Why I'm walking....

This weekend, I'll be walking in two different 5K races.

The Color Run  is just for fun. It's The Happiest 5K on the planet! Priscila and I will walk with a group of her friends. You walk, run, dance and at each mile marker you get colored.

The Walk to Defeat ALS is for real.  We will all walk this one - kids, parents, grandparents, friends. Many people are collecting donations to help fund research so someone can find a cure.  Some are walking it to honor a loved one.  Some are prayer walking it.  Some are walking or riding because they have ALS.

This morning, while I was pushing Claire around the ponds, I was thinking about the races and why I was walking...

I’m walking because I can. Because my legs still work and my lungs still work.  Because I can still talk and swallow and breath.  My grandfather, Don Couch, and my mother-in-law, Delight Petersen, couldn't do those things.  So I walk for them, in defiance of a disease that slowly deteriorated their body and trapped their fully functioning minds inside.  I walk for them, because they couldn't.

I’m walking for their beloved caretakers. My grandmother, Nell Couch, and my Father-in-law, Bill Petersen. I want to honor their sacrifice of love, time, energy, tears and heartache. They couldn’t fix it. But they gave all they had to the love of their life while their best friend withered before their eyes.

I’m walking for those who are struggling through this disease right now. They will be there, walking and riding along side us. Holding on to precious moments that are slipping away faster and faster than they can see. They are still holding on to a thread of hope… that somehow this is all a nightmare and they will wake up soon.

I’m walking for us. For all the loss we’ve felt. For all the times we sacrificed and begged and pleaded and cried and hoped and someone died anyway. And our broken hearts haven't recovered yet – but we still make it through our days. We are in this together.

I’m walking, because I can.

Pictures I didn't take...

Katy's new shower curtain

Polly Pocket sized Beast

Pucker up - Becca (or Emily)

Yes I do have blue eyes.

The cousins are finally here!

You're a lovely dancer.

Looks like Katy's reflection in this one.

So fresh and yellow and everywhere!

Got, milk?

Yep, they are still blue.

Can we watch another episode?

Polly's houses and plane.

Pooh Bear waiting for his computer turn.

Watch me put these dishes away, baby.

Who put all those socks on the floor next to the recycling?

Self portrait of ... ME!

A flip flop for your wine glass...

And a piece of trash.

Cotton Candy and Polka Dots

If you were lucky enough to make it to our house during the holiday - Amanda probably already showed you Emily and Becca's newly decorated room.  But if you missed it ...

Here are a few things we learned on this group project...

It goes faster with scratchers and scrapers than picking at it on and off for a few months or so. (But they did enjoy listening to Adventures in Odyssey over and over and over ....)

Here's what everyone else was doing on October 19th... 

I didn't realize how long we had been working on their room!

Apparently, Katy likes to bake when she's frustrated...

 yummy for us.

If mom doesn't really like mint green walls as much as the girls - 

you'll probably have to repaint.  Probably.

Having the right music is always important.  

Plus notice how mom is letting them put the circles wherever they want.... 

not necessarily where mom would have put them.

FYI -The triforce CAN be represented with polka dots.

******

For Christmas, we gave the girls bulletin boards and the promise to finish their room over Christmas break.  With one more trip to IKEA for the little shelves and 2+ hours of hanging things...  I think we are done.

Becca's side

Emily's side

Well, we still need to repaint the chairs... that red just doesn't go with our color scheme.

But that will have to wait until a drier, warmer month.  

Maybe done isn't the right word...