I did it!

Over the last couple of years I've run 3 half marathon races, so the farthest I've ever run is 13.1 miles. This morning I ran 14 miles! And that was just a normal training run, not a race. I wasn't incredibly fast (in fact I slowed down the 2 ladies I was running with) but nonetheless, 14 miles is 14 miles and I must say it felt great. At mile 13.17 I raised my arms and shouted "I did it!"

A day with the grandparents

My parents came in town this weekend. They're staying with my sister but we were able to spend most of today with them. My dad did some handyman work around our house then we headed off to the park to enjoy the first day of spring (and the 75 degree weather).
Mom ended up helping all 3 girls across the monkey bars. She'll be sore tomorrow.

Megan finally coaxed Gabriella into going down the slide without help.

Caleb, Trevor and my dad playing catch with the football.

After the park we cooled off with some strawberry lemonade pie I made. It not only looked like the picture in the magazine but it tasted great too.

My mom gave in and fixed (yet one more time) Michelle's beloved stuffed animal, Kitty.

Rex Lee Run

This morning Trevor ran a 10k race with our bishop to help our bishop meet his "sub 1 hour" goal. They ran a great race and finished in under 58 minutes!

Gabriella, Megan, Michelle and Caleb got an up close and personal view of the cannon that was shot off to start the race (it also is shot off after every touchdown that the BYU gets).

Michelle Clogs

Tonight was Michelle's first clogging performance. She's only been taking clogging classes since the first week of January so I thought she'd learned a lot in such a short time.

The Mom Survey

Thanks for the idea, Jill (and the layout, Rees)!

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Michelle (age 6): thank you
Megan (age 4): do my jobs
Caleb (age 8): do your homework

2. What makes mom happy?
Michelle: when I help you
Megan: kissing
Caleb: a Clean house

3. What makes mom sad?
Michelle: when I don’t do my chores and I shout at you
Megan: when I don’t play with you
Caleb: when people don’t cooperate right

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
All 3 kids said “tickling”

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Michelle: you had dark hair and was nice
Megan: you liked to clap hands
Caleb: about as tall as me

6. How old is your mom?
Michelle: 27
Megan: 5
Caleb: 35

7. How tall is your mom?
Michelle: 10 feet
Megan: 5
Caleb: 5 feet 7 inches (he made me a year younger and 2 inches taller-what a guy!)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Michelle: have time by myself and sometimes playing with us
Megan: eating ice cream
Caleb: go running

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Michelle: chores and take care of Gabriella
Megan: wait for me to come home
Caleb: laundry

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Michelle: singing (I think she confused me for Trevor)
Megan: she got confused and frustrated about not knowing the meaning of “famous”
Caleb: making ramen

11. What is your mom really good at?
Michelle: taking care of Gabriella
Megan: swimming
Caleb: getting mad

12. What is you mom not very good at?
Michelle: keeping track of time
Megan: making sand castles
Caleb: getting happy

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Michelle: taking care of Gabriella
Megan: chores
Caleb: everything (He nailed that one)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Michelle: Ramen or macaroni and cheese (apparently she was thinking of HER favorite food)
Megan: syrup and pancakes
Caleb: chicken enchiladas

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Michelle: taking care of Gabriella
Megan: when you put on a tv show for me
Caleb: doing the most jobs

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Michelle: the nice lady in 102 Dalmatians
Megan: Manny (from Handy Manny)
Caleb: Ma on Little House on the Prairie

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Michelle: go to ice cream shop
Megan: play
Caleb: have serious conversations

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Michelle: we’re both girls
Megan: we’re not the same
Caleb: same family

19. How are you and your mom different?
Michelle: we have different hair color
Megan: you’re a mommy and I’m a sister
Caleb: height

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Michelle: you take care of me
Megan: hugging
Caleb: because you do jobs

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Michelle: hugging him
Megan: giving him loves
Caleb: The white rose

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Michelle: Chuck E Cheese so you can spend time with us
Megan: the park
Caleb: the store

Haircut Happiness

For years I've been threatening to chop my hair off but was always too worried about how it would turn out. What if I hated it - it'd be a long time before it'd grow back. But I threw caution to the wind and had it cut short. It's been 3 days so far and I have never loved my hair more. Of course I still remind myself that it's not up in a ponytail, but I have no regrets.

Michelle saw my short hair and then wanted hers cut too. At the salon we compromised and hers is now skimming the tops of her shoulders (5-6 inches were cut off). Short enough she can now brush her own hair (HALLELUJAH!) but still long enough we can put braids in it.

Megan had 4 inches cut off of her hair - it needed to still be long enough to pull into a ponytail when she eats. Ketsup and syrup have a strong attraction to her hair.

The before shot.

The after shot.

Making it Worthwhile

I'm pretty good at washing and drying the laundry, it's the folding that I rarely get around to doing. The socks drive me crazy. Yesterday I finally managed to fold the socks. When Caleb opened his sock drawer and saw it was full he got a huge grin on his face and said "thanks, Mom" then came right over and gave me a good long hug.

It's amazing how far a little appreciation can go. Already today I've done a bunch of little chores that I've been putting off for weeks.

Spring Surprise

The kids and I have been sick this past week or two so we really haven't taken advantage of the warm temperatures. Since snow is in the forecast for tomorrow I thought I'd better get some yard work done today. In raking up last year's dead leaves and branches I discovered our yard's first flowers of the season.Gabriella was very careful in "petting" the flowers. She whispered "soft, soft, soft" as she stroked each flower.

Committed

Tonight Trevor and I registered for the marathon we'll be running in September. Now that we've each paid $55 for the honor of running 26.2 miles, we can't back out now. We have 200 days to train.

Mmmmm!

Today's my mom's birthday. Even though she lives 3 hours away from us I made a treat to celebrate anyway. These magic squares were made using homemade sweetened condensed milk. It's cheap and easy to make with things most people have in their pantry. And it works just like the name brand stuff.

Here' s the link if you're interested: http://southernfood.about.com/cs/candyrecipes/ht/sweet_condensed.htm

Caleb the Chef

This afternoon Caleb asked me for a snack. It was very close to dinnertime so I told him he could have some peanuts or a drink of water. Of course he didn't like either suggestion and told me it didn't look like dinner was going to be ready for a long time. He was right. At the time I was sitting in my glider, watching the food network, and rocking Gabriella who had a fever and was being very snuggly. I told him if he didn't like the way things were then he could make dinner. And guess what?

He did.

He went right into the kitchen and started setting the table and getting food out. Within about 20 minutes he called us to the table. He's such a sweetheart. Without any help, he'd sliced a new loaf of bread and made each of us peanut butter sandwiches. Also, we each had a large portion of Goldfish crackers, carrot and cucumber slices (they were already pre-cut), and a glass of milk. As we were eating he pointed out the food items and told us where they were on the food pyramid. He really made sure we understood that there are 3 grams of protein in Goldfish crackers.

Now that I know he can do it, I might have him make dinner more often.

Cheerleaders

This morning I woke up feeling just awful. A combination of a cold and side effects from a new medication are causing my head to spin, my sinuses to be congested and my stomach nauseous. But the show must go on. It was Trevor's day off so he took the kids to school then went to his dermatologist appt and took Megan with him because I also had an appointment. Fortunately, his appt didn't take very long and he was able to come home just before I left for the podiatrist. This was very helpful since I was in no shape to try and entertain Gabriella at a doctor's office. Right after my appointment (which went long since they misplaced my chart and forgot to call me back) I needed to go on a long run. My head and stomach were now feeling better, so I trudged out the door. This was at 10:45 am. I had less than 2 hours before I needed to be back home since Michelle had an orthodontic appointment this afternoon.

My pace was pretty slow the first part of my run. Then Trevor surprised me by driving by and cheering me on. He took the kids to the park and promised he'd pick me up before I'd have to go up the steep hill on the way back home. Let me just say that during the next 2 miles my pace was 1 minute a mile faster than before my cheerleading squad's visit and the next 2 miles were 2 mintues faster. It's amazing what a little pep talk can do for you. I especially needed it today.

I'm so glad Trevor and I both run. Knowing what each other is going through and being able to help them through it is a huge boost to morale.

Go, Gabriella, Go!

It's been spring-like temperatures this week. Gabriella stole my shoes and went on a walk this morning. I'm so excited for spring and summer this year. Since Gabriella can walk this year, there will be many more walks and much more yard work now that I don't have to carry her around.

Sleeping Beauties

I took the picture below to post on my photo blog but while I was taking it I decided to take a picture of all the kids while they are at their quietest. Don't worry, not one of them even flinched when the flash went off.

Here's Gabriella...
Here's Megan. Bear always has to be on top of her head and Megan's arms are always outstretched.

Here's Michelle. She must've been so tired she's not snuggling her Kitty right next to her face.

Here's Caleb. Yes, that's a hoodie he's wearing while sleeping, as well as sweatpants and a turtleneck under his hoodie. But then last night he slept in shorts and a t-shirt. Go figure!

Randomness

I must confess. I rarely check the email account that is listed here on my blog and also connected to my facebook account. When I finally did check it I found that I'd been tagged by a few different people for "16 random things". Because I don't know how (and don't really care to know how) to post anything on facebook, I'm posting the list here instead. If someone can tell me how to post on facebook the link here to my blog then please let me know-and yes, I promise I'll be better about checking this email account.

16 Random Things About Me

1. I've lived in 18 different houses and in 5 different states during my entire life. That averages to one house every 2 years of my life. But my having lived in our current house for almost 10 years, skews the statistics.

2. My favorite tv show is MASH. In a distant way, its actually responsible for me meeting my husband. Me and a colleague were talking about MASH when she said she had a brother-in-law that liked the show too. One thing led to another and now 10 years later we're proud parents of the DVDs of all 13 seasons of MASH.

3. My favorite color is WHITE. Some people (like my mom) refuse to acknowledge white as an actual color, to them I'll avoid the argument and just tell them BLUE is my second favorite color.

4. On my left forearm I have 7 moles that can be connected to make the Little Dipper. In fact my back has so many moles that it even surprised my dermatologist into saying "WOW! You are moley."

5. Up until March 24, 2007 I'd never run more than 1 mile at a time. On that date I set a goal to run a half marathon. I prodded my husband into running the race with me. Now, almost 2 years later, it's not even considered a workout unless I run at least 4 miles.

6. I am the middle child of 5 kids. I'm pretty sure I exhibit all the symptoms of "middle child syndrome". My parents only have 2 photos of me by myself (1 on my blessing day and 1 when I'm about a year). To make up for that when I take pictures of my kids, I often shoo the others out of the way so that it's a picture of an individual not the whole group.

7. ARACHNOPHOBIA. I have it big time. Before I became a mom, it'd take 5 minutes of talking myself into it, before I could kill a spider. Now, it's not as hard to kill them since I'm "protecting" my kids, but I still hate feeling the crunching of exoskeleton under my shoe. I must admit that I was happy to have my first born be a boy because it'd be that much sooner he'd be squishing spiders for me. My dad loves to tease me by smashing a spider with his bare hand then trying to wipe his hand on me.

8. Procrastination is my middle name. When I was in school I'd procrastinate doing homework by doing housework. Now I procrastinate housework by writing in my blogs.

9. I love planting seeds and watching them grow. Unfortunately, our yard has poor soil. After having a garden for a just few years stripped all nourishment out of the soil. It won't even grow zucchini now.

10. I've only left the country one time (Tijuana and Niagara Falls don't count) and that was to go to Japan on our honeymoon.

11. I've worn glasses since I was 10 and contacts since I was 12. Without corrective lenses I am legally blind 4 times over (for inquiring minds and those who understand, my Rx is -10.5).

12. Scary movies are a no go for me. I freak out even after watching "Criminal Minds" on tv.

13. I'm not good at confrontations. I will either just sit there and not say anything or I'll leave the room. In fight or flight, I'll always choose flight. In my head I'm having a shouting match with the person that's involved. But after a few hours, I've worked it out in my head and can then move on.

14. In my youth (10-12 yrs old) I was on a track team that went to Nationals. Back then I was a sprinter (100m, 200m, long jump and sometimes 400m). I came in last or 2nd to last in all my races, but at least I got to travel to the fun and exotic places of Lincoln, Nebraska and Albequerque, New Mexico.

15. My first real date wasn't until a few days after my 18th birthday. Not by choice or parental restriction, just no one asked me until then. That's also the first time that having a brother just 17 months older than me paid off. It was one of his friends that asked me out.

16. I'm a chocoholic. When I was younger I'd give all the non-chocolate Halloween candy to my siblings, especially gum. Gum is one of my pet peeves. Especially when people take out their gum, stick it on their plate (or worse yet behind their ear), eat their food then re-chew the gum. It gives me chills just thinking about it.