Resort

This post is brought to you by my dislike of mopping my kitchen floor.

Since I have fed the kids, done the dishes, and shaped my eyebrows, it was blog or mop the floor.  As previously mentioned we choose to stay at a Disney Resort because they were having a special deal that threw in free meal plans.  We choose the Disney Art of Animation Resort.  Huge win!  The newest Disneyworld resort, the Art of Animation, was a blast that both we and the kids enjoyed.  One of my goals with this trip was to make my life as easy as possible when vacationing with three kids age seven and under.  I always get stressed while traveling and I hoped that staying at a Disney resort would ease my stress; it really did.  When we got to the resort, a day and a half late, they checked us in and it was a short hop over to our room in the Cars Wing.

The Cars suites were basically three small hotels all designed to look like Radiator Springs that surrounded a semi circle pool with cabanas in the shape of Orange Cones.  Life size cars of all the characters were spread throughout the area.  The room was large with a separate bedroom for Jeff and I and two full bathrooms.  Mae slept on the pull out couch, Max slept on the pull down bed that folded up to a dining table during the day, and there was plenty of room for the pack n play provided for Spike.

The entire room decorated with the cars motif was more cute and tasteful then overwhelming.  My parents got a smaller room in the Little Mermaid wing and the room décor was a bit much for their taste, (Including a shower curtain with life size Ariel starting at them.)  The main pool of the hotel was in the Finding Nemo wing.  It is apparently the largest resort pool at Disney World.  With a zero entry and lots of beautiful jelly fish statues, this was a big favorite of our family.  Right in front of the pool was a splash pad with all the school kids from Nemo. 

Spike at the Splash Pad.

Spike love love loved this area.  I am not sure who was happier, Spike, or my dad watching Spike at the splash pad.  The water was always the perfect temperature and they even had organized games on the deck.  Max came in second place during a hula hoop competition.  One evening Jeff rested with the younger kids while I did laundry and took Max to the really nice arcade.  We kicked butt at the two person, giant flat screen, fruit ninja.  The employees were not only helpful but super cheery all the time.  There really is a Disney difference even at the resorts.  While the hotel provided a free shuttle to the park, we choose to drive, (cause remember we now had our car there.)  I think it was faster to drive and we got free parking by staying at the resort.  I think the nicest part of our hotel was that the kids loved it so much that they didn't complain at all each night when we said we were done at the parks and ready to go back to the hotel.  We had to rip them out of the pool one morning and beg them to go to the park.  It was perfect. 

Booking the Trip

The only picture I took in the car.

So last July I was talking to a friend of mine who happened to mention that AirTran was having a flash sale.  Being the only budget airline that flies out of our local airport I was game and took a look.  Round trip tickets from here to Orlando for less then a hundred dollars a pop was enough for me to call Jeff and we booked out flights.  Then for the hotel, luckily Disney was having a deal where if you stayed at one of their resorts you got a free meal plan, so we booked with the new Art of Animation hotel on the property and got a stellar deal.  Within a few hours I had spent quite a bit of money but felt very excited to take my kids to Disney World.  I love Disney.  I've not only been to Disneyland quite a few times but also worked at Disney world.  Last year I had hoped to send Max and Jeff together,  (because I was worried about Max getting jaded in school and not believing in the characters,) but we had to replace our furnace instead.  Luckily Max survived Kindergarten with his innocence in tact  and this time we were able to go as a family.  I worried about dragging Spike along, and we did debate whether or not to take him or leave him with friends.  I randomly called my parents and asked if they wanted to come along and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they were game.  This solved the Spike problem.

So here's what everyone wants to know, what happened to the flight.  Part of me still doesn't want to talk about it cause I'm embarrassed, but at the same time I shouldn't be prideful.  (I do want to say that it isn't any ones business.  It was really annoying, the people who pressed me for details even when I said I didn't want to talk about it.  Hats off to my dad who I had to call quickly and in tears since he and my mom had already flown out.  That man didn't ask a question but just laughed off my brief conversation saying they would be there when we arrived!)  Somewhere along the planning stages I started looking at the arrival time of the plane as the departure time.  Yup, it was all me.  I made a huge mistake that cost us some money and two 18 hour drives.  I didn't realize it until the plane had already left.  Kudos to Jeff for never once saying one word or making one scoff to make me feel bad or place blame.  I really don't deserve that man.  I seem to be surrounded by the best men that this planet has to offer.  Within an hour of discovering my mistake we were in the van and headed to Florida. 

It was a long drive.  The kids did remarkably well.  I am glad that Mae was only four cause this took place on her birthday and an older child would have been a bit bummed to spend the day in the car when they were expecting a day at Disney world.  She was more then rewarded as the week turned into a birthday week.  If Jeff and I weren't such wusses we probably could have made the trip in one day, but neither Jeff nor I are night drivers.  Despite that we made good time and the kids behaved beautifully.  I also get to add Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi to my states visited list. 

Trip observations:  Memphis is a nasty looking city and I hope to never go there again.  The Mississippi river seemed a lot smaller then I remember as a teenager, or perhaps it is smaller down south then in Illinois.  Cotton Fields are awesome!  They are so surreal and it was one of those I'm in the South moments.  The bugs in the panhandle of Florida were so bad it was like a plague of locusts.  Some are permanently smashed into the front bumper of out car that no amount of cleaning has been able to get out 4 months later! 

We arrived late the next afternoon and spent a few hours at Disney world with my parents.  The hotel was a dream come true, but I'll talk about that in the next post.

Crossing the Line

Okay so I promised the trip recap, but I don't have time right now.  But it took me a lot of effort to get my butt downstairs, find the secret password to Jeff's new computer and get on blogger so I thought I'd share a tidbit to tide you over til tomorrow. 

I think it is safe to say there are lines we just wont allow ourselves to cross for one reason or another.  My mom wont go anywhere without makeup on.  I have a friend who refuses to wear flip flops.  Well I really want to cross one of my lines.  I really want to buy a shower chair.  Like a medical, sick person, I cant stand on my own in the shower chair.  A little background as to what has gotten me to this pathetic point. 

1.  being the youngest of three girls often living with one bathroom, I always had to shower at night.  I found this to also be convenient with roommates that by the time I got married it was habit.  I like showering at night.  It is a nice way to relax from the day, and the bed seems extra nice sliding into it all clean, (and since moving to a more humid climate going to bed with wet hair really only helps it curl.) 

2.  Our current house has three bathrooms but none of them will work for taking a straight up bath.  All three have tubs, but each has a problem.  The master bath is a huge cast iron whirlpool that doesn't work, so I cant clean out the pipes.  That creeps me out enough just showering in it, I can't imagine filling it all the way up.  The other two tubs are small and positioned in the bathroom so that the far end of the tub, (the side where my head would go,)  is right next to the toilet.  RIGHT NEXT TO IT.  So no relaxing baths for me.

3.  The older I get, and more children I have, the more tired I am at the end of the day.  I still like showering at night, but now some days I find it hard to stand up. 

But can I really get myself a shower chair?  Is that just too pathetic?  Is it straight from there to the wheelie carts at Walmart?

One More Before the Trip

Before I begin the long recap of our trip, I decided to give Mae's update so it doesn't get lost.  Miss Mae is now 4!  What a difference a year makes.  The speech therapy has made a huge difference over this past year.  We can understand Mae and she is now just working on some pronunciation problems.  Mae started preschool this year once a week and loves going, it helps that her two best friends also attend.  She gets two days a week of therapy so we are pretty busy during the week.  I have signed her up for a pre-tumbling class at the fitness center that starts next week.  I want to have her in dance classes of some sort, but between the money and scheduling nothing seems to work right now.  She would look so cute in a leotard.  She is a nasty picky eater and lives on a diet of go-gurts, eggo waffles, and peanut butter sandwiches.  Mae loves to draw which I'm thrilled about.  Kids art is my favorite so I encourage her stick people in all mediums as much as possible.  As an American girl she loves the Disney Princesses.  Rapunzel and Tiana are usually her favorites.  I really don't have a problem with this princess obsession.  The only thing that bothers me is when clothes or shows refer to girls as princesses as a sassy personality.  I say she can pretend to be a specific princess just not act like a spoiled princess herself.  (A slight aside- I have recently acquired a big dislike of Belle.  Have you listened to the opening lyrics of that movie?  Little town full of little people.  Man what a condescending cow!) Anyway, Mae is such a loving girl.  Hugs and kisses for everyone.  (except Spike.)  She also knows how to work a situation to her advantage by turning up the charm.  Her pretty please is just ridiculously adorable and hard to resist.  Messier then Max, and less obedient, I am a bit worried about how to keep her from becoming a slob.  We have a new job chart that has worked wonders for the last two days, but I worry it won't last long.  I am so glad I have this adorable cutie-pie bubbles.

The Other Entry

 

In August Max turned seven.  I almost can't wrap my head around this.  Last year was all about getting used to him being in school and this year I am in awe that is no longer a little kid.  I think part of the reason this is so odd to me is because he is still such a good kid.  Max is sweet, kind, and super well behaved.  He cleans his room, does his chores, and helps out with this siblings all with minimal asking.  About a month before we went to Disneyworld Max decided he was into Pirates.  I was thrilled by this turn of events.  Score, they just happen to have pirates at Disneyworld!  This made the trip, (post coming soon,)  all the more enjoyable.  A few days ago Jeff pointed out how everyone likes Max, but that Max isn't the kind of kid to have super best friends.  Max will play well with anyone and is pretty easy going about his company.  I quickly pointed out to Jeff how while that was true, it basically described himself.  I'm not sure if that is a learned behavior or genetics.  I love that Max can read.  Its so much fun to have a reader.  He still plays a lot of video games, but he still bounces in place while playing them.  Yesterday afternoon I had to stop him because he was sweating heavily and out of breath.  Max is such and amazing kid that we are lucky to have in our family.

Two for Tuesday

And for a two year old.  Spikey turned two at the end of June.  We took the kids to a large water park in Branson for the big day.  We're not sure if it was the two hour drive, the heat, or the chaos of the park, but Spikey was done after twenty minuets and threw a nice big two year old tantrum.  Jeff was lovely enough to take him and wait in the car for another hour so I could take the other two kids to the wave pool and on a big family slide.  We had just driven two hours and the other kids didn't want to go home.
   For a few months I was a bit worried that he would have the same speech problems as Mae, but I can say now that isn't the case.  He has a much larger vocabulary then Mae had at his age.  He has this funny way of talking where he physically spits out his words like he's almost choking on them.  It makes everything he says sound urgent and aggressive. He has a scary addiction to Diet Coke and is always bogarting my drinks.  We had to move his car seat to the back of the van because when he would see us reaching for our drinks he would whine and fuss til he got some.  He also likes salad which is really weird for a toddler.  He is the spitting image of my dad, which is odd since I never thought I looked much like him myself.  Spike loves all things buses.  He loves watching Max get on the school bus every morning and waves adorably to the bus driver.  He gets excited when he sees different busses around town.  Spike has a dog from build a bear that is his soul mate.  He loves that dog and rubs the tail between two fingers to calm himself.  It is a cute nervous tick.  Sadly his favorite show is the insufferable Super Why!  I hate that show.  Spike has begun to potty train himself.  I really need to bare down and get this thing done, cause he keeps taking off his diaper.  I hope that it will go faster then it did with Max.   He loves Max and they are adorable when they play together.  There isn't much affection between Spike and Mae, but he is always there to get her a bunny when she is in need.  I love my squishy Spike.

The Greatest Primary Talk Ever Given

      I love Mae.  Yesterday was her first talk in Junior Primary.  We were kindly given ample notice, honestly to the point where I was almost expecting a limo to pick her up, (but seriously I do appreciate the effort of our new primary regime.)  I have no idea what the topic was supposed to be cause she's three and rarely says more then two connecting sentences on any topic.  I figured I would go up with her and whisper some platitudes to her; i.e.  I love my family, I love my Father in Heaven, I love Primary.
     Things started off pretty good.  She sat up front swinging her feet and looking adorable in her smocked sundress with fluffy under slip and white patented leather shoes.  When it was her time to talk she hopped up and grabbed the mike.  She was disappointed that I was there to help and told me to sit down.  She then proceeded to talk about how she loved her new necklace.  She said that a couple times and when I tried to get her more on topic she snapped no and pushed me back.  With death grip on the mike, she mentioned her necklace a few more times then branched off on to how she loves her mom.  Yeah!  I thought we were now headed somewhere good.  She followed that up with how she doesn't like her dad right now.  Hmmmmm not sure where that came from.  As far as Jeff and I could think they hadn't had any negative interactions that morning.  I tried to get her to finish up at this point with an amen and she yelled at me again.  At this point things got ugly and I had to pry her away from the podium trying very hard not to break the microphone.  I got her off and hauled her screaming butt out of the room.

 Lessons learned from this talk;  Maybe try some sort of practice next time.  Don't let Mae near a microphone. 

1st Grade

Max started school on the first.  I am so loving year round school.  July was just the right amount of time off.  When Max made it home on the first day he reported that he liked his class and has been happy since then.  I didn't realize how nervous I was for him.  Subconsciously I guess I figured things went so wonderfully last year that it could only go downhill from there.  Kinda sad if you think about it, I would hate to peak at age six.  Regular school starts up this week and so will the regular bus schedule.  Theoretically, Max will get home 10 minuets earlier, but I'm not holding my breath.  Have I ever mentioned how awesome it is that the bus stop is my driveway.  Yeah I love that.  Its not that way for everyone out here, Max just happens to be the only kid on our street on that bus.

 An aside on Max's Mohawk.  Max has my crazy frizzy thick hair.  If left uncut for too long it becomes a nasty white boy afro, but I so dislike the total buzz cut look on kids that we have to settle for a Mohawk.  Its sort of a compromise.

I'm already lazier then last year.  I didn't drop him off on the first day, Jeff did.

 

Interrupted

ha ha ha, just kidding about blogging more.  No seriously, almost the whole family was struck down by a nasty virus last week.  It has been so long since I was sick with something other then a stomach bug or a cold.  We got fever, chills, and just crummy feelings.  Spike, Mae, Jeff and I fell but Max managed to stay immune.  It helped that we have him sleeping downstairs at the moment.  So he'd go to school then we'd send him downstairs away from everyone.  Poor guy got kinda lonely.  We're better now and ready to go. 



Such a sad sickly face.

She was so hot it was a fight to get her to keep clothes on.

journaling

Today's Sunday school lesson was on the importance of journaling, and since this blog is a close as I will ever get to journaling I should probably not abandon it altogether.  So this month I am going to make an actual effort to get back to the blog.  I missed Spike's second birthday for pete's sake.  That's not cool.  So I suppose I'll just start short and not overwhelm myself.  Today I baked with the kids.  Max and Mae love helping me in the kitchen, but I'll admit that I don't like the mess they make and the extra time it takes me to make the food.  But I want to make memories and also allow the kids to learn, so mess time today.

Why yes, I am alive.

It has been quite an eventful month.  I went to Utah for a long weekend to meet my new nephew and help my sister pack.  Jeff and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and Max finished his first year of school.  Now the busy schedule is not the reason for my lack of blogging, that is for the previously mentioned reason of using my Ipad mini almost exclusively.  The only reason I am blogging right now is because I had to haul my butt downstairs to print off a coupon.  Utah was good, I was unable to see most of Jeff's family due to some flight delays, but I was lucky enough to be picked up by his sister, Sarah, and it was so good to see her again.  My sister Krista was very indulgent with my desire to eat my way through Salt Lake County.  We hit up In and Out Burger, Rodezio's, Jamba Juice, 7-11, Godiva, Cheesecake Factory, Smash Burger, and Sees Candy.  I got to try out a gourmet donut.  I even snagged a loaf of Grandma Sycamore bread to take home with me.  It was also good to see my sister whom I had not seen in over three years.  The weather was perfect.  I forgot how pleasant a lack of humidity can be. 

Jeff and I didn't really do much to celebrate the big 10.  It was almost a point of go big or go home, so we went home.  The only thing I hate about living out here in Arkansas is that we are so far away from family.  It would be nice to be able to drop the kids off at a grandparents for a weekend away.  The two times we have gotten away for a 24-48 time period have been thanks to friends and expensive babysitters.  Oh well.  We still like each other all things considered.

Max finished up the school year this week, and has had a great year.  He is doing well in reading and excels at math.  I am bummed that he will have a new teacher next year, but am grateful for the time he got to spend with such a wonderful lady.  I wish I could have volunteered more at his school, but I did make it for the water day and let Max dunk me in the dunk tank.  Max is now taking tennis lessons this summer and we are all excited for bible school next month. 

Sneak Peek

I painted my bathroom pink this week.  I also painted the vanity white.  It was a nasty off white which just came off as dirty white.  The walls were a boring beige that I am slowly banishing from every room in this house.  I still have a few more little finishes but here's a sneak peek.  I am so in love with how it has turned out. 

yeah i'm too stupid and too lazy to get it going in the correct direction.

ipad mini

yeah so composing blog posts via ipad mini is a pain.  Composing anything longer then a few words is a pain on the ipad mini.  It took me waaay to long to learn the keyboard to suddenly go back to plucking away at each letter.  It is the one sucky thing about the ipad.  Other then that it is a blast.  Just as I was contemplating getting my MBA I found the itunes university and have been listening to Yale History course that I love. This happens every time I contemplate going back to school.  Whenever I pick an area to pursue I rediscover an old academic love.  How can I get my MBA when I love history so much?  What about teaching?  Grrr...  I suppose there are worse problems to have.  I have had a lovely weekend with Jeff taking some days off and watching the kids so I can basically do whatever I want.  I have been painting my bathroom, watching Gilmore Girls and just not taking care of the kids.  It has been guilt free relaxation.  I suppose that is the best gift I can get these days is not feeling guilty about taking a break.  Max had last week and this week off from school.  That has been a mixed bag.  He is great with Spike and Mae, but man can that kid talk!  Yet, despite this I am thrilled with the year round calender.  I adore his kindergarten teacher, if I were to pick the best qualities of a kindergarten teacher and put them into one adore spunky lady it would be her.  I am so glad that she has been there for him since last August until the end of June.  Sure it is the same 180 days but over a longer time period of his development.  (But I can see how this would suck if you hated the teacher, luckily I always have the option of switching schools.)

Eyeball

If the title alone made you uncomfortable then I suggest you avoid this post altogether.  My whole life I have suffered from watery eyes.  Several times a year when I was either sick with a cold or allergies my eyes would water so badly and continually that I couldn't see.  When I was a child it was annoying to have classmates assume that I was always crying and now that I am an adult it keeps me from driving, cooking, and taking care of my kids.  Medicine never seemed to help.  Cold and allergy medicine would take away my other symptoms but nothing touched my eyes.  And it always bugged me that none of the symptoms listed in the commercials talked about watery eyes.  This past month I learned why.... I don't have watery eyes, I have dry eyes.  My eyes get so dry that they over produce tears.  Yeah that doesn't makes sense to me either, but that's the truth.  I discovered this recently by going to the eye doctor.  I never really thought of going to the doctor about this before because I always assumed there was noting that could be done.  I only ever went to walmart to get my eyes checked cause I am cheap like that so I've never had a real specialist look at my eyes. 
This latest round started the same way, at Sam's Club.  The guy looked at my eyes and suggested I try contacts again since my prescription had changed.  They were better this time, but my eyes were still dry after 30 minuets.  So I went back and the guy was being very weird saying that there was nothing he could do about it and that I should just give up.  Since I was already going to buy glasses at this clinic down the street that my neighbor works at; I decided to meet with the specialist there about contacts.  The doctor looked at my eyes and listened to my history.  He said I was a classic case of dry eyes.  He gave me some different contacts to try and sent me to come back a week later for a follow up.  These contacts weren't much of an improvement.  I went back and looking at my eyes again saw that the ducts were all gunked up.  I wasn't producing many tears to begin with.

 *WARNING STOP HERE IF SQUEAMISH*  The only thing to do was scrape the gunk out.  Yup he scraped my eyeballs.  I thought running a half marathon made me pretty bad-ass, but that was nothing to sitting through 30+ minuets of eyeball scraping. And yes, it was as bad as it sounds. 

*SAFE TO CONTINUE*  A week later and not much change.  I still have dry eyes, so yesterday we switched to a different brand.  We can try dailies next and if none of that works then I get to have my tear duct drains plugged.  Seriously.  But despite all the pain, headaches, and dry eyes, I am encouraged to maybe solve a problem that has bothered me my whole life. 

Spike

Time for a Spikey update.  I find it almost unbelievable how he can look so much like Max but be a completely different person.  This kid is not going to settle for being a Max clone.  He has much stronger opinions about what he wants and doesn't want then Max ever showed.  Yet like all my kids he is slow to speech and expresses his feelings with annoying squawks and grunts.  I feel I deserve an early speaker with the next kid.  He likes popcorn and cereal.  This kid cannot get enough popcorn.  They have installed a popcorn machine at the entrance to the associate store and I feel like it is now a 50 cent tax on my visits there.  Spike likes to take baths and loves playing outside.  He likes to dance and is adorable when he bounces his head to the music in the car.  We "pop some tags," in this house.  He has started giving hugs and it is the most enjoyable experience.  He hugs me, Jeff, Max but not Mae.  He doesn't like Mae and the feeling is mutual.  They avoid each other for the most part, but on occasion butt heads.  They remind me of co-workers; they do their own thing while realizing that they are stuck in the same office with the same boss.  So I guess it is good practice for their futures.  I adore putting Spike in old Max outfits.  It will just kill me if the next kid is not a girl cause there are just too many Mae outfits I need to see again.  (Disclaimer I am not currently pregnant, and no intention on being so this year.)  Spikey had a blast at Silver Dollar City this weekend.  He liked the carousel and the jumping water fountain.  He hated waiting in line and he hated it when his sibling could go on rides without him. We rode the frogs and butterflies together.  I love watching this guy barrel tummy first with all his speed toward his various destinations.  He loves attacking Jeff when he arrives home from work.  Spike says Mama, Dada and Yeah.  Love this little guy.

Also Blog FYI:  A few comments were deleted recently by accident.  Sorry.

The Kindness of Strangers.

I ran the big race today, the Bentonville Half Marathon.  I toyed with the idea of running it since last fall and committed to run it this past January.  It seemed like a good goal to set.  To be honest I thought it would be good way to recharge my weight-loss and push myself to do something hard.  While it didn't help much with the weight, I do feel like I accomplished something really worthwhile.  While training I dealt with some inner shin splints and a sore IT Band, but am happy to report no other injuries.  It was hard to devote so much time to the training, and the extra guilt of knowing that Jeff was giving up his Saturday mornings to watch the kids, and as the runs got longer, his afternoons to take care of the kids and me.  I hope that Max saw this sacrifice and struggle of ours to do something different and hard. 

It started off to a rough start this morning.  Part of the reason I started running was the social aspect of being with friends and pushing each other.  As we got closer to the date everyone else decided they had other plans, and then the night before I figured out I would be doing the whole thing all alone.  As I pulled up to the start it was hard seeing everyone so excited with their friends and teammates.  We started and the loneliness hit me pretty hard the for the first three miles.  I got to the point where I started crying and almost hyperventilated when I pulled into a ritzy neighborhood and saw a group of 5-6 ten year old boys in a rock band jamming their hearts out.  To top it off there was a young girl watching them with her pet chicken.  It was so absurd that it snapped me out of my depression and I was able to get going.  I ran into a friend at mile 6 and we ran together for about a half mile before she was off to relay with her teammate.  It was a nice distraction.

Props to the city of Bentonville for having speakers at the cemetery blasting, "Don't Fear the Reaper,"  excellent.  I think my favorite parts where when we went to areas I don't normally run through.  It was distracting to see new places.  I also loved running down North Walton which was closed to traffic.  I made sure that I took water at all the stations but it just kills me to throw the paper cups on the ground.  I know someone is gonna pick them up but it just feels so very very wrong.  I don't litter!   

I am so grateful for the kindness of strangers.  I was blown away by all the people out in their lawns cheering everyone on.  There were families cheering on loved ones, but they cheered just as hard for me.  This helped combat the loneliness.  I loved the little kids who put their hands out for high fives and the elderly people with encouraging smiles.  I know I have said it too many times before, but I truly live in the best place on Earth.  I will never leave Arkansas.  These people are so amazing and genuine.  I am determined to help out at this from now on.  Thank you to all the volunteers handing out water.  Thank you to all the police officers holding back traffic.  Thank you to all the organizers who set the race up, and thank you to all the people who cheered me on.  Thank you Kasey for the sidewalk message, and thankyou Meg for the cd.

I also want to give a special shout out to my Bishop's Wife, Jocelyn.  We haven't had a lot of interaction over the years given our different callings and children's ages, but we have been friendly.  She came across me running around mile 9 as she was out training for another, (harder run,) and she jogged with me for about a quarter of a mile offering encouraging words.  She then showed up at mile 11 and ran the end of the big NASTY hill with me cheering me the whole way.  I can't find the words to describe my gratitude to her for this friendship I was really needing today.  She ran me almost to the finish line where I saw Jeff and Max.  It was nice to see them.  It was a bit odd at the actual finish line cause I ended up crossing all by myself, and it was like the whole crowd had taken a minute check their phones til the next group showed up so there was not much cheering and no friends to say good job.  Jeff and Max found me and walked me to the car in a sweet but very anti-climatic finish to the whole thing.  But oh well it is over and now I know what it feels like. 

I don't think the human body was meant to run 13.1 miles.  While I am happy to report that my knee and shins held up pretty well, I have had some other unpleasant side effects today that well I'll just say I have been stuck close to ladies room all day.  Will I ever run another half marathon?  Maybe if I had a friend to run it with.  Will I ever run a marathon?  Probably not.  I think I'll be a 10K girl for now on. 

Another shout out to my mom.  She is not a fan of running, which she has mentioned more then once to me over the past, but she was amazingly supportive of me this past week.  She called me several times to week to encourage me and took in the entire recap with praise this afternoon.    Thanks mom.   

P.S.  I ran it in 2 hours 37 minutes.  I don't care that I ran it in this time, nor would I have cared if I ran it faster or slower.  I really don't care about speed or time.

Miss Mae

Miss Mae is adorable.  I cannot believe she is the same child that tormented us all a year ago.  It is amazing what a year and communication can do.  She is scooting right along in speech.  She talks more but has a long way to go to improve her pronunciation and vocabulary.  She sees a speech therapist for an hour a week, a development therapist for an hour a week and we just bumped her up to an hour a week of physical therapy.  After consultations with the doctor and a second physical therapist it was decided that she does not need leg braces but we upped her session time and bought a mini trampoline to improve her coordination and other problems.  Life is fantastic now that she has learned to buckle herself into her car seat.  It is so nice not to have to dive deep into the van to buckle her in.  She spends most of her waking hours coloring.  Our dining room table has basically become her art station.  She adores coloring either paper or books.  In the past few weeks we have played with play dough, paint, egg dye, and a few other medias.  I love her stick people cause they all have pupils in their eyes.  How random is that?  For Max it was tummies and for Mae it is pupils.  She still calls every child she sees, "Friend," and tries to hug them.  She got a hold of a pack of Avengers stickers a few weeks ago while I was napping and for the next two weeks I kept coming across randomly tagged spots.  It was like little graffiti superheroes everywhere below three feet.  Her outfits are changed at least 4 times a day, often more frequently and sometimes inside out.  She still loves all things girly and pretty, and is just a joy all around.  I love my little darling.

Mixed Media

Easter 2013

It was a good Easter.  I took Mae and Max to the city carnival.  I would have taken Spike but it was pouring rain and he has been sick all week.  Jeff spoke in sacrament meeting.  His topic was Finding Joy in the Atonement.  It went very well.  Poor Spike was so lethargic he just sat in my lap the whole time, which was nice.  I just blew $100 buck taking him to the doctor this afternoon.  Nice....Anyway, a visit and antibiotic later, we had a little hunt in our front yard and watched the Living Scripture DVD on the Resurrection.  I was remarking to Jeff that whenever I hear someone say Joseph of Aramathea I think of Monty Python, then I got a hankering to watch either that or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  I think either will be a nice break from The 10 Commandments.  I love me some shirtless Charlton Heston, but I always feel bad that my interest tends to fade once he gets all religious and clothed.  This next week should be good.  It is that time of year again, where Jeff has banked a bunch of vacation days he needs to use or lose.  So he is taking Friday off, purpose yet unknown.  Saturday is the big race.  Last weekend my good friend Kasey helped me to run 12 miles.  It was tough at the end, like when I got bitten by a passing dog, but we did it.  I am feeling confident that I will at least finish before they close up shop.  I am also excited for my sister Krista, who is expecting her third child any day now.  Lot of good things ahead this week.

FYI

I am deleting my facebook account at the end of the month.  So it's not you; it's me.  Actually that's not true,  it's you too, but mostly me.  But at least you know that it's all of you.  Don't you feel better knowing you're a group?

Running

 

Last week I went for a run after spending the previous day in bed with food poisoning.  I had skipped the Saturday before for my garage sale and so it was already set to be a sluggish run.  I got a late start and didn't make it out until 1 and by that time it was already around 70+ degrees.  Ooof I forgot how miserable hot running feels.  I am actually looking forward to tomorrow's 30 degree run.  It will be cold and long, (I'm shooting for 12 miles,) but it will also be my last long run before the big day.  I figure next Saturday I'll go for 7-8 miles.  I finally signed up officially, (meaning I finally paid,) and now I am ready for it to be over, and terrified of getting sick.  It is tempting to not send Max to school that Thursday and Friday just to make sure he doesn't bring anything home.  I am glad that I decided to do this though.  I am not one for setting goals so it was a nice experience.

Garage Sale

Photo Bomb!

I had a garage sale this past weekend.  It strikes me as funny that many of the people that I know look down upon them.  Well I just made $250, so there.  I have been given lots of hand-me-downs and have given many away.  Yet there are just some things that still have a resale value, and other things that helping hands won't take.  I think it is mainly a pride thing, "well I just give my stuff to DI/Goodwill."  How selfless of you.  I am sure that Jesus loves you more because you didn't degrade yourself out on your front lawn last weekend. 


Mmmmm Mae's leftover oatmeal.

I also find it funny that many of these people will go buy stuff from a garage sale or even ...craigslist.  As if craigslist makes it okay.  The other thing I found funny was when people would ask me what I'm gonna get with my earnings.  The question itself wasn't so odd as the tone and implication that sometimes went along with it.  Someone asked me in a very pandering way like, "oh good for you; interrupting your bon bon eating and soap watching to contribute to your family instead of burning your husband's hard earned wages."  It really did feel like that.  Here's the thing; if I really want something I buy it and don't feel bad using "Jeff's" money.  So what am I gonna do with the $250?  Well there isn't anything I am dying for right now so I'm gonna pay the electric bill and the water bill.  Wooo big spender! 

Mae in her element, coloring.

Wow, it would seem I am very touchy about my garage sale.  I will admit to being the judgy "DI/Goodwill," girl myself before my first sale.  Listen, they are hard work and I have a lot of respect for the people who do them.  I also have a great deal of respect to those who use them as an opportunity to earn cash to save up for something.  Pretty smart if you ask me.  I just don't budget with a his and hers budget.

House Hunters

View of lower level coming down the stairs.  Laundry room on the right.



The Spike Suite

View from family room.

Well the big day came and went.  We had an appraiser come and evaluate our house.  It did not turn out as well as we had hoped, but in the end we will still be able refinance our loan, drop the private mortgage insurance, and we have accrued a lot of equity in the house since we bought it three years ago.  We also finished the basement which is nice because without the appraisal sitting over our heads we would not have pushed so hard to finish it.  As for the other house, we have rented it as of last week to a family who is building a house.  They are paying top dollar to have a short lease, through May.  So for the first time in over three years the rent is covering the mortgage.  Let's just hope that they, like everyone else on the planet, fall behind schedule and have to stay a few more months.  So things are back to normal again at our house.  It has taken me more then a week to get used to not having projects to work on during naptime.  I was so go, go, go that I find it hard to have nothing on my plate.  I am still training for the Bentonville Half Marathon on April 6th.  I feel ready for it but have had some problems with my knee the last two runs.  It is frustrating to feel up for the run endurance wise but held up by my knee.  I think after this half, I will stick to 10ks from now on.  I like the idea of doing more fun, creative running events.  I wish I could upload video on this thing cause Mae has been singing the most adorable versions of Itsy Bitsy Spider. 

Checking In

Max fell asleep in his closet.

Howdy to Caitlin in MA.  Didn't mean to startle you, I honestly thought it was a stranger reading my blog.  I always get a kick out of the fact that anyone chooses to read it at all.  My father now refuses to read it due to my extreme liberal leanings which are apparently splashed over every post of this blog.  I guess I dress the kids in blue too often.  Anyway... things are good here in Arkansas.  We finally finished the basement, or as the appraiser called it, "Our Lower Level!"  It would seem that because it has over 10% of the wall space as windows it is technically a lower level.  Snap for us.  We are still waiting around to find out how the house rated, but Jeff is optimistic.  Although Jeff is always optimistic about everything, which is one of the reasons I married him.  Jeff and I were called to teach the 15 year old Sunday School class at church.  Two weeks into it and we are having a great time.  I hope the kids feel the same way.  It is fun to teach these kids because I also taught them as 11 year olds in primary.  We start each class by taking away all their phones.  I am chugging along with my running.  I ran 9 miles by myself last Saturday.  It was hard but a relief.  I was really starting to question whether or not I was ready for the half marathon in April.  Now that I have that under my belt I feel I can easily pound out another 4 miles.  I debated squeezing out another mile to make it a braggable 10, but I decided the exhaustion I would have felt for the rest of the day wasn't worth it.  I am very excited for the race.  I started taking some pills for my acne which has gotten worse since I had children.  It's a little scary how awesome they are.  They are like little energy pills but without the anxiety.  I was joking to Jeff that this must be what normal people feel like, not being tired all the time.  Ironically I don't think they are helping with my skin much, but I'll take the energy over the skin.  The kids are good.  Max has been off all week and one week break is just the right amount of time.  Mae is potty trained!  I was shocked by how it happened all of the sudden.  Max took forever.  Spike is a grouchy guy, but I think he is just in that stage where he wants to communicate and doesn't know how.  So, I'll probably like him a year from now.

Those Cars Never Seem to Stop Coming

My freshman year of high school I was in show choir and one of our competition numbers was to the 70's song "Car Wash."  I think it was my favorite number; hence the lyrical reference with the title there.  Anyway....shout out to my talented brother-in-law Mark Alexander who has just taken over his grandfather, Algy's, (see they didn't make my nephew's name up,) garage.   This post is mostly for the benefit of my one Massachusetts reader.  I have no idea who you are, but someone in that state reads my blog whenever I have a new post.  Mark is amazing with cars, and best of all he is totally honest and hardworking.  No slacker there.  I have spent an exhaustive amount of time trying to convince him and my sister to move to Arkansas just so I can have his mechanical services at our beck and call, but alas no go.  Maybe I'm a little bit biased but I do love Arkansas.  I cannot fathom how anyone lives anywhere else, (except Hawaii.)  But you, my Billericia Massachusetts reader, go to Mark and get your car fixed cause someone should benefit from his awesomeness.



This is Liesl, she wants you to go to her dad's auto shop.

http://www.alexanderautomotiveservice.com/

Pooh Bear



His limit for pictures that day was 4.

I think all of my kids are cute, but nobody has worked this outfit like Spikey!

Safety First

I know what your all asking yourselves, "Good heavens!  If she lost 30 lbs before this, What did she look like before?"

I can't even begin to list what I hate about this picture.  If I had known it was gonna be picture time I would have at least put on something other then sleepy pants.   Anyway, this is just another step in the refinance plan.  Making the house look finished is so time consuming.  The previous owner installed this window but didn't exactly finish it.  (What Jeff and I are really bugged by is why he put in a window that opens in a space 20 feet up.  Who's gonna open that?)  We have just lived with it sitting there looking like it was just cut and installed the day before, for over three years.  Well nothing like a deadline, and the borrowing of a 30 ft ladder to get things crossed off a to do list.  The main problem was that the angle of the staircase made it impossible to get on the ladder without the addition of the second ladder.  All I could think of was an OSHA ladder safety video I had to watch at BYU.  It wasn't so instructive as much as it was a gag reel of idiots falling off of ladders. 

Pictures through Firefox

This is an excellent example of the "W" sitting that Mae does which is terrible for the hip bones and should not be allowed.

He asked Santa for Lego Batman 2 and got it.  Must be nice to be him.

With Jeff's help I was finally able to upload new pictures through his firefox browser.  Not quite sure what is wrong with Internet Explorer.  Anywho...we got or first ever offer on our house.  We couldn't swing it, but it was rewarding to know that someone not known to use thinks our house isn't a crap hole.  Jeff is a bit sad, and so am I, but it feels right to keep on our course of finding renters.  Jeff even pointed out that by this year we should start paying more of the principal with the monthly payments so we can either drop the price even more next year, or actually walk away without paying anything at closing.  So it is really all just a lesson in patience.

Cold

Our new computer set up has prevented me from blogging.  Both computers are now in somewhat uncomfortable locations to spend a significant amount of time.  So, hence the lack of posts.  When the temperatures rise and it is comfortable to be in the playroom again there will be more posts. 

Until then:  Mae started Sunbeams and looks adorable in her big metal chair.
                               Spikey started Nursery and did well.
                               Max has lost two teeth and is back in school (Hooray!)
                               Jeff and I are almost done with the basement of this house.  It kills me that all our hopes and planning for this house will be in the hands of one appraiser who can basically rate the house any way he wants.  It all comes down to whether or not the basement can be considered a part of the house if it isn't carpeted. 

                               I have started training for The Bentonville Half Marathon in April.  Ran my longest run of 7.5 miles on New Years day.  It wasn't to bad but I am not looking forward to 13 miles. 

                                We took the other house off the market and are now trying to find renters.  Yeah I don't really want to talk about it.  This must be a lesson in patience and humility from The Lord. 

So adios until the temperature in NWA gets above 50 degrees.

Blogger isn't letting me download any new photos right now so I thought I would post my first photo ever.  I look like I ate all the other babies in the hospital.