Star Wars Risk and a remote control BB8

I got a pizza stone for the bbq, some books i had been wanting, a cute little dragon from my girl and tickets (to a concert in August) from my hubby.  

my boy's choice for dinner that evening - boston pizza.

on my actual birthday i slept in a little.

took my dad for a walk on our new 1km trail out back.

got a phone call from my mom-in-law.

went to lunch with my parents and kids.

then my parents headed home and the kids and i went to the boardwalk on the trail for some swimming.

HOT day!

lots of fun with them.

My 2nd jump as a 41 year old. 

then we went to the dollarstore for some candy, and i bought myself some Reese PB Cups... 

tried a couple stores to find myself a Jones Soda, but, alas... no Jones for my birthday.

after a few minutes of the kids playing at the park, while i enjoyed my pb cups, we headed home.

we headed across the tracks to let the kidlets do some scootering...

until my boy went into the ditch.

for dinner dan made french toast and i wanted to watch The Princess Bride. 

and my boy remembered to give me my new colouring book Harry Potter Magical Creatures. 

it was my birthday,

i'm now 41.

it didn't feel special...

41 feels no different than 40 did..

or 39 for that matter.

it felt like a normal summer day.

but it was wonderful.

Limberlost Challenge

this year i ran The Limberlost Challenge.

i ran the 14km.

it was fun.

i loved it.

i had to go through a big big big big big big big big big big mud pit.

i got muddy.

i finished my race.

dan ran the end with me.

i passed the finish line, i finished my race.  

i was so happy.

*as dictated by my girl*

*my turn to tell you how it was*

I had originally hoped to be in the top 10 of my age group this year.

but i did not train enough.

i went into this year with not having run more than the 10km i ran at Band on the Run one month before.

i was not prepared but i was planning to run it anyway.

i love the Limberlost Challenge.

my hubby made the decision to run the 56 one week before so we signed up.

(obviously even though i was planning to run it i was hesitant to sign up)

Dan hadn't been feeling the greatest and was planning to take it easy, and not push himself too much.

he was aiming for a 7 hour finish.

i was just wanting to cross the finish line, i didn't care how fast, although i will be honest, i wanted to break 2 hours. knowing that would be crazy hard.

the night before the race happened.

thunderstorms.

rain.

lots of both.

the morning of the race happened.

rain.

we set up for the kids to hang out 

(a friend was coming to hang with them)

and got ready for the race.

a wet morning.

but everyone was excited, and spirits were high.

the 56km race headed out.

dan hung back and didn't rush.

the 28km race headed out.

our friend showed up so i could get ready for my run.

my turn!

off we went.

last year i was determined to be at the front at the beginning so i didn't get caught behind the crowd entering the trail or crossing the first bridge.

but, i forgot that this year - mainly because i wasn't ready for the race.

i love running trails.

i spent a lot of time running with people who had never run it before.

i chatted with many of them.

we ran similar pace for a bit.

i really enjoy the many people on the trail.

so many encouraging people, and i love also encouraging those i pass or who pass me.

i am so thankful for everyone who run the aid stations.

the trail was pretty much one big trail of mud!

hills to slide on, puddles to go through.

mud, mud and more mud!

I think I wore the right shirt for the day

it was beautiful.

and exhausting.

i was running and chatting with a couple in the last 2km.

i felt done.

i hurt.

i was walking a little more often than i wanted to.

when suddenly someone jumped on me.

i now had less than a kilometre and someone jumps on me.

it was Dan!

he was finishing his second lap.

i was going slower than last year.

and he was faster than originally planning to run.

we ran together for the end.

i told him to go on, 

but he wanted to cross my finish line with me.

i was about to walk the last little hill when he took my hand and we ran out of the woods together.

i finished my race with my husband!  

it made me so happy.

I didn't make the top 10 of my age group.

but i am happy with my time, and results.

Results 14km (look up my bib #329)

and off he went to lap 3 of 4.

i will train better next year.

i think.

when dan was on his 4th and final lap we went to see him at the one mud hole.

which was even bigger now.

we saw the first place guy pass.

pretty sure it was him.

but the second place guy didn't pass us.

(we were pretty sure he hadn't already gone by)

and then Dan came.

we were pretty sure he was in second.

he was hurting but doing well.

we headed back to the finish to see him.

He came in 2nd overall.

1st in his age.

he had a great run.

Results 56km (bib #766)

so that's what taking it easy looks like.

haha.

i absolutely love that race.

i am already looking forward to it again next year.

against such things there is no law

good beautiful morning!

the sun is shining, 

summer break is here, 

my kidlets are sleeping 

and i just finished a cup of tea and my Bible time.

i am going to try to get up each morning, when my hubby leaves the house, and start my day with some time in God's Word.

that would mean getting up at my normal school year time, so this should be possible.

it's just wether i'll actually spend it on quiet time with God or whether i'll fill it with a shower or a task that can wait...

one day at a time.

This school year i made it a point to sit with the kids and eat breakfast with them.

other years i have given them breakfast and continued on making lunches or cleaning something, 

but this year i began thinking about the times i sat and had breakfast with my mom and brother before school.  

i wanted those memories for my kids.

so i ignored other things and made sure to sit with them.

sometimes we read Shel Silverstein poems.

I LOVE Shel Silverstein.

sometimes we read a book they had from the library.

sometimes we were just able to get breakfast down and get along.

and, yes, sometimes we watched Good Mythical Morning on YouTube.

i LOVE that show!

but the one thing i tried to do every school morning was to pray with them before they went to get dressed.

most mornings i was able to get some focused Bible time with them while we ate.

this year i decided to focus on a couple specific verses.

Galtaians 5:22-23

but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

We made these to remind us what the different qualities were.

in September we spent the month talking about the whole verse.

as of October i began to focus on a fruit for a month.

a fruit a month took us right to June

we discussed at the beginning of the month what the fruit was, and how could we live it that month.

sometimes we had goals.

sometimes we got rewards.

sometimes it was easy peasy.

sometimes it was crazy, pull your hair out difficult.

over the months i began to really learn about the qualities in these verses.

as i taught the kids i realized i had to also work on them.

there was a lot of prayer!

a lot!

i was praying for strength to live that fruit, and a lot of times it got easier.

sometimes...like the month of gentleness...i had some fails.

i encouraged the kids to remind me of the fruit as i would remind them in times of struggle.

i love that when we teach our kids something we usually learn something new as well.

that was me this school year.

one of the things i noticed this year about the fruits of the spirit:

they build up on each other.

without the previous fruit it's hard to have and show the next one.

especially when you get to the self-control one.

without the previous eight self-control is near impossible.

if my actions are not rooted in love than it's hard to see why i should live the next one, or two.

self-control was our last one as school let out.

it was a difficult month.

we were tired, it was hot, there were class trips, outings, lots of activity on the weekends.

we were exhausted and self-control was our focus.

it was not a perfect month.

we did not have a pinterest type of self-control learning: 

all perfect and tied with a ribbon.

pat-on-the-back for me great parenting.

look how wonderful and self-controlled my family is...

no.

it was a difficult month.

self-control in the tempers, fighting, whining.

HARD!

but the times when we were able to control things were amazing.

again, i repeat, there was a lot of prayer about it.

i had to remind the kids how much they loved each other, and how without remembering kindness or gentleness that self-control was hard.

i am so glad that i spent this year focused on the fruits of the spirit with the kids.

they did say they were sad to be done the list.

and asked what we were doing next.

i have no idea.

but i will continue to work on these fruits, praying for my kids as the summer continues.

may we live our lives in such a way.

we do it because we love God, and are thankful for His son Jesus Christ.

we seek to live these qualities with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

against such things there is no law.