I am a (novice) runner!

Well the past few months I have really enjoyed running. I never thought I would like running--I always thought it sounded really boring! However, last year Kevin really got into running. He ran his first marathon and a couple other short races. He also ran a relay race with his brother, sister-in-law, and neices and nephews. He's currently training for his 2nd marathon in St. George in a couple of weeks. It's been fun to watch his progress.

Anyway, after I had Benjamin, I thought running would be a really easy and cheap way to get back in shape. I have been so suprised how much I have loved it! It has been so relaxing, stress-relieving and motivating! I love being outside and just escaping from everything for a bit. It's also been fun for Kev and I to run together or for us to exercise as a family.

Well, I have never ever ever ever been a runner, so when I first started, I was pretty lame. I came home one day after running a whole mile straight (without walking!) and I was so proud of myself. My cute little marathoner husband was proud of me too! It's been fun to see the progress and I now try to run at least 3 times a week--usually about 3 miles each time. I've done 4 & 5 miles a couple of times too. I would like to run a 1/2 marathon next spring. That would be fun.

Well, as with anything there is always a learning curve. Nobody told me that runners keep their toenails "wicked" short and usually buy their running shoes a 1/2 size bigger. Well because I am a novice runner, I figured this out the hard way! I currently have 2 black toenails! Yucky! They don't really hurt, but they just look really really ugly. So now I have really really short toenails and they are painted to hide my running wounds. But, heck I figure a couple of black toenails is a small price to pay! Just for kicks, I thought I would post some pictures of my beautiful toes! I am sorry for those of you who are foot squeamish.

So scary!

Ah--much better!

Derek's Birthday

Well my cute little high-maintenance boy is now a "whole hand" old. He is such a sweet, loving, cuddly, squishy, drama-prone little boy. We love him so much and are so glad he is part of our family.

His birthday was a little crazy because he and Brooklyn both had soccer practice, but afterward, we had pizza, opened presents, and had cake. He told me he wanted a "racetrack" cake (that was shaped like the #5), so I made a feeble attempt. He was also very happy to get a new bike for his birthday. We often go on little bike ride/runs with the kids. The kids ride their bikes and Kev and I run. Poor little Derek has either had to try to keep up on his little tricycle or has had to ride in the double jogger. He was thrilled to be a big boy now and have his own bike. He is fearless though, so I'm a little worried about what the future may hold. After all, he is our only child so far who's ever had stitches. I'm sure there will be more to come. The other day I found him scaling the rock on the neighbor's house. He thought it was his very own rock climbing wall. I was mortified and petrified at the same time! I've also often found him climbing on top of playgrounds instead of on playgrounds. He thinks he is invincible!

Even Benjamin was happy to celebrate Derek's birthday!

Another day in the life...

Hey everyone. Today was one of those days where I felt like the "woman who lived in a shoe". You know the one who "had too many children and didn't know what to do." Yes, that was me. I love my kiddies to pieces, but holy cow, a mother's job is crazy. This was pretty much my schedule today:

Wake up
Feed baby--change diaper
Shower--yay!
Breakfast
Clean
Engage (or try to engage) children in cleaning
Start laundry
Feed baby--change diaper
Play referee
Fix a quick lunch
Take child to preschool (almost forgot to do this)
Take other children to buy shoes and soccer shorts
Wait impatiently while oldest child tries on a bazillion shoes and can't decide
Got a pair of Dr. Marten shoes at Ross for $12.00 and felt like a bargain shopper--yay!
Shop 3 different stores trying to find soccer shorts
Carry "wicked heavy" baby car seat in and out of each store
Console crying baby in stores
Try to find bathroom for children and CAN'T FIND ONE!
Finally find a bathroom in the third store--yay for Target!
Hurry home
Feed baby--change diaper
Call the Qwest man and wait on hold forever to figure out our really lame charge on bill
Pick up child from preschool
Try to gain control of house with 4 of my own children and 5 other neighbor kids
Feed baby--change diaper
Clean (why do I bother!?)
Oh ya--change the laundry
Feed children dinner
Go on date with husband and our friends, The Ashbys (very fun and nice breather for the day)
Go home and tame children
Feed baby--change diaper
Play referee (and I'm not even good at sports!)
Get children ready for bed
Oh ya--change laundry
Read scriptures with kids (really fast)
Family prayer and tuck in kids
Feed baby--change diaper
Crash on bed
Enjoy moment of silence
Decide to update blog
NEXT ON THE LIST--go to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow! Yay.

PHEW! My kids are "off track" right now (we're on year round school) so I don't know if it's harder to have them home and "play referee" all day or deal with all the homework, reading, and earlier bedtimes. I guess there are perks to each one.

Well that is my life. I'm sure it sounds familiar to a lot of you. Today wasn't even one of those CRAZY CRAZY busy days, it was just sort of crazy. But it did feel rather "woman in the shoe"ish.

Anyway, I just thought I would post a couple of pictures.

The other morning I woke up to this...It was very cute. Brooklyn and Derek were snuggled up in Brooklyn's bed and she was reading to him. They are best buddies.
Everyone always says that Derek and Benjamin look so much alike, so I thought I would take a couple of pictures of them together. Benjamin was getting tired, so I'll try to take some cuter ones another time. They do look a lot alike, but they have COMPLETELY OPPOSITE personalities.
Well that is a day in the life of me!

The Saga Continues...

I thought I would give you all a quick update on my spider escapade. Well after I saw the Black Widow, I thought I would go out the next day to check to see if it was gone. When I had sprayed it with the spider spray, it crawled away up into the rock on our house so I wasn't SURE it was dead and I wanted to be SURE. Well, when I went out there, there she was...still sitting there on her web! AUUUGHHH! So, this time I took pictures and I made sure I killed it.

So, here are a couple of pictures. The one taken furthur away was when she was alive and the close up one was after she was dead. After she died, I took a stick (yes I did) and moved it over so I could take a picture of the hourglass.

Oh--and in case any of you want to know, I bought Kevin a big bottle of house spider killer stuff and he's going to spray our house this weekend. Yay.

Warning...the following images may be disturbing for some viewers....

AUGGHHH!!!!

FREAKY!

Okay, very freaky. This morning Derek found a big huge brown spider in the basement. He and Brooklyn were freaking out and because I AM THE MOM (and Kev was at work), I had to kill it. Yucky.

Also, later on, Tyler had a little friend come over to play and he told us he saw a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER on the front of our house! I went outside trying to hold my composure in front of the children and sure enough, THERE HE WAS!!! AUUUGHHH! He (or I guess it was probably a she) had made a web underneath the rock on our house near the garage. I should have taken a picture, dang it, but I wasn't thinking clearly. I just got my spider spray and sprayed it to death. But, all day long I kept looking for spiders around the house and kept thinking something was crawling on me. I am a wimp, a wimp who HATES spiders--especially poisonous ones!

I had a "Bad Mother" moment

Okay guys, I did a "bad mother" thing. For those of you that know me well, you know how much I LOVE treats. Soooo...many times when I give my kids treats, I will take a small (or big) nibble first and say, "I just want to make sure it's not poisoned". I say this with a smile on my face, so they know I am just teasing them.

Well, anyway, today I made brownies and I cut one for me and one for Derek. Derek told me, "Mom, you eat it first to make sure it's not poisoned." As I looked at his big brown eyes, I could tell he thought I was serious all this time and I realized how kids are so trusting. I had to explain to him that I was just teasing and it really never was and never will be poisoned. How terrible--now if any of us ever get food poisoning, Derek will probably blame me because I didn't test it first! It was kind of funny though.

I am an OFFICIAL blogger!

Well, finally I am an official blogger! I have been wanting to start a blog forever, but with a move across the country, 2 new jobs for Kev, another move, and a new baby, it's been insane (to put it mildly!) Now that life has calmed down a bit (should I even say that out loud!?), I'm going to give blogging a shot.

We are doing well and enjoying our new home base in Riverton, UT. We're enjoying our new ward and neighborhood and the kids have enjoyed making new friends. However, we hope all the moves and changes are done for a while and wish to remain "status quo" for a LONG time!

Here's a quick update of the past month of our lives...

TEMPLE SQUARE

Last month, our friends from Rhode Island, Andrew and Amber Wild came to visit. We really enjoyed spending time with them. We drove down to Temple Square (where Amber served her mission) and enjoyed walking around the grounds and seeing the Joseph Smith Movie. I love that movie!

The kids at the top of the Joseph Smtih Memorial Building. They look so GIANT to me! ...sigh.

Our friends, Amber and Andrew, in front of the temple.

Kev and the kids at the reflecting pond in front of the temple.

Kev and Benjamin--so cute. They actually look a lot alike, but Ben's a little chubbier. :-)

Brooklyn and Ben...they have a mutual adoration for each other. She is his second mother.

SWEET BEN

Benjamin asleep in his crib. He LOVES his little doggie blanket thing. He is a big snuggler. I love it.

Benjamin is becoming a good little "sitter". This is a good picture of his jowls...I mean cheeks.

FAMILY TEMPLE TRIP

A couple of weeks ago, Kev and I decided to take the kids to see all of the temples near our home. We realized that when we were living back east, we had ONE temple that was almost an hour away. We have so many temples near us now (especially with 2 currently being built close to our home) and we wanted the kids to realize how neat that was. So anyway, we drove around to several of the temples, had a picnic lunch, took pictures, sang songs, and had good chats with the kids. It was memorable.

The Oquirrh Mountain Temple (scheduled to be completed next year)

The Jordan River Temple
The Mount Timpanogos Temple

The Draper Utah Temple (should be completed this year)Well that is the latest! I hope to keep this updated! Yay!