I was sitting on my husband's lap when our little Miss E came running up, pushing at me frantically crying, "no mommy! you too big! Daddy hold me! you too big!"
which in all fairness, she is right. her desperation was pretty adorable so I willing gave up my seat, she clamored on and then declared "see daddy, I fit! you hold me!"
Which is actually the first time she's used that phrase right, typically begging "I hold you?!"
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
more stuff:
got the girl's school pictures back. They are so adorable!!
Had another fantastic playdate with Husband's brother's family. The men took all the older kids to Home Depot where they made pirate boats. The women took the babies shopping. Then we all met for lunch at Zuppas. It was my first time there and I'm hooked.
Halloween decor is down, Thanksgiving decor is up. I've never decorated for these holidays before but the girls begged. And they're really convincing.
My running budding cousin eloped two months ago and more recently, there was a family dinner in their honor. The kids loved playing with their cousins. I love chatting with my cousins. And there was an enormous amount of tasty Italian food.
We met with our estate lawyer again to do some update and revisions. Wills, trusts, estate planning, asset protection...I feel so grown up. But really, I love the guy we work with and would highly recommend to anyone.
More time with family. My cousin invited us to share the day when blessing their third beautiful baby girl. Then we spent a couple hours at their house after, having dinner and catching up.
Got to celebrate my oldest niece's birthday with dinner and playtime with cousins. Can't believe how big she is! The girls have been in heaven with so many cousin playdates lately.
More school, gym classes and playing with my adorable kids. The girls are absolutely hooked on High School Musical 2 lately. I judged it as a typical B rating disney sequel when I saw it the first time but it's really growing on me. Mostly because I can't get enough of watching my girls dance to the music or even better, sing the songs from it. Also more recently in love with the movie Annie, and the usual Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse and random Barbie movies.
We've been in the house over two months now. Richmond is slowing chipping away at their to-do list after an unreasonably long time (and yet not finished with some significant but simple jobs!). And likewise, my wonderful husband chips away our list too. okay, mostly my list. Because he's amazing and patient and willing to indulge my obsession with Pinterest. Most recently he installed a mixer lift into my kitchen. Which means, I never have to lift my KitchenAid mixer and it's not cluttering a counter. It's tucked away prettily into a cabinet where it easily opens and lifts to counter height when needed. love love love! I also decorated the laundry room which is (if I do say so myself), adorable. (I'm so lame...) The office continues to be the overly daunting, will-it-ever-make-sense?, black hole of the house.
Had another fantastic playdate with Husband's brother's family. The men took all the older kids to Home Depot where they made pirate boats. The women took the babies shopping. Then we all met for lunch at Zuppas. It was my first time there and I'm hooked.
Halloween decor is down, Thanksgiving decor is up. I've never decorated for these holidays before but the girls begged. And they're really convincing.
My running budding cousin eloped two months ago and more recently, there was a family dinner in their honor. The kids loved playing with their cousins. I love chatting with my cousins. And there was an enormous amount of tasty Italian food.
We met with our estate lawyer again to do some update and revisions. Wills, trusts, estate planning, asset protection...I feel so grown up. But really, I love the guy we work with and would highly recommend to anyone.
More time with family. My cousin invited us to share the day when blessing their third beautiful baby girl. Then we spent a couple hours at their house after, having dinner and catching up.
Got to celebrate my oldest niece's birthday with dinner and playtime with cousins. Can't believe how big she is! The girls have been in heaven with so many cousin playdates lately.
More school, gym classes and playing with my adorable kids. The girls are absolutely hooked on High School Musical 2 lately. I judged it as a typical B rating disney sequel when I saw it the first time but it's really growing on me. Mostly because I can't get enough of watching my girls dance to the music or even better, sing the songs from it. Also more recently in love with the movie Annie, and the usual Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse and random Barbie movies.
We've been in the house over two months now. Richmond is slowing chipping away at their to-do list after an unreasonably long time (and yet not finished with some significant but simple jobs!). And likewise, my wonderful husband chips away our list too. okay, mostly my list. Because he's amazing and patient and willing to indulge my obsession with Pinterest. Most recently he installed a mixer lift into my kitchen. Which means, I never have to lift my KitchenAid mixer and it's not cluttering a counter. It's tucked away prettily into a cabinet where it easily opens and lifts to counter height when needed. love love love! I also decorated the laundry room which is (if I do say so myself), adorable. (I'm so lame...) The office continues to be the overly daunting, will-it-ever-make-sense?, black hole of the house.
Halloween
Did I really forget to post about Halloween? whoops
We attended the ward Halloween party with our adorable children in two. L dressed up as Merida (from Brave), wearing a borrowed costume dress, her beautiful curly free in every direction (just like Merida) and sporting Merida's bow across her back. A had found an AbbyCaddaby (from Sesame Street) dress at the thrift store and fell in love. So she wore a pink fur suit underneath, the cute fairy dress, pink wings and (her favorite part), we spray-colored her hair purple to match AbbyCaddaby. For little miss E, I picked out a few costumes from our collection and held them up for her to choose. She latched onto her Minnie Mouse dress (complete with ears from DisneyWorld) and could not have been more adorable. So we attended the ward party, playing plenty of carnival style games, sampling the desserts and carving pumpkins.
A and E also got to go to the Library Storytime Halloween party. This time A wanted to wear her Rapunzel dress and E wore a pink fairy costume. Krystn Crow (fabulous children's author) read books to us and A got to meet her and ask for her autograph after. I bought two of the books and read them every night for several nights in a row.
On Halloween, A wore her Rapunzel dress to school for a class party and brought home a sack full of goodies. We were really bummed to find out that L was not allowed to wear her costumes, according to school policy.
But after school, lunch and naps, all the girls got ready for Halloween fun. With L as Merida, A and AbbyCaddaby and E as Minnie, were we ready to go. We were joined by Grandma and two cousins that I would be watching for the night, dressed as Ariel and a strawberry. (5 kids under 5, yikes!) We went to a local store for their trunk or treating, but finding it rather small, followed Grandma to her ward trunk or treat. With a parking lot full of cars and a huge crowd, the girls had a blast and collected a ton of candy.
After that I took the five girls home. They had plenty of candy but were begging to do "house trick or treating", so I agreed to a lap around our block. So I put the baby strawberry in my sling, put Minnie Mouse on my shoulders and let the three little girls lead the way, dashing from house to house. Their favorite part was ringing the doorbell and they were rewarded with again, a boatload of candy.
So we went home for a festive dinner (cause I'm nerdy like that) with hot dog zombie men, candy corn fruit cups, etc. Dinner lasted an especially long time with the nonstop flow of tricker or treaters that came to our house. Each time, L and A squealed in delight, racing to the door, eager to pass out candy.
Eventually, all the kids were bathed, dressed in pjs and settled in to watch a Mickey Halloween movie...while eating candy of course.
We attended the ward Halloween party with our adorable children in two. L dressed up as Merida (from Brave), wearing a borrowed costume dress, her beautiful curly free in every direction (just like Merida) and sporting Merida's bow across her back. A had found an AbbyCaddaby (from Sesame Street) dress at the thrift store and fell in love. So she wore a pink fur suit underneath, the cute fairy dress, pink wings and (her favorite part), we spray-colored her hair purple to match AbbyCaddaby. For little miss E, I picked out a few costumes from our collection and held them up for her to choose. She latched onto her Minnie Mouse dress (complete with ears from DisneyWorld) and could not have been more adorable. So we attended the ward party, playing plenty of carnival style games, sampling the desserts and carving pumpkins.
A and E also got to go to the Library Storytime Halloween party. This time A wanted to wear her Rapunzel dress and E wore a pink fairy costume. Krystn Crow (fabulous children's author) read books to us and A got to meet her and ask for her autograph after. I bought two of the books and read them every night for several nights in a row.
On Halloween, A wore her Rapunzel dress to school for a class party and brought home a sack full of goodies. We were really bummed to find out that L was not allowed to wear her costumes, according to school policy.
But after school, lunch and naps, all the girls got ready for Halloween fun. With L as Merida, A and AbbyCaddaby and E as Minnie, were we ready to go. We were joined by Grandma and two cousins that I would be watching for the night, dressed as Ariel and a strawberry. (5 kids under 5, yikes!) We went to a local store for their trunk or treating, but finding it rather small, followed Grandma to her ward trunk or treat. With a parking lot full of cars and a huge crowd, the girls had a blast and collected a ton of candy.
After that I took the five girls home. They had plenty of candy but were begging to do "house trick or treating", so I agreed to a lap around our block. So I put the baby strawberry in my sling, put Minnie Mouse on my shoulders and let the three little girls lead the way, dashing from house to house. Their favorite part was ringing the doorbell and they were rewarded with again, a boatload of candy.
So we went home for a festive dinner (cause I'm nerdy like that) with hot dog zombie men, candy corn fruit cups, etc. Dinner lasted an especially long time with the nonstop flow of tricker or treaters that came to our house. Each time, L and A squealed in delight, racing to the door, eager to pass out candy.
Eventually, all the kids were bathed, dressed in pjs and settled in to watch a Mickey Halloween movie...while eating candy of course.
Ragnar Las Vegas!
blissfully fun.
I dropped the girls off at Grammy and Papa's house for the weekend and the trip was officially underway. I picked up my cousin from his house and then met Husband and bestfriend/gymbuddy at the south end of the valley. We piled into one car (borrowing my mom's hybrid with it's awesome gas mileage) and drove to Vegas. We stopped for dinner at Chili's in St. George but otherwise spent the whole drive talking and laughing. We got to Vegas around 9, checked into our hotel and crashed pretty quickly.
Our team was scattered everywhere. That part was not ideal and a little frustrating. We were Van 2, six people that I had put together mostly from people I met at the Wasatch Ragnar. Van 1 included one person I knew (and had met while hitchhiking home after Wasatch Ragnar). We had both wanted to do Vegas but couldn't pull together a 12 person team. So she filled one van, I filled another and we registered as a team. Our team had originally been given a 11:30 start time, which sounded leisurely but meant we wouldn't finish until very late on Saturday. So we had requested an earlier start time. After a seemingly ridiculous amount of work to get the request in, we were slotted for 5 am. (be careful what you wish for). Fortunately, only van 1 got to enjoy the obscenely early start time and van 2 agree to just meet them at the first major exchange.
So the four of us crashed in a hotel (me, husband turned driver, cousin and bf/gb), slept in, ate breakfast, even ran to Walmart for a few last minute items. Our team mates began trickling in to meet us around 9 so we decorated our "van" (actually a Durango which worked out perfectly for our needs) and gathered at the first major exchange. With the 6 runners (plus driver/navigator/safety officer/smokin-hot-husband) present, we did our safety briefing, checked out the booths and eagerly awaited our first chance to run.
I was position 7, meaning the first runner for van 2 and started the first of my three legs for this crazy relay adventure. My first run was a 5.5 mile "moderate", but more difficult than I anticipated since it was nearly all uphill. And, much like the rest of the course, multiple legs overlapped and were sometimes confusing due to last minute changes that had become necessary with construction or the government shutdown. But I finished my first run feeling great, handed off to my cousin and hopped back into the van full of adrenaline. Once everyone in our van had finished their first leg and passed the baton back to van 1, we got to relax. We stopped at one of runner's homes to change clothes and hung out at a Zuppa's Cafe for dinner.
Leg 2 for our van started in the late evening, it was completely dark and getting really cold. My second leg was 5.9 "hard", uphill again but this time, without any van support. During most runs, the van can support the runner and my husband especially was the perfect man for the job. He would drive two miles into the run and wait for us, meet us with water and encouragement, then hop back into the van and drive to the next two mile marker. So while he wasn't an official runner, he definitely worked as much as anyone. Most teams don't use a dedicated driver, and instead take turns driving and running. But having him there was a tremendous asset. We didn't have to worry about driving, he kept us on schedule and was the best support we could have asked for.
But my second run was a "no van support", meaning for whatever reason they couldn't offer me any water, pacing or even stop to check on me. (In this case it was because it was along a remote highway. It wasn't busy but there wasn't enough shoulder for a van to pull over safely or without blocking traffic.) Luckily, about a half mile into the run, I matched pace with another runner and we kept each other company. We actually talked the whole way and I made better time than I would have by myself.
The nighttime runs are my favorite. It's beautiful and refreshing and rejuvenating. I handed off to my cousin and jumped into the van full of energy, feeling on top of the world. I was bursting with excitement and runner's endorphins. Fortunately, that all wore off by the time my van was finished. We handed off to van 1, drove ahead to our next starting point, rolled our sleeping bags out onto a field and slept well for about 4 hours. (much more than I got during the Wasatch Back)
My third and final leg began around 6:30 am, 5.1 mile "moderate", again mostly uphill. I'm not sure how I didn't realize I had all incline legs and it definitely challenged me. But what I learned about myself and was pleasantly surprised by how well I hold my pace, even going uphill. We tracked our "kill count" (how many runners you pass) and I found that I did most of my passing during the last third of a run, especially on uphill stretches where I think other runners were waning. Maybe it's because I train on a treadmill which forces a consistent pace. Or maybe because I run on ego as well, reusing to let myself slow or falter before I finish.
and yes, we all ran in tutus for our last leg. Even the guys.
Having finished my last leg, I celebrated. I lounged in the van, cheered on teammates, stretched and walked out sore muscles and snacked on the ample amount of food I had pack for the group. We had a really fun team, with constant talking and joking and laughing. Early in the run we started a game of StripTag, which sounds a lot worse than it is. We took pictures to post to facebook and soon began checking in (on facebook) to random places that we passed (including place on the Las Vegas Strip), and posting entertaining reasons why. All but one of our teammates have little kids so we compared photos, swapped stories and such. Further and further into the race, the conversation becomes crazier but all in the good name and tradition on team races.
With our last runner out, we headed for the finish line party (all but cousin who jumped out to run with our last runner who was in need of pacing and encouragement for her last 2 miles). As she (and he) rounded the corner, the whole team joined in for the last few yards, crossing together. We received our metals, took team pictures and reveled in the euphoria.
We explored the finish line party, devoured the free pizza and checked out the booths. Soon we were splitting up gear, drinking slurpees, cleaning out the van and saying goodbyes. We stopped for a quick sushi dinner and began the long drive home. We planned to be home that evening but it was much later than we anticipated. So partway into the drive we ended up stopping to sleep for a few hours. We dropped off those in our carpool and husband and I went to my parents' house to play with our kids and lounge around for a few hours. (did I mention how adorable they are?)
By Sunday evening, we were home, unpacked and already planning our next race.
I dropped the girls off at Grammy and Papa's house for the weekend and the trip was officially underway. I picked up my cousin from his house and then met Husband and bestfriend/gymbuddy at the south end of the valley. We piled into one car (borrowing my mom's hybrid with it's awesome gas mileage) and drove to Vegas. We stopped for dinner at Chili's in St. George but otherwise spent the whole drive talking and laughing. We got to Vegas around 9, checked into our hotel and crashed pretty quickly.
Our team was scattered everywhere. That part was not ideal and a little frustrating. We were Van 2, six people that I had put together mostly from people I met at the Wasatch Ragnar. Van 1 included one person I knew (and had met while hitchhiking home after Wasatch Ragnar). We had both wanted to do Vegas but couldn't pull together a 12 person team. So she filled one van, I filled another and we registered as a team. Our team had originally been given a 11:30 start time, which sounded leisurely but meant we wouldn't finish until very late on Saturday. So we had requested an earlier start time. After a seemingly ridiculous amount of work to get the request in, we were slotted for 5 am. (be careful what you wish for). Fortunately, only van 1 got to enjoy the obscenely early start time and van 2 agree to just meet them at the first major exchange.
So the four of us crashed in a hotel (me, husband turned driver, cousin and bf/gb), slept in, ate breakfast, even ran to Walmart for a few last minute items. Our team mates began trickling in to meet us around 9 so we decorated our "van" (actually a Durango which worked out perfectly for our needs) and gathered at the first major exchange. With the 6 runners (plus driver/navigator/safety officer/smokin-hot-husband) present, we did our safety briefing, checked out the booths and eagerly awaited our first chance to run.
I was position 7, meaning the first runner for van 2 and started the first of my three legs for this crazy relay adventure. My first run was a 5.5 mile "moderate", but more difficult than I anticipated since it was nearly all uphill. And, much like the rest of the course, multiple legs overlapped and were sometimes confusing due to last minute changes that had become necessary with construction or the government shutdown. But I finished my first run feeling great, handed off to my cousin and hopped back into the van full of adrenaline. Once everyone in our van had finished their first leg and passed the baton back to van 1, we got to relax. We stopped at one of runner's homes to change clothes and hung out at a Zuppa's Cafe for dinner.
Leg 2 for our van started in the late evening, it was completely dark and getting really cold. My second leg was 5.9 "hard", uphill again but this time, without any van support. During most runs, the van can support the runner and my husband especially was the perfect man for the job. He would drive two miles into the run and wait for us, meet us with water and encouragement, then hop back into the van and drive to the next two mile marker. So while he wasn't an official runner, he definitely worked as much as anyone. Most teams don't use a dedicated driver, and instead take turns driving and running. But having him there was a tremendous asset. We didn't have to worry about driving, he kept us on schedule and was the best support we could have asked for.
But my second run was a "no van support", meaning for whatever reason they couldn't offer me any water, pacing or even stop to check on me. (In this case it was because it was along a remote highway. It wasn't busy but there wasn't enough shoulder for a van to pull over safely or without blocking traffic.) Luckily, about a half mile into the run, I matched pace with another runner and we kept each other company. We actually talked the whole way and I made better time than I would have by myself.
The nighttime runs are my favorite. It's beautiful and refreshing and rejuvenating. I handed off to my cousin and jumped into the van full of energy, feeling on top of the world. I was bursting with excitement and runner's endorphins. Fortunately, that all wore off by the time my van was finished. We handed off to van 1, drove ahead to our next starting point, rolled our sleeping bags out onto a field and slept well for about 4 hours. (much more than I got during the Wasatch Back)
My third and final leg began around 6:30 am, 5.1 mile "moderate", again mostly uphill. I'm not sure how I didn't realize I had all incline legs and it definitely challenged me. But what I learned about myself and was pleasantly surprised by how well I hold my pace, even going uphill. We tracked our "kill count" (how many runners you pass) and I found that I did most of my passing during the last third of a run, especially on uphill stretches where I think other runners were waning. Maybe it's because I train on a treadmill which forces a consistent pace. Or maybe because I run on ego as well, reusing to let myself slow or falter before I finish.
and yes, we all ran in tutus for our last leg. Even the guys.
Having finished my last leg, I celebrated. I lounged in the van, cheered on teammates, stretched and walked out sore muscles and snacked on the ample amount of food I had pack for the group. We had a really fun team, with constant talking and joking and laughing. Early in the run we started a game of StripTag, which sounds a lot worse than it is. We took pictures to post to facebook and soon began checking in (on facebook) to random places that we passed (including place on the Las Vegas Strip), and posting entertaining reasons why. All but one of our teammates have little kids so we compared photos, swapped stories and such. Further and further into the race, the conversation becomes crazier but all in the good name and tradition on team races.
With our last runner out, we headed for the finish line party (all but cousin who jumped out to run with our last runner who was in need of pacing and encouragement for her last 2 miles). As she (and he) rounded the corner, the whole team joined in for the last few yards, crossing together. We received our metals, took team pictures and reveled in the euphoria.
We explored the finish line party, devoured the free pizza and checked out the booths. Soon we were splitting up gear, drinking slurpees, cleaning out the van and saying goodbyes. We stopped for a quick sushi dinner and began the long drive home. We planned to be home that evening but it was much later than we anticipated. So partway into the drive we ended up stopping to sleep for a few hours. We dropped off those in our carpool and husband and I went to my parents' house to play with our kids and lounge around for a few hours. (did I mention how adorable they are?)
By Sunday evening, we were home, unpacked and already planning our next race.
quote of the day
E's favorite song to sing lately:
"do as doing, follow follow--follow da prophet! do it high or low, do fast or ssllllooooow, follow follow--follow da prophet!"
best lyric mix up ever.
"do as doing, follow follow--follow da prophet! do it high or low, do fast or ssllllooooow, follow follow--follow da prophet!"
best lyric mix up ever.
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