Tate Turns Eight. How Great!

We didn't have enough candles, (ummmm. DUH!) so we used pancakes, and he had no trouble blowing out the ONE candle we did have. Thankfully, Tate is our most adaptable child.He tried to eat them all, but only got about halfway down. Doug had to leave for meetings this morning, so we decided to get all the festivities in before he left. Not to mention we knew he'd have PLENTY to do before church:

When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "Legos, Legos, and MORE Legos." Well, that made it easy! He'll have them built before we have to leave for church, no doubt.

I think everyone agreed it was a great way to start Sunday!

His baptism is going to be on the 13th of October (since Conference weekend is next week).

Happy 8th Tate!

I go weak in the knees...

And I start to cry.

Because they really hurt.

I've been running a lot lately (like 3 miles every morning this week), and I think my knees are starting to rebel. Any running experts got any advice? I'm in a very ready-position to take it.

My training partner totally threw her back out on Tuesday and was in the HOSPITAL because of it. Maybe we're over-doing it.

Anyway. In the meantime, I think I'm going to get a trainer, and take some Tylenol. I know Alleve would work better, but my stomach can't 'stomach' it.

K, and the picture of Doug and me - from August when we attempted to take a picture of ourselves at the temple, with the temple in the background, even though all you can see is mostly cars. Oh well, let's chalk it up to the fact that it was like 115 degrees, and we wanted to get in the car before we spontaneous combusted our Prescott Valley selves into thin air.

do you think....?

FOUR things I wonder if my children (as they're growing older and have minds of their own now) might be saying about me after I leave their room after a day/night like today has been.

1. "K, she's a whack job."
2. "Does she need medication?"
3. "SOMEBODY didn't get their nap today."
4. "What DOES Dad see in her, anyway?"

Here's hoping tomorrow is a little better...

it happened at 7:46 am

Well, today it happened. I wondered if it ever would, hoping I wasn't the ONLY exception in a world of parents who never did it.

Let it be known, that on this day, Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 7:46 in the AM, Caillou's father raised his voice twice within a period of 2 minutes at his 2 children while riding in the car.

Yeah. I'm serious.

If grandma had been giving the play-by-play on Daddy, it would have gone down like this, "Daddy was really discouraged. For, he had never raised his voice at his children before. Even when they color on the walls, or spill their food, or cut the cat's hair, or (gasp!) put a blue shirt in a pile that's only for red shirts. I wonder what Mommy would say when Caillou told on him."

I'm glad to know Calliou's father is not a robot. By the way, where DOES he work anyway? He's ALWAYS at home.

I just can't stand that show. It kind of makes me want to vomit. a lot. I'm sorry...I really am, and apologize ahead of time for saying this to those of you who love him, but he's a whiner. Admit it.

A whiner "who's four" and has no hair.

At least he keeps Abby's attention while I shower and clean my room. For that reason, we'll keep him around for a while, I suppose.

Leadership, and stuff...

Wordy Whitney-related story ahead. Be advised.

On Friday I was at my kids' school, doing various things, and I noticed on my way to and fro, that the Kindergarten classes were on their playground. Usually, if Whitney sees me, she comes running, leaving behind whatever she was doing. This time, however, she didn't. This provided for me one of my most treasured opportunities: watching my kids interact with others, without knowing their being watched. The following is what I observed:


Whitney stood in the center of a circle of 6 other girls. I couldn't hear her, but it was clear she was giving them some kind of instructions. She was placing and arranging them, using her two hands on their two shoulders, etc. in some kind of line. She then began walking and the six of them followed behind her, like her little goslings for several paces, until she stopped, instructed them to sit down, and they sat in a line, turned toward her, and she stood against the fence, and began another lengthy narration. This is the point at which, I sneakily made my way toward them, and said hello, asking what they were up to. They repeated, as if in chorus, "We're playing school, and Whitney's our teacher!!!!" I made sure to ask all of their names and seem very interested in each ones' ensuing stories about their day thus far. Just as I was about to ask her if anyone else ever wanted to be the teacher, the aides rang the jingley bell, and they all jumped up and ran away..... the proverbial 'saved by the bell.'

The nickname my siblings coined for me as a kid growing up (MOM) comes SCREAMING back to my memory as I observe this, and other IDENTICAL behavior showing up in my eldest daughter.

Splatterday is a Special Day...

I was all planning on taking soccer pictures to post for today, but early on when it started raining and blowing, we figured soccer wasn't going to be happening.

Instead, we're having a cozy-indoor movie/cleaning/baking/Sunday ready-ing/closet organizing day. What an alternative!?!?

Except for the brief rain dancing with the umbrella, we're staying inside. It's frigid. Where did this come from? Was I not just complaining about the 106 degrees we just got finished with in Anthem LAST Saturday? What happened to summer, and since when do we skip Fall and go straight to Winter?

Happy Splatterday to all.

the cheering section

My children and husband were SUCH troopers at the triathlon, I felt they deserved their own post.

Not only did they have to endure 1.5 hours PRIOR to the start of the race, the race itself also took about that long, so they just sorta 'hung out' (B&T quite literally in the trees) in less than ideal temps for more than 3 hours, just to be supportive.

Everytime I passed them by, they screamed and yelled "Go Mom!!! Go Mom!!" It was adorable.

I thought it was just for me, but according to Doug, they cheered just as loudly for EACH passing racer. I guess I'm not as special as I thought.

One older man would get close and see them, then would say, "hey, kids...here I come, start cheering!!"

I worried prior to race day, that they'd be bored to tears, and Doug would want to rip his hair out. I was, however, most grateful it went the other way.

The boys even watched as a 10 year-old competed right alongside us. They're intrigued as to what they'd have to do to train for a kids' triathlon. We'll see if anything comes of that!!

So...if you need cheerleaders, you know where to find them!

Baby Bonding...

So, Kyle and I have been bonding lately. With Abby at preschool 4 days a week, we seem to be spending much more quality time together.

The problem is, he's uh......growing up.

He now goes to nursery, answers with a shake or nod of head, throws tantrums (screaming kicking kind) and also throws stuff to you on cue (on target too!).

Cliche - yes, but I sorta wish I could freeze him in time for RIGHT NOW.

Tri...Tri...Tri...

Triathlon O-V-E-R.

It was great fun, although A LOT harder than I thought it would be. I was hoping the altitude advantage I had would have cancelled out the heat disadvantage, but I didn't so much notice that happening.

It was MUCH "less-hot" than it would have been, had it not been for the heaven-sent storm that provided a beautiful cloud cover and breeze. It dropped from about 105 to about 95 in about an hour's time, prior to the start of the race.

Challenges I wasn't prepared for:

• The whole last mile of the 3.1 run being pretty much entirely uphill.


• The SERIOUS cramp I got at the 2 mile-mark that almost did me in.


• My bike's gears malfunctioning and having to hold the shifter in place the whole last 7 miles.


• oh...and my chain falling off at about 12 miles.


• Swimming on top of, underneath, and between 300 other people.


• Being kicked in the face, legs, stomach and CHEST by said 300 people.


• Laughing while swimming because it was such lunacy attempting any kind of stroke.

Finishing was wonderful.

My time: 1:37:09

8th in my age group, 145th overall (woo-hoo?!?)

official results here

So, who's joining me for the next one?

A REAL AZ-ish blizzard.

A week ago today, we had a freakish monsoonal storm blow through. Usually they last about 15 minutes, if we're lucky. Well, this one - it lasted about an hour. These pics are all taken from our back deck of the three houses behind ours.

What I used to call the "riverlet" was flowing

much more rapid-like in style.

They closed 4 streets near our house because they were flooded, and Doug's city drainage inspector friend called it one of the top 3 flood events in Prescott Valley! And he's been here since 1983.

It's nice though, by the end of the day. This is what the sky does to make up for it all.

I guess we're going to finish out the monsoon season with a bang this year.

Crash...Boom...Blizzard.

I came home from the orthodontist (yeah, time to bust open the piggy bank for THAT one), went to check my email only to find my trusty computer in DOS text saying, "Ctrl85Xbwitsw892 missing. Press Ctrl, Alt, Del to restart."

Yeah. That's never a good sign.

My hard drive crashed, which is kind of like my worst nightmare.

I took it to my friends at The PC Works! and wondered at that point, if it was appropriate to pray for electronics to be revived and that the right remedy will keep it healthy and strong.

On the way home, I participated in a little emotional eating and gave in to this:

I am quite certain that it immediately and efficiently cancelled out every bit of the 14 miles I rode on my bike that morning.

In between Dance and a baptism, I got a call from the sainted techinician, who told me he patched up my computer and it was all ready to pick up. sigh............................ of relief.

I'm going to get it right now. This has been a long 16 hours of separation. And - the kids' computer down here is really just GROSS. Who's watching the kids who use this computer anyway?

Survival...

Another Weekend survived.

Including the 5K, two soccer games in the blazing sun, the circus, and another marathon Sunday.

I ended up doing just fine on the 5K. In fact, I placed 2nd in my age group. How bout that! I guess I'm a contender after all. I highly doubt I'll be doing such in temps 15 degrees hotter this weekend, but at least I'll have that shiny ribbon from the PV race to keep me going.

I also ended up with a fancy souvenir "Tour de Pee Vee" coffee mug. Maybe I'll start drinking my protein shakes in there from now on.

Today, after posting and a shower HAS TO BE dedicated to MUCH NEEDED TLC to my very neglected housework:

Otherwise, my new obsession is going to get a SERIOUS kabosh by my family really quickly.

For those of you who think I'm perfect, let me reassure you, I'm not. That's only the downstairs laundry. You should see the pile upstairs. Laundry is only ONE ITEM on a list SEVERAL pages long of my many imperfections.

Here's hoping I get all that laundry and cleaning done before this weekend.

What are YOU doing this week?

Teaser...

I'm off...

In about 5 minutes...

to test out my REAL running skills in a REAL 5K race.


We'll see.


I'm a little nervous about it.

This, just one week away from the what I'm even more nervous about.

THIS should be interesting. Wish me luck!

SONIC, thanks for your help.

We had some pictures taken a while ago, just random one night I thought it would be fun, so we coordinated our clothing, and went. Doug never thinks it's fun, but I love having a lot of family pictures to compare through the years.

Here's what came of the evening, in addition to the corn dogs, ice cream cones, and tater tots that were used as bribery...

WAY at the bottom of the page I've replaced our last year Christmas pic with this new one. Stay tuned (until Christmas) for the next "Christmas pic." I think I'll take it myself again though, it's CONSIDERABLY cheaper.

Oh yeah, and THIS is just hilarious, if you need a laugh and/or are bored.

Thanks, Mary Lehnhof (but not my sister who used to be Mary Lehnhof) for sharing.

Shutting Down Summer...for real.

This past weekend, as we closed out the summer, we took out the water-slide

for the ceremonial "So Long to Summer" Waterslide Finale.

We had Devry and Laura's 4 kids with us, so it was even better than last year.

Then, the very next day, Abby started Preschool. Awwwwww.

She, of course, had a great time.

I had a great time running errands at the mall without her too. Did I just say that?

Happy September! So long Summer, until next year -

we'll keep the waterslide away from bugs, mice and spiders with sharp teeth.

Labor (day) of Love...

Yesterday I took some engagment pictures for my friend's daughter.

It was most enjoyable. They're most adorable, and engaged.

I hope they don't mind my posting them for all my 6 readers to see.

It was great fun...although you really have to gear yourself up

for all that kissing.

Here's a few of the results, and my favorites.

I provided them with 247 proofs to choose from though,

we'll see if one of my picks is a winner.

My camera and I...we're getting to be BFF now.

Have a great week!