Sunday, June 26, 2011

Walkin' in the Rain



The Y sponsored a 5 mile run and a 2 mile walk last weekend so Mallory and I signed up to walk the two miles. The morning of the walk it was dark and rainy and stormy and there was lightening but the race went on and so did we. Paul had a meeting so I pushed Michael in the stroller since I didn't think he would make it. I was proud of Mallory for her diligence in the rain. She did great! I hope we can more of these. The next day when I got to church Paul was helping the kids out of the car and said we were in the paper that morning. Sure enough this big ol' picture was up on the bulletin board in the foyer. The caption said something about us heading to the finish of the two mile walk and it looked like we were struggling to make it. I wanted to say "hey, last Saturday I was walking a marathon!" :)






Thursday, June 23, 2011

Father's Day Special


Mallory has been singing in the service on Father's Day for about 4 years and last year Michael joined in. Here they are this past Sunday.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Special Fathers

It's Father's Day morning and I can't help but think of some of the wonderful fathers who have been and still are a tremendous part of my life.

This is my father's father, Thomas Howard Claunch. My dad and brother are named after him and while they go by Tom and Thomas, respectively, he went by Howard to most and Granddaddy or Granddaddy T to us. He was from Arkansas and if I remember the story right went to to college with Bear Bryant. He was a colonel in the Army and got a graduate degree from Harvard. What a great man he was. I can picture him reclining in his big chair eating cornbread mushed up in buttermilk. I recently asked my dad if he liked that and he said, "no!" He loved my grandmother so much and she was extremely devoted to him. She was only 62 when he died at the age of 70 but never took off her rings and never had a thought of dating or remarrying. Theirs was a real sweet love story.

This is my mother's daddy, George Ewen. He was a kind, gentle and humble man who raised five kids on a farm in Oklahoma. Although they didn't have much he did all he could to provide for the family and his children. My mother still has the accordion he bought her so she could take lessons and she knows now what a sacrifice it must have been to pay for all that. She tells a story of him hitching up their horse and buggy during a terrible snow storm to take her sister to school so she could keep her perfect attendance record. He loved to play chess with my brother and me when we were there in the summer time. He always had on overalls and I somehow ended up with a pair of his after he died. I will always treasure them and the memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa on the farm in Oklahoma.


This is my new granddad, John Joubert. I inherited him when my dad married June, he's her dad. He and Benita, or Papa and Mama as we are calling them, visited us this past year and spent Christmas with us in KY. He's a sweet and special man and I am so thankful to have him in my life.


This is Paul's dad, Joseph Matte. I think he looks kind of like Ray Romano in this picture and what's cute is that Paul's mom was a big fan of Everybody Loves Raymond. I never met him as he died on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 61 when Paul was only 25. He worked hard as a tug boat captain off shore to support his five sons and three daughters often being gone for weeks at a time. Paul said he loved to read and worked on guns for a hobby. I'm sure he was a good man to have raised 8 responsible, hard working children.



This is my mother's husband, Lothar Zell. He was born and raised in Germany which was neat because my mother's side of the family is German. Lothar and Mother were engaged a month and a day after meeting. They got married a few months later and that was 16 years ago. Lothar is a wonderful husband to my mother and still to this day gets her door getting in and out of the car every time. I love that! He takes great care of her and for that my brother and I will always be grateful. Lothar is an engineer and very smart! He's an inventor (check out this great item he has patented and is selling) and always gets things done in a timely manner. My favorite story about this was one day in April when we were in Montgomery heading to the zoo he wanted to stop by a printer to pick up some flyers for a show they would be doing. He needed to get that taken care of right then, no messing around. Guess when the show was? November! He's great with Mallory and Michael going to kiddie movies and helping them fix toys.


This of course is my wonderful father, Tom Claunch. I could write a book on the great things he has taught me in my life but this is getting really long! He's always been so supportive of my brother and me in everything we have attempted to do. He is super intelligent, a big reader, funny and fun and just an all around wonderful daddy!!! He gave Bud and me a love for travel at an early age and we have had the benefits of that ever since. He raised us in the church and taught us the importance of family and God. He just had his 40th birthday of being sober and we are soooooooo proud of him and the work he does helping people with addictive diseases. We love our dad. He's a terrific granddad too and the kids are crazy about him. We miss him being so far away in New Zealand but always look forward to his visits.

Now look at this sweet daddy. My kids' daddy is such a wonderful father. I am so thankful for him and the relationship he has with our children. Here he is comforting Michael after he got hit with a soccer ball and in the picture below he is...well, the expression on his face says it all!! Thank you Lord for blessing me with this man who is a great husband and an awesome father to our kids!!!


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Friday, June 17, 2011

Mallory's First Field Trip

Mallory's Kindergarten class went to the Louisville Zoo on what was her first school field trip. Michael and I chaperoned. Fun day at the zoo.










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Monday, June 13, 2011

Hatfield McCoy Marathon-I made it!

I walked my third marathon this past Saturday with a time of 6:04. This wasn't as good as my second one (5:39) but was better than my first (6:12) when I was only 35! I was really happy to finish and thankful to have made it. It's a really great feeling of accomplishment to do these marathons. I might even do another one some day. The training is grueling and of course during the thing you are so exhausted but it's worth it. The weather plays a huge factor in things. My 5:39 time was at the Memphis marathon during the month of December-way cooler. My first half of this one I did in 2:49 and it was much cooler than the second half. We had a great time in West Virginia. The people were great and the race was well done. The race takes place on the WV/KY state line and is a very interesting course. I highly recommend it. It's a small marathon, only 500 total participants between the full and the half so you are really made to feel special and not just one of thousands like in the big city marathons. I put together an album of our trip. Click here to see more pix from the marathon and our little side trip to Camden Park on the way.


I came in 182nd out of 237. Here are the race results.
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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Michael's Last Day of School

The picnic got rained out but the last day was as special as always with their program and singing. So precious.











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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Michael is 4 today!

Happy 4th Birthday to my precious son, Michael Paul Matte! I love you so much Buddy.






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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Cheap Entertainment

I took Michael and Jon to our new Petsmart while I was getting the oil changed on our van next door at Wal Mart. They loved looking at the animals and it was a great time filler. After that we got some lunch at the Wal Mart Deli. Fun times with boys.






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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Mother's Day Dinner Out

May is a great month for me! I get to pick the restaurant for my Mother's Day and birthday celebrations the same month. And they are far enough apart that we go out twice! This year it was Rafferty's in Lexington. I love that place! It reminds me of Houston's and is just about as good in my opinion. After dinner we went to Orange Leaf mainly because the kids wanted to but I enjoyed it as well. I am so thankful to be a MOMMY!






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