November 27, 2006 I gave birth to an 8 1/2 pound, 22 inches long son. My first son. My brown eyed boy. He loves his Momma tremendously, his school and friends, and most days his brother and Daddy:) 
He LOVES football maybe more than all the above things.
Every year for his birthday he normally asks to go swimming. Swimming is difficult in November/December when you live in the Northern Hemisphere. This year I found a deal on Groupon at a local Tulsa hotel. I booked the room and let the boys swim their little hearts out on Wednesday night (Will's actually birthday) and Thursday morning (Thanksgiving). The hotel was pretty dead these two days so the first night we had the entire pool to ourselves the 
whole time we were there.
Will picked Chick Fil A for lunch (along with many other BA and Tulsa people) and Texas Roadhouse for dinner. He's got good taste on both places if you ask me. All he really wanted to do all day was swim though. Beginning around 7am I kept hearing the question from both boys, "When are we going to the hotel? Is it time to go to the hotel yet?" Check in was at 3pm. No matter how many times I told them this it didn't seem to sink in.
Will had a great birthday and told me repeatedly "This is the BEST birthday ever!" I love you Will Parker and can not believe you are already 7 years old. Where did the time go? I will blink and another 7 years will go by. You are an amazing boy with one of the sweetest spirits I have ever seen in a child. I love you!
Sunday morning. My marathon. The race I had trained 5 months for. 5 months for one 2 1/2 hour block of time. I woke up to an EXTREMELY cold morning. I knew it was going to be cold all week but didn't realize how cold was cold. At the start time of the race it was a 12 degree wind chill. When I finished 2 hour 
and 14 minutes later (yes, that is 15 minutes FASTER than my goal) it had warmed up to a blistering 14 degree wind 
chill (actually temperature of 24). The coldest November day on record for Tulsa since 1918.
"Perfect" day to have a Marathon right? I was just so ready to mark this accomplishment off my list that even though I was frozen and seriously couldn't even feel my toes till Mile 8, I was ready to go.
It helps to have so many people supporting you. My best friend Andrea sent me the sweetest note that I actually got the day before. It was so thoughtful of her to think of me. I read it and got a little misty eyed and placed it in my pack 
for the day of the race. That note was going with me:)
I wore 2 hats, 3 tops, 2 running tights, gloves, and super thick socks. After 6.5 miles I finally took off 1 of my tops and gave it to Steven, who with the boys braved the freezing temps to see me and cheer me on. It was so awesome to get kisses at the halfway point and to 
see them and several other members of the Kueny family yelling for me at the finish. I could barely smile because my face was frozen but believe me when I say I was smiling on the inside.
You can see from my finish photo with the family that my smile still wasn't normal. I could barely get a breath in due to shaking so much and I had just run 13.1 miles. Sorry for the weird photo:) 45 seconds or less after I stopped running I was so cold I couldn't stop shaking. It's amazing how after you stop moving how cold you can get.
I am thankful I did this race and have another medal and accomplishment to hang on my "running wall". People asked me, even on Sunday, if I would ever run a Marathon again. Sunday was not the day to ask me that question. Would I? I can say NEVER in those temps again but can't really say "No" all together. It was a pretty amazing experience and one that I would be open to again. I can say with all confidence that I would NEVER run a Full Marathon (those people are crazy!) I'm only HALF CRAZY!!!
Thank you to all that cheered, prayed, and supported me throughout this 5 month process. I couldn't have done it without you all!
As I run 13 miles tomorrow morning here are some things/thoughts that will keep me going:
1. My Jesus: He gave me my legs and the ability to run. I am going to try my hardest to remember that when I am beginning to feel tired.
2. Will: He ran his first race with me at the age of 4.
3. Owen: Who once told his teacher that "My Momma loves to run. She's gonna run to Florida." I don't know where he got that...
4. Steven: We have been together for 13 years, met at age 13, and I am running 13 miles. Who says 13 is an unlucky number?
5. My Immediate family of my Mom, Dad, and Sister. My mom always has shown me her love of exercise and even though I don't LOVE running, I did follow through with something that I think my family never believed I would actually do.
6. All my friends who helped me out along the way with either babysitting, encouragement, or offering their time either with running or biking with me throughout my long runs.
7. The Kueny's: This family left during the coldest Sunday of the year to come watch me (not even a blood relative) run this race. They never complained about doing it, they never said it wasn't an option. They just came because they knew how important it was to me. That is love and I LOVE them for it.
8. FIT Bootcamp Girls: Without them this Half-Marathon would have never happened for me.
9. My running partners Amber and Jeremy: Without them I would have wanted to quit many times.
10. Erica McMullen: She is our fearless leader in Bootcamp and a personal friend. Without her and her influence and help with my fitness goals I PROMISE you I would have not been running a Half-Marathon.
11. Life Lessons I have Learned: Perseverance, determination, the ability to finish something you start, and the will to NEVER GIVE UP!
12.I will be congratulating myself because (in my head) this was something that I never thought I would be able to do. My brain is the biggest challenger for me.
13. THE FINISH LINE!
This week has been insane. It's been crazy. It's been beyond busy. There have been so many things that happened this week, didn't happen this week, that were great, that were bad...but we survived. It is now Friday and onto another busy and fulfilling weekend.
First blessing: Owen and his happiness. Always such a happy kid. Even shivering in a drained bathtub (I will admit I forgot he was in there) he is happy and just laying there playing and waiting for me to realize that Daddy had not dried him off yet. He was still waiting for 
me. Oops.
Second blessing: Steven has ALWAYS wanted a Toyota Tundra. It has never before been in our budget for him to purchase one. Thanks to all his hard work and 
God's blessings he was able to buy a 2012 this week with only 7,500 miles on it. Everything he wanted in a truck and even more. God is BEYOND good.
Third blessing: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas inthe Kueny household. As crazy as this week has been we stopped Wednesday night and decorated together!
Fourth blessing: I will be running my first Half-Marathon in about 36 hours. I am extremely nervous, excited, and ready for this thing to begin and end. There are many emotions floating around about Sunday morning. I have learned many a thing about perserverance and determination throughout my training for this one race. Here's to Sunday!
Day 2 Vegas trip. Now, there's something you don't see every day while golfing in Oklahoma. I had to snap a photo because I thought that was funny. There's no grass hardly anywhere in Vegas. What am I supposed to not run 
over? Dirt?
I purchased a Groupon to one of the many golf courses around Las Vegas. I was not planning on golfing but wanted to go with Steven and watch him golf and spend time together. He loved it and I have to say it was a gorgeous course. This golf course was even prettier than the one we went to in Jamaica over the summer. The cactus, desert, and mountains were all around us. So different than where I am used to living!
Seriously, how beautiful was the view from this hole? I would go with Steven every day to golf if this is what I could look at! Fore!!!!!
Our third flip house is nearing completion and I thought I would give everyone a closer look at what we have been doing the last six weeks! I would say we have about two weeks left of things that still need to be done before total completion. We are still lacking carpet, granite countertops, a few light fixtures, sod, and landscaping. Those are all scheduled to go in sometime in the next two weeks.
If anyone knows someone (or even themselves) that is looking for a great house please let me know. This house has some character and was very "weird" when we first 
bought it. Over the last six weeks we have made it much more "normal" but kept some of the oddness that I have grown fond of now. This house has BRAND NEW flooring, showers, tubs, bathrooms, stucco, landscaping, sod, concrete, electrical, plumbing, paint, carpet, light fixtures, doors, knobs, sinks, faucets, trim work...the list could go on but I think you get the picture.
It is a great house in the Union school district with a neighborhood park, pool, and tennis court. It is located at 65th and Memorial near Woodland Hills Mall, Wal Mart, Gold's Gym, and many more
stores and restaurants.
The house is 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and a playroom. 2,642 square feet. Please put the word out!!! It should be listed in about 2 weeks.
This weekend was a big mess of lots of different activities. We were supposed to have football practice on Friday night but due to the fields being too wet we cancelled practice. Good for us! A little more family time was needed anyways. Enter "Watty". The pumpkin. The first Jack O' Latern the boys have ever made. The love him. He sits on our fireplace and I have to light him first thing in the 
morning (this morning it was 5:45 am thanks to the time change). Owen has named him "Watty" and we have no idea why. I don't know where that name comes from, where he heard it, or what it means. "Watty" is very important to O Man though and he talks about him and to him all the time:) Will named him "Sooner". 
Shocker!
Saturday morning it was time to get up and head to the football fields for Will's last day of games. He was sad and wanted to win both games to go out on a high note. I was proud of him for trying his best, pulling tons of flags, and scoring 2 touchdowns for the total of the day. He had a double header on Saturday with games at 10am and 2pm. His team won BOTH games and he was pumped!
At the end of the game my friend Melinda gave me my picture orders that she did for us last month. Hello...I am in love with these pictures! They were all amazing and she does awesome work. These two were my favorites though because they were of my babies. My babies that aren't really babies anymore but always will be to me. Check out her website at Melhunphotography.com to book your Fall session. She is great!
Now....to go enjoy my lazy Sunday. My favorite day of the week!
Ahh...Halloween! The perfect night to eat a teeny amount of dinner and then splurge all your calories on candy. The perfect night to walk around this awesome neighborhood all while sneakingly 
grabbing kids treats and eating them as their up at doors getting more candy (not that I did this at all, but I could have seen other parents doing it:)
My boys love Halloween (what kid doesn't?) This year they were more brave than last year even. We have some pretty scary houses in our hood filled with fog machines, hands and heads coming from the ground, people that jump out and scare you, things that fall of roofs, and even a house that has a cage (yes a cage) with a person in it that jumps out at you. Both boys did every house we came upon this year though. I was proud of them. Last year the cage house really got Owen. He was never the same after that 
for the rest of the night. This year, with Daddy's help, he went right up, got his candy, and was OUT OF THERE! No tears though:)
Tonight Ironman and Spongebob got to share in 
their fun with Doc McStuffins and a furry cat. They had a blast together and ran like speeding bullets to each house. I love watching these four cousins grow up together. That's super special!
I'm going out on a limb here but I think, just maybe, that the boys have enough candy to last them quite some time. This picture was taken after about 15 pieces were already consumed. Geez! I feel sorry for all those teachers that have to handle kids today in school. Cranky, tired, and coming down from a sugar high. I don't envy them. Not at all. Happy Halloween!
He LOVES football maybe more than all the above things.
whole time we were there. 
