Random post

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. However, this post is mostly about something dumb, but it annoys me so I'm going to gripe about it. I was reading the newspaper and came across a critic's list of "Best of 2008" stuff: movies, TV, plays, concerts. I love "top ten" lists so I quickly looked at his list of best movies of 2008. Here's my beef. Three of the ten movies are going to be released in Jan. and Feb. of 2009! How does that make them 2008 movies?! Ugh! I think it has something to do with the Oscars, but it drives me crazy!

More Kid Quotes

Yesterday we travelled for a couple of hours to go see my cousin who is leaving on his mission this week. Since it was a lot of time in the car the kids had to entertain themselves whatever way they could. At one point they started playing 20 Questions. It was Littleman(5)'s turn and OrphanAnnie(7) asked him what it was, an animal, vegetable, or mineral. He said it was a cinnamon roll. She said, "No. You're not supposed to tell us what it is. Think of something and then tell us if it's a vegetable, animal, or mineral." He said, "It's a cinnamon roll," and the conversation went back and forth with more and more frustration on both sides until we realized that he was saying "mineral" the way that he knew how, "cinnamon roll."

Later they were pretending that they were being chased by bad guys. Bookworm(9) was sitting in the middle row and OrphanAnnie and Littleman were sitting in the back. OA and LM told BW to shoot the bad guys so she turned around and said, "Deck the halls!" I said, "Deck the halls? What do you mean? What do you think 'Deck the halls' means?" She answered, "Get out of the halls."

A Letter

Dear Readers,
I started reading a new book called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The story in the book is told through letters sent back and forth to various people and I'm quite enjoying it. The characters' personalities really come out through the words of their letters and it's made me think about letter writing. It really is almost a lost art. I think it's sad but it's not like I've done my part to keep letter writing going. So I'm going to attempt to write a nice letter like the ones in this book.

We had a wonderful Christmas. We're sad that Mr. Dad's parents couldn't join us on Christmas morning because of the weather, but we still had a great time by ourselves. We decided to get the kids a Wii this year. Watching them open that present was so fun. We had wrapped it and then put it a bigger box and wrapped that, etc. until it was wrapped up four times. I've never done that before and that was half the fun. Their reaction when they opened the Wii box was priceless. I got it on video so maybe I can show it to you sometime. We received so many other wonderful gifts, too, and we feel very blessed to have such generous and kind family and friends. I hope you had a great Christmas, too.

The weather here has been crazy. I would guess that we have a total of about 1 1/2+ feet of snow. I've done all the snow shoveling because Mr. Dad's back and snow removal don't mix. I'm getting pretty tired of it. It's been such heavy snow that it's a hard job and my shoulder has been bothering me. I'm not sure if it's the snow shoveling or something else that started the aching shoulder but the shoveling definitely doesn't help.

Now I'm starting to feel like I have cabin fever. I haven't gone anywhere for three days and I'm feeling a little restless. I tried to leave this morning but I couldn't get the car out on the street. I had shoveled the driveway but the city hasn't grated the road in front of our house so I couldn't get through the snow on edge of the street. The bishop was driving by, saw me spinning out and stopped to help push me back into the driveway. I was a little worried he was going to have a heart attack from all the exertion! So, anyway, we've been stuck here. I did go out later and shovel the snow on the street so hopefully we'll be able to get out tomorrow. I'm not the only one who's had problems. The garbage truck got stuck after it picked up my neighbor's trash this afternoon. It would have been funny if I hadn't felt so bad for him.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too. I look forward to the new year that is upon us. I think it's going to be a good one.

Sincerely,
Kim

Kid quotes

Yesterday, the kids got up a little early and we were trying to sleep in a bit. Mr. Dad got up a couple of times to get them to quiet down and finally made them go downstairs. I came out about an hour later and they came upstairs complaining. Bookworm(9) said, "Daddy made us go downstairs but it was just Littleman(5) being loud and it wasn't us and I was so hungry I was going crazy. It felt like I was going to throw up or like I was having a baby!"

Littleman: "I want some air hockey chicken." (teriyaki)

This one's for you, Julie

This strip is called Argyle Sweater. It can be pretty funny. You can see more here.

A New Word for the Dictionary?

I was reprimanded today for not keeping up my blog. :) I know it is so annoying that I don't post often. I'm going to try to do better.

I've been thinking about this for a while. Have you seen the Circuit City ad where the lady is talking to this huge camera? She says something like, "I don't understand. You have one price online and a whole nother price in the store?" Now, as far as I know, nother is not a word. I say it all the time. I heard someone say it today when I was at book club. I only noticed because I've been thinking about it since I've seen that commercial. I think it's pretty common and I don't even notice it usually, but it really stuck out to me in this commercial.

Hold on. Wait a minute. As I was rambling on about nother not being a real word I thought I'd check just to make sure. There it was on dictionary.com! It is classified as "informal" but it is there. Well. Now I can say it without a second thought. It makes me feel free in a way.
(This is one of my dumbest posts yet, but since I took the time to type it out, I'm going to post it.)

Funny T-shirt

I saw a woman at the gym who had an interesting t-shirt. It said:

Big or small--
Let's save
them all.

I didn't get it at first and then I noticed the pink ribbon.
Get it?

Vote for your team

In preparation for this Saturday's "Holy War," go check out irivalz.com. Vote for your team and find out who really has the most fans. You can also download a free app for your iphone so you can vote that way too. There's even a "smackboard" where you can talk smack if you want to. It's fun, check it out. Go BYU!

Aida

For Christmas the last couple of years, my in-laws have given us season tickets to a theatre in the area. It is a theatre-in-the-round, which means that the audience surrounds the stage and there's not as much stage settings as a regular stage would have. Almost every play or musical we've ever seen there has been excellent. I don't think the actors are paid very well, but they love what they do and it shows.

Last weekend we went to see Aida. I didn't really know anything about it and I didn't know what to expect. It was amazing. The music was great, the acting and singing were wonderful, and it was a beautiful story. This was the Elton John and Tim Rice version based on the opera Aida. It's a rocked out version that I thought was very cool. The princess wears evening gowns and is very fashion conscious, the bad guy's henchmen look like Keanu Reeves and they just stepped out of the Matrix movies, and the leading man looks like a rock star. So even though the setting is ancient Egypt, it has a modern day feel. If you ever get the chance to see Aida, I'd take it.

Election Day

I just voted. I was in and out in a few minutes. I thought that might be the case. There has been early voting going on at the library for the past couple of weeks. I've driven by a couple of times and the lines were coming out the doors and around the building. I wondered if the polls might be pretty slow on election day since so many people were voting early. I went at about 2:00, which isn't usually a very busy time, but I wonder what it will be like during the normal busy hours.



It will be interesting to see what happens tonight. I predict that Obama will easily win. I just hope there will be enough checks and balances in place to keep us from turning into a socialist government.

Halloween candy follow-up

We decided to let the kids go ahead and just eat their own candy. By Saturday night, we remembered the real reason for putting the candy in the community bowl--OrphanAnnie's(7) candy was almost gone. She had originally had at least 100 pieces of candy. I hate to even think about how much sugar she had that day. Bookworm's(9) candy was almost gone by Sunday night. Thank goodness, Littleman(5) has a little self control--he still has quite a bit left. I don't know how to teach self control but I think my girls need some lessons.

Socialist or Capitalist?

Ever since our first child started trick-or-treating we have let the kids pick out some of their favorite candies and collect the rest of the candy and put it in a large bowl on top of the fridge. We like to encourage the kids to share with each other and it's also a way that Mom and Dad can have some candy, too. :) As we were talking about this tradition this morning, Mr. Dad made the comment that it's kind of a socialist thing to do. Then I said that if we allowed the kids to eat their candy at their own rate then they would be able to have control and if they work hard at controlling themselves then their candy could last a lot longer. Thus, they would be rewarded when they still had candy and the other siblings don't because they couldn't control themselves well, i.e. capitalism. It was a big light bulb moment for me. Are we teaching our kids to be socialists by trying to make everything "even"?

I may be stretching this metaphor too far and over thinking things, but what do you think? How do you handle Halloween candy? Are you a socialist or capitalist?

Favorite Things

I think my favorite thing about fall is stepping on dried, fallen leaves. That crackling, crunchy sound under my feet makes me smile. I love it! Aaron likes it too. I've taken him out for walks in the stroller and as we crunch leaves under the wheels, he laughs and signs "again" with his cute little hands. It's the kind of moment I try to capture in my mind to remember for years to come.

Costume gone awry

Littleman(5) decided on being a ghost for Halloween this year. He actually tried to change his mind and be a ninja at one point, but I carefully steered him back to a ghost because it would cost less. So I bought a couple of yards of cheap white fabric, folded it in half, cut a hole for the neck and sewed a hood on it. He tried it on this morning and pulled the hood down over his face a little bit. He looked like a member of the Klu Klux Klan. I think we'll cut the hood off.

Catching up

I haven't blogged for about a month, yet I can't really think of much to say. It's strange to me that after a month of not blogging, I can't really think of anything to write about, but when I blog regularly it seems like there are lots of things to say. There's probably a lot to write about but it seems silly to bring it up, since it's long past now.

For example, I was called into the Young Women in August. I should have said something about it then, but I was on "hiatus". I'm the Mia Maid Advisor. It's been really fun so far. The girls are really great and we have a good group of leaders. I feel a little inadequate teaching them sometimes. There's so much I want to get through to them and I just don't seem to be getting my point across sometimes. I remember so well the heart-ache of growing up and I wish they didn't have to go through that, but maybe it's inevitable.

The point is, I'm going to try to be a better blogger. Hopefully I'll figure out something to say. :)

Marathon Day

The St. George Marathon was quite an experience. It started with my watch alarm going off at 3:10 am. I probably didn't even need an alarm because I barely slept. I got ready, ate a bagel and a banana, and headed off to catch the 4:00 bus to take me to the starting line. I hadn't mentally prepared for the 2 hours that I would have to wait for the actual race to start. I really wished that I'd had a book but when it started raining I realized that wouldn't have worked either. The marathon organizers were so prepared and had garbage bags that we could use to make impromptu rain coats. Some people wore those garbage bags the whole race. I really thought that the rain would let up after a little while, so once the race started and I had warmed up, I took my "raincoat" off. I think it was after mile 19 that I thought, "Oh, the rain has mostly stopped." It was on and off again after that.

The first few miles, I was thinking, "What the heck am I doing? I'm going to catch pneumonia." We started at 6:45 and it was still dark, so here we (more than 6000 crazy runners) were, trying to run without tripping over each other, in the dark, and getting wetter by the minute. I really was questioning my sanity. Little by little though, my attitude started to change and I was enjoying myself. When I ran the SLC Marathon, I kind of crashed at about 18 miles and the last part of it was pretty hard. This time I tried to conserve my energy a little and I was able to really enjoy the last part of the race, especially the last 3 miles. I was hurting, definitely, but I was able to pick up my pace just a little and feel really strong. It was awesome. I finished in 4:19:05 and beat my last time of 4:32:00, so I felt pretty good about that since I didn't feel as prepared for this one. St. George is a better, easier course but it still feels good to beat my previous time. It was raining, after all. :)

The crowd support once we got into town was great and that made the last few miles funner, too. There were three signs that I saw sponsored by the mortuary that were particularly cool. The first one said:

Metcalf Mortuary 3 Blocks Ahead
DIG DEEP!

The second one said:

Mortuary 1 Block Ahead
LOOK ALIVE!

And then finally on the corner at the mortuary there was a sign that read:

We'd rather wait for you,
KEEP RUNNING!
Good job, marathoners
From Metcalf Mortuary

Another one was pretty funny too but you have to have some background. Gunlock is tiny little town on the race route that has a population of no more than 500, but probably much fewer. It's towards the beginning of the race. So I saw another sign that said:

Gas $3.99

Running Shoes $100

Running Redneck from Gunlock... Priceless

Maybe that's only funny after you've run 23 miles but I was quite amused by it.

Anyway, it was a great day! I'm so glad I did it. I am very, very sore today and I have a few spots of chafed skin where my wet clothes rubbed too much but over all I'm doing well. The knee I've been having trouble with feels pretty good, so I'm very grateful for that. The race organizers where amazing and I'm especially grateful to all those volunteers who stood in the rain for hours giving us water, Gatorade, bananas, etc. I'm taking a break from marathon running for a while but I hope to go back to St. George within a few years. It was awesome!

There may be some confusion...

You may be wondering what I'm doing talking about these apps that I've mentioned lately. Mr. Dad is working from home and has started a new company that builds iPhone applications. He's asked me to post about them to help with the google search, so if people search for these kinds of applications then more of the results will point to his stuff. I know it makes for some lame posts but since our livelihood depends upon the success of these apps, I figured I should help out. :)

Fingerspell App

I have to tell you about another app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It's called Fingerspell. It's a fun app that teaches the ASL signs for the letters of the alphabet. I know I've learned the alphabet signs many times but the cool thing about this is that it helps you learn to recognize them. There are flash-card type screens that come up and you guess the letter. You can even control how fast the flash cards go, and they can go pretty fast if you want them too. There's also a place to enter a word that you want to see spelled and then it shows you in the speed that you choose. I think this would be a great way to learn how to read fingerspelling. There's more information on the website, http://www.aslfingerspell.com/.

St. George Marathon

This weekend is the St. George Marathon and I'm glad that it's finally here. Not because I'm so excited and ready to run, but because I'm ready to be done with my training. I have not kept up my training very well for this marathon and I'm not sure how I'll do. At this point, I just hope to finish. I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't kept up on my running schedule very well but there's not a lot I can do about it now. I'll just run and enjoy the experience. I hear that the St. George Marathon is so much fun, so hopefully I'll be able to have fun without killing myself. Wish me luck and I'll let you know how it goes.

Milebug--Mileage Tracker

It has been way too long since my last post. Things have been crazy for a while. I just wanted to quickly tell you about a new iphone app that came out recently. It's a great mileage tracker application that helps you easily record the miles that you drive, to either report to the IRS or to get reimbursed. You can track business miles, charity miles (all those miles we travel for church service), and personal medical miles. There's more information on the website--http://www.milebug.com/. It looks really good and works great. Mr. Dad got me an ipod touch recently and it is so awesome. These kind of apps make it even cooler.

Funny new blog

I just read in the newspaper about a blog that was started recently. It's called Seriously, So Blessed and it's a satire on Mormon mommy blogs. The author is supposed to be in her early 20's and calls herself Tiffany/Amber/Megan/Nicole or "TAMN" and she's married to Jordan/Jason/Wes/Taylor or "JJWT" who's going to medical/business/dental school. She talks a lot about being "preggers" and how wonder her life is. The article about the blog said that this woman was talking to some friends and they were laughing about "those perky mommy blogs" that are so prevalent these days. She started the blog just as a laugh for these friends, but it's really caught on. She says that it's all in good fun and isn't meant to be spiteful or critical, it just helps us laugh at ourselves and some of the stereotypes in the church.

Memory Tag

My friend Julie just did this game on her blog and it seemed like a lot of fun so I'm going to try it. Here are the rules:

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't have a blog I will email you.

Irena Sendler

I just saw this video clip on another blog that I sometimes read. I had never heard of this amazing woman before and thought that many of you probably haven't either. Thought I'd share.

Where has the time gone?

Holy cow! It's been a month since my last post. I can't believe it. I knew it had been a while, but not that long. Well, if there's anyone out there who is still checking this blog, thank you.

Since my last post we have finished the baseball season. It turned out to be pretty fun. I wasn't the best coach and towards the end we had fewer and fewer practices, but I did the best I could, I guess. I think most of the kids showed some improvement by the end, so that's a good thing. Will I do it again? Only if I have to. And guess what?! I have to again. This time with Bookworm's(8) soccer team. I will only be the assistant coach this time, though. It's a good thing because I don't really know anything about soccer except for the obvious--kick the ball into the net thing, right?

We have also been on vacation. We went to Colorado to stay with my parents over the 4th of July. All my siblings were able to be there except for one out-law (we missed you, Daiko) so it was a lot of fun. A big, rowdy, crazy, crowded mess, but still fun. The kids loved playing with their cousins. I wish we could get together like that more often.

Happy Anniversary

Mister Dad and I were able to get away for one night to celebrate our anniversary. It was really nice. Mark and Bobbi were so nice to watch our kids for us. We wanted to do something really spectacular for our 10th anniversary but it just wasn't going to work out, so we had our one little night away instead. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn which is where we stayed on our wedding night. For those of you not familiar with the Anniversary Inn, it is a bed and breakfast that is specifically designed to be a romantic get-away for couples. Lots of newlyweds stay there just like we did. All the rooms have themes, like Treasure Island, Bridal Veil Falls, Sultan's Palace, Jungle Safari, Italian Gondola, etc. Some of them look pretty cheesy in the pictures on the website, but in person they're quite nice. Each of the rooms have a jetted tub and there is chilled sparkling cider and cheesecake in the room when you arrive. It was fun and romantic. We had to laugh, though, at the little placard set on the bed. It read, "Before settling in, PLEASE TURN DOWN THE COMFORTER. Thank you." I think "settling in" is my new favorite phrase.

A Very Important Question Regarding...Flip-Flops.

I wore flip-flops yesterday for the first time since I was a kid. In fact the last time I wore them they were called thongs. We don't call them that anymore because it conjures up images of very bad wedgies in our minds when we hear the word. So, for all you experienced thong--I mean flip-flop--wearers, I need some advice. Were they uncomfortable at first and do you eventually get used to that piece of leather or canvas or whatever material between your toes? My toes were uncomfortable all day. I'm also wondering if these particular flip-flops are too big for me. The bottom part seems to be the right size but could the straps be too loose. Are they supposed to be fairly snug or are they supposed to be loose? Please help me solve this important problem. :)

Dinner Conversation

Tonight for dinner I made some hamburgers. It was a thrown together kind of meal so I didn't even have tomato and lettuce. We were also almost out of pickles. This is very bad in our house since LittleMan(5) doesn't like the "brown stuff" on his hamburger, so his "hamburger" consists of a bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and--at least for tonight--A1 sauce. Without pickles there is no nutrional content in his dinner. ;) So as we were digging out the last few pickle slices from the jar I said, "I better put pickles on my shopping list." (This implies that I actually am organized and have a shopping list, which I don't.) Bookworm(8) said, "Tomatoes and lettuce, too." I said, "Yeah, but tomatoes and lettuce are a little different than pickles because they go bad." OrphanAnnie(7) said, "You need those green bags that keep food fresh for a long time." Bookworm(8) piped in, "Yeah, just 2 payments of $19.95."

My kids don't watch too much TV.

Rainy Day--How appropriate!

Yesterday was a very rainy day. It felt right. You may not know that 10 years ago, June 4th, was also a very rainy day. You probably don't remember that but I remember it well. I'll tell you what happened that day.

I had spent the night at my fiance's parents' house. We woke up to rain, lots of rain. We scrambled around getting ready for the big day. We were supposed to be at the temple at 8:00. Our wedding was to start at 9:00. We got on the road and were making good time despite the pouring rain when I realized that I didn't have my temple recommend. We went back to the soon-to-be-in-laws' house and searched for it. I remembered that the day before, we had gone to the temple to do a session and I had asked Mr. one-day-would-become-Dad to hold my recommend for me. He put it in his shirt pocket. Later, his mom washed that shirt so it would be ready for the next day. You guessed it. We found the little plastic cover for my temple recommend in the dryer. We got to the temple at 9:00, an hour late, explained what had happened, and they let me in since we had the separate recommend you need to perform a temple sealing. What a relief!

Bountiful Utah Temple

After the ceremony (which was lovely) we took pictures in an underground area around a terrarium and a few right outside the temple where we were protected from the rain. Looking at the pictures now, I wish so badly that things had been different. The Bountiful Temple is beautiful and we didn't get any pictures that really show the temple in the background. I have naturally curly hair so because of the humidity, my hair does not look very good either. The pictures with all the family and friends who came look kind of funny because we're all squished together in a hallway. Then, after the pictures, we went to a restaurant for the wedding breakfast and everyone got the directions except for us, so we were late. We explained what had happened but they teased us that we had found somewhere to park (you know what I mean?!). Oh, and Mr. one-day-would-become-Dad had thrown his back out a few days before the wedding and was very sore and stiff. So, a few things went wrong that day. Looking back, it is comical to think about. That day, though, even with everything that went wrong, I was so extremely happy. Nothing phased me. I didn't care about the rain, or being late, or my hair, or the pictures, or even Mr.'s back (though I did feel bad for him. By the way, on our honeymoon, I had to carry and pack in all the luggage every time we stopped for the night, which was a few times--not that I'm complaining :) ). It was a very happy day for me and I'm still very happy for what occurred on June 4, 1998.

Thanks, for 10 great years, and here's to the next 10 being even better. I love you, honey!

Mormon blogs

I've been reading some really interesting blogs lately. The most entertaining one is called Feminist Mormon Housewives. Maybe entertaining isn't the right word but it is very interesting. I wouldn't classify myself as a feminist but I am a Mormon and a housewife and I do have feminist leanings in a conservative sense of the word. The regular contributors of the blog are faithful LDS women who are feminists, politically liberal, and find themselves feeling very different from others at church. Reading this blog has been an eye-opening experience for me. It's reminded me that we are not all cut from the same mold, that not every faithful LDS member looks and acts just like another. The church is growing so much that it is impossible, unnecessary, and even wrong for us all to be the typical Molly Mormon or Peter Priesthood. I don't agree with a lot of what is said in the discussions on fMh but it has helped me take a look at my own faith and the motivations behind my own actions.

There are a lot more Mormon blogs the I've explored a little but fMh is the one I read the most of. If you visit, I'd like to hear what you think.

I don't know what to call this post!

There are too many things on my mind. I really want to post more often but I can't seem to take the time to do it. School is almost over so there are lots of things going on. This last week we had the dance festival for the two older girls and preschool graduation for Littleman(5). We also had pictures for baseball and three games in one night--and that one night was freezing cold. (The day before had been 90 degrees and that day was so cold! What is with this weather?!)

Oh, and I forgot about American Idol. The results show was the same night that we had those three games so I recorded the finale. I watched it after we got home and got to the part at the very end where Ryan Seacrest is standing with the envelope next to the two Davids. He starts in with his tension-filled announcement, when all of a sudden the recording stops. I gasped, then I screamed. It was so crazy. Luckily for me, Mr. Dad had been watching something else on a different TV but had seen the announcement on the news. He pretended to be Ryan Seacrest for me and it was almost as good. ;) So, I was wrong about David Archuleta but as I think about it, my conspiracy-theorizing mind wonders if Simon was hard on David Cook because he and the producers wanted Cook to win. I've noticed on some of these "America Votes" shows that when someone is put down by the judges, sometimes they end up getting more votes because people feel bad for them or they want to show the judges that what they say doesn't matter or something. Of course, David Cook was probably going to win anyway and I'm just being stupid.

I have so many more things to talk about but I'm afraid it will have to wait until another time. So for now, you'll just have to wait with great anticipation for my next posts. (Read with a sarcastic tone.) :)

David A or David C?

I don't have a lot of time but I wanted to post before the finale of American Idol tonight. As a disclaimer, I really have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to American Idol. I've never been a faithful viewer. I've watched episodes here and there over the years but I'm usually just not that interested. I started watching this season a few weeks ago when there were 5 contestants remaining. I had heard so much about David Archuleta, I just had to see if he was really "all that". I've come to the conclusion that, yes, he is "all that" and he is really amazing. He's also really cute, in the "I want to pinch your cheeks!" kind of cute. (I'm sure he hates that.) I, personally, really like David Cook. I love his voice and he's pretty cute, too--but a different kind of cute, if you know what I mean. ;) Anyway, maybe it's because I'm not very familiar with Idol, but I didn't understand the judges very well last night. I thought both the David's did a great job and I thought the little bit of criticism toward's Cook was kind of harsh. I'm no professional, though, so what do I know? I can see the outcome tonight going either way but I think that David Archuleta will win. That's how I see it, in case you were wondering. :)

Random happenings

One of the reasons I wanted to introduce my family in the last post was to be able write about some of the funny/interesting things that have happened lately. I have a list of stuff that I thought might be fun to blog about so I'll just start with the first few.

________________________

OrphanAnnie(7) recently learned how to ride a 2-wheeler bike (as opposed to a 4-wheeler bike, which has training wheels). She could have done it a long time ago but she lacked the confidence and was really afraid of falling. She got very good at it very quickly. A couple of Saturdays ago, she was riding down the hill on the sidewalk in front of our house. The Bishop, who lives next door, had parked in his driveway and was clear of the sidewalk but there was something flat sticking out of the end of the truck bed. So OrphanAnnie(7) came cruising down the hill pretty fast and she really doesn't see that well, even with her glasses on. She thought that she had enough room to get around the truck, which she did but I don't think she saw the thing sticking out the end. I'm sure you can guess what happened. She got clipped by it (I'm still not sure what was in the back of the pick-up) and went flying. The Bishop came running when he heard her (he had only parked there for a few minutes and was planning to pull in all the way as soon as he was done with something) and I heard her wailing after a few minutes and came out. She was really scraped up. She had a big scrape across her neck that started there but then came up her neck and up her cheek. Her left shoulder and elbow were bruised and her right elbow and hand were scraped. The weird thing is that her back was also really scraped up. You could see where about 4 or 5 of her vertabrae skidded on the sidewalk. OUCH! I can't even imagine how she would have fallen to get the different injuries that she got. She was hurting and sore for days. The bishop felt so bad. Later, he brought over a cute, stuffed dog with a pink ribbon around its neck, a couple of candy bars and a card. The card said, "I'm sorry my truck is so mean." The kids really got a kick out of that. She's doing fine now and I don't think she'll even end up with a scar. Kids really are pretty resilient.

______________

LittleMan(5) says some funny things when he says his prayers. Ever since Pres. Hinckley passed away he's often said things about dying in his prayers. After Pres. Hinckley died, he said, "Bless President Hinckley that he will have a good time with Jesus and his wife." I thought that was pretty sweet. Now he's saying, "Bless us that we'll have a good time with Jesus when we die." It seems like he's thinking about death a little much for a 5-year-old kid, but I think it's also sweet and shows his faith.

May I introduce my family?

I've had a hard time knowing how much information I should put out into the blogosphere for anyone to view. I know it is mostly family and friends that visit me here but who knows if there are crazies out there, too, who might happen upon this blog. I have one blog friend who, for various reasons, is very careful about saying anything that could identify her or her family. I have seen other blogs that give out so much information that anyone who can use a phone book or computer could find them in 30 seconds. And that's probably fine but I don't feel completely comfortable with that. I also know people who have private blogs, but I'd rather keep mine public because it's fun and I've made a few friends that way.


I've decided that I am going to err on the side of caution and I won't identify my family by their real names. So, let me introduce them to you. My husband will heretofore be known as Mr. Dad. My kids are: Bookworm(8)-girl, OrphanAnnie(7)-girl, Littleman(5)-boy, and Destructo(2)-boy. And here we are all together:

St. George, here we come!

Eric and I made it into the St. George Marathon. I'm excited. I hope you've started running already, Eric.

Maybe this is why I like running too?

Call me "Coach"

Since no one else would volunteer and the games start this week I finally stepped up to be LittleOrphanAnnie's(7) coach for coach-pitch baseball. Yes, that means that I, as the coach, am supposed to pitch. Lisa, all-star pitcher, I need your help! We have a practice tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping that this is all so laid back, it won't be a big deal that I can't pitch very well. And who knows, maybe with practice I will improve. Our team is the Astros and I'm getting a pretty nice ball cap out of the deal. :) I'll keep you posted as the season progresses.

Birthday Party

We had LittleOrhanAnnie's(7) birthday party on Saturday. I let her invite way too many kids. I really shouldn't say it that way because I made her invite some of them because I didn't want anyone to feel "left out". I think it turned out okay but it was a little stressful and Hubby about lost it a couple of times. He said, "Next time, no more than 5 friends!" through gritted teeth as he was dishing out the 14th serving of ice cream to the last of the screaming kids. I have to agree. What was I thinking?

When I was growing up I had just a few birthday parties through the years. Birthdays were really not that big of a deal for us. Hubby, on the other hand, had a birthday party every year and usually with a cake shaped like a dog, or baseball mitt, or the Statue of Liberty. ;) You know you spoiled him right, Mom?! We've compromised by having a birthday party with friends one year and the next they are allowed to have one friend come with the family to something fun like Chuck E. Cheese, or the movie, or even a water park (I don't know if we'll do that again but we did it once). Besides the hullabaloo of a party that stresses me out, the kids get so much stuff when they have a big friend party. This is, of course, really fun for them but they don't really need it. I guess that problem could easily be fixed by just inviting a handful of friends instead of a dozen.

LittleOrphanAnnie's(7) party did turn out fun and one thing I'd recommend is having a simple magic show. We had just had a magic themed Cub Scout Pack Meeting so it was on my mind and I used a few tricks from that to put on a little magic show. They were really easy tricks but the kids really liked them. The treasure hunt was a pretty big success too. I think the favorite part of any party we've ever had is always the pinata. I think it's always a good idea to have a little candy held aside in reserve to give to those kids that aren't aggressive enough to get very much from the resulting dog pile that happens when the candy falls.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. When I fell in love I knew it would last!
2. It makes me happy when the flowers bloom and it heats up outside! As long as it doesn't heat up too much.
3. Oh no! The internet connection is down, I might cry.
4. The Office is the craziest tv show ever. (I know I talk about "The Office" way too much but I love it!)
5. Cheese and just about anything make a great meal!
6. I wish I was better at growing a garden.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, tomorrow my plans include throwing a birthday party with way too many guests for my 7 year old and Sunday, I want to go to church and then come home and relax!

Marathon Day

What a day it was! My first marathon. It was hard. It was really hard. I am so glad I did it though. It feels great to have that long time goal checked off my list. My day started at 4:00 am. I did not sleep well at all. It didn't seem to matter too much though. I was able to hop up and get going. I got up to Salt Lake a little late and had to run from my car to the Trax train and barely caught it. We arrived at the starting line at the U of U where there was music, water, a gear drop area, and a very long row of port-a-potties. I really missed having my siblings there with me. It was not the same without them but it was still exciting and at 7:00 the race started. There were at least twice as many half marathon runners as full marathoners. We split off on different routes at about mile 5. There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing right into us for the first 13 miles. It was really tough. I was getting pretty tired already because of that. Right after mile marker 13 we changed directions and it made a world of difference. For the next 3 miles I felt quite good and was feeling pretty optimistic. I singled out a few different runners as ones that I would try to beat by the end and thought I had a good chance. About mile 16 my legs started to go. Around mile 18 I had completely lost sight of the runners that I had been trying to keep up with and I had to start concentrating on just getting to the end. My run/walk intervals had been 4 min/1 min but around this point I changed my watch settings to 3 min. run/1 min. walk. That helped but I found it hard to even keep that up all the time. My 1 minute walk would turn into 1 1/2 or 2 minutes but that didn't matter too much anymore. With 3 miles left I noticed a girl vomiting into a garbage bin and was so glad that wasn't me. I figured since I wasn't to that point yet I was doing pretty well. 3 miles left...2 miles...1 mile...finally we were turning into the Gateway and the street was lined with spectators cheering behind barricades set up along the road. I knew my family was waiting for me at the finish line. Just 15 yards before the finish line I heard the announcer over the loud speaker announce my name, "Number 524, from American Fork." That was cool. Here it is:



Here's me with my finisher's medal: I am very sore today but it's a good kind of sore. I've talked to my brother, Eric, and we're going to try to get into the St. George Marathon in October. Anyone want to join us?

One final thing, I have to thank my husband for his support through all this. He has never complained about me going on my long training runs and has been such a support to me even when it's been hard. I could not have done this without him. Thank you, hon. I love you!

Back from break and #524

We're back from our little vacation. The weather didn't cooperate very well but we still had a pretty good time. There were definitely moments when I was wishing that the kids weren't having quite such a good time so they would settle down and be quiet for a while, but we all survived and I'm glad to be back home. It doesn't matter how short or long a vacation is I'm always glad to get back home. I'm not sure what that says about me.

I went to pick up my packet for the marathon today. I have race bib #524. From what I can tell there are about 3000+ marathon participants and at least twice as many half-marathon participants. That makes for a very fun starting line (both start at the same place but divide into different routes around mile 5). It also makes for very long lines at the port-a-potties before the race starts. :) Last year when I ran the half marathon, my three sisters, one brother, and two brothers-in-law were with me at the starting line and it was soooo exciting. This year I'll be alone. I hope I'll still feel the excitement of it all, being by myself. I'm sure I will. How can I not?

I haven't figured out what to do to celebrate my finish. Any suggestions?

Absentee blogger

I haven't posted for a while and now we're about to go out of town for spring break so I thought I better post a little message so I don't lose all my 3 readers. :) I've been busy the last week but I also felt a little guilty after Elder Ballard's mention of wasting time on the internet.

"...don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet."

So it's been a week and I think I'm past my guilt now. (Ha! Ha! For those of you who really know me you know that "Guilt" is my middle name.) I just need to make sure I don't spend too much time blogging and reading other blogs, I don't have to cut it out altogether, right?! Anyway, we're heading out for a few days for spring break. We're going to Midway, Utah. It should be fun and relaxing but I probably won't be blogging for a while again.

The most important thing for me this week is ... the Marathon! I'm excited. I had been feeling pretty nervous about it but when I was running on Saturday I realized that I need to just relax and enjoy the experience. I hope I'll be able to just run and not worry about my time, just enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that I will have at the finish line. I can't wait!

Which Austen heroine are you?

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

I guess this makes sense, being the oldest and all but the deep, emotional side is all too apparent. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I wish I could hide my emotions a little bit more like Elinor does. My dad will tell you how I'm so emtional that I cry during commercials. Unfortunately, he's not kidding. Those darn Hallmark commercials!

Countries test

Alright, Eric, I don't think I can do much better than this. If you beat this I might have to concede defeat.

100

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Tonight I saw previews for next weeks new Office. Wahoo!
2. Watching my kids dance makes me wanna dance!
3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends is so fattening but so good.
4. Chain-reader is someone I'd like to get to know better.
5. The smell of rain reminds me so much of springtime!
6. I had a good night's sleep and that made it all better.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Ben and Kerri's new display at an art gallery, tomorrow my plans include watching General Conference and Sunday, I want to be able to stay awake as I watch more General Conference!

Coach to Coach

I saw this short note in the sidebar of the Deseret Morning News Sports section and thought I'd share.

Coach to Coach

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan got a surprise at last week's game against the Clippers--a pat on the back from the leader.

No, we're not talking about NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Reports said during a third-quarter timeout, LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson was returning to his seat, when he paused to pat Sloan's shoulder and say something along the lines of, "Good job, coach. You're the best."

No word on whether President Monson offered any "ward ball" tips on how to give a hard foul.

I thought this was pretty funny. I'm really glad that President Monson can get out and do something fun sometimes.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Some relationships are meant to last forever.
2. Lonestar is the last concert I saw; it was one of the only concerts I've ever been to--I'm just not into concerts.
3. Spring should be wonderful this year.
4. Oh no! I forgot I have to teach a Sunday School lesson on Sunday!
5. I've recently started to read David Copperfield.
6. The Office never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going on a date with my hubby to see a musical on stage, tomorrow my plans include getting some much needed housework done and Sunday, I want to go to church and then come home and relax!

Interesting test

87

There are so many countries out there! Be warned, if you take this test, it doesn't accept wrong spellings so be careful.

Eric, it looks like we have a challenge!

I'm still alive

Well, I was able to finish my 23 miler on Saturday. It was probably more like 22.5 but who's really counting at that point? It was hard. REALLY hard. It didn't seem like I could even walk another mile much less run another three, but hopefully the day of the marathon my adrenaline will kick in and I'll finish without any major problems. I'm sore but not as sore as I thought I might be, so that's also a good sign. For any of you out there who have wanted to run a marathon but feel like there is no way in H#@* that you could do it, I would definitely recommend Jeff Galloway's website. His run-walk-run method makes running so much more enjoyable to me. I run for 4 minutes and then walk for 30 seconds but you can use whatever combination of time you want. When I started using his method I could run straight for about 3 miles so I chose to do a 3:1 ratio of running to walking. After my run on Saturday, I think I might increase my walking time to 40-45 seconds to try to save my legs a little for the end. Jeff gives very good guidelines on what run-walk ratio to use and there are training schedules for 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and marathon on the website. I highly recommend it for any aspiring runners out there. If you are already a runner than my guess is that you won't want to try this method and I don't really blame you. If what you're doing works, then why change it? As for me, I don't think there is anyway that I would be running a marathon in April if it weren't for this system of running.

Easter humour

My son, N~(5)'s, preschool teacher just told me about something he said today. They were discussing Easter and that we celebrate it because Jesus was resurrected on Sunday morning. N~ said, "I know why he was resurrected on Sunday. So He could tell people to 'be quiet and walk' at church."

He must hear that a lot a church. I hope he's remembering a little more than that. :)

Friday Fill-In

1. Running in races is so exciting!
2. Strawberry fields can get messy if you don't watch your step.
3. Creamy Spinach Ravioli sounds like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does a nice compliment make me feel so good?!
5. The Eiffel Tower is something I've always wanted to see.
6. It's sad when I don't get to read at all in a day.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with my family, tomorrow my plans include running 23 miles to prepare for my marathon and Sunday, I want to stay in bed all day because I'll probably be dead from running the day before!

St. Patrick's Day

Am I a big stick in the mud? I just don't care about St. Patrick's Day. My kids have been talking about leprechauns for a week and it kind of bugs me. Not that I hate the idea of leprechauns or the fun of telling stories about rainbows and pots of gold. It bothers me that my daughter, B(8), who knows about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy adamantly believes in lephrechauns. Now maybe she's just playing along and is really good at it, but I'm not sure. You know, the more I think about it, I think she is just putting on a big show for her sister S(6). That makes me feel a little better. Well, I'm glad I cleared that up for myself. :)

I'm kind of a Scrooge about most holidays to be honest. I dread having to put out the Christmas decorations and I don't put out decorations for any other holiday. I put out a couple of things at Halloween, I guess, but not much and I only do it when I happen to see a decoration in the storage room and pull it out just because I'm there. I think this attitude frustrates my kids a little but I don't think it will scar them emotionally so I'm okay with it. They'll probably grow up and be really outlandish with holiday decorations because they feel that they were so deprived as a child.

10K Run

I won a silver medal! I ran in a 10K this morning and came in 2nd in my age division. I love races. I guess it's that competitive spirit that comes out in me. There's just something so fun and exciting about being at the starting line with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. The gun goes off and sometimes there are so many people you are almost tripping over each other so that you can barely walk much less run. Slowly people start to spread out as those in the front sprint out ahead, the walkers fall behind and everyone just finds a rhythm and pace of their own. Then you start to recognize people around you. First the guy with the green and yellow shorts might pass you but later you pass him. The girl with the bright pink shorts and the pony tail stays just a few yards ahead of you. Then towards the end of the race you pass the green shorts guy and he doesn't pass you again. The ponytail girl is starting to pull away but somewhere deep inside you find a little reserve of energy and put it into gear. You pass her with 100 yards to go and it doesn't matter that by the time you cross the finish line, 230 people have crossed it before you. You beat the pony-tail girl and your last race time by 25 seconds. It's so awesome! And for me after several races I started getting closer and closer to placing in my age group and then one time I got third and the next time 4th, but the next time 2nd. It feels amazing! I know lots of people that just run for exercise and really enjoy it but I have to say that nothing gets me more excited about running than a race.

Here is Max Hall (BYU's awesome quarterback) announcing the winners.


Here's my reaction when my name is called.


Here's me with my silver medal!


Fun day!

Funny!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Contact may cause a rash.
2. The parties hereto do mutually agree to disagree.
3. Disney parks are where my kids are dying to be taken to.
4. A great massage sounds really good right about now!
5. I positively love Book Club.
6. My friend Julie always makes me smile :-)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to Becky's baby shower, tomorrow my plans include running in the Rex Lee 10K race and going to Book Club (yay!) and Sunday, I want to go to church and then come home and take a nap!

17 miles

Whew! I ran 17 miles this morning. Actually, I'm not exactly sure about the distance but I ran 2 hours and 42 minutes. I probably didn't quite make the 17 because I was running fairly slowly toward the end. It was hard. It made me realize that I'm going to need to put forth a little more effort into my training. I make sure that I run when I'm supposed to but lately since I've been getting out of bed a little late I haven't always run quite as long as I should. I also need to make sure I get the right nutrition. I still think I can do it but it's probably going to be a little harder than I had been thinking.

I'm back

I've decided to open my blog back up. Not that it really matters because there aren't any readers out there except for Julie. I was feeling a little self-concious about what I've written but I guess it really doesn't matter too much, does it?

About 9 years ago when I was teaching school I hated Mondays. Sunday nights were probably even worse because of the dread of the next morning. That teaching job was really awful and I don't want to talk about that but I was thinking this morning that I like Mondays now. I get to send the girls off to school, my husband off to work and though I still have two kids at home, it feels like my little break from the week. Weekends are definitely not my time off. I don't tend to cook very much but taking care of the kids is always rougher on the weekends. They go crazy, especially on Sundays. They tend to get so silly and giggly. There's part of me that wonders why it irritates me so much. Shouldn't I be laughing at their goofiness instead of wanting to spank them? I really need to "Chill Out!" like my dad often tells me to do.

Same, same?

I'm a little surprised by this but it's also so hard to answer those questions completely accurately. Sometimes these quizzes make me feel like I don't know myself because I'm often not sure how to answer them.

You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?