Living the Good Life: January 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Rain Gutter Regetta

We had the Cub Scouts Rain Gutter Regetta last weekend. The boys had so much fun. We had never done it before. The way it works is you get a kit to build a boat and you can decorate it anyway you like. Then they set up gutters with water in them and the boys have to blow into the sails to get them to go. They can't touch the boat in any way. Vince got 2nd in speed for his den and Michael got 2nd in style and 3rd in speed for his den. We were so proud of them. They both came home with metals and also qualified for Districts in March.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Success Camp!!!

What can I say..... This was the BEST TIME!!! Every year lia sophia has a Success Camp in Chicago to get ready and pumped for the year. There were about 1700 women there this year from all across the United States and Canada and ALSO some advisors flew in from Germany! How cool is that!! We all had such a great time. The speakers were wonderful. We were inspired by Belinda Ellsworth (motivational speaker) and Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup books). I'm SO looking forward to Conference in Milwaukee in June and Success Camp again next year in Chicago. WAHOO!! 2010 is going to be such a GREAT year!!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Christmas fun

Well, I'm finally posting some Christmas pics. WOW!!! It's been busy around here. Christmas was wonderful this year (as always). To tell you how busy we've been...we still haven't put away all the Christmas decorations and the trees are still up. (ha) But, I plan on getting everything put away this weekend. Anywho...here are some fun pics. The first one is a picture of Jesus' birthday cake that my sister and her girls made. The bottom layer (chocolate) is for sin. The middle layer (red velvet) is for the blood He shed for us. The top layer (green) is for new life. The white icing is for purity and there is a Star of David on the top. You also put heart (candy) around the outside which stands for Love. It was a delicious cake and the start of a great tradition in our family.

Mom & dad and Jessica and her fiancee, Will.

Jodie...she is so photogenic. Look at that smile...

Our boys on Christmas morning. Some of you have heard the story already. That night (or should I say MORNING) they woke up at 3am wanting to go down and open presents. We sent them back to bed. Then they woke up again at 5:00...sent them back to bed again. And they got up again at 5:30....we sent them back to bed AGAIN! Finally we let them get up at 6:00. Greg and I were worn out the rest of the day. lol!

Sledding with dad. They all had a ball. I, of course, didn't last too long. It was way too cold for me.

About our family

Hello! We are an average family of four (or should I say 21 if you add the chickens, horses, cats & dog) living in the heart of America, the midwest. We own our house, have 2 cars, 2 motorcycles (Harleys), 7 acres, 2 kids, some debt, and go to church. We haven't been to any exotic places or made millions of dollars. We have never suffered with major illnesses or constantly triumphed over insurmountable odds. We have had our share of good times and bad times but nothing that would make us stand out as unique or special. We have never written any best-selling books (although, I'm working on that) or had our 5 minutes of fame. We are an average American family with an average American lifestyle. I used to not be so happy about that. But now I realize that God has given us a wonderful life, full of challenges and obstacals, but nothing we can't handle. And it is the life He has chosen for us. So, we go about our average days of our average life and if something comes our way that presents a major challenge or gives us some unusual fame or fortune, we deal with it in our average American way.

How it all began...

I am a true believer in fate. If it were not for fate, and God's infinite wisdom, Greg and I would have never met. You know how sometimes you can almost feel God gently pushing you in a certain direction. Well, that's what happened to us on the night of August 24, 1996. God had his arms gently around Greg and my shoulders gently guiding us towards each other. Neither one of us would have normally been at the same event on the night of the 24th. Greg had just moved to Kansas City, Missouri and was looking for something to do on a Saturday night. I was in a lengthy conversation with a close friend involving her trying to talk me into going to the same event that Greg was on his way to at that very moment. I was tired of being the 5th wheel even though the friends I hung out with were all very close (couples or not). I had been seeing someone off and on for the past few years and was tired of being alone. My friend finally talked me into going to the Nascar races. That was where Greg and I met and it was the start of a great life together.

The start of our family.....

Greg and I got married in 1999. What a wonderful life we share. We live in Boonville, MO now and have been here ever since our 1st son was born. He was born the 2nd day we moved into our new house. Needless to say, he was not supposed to come until 10 weeks later. But he had his mind made up...ha. Greg and I were supposed to head to the innagural races at Kansas Speedway the morning of June 2, 2001. But at the last minute we decided to head east and make a run to the hospital. I had not been feeling right all night long. Well, it's a good thing we didn't go to KC because I was already dialated to 5 by the time we got to the hospital which was only 30 minutes away. Michael Lee Runnebaum was born a few hours later (10 weeks prematue) and spent the first 2 months of his precious life in the NICU.

Another addition....

Well, one wasn't enough. To be perfectly honest, I was ready to have 5 more until I had my second and then all that changed...ha! We decided two little boys running around was quite enough action. Vince was a term baby and was born January 30, 2003. We are not the typical couple although people are now starting to have kids later in their years. But I was 40 (actually 1 day shy of 41) when I had my first child. Greg is 6 years younger than I am. Our boys really keep us busy running with daily activities. There are days when I just want to drop down in a chair (most days, really...) but they really do keep us young at heart. And it makes me want to stay young and healthy so I can spend as much quality time with them as I can.