London's Run

Glade, Laurie (who really needs hair), Stephen, Rhett, Nick

London's Run. Today we ventured out for our second 10K. By we I mean the boys and I. Glade ran his first half marathon, 13.1 miles. This is a charity event for some families in our area who have lost children to cancer. The run was kind of tough, it was dirt roads that were kinda bumpy. It was super cold (see your breath) when we got there, but warmed up as soon as the sun came up. Totally sweating by the end.

There was a fun group of us running "together". My three boys: Nick, Stephen and Rhett, Gena, Julia, Jake, Brett, and of course Glade and I. There were several other people there from our ward and even a couple of bunko friends. (that includes you Jerel!)

We were at the very beginning of the starting line. I wanted an accurate time. I started off really good, my first mile was just under 10 minutes and by mile 3 I was still at 10 minute miles. I ran pretty much the whole time. I only walked about 5 minutes total. My pace got much slower of course, but at least I was still running. The sucky part was that people just kept passing me! Where were all the walkers? Lots of times people start walking around the middle and then you catch up. Not today. I just kept reminding myself that it was only about me. I just needed to beat my last time. I ran into Rhett about mile 4 and he was walking along sobbing. The good mother that I am, I stopped running to check things out. I'm pretty sure he was just frustrated that his friend was far ahead of him. The quitter in him was shining brightly. He didn't say any of that by the way, a mom just knows. I told him to just walk and take deep breaths and try to get to the end. Then I told him I had to go...lol. He kept up with me after that. I think he beat me by about 10 seconds. Little Stinker.

The last mile was killer. You tell yourself "only a mile, no prob." but your legs are like noodles and your muscles are starting to protest and it seems like forever before you see those balloons telling you you can stop now. I came in at 1:08:15. That is just over two minutes better than the last time. I was a little disappointed because I thought there would be a bigger difference since I ran almost the whole time. It's still good, I have to remember: progress. Nick came in at 51 minutes which is about 10 minutes faster than last time. Stephen was 1:14 which was 5 minutes faster. He came in with a smile this time, I was happy to see that.

Glade had a rough day. For starters, he left his running shoes at work so he had to run in big heavy basketball shoes. He kept up his 10 minute miles up till mile 9. The last three miles his Achilles was locking up and his legs were killing him. He finished in 2:20. Way to go babe! We are all feeling a little sore this afternoon.

After the races, we hung around for just a little while to talk to friends and the boys did some rock climbing and Nick rode the fake bull. It was a fun morning and I love that this has become something fun for us to do as a family.

Glade coming across the finish line. Look at him smiling! I was using my old camera cuz it's little. I think I have gotten really spoiled!

Stephen coming down from the rock wall. He didn't get very far.

Rhett got so close but said he was scared being up so high.

Nick did great on the bull. He had to remove his glasses and it looked like he kept his eyes closed the whole time.

This was me thinking I was getting a picture of him being thrown off, I guess I missed!


Side note, the date is really off on my camera

Conversations of a Stay At Home Mom

Today was Costco day, or as Katy calls it "tacos". She has all the sounds in there, just not in the right order. Today I didn't even make them get in the cart. Am I brave or what? We ran into a friend who was there getting flowers for his wife's birthday. (This is important later.) Right before we were checking out I did a last minute grab of a bag of chocolate pretzels. Silly me. So we had pizza like always then headed out. I really didn't want to go home and let them veg for an hour in front of the TV so we decided to go to the park instead. On the way there I passed back a few chocolate pretzels. Bo says "why do they call them chocolate pretzels?" Ummmm, "because they are pretzels with chocolate on them." Bo: "why do they put chocolate on them?" Ummmm, "because they are yummy." Bo: "yummy in my belly!" No, I say, "yummy in your TUMMY. See how they rhyme?" He insists it's belly cuz that's what uncle Ricky says. It took me only seconds to realize I wasn't going to win this one and let it pass. Then after a few minutes of silence he asks "why don't WE get flowers for OUR life?" me: "huh?" He repeats himself and I realize, He got flowers for his wife. So I explain that's not what was said and he then wonders why Dalin didn't get any flowers for his birthday. Stop thinking already!!!

We went to the park and as I was sitting there, I realized: why am I just sitting here? So I got up and walked around the sidewalk that circled the play area for half an hour. Yeah me! Not a huge amount of exercise, but more than just sitting on a bench! On the way home, the knock knock jokes started. This is painful. Bo started. When I say who's there, he says "boo" (this is my favorite one). I say "boo who?" He then says "Boo who is wearing a hat that has on a Wall-E costume!" followed by much laughter. This is what makes this such a painful transaction. Katy wants in on it, so she just says knock knock and banana over and over. Lucky for me my part in this is pretty small. Also in my favor, we were only about a mile from home! As truly precious as all this is, and I mean that, it's also what makes date night so anticipated.

Tomorrow is our 10K so we are going out with some other friends who are running to carb up as Glade puts it. I'm only nervous about the run because my butt muscle has been giving me trouble for about a week now. Not sure how that's going to work. I'm sure I'll know soon!

Big Girl, Big Bed

Katy turns two on Sunday so I thought it was time she get out of the crib. Since Brooklyn is her new room mate, we had to get a new dresser and a new bed to accommodate everyone. I guess if a mattress on the floor constitutes a new bed! She was SO excited. Since Grandma and Grandpa Whitley always send money for their birthdays, I got her an early gift from them. She now has her own Tinkerbell bed set. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Normally I'm a little weird about everything matching, but after reading a friend's blog, I decided to let that go. At least all the colors match in the room. We spent the evening trying to rearrange and put clothes into the new dresser and organize toys, etc. She went to bed pretty well other than she just doesn't like to go to bed! I was prepared for an early morning since there is nothing to keep her there. What I wasn't prepared for was 2:30 am. I heard her little pitter patter down the hall way and she so cheerfully announces "Sleep!" (When Bo wakes up he always says "I had a good sleep!") She was not happy to be put back in her bed. Glade had to use is charms to get her to settle down. I swear he knows that little squeeze on the neck that makes you pass out! When she did get up in the morning, she yells "Bell! Bell!" I love her.

The hunt, the catch and the release

I woke up this morning determined to find a white dresser for one of the bedrooms. I checked Craig's list, even went to pick one up cash in hand. When I got there it was much littler than I had wanted and wasn't made very well. I went to 3 different furniture stores, didn't even have a single white dresser. How hard is this? I remembered Costco had furniture right now so off we went. Nothing white. With that in mind, I drove clear out to Costco Home. My kids were holding up really well. They did have 2 white dressers, only a couple of hundred dollars more than I was willing to pay. So I settled on a natural wood one that was a little more affordable. We picked up a mattress as well and headed home to take a nap. Whew, shopping in stores where there are no carts is exhausting! At least Katy won't be in a crib till she's two (her birthday is Sunday). I 'm really not looking forward to trying to rearrange everything. Good thing I have strong boys to do the hard work!

Have you ever been fishing? You know when you are certain there is something like a boot on the end of your hook instead of a fish? For some reason, occasionally, it's hard to not keep trying to reel it in. You know it's no good and you know there's nothing in it for you at the end but you just can't seem to let it go. That would be me right now. I'm really trying to just cut the string and give up the fight but I'm not very good at it. One thing I know for sure - Stew in the night gives you nothing but indigestion and bags under your eyes!

Scouting Awards

Last night was pack meeting and both Rhett and Dalin got awards. Normally I wouldn't take pictures and post about it except it was Rhett getting his Arrow of Light. He is very excited about it, but sad to leave his current leaders. They are awesome! He leaves right as Dalin comes in, this was Dalin's first pack meeting.

Chesley started the meeting out by singing the National Anthem. You couldn't really hear her, but I was grateful that she was willing and I'm sure she sounded beautiful! (Occasionally she does wear shoes *sigh*)

This is Dalin getting his Bobcat stripes painted on his cheek by Dad. Kind of a mess, we'll have to work on that too.

Rhett walking across the bridge being welcomed by his new leader.


Akela giving them the "you did a great job" speech.

I need a Maid...

I'm having such a hard time staying caught up with my life this last week or so. So many things I think throughout the day "I need to blog that" and then I don't and by the time I get the chance to sit down and do it something else has happened and I forget. So today I'm just rambling. No particular order.

Sunday, Chelsey asked Jerek to Morp. (Prom backwards) She had made a carrot cake on Saturday which turned out to be a disaster and put her in tears. So Sunday I helped her do another one. She decorated it with a big carrot that said Morp? on it. Then she stuck a little card with it that said "Some bunny wants to asks you to Morp. If you "carrot" all, you'll say yes." It was a little tricky delivering it because he offered to give her a ride to where they were going that night and she didn't want to ask him, then turn right around and go somewhere with him. Awkward. So after they left, we took it to his house for when he got home.
Last night around 10 pm the doorbell rang. We figured it was him. He left a bucket full of carrots with little cut up letters mixed in on the doorstep. On the bucket it said "Somebunny does "carrot". The card said "A ____ like me would love to go with a ______like you. In the bucket was a Big Hunk candy and a box of Sweethearts. (fill in the blanks). It was super cute and now we have a ton of carrots!

Sunday while laying down with Bo I asked what he learned in Sunbeams. He sat up and said with wide eyes "Did you know our bodies are temples??" We talked about that a little and I was so grateful for a wonderful primary teacher who takes the time to get through a lesson with a bunch of wiggly 3 yr olds. It's working!

Yesterday Stephen had his first playoff game for football. They had lost 6 boys to grade checks. They were playing the whole game with only 7 kids. No breaks or replacements. I'm pretty sure that the other team scored every time they had the ball and even sometimes when it was our ball. So hard to watch. They even called it with a few minutes left to end the torture. The one bright spot: The ref came over to our coach while the boys were huddled to console him a little and said "Well, if nothing else you have a center with a GREAT snap!" Guess who plays center - Stephen! That made up for the loss just a smidge for him. Baseball starts soon.

We did some room switching this weekend. I brought Brooklyn down to room with Katy and put Bo up with Dalin. I thought Dalin needed to stop being the baby and take on some responsibility. That was a good thought till Stephen decided he wanted away from Nick and Rhett so he switched with Dalin. I have no idea how it will all work out. At least I can keep a better eye on Brooklyn and hopefully break some of her bad habits. I miss Bo already though.

London's Run is on Saturday so you are not supposed to work out too much before a race, let your body rest. I haven't run at all since the 9 miles on Thursday. I decided to go to the gym and see if I could just run the whole 3 miles without stopping. I did! It's only the second time I've ever done it. My body is strong, my mind is weak. I do as well as I tell myself I'm going to. Gotta work on that.

I need a maid. With all that has gone on in the last week, my laundry is piled everywhere. Clean, dirty, some I'm not sure of. Most of it in my room which totally bugs Glade, sorry honey! I still have scout stuff to do for tonight's pack meeting. If only I could wave a wand and have my house cleaned, the yard done, and my kids happy and clean for just a few hours. Nice thought. Reality says I better get at it.

here there and everywhere

My Saturday was supposed to start out with me going and spending a few hours getting my nails done and getting a pedicure. That had been the plan for a week now. Didn't happen. I forgot I had children when I made that plan! Rhett had a soccer game from 10 till 11. They won and Rhett took one right in the belly. Had a great ball mark to prove it. Chelsey had to be to work by noon and Whitley needed a ride to a friends house. I wanted to go to a friends birthday party during the afternoon, but the missionaries called and wanted to know if I would meet them at this girl's home who I visit teach at 1pm. That gave me an hour between dropping Chelsey off and getting to the appt. Brooklyn had a free kids meal coupon so she came with me and we got to eat lunch at McD's. Yum...not. Then we went to Party City to get some stuff for scouts and Katy's party next week. That's always a fun place to be. We got back just in time to push Brooklyn out of the car and head to the appt.

This was an experience like I have never had before. I won't go into detail, but I have never really experienced this kind of lifestyle firsthand or up close. She was just assigned to me so I had only met her once. I came away very mystified and feeling guilty for passing judgement. I know people change and I was one of them, but did people have these same feelings about me? Did they think "really, her??" Anyway, on a note of optimism, how great if they come around!

Got home around 2, which is the time Stephen had a presidency meeting for the Deacons. Lucky for me another Mom was picking everyone up. They had a really great time and Stephen and one of the other boys really did some good bonding. I laid down for half and hour then back to pick up Chelsey by 3. I took her home and headed to my nail place where I had an appt for 4 pm. Now was MY time! Well, they were really busy. So even though I got exactly what I wanted, it wasn't very relaxing. I was worried for them the whole time and feeling bad for all the people who were sitting around waiting. My nails look great and it was all good, just not what I was anticipating. Is it ever?

I headed to Wal Mart to get some last minute things for Sunday dinner. By the time I got home, it was time to head out to go pick up Whitley from her friends house. Chelsey had a date and I wanted to be there to meet him, but he was late so I had to leave to go get Whitley. Lucky for me he was REALLY late so I got to meet him after all. We had a fend for yourself dinner then I sat down to sew on more scout patches and watch a Cinderella Story. Love that one. Glade and Nick came home, gathered Sunday clothes and we all headed to bed.

So in a day of going here, there and everywhere, I didn't get much accomplished at all. But hey, my nails look fabulous!

My first girls night

Friday night I went out with some of my friends to celebrate a birthday. Glade happened to be going out of town with the scouts so I was free. We (I) had so much fun! We went to Olive Garden and I ate something way outside of my points limits, but it was sooo yummy. Girl talk was fabulous. I was extra lucky because I had Bunko the night before so I had two nights of silly girl stuff. We stayed at the restaurant till 10 pm. What a blessing to have great friends. Now, this was my first GNO in the literal sense. Glade and I have never had that kind of relationship where we leave the other behind to go play with our friends. Of course, we do lots of things with out each other, but date nights are for us. Even though he was not available or even home, I still had a twinge of guilt at going out on a "date night" without him. As fun as it was, and it really was, I would still choose him. I got home around 10:30 and as soon as I walked in the door, I got a text from him asking if I was home yet. Just the sound of his ringtone made me totally smile. Yep, it's definitely him I love being with the most! So, Shelli, thanks for being born and thanks for including me in a great night out. Thanks to Glade who texted me and made the whole great night that much better.

Free Groceries and School suspension

Yesterday one of my boys was caught with a paper with very inappropriate writings on it. The principal was not there so they were just calling to let me know and that I could pick up the paper after school. I was pretty sure it was violence. My boys like to draw dragons and warriors and crap like that. Not too worried. Our school is VERY strict about stuff like that which I am totally OK with. When I picked up the paper, I was shocked at what was written on it. We have much bigger problems was what I was thinking. I found the child and asked him what the heck? He tells me he didn't write any of it, another kid did. After talking to him a little, I believed him and went inside to talk to the Asst. Principal. I told him the situation and he just smiled and nodded with the head tilt and very demeaningly dismissed me as a mother who thinks her kid could do no wrong. I was not happy. We had some really good conversations at home about what should have happened and I think there was sincere remorse for the poor choices made.

Today I called to get a meeting with the principal and they called me back and said it wasn't really necessary but I needed to come pick him up because he was being suspended for the day. I told the secretary the situation, so they called both boys to the office and the truth did come out. I still had to come and get him which is fine, he did participate and that was wrong. What I was upset about was that if I had not called, he would have been totally unaware of the truth of the matter. The Asst. Principal did nothing. I know there are a lot of parents who think their children could do no wrong but I am certainly not one of them. In the end, it all worked out and hopefully both boys learned a good lesson. I was grateful for Mr. Lee and his ability to be open minded and fair. He is very tough and tolerates nothing: fabulous.

On the bright side of the day - FREE GROCERIES!! This is the time of year I get my Costco rebate check back. Not only did it pay for my next year's membership, but I also got $82 in free groceries. I stocked up on all the essentials and it feels great! I try to be smart in my purchasing, so if it's the same at Costco or somewhere else, I will always buy Costco. 2% is 2%.

This MOMENTUS occasion

I have wanted to get my feelings down for a few days now, but every time I start, I get frustrated. I'm not looking for opinions or debates or to offend anyone. This is for my posterity on what it was like when the first black president was elected.

Let me begin my saying I have no actual problem with Barrak Obama nor do I have anything against black people. I'm sure he is a very nice man and color is totally irrelevant to me. In trying to figure out why I'm so...I don't know...exasperated with this situation, I have come to a few conclusions. During this week of inaugural stuff, I have not wanted to be a part of it at all. It's not the man in the position, rather the people who put him there. I have not felt like a proud American these last few months. It feels like he was put there because of his color. Would Oprah have paraded around with him like she did had he been a white guy? Chances are - no. Why is the black community thinking that life is going to change for them now, or that they have finally made it somewhere? For not wanting to be segregated or pointed out, it sure feels like there is a lot of pointing out going on right now. I believe he was elected because, as Glade puts it, he is a "rockstar". Flashy, young, a "cool dude". Is that the qualities we are putting at the top of our list these days? The things mostly said about John McCain was that he is some "old dude". Maybe there is a little wisdom and experience in being an "old dude". I think we were left with two not so great choices this election. Lucky for me I don't believe the president has nearly as much power as people give him credit for. So whoever fills that position, whatever.

On that note, my feelings are also hurt about how George Bush had to leave office. He should never have had to walk away with his tail between his legs. I'm so angry that the American people put the blame for our careless spending and frivolous lifestyles on him. He dealt with a lot of really hard things during his presidency and I think he should be honored and thanked for sticking it out and doing the best he knew how. When are we going to take responsibility for ourselves? If given the opportunity, I would love to give him a hug, and say "thank you, great job Mr. President."

I'm still grateful for a country full of freedoms and for the ability to worship as I please and for my children to have so many great opportunities, but I'm sad and concerned at the direction our society, as a whole, is headed. I'm normally very patriotic and feel a great sense of pride about the country I live in, but not today.

New Running Record

So the last few days I have been pretty grouchy for some unknown reason. Today was no different. I didn't run yesterday and going a whole day without it makes me stress a little. Today I set out to run 6 miles one more time before the race in a week. I also have Bunko tonight which = pig out. I really needed to burn the calories as well. I went to the gym and got right to it. At about 4 miles, I thought "it's not happening today" but kept going. Once I got to about 5 and a half, I thought "I'm feeling ok, maybe I'll actually go 7 miles today so I can burn a few more calories. So I did. Then when I got to 7 I figured I might as well go 8. So I did. Once I got to 8, my butt muscle started bugging me again, but I felt really good. The program on the treadmill only does 3.1 miles at a time. By this time, I was almost through the 3rd cycle of the program so I figured I might as well finish it out. 9.5 miles!!! I kept my same running pace through the whole thing. My first 5k (3.1 miles) was like 33 minutes and the second two were about 38 minutes. Not too bad! AND I didn't faint, puke or die! (Jillian). I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow or maybe even later today, but who cares...what a great feeling. Plus, I burned over 1200 calories. That's like a whole days worth. If I eat even a little bit smart at Bunko, I'll still be good! Yeah ME! (in the words of London Tipton)

Birthday Activities

Dalin's birthday lasted about 3 days this year. None of these pictures were actually on his birthday. This is of the kids warming their hands around the fire while waiting for the last one to come down stairs. This is Monday night, the day before his birthday.

Dalin waiting patiently to be sung to and the ever anticipated "make a wish".

This is my very lame attempt to make plain ole cupcakes look like something better. For girls it's easy to put a few pretty sprinkles on and have them look cute. It was a very last minute plan and I had nothing "boy". So I made them into an 8.



For his party, we went to see Bedtime Stories. Glade and I had already seen it, but he wanted to go really bad so we did. The boys came over, opened gifts, then we headed to the movies. They were all really good and liked the movie. I even liked it the 2nd time! We were supposed to go get lunch, but they were all too full from popcorn and soda. Woohoo for me! Dalin has good friends and we love him dearly. He is still waiting for his Grandma to take him to his birthday lunch. After a slightly frustrating conversation of him trying to pin her down, he finally says "Any 'ol pizzeria will do." Only Dalin.

David, Dalin, Zack and Tyler.

We missed Stake Baptisms by 3 days so he doesn't get to get baptized till next month. He was a little disappointed about that, but he starts scouts today and he is way excited about that.

Happy Birthday to Dalin!

Today is Dalin's 8th birthday. Unfortunately, my computer is having it's hard drive replaced so now I only have my kids computer for a few days. I'm not going to upload all the cute pictures of his birthday activities till later, but I did want to mention it. Speaking of my kids computer, what a nasty virus we just battled. Some genius people out there I tell ya. Someone got a pop up that said our computer was at risk so click here to protect it. Sure enough, that was the virus. Then the only thing you could pull up was the ad that asked you to buy this ANTI-virus to solve the problem. What a great idea. Create a virus, then offer to fix it for a price. Lucky for us we have the IT guy as a brother in law. This morning I begged them all to stop falling for all the "you won an IPod" and "you are the millionth visitor" etc. crap that screws up our computer. We'll see if it gets any better.

Movie Review - Friday we saw Bride Wars. I thought it was really cute, made me laugh and cry. Glade did plenty of laughing as well. He said for a chick flick, it wasn't torturous. That's good I guess. Kate Hudson is adorable as always and Anne Hatheway didn't bug me this time so I guess that's good.

Saturday night we had games night at our house which went well. Mexican food and some fun games. My kids behaved really well and I think everyone had a good time. Bunko is Thursday, that's always something to look forward to. Still don't have a gift though, I should get on that. Gotta go cut my bread. I let it rise too much so it fell a little. Stinky.

PS - I can't wait till all this inauguration crap is over. I can hardly stand to see any of it, which I have stayed clear. Still, just be done with it already!

Forgot to include my little cuties

These were taken at Stephen's game, can't forget these ones! I took the two little ones so they could play at the park. Most games there isn't a park close but I knew there would be here so I thought it would be fun. What I didn't think about was bringing another sibling to help out at the park! I really wanted to watch the game but guess what they wanted to do....Swing! So I pushed and pushed and pushed....Finally I just said "All done!" and we were. They play so good together. I was lucky enough too that there was a couple of 10 yr old girls feeling nuturing and took Katy most places with them. Walked her up the steps to the slide while the other caught her at the bottom...Woo hoo!

This is where Bo spent most of his time. Up and down these little monkey bars. He's pretty good at it, but I kept having to get Katy down. This is him up at the top.

This is him at the bottom! I saw it happened and it didn't look too bad, but he laid there forever. I finally got up to go check on him since he wasn't moving for so long. I got about 5 steps and he jumped up and headed back up.

Tetherball anyone?

Jr. High Sports

Yeesh, I uploaded backwards again! Stephen is playing flag football for the school right now. They totally su- I mean, they still need a little practice. He really enjoys it though and after a few "snap-offs" he got the starting position of center or the snapper. This game he got to go out and represent them as a captain..sniff sniff....so proud!


See the smiles on their faces? I believe this was their first and only touchdown of the day.

Stephen as the "snapper".

My lil' captain.

Pregame huddle for a little pep talk and "HUH!" I love that part.

Nick is running cross country and is the 4th best out of all the schools in our district. I don't have any pictures, but imagine a kid running really fast. No action at all! It's very unfortunate that he hasn't put all the pieces together yet, but got this amazing miracle of them not having a "grade check" at Christmas break, which was when the grading period ended. That would have been his 3rd strike and he would have been done. He was able to run two more races before the axe fell. I just wish he would love something enough to fight for it. So now he is done. Next thing coming up is regular track, maybe he can get it together before then.

Six miles or Bust

My plans to run 6 miles has continually been tested. Today I swore I would do it. I have a 10K in two weeks and I need to go the distance one more time. I went to the gym (snotty children and all) and when I got upstairs, all the treadmills were full. Now what?? I could hang out on another machine for awhile, but what a waste of my energy. Instead, I loitered. As soon as I saw a woman's time start the cool down, I went and stood behind her treadmill. Rude, I know. At this point I didn't really care. I wanted to get my run in! So I did. Mental is truly harder than the physical, but I made it with a pretty good time as well, for me anyway. I did an hour and 12 minutes. What's good about that is that it's only a little slower than I ran the Turkey Trot. I definitely pushed myself more during the race than I do on the treadmill. Hopefully I can beat my time at this next race.

When I picked my kids up out of the daycare, Katy was screaming and stuck up in the slide. No one even noticed. I asked two little girls if they could help pull her down. She just looked at me and said "I'm too little!" Grrr, I so not very nicely told her to get out of the way then cuz the fat old lady had to try to squeeze up those little steps to help her. OK, so that's not exactly what I told her, but I wasn't very nice. When I got up to her, she had a huge green snot hanging down to her chin. Maybe that's why no one would help her! I had no choice but to grab it and wipe it on my shirt, yes I'm still swallowing hard as I talk about it now. I kept trying to tell myself that it's ok, just be glad there is somewhere to take her so you can work out. Sigh, it still stinks.

Tonight we are going out with some friends. I hope the movie isn't bad. Sometimes you just never know. I'm going to try hard not to ruin my points this weekend like I did last weekend. I've still lost 5 lbs in the last two weeks, but I want to keep it that way. It sure helps to motivate you when the scale keeps dropping!

The Fight to Stand

What a slow and unproductive day. I had great ambitions to go run 6 miles this morning, but Katy had such a green snotty nose I decided against taking her to the gym with me. Which, actually, worked out well because Nick had a track meet after school at the park and I like to run while I'm there. He came in 4th again. Since his event is a whole whopping 7 minutes, I run around the park while there is down time. It's kind of nice to run outside without cars and crappy streets and to have some incline. Anyway, when I decided not to go to the gym, I thought maybe I would visit my mom, but she had plans this morning. So we stayed put at home in our jammies! That turned out to be a good choice because Katy was asleep on the living room floor by 9:30. She woke up about a half hour later and came and found me and slept on my lap for another half an hour.

That was the sad part of the day for me. She looked awful, you know when they don't feel good and their eyes are not bright and sparkly and their nose is crusty, stuff like that. While she was falling back to sleep, I just sat and watched her. It made me think of a friend I just talked to from high school who had to hold his 3 yr old in his arms just like that and watch her take her last breaths. I can't even imagine. It broke my heart to look at her with that thought and I KNEW she was going to wake up. Makes me very sad for all the parents who have had to do things like that. I'm very blessed.

Once she woke up, she was on the go again. That's where the fight to stand comes in. She kind of thinks she is potty training. She wears "unnies" when she feels like it, lots of times over her diaper, I know, totally unproductive. Anyway, before naps I told Bo to go potty so he did. She started repeating "potty, potty" so I took off her diaper and started to sit her up on the toilet. She kicked and screamed at me. What the heck? I put her down and said "What?" She lifted the seat, faced the toilet (on her tip toes) and put her hips forward just like Bo did. I kept telling her it didn't work like that. She doesn't know the difference between boys and girls yet so that explanation meant nothing to her. Lucky for me she doesn't know how to make herself pee yet. I let her stand there for a second before I took her away to put a new diaper on her. Crazy girl.

Last great part of the day. After Nick's meet, we stopped at the store so I could go to the bank and get some biscuits. He wanted to get an MP3 with his birthday money so we went to look at them. Along the way I found some really cute, cream colored, LONG shorts for $3. Nice!

Taxi Anyone??

What a day! It actually started out quite pleasant. Baths for the kids, trip to Costco (I love going to Costco), lunch at Chick Fil A, then home. The unpleasant part was when Katy fell asleep in the car at 11:15. By the time I got groceries put away and got Bo down, She was ready to get up. What do people do all afternoon?? She watched Dora and I got my scout stuff organized. I'm like that when I get a new calling. New binder, print outs, etc. Very organized. I even sewed on some patches. Actually I sewed the same three patches on 8 times!!! I hate that.

After school can always be a little crazy, but then it's always one kid who throws a huge wrench into your best laid plans. Today it was Brooklyn. She had to stay after school for a council meeting. To make a long story short, now that I had this extra trip, all my travel plans had to change. Here's how it ended up:

Pick up kids from school
Drop off some at home and leave to take Stephen to football game.
First, have to pick up Brooklyn and Rhett back at the school.
Stephen lost (found it later exactly where he looked) his mouth guard and can't play without it, trip to Wal Mart.
Take Stephen to school where game is being played, late.
Take Brooklyn all the way back by our home for activity days.
Back to school to pick up Nick.
Back to Football game, see 15 minutes of it. They got trampled.
Back home to drop off boys then straight to pick up Brooklyn at activity days.
Home at last.

All that in about 1 and a half hours. Seriously I was only out of the car to run into walmart and at Stephen's game. With that much time in the car, I should have ended up somewhere really fun!
Thankfully Chelsey was at home with dinner mostly ready when we got there. Now it's a night filled with homework since no one was home to do any. Babies are BACK in the tub and I need to be supervising homework so off I go! That "taxi anyone" question.....NOT!

Tears for Jerry

Poor Jerry. I agree with that Dan has his whole life he needs to prepare for, but could you find a sweeter couple than Jerry and Stella?? I just kept thinking that Joelle would step up and offer to go home. Jerry was such a gentleman about the whole thing and looked so GREAT already. He'll be fine I'm sure, but what a sad ending. This season is SOOOO much better than last already. To see them helping each other up the hill. I'm back to feeling like part of a family that just wants each other to succeed. So hoping it stays that way.

I stayed under my points today and even went for a miserable short run. I have no idea why it seems to get harder and harder. However, I found some great 0 point foods. I tried the Progresso soup and it was OK. Definitely OK for 0 points! The MSG? Thank goodness...most of the "light" soups taste like nothing..yuck. Sugar Free Jello Pudding - Chocolate Banana..mmmmm (actually is 1 point) My biggest exciting find....0 point hot chocolate! Why did I not know about this sooner?? The Aspartame?? Yeah, whatever...I'll take my chances for a while if it means I can drink Diet Soda, hot chocolate and pudding! A girl needs what a girl needs.

Words Can NOT Describe...

Ok, so I lost the key to the building within hours of getting it. I have no idea how or where or what, it is a big mystery. Anyway.... I have looked and looked and had my kids look and look and even offered a monetary reward to anyone who found it. It has never left my home so it's here somewhere. After they had no success I decided to go ransack the upstairs. Let me preface...my children live up there and I have only ventured up there maybe less than 50 times in the 2 years we have lived here. I get angry when I go there and then they are very unhappy. I try to just let them have their space. No exception today. Words cannot describe what it looks like up there. No wonder they couldn't find it (I didn't either). I would like to say I ransacked it, but it was done long before I got up there. I went through drawers and closets and under beds and couches. Disgusting. I threw away most of the garbage, but left all the rest right out in the middle of the floor for a fun little project when they get home today. I'm far from a neat freak but Oh MY! Believe me when I say the temptation to take every one of their possessions is very great right now. Still no key. Grrrrrr.....

Just Feeling Happy

Ya know some days you just feel grouchy and you don't even really know why? Well today I feel happy and I really don't know why. Not complaining!! Random thoughts that made me smile.

Leslie saying "it's like I live next door" what a fun thought.
Jerel not wanting to intrude on our girls night...thanks!
Taking a shower and reading blogs with no kids..thanks Shelli.
Dishes done..nough said!
Finishing the fitness test at the gym, never happened before.
Chatting with my mom about nothing.
Finding Katy asleep on the lilving room floor.
My room is STILL mostly clean.
Checking in on old friends on Facebook.
Seeing an old picture of myself and being so grateful I don't look like that now.
Slipping my cold feet into my new silky slippers.

I guess there are a few reasons to be happy!

A Dirty Saturday

Today started with a nice sleep-in then an invite to go running at the track. I had already planned to go running so this was a nice way to get myself going. We spent about an hour at the track which was the equivalent of 4.75 miles. Mind you, we walked and gabbed about a mile of that. Spent some more time decluttering and crackin the whip to get my kids to do their Saturday chores. About 1 pm Glade decided to empty the garage and try to put everything back in an organized manner. It's 7 pm and he's still at it. We are now left with a bunch of stuff you look at and think "we should keep it" but in reality your brain says "why?"

Nick went to help some friends landscape their new yard and Stephen has been Ice fishing all day. That only left Rhett and Dalin to help dad. Whitley was inside with me and Chelsey had to work today. Brooklyn got to go to a friends house after her chores were done. Everyone is really dirty!

Now dinner is done and the babies are soaking in the tub. My big girls are headed out for different activities and I'm left with piles of clean laundry left to be put away. I guess I'll have to find a good movie and accomplish that nasty task. At least it will all be ready for early church, unlike last week. Tomorrow I have my first scout meeting that I am in charge of. I wish they would get the other girl called cuz it's weird...well...it's just weird. At least I have a lot of ideas so I'm not just running blind. Hopefully it will all go over well.

As I sit, Stephen just got home and brought a big stinky fish right into my room. Disgusting! When I asked what he was going to do with that, he said "go put it in the freezer." Just gonna toss it into the freezer...I don't think so! Shelli.....tell Matt..... NO FISH!! Ewwwwwwwww.....

Katy: Sweet and Sour

Meet sweet Katy. This is the charming little girl who's dimples can melt your heart. She is the one who runs with full force yelling your name and clinging to your legs every time you walk in the door. (Even if you just took the trash out) This is the little girl who sings cute songs and copies everything you do. She's adorable.

Meet sour Katy. This is the little girl who has discovered her own opinion and wants things no other way. The strong willed child who can no longer be distracted by something else. She wants what she wants and that's that! I have no idea where she got these traits from!?!? She is the little girl who will plop herself down and refuse to move until it's forcefully done for her. The same little girl who screams for 10 minutes EVERY time you put her to bed.

Sweet Katy. Wants Bo to have everything she has. (unless he expresses a desire first, then it's MINE!) Who will sit and play quietly by herself, who loves to put makeup on and do her hair. (see below) The charming girl who just wants her Mommy when she's sad. Not so cute to dad, but I like it. The precious child who will wave to and hug anyone and everyone. A girl who loves all things sparkly and "pretty". Don't know where she gets that either!

Sour Katy. The ornery child who only knows the word "self!" and refuses help from anyone on tasks that are impossible for her to accomplish. The girl who throws herself down like this when forced to drink milk. (Always gets up and gulps her milk down when she decides to) Crazy girl who actually cares what clothes she wears and starts wrestle mania when the outfit is not to her liking. My only child who I might just put in the "terrible 2's" category.



However, even when she's sour, she's still pretty sweet! (Maybe that's the problem.)

Decluttering

I'm full of random thoughts so here goes. Spent the morning decluttering and dusting my computer room and bedroom. Not a small project. Whatever that law is about flat surfaces and stuff being piled on them gets completely upheld in our home. So now I'm clutter and dust free in this one little area. We'll see how long it lasts, but you have to start somewhere!
Part of the reason I was being so diligent (Leslie) is because I was starving and trying to not eat until lunch time. I have been back on WW for 4 days and am already down 2.5 lbs. I broke out of that stupid little bubble! But remembering what was good to eat and that didn't leave me hungry is a slow process. I made it though. Today I will run again after the kids are out of school and see if I can do it without coughing up a lung.
I found Brooklyn's shoe! She has been missing her shoe for a week now and wearing her old ones that are completely ripped out on one side. Kids at school keep asking her why she doesn't buy new ones. She is probably tagged as the little poor kid who can't afford them. Well, so be it. I'm not buying her new ones when she HAS new ones that she lost! Lucky for her I decided to really look for it and there it was out on the front porch, plain sight....sigh...that girl.
I also figured out a way that Julia can still use Blurb from my computer, I think. We are still waiting for the results, but I love when I think something up and it works..makes me feel smart! Of course Glade helped me really figure it out so he is the smart one *smooch*.
Tonight is Rhett's first soccer game. Unfortunately it's my first Roundtable as well. Good thing he has 2 parents..lol. I will get to see most of his game. Stephen leaves for his ice fishing trip tomorrow and Glade leaves the next weekend. I think I have the only scout calling that doesn't get to go on fun campouts!

Blog Book Retraction

I guess Blurb no longer supports Blogger. Sorry about that. I have the older version and it still works, but I guess if you were to download it right now you can't get your blog. If you by chance have the older version, do NOT upgrade when they prompt you to. You will no longer have access to your blogger blog.

Blog Book

Definition - your blog made into a book! This is the website Blurb . It takes your entire blog and "slurps" it into book form. Each entry on a page including any pictures that you posted. Then you can delete entries, combine short ones onto the same pages, add colors, change fonts, add more text or more pictures, etc. Takes a little while to get all the functions down. Even this time I'm still finding new things I didn't know I could do. In the end, they print you either a soft cover or hard cover book. Professionally bound and copywrited! My first one was 80 pages and cost me about $35. Fabulous!! My kids love to look at it, see themselves in it and read what I wrote about them. It has even taken the pressure of scrapbooking off. Now I just post more pictures so when it's all said and done, I have a full color, professional journal and scrapbook. I highly recommend it.

One day at a time

One day of success is worth counting. Today I have accomplished several little things that will ultimately help me achieve my bigger goals. I got my calendar caught up, my menu done and made 9 loaves of bread with my new KitchenAid mixer. That should last me for about 2 weeks. Later I will go to the bank and pick up a little white board to keep close by with a list of things I NEED to do and things I WANT to get done. There is a difference!

Today I woke up with a yucky cough and chest congestion. It never fails. 2 days of sneezing then comes the congestion. It stinks too cuz I really need to get running for the London's Run in 3 weeks. I ran yesterday and didn't do too bad, but it's hard when deep breathing causes you to cough.

Last night I was happily folding laundry and watching the Biggest Loser when Katy walked up to me and puked right on my lap. Luckily I had laundry on my lap so I just kind of scooped it up and put it back in the washer, but she backed up and did it 2 more times on the floor. Of course Glade was at mutual so I had to clean it up myself. I spent the next half hour swallowing hard and trying to not think about it. She isn't even sick. She started putting all 4 fingers in her mouth and I guess this time it gagged her. Back to the Biggest Loser. I'm hoping everyone stays nice this season, but I thought it was really stinky to send them all home. What the heck? Weird. Anyway, looking forward to a better one than last time.

I got set up on Facebook yesterday. I'm not sure why, peer pressure I guess. I still don't really get it. I asked Glade "so....now what?" You don't really get to read much about people like you do on a blog and they write random stuff for what they are doing. I don't know, we'll see how it goes. I did find some old friends, but again, not that much info about people, just some pictures. I can keep a little closer eye on my girls though.

I'm almost finished with my second blog book. This one is quite a bit bigger. I'm keeping it very simple this time. It's not super user friendly and a little time consuming, but I love having it.

Aha moment

A new year, new reflections. These past few months I have been feeling really unsettled and not sure why. As I have been putting away Christmas and trying to catch up on normal life, it hit me. In case anyone isn't aware, I'm a little bit of a control freak. When I'm not controlling things I get a little agitated. In taking a small inventory of my life I realized this: My kids are controlling me, my house is controlling me, my finances are controlling me and basically that is why I feel so unsettled. I need to take control of my life again. When school started, I had a menu planned, my house was mostly cleaned by midday, I was going to the gym on a regular schedule, etc. All of that has gone down the toilet. Not sure what happened or why, but I really want to get it back. So my New Year's Resolutions are these:

Stick to a budget
Stay home more
Declutter
Stay on top of my kids homework
Practice self control
Be a better Visiting Teacher

Not very original, I know. But I think the basic things in life like order and discipline make for easier everything else. So now I should get off this stinkin computer and make a menu and get my calendar caught up on all my upcoming commitments. Wish me luck!

Happy Anniversary!

It was only 18 short years ago that I married a super-de-duper, fantabulous hottie! We were tagged as "young and stupid" but we knew better, hence the reason for our song "Still the One". Obviously we have had our ups and downs, but with each down, we come back further up. I still love to just look at him. Makes him uncomfortable, but makes me all squishy inside. My heart jumps just a little when his ringtone fills my ears. The best part of all is knowing that he loves me just the same. We are very blessed to have an enduring love and a great friendship. I love you Glade! Happy Anniversary.

Snow!

What a day! The morning was rough. Last minute search for snowpants for Katy. We were going to leave her behind with Chelsey, but Chelsey got called into work so we took her with us. Thanks Gena for saving me! Then Glade was trying to even out the road in front of our house and hit the water meter so we had no water for a day and a half. We finally got on the road and it went well after that. We went with friends and family. Well, the family showed up as we were leaving...woops. We went to the gravel pits and it was sooo busy! The kids didn't seem to mind. Although, we had injuries all around. Brooklyn scraped her chin on her first trip down. Stephen spent most of the day in tears (turns out he was kind of sick anyway) but everything was making him cry. Rhett crashed into someone's sled and cut his cheek. I think they all had a great time anyway, well maybe not Stephen. Since we didn't have any water, I couldn't make any hot chocolate so Joe got a cooler of hot water and we mixed some powder up there. Everyone was grateful for a little warmth. I love snow pictures. All the colors are so bright against the white snow. After playing for a few hours, we drove back to Payson and had some nice hot pizza. The ride home was very quiet. The worst, no showers or flushing. The water got fixed today after a lot of shoveling. The big girls and I went to mom's to shower and bathe the babies. Nice! But back to the snow....

Whitley is getting a little big to have too much fun. She stayed with the babies quite a bit.


Stephen spent most of his time launching snowballs which ended him up with pants full of snow courtesy of Glade, another reason for tears.


Talon and Hailey on their first trip down. Joe thought it might also be their last, but they had many more.


Julia and Lainy, Julia brought all sorts of fun things to ride on. They had a blast!

Nick was so sweet to pull Katy up the hill then take her back down. Here she was crying "mommy, mommy!"

This is her with a big smile loving the trip down. Nick is so great with the little ones. They all adore him.

Bo having a "snack". He was really happy to just sit and eat the snow.

Dalin, what else can one say. These sleds we got really pretty much stunk, but he kept trying anyway.

Katy, queen of the hill. She liked just hiking up and down this little hill. She kept trying to slide down on her bum. Then she would flip over and push herself down on her belly.

What an arm. He held his own in the snowball fight.

Sisters. Whitley and Brooklyn just hanging out.

Dalin finally got the good sled.

Even Katy got into the snowball throwing.

Nick got Talon to go up the bigger part of the hill. Again, Joe thought he would freak, but he did great. Nick was a great protector. When they were about to spill, Nick held him tight and saved the day!

Take a picture! Over here!

This is one of the only pictures I got of Rhett. He spent most of his time up on the biggest hill. We didn't see him much until he got hurt.

Love this little guy! He insisted on taking his gloves off to make better snowballs. His fingers were freezing. He was the last to head to the car. Just like last year, begging to stay.

Daddy getting in on the fun.

What a cutie! Future snowbunny right there.

Stephen trying to be inconspicuous launching snowballs at us.

Katy had one glove that wouldn't stay on. Eventually she stopped letting me put it back on her. She found a tissue in my camera bag and was using it to pick up snow and throw it at me.

Nick's strategic spot for the snowball fight. He too got it from his dad. He took it much better than Stephen did.

The Dairman family. We love having them around. Even baby Lacy did really well, all things considered.

Katy insisted on being the "puller". Whitley was nice enough to help her out by pushing herself along. No way was Katy getting in!

Brooklyn posing. As you can tell it wasn't very cold. We weren't there 20 minutes before everyone was asking to take off their coats.

Bo decided he didn't need a sled and pushed himself down on his tummy. He was happy the whole day. Maybe even the only kid that didn't cry!