Fiddling

"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what? " says the Man in Black to Fezzik.

Joseph and I aren't fighting to the death but he is definitely "fiddling around with me."

Although, some days I feel like my brain might explode if he doesn't potty train soon so maybe it is a fight to the death! My death! Exploding brain death!

Whenever I bring up the P word he'll have NOTHING to do with it. But every now and again he'll come running into wherever I am and exclaim, "Poop is coming!" So in we go to the bathroom, sit him on the potty, one of the girls usually brings in entertainment (books and cars) and then wait.
He reads, plays, sometimes has juice, chats with his sisters but doesn't get around to actually putting something in the potty.
I know he can do it. The other day he was in the tub and exclaimed, "Poo is coming." I pulled him out of the tub and put him on his potty. A few minutes later . . . ta-da! Poo!
Maybe I'm ready but he's not.
Maybe its too fun with the books and cars.
Maybe I haven't found the right motivation yet.
But maybe, just maybe, he's playing me.
Am I being played?
I just can't decide!


"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?" says the Man in Black
"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed." replies Fezzik.
Okay, so he's only three. I'm certainly not embarrassed but I am most certainly frustrated.
Do I need to take a deep breath and just relax and let it happen?
Does that mean I'll send him to kindergarten in diapers?
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" (that's me screaming in tired frustration)

Do-It-Yourselfer

Ella lost a tooth yesterday. Its only her third loss but its a big one, a front one!

AND

She did it herself!

"I was kind of like twisting it and then I heard a pop noise and then it came out really easy."

She is so proud to be missing that tooth and can't wait to show her friends at school.

(And its kind of sad for me and Adam. Our little girl, who is seven going on 17, now looks older too. She's all snaggley like the other second graders. Where did our baby go? )

My Dad's Fault

Friday night is Movie Night at our house. At the end of a long week of school, its nice to have the girls excited about something we do at home.

And do they ever get excited about Movie Night!

Usually I choose a movie (they would fuss for hours if I let them pick), let them pick dinner (within reason) and a treat (we make a special trip to the store).

This particular night was Halloween Eve and I was feeling especially lenient so they got two treats and Spooookiwi soda in little Frankenstein cans (btw, nasty stuff). I was declared the best mom ever (which is normal for movie night) and we watched Hocus Pocus (the best Halloween flick ever) on our bed (wins, hands down, over the couch every week).

I love our little tradition.

Its my dad's fault because a thousand million years ago my dad would have "junk food night" with us. We got to choose soda (which my mom never allowed), a TV dinner (this was the 80's folks) and Little Debbies. We'd get to eat in front of the TV (usually taboo) and watch a movie. My dad continues the tradition with the grand kids but we live too far.

So the tradition lives on at my house and I hope my kids will remember "Movie Night" as fondly as I remember "Junk Food Night".

And who doesn't like to be the "best mom ever" once a week?

We love Bubble Gum

How do you get cheap bubble gum off skin and out of eye brows?

Not with peanut butter!

Not with ice!

Mostly it took good ol' fashion elbow grease.
And a few Whoppers for a bribe
Remarkably it all came off but Joseph did NOT like being scrubbed on. Adam and I had to double team him to keep him still enough to work on. I'm pretty sure he's going to remember to keep gum IN his mouth from now on.

Normally I would Google such a problem but that night our internet was down. Of course!

p.s Just for the fun of it, I Googled it and that was totally unhelpful. Lots of suggestions for peanut butter and ice. Peanut butter works on hair NOT skin and ice to the forehead for that long won't work for obvious reasons.
Guess it was okay that our internet was down that night.

See, with Halloween right around the corner, aren't you glad you read my blog today?

So Handy

Joseph loves tools. He's convinced the door to the laundry room needs fixin'.

You gotta have glasses to fix properly.

He's concentrating so hard. It's adorable!

And you've got to use the claw end for something.

Required Equipment for "fissin" the door, according to Joe:
glasses

screwdriver

hammer

matchbox car

(matchbox cars are essential for everything Joe does, EVERYTHING)

Where to begin?

So, its been . . . four months since I posted last and I offer no excuses. I just didn't want to anymore. So I stopped. That's it!

But now I'm kind of feeling it again so "here I go again on my own . . . dunnuh, nuhh, nuhh!" (hello, old school Nelson).

I know better than to try and catch up so I'm going to start with now and if I find some good stuff from the last four months, all the better. Don't count on much though because not only did I lose interest in blogging but I took far fewer pics. Far!

Where to begin? There's nothing like the present, right?

Hutchinson Family Pictures 2009

All us Hutchinson's last had a family picture taken in 2001 with just eight people. We have grown to a whopping 17 people. This last minute, afterthought picture at the end of our session ended up being the crowd favorite.
Adam and I haven't had a family picture since . . . NEVER. This is our FIRST!

Our children were running amok while we had this picture taken.

When the photographer said "mom and daughters" I didn't join the group. I was then told to sit myself down and be in the picture where I belonged. I appreciated that. I have incredible sisters and mom-in-law.

My favorite part of looking at other people's family pictures is trying to pick out the siblings vs. the spouses. Can you guess?

The two guys standing on the ends and me in the middle are in-laws.

Did you guess right?

We were all looking forward to getting a grand kids picture. Such a cute little group of friends/cousins.

Men folk. I am fortunate to have awesome brothers-in-law. I love it when all the grown-ups get together and can chat (in peace). I end up with aching cheeks and tears in my eyes from laughing so hard (their wives are pretty funny too).

And the family picture we were first trying to get but ended up liking the tree one better.

FYI, pink kids belong to Randy and Angie, teal kids belong to me and Adam and green child is Emily and Sean's.

I am so blessed to have married into such a loving and accepting family. I love watching the family grown in number and in size (kids growing up). The cousins play incredibly well and can't stand to be apart for too long. The begging to play is actually pretty cute!

For the first time ever (I think) we all happen to live in Salt Lake right now. Its so much fun!

I am thankful for my "other family" and how much they love me. I love them an awful lot too.

Memphis 2009

I have this really cool husband who, every year, says, "So, when do you want to go to Memphis this year?" And every year we take a trip back east and I don't have to bug him or pout or anything annoying like that. That's so not my style!

I also, have these really cool women in my family. My sister, Audra, is a picture taking enthusiast that seems to always have her camera handy.
Meggan, my sister (in-law), who is quickly becoming a picture taking expert. She has this really cool camera that takes awesome pics AND she always has it handy. So, because Audra and Megg are such cool pictures people I don't feel the need to be the third person taking pictures.
Now I just have to sweet talk them for copies of the pics.

We always have a blast on our trips. We have things we always, always do and somethings that are new each year. Man, I love trips home!
* This year we added Nauvoo to our fun. Mom and dad were brave enough, I mean, sweet enough to take all seven grand kids (ages six months to 11 years) while all four siblings and spouses did a session at the Nauvoo Temple, a first for the four siblings (at any temple). That weekend we visited Old Nauvoo, made rope, got prairie diamonds, took a wagon ride, visited Carthage Jail and enjoyed having all 16 of us together.
* We got to hang out a little extra with Ben and Megg in St. Louis before Ben had to get back to school. They hosted a cousins' sleepover that was a huge success.
*Memphis tradition, we had dinner (of Krystals, of course) one evening down at the River Park. We sat on a blanket and talked while the kids played then walked along the river until the more kids had scraped knees than not.
*Adam, Sam and I ventured out for a new barbecue experience. We ended up at Neely's and it was goood! (no pics, be thankful for that)
* Adam and I got in a few runs where we sweat like little piggies and they felt good (no pics, be thankful for that too)
*We experienced a really good storm last Friday. Really good! I love good storms. I miss them!
*Mud Island where they have the football field long replica of the Mississippi River that you can splash and play in, that dumps into a big fountain (the Gulf) at New Orleans. Love that place except it is hotter than blue blazes for the adults.
*Swimming at Aunt Meggan's mom and dad's place. Thank you Kennedys.
*Getting to visit with Grandma Agnes and Walter.

I'm sure I forgot something or many things. Hopefully the wonderful pictures from Audra and Meggan will jog my memory. I promise pics soon!

The Most

I have a friend, Denae, who asked the question on her blog, "What's the most tender thing you've ever seen?" I gave the question I quick thought, couldn't decide, then went to find my chiming cell phone. When I returned to the computer our random pictures screen saver was on. This picture was on and I instantly thought of Denae's question.
This happens to be when Joseph was born. For one reason or another I don't have this picture with the girls but I'm so glad I have at least one.
This is how I see my children for the first time. I only have one free hand and about a minute before the baby is whisked away. The nurses hand the baby to Adam and he brings them to me. And for the first time, still feeling the warmth and tugging of the surgeon and the OB doing their thing, I get just a moment with my newest heart throb. Just a moment to meet and savor this brand new person I love so deeply and completely.

These are the best moments. These are the moments that make me, yes me, cry. And the tears collect in the ears, just like the country song. And then Adam and the baby are gone. I stay behind for a while longer, then post-op, warm blankets and chills, the "good stuff" in my IV, then nurses and doctors and visitors and more nurses. The moment is gone and parenting and growing up begins.

These are my most tender moments.

And yours?

Ogden Marathon 2009

Wait, I know what you're thinking because that was my first thought too. Ogden? Who would want to run through Ogden? Actually the course was beautiful! The entire event was incredible start to finish.
Once upon a time, eight months ago, Adam said, "I'm going to run the Ogden Marathon in May." I, apparently having a really good day, replied, "How cool. I want to run it too. May? What day?
"May 16th", came his answer. "Perfect", I said. "We should run it for our anniversary. Now that would be a cool thing to do together." Agreed!
And so it began. Seven and a half long months of running and running and running. After six weeks we were forced inside by snow and spend the next four months scheduling our days around sharing a treadmill. Me and that treadmill, we have a love/hate relationship. I hated being forced to run inside on 13 mile days but found it difficult to part when the weather warmed in March. Running paths and sidewalks scared me and . . . it was going to hurt again, wasn't it? Yes. And it did!
March marked an increase in mileage. Long run Saturdays went into double digits and didn't come back down. We found ourselves running further and further, exceeding our own expectations and loving the sense of accomplishment we were feeling. We were able to run together occasionally but mostly alone. Thankfully, grandma Vickie and fam agreed to watch the kids for runs 15 miles and longer. I loved being able to do those runs with Adam.
Skip to race day.
Alarm sounds at 3 am and we pop right out of bed. Eat, shower, dress, sunscreen, eat again, check and double check the checklist (SportShield, blister powder, Chapstick, ibuprofen, GU, sunglasses, running hat, bib, race chip, watch, drop bag, bandaids, ipods). Bags in the car and by 3:45 we're off. We made good time though anxious that parking would be a nightmare and we'd miss the buses. Parking was close and easy and we made the buses in plenty of time (4:50 am). By this time I can NOT eat anymore bagel or banana and drinking slows down so we're not having to stop and pee every mile. The bus ride takes almost an hour but the bus is warm and I finally relax. I actually fall asleep for a while. Now all we have to do is run. We can so do that!

We reach the "full start" at 5400 feet elevation in the dark. There are only 2000 runners (compared to St. George's 7000) and more port-o-lets than I've ever seen in one place. There are fires going and we look like "huddled masses" around them since it is so stinkin' cold. I'm talkin' see your breath cold. Brrrr! The sun starts to rise and we see our beautiful surroundings more clearly. As the sun hits us we warm almost instantly. They announce the clothing drop truck in leaving in five minutes so we're forced to shed our sweats but at least its time to line up. We find our pace group and at 7:02 am we are off. The first ten fly by but we are keeping to our pace pretty well. The next ten don't fly but they pass quickly. We run around PineView Reservior and through little mountain towns. We come to our only "hill" at mile 14 and kick its trash. At mile 17 we head down Ogden Canyon and its incredible. At mile 22 we exit the canyon and things flatten out. The going gets a little rougher at 22 and 24 but not as bad as I was expecting. I was able to avoid "the wall" entirely and was able to enjoy the sites and the people.

The kids spent the night at grandma and grandpa's house. They and the whole family brought the kids to cheer us on.

(Ella's sign says, "Ella says: Go mom and dad! GOOD JOB)

Ella has gotten very into our training and all the excitement. She was a little disappointed when I explained that kids shouldn't run marathons but when she gets older we'll run one together. She seemed okay with that answer. She wants to run a Kids K this summer. Pappaw will be so proud.

The family made signs for us. The kids were pretty excited.

I promised one running picture and here it is. Unfortunately there isn't a single running picture that we could both agree to post so this is all you get. I'm waving to the kids.

We came across the finish line together (though not holding hands, our last name in not Hallmark). I felt myself getting misty eyed but my brother-in-law, Sean, saved me. I heard him call our names for a picture (just the distraction I needed).

I wanted water and Adam wanted ice. We got our water, ice and our finisher medals.

I wondered at the time how long I'd keep the medal. I'm not the nostalgic, keeper-of-stuff type. In the days since I've decided that I'll keep it forever.

Running our first marathon was incredible. In retrospect, even the training was so cool is many ways. The weekly sense of accomplishment is addictive. The pride I felt when we finished was the same as the day we graduated from college.

Just as Adam and I shared graduation day, we shared this day too. I am so thankful to have done this with Adam. I don't think I would have endured the seven months of training without knowing Adam was doing it too.

I must admit that I've been lost these past two weeks. I realized how dependent I became on "the schedule." Schedules work for us. We want to run some shorter distance races this summer and do some speed work, just for a change.

I want to run the Top of Utah Marathon this fall. I think I could be hooked. Hooked on the security of the schedule, hooked on fighting my 30's, hooked on the accomplishment, hooked on the feeling you get from being at the start with thousands of others that just trained like you've trained and feeling respect for those complete strangers, hooked on my local running store, hooked on Sauconys and really comfortable running socks, hooked on a really good sweat that keeps all the little hairs from getting in your face and hooked on the way Ella bragged to her classmates at school so that when I came for my regular volunteer day they clapped and cheered and gave me hugs.
It felt good y'all. Real good! I have a marathoning friend, Courtney, who I can only hope to keep up with one day, who wrote me once that finishing her first marathon was the coolest thing she'd ever done besides her wedding day and the days her babies were born. I must admit I thought she was nuts. I still thought she was nuts race day afternoon. In the two weeks since, I've decided she's exactly right.

Tomorrow morning I will strap myself to a new schedule, tie on my RIDEs and begin again. I can't wait!


p.s. The good outweighed the day that day but there was still bad.

1) At mile three I felt a strange rubbing on the little toe of my right foot. I finally put a bandaid on it at mile 14 but it was already a pretty impressive blister. That spot NEVER blistered before. I'm baffled.

2)I discovered that my stomach disapproved of my marathoning. Its voiced its disagreement after mile 10 or so and clean through that evening. Again, baffled. I took EVERY precaution.

3) I hate GU. The stuff nearly makes me vomit. It takes a lot of GU to run 26.2 and feel decent. gag!

4) Water from heavy duty plastic bag looking things tastes NASTY! PowerAde made with water from heavy duty plastic bag looking things tastes nasty too.

5)Despite my running shoes being 1 1/2 sizes bigger than my regular shoe size several of my toenails KILLED for a couple of days. Thankfully I'll get to keep them though.

6) Running downhill LOTS can hurt too. Don't forget to train uphill and downhill.

Even if you don't think you can, you can. You are the only one stopping you. Eight months ago I couldn't run a block, literally, not a block. Find a schedule, do what you can, listen to your body and "go man GO" (name that movie).

Thank you to our friends and families for all your love and support. Thank you for the babysitting, encouragement and advice. Y'all are so cool!

Ogden Marathon 2009 . . . almost

I promise I have not forgotten about my promised marathon post. I am trying to collect a few pictures to put with the post. I really like to have pictures with my posts whenever possible and yes, I'm aware I'm a little spazzy. Painfully aware!
There is a picture or two trapped in my phone and I CAN NOT get them out. Any ideas of how to get a picture in "Saved Messages" to save to the little memory card in my phone? I'm nearly to the point of digging out . . . the manual (gasp). I'm that desperate.

I WILL figure this out and and soon. Promise.

10th anniversary con't

My pictures are a mess but I was able to dig out a few.

Amy, me and Chrissy - awesome chicas!

Brent, Adam and Lance
We still see these guys and their fams pretty regularly.



Me, Ella and Adam in the Bahamas on an adventure. We moved there for Adam to flight instruct, which didn't end up working out (aircraft safety concerns, I was preggo, lack of regular paycheck) I should do a Bahamas post one day. It was a fun adventure.

I've got ten years worth of pictures in several places around the house and in storage. I would love to get them organized but that will certainly have to wait for another day and possibly another decade.

10th Anniversary

Adam and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week. May 22, 1999 was a big day. May 22, 2009 was totally ordinary and perfect. Adam went to work, we lazed around the house, we took the kids swimming and I opted for pizza instead of cooking. See! Ordinary and perfect.

We "celebrated" our anniversary last weekend with a short little run (Ogden Marathon, post coming soon) and a lovely night at a b & b. I love, love, love b & b's.

10 Tidbits that made our Wedding One-of-a-Kind

1. Three days before getting married we left SLC and drove straight through to his grandparents house in Kansas City, MO. We thought it would be fun to catch a Royals game but were so tired we only made it though six innings.

2. His grandma (GG to our kids) woke me up the next morning with a knock, knock on the door and a "Wake up, sleeping beauty." in her sweetest voice. We love GG and Pop.

1. We got married in St. Louis, MO. Missouri has a three day waiting period for marriage licenses. We didn't have three days to wait. We hit the first courthouse in western Missouri(Jackson Co.) and prayed some judge would give us a marriage license. Thankfully the first one did. Interestingly enough, Pop went with us to get our marriage license.

2. We'd allowed the whole day for the three hour drive from KC to STL just in case judges were being stingy with marriage licenses that day. We'd planned to hit every county courthouse until someone said yes. Since the first one said yes, we had time to kill so we drove up to Liberty, MO to the visitor center there. Very cool!

3. The day we got married I remember driving to the temple with my mom and dad. My dad commented that I was the coolest (not nervous) bride he's ever seen. He also reassured me that if I wanted to back out, I was welcome to. (My parents really do like Adam, promise.)

4. The photographer we'd planned on, who wasn't coming since she had a daughter in the hospital, ended up coming but forgot film in the rush to get there FROM THE HOSPITAL (the woman's a saint). Everyone scavenged their cars and purses and came up with six rolls of film. We both got sunburned while Janette took six rolls of gorgeous pictures. After we finished, she handed us the film, congratulated us and, I assume, returned to the hospital.

5. We then changed clothes and drove the five hours to Memphis where our reception was waiting for us at mom and dad's. The house looked gorgeous.

6. My brother, Ben, was away serving a mission in Canada when we got married. A guy owed my dad a favor and made a life size cardboard cut out of Ben. It was hilarious to have "Ben" standing in the corner and more hilarious to see people momentarily mistake it for the real Ben.

7. We parked the car in the garage and locked all doors leading to the garage. Only my immediate family knew how to get into the garage. My dad sold us out and our friends (Lance, Brent, Chrissy and Amy) worked a number on our car. In the process, Lance ruined the tie he was wearing (that's he'd borrowed from Adam, funny huh?) Adam was ticked when we found the chocolate syrup and Oreo mess but Jeff (trying to impress my sister) washed it for us so Adam wouldn't ruin his tux. Thanks Jeff!

8. We spent the night in Memphis at the Adam's Mark Hotel (which everyone thought was wildly funny.)

9. Then Sunday morning we drove down to the Gulf (at some point Adam woke up to me doing about 90 and flipped out) where we stayed for four days. When the people at the hotel found out we were newlyweds they comped the room for us. So sweet of them. We had a fabulous time. I love the Gulf!

10. My dad was sweet enough to give us his "TOTAL" gas card to pay for the gas to and from Gulf Port. There were a million TOTAL stations in Memphis in the last nineties and absolutely none between Memphis and Gulf Port. We didn't charge a dime to his card but it was the thought that counted. Thanks dad.

Thank you everyone for all the driving you did. No one got away with less than ten hours of driving while Adam's family drove over 60 hours that trip.

Thank you, Janette, for leaving your 12 year old in the hospital to take our wedding pictures. I love them so much.

Thank you to our friends Brent, Lance, Amy and Chrissy for making such long drives to our wedding. They all have their own funny stories to tell from that trip.

Thank you mom and Vickie for making bride's maid dresses and to my mom again, for making my wedding dress and veil. I love, love, love my wedding dress. And was so glad to share my veil with my sister when she got married last year. Can you feel the love?

These last ten years have gone incredibly fast and unbelievably slow. We've moved 11 times, lived in two countries, three states (with a child born in each) and nine cities. We both graduated from college and Adam is on his second career, both of which he has loved. We've driven cross country more in ten years than lots of people do in a life time. We love adventures and are willing to do something different to accomplish a goal. I am here to push and pull Adam outside himself while Adam reminds me to relax and have fun. We kiss in public and do our best not to settle into a married/parental routine. I am thankful to have so much more than a roommate and a co-parent. I have a best friend, a lover, a confidant, a sounding board, a therapist, an editor and a motivator. Man, did I get a great deal, or what?

If you read all the way through this you are truly a good friend (or just plain bored). Now go kiss your husband/wife just because and don't forget your own anniversary.

p.s. Did I mention that I got caught in the automatic sliding doors when leaving the temple? Oh, it was . . . totally not embarrassing! Not at all!

Genius

Isn't it funny how kids pick up on things we, as parents, do and say? For example,

We were in the car today on our way home. We were waiting behind another car waiting to take a left. We been waiting about 30 seconds when Ella says, "Let's go genius." Despite my best efforts I laughed out loud.

Then to amaze and amuse me further, she starts singing along with Taylor Swift and knows every word to "Our Song" . Is that child sitting back there in her booster six or 16?


p.s. After school Ella informed that I didn't look old or young, just medium. "Like, ummmm, 39."

CREEPY

Is it just me or is it not totally creepy when you're at an indoor fast food playground with your kids and some guy comes into the playplace to eat but doesn't have children with him? And the restaurant outside the playplace is practically empty. Is it just me or is it not then time to go? It was creepy and we left.

CREEPY . . . I hate that!

Not Me Monday

A friend my mine does Not Me Monday and I love them. I thought I'd give it a try and see who begins avoiding me.

On this Monday night my youngest is most definitely not sleeping in a pair of his sister's leggings because a) he refuses to sleep without pants and b) every single pair of pj's and/or soft pants he owns is dirty. At least they're gray!

My girls are most certainly not asleep in their cute summer pj's sans underwear because I just didn't get to laundry today. And I did not refuse to let them wear swimwear as underwear for fear that they couldn't get it off in time to pee at, say, 3 in the morning.

And I am not refusing to buy my girls more underwear because they have plenty, as long as they don't change them 47 times a day.

And I did not just go check my laundry and realized that I washed that load without adding soap.

I'm just certain that none of y'all have laundry issues, right?

Sure Sign of Summer

SNOW SHACKS!

Snow shacks (my generic term for all sno-cones little hut/booth places) are one of my sure signs of summer.

A snow shack near us opened today and we were all over it. As soon as Ella got off the bus we headed straight there. Good thing too. When we got there, there was five people in front of us and when we left there were 15 people behind us.

Grace got rainbow.

Joseph wanted "red" so I got him Tiger's Blood (one of my favs).

Ella wanted rainbow.

Within five minutes of getting our cones, true to form, someone had to pee. We carefully headed home to finish them in the front yard.

Adam will surely be disappointed that we didn't wait for him to make our first of the summer sno-cone run. Don't worry, Adam, we do love you and promise to force ourselves to eat another sno-cone this weekend when you're with us.

Oh the sacrifices we make for the ones we love.



p.s. Weird spacing is annoying in the post but I'm not OCD enough to redo it. You'll live, right? I'm already over it.

Why Do Kids Do These Things?

The weather was so beautiful today I finally took the kids to the "sand park". Now as a general rule, I truly abhor playgrounds that are covered in sand but this one is the closest by far and we were short on time.
This year Joseph is big enough to play by himself on the toys. He loves to dig and dig and dig. Why do boys love to dig? And why do kids, at about two and a half, enter the "cheese" phase? You know, mama says, "Joe, look at mama." and Joseph squenches his face and says "cheese" usually without looking at the camera. I got lucky with this pic.

And then why do little girls love, love, love to dump sand on the slide?

Then why do big sisters love, love, love to order little sisters not to dump sand on the slide then stomp over to sweep it off when little sisters don't listen?
I haven't a clue why my kids love, love, love these things but I do know that they are stinkin' funny to watch.

(P.S. When Grace was dumping the sand on the slide she was pretending to "feed the poor". She fed the poor on the swings, on the slide and up on the platform. Grace is such a funny girl.)

Taking Requests

It has been requested that I get my tail in gear and start blogging a little more often. I have already warned the requesters that my life is wonderfully boring right now and I'm a touch ornery but willing to blog. I can not guarantee my posts won't be strange, boring, random and/or angry.

If you are okay with the before mentioned "strange, boring, random and/or angry" then welcome back.

Spring in Full Swing

Since the weather turned warm this week the tree outside our bedroom window finally went into full bloom. The birds around our place must love it because they sing to us all day.

Love, love, love it. For the past four mornings I've awoke to birds singing outside my window and a slight breeze rustling this tree. I could lay in bed all day and just listen. I don't but I could.

So, here's to the wonderful coming of spring (even if it is turning cooler this weekend).

Hallelujah!

Can I Have My Life Back Now?

Last weekend Adam rented "Twilight". I wasn't dying to see it but willing. And . . . I liked it. I forgot to return it by the next evening so decided to watch it again. And then . . . .

( Number three, Eclipse, was my favorite.)

I HAD to read the books. Luckily my mom-in-law bought them all so it was easy to get my hands on them. It took me about a week to read all four and I love, love, loved them.
Adam is terrified I'm going to turned into a full-on Twilight freak but I'm pretty sure I've got it under control.

If you haven't read them, GO NOW. GET THEM. READ. Let you kids watch too much Zach & Cody or Mickey Mouse Club House for a few days and indulge yourself. You won't regret it.

And then you can have your life back.

(I just got mine back and its filled with grocery shopping, laundry, bathrooms, vacuuming and more laundry. I need another good book series to lose myself in. Suggestions?)

Punishment

I know I promised to keep the running talk on happyme but I had to share this one.
This past Saturday's run was 18 miles. Adam and I RAN EVERY STEP of 18 miles and it felt good. Relatively good, as good at 18 miles can feel.

I am so dang proud of us. We only have one really long run left before the big day in May.

Now you're wondering, why is this post titled "Punishment"? Punishment because my body is totally punishing me for making it run 18 miles. My knees have screamed at me all day and I wish they'd hush up. The rest of my body decided to show me whose boss during a short and easy four today. I worked for every step of that four miles today.

I am hoping and praying that my body can get over its vengeful issues before tomorrow's nine.

Hoping and praying. Hoping and praying.

Glad We Did It

Its done! Grace had her last day of preschool this week and was perfectly fine with it. Hallelujah!
Thankfully, Grace brought home her "school pictures" on her last day of preschool. These are the pictures, paid for by the check, that started it all. See story here.
I feel I must apologize to my sweet Grace for passing on to her my pasty white skin. I fear that for the rest of her life, in the last winter-early spring, people will ask her if she's feeling well and she'll only reply, "Yes, I'm fine." But all the while be cursing them (and me) because she is NOT ill or under the weather, she is just white. Pasty white. Grace will blame me, I blame my mother and she blames hers. It's a viscous blame game.

One more thing, I hate props. This picture is 40% Grace and 60% props. I don't want pictures of props. I wanted pictures of my child. Crazy me!
(I apologize if I just totally offended you b/c you love picture props. Its okay. We can agree to disagree and still be friends.)

Having said ALL that, our Grace is stinkin' cute. She love, love, loves that dress and made sure, days in advance, that it was clean and hanging in her closet for picture day. Grace was so proud of herself for being big enough for "school pictures". Its true. Look how big she is. She's a giant that's all but outgrown her winter clothes. I can hardly believe she was my butterball baby just a few years ago. Grace makes me smile everyday with her hilarious made-up words, lyrics and stories. There is never a dull moment when Grace is home.

I love you my Gracie Anne

Not On Speaking Terms

I'm pretty sure that every blogger on the Wasatch Front blogged about the cruel April Fool's trick Mother Nature played on us today. We awoke to driving snow. Sick and wrong!

So, I've decided I'm not speaking to Mother Nature until she's ready to act like an adult. No more of this flipsy flopsy snow two inches in the morning then melt it all before sunset.

I've decided to hol' up in my house and not leave until the REAL SPRING arrives. I'm sure my kids will object but . . . that's what daddy's are for, right? (just kidding, I promise)

So to show Mother Nature my protest I'm NOT blogging about her today. NOPE, not me.

Instead . . .
I spent a good part of the day in the kitchen. Therefore my kids spent the better part of the day in the kitchen. Heaven forbid I should be . . . (gasp) in a different room! Oh, the horror!

Where I am, Joseph is. Where Joseph is, there are cars. Therefore my kitchen was invaded by cars today. Kids and cars. I think, one day, I'll miss finding cars in my cupboards. I love it.

I am loving my kids' stages (for the most part). It would be nice to walk from room to room without feeling like a mama duck leading her ducklings around but that won't last forever.
I was tired today. I was short with the kids a time or two but overall it was a good day. This evening we all snuggled in my bed and watched a movie. I love that my kids like that. Can I subtract one or two little annoying things then freeze my kids just think this forever?

I love my kids and yes, I love matchbox cars.

One awful day last week . . .

One horrid and awful day last week . . . we ran out of raisins.

Joseph wanted raisins but he'd finished them at breakfast.
I am, apparently, a rude and inconsiderate mother for letting our cupboards go bare of raisins.
It caused supreme sadness in our kitchen.
Thankfully Joseph got over it because I still haven't remembered to buy more raisins, and its been . . . gulp . . . a week.
I'll go put that on my grocery list right now.

Upon Request

As requested by my younger brother, Sam, here are the pics of my hand from the last few days.

I woke up one day last week and had, what felt like, two burns on my left hand but I didn't remember burning myself.

By bedtime, both spots had begun to blister.
And I woke up to this. And they freakin' hurt.
I drained them but they didn't got away and they didn't start to heal.
The next day another small one appeared on my right hand (sorry no pics).


The doctor thinks its a staf infection. She sent "a sample" to the lab to make sure and gave me an antibiotic to get started on. The blisters seem to be getting a little better.
Sam, I'll keep you posted. Thank you for the concern and I love you.

It All Started One Day When . . .

It all started one day about three weeks ago when Ella broke out in hives. For the first few days I thought I'd figured out what was giving her the hives: new laundry soap, petting kittens at the pet store, etc. But when the hives came back day after day at different times and in different environments I was baffled and called her pediatrician. The hives looked like this but covered her whole body including her face. She was a pitiful, weepy site.

A quick trip to the pediatrician revealed that Ella had a viral infection (the kind that just has to run its course) that was manifesting itself on her skin. Very common apparently. Who knew?
That quick trip also revealed HUGE tonsils. Alarmingly huge tonsils, though no infection there. Thank heavens!
We were referred to an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor who got us in within a few days. We met with him on Tuesday and . . .
Friday morning we were in an outpatient surgery center getting Ella's tonsils and adenoids out.
Ella was nervous the morning of but after Adam gave her a blessing she calmed right down and we had a pleasant morning, just the two of us. (Thank you Angie and Randy for having Grace and Joseph spend the night so I could focus on Ella that morning.)

Waiting in this first little room Ella got a "new cool bracelet", a grown up hospital gown, very fun no slip socks she got to take home, crayons, coloring book, a new doll and bright pink medicine that made her sleepy and very silly.

The anesthesiologist then wheeled her off in the special surgery wagon and I was escorted to a different little room to wait. Less than an hour later I was escorted to yet another little room where Ella was waking up. She looked so pitiful. Pitiful and strange. I didn't get a picture of it but she had a dollar bill taped to her forehead. Apparently she won a bet with the anesthesiologist.

Upon waking up a little more she asked for her new doll and said "Now I have ten dollars."

What a funny girl!

It took about an hour before Ella was ready to go home. The nurse put her in a wheelchair and wheeled her to the door while I went to get the car. And would you believe that I'd left the lights on that morning and the battery was dead? Believe it!

After more waiting and waiting, security came, gave us a jump and we were FINALLY on our way home. Ella slept nearly the whole rest of the day and that night.

She did awesome the first week until yesterday. See yesterday's post for details.

Miss Ella is doing wonderfully today. She even went to her best friend's house for some calm play time (yeah right). The whole experience hasn't been too bad (knock on wood). Once Ella learned that taking her pain medication wasn't optional (because it really hurts) its been smooth sailing. I am thankful we were able to get this done while she's off track and could take plenty of time to relax and recover.