Tagged

My Aunt Heather tagged me, something I have never heard of, and I am sure that she has given up hope that I would actually oblige. Well...here we go.

1. We had to do a "Code Adam" for Will at the mall while shopping last night. I knew that there was a reason I waited to do this post. We turned out heads for a minute and he was gone. We spent a couple minutes looking, put out a Code Adam throughout the entire mall which notifies security and all the stores that there is a lost/missing child, spent about ten more minutes frantically searching and then found him. He had walked out of Bath and Body Works into the bookstore across the way and was sitting in the back corner looking at a dinosaur pop-up book. Never even knew he was lost. I can't even describe the feeling, I am just glad he was safe!

2. If I have to use the bathroom when my kids are napping, I don't always flush. If I am feeling too lazy to walk upstairs and don't want to risk waking them up, I just wait.

3. I LOVE to watch cooking shows and am secretly grooming my cute kids to become chefs themselves. I made a killer cheesecake for Jake's birthday that came from the Barefoot Contessa. Watching T.V. does occasionally pay off.

4. I really like kids movies. I am so glad that I have kids and can use them as an excuse to girl up and go see Enchanted. I loved every second of it and can not wait to take Elli to see it again.

5. I drink decaf coffee. I come from a family of pretty serious coffee drinkers who would be embarrassed to know that I can't drink the real thing. Love the energy I get, just can't handle the headaches the next morning.

6. Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" is currently my favorite workout song. I listen to it over and over because it has a great, fast beat. Great for running.

7. I wait until Elli is at school and then clean her room out of all the misc. papers she has been collecting. I save the worthy school projects and cute doodles, but just can not hold on to every real estate ad, Old Navy coloring sheet (for dressing rooms), kids club scribble and coupon that she is constantly bringing home. She tucks them away in her closet for safe keeping and never thinks of them again, just watches the pile grow. She has yet to miss anything, she must think it is closet elves that keep it so clean. Works for me!

There it is...you know that I am not going to pass this along. I would have to think pretty hard to come up with seven bloggers that have not already done this. Thanks though, Heather. I kind of enjoyed it!

October Reflection

Wow! That pretty much sums up my feelings on October coming to a close and it already being one week into November. With as much as we have going on in November, followed closely by the craziness of December, I am certain that I am going to blink my way into the New Year. But I do need to reflect on October. It felt like both a fun and crazy one. The highlights:

• Elli deciding she wanted bangs. Actually happened in September, but definitely a highlight. We even still like them.
• Eating way too many glazed doughnuts and fresh apple cider in too short of a time because I know that the beautiful fall season is always way too short.
• Pumpkin picking. Mostly involved watching a cat tease a mouse before finally getting bored. I am just grateful it got bored and not hungry.
• Will learing to ride his bike without training wheels three weeks before his third birthday.
• Chloey, the dog, tearing her achilles tendon...leading to a full leg cast, a few too many complications, more money that I would have chose to spend on her, and 4 weeks of chaos in the house. It came off today and she is doing great, yeah!
• Will's 3rd birthday. He actually turned three, even though I tried to convince myself he was only turning two. We had a small celebration which included a corn maze, dinner at his favorite restaurant-Costa Vida, the moto cake he requested, and lots of fun gifts from wonderful friends and fam. Thanks to all of you! (His favorite friend and cousin, Carmen, turned 3 one week later.)
• Field trip with Elli's adorable kindergarten class to the pumpkin walk, complete with a ride in the yellow bus. Without a camera, ugh!
• Halloween parties galore. Boo and the Zoo, a fun fall celebration with friends, parties at school and dance, pumpkin carving and of course, Halloween itself.
• Elli, a witch. Will, a dinosaur. Thanks to my pack-rat Mom, Elli wore the witch dress that I wore when I was about her age. She was perfectly witchy and I just loved the mini-me! Even though we had fears of a costume strike by Will, we actually got it on him, kept it on him and had a great time trick-or-treating.

So, I have high expectations of the next couple months being as eventful and fun as these. Bring it on! We'll see you in the New Year!

Still here...

I can not believe that it has been almost one whole month since my last post, I was thinking that it had only been a couple weeks. What have I been doing for the last month?!? The same thing that all you other Mom's have been doing, driving around. To and from various activites, some necessary, some not so much. I am just grateful for the beautiful fall weather we have been having and for kids that are worn out at the end of the day. Makes bedtime, and my life, so much easier. I will be in touch soon, with pictures, and hope that you all will keep in touch with me.

Let's ride!

Finally, after growing up in a family of mountain bikers and being married to one for the last eight years, I finally took off my black sheep costume, got a bike for my birthday and started riding. I have had a blast! I have hooked up with a fun group of girls at the gym who try to ride together once a week...an awesome group that are girly, tough and a total blast to hang out and talk with. We have conquered some of the local trails and even managed to get momentarily lost, fix a flat tire on the trail, and ride some serious downhill, single-track in pitch black darkness. My brand-new white bike being our only light source. Although at the time, I was anxiety ridden and thinking I was maybe not cut out for mountain biking, I woke up the next morning and realized that I had had my first 'epic' ride and lived to tell about it.

Jake and I have had to work together to make this biking thing work. With him wanting to ride, me wanting to ride, and kids who expect us to be around in the evening, we have had to sacrifice and compromise to make it possible. Don't tell Jake, but I will admit that he has sacrificed more than the rest of us, I would not have had the fun I have had he wasn't so great. And, every now and then, we even get to ride together.

Logan to Jackson

Why anyone ever signs up and pays money to suffer for over 9-15 hours on a bike is beyond me. That doesn't mean that I don't like to tag along, in the comfort of my car, and cheer on a few of the bird-brains that I know racing. First and foremost...my Dad. We thought he had moved on from this lunacy but he felt the need to make another go of it. So...we sent the kids to stay with friends and looked forward to a nice weekend with peace, quiet and family. He suffered through 130 miles of the 206 mile bike race before his 55 year-old knees told him it was time to stop. We tried not to act too excited when he finally threw in the towel, but looked forward to getting to Jackson Hole a few hours early and with energy to still play. It has been at least 5 years since Jake and I have had the chance to get away with my parents without kids. This is mostly because they are the ones watching our kids when we are gone. We had a blast shopping, eating and visiting with each other without any interruptions or schedules to follow. I am soooo amazed at my Dad's fitness and determination and although he has sworn to never do this race again, I hope that we come up with some other excuses to get away with my Mom and Dad very soon.

School Days!

Suprisingly, Will started one whole week before Elli. At first she was quite annoyed, but enjoyed the couple of days we had to just hang...us girls. Will goes to school twice a week, with the cutest class of nine and what seems to be a great teacher, Mrs. Donalee. He had no hesitations the first day but was left screaming on the sidewalk on day two. Mrs. Donalee took him to pick corn in her garden and that seemed to fix whatever problem he was having. Which was obviously nothing serious, because we have had no drama since. I can not believe that we are fast approaching the big #3 with him, I keep trying to tell myself that he is only turning two and am trying to cherish every little sweet moment I have with him.

I am still in slight disbelief that I actually drop Elli off to kindergarten each day, it just does not quite seem real. I think that it probably because my little girl is such an outgoing, confident and adaptable little thing. It is just another day for her. She had only one brief moment of nervousness walking through the big doors that went away almost immediately when she saw all the excitement inside. She loves her teacher, which she no longer thinks is funny looking, and is enjoying getting to know all her new friends. It seems that all is well.

Oh, the first day was all about the clothes. The bling on her pants, the leopard ballet flats, and the backpack. With all those things so right, what could have possibly gone wrong?

Girls Night!

Elli and I had the chance to get away to SLC this weekend without the 'stinky boys' for a little girl time with my sister-in-law Wendy and her girl, Jade. We have all been counting down the days to the first day of kindergarten and were hoping for some distraction. We had so much fun going to dinner, riding SLC commuter rail, playing in the spray fountains, going to Sunday brunch, and finally Lagoon. This was the girls first trip to a real themepark with real rides and they had a blast. It is apparent that our out-going girls have no fear of heights, speed or haunted houses. We did almost everything that they were tall enought for and after seven hours and only bag of cotton candy, we were beat. We have had all the fun we can stand and are now ready for school...only two days!

Cowboy Roundup!

A few weeks ago we spent a night up Logan Canyon for Jake's work party, the SAE and Interactive Rides Cowboy Roundup. Who new a work gathering could be so much fun! We got together with a quite a few people we already new well and had the chance to get to know even more people that we did not know so well. We spent the evening horseback riding, watching the kids chase each other around with marshallow shooters, eating a BBQ dinner, participating in a cowpie throwing contest (which Elli won in her age group), log sawing (Shauna and I took second only because we had to break the ice and the following girls got more 'tech tips'), and lots of great conversation with lots of great people. Needless to say, we were all beat when we finally made it to our room and spent the next day recovering at Bear Lake with some good friends. I also have to give props to my hubby who was the unofficial 'event planner' and did an amazing job. We all had a blast!

HAPPY CAMPERS!

Do I really think next summer will be any different? I say this because between summer camp, swimming lessons, skinned knees, playdates with family and friends, 4+ bottles of sunscreen, stubbed toes, numerous trips to Bear Lake, too many grilled hot dogs, a few mountain bike rides in 95 degree weather on my new bike, gymnastics, too much money in gas, and a zillion other 'fun' things, I am ready for it to end. I do this all to avoid boredom and insanity with the result being, I am still insane and I now have kids who thrive in a life that is constantly on the run. So although I complain and hope that next summer is going to be different, I can not ingnore what is right in front of me. Two very happy, and tuckered out little campers!