Savannah Half Marathon

I did a half marathon last month with my good friend Kristen. She rocked the half and set a PR. I finished...alive. That was my goal, so I guess at least I achieved that. I did have a ton of fun with Kristen. We got to meet up with some other friends, go take a stroll on the beach, and we had an adventurous time sleeping in my van. Fun times!

Sunday Drive Home

Usually this shot would show a few more heads, but all the kids are asleep and propped to the side. We have a half hour drive to and from church. It is common that one or two of the kiddos might doze off. This past Sunday it was all four. Maybe one day we won't have to drive so far to go to church....maybe.

Dinosaur Head???

Yesterday I was doing Brooke's hair and asked how she would like me to do it. Her reply was "dinosaur head!". I just went with it and did her hair like this. She was happy. I have no idea how to interpret dinosaur head into a hairstyle. Crazy girl!

Kate and the Camera

See if you can find the common theme in these 3 pics.

My kids aren't the best about looking at the camera, but Kate pretty much avoids looking at the camera at all times. This was a constant problem and made taking photos of her quite difficult. I even got comments from family about how Kate would never look at the camera.

Well, she's done a 180.

Now I have to tame her and help her find a good middle ground. I don't need her taking pictures like this when she's 20.

Brooke Turns 3!

It feels like Brooke has been 2 for about 5 years. She gives us a run for our money more than any of our other kids....combined. She just had her 3 year check-up the other day. The Dr. said she checked out perfectly, but a number of times during the appointment the Doc would say, "You're a mess!". It's true. And it only took a professional 30 seconds to diagnose her as being a mess. She is such a character. I have her signed up for a 3 day/week preschool in the fall. I am kinda expecting her to get kicked out the first month...literally.

So for Brooke's birthday we went up to the Imagine It kids museum in Atlanta. We had never been there, but had bought a discounted membership online. My kids loved it. They have a ton of stuff to do there that is totally my kids' speed. Then on our way home we stopped at Partner's pizza. The girl loves pizza. Then I took her to Publix where she picked out some butterfly cupcakes. She got 3 different mermaid dolls for gifts from us. She is obsessed with mermaids..and fairies, and princesses...but mainly mermaids. As active and crazy as Brooke is, she is super girly. SUPER girly.

Here are a few pics from our fun day!

Jake's Graduation

Here are a few song clips from Jake's graduation.


This one I recorded vertically then switched it half way through. Bad idea. Sorry. It's a cute song tho.


We loved Mrs. Bomba. We hope Kate gets her this next year.

Dancing

My mom took videos of us dancing as kids. It was always so awkward for me to watch them when I was older. I could not, for one second, see why my mom had any interest in filming such retardedness. Now I understand. I hope my kids hate this one day as much as I hated watching myself. But I sure think its cute!...and hilarious.

Oregon

Cole and I left last Friday to visit my sister, Tricia, and her new baby in Oregon. It was such a fun trip. Here's all the exciting(ish) details:

I had layovers both ways. My first flight to Denver had this big group of teens on it and one of them ended up sitting me.
This is her:

The group she is a part of is called the Silhouettes. You may remember them from 'America's Got Talent'. I loved them.

I ended up chatting with her a good bit about what they do. They are an impressive group of kids. This young lady even had recent heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart.

So I made it to the middle of nowhere, Oregon...which ended up being the best place on earth for my weekend away. This is Tricia's backyard.

They farm, in case you can't tell. I got to drive a tractor that cost about $250,000. Farming's not cheap.

Here is Tessa (Tricia's cute baby) and Cole.

There's a little of a size difference.

Then my other sister, Amy, and her husband, Lorrin, and their baby girl, London, came up for a day.

Cole eating London's head.

Fun baby times!

After Amy left, Tricia took me up to see the Owyhee Dam. It was built before the Hoover Dam and is a smaller version, but the biggest at it's time of completion.

It was very cool, and very big. The drive was absolutely beautiful! On the way back I got to see a hot spring for the first time in my life.

That night we went over to Aden's (Tricia's husband) parents' house. He took me on his own tractor. He had been working over at his dad's helping him plant corn.

They have a one eyed dog named Zip. She is such a good farm dog and would ride around in the bed of the pickup truck everywhere.

This last picture is the house where Aden grew up and where his parents have lived for some thirty odd years. Aden is the youngest of 10 kids, and they all lived in this little house. I loved it. It was quite humbling...and perfect. These farm folk are some hard working people. They make quite an impressive community of people.

I loved having this little guy come along and having him sleep with me every night. He was kicked out of our bedroom at home and has never slept in bed with me til this weekend. It's quite a cute face to wake up to in the morning.

Other adventures included throwing homemade firecrackers into a canal, shooting a gun, and eating Tricia's good cooking from their homegrown cow and pigs. It was a great week!

Oh, and this past Sunday while I was gone was our 12th anniversary. We talked on the phone and we actually went out to dinner before I left to celebrate.

Today's Project - Desk Painting

I've been doing some spring cleaning. Usually my cleaning rushes last about one day. This one is on day three. I've been cleaning closets, organizing laundry, clearing out the basement and kitchen, and setting things aside to donate. Today, I painted this desk.



My mom got this desk at a yard sale and had it for a few years and gave it to me a couple months ago. As you can see the top is pretty badly stained, but I loved the size and shape of it. So today I hauled 2 kids into Walmart to buy some paint. Where I found energy after that feat, I don't know, but I did. I hit a wall at 3:00, but I'm still going.

Here is the finished product. The initial green was a little strong for my taste so I toned it down with a little white wash, but I kept the chair a solid green to give a little contrast. Right now it is in my kitchen area with the kids computer. I like it here, but it may go back up to Brooke's room. We'll see. Ok, baby screaming...got to go!

Easter

Yesterday was Easter. We had a pretty low key Easter this year. The Easter bunny just brought some books, candy, and sidewalk chalk. The kids got some new dresses (a new tie for Jake) but not from the Easter bunny. We had a big egg hunt last Sunday with all my family and yesterday we had my mom and dad over for dinner. Sorry there aren't any pictures of Cole. It was a crazy morning and I was lucky enough to snap these few shots (that aren't that great). He was dressed in a cute Easter outfit that was green and white striped. He is 3 months now and at such a perfect stage. I just have to write that so that maybe one day I'll read this and remember that he was precious and not a tyrant. But I could seriously eat him with up. The other three are cute too. Crazy, but cute.

Thought of the Day

As if I am going to have a thought for you to read tomorrow. But anyhow, I have one for you today.

So, many years ago I heard a friend's mom say that the top of your fridge shows how messy your life is. She also said that your fridge should always stay cleared off with no magnets and such on it. I don't know why I allow such simple "you should" comments to stay with me and allow someone else's standards make me feel pressured to live my life their way. My friend's mom did not have small kids. Sometimes my sister, Karen, likes to come and move my stuff to the side of the fridge that is less visible. This is what my fridge looks like.



Do you know how much I am at my fridge? A LOT! And how much I am in my kitchen? A WHOLE LOT! This fridge holds many items on the top that I want to keep my kids away from, but that I can get to very quick. The top of the fridge is PERFECT for those type items. Those overflowing baskets hold all sorts of crayons, markers, play dough, and other arts and crafts items that I just don't want a 2 year old to have access to 24/7. The front of the fridge has calendars for the kids' schools so that I don't forget library and "show and tell" days. It also has an adorable card that my sister, Amy, drew for my birthday. It is hilarious and make me smile when I see it. The side of the fridge has my visiting teaching assignment, and a nice quote about service (I think. I need to re-read it. But I know I like it and I keep it there to be remembered...b/c I obviously forget). It has my all important shopping list, bc heaven forbid I forget something when I make my trip to the store. It also has my church-key can opener/magnet. It's just where I keep it. It is a small kitchen tool and I like to know it's on the fridge versus at the bottom of some drawer when I need it. The other side of the fridge has our "Johnson Dollar" reward system. Did I blog about that? I should. It's cute.

So, my thought for the day is that I think it is ok to have a messy fridge. It is not indicative of a messy life. My house is actually pretty clean right now. This messy fridge is indicative of a busy mom with 4 small children who is trying to survive. It shows that I care about my kids, their school, my church, and my family.

One day, I will be just like my friend's mom. I will have a clean fridge. I may even be judgemental of someone else's messy fridge (I hope not). But I bet that when that day comes, I will also look back and miss this time in my life. I'll take the craziness.....and boy is it crazy. I could write a few posts just about my day today. It is up there with one of the worst ever.

I often look at that mess and I feel like I am looking at my fridge through that lady's eyes and feel embarrassed, but as of today, I am changing that. I am going to accept and love my fridge bc it serves many purposes for me.

Update

We had a baby!....a month ago. I have been great at updating this blog. Colton Tanner joined our family on Dec 27th. He has been a great baby and all the other kids love him, and they ask when we're going to have another one....really. Kids are so blissfully unaware of how much work they are. I am very grateful for the kiddos I have, but I can't even think of adding to this brew.


I am doing well in my recovery process and feel much more normal these last few days. I can't quite go out running or anything, but I do feel much better. The recovery took a bit longer than the last two. I don't know if it is bc it was a third c-section, that I am older, or that I had more kids to run after and was not able to rest as much....or maybe all of those factors played a part. But, now I've been back to cooking and shopping and doing lots of things that I've been behind on.

I need to put a more recent picture up since he has grown a bit. I'll try to put one up soon.

35 weeks

I am 35 weeks, as of yesterday. I had a Dr.'s appointment this morning and I now have to go every week (yuck). I don't love going to the dr.. They are actually very good about getting me in and out, but I either have to arrange babysitting for Brooke or take her with me. It's all just a bit of a pain. For the most part I have been measuring further along than I am. Today they told me that I am measuring as if I were 37 1/2 weeks. She felt around and said that he felt like her was already a good sized baby, and that he'll be gaining about another pound and a half before her gets here. I had been feeling swollen lately, but the last couple days have been alright and I've had a little more energy, surprisingly enough.

This little guy will be here on Dec. 27th. Having a baby 2 days after christmas has kind of taken nesting to another level. It means that I am super simplifying Christmas. Stan brought all of our Christmas decor up from the basement and I had him take about 90% of it back down. We have our stockings up and our tree and that is it. No outside lights or decor. And it's all coming down on the 26th (if not the 25th, but I'll try to wait until the 26th). But I want this house cleaned of all the Christmas stuff so that I don't come home from the hospital to all of it.

I am quite enormous this pregnancy. People ask how much longer I have, and when I tell them they are always surprised, expecting me to say much less, as if I am supposed to have him tomorrow. Or they ask me if there are two babies in there. (That only happened once though...at the temple.) I have had a lot of discomfort thie pregnancy, but as huge and uncomfortable as it is, I still think it is better than the first trimester. So, 4 weeks from today our little boy will be here, and maybe we'll have a name for him....hopefully.

So that's the update. Sorry I don't have a picture. I skyped with my sister, amy, and she laughted when she saw me stand up. It's a little out of control is all you need to know. 2012 might be my year of starving myself and getting rid of all this baby weight. For the last 5+ years, I've had only 1 month of not nursing or being pregnant. I think I might give myself some time after this one.....maybe a LOT of time. 4 is a good number, right? I think so too.

Dear Blog.....

I have not forgotten you. Yes, I know I have not written anything about Halloween, or Jake's birthday.....or anything for that matter. Here is my issue. I am always tired. I have a quiet time during my afternoon when it is just me and Kate. She is nice and doesn't complain if I nap on the couch. She will cuddle up with me or just play. It would also be a good time to blog, but my mind weighs my options (nap? blog? nap? blog?) and napping wins out. It probably always will. Then at night I am also super tired. This baby is sucking the life out of me. And at the same time making me bigger than life. Forgive my lack of attention to you. We did have some family pictures taken. Maybe I'll throw them on here once I get them. I can't make any promises though.

Youuu?? Meeee?

I wasn't going to put this video on my blog. (I take random videos mainly for Amy since she loves Brooke and lives in Hawaii now.) My last post was a video of Brooke, but I feel like I need to throw something on my blog bc I haven't been the best about blogging. So, my kids are not the earliest talkers in the world and Brooke is finally starting to talk a lot more recently. This is a video of the whole you/me thing she does. It cracks me up and we go on like this for a minute or two whenever she starts.


Tomorrow, I am having a bunch of family over for our annual pumpkin carving contest. I'll try to blog about that.

Brooke Singing Happy Birthday

Brooke has taken a while to talk. She loves music and she loves to sing, although we don't understand her most of the time. However, this song I was able to figure out what she was singing and got a little video of it.

Our Treasure Hunt and Chest

This evening the kids were wanting to do a treasure hunt. Their hunt involved digging in the backyard, which I was not cool with bc I did not want them getting all dirty...or digging in my backyard. So instead, we decided to go on a walk down to Huddleston Pond. Once we got down there I gave each kid a small brown paper bag to collect any "treasures" on our walk. Jake and Brooke barely picked up anything. Kate, on the other hand, filled her entire bag plus some extras on the side.

When we got home we sorted through all of their treasures (of which 98% came from Kate's findings) and made our very own treasure chest. We busted out the hot glue gun and assembled this thing of beauty. Kate thinks out chest is perfect, and Jake thinks it doesn't look like a treasure chest at all. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Excuse or Enjoy

I was browsing Pintrest and came across some poems that I love. It reminded me that there was a Rudyard Kipling poem that I loved. I couldn't remember the name or what it was about, only who the author was and that I loved it. So, as to not lose it again, I am posting it on here. So, please excuse this post that does not really give you any information on our family life or what we're doing....or enjoy.

Recessional (A Victorian Ode) by Rudyard Kipling
God of our fathers, known of old --
Lord of our far-flung battle line --
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies --
The Captains and the Kings depart --
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away --
On dune and headland sinks the fire --
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe --
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard --
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.

Life Update

The kids are in bed. We put them to bed closer to 6:30 tonight, a Saturday night. They played hard today, and they needed it...and I needed it. Stan is at the Priesthood session of conference. And I am here, on my couch, with college football on the TV.

I realized that my last few posts have not been that informative on our lives. I have kind of neglected this blog bc I have been much more focused on my recipe blog, which also means that I have been busy cooking. I am trying to keep a schedule, plan, menu, what have you. I really like having a plan. I like having all my ingredients on hand and not having to run to the store to get the 2 ingredients I need bc I have finally figured out what I want to make for dinner with the stuff I have on hand (minus those couple of things that I have to go to the store to get). Anyhow, the plan is: Sunday I make the plan, Monday I shop Wal-mart, I cook or eat leftovers all week, Weekend I go to Publix for a few sale items and any fill-in items I may need. - Stan is very appreciative of all my cooking. I don't mind it so much, pretty much bc I have a plan. So, that's one thing that's been going on in my life.

Another thing going on in my life is being pregnant. I am getting big. I am tired. I finally have one pair of pregnancy jeans that should help me through the next three months. This is my first winter baby and I haven't had to worry about preggo jeans in the past. I don't think any woman loves finding the perfect pair of jeans, but I always have huge issues. I am tall. They don't make too many maternity jeans in the tall area, and if they do, often times they are awkward on me. I ordered some from Old Navy, and they were too small. I found some Gap one on Ebay and they are great. Pregnancy is painful. My back often hurts, and there are other pains in other areas that I won't tell you about, but they hurt a lot. Although, there are ligament pains that I am used to being constant in other pregnancies that have not been that bad with this one, so that is good. It was those pains that made walking so horrible for me, but this time I can actually take a walk and it isn't too bad. I am just really slow.

I went yard-saling today with some pretty good success stories. I found a great glider that is usually super expensive for $20. It even reclines. I got some cute kid patio furniture for $2 that I might spray paint a cute color. I got some great shoes for Jake that are in great shape, but those actually ended up being too small. But hopefully baby boy can wear them one day, so I'll hold on to them for 5 years.

I made curtains. My house finally has 1 set of curtains. If you're friends with me on facebook, you can check them out. And thanks to Pintrest.com, I have made hand soap, made a soap dispenser out of a mason jar, made a prayer jar for the kids, have ordered cool lids that you can put on plastic bags (that probably doesn't make sense but they are cool), I've ordered jar sealer attachment for my foodsaver, then realized my foodsaver didn't have the port I needed, then ordered a new foodsaver off of ebay. (I saw that same foodsaver at a yard sale today for $5, and a part of me died.) Although, I got a good deal on mine too. I spray painted a cute shelf that is now in my living room, and it helps control the kids' book collection that is out of control. But I kinda like having lots of kid books around.

I took Kate out of the state funded Pre-K program and put her in at the Methodist church right down the street. This solved my huge problem of having to wake up Brooke, to leave early, to sit in carpool forever bc I have to be first in line bc I had to rush home and be at the bus stop when Jake got off...and that I often still missed. I would have to call my mom and have her hurry there to get him. It was frustrating. Now she gets out at noon, I put Brook down for a nap, and then I am home when Jake gets here. It is so nice when a solution is found that makes life run so much more smoothly. This is part of the reason I have my kids enrolled in 0 extra activities. I am sure I will have them in more things one day, but they are young. I love having them at home. It makes it much easier to have meals at home, have FHE, and have them in bed at the same time every night.

Are you still reading?? I am impressed if you have gotten this far in all my rambling. You must be a true friend. But chances are that if you are one of my true friends, that you already know close to 90% of all I have already said. But chances also are that if you know a lot of this stuff that I like you.

I love that it is cooler. It makes being pregnant a little more bearable. I have my door open as I type this and the temp outside is 58 degrees. It makes my toes a little chilly, which is 5000 times better than being hot. I LOVE it! What I don't love is that Clemson is beating Viginia Tech. C'mon Hoakies!

We took the kids to Partner's Pizza in between conference sessions today. It made me realize how much I enjoy my kids and that they aren't all toddlers anymore. They were silly, but not out of control and screaming. And a cup of water got spilled, but that was actually Stan's fault and not one of the kids. It was quite pleasant. And we went on the golf cart which was so nice since it was a little cooler.

Ok, so that is my life. I am behind on cleaning, and laundry. I am finally getting out the kids warm clothes. I lay on the couch a lot. Stan is my third and fourth arm and is over the top more helpful than I deserve. He really picks up my slack. Mostly, he is great at picking up and straightening up, which I relaly appreciate bc bending over for me suck about 1/2 of the entire energy I have in my body. Getting off the couch take up 75% of my energy. Ok, so not literally, I just have a hard time being as agile as I normally am.

I really am rambling. I'll be done now. 10 points to you for finishing.

What I Just Made

So the earlier post made me want to look for other purposes for all my Mason jars. I came across this idea. I just used the tools I had on hand and made this. It would be super cute spray painted a cute color too. I think it is the country girl in me that loves this kind of stuff.

How smart is this?

I picked up 6 boxes of Mason jars at a yard sale a few weeks ago (for $1 a box!) in hopes to can more. Today, I saw this! I have a Food Saver and all I needed was the jar attachment. How great will this be to store lettuce, leftover, and all sort of stuff. It will all last so much longer. Plus, who doesn't love the look of Mason jars? They are so classic. I don't think I am going to mind having these nicely lined up in my fridge and freezer.

Our Prayer Jar

Our kids love saying prayers. Kate usually needs help and Jake will say the same 3 things each time and that's it. Yesterday, for FHE, we made a prayer jar. We put 2 different size sticks in our jar. The big ones are thing we are thankful for and the small ones are blessing to ask for. The kids pick 3 of each before their prayer. Jake wanted to be sure that he got the one that said he was thankful for school. Hopefully, this will improve our prayers and make them a little less repetitive.

Also, I am trying to knit.

One day, Kate saw an episode of Clifford where a lady knitted a scarf. Suddenly, she wanted me to knit her a scarf. I actually had on hand some yarn and knitting needles that I had picked up at a yard sale in hopes to someday learn. I grabbed my stuff and pulled up 'youtube' videos and tried to figure it out on my own. It wasn't happening. I was frustrated. Kate showed me that all I needed to do was wave my hands around a bit with the needles and yarn and that magically a scarf would appear. I had to explain that it wasn't quite as easy as it looked on Clifford. Luckily, my sister, Kristen, came over a couple days later and showed me a simple stitch. It is all I know, but it is a start, and enough to make a scarf for Kate. Now I just need to finish it so she can use it this winter. I don't have visions of become a great knitter. I just figure it is best to make things for my kids while they want me to, and while they're willing to wear them.

Funny

Today's Project

I picked this up at a yard sale for $2. At that time it was ugly and brown. I gave it some paint and glaze and now I love it. The little sliding doors slide really well, even after painting it. Cute, functional, cheap....it's how I roll.