Family 5K

In our stake some girls have organized a 5K run the first Saturday of every month. I think they just started up again, and when they announced it in church I thought to myself that this was something we should do as a family.  I informed everyone that we would be running bright and early Saturday morning.  The kids were excited and Dan just looked at me like I was crazy, which, admittedly , I was.
I started to have second thoughts on Friday when I realized just how cold it was going to be at 7AM the next day, but...we were going to do this as a family! So, we woke the kids up early (something that never happens, by they way. The wake up way earlier than we do) and got ready with our running clothes :)
We drove to the church with Scott and Carol Lee. There were only a few other people there, and it wasn't like a race or anything, just kind of, "Here's the course, go when you are ready, and have fun." Everyone took off and we were having a good time...until the cold started to seep in. Then Milee, Brinley, Cole were rather cranky....the whole 3.2 miles. I'm talking like screaming and crying at the top of their lungs cranky (it was cold and their poor hands and feet were freezing).

 You can see how not happy this little man is. He hurt his leg awhile back, and I guess it is still bothering him. Running is not something he enjoys apparently.

 This is the halfway turn-around point. Milee is crying about her hands in this picture, and Cole is looking at me like I'm nuts because I wanted a picture to prove that we did this :)

 Look, he did it too...while pushing a stroller with three kids on it...that's got to be at least 100lbs. He's studly.

And this is us dying at the end. We are probably not going to do any more of these, but I asked Kember and Caden if they wanted to do them with grandma and grandpa and they said yes, so that's kind of fun. Those two were troopers the entire way, and I'm super proud of them.

Dance Performance

Our girls are taking dance from a family friend (actually, I think that technically they are cousins). The girls really like it, and Ginger (the teacher) is great. Ginger found out last week that they were invited to perform at the cheerleaders and drill teams showstopper thingy :) And even though she doesn't read this blog, I have to give a shout out to Ginger for choosing age appropriate costumes, music, and moves. I was proud to watch my girls out there...I wasn't cringing to see them do sexy moves that really, no one should be doing.

I don't think the girls really understood much about the performance, other than mom was stressed and cranky trying to get everyone ready (they had practice right before and everyone had to be ready because we weren't coming home again....). Just as a note, Milee doesn't like mom doing her make-up. There was weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Which I totally understand. That's how I feel every time I put make-up on :) Kember didn't like it either, but stood up to it a lot better than my 4yr old.  It always amazes me what make-up does to them though. Maybe I should start wearing it more.

When we got to the high school and connected with Dan I think the first question he had was, "How long is this going to take?" I just looked at him.  Really? "Haven't you ever been to one of these before?" I said. It was his turn to just look at me.  "Why would I have been to one of these before?" Well, his eyes were opened and he is just going to have to get used to things like this :) Although, I'm crossing my fingers my girls don't want to be cheerleaders or drill-teamers. Don't get me wrong, the girls were extremely talented, and if that's what my girls want to do, I will totally support them, but really I don't think I'd be sad at all if they wanted to do something else instead :)

So, here are my little cuties.

Milee's dance was super cute. She danced to Splish Splash, and let's face it, watching 4 yr olds. is just funny. One of the girls fell over in her tub, and sometimes they just stood there, and another girl wouldn't get out of her tub :) Milee was always a couple counts off with her moves, but she did them and was super cute!

I was so proud of Kember. She hates getting in front of people, and I've never seen her dance better. She is really improving. I'd love to post the videos of their dances on here, but it won't let me :(

Okay, so here is my question for dancers out there (which, the only people who read this are family and we aren't dancers, so it's a moot question, but I gotta ask it anyway). What is with the faces the cheerleaders and drill team members make while dancing? It looks like your face is twitching when you are winking mid-dance. Why is the fish face apart of the dance? It doesn't make you look cute. It looks like a fish. You are not a fish, nor are you emulating one in your dance. And shaking your head while winking or making the fish face just makes me dizzy. Actually, all the faces that were made not only made the girls look ridiculous, but it was super distracting. Dan couldn't stop laughing, and I was so focused on the faces I wasn't watching the dances. That can't be the point of it. What's wrong with just smiling while you dance? I'd really like to know why they do that. I'm not trying to make fun or be disrespectful.  The girls are all very very talented, so my question is "Why?".

Green Dot Club

 So, to my understanding the Green Dot club is showing proficiency in each section in Language Arts and Math. If you get a red dot it means you don't understand the concept at all, yellow means you are okay, and green means you get it. So for the Green Dot Club you have to get a a whole bunch of green dots...in every subject/section...no yellows, or reds.  So my little Caden man did this, and it's really awesome. I'm super proud of him. He was in this last year, and he did it again this year! Apparently not a lot of kids do this, and I am hoping that he will continue to be a part of this "club".

And his little sister wanted her picture taken too, and who can resist this face?

The best way to start a weekend!

This weekend we decided to celebrate Scott's birthday. After the kids got out of school, we headed up to the mountain up from the feedlot. While it's been really good weather lately, it was a little nippy (although, it's February, no snow, and the kids didn't wear a jacket or coat for most of the outing, so no complaints here). Scott brought the horses up, every family brought their guns, and we roasted hot dogs over a fire :) The kids had a lot of fun finding spent shotgun shells, and looking for glass bottles to shoot (no worries, we cleaned up the glass after we were done). There was some fighting over wanting to keep the bottles...who knew beer bottles were so pretty? But we finally convinced the kids that shooting them was a better option. The adults got to chat while the kids played in the dirt. Each family took turns with the horses. I can't believe how pretty it was up there. Like I said, it's February and no snow which is awesome (even if we do need the moisture), but the contrast between the orange mountain and the green trees was breathtaking. I'd never been up that way before, and I'm hoping to convince Dan to take us us there again so we can explore some more when others aren't waiting for the horses and babysitting those that stayed behind. Then we shot the kid's 22's. Even Milee got in on the action this time, and she was so proud of herself she did a clap skippy jump thingy when she was done.  It got really cold by the time the sun went down, so we packed everything up and headed home. After everyone had baths and got cleaned up Jed and Nanci and their family came over to watch some movies. We need to do more stuff like this as a family. It was awesome.

 

 

And this is the man who made it possible for our family to go up and have a good time. Thanks for all  you did love!

Cole is growing up!

 My little man is growing up! When we first moved here we stressed about finding Cole a preschool so he could have some interaction with little kids his age...but we moved here too late in the season.  I decided to just do one at home with him.  That didn't last long though, so I was thrilled when I got a call from the school saying that they had an opening and school started in a week.  Cole missed he deadline, so instead of the 4 year old class he is in the 3 year old class.  That's kind of too bad because hey don't do letters or anything, but he is getting good interaction and he loves it so far! Every day he asks if he goes to school that day...and he will wear his backpack around the house.  He goes twice a week for 2 hours a day.  It's super weird just having one kid at home during that time. Course that won't be for long, but it is nice while it lasts.

 

Halloween 2012

 *Look Dad, I'm writing on my blog...just for you.  You should be so proud of me!
 

 So another year came around for Halloween.  It was a big topic.  No one, except Caden, could decide what they wanted to be.  Caden knew very early on that he wanted to be a Jawa (the little guys from Star Wars that steal robots and then sell them).  Kember made a long list and debated individual merits of each...deciding on a princess (again) until we got to the store, and found a cat costume and quickly changed her mind.  Not that I minded.  I thought it would be a better investment to buy a leotard and tights for a future dance class, and also use it for Halloween.  Cole would not make up his mind.  He wanted to be whatever costume we found.  Finally, two days before Halloween he decided he wanted to be a Jawa like Caden.  I ran to the store, bought the fabric and sewed his robe before he could change his mind.  Dan got in on the action and made glowing eye glasses for the boys, but they refused to wear them.  They were really cool though.  I saw Milee's costume on Pinterest, and all I had to buy was white pants.  I'm all over cheap costumes, and I thought being an Oompa Loompa was really funny.  Plus, listening to her say "Oompa Loompa" was always good for a laugh.  Caden couldn't remember it, and kept calling her an orphan.  Not sure where that came from, but there you go.
  The school Halloween parade was something of a joke.  They had these kids booking it.  They were practically running.  I barely got pictures because I almost missed them.  If they hadn't waved to me I would have missed them completely.  I told them after school that they were going so fast and that I wanted them to slow down so I could get a picture, but they said that they weren't supposed to.  That if they stopped the people behind them would run into them.   Probably true, but considering the whole thing took less them 10 minutes, I think they could have walked a little slower.

 I'm going to admit to some slight (or maybe not so slight) pride in Kember's face paint.  It was soooo fun to do.  I did it twice that day.  Once for school, without the brown, and then again that night with the brown.  Fun stuff.  Thank you again Pinterest!

 She just makes me laugh.  She had so much fun walking around the neighborhood getting candy.  She would run up to the door (a lot later than her bros and sister) and yell "TREAT!" and open her bag.  Then say "Tank you!" and run to the next yard.  She didn't want to get on the stroller...she wanted to run like the big kids.  It made my night.  Eventually she did want to sit on the stroller so she could snack on some candy, but once I took her candy away, she didn't like the idea of sitting there much.

 Very few people actually guess what these guys were.  I'll admit they look like Jedi with a Darth Maul (?) mix, but I was too lazy to make the tool belt strappy things that hang from both shoulders.

It was a fun night.  For me and the kids anyway.  Dan is sick, so he stayed home and passed out the candy...and ordered pizza.  I think the kids had just as much fun taking over the passing out candy part when we got home.  They took turns with the bowl (even though all of them were at the door) and whos ever turn it was yelled, "What's the password!" which was "Trick-or-Treat" just in case you were wondering.

So basically, a good time was had by all (minus a very sick Dan...get better soon Love!)

Literary Time Out: The Most Important Catch Blog Tour and Giveaway

This is from my sisters book review blog.  She's doing a giveaway...go check it out!

The Most Important Catch Blog Tour and Giveaway

The Most Important Catch by Jaclyn M. Hawkes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am happy to be a part of The Most Important Catch Blog Tour today. This was the first Jaclyn M. Hawkes novel that I've read, and I found it to be an entertaining story with very likable characters.

"She knew too much, and she’d seen too much. And the police refused to help. Knowing that she was to be the next scheduled death, Kelly Campbell hid under head to toe black leather and a tinted motorcycle helmet and ran for her life.

When the weather turned cold, she turned south. She ended up in North Carolina, home to one of the most famed and eligible NFL football stars in the whole league; only she didn’t know that. She thought he was a businessman. Not being a huge fan, all she knew was that he was incredibly attractive, kind, generous, and that she was safe with him. Or was she?

His brand of fame proved to be all but deadly, but his fame wasn't nearly as lethal as his attraction. He kept her safe and protected. All except her heart."

The romance was quite believable-not rushed like most romance novels. Although, at times I was a little impatient for the characters to admit their feelings for each other, I enjoyed how they built their friendship and trust by working together.

Religion is a big part of this LDS Fiction novel, and for the most part Hawkes is able to integrate it well with the flow of the story.

It might sound silly, but I liked when I came across the title in some dialogue in the book. Sometimes you wonder how a title is picked, and it was fun reading it in the story.

The suspense aspect also kept me turning the pages. This was a clean and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more of Jaclyn M. Hawkes' books.