Sharing a Room

I just checked on the boys in their beds. They were whispering when I approached. Here's their explanation (word for word):


Adam: "Mom, we're just doing some late night math."

Isaac: "Nothing like a good dose of arithmetic."

Me: "You guys are funny."

Isaac: "Okay Adam, what's 2 X 12?"

Adam: "24"

Isaac: "Okay, what's ..."


That's what happens when you have two parents that actually really like math. :)

...

Isaac hit a homerun at baseball tonight.

I painted my master bathroom this week.

I am so tired that I'm having a hard time focusing on anything.

I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have to run the longest run of my life in the morning at 7:00 in Sugarhouse with fast girls.

I feel anxious when I'm tired.

Sarah hasn't gone to sleep yet. It's 10:00 and she's crying in her crib.

If I Could Freeze My Children

You rarely hear me say that I'm sad about my children growing up. Even though I love my babies so very very much, I find things easier when they're just a little older. I like my kids to be more independent too.



However, Isaac is getting OLDER. Older in a way I don't want to think about. Older in a so-many-more-issues sort of way. He'll be 10 in the fall. Yikes.




Being 7 suits Adam well. He's a good boy and I'm guessing he's about as easy as he'll ever be right now.



Even with all of her antics, Sarah is a dear. She is darling and (you're right Eden) charming too. She is funny and energetic and she SINGS! I do like two-year-olds (by themselves though and not with other two-year-olds). Since this is most-likely the last time I will ever have a two-year-old, it makes me a little sad.



So, I guess I've come to realize that I can't really expect it to get much better than this. My kids are at good innocent ages. Still young, but old enough to do a lot for themselves. I am so looking forward to this summer. I am hoping to create lots of wonderful family memories together.



So if I got to pick when to freeze my children in time, it would be now.


Unfortunately that's not going to happen, so I'm going to work on enjoying this time I have with them and making the most of it. Though not perfect, I really was blessed with some good, good kids.

The End of an Era

Sarah climbed out of her crib last night.

One of the boys fell out once, but other than that, no one has been able to conquer our very high-sided crib.

After the accomplishment, I stuck her back in her crib and asked her to climb out so I could see how she did it. The key to her success (and not a fall) was a conveniently placed chair which she used to get down gently. That has been moved and I am praying she does not wish to take a dive. Here's hoping.

BECAUSE at 6:30 this morning I awoke to the front door quietly opening. I watched from upstairs as Sarah let herself out into the front yard while the rest of the family slept. That stinker. (Yes, I will be putting those knob things on. I know this is a safety issue.)

By 7:00 am she had managed to strip down to nothing and go potty on her own, leaving muddy little footprints on the toilet seat along with some other torn apart goodies on the floor from the cupboard.

She's also found that yelling at the top of her lungs when she is mad is a pretty dramatic way to express herself. I had to laugh when she was yelling at the little boy next to her in nursery for taking her seat. I said it'd be fine (meaning she shouldn't hit him) as long as he didn't touch her. Sure enough, he leaned over and poked her. She then decided to pinch the girl on the other side of her for retaliation. What?!?

She ran across the outfield of a little league game tonight and I had to chase her at top speed in my HEELS. SO embarrassing.

My little girl has decided she would like to be the one in charge. I'm pretty tired, so I might just let her be.

Very Quick, I'm So Tired That The Screen is Blurry 10k Post

Yesterday morning at bright and early 7 am I ran a 10k. It was a simple run on the Jordan River Parkway with a lot of the girls from the Wastach Back team. Did I mention it was early?

I did it in about 1 hr, 11 minutes with a mile pace of 11:25. I am the slowest on the team, but I was still proud of myself for running the entire 6.2 miles. It was hard work. I did it.

And that's about all I did for the whole day too.

The SLC 5k - just a tad late.

Most of us.



A few more.

Me, Liz, and Kerri after they finished the half. They are on the Wasatch Back team. Who's the odd one out here? Hm.

The Thing About Me - Updated

I believe in my religion, but I can understand why others don't or wouldn't want to.

I'm neither a Liberal or Conservative. There are almost always two valid sides to an argument. I can see both sides of say - gay rights (and tons of other issues) and honestly can't make up my mind.

This is why I can be such an indecisive person.

When I was a senior in high school, I remember wondering if I had any opinions about anything. I didn't really feel strongly about a lot of things. I don't think I had as many critical decisions to make back then and definitely didn't have as much control of my life.

With more responsibility now, I have many opinions, especially about my family and raising my children. I try though (sometimes I fail) to only project those ideas on my own little family and not others.

I've been a little frustrated with some things about baseball. It's so easy to get worked up. This is where I try to step back and see both sides. The coach and I both have fine ideas, they're just different. And I can live with that. Kudos to him for being willing to coach. Speak of the devil, he called just now. :)

I appreciate everyones input on my last post. I really don't feel THAT passionate about it, even if it sounded so. My latest stance: No, King Kong wasn't a good choice, but other ones could be appropriate. I like the idea of watching a first vision movie among the trees. Good points. I like when others kindly help me see a different point of view.

I guess this is all to say, if you know me well enough, you know I *try* to be as open-minded as possible. I try to look at issues from different angles and attempt to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes I slip into some not-so-great behaviour, but overall I think I've gotten better as I've aged. Ha! Aged!


P.S.
While I'm typing this Sarah is playing with her Barbies and having them dance and saying in a very excited voice, "Hi, I'm Barbie. Hi, I'm pretty. Oh, my dress!" I really do love that girl!

Update: While thinking about my political opinions, I realize that what I really don't like is listening to people who are too strongly one way or the other. I've found that much of their arguments are based on emotion (and creating that emotion in others) and not always logical thinking. I love what Kevin said in the comments about really examining why we support or oppose and idea. Whenever I do that I realize just how limited my experience and knowledge usually are.

Seriously?!? Father's and Son's Campout...

I have to say something about this. The more I think about it, the more it drives me crazy. I do not mean to offend, but can you see where I'm coming from?

The annual Father's and Son's Campout in our ward is in 2 weeks.

They are considering watching a movie...

... on an outdoor screen on their one night there.

A few years ago they watched King Kong. It ended up bothering some people. It IS PG-13. I looked at the parent guide on the imdb to see what the uproar was about. You can have a look for yourself here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360717/parentalguide. It was understandably not a good choice especially since there is no restriction on the age of children attending. Some of them are quite young (let alone the fact that it is a church activity).

I don't believe they've watched a movie since, but it's up for discussion again. Can I just say - why is this even being considered?!? Are we so attached to our media that we would be horribly bored for ONE night in the outdoors? I would be better able to understand if it were a multi-night thing and a movie was planned for one of those nights, but this is ONLY ONE NIGHT!

I assume that the purpose of doing this campout is to create memories, strengthen relationships and learn skills. Watching a movie is often a poor choice even for a date when you're getting to know someone. You don't communicate. You are only spending passive time together. What happened to sitting around the campfire, telling folklore stories, playing games, whittling sticks? That would create memories. Who knows, maybe it could even pass off some scout requirements. Imagine that.

It is also about setting an example. It's a time to show your children respect and love for this beautiful world. How can that happen in front of a movie screen? (Well, I guess you could watch Planet Earth.)

Last summer we had a really fun ward movie night in a backyard. It WAS fun to watch a movie outside. It was the right venue. That's what we were there for.

I know that I for one (were I a father), would choose NOT to go if a movie were the activity of choice. Camping takes way too much effort to waste that time in nature on a movie!


Can you see why I would be bothered? Or do you think it's a harmless activity?

Let me know, if you dare.