And She's Eight!

It's hard to believe that it's been over eight years that our lives were blessed and forever changed with the arrival of our sweet Olivia Jane.  We celebrated on Saturday, October 19th, technically the day before.  Although not by much.  I can recall very clearly arriving at the hospital around 7:00 a.m. on the 19th eight years prior to be induced, but she didn't make her debut until after midnight. 

Mia making her pumpkin

The Nazarene Church in Sturgis for many years had hosted a fall family fun day that we have taken full advantage of many times.  They have pumpkins to decorate, crafts to make, a puppet show, great food, inflateables, hay rides, and horse back riding.  It's a terrific time and completely free for anyone.  It always seems to fall on the day we have Olivia's party, and this year was no exception.  The day was already stressful to me since, Mia and I participated in an Out of the Darkness walk in Coldwater that morning in memory of my dear friend Adam Lackey who took his life two years ago.  After the walk I promised Mia we could go to Great Lakes to get a drink to warm up since it was raining and freezing out.  I kept thinking of the food that needed to be made, the house that needed cleaned, and the list went on, but I also remembered I need to take time for my girls and make memories.  So we found one hour in the day to get some fun in at the Nazarene this year.  My coworker and good friend Liz's family had their horses their too.

Olivia riding on Misty

Mia on Trixie or Pixie, we can't recall

Both girls going down the slide together.

Usually, the girls' birthdays consist of just family and the occassional close friends.  I decided to let Olivia invite a few friends this year.  I'm glad I did because almost all the family had prior plans, or if they could make it, it would only be briefly.  Her friends, however, they all made it.

Olivia and Paris sporting their newly accquired facial hair that comes with turning eight.  Paris' birthday is exactly one week before Olivia's.

We managed to sneak Jane over for the event so Mia could have someone to play with as well.  Even though they aren't eight yet, they were given mustaches for the evening too.

Mia sporting her Hitler 'stache

Nana and Papa had church the night of Olivia's party, but they can never stay away so they stopped over early.  Olivia is modeling her new jacket from them above.  Nana and Papa could have stayed longer, but decided to let Olivia enjoy a "friends party" for a change.

Daddy giving Olivia her birthday spankings, and one to grow on.

Andy getting Callahan all riled up too.  Andy's such a kid himself.

Olivia starting in on her gifts

Showing off her new bow she got from daddy


The kids being wild. Let me just say, I'm glad we stopped at two.  It was a fun evening, but eight year olds are exhausting!

The entire crew being silly.  We have Citori, Taner, Olivia, Paris, Callahan, and Hunter being stepped on.

I know Olivia loved her party and all her gifts. 

On the actual birthday we got up early and met my Uncle Jere for breakfast, along with Grandma and Grandpa McNeil.  They had a surprise for Olivia's birthday and were taking her to Disney Stars on Ice, the 100 years celebration.  She came home that evening only talking about how "amazing" everything was.  I went as a child and am thrilled she got to experience it and love it as well.

So eight years of joy, some tears, constant entertainment, a pinch of screaming, attitude, creativity, ear piercing volume, surprises around every corner, endless talking, and love that grows more each day, and that would sum up our life with Olivia.  We can't wait to see what the future unfolds for her in our lives.

The first snow fall of the year was pretty neat to see as well!

We Dream in Color

So, I continue to neglect my blog.  Rarely getting out a camera.  And then if I finally think about doing a blog entry so many things have come and gone and it seems odd to overlook big things like photos from our new house and do something trivial, such as a blog on a package that came in the mail.  But that is what is current, so I am going to try and keep us up to date.  We may back track later, but today's entry is hot off the press. 

 

Olivia and I signed up to run the Dream in Color 5K put on by the Doyle Community Center in Sturgis.  It's one of those races that you get blasted with color throughout the race.  It was meant to be a fun race, so it went untimed.  I thought this was perfect being Olivia's first 5K and as much as she'd like to think she's a runner, she's not.  The same goes for me.  Yes, I've done a few 5Ks and a triathlon, but I'm just not cut out to be a runner.  I haven't been to the gym in over six months, and done no running in that time either.  I was happy Olivia was with me.  It would give us some fun bonding time, plus she gave me an excuse to slow it down and maybe need to walk every now and then.

 

pre race picture

 

We started out strong, and then I noticed Olivia huffing and puffing quite a bit.  I started realizing how much shorter her little legs were than my stubby legs and continued to encourage her on.  It wasn't too long before we got blasted with our first color station.  That gave her a little boost and we continued on.  I kept on with my words of encouragement, and was truly proud at how she kept running and didn't even ask to walk or slow down.  Around the first mile mark, my shoe came untied.  It was slowing me down (or that could have been caused by me being out of shape, but we'll blame it on the shoe) so I decided to stop to tie it.  Olivia was pulling away from me at this time and looked back.  I waved her on and said keep going, to which she did.  I could see her up ahead of me for most of the rest of the race.  Sometimes she even was out of sight.  I am used to hitting a wall in running, then barreling through it until I get my second wind.  The walls kept coming today, but the second winds were short lived little gusts that dissipated about five seconds after their arrival. 

 

Olivia upon completion of her first 5K!

 

I wanted to stop and walk numerous times, but kept reminding myself, my little girl is up ahead of me.  I can't walk now.  Then I remembered also that my fast walking pace is quicker than my lethargic jogging pace, but I kept the jog up the entire time.  I knew at this point Olivia was going to finish up ahead without me, and that thrilled me and filled me with pride.  At the same time, I wanted her to know her mommy didn't quit and start walking so my stubby legs kept up their slow jogging pace.

We did it!

 

As I rounded the corner and could see the finish line up ahead a few hundred yards, I saw this petite little girl with black pants and a shorter hair do crossing the finish line.  I'm so glad I was able to see her finish.  It motivated me at that time to pick up my pace.  For the last fifty yards or so, I had a good sprint (well, good for me) going.  It took me a moment or so to find Olivia with Andy and Mia through the clouds of colored chalk and mass of runners, volunteers, and spectators, but I did.  Olivia had a terrific time and overly surprised both Andy and me.  I guess I can't say she's not a runner any more.  I'm glad she proved us wrong.  Although the race was untimed, Andy said Olivia finished in about 34 minutes which we think is terrific!  That had to be a record for me as well. 

 

It was a blast of an event, that I'm sure we'll do again.  Both Olivia and I had many friends that ran in it as well that added to the fun.  Happy running and remember to dream in color!