Going Crazy and Having Fun

If you look at the job description of little sisters, I'm sure that somewhere it says: "annoy your big brother in every way you can." Yesterday Madeline was able to perform that part of her job to the best of her abilities. Andrew was all sorts of upset at Craig and I after we had a run in about him not cleaning up when he was asked. He was completely distraught by the consequences we dolled out and ran to his room in tears declaring he just wanted to be alone. A few moments later, this sign emerged sticking out of his door:
We let it be and decided we would rather have him cry in his room than bother us with the tears and complaints. However, Madeline had a different plan. She carefully removed the sign so Andrew wouldn't know she'd been there, turned it over and replaced it with this:
It stayed up for a while until Andrew realized what had happened and then he was all fired up again. Craig and I just cracked up, we couldn't help our selves, which only added to the tears. I guess that we both thought it was nice for Madeline to finally win one with her brains instead of her brawn.

For the past several years we have had a family tradition of going to the Vineyard Pumpkin Patch. We really love this place and have had a lot of fun with it, but this year we decided to try something new. We met my brother and his family at Cornbelly's, which is the pumpkin patch at Thanksgiving Point. While it didn't rival Vineyard in cost, it certainly had a lot more to offer and we had a lot of fun there. They had so much stuff for the kids to do that we ended up staying there for more than five hours, and we didn't even get around to everything that they had to offer. One of the favorite activities was the corn pile, which is comparable to a sand box, but it is full of corn. Every single one of my kids loved it and we kept coming back to it for more fun. We also loved the hay ride--especially the night time one, the spider's web, the cart races, and so many other things. Andrew and Craig were thrilled to stay later than the rest of us and try out the haunted Corn Maze. (Which made me a little sad because it just means that Andrew is growing up.) If I had to guess I would say that our Vineyard tradition might be gone and that we will be heading back to Cornbelly's from here on out. However, next year I will remember to pack a dinner.

One thing that drives me absolutely crazy is a ponytail that won't stay put. I absolutely hate the feeling of it slowly slipping from where I carefully placed it. This is especially true while I am running, I can't stand having to constantly tighten my hair. The elastics I have been buying generally slip when I wrap them around my hair two times and my hair just wont fit through if I try to wrap it a third time. That doesn't keep me from trying though and I have ruined many a hair elastic because of it. The good news is, I now have a solution to this annoying problem. While my parents were at the St. George Marathon Expo, they picked up several free samples at the Goody table. These particular elastics are called STAYPUT and are designed to hold hair 52% better. The great news--they actually work--no more tightening ponytails while I run, and they work especially well for Madeline who has a tendency to play so hard that her hair can't stand up to her activity level. As I was searching for this image, I also found out that there is a whole line of STAYPUT products for both women and girls and I am very excited to try many of them These elastics have become one of my new favorite things and I thought that I would share my excitement with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

As I have mentioned before, Andrew is rather particular about the way he looks. He has no desire to wear anything that does not scream preppy. He also rather enjoys wearing colors that are typically reserved for girls. Purple happens to be his favorite color, and he doesn't mind pink all that much. In fact if I ever see a shirt (with a collar of course) in either of these colors I always snatch it up for him because I know that he will really enjoy it. I have however wondered if his desire to wear pink and purple would disappear once other boys started making fun of it. Today I think I found the answer. He wore a purple shirt to school toady and at lunch time, he walked by a younger boy who just looked at him and said: "Are you a real men, 'cause real men don't wear pink and purple." (that's a direct quote, not a typo in case you were wondering). Andrew just laughed and shrugged it off and couldn't wait to come home and tell me the story because he thought it was so funny. As he told me the story I just had to take a minute and be grateful that I have a little boy who is so comfortable with himself and who he is. Not only do I not need to worry about him growing out of wearing pink and purple anytime soon, I also know that I don't really have to worry about his self esteem and that gives me a lot of peace of mind. Besides that, I think he looks great in any color--especially pink and purple.

The title of this post may make you wonder about the personal hygiene of my family, but let me assure you that no one's feet really stink, at least not at the moment, it's just a game we like to play. (Which may make you wonder about the sanity of my family, but that's another story entirely.) It is a game that I have played with every one of my babies during diaper changes that just makes me smile, let me explain: Whenever I have a restless and unruly child (the kind who would rather roll around and grab their own stinky diaper and play with it than actually sit still,) I start sniffing the air and ask them "Do you smell that?" Now you might assume I am speaking of the real smell I am dealing with,but my babies all know better. As soon as I ask the question, they all hold still and start grinning. While they are holding still, I keep sniffing and looking for the source of the smell, (the whole time taking care of diaper duty). I eventually land end up at their feet at which point I take a big sniff, push their feet out of the way and make a face like I have smelled the worst thing in the world and say something along the lines of ""EEEEW, stinky feet!" This silly game works without fail every time; I am able to take care of business and I also get some of the best smiles and laughs of the day. I know it is a stupid game, but it is one of those ones that I love and I will miss when Sarah has outgrown it. But rest assured, once she has outgrown it, I will never miss the reason for the game in the first place!
Happy changing!

Once again, I find myself very intrigued by music. If I had to guess, I would say it is due to the fact that my runs have been getting longer and more lonely. The current play list I have has ceased to inspire and distract me as well as it used to--in fact, some of the songs are beginning to annoy me and I've even had to remove a few old favorites because they currently make me want to gag. I am posting this in hopes of finding a few new favorites; I hope you all come through for me! Thanks in advance!

Every year, usually around the end of September, I tell myself that I am going to make my kids Halloween costumes. (Which is code for, "I would like to pick out patterns and fabric and pretend that I actually can make my kids Halloween costumes, but then I will soon realize that I am not capable of doing so and that I need my mom to bail me out and do most of the work.") The only problem is that every year I forget that I am speaking in code and end up with some intense frustration at my lack of skill and ability. Luckily my mom is always patient with my little pity parties due to my lack of abilities and is always willing to bail me out of the projects I never should have attempted to do on my own. And lucky for my kids, she always does a way better job than I ever could and they end up having great costumes. I think that this year's costumes may be my favorites yet. And while I do have pictures now, you'll have to check back on Halloween to see them because I don't want to spoil my Halloween post. But when you do see them, I would appreciate it if you could speak in code and let me know how amazing I am for sewing my kids costumes, (which is code for "Wow your mom is incredible, I can't believe she had enough time to put up with your crap and make those too!)

THANKS MOM!

**On a side note, only Andrew and Madeline's costumes were made by the two of us, ( yes I really did sew a little bit) the other two were made with much love and care by Wal-Mart!

Our trips to St. George are fairly redundant. We always climb on the same rocks, get treats at the same places, go on the same hikes, and basically have the exact same trip, with a few minor variations, two or three times a year. This trip was no exception but we definitely found a few things out of the ordinary on one of our oldies but goodies!

We always like to go climb around (I think hike is too generous of a word) on the red rocks. My kids favorite thing to do there is go through what we lovingly call "the big crack," which is a narrow crack in between two pieces rock where we can climb through and then end up on top of the rocks. I personally think the kids love it because they walk through face forward and then laugh at their parents (or more appropriately Craig and I since we are the only parents who have yet to take them through) who have to literally drag themselves through while facing sideways. On this particular trip to the crack, we were quite surprised to find a sofa waiting for us at the beginning. My kids thought it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen.
But far better than the sofa, was the desert turtle we found while exploring. We have never seen anything but small lizards and beetles up at the red rocks so we were quite surprised to find this turtle on our path. The kids were completely fascinated with it and were actually sad that we made them put it down!


And finally we took a trip to visit the "Dragon in the Drain Pipe" who seemed to be drooling and blowing steam today which gave everyone but Sarah a good piece of entertainment.

So many out of the ordinary things made this trip to the red rocks an especially memorable.

I am lucky to have the parents that I do because it comes with a lot of perks! On Monday (probably to help me celebrate my anniversary) they added yet another one to the growing list. They took me and the kids to the production of Cinderella at Tuachan, an outdoor, open-air theater in St. George. While the adults didn't think it was the best show we have ever seen there (I don't think anything will beat Cats) the kids absolutely loved it! Even Sarah was captivated at times. She loved the singing and dancing and she especially loved the horses. I also love getting the chance to expose my kids to fun things like this and am grateful to my parents for giving me that chance this past week!

I have now been left out of the fun on marathon day for the past two years. Last year, it didn't really bother me (perhaps because I was three weeks away from giving birth) but this year it was a sad day for me. I wanted to be out there running and just proving to myself that I could do it again. I was jealous of my mom, dad, brother and Rabid who were out there doing their thing. (Before I go on I must say that I was quite impressed with each of their times!) Despite my sadness, and jealousy, I was able to make some of my own memories. Craig and I took 3 of my kids and 2 of my brothers kids to the Mayor's walk. We got up at about 6:15 and headed to the starting line of this local "race" that is put on to promote healthy lifestyles where they fed us donuts for breakfast--Do you see the irony?After our great nourishment, of which I did not partake, we were off for the two mile "race" And yes, I believe we set a new PR, 54 min 42 sec, (beat that Rabid!) Despite the lack of running and the frustration I was feeling because of it, I did love getting to do this "race" with my kids. It is something that they look forward to every year and I have been grateful to have done it with them for the past two years. But from here on out, they are on their own because next year, I have better plans, and they don't include crossing the finish line backwards or while cartwheeling!

I think that the post I felt the most guilty about neglecting was Madeline's sixth birthday. I was actually in town for her b-day, but was so busy with every day life, that I didn't have time to post. Thankfully, I have the time now and can take a minute to think about how lucky I am to have such a great little girl. She absolutely cracks me up and drives me crazy and I don't know what I would do without her. I can't have a conversation (or watch a movie) with her without hearing a million questions because she is so curious and she wants to learn about EVERYTHING! She is also good at just about everything that she tries--OK change that to everything she puts her mind to because she really stinks at cleaning her room. She is also way too busy, between school, gymnastics, dance and choir, she is totally booked, but she loves them all so much that I don't have the heart to make her quit any of them. I also actually think it is good for her to be busy because it keeps her out of trouble. I know that I could go on and on talking about her and how much I love her, but in the interest of time and fairness, I will just finish up by listing six things I love about her
* She is so much FUN! (Largely because she has a slightly michevious side which can also get her into trouble.)
* She has so much grit and determination--she'll do what she wants when she wants and isn't afraid of the consequences.
* Her smile can light up a room and she gives the best hugs (I know that was two, but I couldn't help myself.)
*She is not afraid to be herself and she is so comfortable and content with who she is.
* She puts her whole heart and sould into everything she does. (You should just see her face while she reads a book or watches a movie)
* She is so open to love anyone and everyone and is so happy and willing to share that love!

I really do love the zest for life she carries around with her, it's somewhat contagious and she has a way of bringing fun and energy to any environment she ends up in. I am so lucky to have a little girl like her and to be a major recipient of all that love she has to give. She brings me more joy and happiness than I ever thought possible and although I know that she will always keep me on my toes, I also know that she makes me a better mom because of it!

I have just returned from a great week in St. George. I love it there and even though our trips are fairly redundant, I am able to make some great memories with my kids and we really have a blast together. We always go down for marathon/conference weekend and since the kids had half of the following week off school, I decided to extend my stay for a whole week. Craig left on Sunday and my my mom and I stayed the rest of the week. I can't tell you how nice and refreshing it was to just be able to have a week off of real life, but I will say that I missed blogging. There were a few posts that I wanted to get done before I left, but since I didn't you'll have to endure reading through a lot of old posts--that is if you feel like it!

Let's just say that I have never been totally happy with the way my blog looked, so I am trying out some changes, thanks Heather for the inspiration--hope you're not mad. I also hope you like the new look, who knows how long it will last!

Tonight we were at my grandma’s 94^th birthday party. I was in the kitchen talking to my cousins and Craig, Ben and Sarah were hanging out around the corner. All of a sudden Ben came running to me and said “Dad needs the diaper bag—QUICK!” So I gave Ben the bag and a few moments later he reappeared to inform me that dad needed my help because there was an “emergency.” When I finally found them, they were in the bathroom and I just cracked up when I saw what they were doing.

Let’s just say that Sarah has been a bit under the weather and Craig didn’t want anything to leak any worse than it already had. He figured that this was the safest place to keep her until I was there to help because it definitely was a two person job!