Exciting Times

Today, I competed in my 1st Ironman triathlon. Actually, I should say that I was part of a relay team that competed in the 70.3 Ironman Triathlon, held in Branson, Mo. There was about 1500 athletes registered for this triathlon. I took the first leg, a 1.2 mile swim in Table Rock Lake and had a blast doing it. I will say that I was very nervous about the swim given I haven't swam this length in 10 years and it was in a pool!

One of my teammates had a 56 mile bike ride through the hills of Branson (and for those of you that have been here you know how "hilly" this area really is)! My other teammate had a 13.1 mile run around the Branson Landing (no shade along the route and in the heat of the early afternoon)! Needless to say, I think I got the best end of the deal. I was amazed and in awe of the people that did the entire event by themselves. Such athleticism!

Here are a few pics from the amazing day!

We met at the swim site at 6am!

It was twilight when I first got in the water to warm up.



So many people!

A Happy Moment!

Many of you may have known that J's mom and dad spent 21 years as missionaries to Honduras. This year they retired as full-time missionaries and returned to the States. We are so happy to have them in the area and are so excited to see what God has in store for them here. Above is a pic of the new home owners and their humble little abode the day they moved in.

What are you teaching me God?

Every parent has had THOSE days! One in which, nothing seems to work out as it has planned. One where the frustrations of parenting hang around our head and bear down on our shoulders. Today was one of THOSE days (or at least mornings)! The inevitable toddler-tantrum phase is upon us here. Don't get me wrong, Little Man is a joy to be around and I love being his mom. But there are those few times in between all the happiness and fun that make me want to really question WHY God allowed me to be a mom.

As I thought long and hard about this after Little Man went down for his nap, I remembered how blessed I am to have such an amazing child to love, teach and guide in this life. These "small" trials in parenting will one day be just that- small trials.

Another correlation I had was how similar our relationship with our children mimics the relationship between us and our Heavenly Father. I wonder how many times He has tried to direct me down the best path and I have been the one kicking and screaming? We see something that we WANT, unaware that God has something enormously better for us if we choose His path. Unfortunately, I have (I'm sure many times) resisted as a child does, the path that God has wanted for me. Thank Him for His grace! This is one of the amazing ways that I can see God from a different perspective. I am truly blessed by that!

Creativity and a Sewing Machine!

Ok. So short post for now. But I had to share this blog I came across today. Thought that the girl has some pretty creative ideas and great skill. You will have take a look for yourself.

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

Homemade Laundry Detergent

 

Ok. So many of you are probably wondering if I have lost it. Well, technically speaking, NO! I was first introduced to the idea of making my own laundry detergent by a good friend who was sharing with me some of the ways she saves money. I was immediately interested and began researching the idea. I found several different recipes for both liquid and powder detergents and decided to try one out.

 

My costs for ingredients were as follows:

• Washing Soda - $2.85 (55 oz)
• Borax - $2.98 (76 oz)
• Ivory Bar Soap - $1.07 (three bars)

 

I made a small portion to begin with to see if I really liked the recipe. Here it is.

 

• 2 cups soap (finely grated) - (about 1 1/2 bars)
• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda

 

Mix all ingredients well and store in an air tight container. Use 2 Tbl. per load (that's it!)

 

Using this recipe it costs me a little less than 4 cents a load to wash my laundry. Can you say "WOW"!

Looking at laundry detergent online (Arm and Hammer) it costs 28-30 cents per load. So I can safely say that I save about a quarter for every load of laundry I do. Now that adds up! Especially, with as much laundry as we go through.

 

As for the quality of the wash, I actually like it alot. You don't get that overloaded laundry scent as with store-bought laundry soap, but I do kind of like it better knowing that laundry soap is not still in my clean clothes.

 

I have since decided to try a few different scented soaps that others have used in their recipes. I have bought the soaps (Dr. Bronners), but haven't made a new batch with these soaps yet. I am excited to try them. The cost went up a little, but it still doesn't come close to the cost for store-bought laundry soap.

 

Anyway, I am a believer so far and wanted to share with you all as well. Have fun!

Birthday Bash!

We celebrated J's birthday last week (sorry, I have been trying to get a bunch of post up since then) by going out to his favorite pizza place and then for some fun mini golfing on the town. Friends joined along and made the evening memorable with lots of laughs. Thanks for sweating buckets with us guys! We cooled down by enjoying ice cream at Andy's! Yum!

A Refreshing Visit!

These AMAZING girls are very dear friends of mine. We were all in a Bible study together before most of us had kids and one moved to Kansas! I also worked with two of them. This weekend we were blessed to all be able to get together and "catch up" (which is so easy to do with these girls). They are all "real" and not afraid to share their struggles, insecurities, strengths and weaknesses. We spent the evening at Olive Garden and then moved our conversation to IHOP (once we realized that it was 15 minutes after closing time). Like I said these are "real" chicas and I am so blessed to call them friends! Love you girls!

The C of A!

Some of you may know that I belong to a book club. Well not just any book club, but an AWESOME book club! Besides me, there are three other amazing girls in this group. Two were roommates during college and one has been adopted by us and has become a wonderful friend. We formed to club so that we could have an excuse to get together (especially during our busy lives right now) and because we all enjoy reading. During the summer, we try to get together a little more outside of our club! A few weeks ago, we all planned a trip to the lake and enjoyed the sun! One thing I love about us girls is that we are all sporadic and easy-going! Later that afternoon, we decided to head from the lake to Eureka Springs, AR. We have a favorite restaurant down there called Ermilio's. Absolutely wonderful Italian food and a great atmosphere! It was a Saturday evening and we arrived at 8pm. It was packed! We knew it would be a long wait (it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to be seated), but we were together and enjoyed talking and catching up. Finally at 10pm we got our food. Let's just say that there wasn't much talking during our meal - we were starved!!!! It was a late night, we had a great time and thanks to our wonderful husbands, we were able to enjoy the day without children.

White Water 2!

Here are a few pics a friend of mine was able to snap at White Water. Enjoy! Can you tell he loves the water?

White Water!

Today was the first day that Little Man and I have experienced White Water! Hard to believe that after living near this attraction for almost 10 years, that this was my first time visiting! We had a blast!!!! They have so many areas for little kids. There are plenty of places to relax while you keep an eye on your little one! My only complaint is that they don't want you to take ANY food in! Thankfully, the bag-checker allowed me to pass with the snacks that I had brought for Little J. We did splurge and get a corn dog for lunch, but had I not had snacks, it would have cost a lot more for our meal.

Sorry, being my first time, I didn't want to bring a camera or my phone with me because I didn't know if it would get wet. I will try to get some pics next time though!

Mmmm! The Yummy Goodness They Call Blueberries!

I look forward to this time of year! It is usually warm enough to go take a dip in the lake on those hot, humid days, most of our time is spent outdoors, and fresh fruit and veggies abound! My favorite by far are blueberries and they are just now in full swing of their picking season! A local farm grows these delicious drops of goodness in huge quantities and ever June we make our way down there to pick as many as our buckets will hold. Sometimes we make several trips!

Little Man's great-grandma was visiting, so I decided that a trip was in order to the blueberry fields! We went this morning, before the temps reached our breaking point. (Actually the reached Little Man's breaking point about 20 minutes after we arrived!) Although, most of the blueberries Little J picked ended up in his mouth, we succeeded in picking about 14 pounds of blueberries between the 2 1/2 of us! Many trips were made to and from the car, the picnic tables, or under the shade trees! This is the nature of going with a young child as I'm sure any parent can attest! We survived the heat, and tiredness by making a visit to the little building where they sell Thunder Muffins! Yes, I said Thunder Muffins! They are the best blueberry muffins you have ever tasted! Not Kidding! You can even get them in a bowl topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and blueberries sprinkled. It is called the Cumuloblubus - (my new preference!) Little Man and I loved sitting in the shade eating this delicious brunch! We had a blast making THESE memories!

18 Months!

Wow! I can hardly believe that our little man is 1 1/2. Seems like these days go by fast, but not THAT fast! Here are a few things that he is doing lately.

• Loves, loves, loves to be outside!
• Enjoys getting wet in the pool, by the sprinkler, or by hose! (and likes to spray other people with the hose!)
• Says about 30-35 words. He has also mastered a number of signs.
• Loves his buddies (stuffed animals esp. his big blue bunny that his uncle gave him for Easter)!
• Sleeps about 11-12 hrs at night and takes about a 2 hr nap.
• Eats well (the kid loves foods like artichoke hearts, pickled beets, fish, broccoli, and brats or hot dogs from the grill - he despises hot dogs cooked in the microwave)!
• Loves puzzles!
• Loves reading books (we read every night before bed and many times during the day)!
• Says "plane" when he hears an airplane in the sky and makes an engine sound when he "flies" his toy planes!
• Enjoys walks (especially when he gets to push the stroller)!
• Doesn't really care for the car seat (can't blame him most of the time)!
• Is starting to potty train (this is going well and not so well depending on the day, but he is getting it)!
• Likes to help Mom or Dad garden!
• Climbs, climbs, climbs. (can get in and out of his highchair by himself.)
• Gives the best hugs and kisses!

Enjoying the Beauty

Here is a pic of some tiger lilies that we have growing by our house! They are one of my favorite flowers! I absolutely love the colors!

We also had a visitor after the rain. Little man was very interested with this guy!

Fun to be a Kid Again!

Ok. So I'm sure that most of you have at one time or another collected tokens, stamps, etc. to send in to a company and receive something in return. When I was a little girl, this is something that we did every once in a while. Our "prizes" if you will, mainly came from cereal companies. A box of "Cheerios" would have random advertising for some prize if you collected and sent in so many cereal labels from that cereal. Mainly these prizes were of some funky, kid gadget that was very cheaply made, but none-the-less, I was enticed! Many of you can probably relate, (or at least I hope so)!

One of our favorite cereals (and yes, I could live off cereal!) is Raisin Bran Crunch! Recently they advertised movies that you could receive if so many cereal tokens were sent in. Today, we received our first movie, "The Sandlot". Not only was it essentially free, because we buy the cereal anyway, but it is a classic movie from my younger days too! I can't wait to sit down and enjoy seeing it again soon!

And So It Begins!

Today marks day 5 of potty training in the Owen house. Yes we have started this tedious process and have thus far been pretty pleased. Hearing both the pros and cons of starting at this age (almost 18 months), we both decided that we, as well as Little Man, were ready for the change. We wanted to wait until after our big vacation, knowing that we could set aside the time necessary to focus on the training.

The first few days went pretty well. We pulled out the potty seat so Little Man could get used to the idea and we reinforced words to help him with the transition. Having nice, warm weather helped as well. We could be outside and experience the feeling of being wet without all the clean up. Since the beginning, Little J had been pretty open to the idea of sitting on the potty. His timing was off a little and would end up going and then say "potty" and go to sit on it. Today we had a breakthrough! He actually went #2 in the potty twice and #1 once. I can't believe that I could get this excited over poop!

We are hoping to have him going consistently during the day before we take the diaper off at night. So we will see how long this takes. Thankfully, it is Friday and both J and I will be able to work with Little Man over the weekend. It really helps to have two there to reinforce everything.

VACATION!!!

Oh what a trip! We were blessed with the opportunity to get away for a week and spend some time with a dear friend and then some family time on the Emerald Coast of Florida. The timing was perfect in so many ways! Both Josh and I needed a break from the daily grind and a chance to visit a friend was hard to pass up. I was a bit weary about taking a 17 month old on a drive that was 13 hours direct, but I don't regret it. The trip down was great. We traveled during his nap and all through the night. We stopped at a park just outside Little Rock, AR (which worked out perfectly), had a picnic dinner and a memorable walk in the rain. We drove through strong thunderstorms (they actually had a tornado touch down very near where we stopped)  and took shifts during the night. Little man slept great and we arrived early the next morning in time to catch a few extra hours of sleep before Little J woke up for the day.

My friend, who is in the Coast Guard, showed us around the aircraft she is and will soon be flying! Way to go girl! That was awesome! We also toured the Pensicola Naval Air Museum. Pretty neat (and free)! God blessed me so much with this time with my dear friend! Something that I had been praying about for a while!

After our time with her, we headed down the coast to Panama City and (thanks to my amazing brother) stayed in a beautiful suite overlooking the gulf! Love you bro! This was Little Man's frist time to the beach and he loved it. It was great to see his energy and awe for the waves and water! I pray that the oil spill doesn't make it to that area! Those beaches are so beautiful!

Unfortunately, I was a not thinking and went without sunscreen the first day we were there and had J smearing aloe vera gel on my back the rest of the week! Uhh! It was sad to have to return to the everyday norm but also good to get back to it in many respects.

The drive home was a little more arduous than the drive down, but we made it! Thank you Lord we made it! We are still recouping from that drive!

Here are a few pics from the trip!

We're Here....I Promise!!!

Ok. So I  know that it has been forever since posting last and frankly, I have not had any determination to do so. The Owen family as a whole are doing well, we are all healthy and totally enjoying this season of our lives. Thanks to the amazing weather recently, we have been able to enjoy our yard and start our garden for the year. Little man has become a diferent person now that the outdoors are readily available to him and he is exploring everything!!! Yes, he is on the go every moment that he is awake and keeps me light on my toes.

Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. This year we celebrated with family and enjoyed watching Little Man with traditions of Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt.

We splurged an got season passes to Silver Dollar City this year and so far we have "paid" for the passes with our visits to the park. Little J really enjoys getting to see the animals. Whether he is willing to go on any of the rides there depends on how tired his is at the time. But it is fun just to walk around and see all that the park has to offer. WorldFest is going on right now (my favorite time to go to SDC) so  I have really enjoyed seeing the different cultures and as always the different foods!

Here are a few pics of us this spring. I promise to post more often in the future!

(This egg actually came from Germany from a friend. It is chocolate and hollow inside where there is a campartment that has a prize inside. Very cool!)

Loves playing in the dirt!