Friday, November 28, 2008

All Boy

Maddox: "(insert sound of huge belch)"
Me: "Maddox! What do you say? Stop making yourself burp."
Maddox: "Mom, it is air coming out of my tummy, I can't help it!"

Learned? He is way too smart!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Turkey Trot!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

I just love this holiday because of the yummy food! I always stuff myself way past full, so this year I decided to be proactive. A group of us from school, and my mom, sis-in-law, and our kids all ran or walked in the Turkey Trot; a local 5K to support the fire department. The weather was quite gloomy this morning, it had rained overnight, and was threatening to rain on us during the race. So I bundled the kids up and hit the pavement. There was a pretty good turn out today considering the weather and it is only the 2nd annual. I ran an amazing pace considering I was pushing Maddox, I finished it in 28:20.9 (a 9.07 min/mile pace). I am super happy with my self. Madison walked with Kristen and the baby Tinley.

I saw a bunch of people I knew too! Anne and Katy were there(I run with Anne on Tuesdays, and Katy is in my class and watches Maddox while we run.), as well as Chet who I used to work with. I saw one of my students there too. I ran into an old friend/coworker from the Gene Taylor's era of my life and caught up briefly.

Just as we finished up the race the clouds let loose and began to dump on us. The kids and I were eager to get home and warm up with an hot shower; as well as relax before we headed to the in-laws for the feast!

Here are some pics from the event:



Learned: This was a great way to feel less guilty about all the food I'll eat today, and spend healthy time with friends and family. I hope to make it a Thanksgiving tradition!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Twilight (Twice)

What a great weekend!

Vycci and I went to Twilight, and I must say that it was a great reunion with all of my favorite characters. We both really enjoyed the movie and thought that it followed the book very well. I only wish they would have shown more of her clumsiness, and more of Edwards strength. In the books Edward is a very strong, self assured person in all aspects except when it comes to Bella. I think that the movie was really trying to portray his inner torment about his feelings for her, so his strength and confidence didn't come through as clear. I think that the characters that fit what I had imagined best were Alice and Jacob. I anxiously await the second movie where these two characters take a more leading role...

Vycci and I both agreed that the actual movie may not be the best movie we have ever seen, or be to the caliber of such films as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but the reason we enjoyed it so immensely is because we enjoyed the books so much. I am anxious to hear the perspective of someone who has not read the books. I think a group of us may go again next weekend when the family is in town for Thanksgiving, and my mom has not read the books.... We shall see!


OK... so I have a confession to make.... we enjoyed the movie so much that we went back and watched it a second time later that night... I know.... silly girls. To tell the truth I can not wait till next weekend to have the chance to see it again. I also just got the second book back from the last person I loaned it to and I feel it beckoning me... I guess I must heed its call...

Learned: Having a friend that will be as giddy and silly about a movie is comforting. It's nice to know that in all my quirkiness I am not alone.

Friday, November 21, 2008

AC/DC sings "Old McDonald"?

The other night when Brian was opening presents, Maddox was thrilled to help out. When Brian opened the new AC/DC album Maddox took it and exclaimed "Yes! That's cool!" and then asked very innocently if the song "Old McDonald Had Farm" was on it!

Learned? It might be painful to listen to AC/DC do their own remix of favorite children songs.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Happy 31st Brian

Yesterday was Brian's 31st birthday. He is not someone who relishes being in the spotlight, and turning another year older doen't phase him a bit. This years birthday was pretty uneventful. We all went about our normal buisness. When I got home with the kids I made brownies (Brian's favorite, he doesn't like sweets but will eat these). However while measuring out sugar and cocoa, I realized that I melted 1 cup of butter in stead of 1/2 cup, so I ended up making a double batch. When ever I double a baking recipe I am not sure how it will turn out, but these turned out pretty good. And it was a good thing because we had a house full of family and we devoured 1 whole pan and half of the other. When Brian got home we went out to dinner, which was as enjoyable as it could be with a very active two year old boy. One trip to the bathroom to "talk" and he was much better! All of our parents and Brian's grandparents came over to celebrate, and it ended up being a very nice evening.

His birthday got me reflecting on my life this year and how durastically different it is from last year. One year ago I was miserable with life in general and it all stemmed from the major stress of work (I had a really terrible class). I had been sick at least 4 times by Brian's birthday last year, and on his birthday I was so sick I ended up going home from his surprise birthday party (that I heard was WAY TOO much fun) and sleeping the entire weekend only to be drug to the docs the following Monday, given two bags of fluid, and multiple injections of antibiotics and stuff to make me stop puking. This year I have only had a minor chest cold, and I am not stressed at all, loving my job, and my classes, and my coworkers. I think that my family likes me better this year....

Learned? Lots... I am so blessed to have a husband who works so hard and continualy puts others before himself. I have a great family(but I already knew that). And, I am amazed at the difference one year and one life changing choice can make.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Twilight

I just bought my tickets to see Twilight this weekend. In August, while on our Vegas girls get-a-way, my friend Vycci got me hooked on the books and we have been planning on seeing the flick together since. My excitement in this series has been renewed and I can hardly wait to be reunited with my fictitious friends in Forks, WA!


Learned? I know that I am so lame for being this excited about a movie. But what could be better than a weekend away with the very best of my friends, and vampires!!

(Keep us in your prayers, as it will just be the kiddos and I heading over the hills to Denver, as Brian has to work.)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Blessed With Beautiful Babies

A few weeks ago my sister in law set up photos of our kids. I was not sure how they would turn out as Maddox can sometimes not be the most accommodating at sitting still (shocker I know...)

I was truly amazed at how well they turned out.






The lady, Kelli McCall, who took the pictures said that I could post these here. She did a great job working with three very different ages and personalities and captured some amazing portraits. I strongly recommend her to all of you out there. Let me know if you are interested and I will get you in contact with her. (Also please respect that these are copy righted- thanks.)

Learned? I know every parent thinks their children are beautiful, I just can't help sharing the beauty of mine with others.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Halloween (a while ago)

My computer has been running very slow lately so I have been avoiding downloading pictures. Now that I have, I can share the Halloween pictures of the kiddos. Madison was Velma, and Maddox was a pirate. He was super excited that he got a sword! We visited the grand parents and then trick-or-treated around the block with Madison's friend Caid and her family. It was a very fun night, and surprisingly warm.

Enjoy the pics....



Sunday, November 2, 2008

Time Flys (Again)

Once again I have let more than a month pass since posting. So I am sure that there must be a really good excuse....

This is what I have been up to for the last month:

Getting myself and two kids up, dressed, fed, lunches packed, and out the door before 6:30, teaching all day, running to and from practices and games 3 days a week, and trying to find time for my own runs.

I also had my first parent teacher conferences at Middle School. They went amazingly well, I didn't have one parent upset with me!!! And an large portion voiced their praises of how their students are doing in Math!

I have been taking an online book study about geometric thinking. This is another portion of the two week summer classes I took. There is one more book study and two more weekends that we meet. When that is all over, I will have an additional 12 credits which = one more horizontal move on the pay scale! The best part is I didn't have to pay for any of the credits!!!

I have once again found myself entranced with some books. I just finished a really amazing Christian work of fiction, that revolutionized my relationship with my "Papa". The book is called The Shack, and is about how a man overcomes a major tragedy in his life through a weekend spent with the Trinity. I suggest that everyone read this book, it is written in a very non "religous" way, and I came away thinking this is how God would really talk to me. I am going to read it again and journal about it here, because there are some really deep things I want to ponder more.




The book I am currently reading is about an Atlantean god who was raised (and abused) as a human. So much tragedy has happened to him in his first 21 years of life, and at times I think "How much more can one person endure". I am to the part where he has come of age and his god powers have been restored to him, I am anxious to see what happens next. Though it is a very captivating book, there is some content that makes me hesitant about recommending it, so I am not posting the title.


Learned? I seem to forget the world (at least the cyber one) when I get into a book. But I really need to put more effort into recording important things when they happen, because as I am nearing 30, my memory seems to be fading....

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My mom was reading to Maddox the other day and ya know how you lick you finger to turn the page... well my mom was doing that and Maddox looked at her and said "I wanna taste it" and licked his finger and touched the page. This gave me the biggest laugh when I heard about it. I thought it was pretty original of him to think she was tasting the book, and when you think about it, what other reason would someone lick their finger and touch the pages.

Learned? It really just made me wonder what other "things" we do that can be seen totally different through the eyes of our children.