A Day at the Bay!

I had some friends the other day that were saying that they read the blog and everything just seems so perfect...I'm here to tell ya, that is the furthest thing from the truth. I think I only blog the positive things so that I can sometimes live in that dream land....the truth is, I'm a sucky mom. I yell at my kids everyday...I'm easily angered, frustrated and annoyed!! My kids test me, they are naughty, selfish and rude. I just am so grateful that we have God's grace and forgiveness and the promise of a fresh start if we ask for it!! Where is this coming from you might ask....well yesterday was a day at the beach and I didn't enjoy it...I know the kids did, but I just didn't and I felt...feel guilty about it. I guess this is where I seek that grace and start fresh...even still I was able to get some cute pictures.... The gang building up their forts...
Getting ready for the tide to some in. They move the logs down low so when the water comes up they have a canoe to ride on.

Every year Jake will did a hole in the sand and then stand in it next to taiji and ask me to take a picture. It's cute...it's the one time a year that Taiji is taller then Jake!

Truman, Kali, Tess, Taiji & Jake

Truman with the little girls following.

Not sure what is up with my camera...but here are the lil monkey's posing!

The tide vs. the boys.....I think the tide is winning!!

Just a couple of bathing suit divas!

The aforementioned canoes...hard a work!!

I hope I didn't scare ya off...oh well...I am what I am!!

Scotia Bank Half Marathon

Apparently I have become a half marathon junkie!! I guess I could think of worse things to be addicted to!! Today was the Scotia Bank Vancouver Half Marathon. It was a beautiful day and a great course. We started at UBC and ended up at Stanley Park. It was only 8 short weeks ago that I was up in Vancouver running the BMO Half...so this seemed like it was going to be a walk in the park....well....not quite!!! We really started way to fast and ended kinda well slower...we still were able to finish in 1hr and 51min!! We learned a lot and are already signed up for the next one in September!! Here are a couple of pictures...I didn't have my kk this trip so all the pictures are beautiful self portraits!! Haha! Ready....

Set.....

All done!
(didn't have anyone to take a 'go' picture, so you will have to use your imagination)

Lynden Relay for Life 2009!

This was the 5th year that Relay for Life was held in Lynden. We didn't let a little rain get us down. We walked, we talked, we laughed and even ate a little. Thanks to my team, to my family and my friends for supporting me for the 4th year. Me and my big sis!
Just a bunch of hip mom wanna be's!!

See we can be normal!!

Team 'All In' was formed last year to honor Abbey Mae. I know she would be proud of us, each year that passes I wonder...what would she look like, who would be her friends, would she have lost her first tooth, would we have had patience to grow out her bangs, would she like school, what books would she like....oh how I still miss her!! I do these service projects because I love her I miss her and I don't ever want to forget the happiness she brought to my life and how very proud I am to be able to have been her mom!! So thanks for your support of 'Team All In'! Sorry just a little tangent!!

Me and my Guela!

Hoof-n it for Cancer research!!

Miss Kali Faith!! Painting her face for Cancer!!

Let us run with perseverance....

Let us run with perseverance the race set before us....Hebrews 12:1 Well today I ran my first half marathon. It was up in Vancouver BC. I started training for it in January, I was determined run/walk it!! As training progressed and I had the privilege of running with some great partners (Sara, Melissa, Vonda....shout out) and I realized that not only would I be able to run it but I might even be able to get a decent time! So today my goal was to finish in under two hours and preferably under 1:55.
Karen and I headed out at at 5am, hit the border by about 5:20, got to the skytrain by about 5:55 and then to the race about 6:40. Karen's registration had gotten messed up to she headed off to see if she could figure it out. I got to the starting line just in time to hear the gun go off and it was off to the races!! Well....it went great!! The weather was awesome, the course beautiful....with the exception of a horrible hill!! Anyways, I finish at 1:49.06!! I was pretty excited! Unfortunately Karen wasn't able to get her registration figured out in time so the poor thing had to wait for me! She said she didn't mind and was even there with the camera at the finish line!!

On the skytrain back to the car!!

Just a little proof....although very unofficial!!

A good friend of mine gave me a magnet when I started training that said "life is not a sprint, it's a marathon" with this verse, Hebrews 12:1! I wrote it on my hand so that I would make sure that I remembered who allowed me to be able to run this race today and the race of life everyday!!

A Field Trip with Truman!

I'm a little behind in my posting...but we have had a few adventures over the last couple of weeks and I wanted to share some of the highlights. At the end of March Truman's class went on a field trip to Seattle. With him being 14 and a few other factors....I decided that I would go as a chaperone. This was not my first choice of things to do that day...but I ended up having a good time and I actually learned some stuff! The first stop was at the Boeing Flight Museum. It was very interesting...and I bet if you are into planes it would be pretty cool. I didn't get any pictures there...kinda forgot I had my camera. Here's Trum on the bus with his friends...acting like a dork!
The next stop after Boeing was the Seattle underground tour. This was fascinating! The short story is that they built the city on a tide pool covered in sawdust. It started to sink and the sewer system was a mess. A huge fire destroyed the whole city and they decided that would do it right this time. They used huge pilings to level everything out...but the business owners didn't want to wait around to build up the ground so they went ahead and rebuilt where they were....the city however built the roads up 10ft. So you would have to climb down a ladder to enter into the buildings. After awhile they built sidewalks on top, so now the lower sidewalks were covered. Between the bubonic plague, prohibition and other stuff the lower sidewalks were all boarded up and now they are open just for tours. Pretty interesting!! Sorry a little history lesson for ya!! The above picture is one of the bathrooms in the underground.
Here is a picture of an old saloon. You can see how the floors are all sinking.

For the most part the kids were very respectful and listened well.

The floors used to to be level with this door jam. The big thing that the kids kept freaking out about...was that there are a ton of rats down there, we didn't see a single one!

Next stop on our Field trip was Safeco Field...Home of the Mariners and now once again, Ken Griffey Jr. (Just had to add that) The Picture above is the visiting team locker room. It is nice but the guide said that it pales in to comparison of the Mariners locker room...of course we weren't allowed over there!!

In the dug, Truman and his best friends, Isaac and Levi!

What a handsome group of fellas!!

The chaperone's...Me and Judy (Isaac's mom)

We ended the tour in the area where they do the press conferences. It was really neat to see a little 0f the behind the scenes stuff and again the kids did pretty well. After this we loaded the bus for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. Did I love the trip....well love would be a strong word...but I did enjoy myself and I enjoyed watching Truman with his peers. All in all a good trip!

Happy Birthday Jake!!

Wowsers...what a day!! It started at 6am...for me anyways!! I have been training for a half marathon and found out that there was a 15k race (9.3mile) in Birch Bay which was perfect timing for my long run this week. I found a couple of friends that wanted to run and off we went. It was a beautiful day and the course was awesome!! We had a great run and exceeded our expectations!! Half Marathon here we come!! Anyways....back to April 4th!!! Happy Birthday Jake!! This day 11 years ago I became a mom for the first time!! Stephen Jacob Poag was born at 4:44pm on 4-4-1998! He was 8lbs and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! Even to this day I can't look at him without thinking about that moment!! Jake is a great kid...he's funny...he's bright....he's handsome....and he has a great heart!! Here is a bit of the day in the life of Jake Poag turns 11!! Smore's on the patio...still a little cold, but oh so fun!!
What a handsome little kiddo!! Hard to believe he's already 11!!

Oh my Truman....a bunch of crazy monkey's!!

These boys love their baseball cards!!

How funny is this!!

Tweedle dee and Tweedle poag!!! So cute!

My crew!

Kali is always so helpful!

Again with the baseball cards!!

Fun new wii game!

We finished a great birthday with a great birthday dinner at Kyoto's!! Jake's choice! We ordered perfect and everyone left stuffed!!

A little bit of the action at our table...the table included Jake, Scooter, Taiji, Me, Kali, Shane, Grandma and Guela! Jake Poag....you are loved...Happy Birthday!!!!

Randomness!

Wow...It seems as though I have taken a vacation from my blog. Sorry about that. I guess I kinda set a standard of daily posts and then....gone! Well, I'm back. This is going to be a random post. A catcher-upper if you will.
The VanDalen Clan continues to be as busy as ever. We have had a nice break in the sports department...we are just out of basketball and heading into baseball. This season finds Jake and Taiji trying out for an 11-12 year old team. Which seems so crazy since it feels like we were just on that same team with Truman not to long ago.
Speaking of Truman, he will be trying out for the 8th grade baseball team, his last sport in Jr. High, which again seems crazy since it feels like he just started Jr. High....HELP my kids lives are moving to fast!! I will ask that you pray for me and the patience department...this whole Teen thing is catching me off guard and I know that at times I'm not handling it well...so patience it what I seek!!
The new business, Sun-Kissed Studio, is up and running and everything is going really well. It is exciting to be a part of something so fun and good for you! Check out the link for more information.
Kali Belle is still coming down from vacation mode...she still lives in princessland...wait a minute she's always lived in princessland!! She is smart as a whip and the boys are getting annoyed by how well she remembers and can articulate all that she sees!! Too funny!!
Well that is all for the VanDalen Clan...seriously, just a whole lot of randomness!!

A Christmas Lesson!!

A Christmas lesson by Amy VanDalen....No matter how much you water your tree, it will still dry out if put directly on a vent without closing it!! My sad sad sad...dead dead dead...tree!
Moving the presents to remove the fire hazard!

The culprit...I'm an idiot!!

What a mess!!

December 21, 2008....The VanDalen Christmas tree in the front yard!!

On the bright side...I have a head start on all of you putting my Christmas decorations away!!