Happy 4th of July!

I just spent the last 30 minutes trying to get red window crayon out of our white carpet. Vivian decided to eat part of the crayon, spread it all over her face, and then the carpet. It doesn't look perfect, but it never did to begin with. I fucking hate carpet. Not sure if I've ever sworn on this blog before. That's how strongly I feel about it. Since the stupid spot cleaner is out of the basement, I've refilled the solution and might tackle some other areas after the kids are in bed tonight. Fun times on a Saturday night!

Bernie is on evening shifts currently and will remain on them through the holiday. I am taking the kids over to a friends BBQ today and Michaela and Craig's house on Monday (I should probably go RSVP), so we will stay busy. I hope to avoid too many fireworks as they have always freaked me out. Luckily they are mostly illegal in Longmont. We are often in Mandan with Bernie's family over the 4th where almost anything goes. I hide in the house for most of the night! Bernie got Bennett some snaps and snakes. I'm sure he will get a kick out of those.

The race is finally over...for this year anyway. I don't plan to start on too much planning for next year until September. I'm hopeful that Mindy and I can find a few more people who want to be involved to make things go more smoothly. It would be great to be able to delegate tasks and not worry so much about every little thing. The actual event went well with a few to-be-expected hiccups (not enough shade in 90 degree heat for example). I haven't gotten any complaints from those who attended. It was very emotional with Mindy and I crying at multiple points during the morning. Overall, it was well worth the effort.

We are at over $17,500 now. It's possible we could still get to $20,000, depending on donations over the next month and employer matches. We had just over 200 participants. I had no idea what to expect. I did think there would be more walk-ups than we ended up having, but it is probably best that we didn't get inundated the first time. The guy who timed and managed the race thought we did well and that anytime there are 200 at a first-time race, things look good for growth in the future. We raised the registration price from by $5 at our event (compared to other PW's in the nation) to pay for the management and timing. We fell short about by $300.

Vivian is having all kinds of trouble with her skin. It has always been sensitive, but earlier this week it broke out badly. It was red, scaly, and itchy. I took her to the MD and she was disagosed with eczema. He thought it was related to a dairy intolerance. So now I am on a dairy-free diet which isn't as bad as I had thought. The saddest part is no mochas. BOOOO. Vivian also has a prescription skin oil and things are looking much better. Her poor eye still looks red and itchy though. We'll see how things go until her nine month appointment in a couple of weeks and talk about adding the dairy back in slowly to see what happens.

Vivi also finally sprouted her first tooth yesterday! At least seeing it explained why she was up crying fore three hours the night before.