Color of Hope 2014

Stillwater Life Services is a great organization here in Stillwater that Sam and I have been wanting to get involved with for a few years.  They are a pro-life Christian organization that provides STD testing, pregnancy testing, information and peer counseling on all pregnancy options, parenting classes, mentoring programs, and aid to those who choose to parent.  A fact I love about SLS is that 75% of the girls that walk through their door consider abortion an option, but after all the services provide (including free limited uultrasounds), 90% of those girls choose life.  Also, although they don't support abortion, they don't turn their backs on those young ladies and even provide post-abortion counseling (isn't that what God would do?).  If you are interested in finding out more about SLS, their website is www.stillwaterlife.org (this is their client site, if you are interested in how you too can get involved, I can get you that information also).

A couple of years ago, Sam and I participated in their annual Walk For Life fundraiser.  Then, last year we attended their spring banquet fundraiser (these are their two big fundraisers each year).  While at the banquet, we told them we were interested in volunteering in some way.  A few weeks later, we received an email asking if we would be interested in volunteering on the Walk For Life committee, except now it was a 5k instead of a walk.  They didn't know that we actually run 5ks, so we took it as a sign we should do it.  Since the meetings were during the day, Sam wasn't able to actually serve on the committee, but he helped in any way he could. 

Starting in April, the committee members met many, many times.  At one of the first meetings, the possibility of making it a color run was thrown out there.  Since there had never been a color run in Stillwater before, we decided to give it a try. 

The risk of switching it to a color run paid off big time!  On Saturday, October 11, the Color of Hope run/walk took place with 335 registered runners and walkers as well as 85+ volunteers present!  This is the largest attendance they have ever had... and between sponsors, individuals raising funds and entry fees, we raised over $40,000!  This money will go a long way in helping this small non-profit help the men and women they serve. 

Since I was busy before, during, and after the race, Sam pushed the kids in it.  This year we invested in color station supplies (mostly huge, heavy tarps), next year we are investing in our start/finish line.

Don't they look thrilled for their first color run.  Sam didn't see the stroller weather shield I had put in the car to keep the stroller clean, so he only ran through the orange station in case it stained :).

From my spot at the start/finish line, we had a great view of the orange station.  It was fun to see the puff of color as the runners ran through.  Three of the four color stations were sponsored by area businesses or groups who were given the option of decorating their stations as well as providing the volunteers for that station.  I don't have any pictures since I wasn't one of the roamers, but the pink station was sponsored by The Story of Audrey (a sweet baby girl who lived for 81 precious days).  They decorated in her honor and many friends and family came out to help with the station.  It was great to see the support her parents were receiving as I know how helpful that was to us. 

If you are interested in seeing more pictures or want to keep up to date on next year's event, our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/stillwaterlifecolorofhope. 

 

A huge amount of thanks goes out to all the businesses that sponsored our event.  They included:  The Story of Audrey , Furniture Showcase, The Coffee Shop, The House FM, Stillwater Screenprinting, Kicker, Beardon Services, Dr. Glen Henry, MyLaptopGPS, Houck Agency, Gladney Center for Adoption, Lee Company, Palominos, Red Dirt Crossfit, Schlotzsky's, Stillwater Medical Center, University and Community Federal Credit Union, Frank Evans DO, Payne County Bank, El Vaquero, Lowell Barto Law Office, Ramsey Auto, Bancfirst, Sunrise Health Institute, Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma, Chanda A. Kennemer DDS PC, Razook's Drug, Stillwater Periodontal Center, Stillwater Medical Center, Run With It, Stillwater Summit Co., Youth Fitness Zone, Quality Water Services, and Purdy-Q as well as the many door prize donors including Leonard Jewelry and Stillwater Armory.

 

A personal thanks goes out to my friends who helped watch my kids while I went to meetings, my fellow committee members who were understanding when my kids tagged along to meetings, and all my friends who came out and participated in the event. 



Runtoberfest

One sunny, Sunday afternoon, the Parks crew loaded up and headed to Oklahoma City for the 2nd annual Red Coyote Runtoberfest.  Sam ran this event last year with some friends, but since Sarah was only a few weeks old I stayed home.  I'm so glad we went this year because it was a blast!  Seriously, a combination of a 5k and Oktoberfect, how could you go wrong with that!

Since it was Runtoberfest and all, I dressed Sarah in the lederhosen I made Joseph for his first Oktoberfest.  Luckily it was a tad big on him and she's on the slender side, so it worked.

I realize this isn't the attire traditionally worn by girls, but it was still awfully cute on her.  I substituted a flower for the feather, so it was a little girly, right?

They had a costume contest that we weren't going to enter Sarah in, but the owners said we should.  We agreed, but said she shouldn't win a prize since all the other entries actually ran a 5k in their costumes.

They ended up adding a gift card to the prizes because they said her outfit was too cute not to.

Joseph was there too, he just wasn't dressed up and was avoiding my camera as he often does these days. 

And, just for fun, here's a flashback to when Joseph wore the lederhosen. 

Easter Weekend 2014

Easter weekend was a busy one!  There was lots of fun stuff happening in Stillwater and, of course, we wanted to take time to celebrate the real reason for Easter.

Friday, my mom, sister, and nephew arrived mid-afternoon.  After a little outdoor play time, we loaded up the kids and hit the town for a little shopping fun.  While we were out, we also picked up our race packets for the Remember the Ten run the next day.  Since the boys were such troopers, they were rewarded with a surprise when we returned to the house.

That night, we invited Uncle Ross (my cousin who happens to live in Stillwater) over for some egg dying fun.  My sister (who is a little OCD) was nervous about this event and I was told I used my teacher voice a few times, but overall it was a blast!

I got the idea to use cheap kitchen wisks for the boys to be able to easily put the eggs in and out of the dye off of pinterest, but I guess I never pinned it, so I can't tell you who came up with this genius idea.  It worked like a charm!

Sister enjoyed watching the boys from her Go-Pod (seriously, one of our best baby purchases ever!).  I'm sure she'll be ready to be in the middle of all of it next year.

"What are those crazy boys doing?"

After the eggs had a short time to dry, the hunting began.  But first they had to run a few circles in the yard.  I'm really not sure what this was all about, they just started running in circles.

When they finally started actually looking for the eggs, they came up with a system.  Joseph would go ahead and pick up the egg, then hand it to Bryar who would run it to the porch and hand it to an adult while Joseph was on his way to the next egg.

Sarah helped with clean-up during this activity.

Here are a couple more pictures from the night.  Just because I think they are adorable.

After hiding and finding our eggs multiple times, we all went inside for an early-ish bedtime.

The next morning, we all woke up ready for a fun day.  They boys ate bunny pancakes.

Sam, Mindy, and I prepared for our races.  We all participated in the annual Remember the Ten event with Mindy and some friends running the 5k and Sam and I running the 10k (My first!  I had no clue how fast I would run it since I normally have to push my jumbo double jogging stroller, so I set a goal of 1 hour for myself.  I only missed my goal by about 2 1/2 minutes!  Sam, on the other hand, finished in 58 minutes 18 seconds!).

We didn't catch up with Mindy while we were still at the race, so we took a group picture at the house.

After lunch (Sam and I rewarded ourselves with yummy Joe's cheese fries) and a little more outdoor play time (it was so gorgeous that weekend), our guests left and we all took a nap.  We woke up from nap renewed and ready for the rest of the day.  We first ventured to Petco for some goldfish for our little front yard pond that I recently cleaned out. 

Joseph: "I pop it."
Mom and Dad:  "NOOOOO!"
And that's when we took the fish away.

We dropped the fish off at the house to adjust the water temperatures, then headed downtown for the arts festival.  We had a lot of fun walking around looking at everything.  I'm pretty sure that Joseph's favorite part was that his dinner came in a car.

We returned home in time to watch the Thunder basketball game and ride Ol Blue for a little bit.

Sunday morning arrived, and, of course, I had Easter baskets waiting for the kids.  They were mostly books (I think I have an addiction) with a couple of small items like water bottles, sunglasses, and treats thrown in.

Doesn't Sarah look thrilled?  I bought personalized Easter bags for the kids instead of baskets, and didn't want to buy additional baskets that I didn't really need, so I stuck all their stuff in storage containers out of their bedrooms.

He was excited to learn that some of the eggs had stuff in them.

He also loved these wind up trucks (although I think Daddy tired of them quickly :).

Fine motor practice while Sarah tries to crawl in the background.  I call that a win-win for Easter baskets.

She was after Mr. Potato Head.

Or, more specifically, his feet. No, she's not crawling, but she can somehow find her way to interesting objects.

We then ate a quick breakfast, changed clothes, and headed out the door for church.  When we returned home, Sarah was in desperate need of a nap, so I had to lay her down before I could take any pictures of them together.  I decided to go ahead and snap a few shots of Joseph before I took off his crisp, white shirt for lunch.

He was disappointed that I gave him two eggs with nothing in them.

"I throw it in water."  We were right next to the pond.  He didn't really throw it.

Me: "If you smile, I'll give you an egg with a treat in it."
Joseph: "Cheese."

And then he was finished with pictures.

Since I didn't get any pictures of Sarah in her dress all day, here are a few shots from a Sunday earlier this month.

After lunch and naps (the kids both slept for over three hours!), we ventured to the dog park with the crew.  Sam and Joseph took the bike and trailer (one of their favorite things to do together) while Sarah and I drove with the dogs.  Since kids aren't allowed in the dog park (for good reasons), the kids and I hung out in one of the dugouts (the Stillwater dog park is a couple of old softball fields that they converted) where Joseph talked to every dog that walked by even though they couldn't have cared less about the kid still wearing his bike helmet playing in the dugout.

 We returned from the dog park exhausted and ready for bed. 

I also feel it's worth noting that we read both of these books pretty much daily all month long.  I highly recommend them if you have kids around the ages of ours.  They were short enough to keep the kids' attention while still focusing on the real reason for Easter (especially The Easter Story) and they are both board books so they are less likely to get destroyed by little hands.