The school had a 5K and Walk-a-thon this morning. We've known about it for a long time now. Kids didn't seem interested, which I didn't mind since the race started at 8 and registration at 7. Then a few days ago Jimmy started to say that he wanted to do it. I said nothing in hopes that he would forget. Yesterday he mentioned it a few times. I hoped that pretending not to hear would get him to change his mind. Then he started to mention it to Russ. Which gave me hope that Russ would take him and I could happily stay home. I'm not really a morning person and that sounded really early to me. So when Jimmy kept coming in this morning trying to get Russ up, I finally got up and took him over to the school for it. Jimmy wanted me to walk with him so we opted for the 5K rather than the walk-a-thon.
Let me just say now that I am out of shape. I have been taking Dylan on long walks about every night, but nothing that is really good exercise. I pictured writing a post about how I nearly died and how hard it was as I barely made it at an easy jog to the first turn of the run. But it wasn't as bad as I pictured after that. Mostly walked it, but when I could get Jimmy to, we would run for a bit. I ran the last little stretch while Jimmy slowly walked. Yes, Jimmy was the very last one to finish. He was tired and swears that he will never do that again. I would have actually liked to have run more than we did. And think I'm insane for starting to think that it would be good to get up early in the mornings before Russ leaves for work and go run about what I did today. And thinking that I'm insane for thinking it, I probably won't. I will probably just continue to take Dylan on his nightly walks.
And just so you know, chucks are not the best shoes to wear for a 5K. But I hadn't been able to find my running shoes. Which I regretted not long after starting.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Happy Birthday Russ
Yep, today was Russ' birthday. I think he had a good day. Despite having to go to work today.
He wasn't expecting anything when he got home so he was happy when the kids greeted him with presents. I took them to the store while he was at work and before Molly was back from her birthday sleepover with her grandparents. There was a little bit of whining and even though I told the girls to go to the bathroom before we left they didn't so needed to go almost as soon as we got to the store. Which meant I took longer at the store than I planned. At least I got home before Molly did.
I had planned on going out with Russ tonight for his birthday until last Sunday when he told me there was an Elder's Quorum party tonight. We went to that instead. First time I've been to one where they served steak. It was fun. We got to know some new neighbors better and listened to BYU lose. Which, I must say, helped me feel better about the Utes losing today. Several at the party wished Russ a happy birthday. One of Jimmy's friend's birthday is today as well, so word spread faster that it was his birthday than it otherwise would have, I think.
Anyway, happy birthday Russ! I look forward to spending the next 35 years with you.
He wasn't expecting anything when he got home so he was happy when the kids greeted him with presents. I took them to the store while he was at work and before Molly was back from her birthday sleepover with her grandparents. There was a little bit of whining and even though I told the girls to go to the bathroom before we left they didn't so needed to go almost as soon as we got to the store. Which meant I took longer at the store than I planned. At least I got home before Molly did.
I had planned on going out with Russ tonight for his birthday until last Sunday when he told me there was an Elder's Quorum party tonight. We went to that instead. First time I've been to one where they served steak. It was fun. We got to know some new neighbors better and listened to BYU lose. Which, I must say, helped me feel better about the Utes losing today. Several at the party wished Russ a happy birthday. One of Jimmy's friend's birthday is today as well, so word spread faster that it was his birthday than it otherwise would have, I think.
Anyway, happy birthday Russ! I look forward to spending the next 35 years with you.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Dentist and Other Things
Saturday night Emma started to complain that her tooth hurt. Started hurting her badly enough that Russ left our ward talent show to take her home. I knew as soon as she said her tooth hurt that I would need to take her to the dentist. When it still hurt Sunday, I really knew I would need to. So yesterday morning I called and scheduled an appointment for her for this afternoon.
I was a bit apprehensive about taking her to the dentist. She hasn't been good at the dentist and totally freaks out. This time she was perfect. I don't know if it's just because she's older or because I kept telling her that they were just going to look in her mouth and maybe take a couple of pictures of her tooth. Either way I was impressed. She even answered them when they talked to her.
After the dentist commented that the tooth she was complaining about was chipped and asked how long she's been swollen (just today is the answer to that), I remembered that she had chipped it when we were in St. George on vacation. I had told her then that I would need to take her to the dentist when we got back. And promptly forgot all about it. So I kind of feel bad that I didn't remember. Especially since her tooth has abscessed and she will have to take antibiotics and a week from today will have the tooth pulled. Poor kid.
But on a brighter note, the school psychologist called me about Emma today. Yes, having the school psychologist call you isn't usually a good thing, but this time it was. Toward the end of the school year last year, Emma's teacher asked for permission to have Emma be part of a group that would meet once a week with the school psychologist to talk about behaviors. She was having a tendency to pinch and with how shy she is, we figured it could help. It did seem to help. The school psychologist was calling to see if I would give permission for her to occasionally talk to Emma to go over some of the things they learned with the group last year. Would be like a 2 minute thing every few weeks. She then told me how much she likes Emma. Said she is cute and funny and smart. I mentioned how there are times I wonder about her and sometimes wonder if she has Asperger's Syndrome. She told me that at the start of the class she might have thought so, but the more she got to know Emma and after seeing how much Emma improved, she really thinks she's fine. Just very, very shy. Just nice to have her say that. She kept saying how much she likes Emma and said that Emma would be funny and make her laugh out loud sometimes.
I was a bit apprehensive about taking her to the dentist. She hasn't been good at the dentist and totally freaks out. This time she was perfect. I don't know if it's just because she's older or because I kept telling her that they were just going to look in her mouth and maybe take a couple of pictures of her tooth. Either way I was impressed. She even answered them when they talked to her.
After the dentist commented that the tooth she was complaining about was chipped and asked how long she's been swollen (just today is the answer to that), I remembered that she had chipped it when we were in St. George on vacation. I had told her then that I would need to take her to the dentist when we got back. And promptly forgot all about it. So I kind of feel bad that I didn't remember. Especially since her tooth has abscessed and she will have to take antibiotics and a week from today will have the tooth pulled. Poor kid.
But on a brighter note, the school psychologist called me about Emma today. Yes, having the school psychologist call you isn't usually a good thing, but this time it was. Toward the end of the school year last year, Emma's teacher asked for permission to have Emma be part of a group that would meet once a week with the school psychologist to talk about behaviors. She was having a tendency to pinch and with how shy she is, we figured it could help. It did seem to help. The school psychologist was calling to see if I would give permission for her to occasionally talk to Emma to go over some of the things they learned with the group last year. Would be like a 2 minute thing every few weeks. She then told me how much she likes Emma. Said she is cute and funny and smart. I mentioned how there are times I wonder about her and sometimes wonder if she has Asperger's Syndrome. She told me that at the start of the class she might have thought so, but the more she got to know Emma and after seeing how much Emma improved, she really thinks she's fine. Just very, very shy. Just nice to have her say that. She kept saying how much she likes Emma and said that Emma would be funny and make her laugh out loud sometimes.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Walking!
Dylan has been a little stubborn about not wanting to walk. I guess he's just been too good at crawling to care about walking. But over the past couple of days, he's seemed to really be wanting to walk more. The following video was taken tonight. Shows how he's gone from taking one, maybe two steps before leaning over for a hand to grab to full out walking. Still a bit wobbly though. Russ calls it the "zombie walk."
At the very end of the video Dylan looks like he's kind of attacking the camera. He was. He wanted to watch the video I had just taken. Grabbed the camera and sat down on my lap to watch it. It really was funny.
At the very end of the video Dylan looks like he's kind of attacking the camera. He was. He wanted to watch the video I had just taken. Grabbed the camera and sat down on my lap to watch it. It really was funny.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Heart Walk
This morning we participated in the 2nd annual Heart Walk for Intermountain Healing Hearts. We didn't go to the first one because Dylan had been home from the hospital less than a month and didn't really want to take him to a lot of places yet. I think it is a really nice event. It is the one fundraiser a year IHH holds. This year the number of people participating doubled the number from last year. I think that is great. It was nice to see a lot of extended families going together. Some made their own shirts so didn't wear the shirt we got with the registrations.
Since Dylan has a chg, he was given a heart sticker to wear on his shirt. After about the 5th time it came off, I went back and got him another sticker. They gave me two in case he kept pulling the next one off too. Of course, Molly was sad that she didn't get to wear the heart sticker.
Here is a picture I took of some of the crowd waiting for the start of the walk/run. Doesn't show nearly the number that was there.
Since Dylan has a chg, he was given a heart sticker to wear on his shirt. After about the 5th time it came off, I went back and got him another sticker. They gave me two in case he kept pulling the next one off too. Of course, Molly was sad that she didn't get to wear the heart sticker.
Here is a picture I took of some of the crowd waiting for the start of the walk/run. Doesn't show nearly the number that was there.
This was a portion of the group ahead of us. There was at least as many behind us, if not more.
Here are a few pictures of the kids before the walk started. They played a lot on the playground before and after.
After the walk, they took a group picture then held an "Angel Ceremony" for the children who have passed on. Each child's name was read and then once all were read the families huddled together and each released a butterfly. It was sweet. They also had a couple of canopies where posters with pictures of each child was displayed.
I just wonder how much bigger the group will be next year.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
First Day of Preschool
Today was Alyssa's first day of preschool. She was so excited about going that I had to make her eat breakfast. She wanted to just go instead of eating.
Since it was the first day, her teacher had an activity of decorating a gingerbread man cookie where the parents could help if the child were scared and nervous. Lys was saying bye to me before she even got out of the car but once to the door seemed a bit nervous and shy so I thought I would stick around for a minute to make sure she was okay. After sitting down with her cookie and frosting, she looked up at me and with a smile said, "Can you go now?"
Since it was the first day, her teacher had an activity of decorating a gingerbread man cookie where the parents could help if the child were scared and nervous. Lys was saying bye to me before she even got out of the car but once to the door seemed a bit nervous and shy so I thought I would stick around for a minute to make sure she was okay. After sitting down with her cookie and frosting, she looked up at me and with a smile said, "Can you go now?"
She loved preschool. She said she had a lot of fun and that she's going to have more fun than Molly had at her preschool. She's looking forward to going again.
It was really quiet in my house with just Dylan. He even took a short nap with everyone gone. Was kind of strange to have it be just the two of us, but I'm thinking it won't take too long to get used to.
Cones and Cars
Yesterday the city held it's 6th annual "Cool Cones and Cars." It was started as a family tradition to celebrate the birthday of the ice cream cone (which is Sept. 21) that grew and grew until the city decided to take it over 6 years ago. Most years we forget completely about it. One year I took the kids when Russ was working late. This was our second time going and the first for Russ. Kind of a nice way to end the day. Here are a few pictures.
I told Russ to take a picture of Dylan with his messy ice cream face. Side shots don't show the messy face so well....
I took this one just because the license plate made me laugh. It's up there with the Honda Odyssey I saw with the license plate of "Iliad." If you can't tell from the picture, the car is a Dodge Viper and the license plate is "SSSSSSS."
I told Russ to take a picture of Dylan with his messy ice cream face. Side shots don't show the messy face so well....
I took this one just because the license plate made me laugh. It's up there with the Honda Odyssey I saw with the license plate of "Iliad." If you can't tell from the picture, the car is a Dodge Viper and the license plate is "SSSSSSS."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Why I'm Allowing my Children to Listen...
Tomorrow morning President Obama will speak to our nation's children. This single act has sparked controversy in many areas. Some school districts are refusing to show his speech. Others, like the one in which my children attend, sent home letters giving parents the option of having their children opt out of watching the speech. I have had neighbors ask me if I'm going to allow my children to watch his speech. I am. Don't get me wrong, I disagree with Obama on several issues. I am not one of his supporters.
I read the letter that education secretary Arne Duncan sent to principals of schools. I've read what some people have said about the speech. I've even read an advance copy of Obama's speech. But there are two main reasons I have chosen to allow my children to listen.
He's the President of the United States. He was elected by the majority of citizens of this country. We should respect the office that he holds. We don't have to agree with him or his policies. By allowing my children to listen to his speech, I can teach my children in at least a small way to respect that office. This was the reason I first decided to allow my children to listen. Some of their comments to me when we were talking about how Obama would be speaking to them made me realize that this is something they could learn.
One of the things that makes this country great is the freedom we have to hold our own opinions. More and more it seems as if people are forgetting that. They are forgetting that just because another person has a different view on something it doesn't make him a bad person. How can we teach our children that it is okay for someone to have a different view if we don't allow them to hear those other views? To me that is much like someone saying to their children that their neighbors aren't bad people just because they don't belong to the same church then turning around and not letting their children play with those same neighbors because they don't belong to the same church.
By allowing my children to listen to Obama's speech, I am provided an excellent opportunity to teach my children these things. I can discuss with them the things that stood out to them and ask them how they felt about it, which could help them know better that I do care about their opinions. Even if their opinions may be different than mine. I can watch Obama speak as well and tell my children the things I liked or didn't like and why.
Just as a side note, the only thing I read in that advance copy of his speech that stuck out to me as not needing to be in there were just a few sentences where he asks the children to wash their hands often and stay home when they are sick. Just didn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the speech and a bit unnecessary. I will be interested to see how closely he follows the advance copy.
I read the letter that education secretary Arne Duncan sent to principals of schools. I've read what some people have said about the speech. I've even read an advance copy of Obama's speech. But there are two main reasons I have chosen to allow my children to listen.
He's the President of the United States. He was elected by the majority of citizens of this country. We should respect the office that he holds. We don't have to agree with him or his policies. By allowing my children to listen to his speech, I can teach my children in at least a small way to respect that office. This was the reason I first decided to allow my children to listen. Some of their comments to me when we were talking about how Obama would be speaking to them made me realize that this is something they could learn.
One of the things that makes this country great is the freedom we have to hold our own opinions. More and more it seems as if people are forgetting that. They are forgetting that just because another person has a different view on something it doesn't make him a bad person. How can we teach our children that it is okay for someone to have a different view if we don't allow them to hear those other views? To me that is much like someone saying to their children that their neighbors aren't bad people just because they don't belong to the same church then turning around and not letting their children play with those same neighbors because they don't belong to the same church.
By allowing my children to listen to Obama's speech, I am provided an excellent opportunity to teach my children these things. I can discuss with them the things that stood out to them and ask them how they felt about it, which could help them know better that I do care about their opinions. Even if their opinions may be different than mine. I can watch Obama speak as well and tell my children the things I liked or didn't like and why.
Just as a side note, the only thing I read in that advance copy of his speech that stuck out to me as not needing to be in there were just a few sentences where he asks the children to wash their hands often and stay home when they are sick. Just didn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the speech and a bit unnecessary. I will be interested to see how closely he follows the advance copy.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Molly's Birthday and Party
Yesterday was Molly's 6th birthday. Normally I would have posted on her birthday but when I realized I hadn't yet I figured I could just wait until after her party today. Makes it a little easier for me anyway.
She seemed to have a good birthday. She took treats to share with her kindergarten class. I let her pick out the treats and she picked some crackers and cheese packets. She loves those. I was surprised when she picked them out though. I thought she would pick something like Ring Pops. If I had thought of it, I would have taken a picture of her coming out of the school with her birthday hat on. But I didn't.
Here is a picture of Molly the day she was born with Emma, Russ and Jimmy. She had a lot of black hair.
Here's Molly when she was close to a year old with her cousins Maddy and Rebecca. Rebecca is a week older than Molly and Maddy is a month younger. I can see Dylan in Molly here.
We had Molly's party at the local Arctic Circle. I'm sure the workers were probably glad when we left because of the noise level during the party. The kids all seemed to have a good time playing. Molly, of course, was anxious to open her presents. She was ready to go home as soon as her presents were open. Didn't even care that we hadn't had cake yet. One nice thing about having it at Arctic Circle was how they bring you the little complimentary dipped ice cream cones. Almost didn't need the cake after having those.
Emma gave herself the job of watching Dylan on the play equipment. He thought he was big enough to play with all of the kids on it. Here she is holding him on one of the slides.
It didn't really feel as hot as it can get in the play room there, but as you can see here, it didn't stop Molly from getting quite flushed and a bit sweaty. Could be that she chose to wear her new long-sleeved shirt. Or I would think that if the other kids didn't seem to get juts as hot and sweaty playing. The rest of the pictures are just random pictures from the party. 
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September Birthdays
Happy birthday this month to Molly, Breanna, Russ, Joshua and Autumn! Hope you all have a great one this year!
Sheesh. These birthday posts are short enough that I sometimes start to think that I should just stop doing it. Maybe I'll stop in January so I finish out the year. We'll see.
Sheesh. These birthday posts are short enough that I sometimes start to think that I should just stop doing it. Maybe I'll stop in January so I finish out the year. We'll see.
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