Life

 I ran 8 miles this morning!!  "So, whats the big deal?", you say??   Well, I took the month of June off on account of a bad sprained ankle! It was so depressing for me.  I was so grumpy! But I started running again this month! And the grumpy depression has evaporated and Jared and the kids couldn't be happier to have their happy mommy back! :)

I have no camera these days, so here are some pics from my phone from the past couple weeks....

 June 23- My baby sister, Aubree, turned 21. I made her her favorite dinner, Chicken Alfredo and these cute kitten cupcakes, since she is a big cat lover!

June 28th-

 My first born, turned 10!! Indy had a fabulous birthday! Jared took some pics with his fancy, shmancy camera and of course I haven't even seen them yet! But she had a fabulous day! She had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast! We went to a movie in the afternoon.  Then we came home and rushed to her softball tournament with all her friends.  It was a good game and her team did their best but they got beat! Indy did get a run so she was happy! Then we went home and had a BBQ and played on a fun huge water slide with the whole family and all of Indy's friends from the neighborhood.  Indy got tons of gifts, everything she wanted, but her big gift was her new bike that is so cute, I just might borrow it! I made her a delicious ice cream cake and then the kids busted the pinata and ate tons of candy! Perfect ending to her first day of being 10!

June 30-

 I painted alot of 4th of July toes! Pretty cute! I think these are chelsea's toes!

July 2-

I was running on the trail the first morning the balloons went up and I had to stop and take a pic!

July 3-

Stadium of Fire

July 4-
Liam and Milo being cute at Grandma's

 July 5-
We actually, attempted the parade even though we didn't have a saved spot. We found a pretty decent 4x4 square of grass and we watched the parade for about an hour!  By then the kids had had their fill of the parade and we beat the traffic! Wahoo!

July 11-

Us, at the Malt Shoppe, after failing to get free slurpees since everyone ate them all before we got there! :)

July 18-

My kids with the next door neighbors, Rory, Liam and Autumn, decorating cookies. That was lots of messy fun!

July 16-
And this was the end to my busy Saturday of running 8 miles, doing yard work, running errands, making dinner, more yard work and then a sunset sail! It was spectacular!  The wind died right after the sun disappeared so Jared motored us in with a power drill with a small prop attached that he put together himself! Have I told you before, that I am so glad I married a man that has the skills of MacGyver and James Bond put together!  He is pretty much a genius!

Well, that's all folks!

All about me!

I am going to blog about something besides the fact that summer is nearing the end although every morning it is the first thought that crosses my mind! How can my lazy summer days be coming to an end!???

Well, not too lazy... I have been training all summer for a half marathon and this Saturday, like in two days, is my big race! I have loved all the running I have gotten to do this summer... I have given up running with my ipod for three reasons. One it annoys me. The ear phones get sweaty and slip out or the song might have too slow of a tempo so I have to fumble with it until I find a better one. Reason number two is I run to run... Yes I do have a lot of gadgets for running, like my GPS, my treadmill, and I have had quite a number of jogging strollers but the best runs I have ever had are about the run. A clear mind. Solitude. Just being able to be me for an hour or two with no interruptions. And reason number three- Safety!  I want to be able to hear if some one is sneaking up behind me! And I feel sorry for the person who would dare try to sneak up behind me! This summer is the first summer that when thoughts about a full marathon have crossed my mind I actually thought, "Maybe..."

I am also addicted to ALIAS! Just finished the first season and have started the second! I have found that there are many others share my love it is soooo good! It's really hard because I also love all the usa shows like Burn Notice, Psyche, White Collar and the all new Covert Affairs.  So I stay up way to late some nights catching up on my shows!

I have hired my friend Corinne to help me with my housekeeping! I didn't know I would be getting such a super cleaner! She is awesome! My walls are even clean and I feel like I have time for other stuff, like folding the piles of laundry on my bed, instead of what I usually do which is avoid cleaning because there is just too much and I am totally overwhelmed by it! Well not any more!  I am so happy!

Well I have been taking too long and I didn't even get to what my kids have been up to this summer, but what they are up to right now is mischief!!! Indy is yelling that there is toilet paper all the way down the stairs so I will have to leave this post with a....

To Be Continued (when my children are in bed!)

A Day in my Life

Yesterday- I got up early to do my long Saturday run.  I wasn't feeling too hot thanks to Milo and Indy who had both been very sick with colds during the week.  After running for about half a mile I realized my long, peaceful, run wasn't going to happen.  My lungs were burning and I felt very out of breath... So I walked another mile and turned around and walked home.  I tried to enjoy the beautiful morning, the cool air, and the rushing river but I was too disappointed. Last weekend I had missed my long run too and I was feeling very much like a running loooo-ser...

I decided I was sick, and for me actually admitting I am sick is rare!  I can get sick but I usually pretend I am not and it just goes away.  Today I wanted to be sick!  I wanted to sleep!  I made sure someone was going to be there for my nursery babies on Sunday and I went into rest and relaxation mode. (With a short break to go to a matinee on Saturday to see Iron Man II- which was freakin' awesome!!)

This morning I just wanted to sleep in! I knew if I could just sleep in the gunk in my chest and sinuses would magically disappear! And, Jared let me... He made the kids breakfast and played with them while I was laying in bed not really sleeping but trying to anyway, which is almost as good! I laid in bed most of the morning reading, something I loved to do as a teenager, and now is only an occasional treat.  I got up to get a bowl of cereal and as I was carrying it upstairs to eat in bed when my foot slipped on a random item left on the stairs and I slipped and spilled the whole bowl of cereal UP the stairs! Jared even cleaned it up.. Since I was in a fit laughing/crying/coughing hysterics... So sad :0)

I eventually got up showered and put on some comfortable lounging type clothes... I made the kids lunch and cleaned it up, did some laundry, and made my bed...  Then Jared took the girls to the park while Milo was napping to fly his helicopter which I don't usually approve of as a Sunday activity, but whatever! I was going to take advantage of the peace and quiet!

So I read some more, and wrote in my journal and pondered stuff, like I usually do when I don't have kids to distract me from my thoughts... And I started thinking about something Mrs. Walton had said to me a couple weeks ago in the hallway at school... It was almost like I had been saving it to be enjoyed privately and contemplated because it was quite possibly one of the highest compliments I had ever been given.  I had said to her that I was sad that she wasn't going to be Libby's teacher next year but that I was so happy that she was having a baby! And she told me, "Thanks, now I will get to be like you!" 

  I pause now to really think what it meant, to have someone want to be like me...

I am always reading about moms that I would like be like, through blogging, and church, and my scores of friends and family that are fabulous mommies! And I know what it feels like to want to be another person because they do something I wish I could do to!  But to think, to KNOW, that I was someone that someone else wanted to be like...Wow!

I have a very charmed life so it's easy to be happy, and energetic when I am happily married with four beautiful, healthy children!  And it is fun to be me most of the time! (I am sooo  not bragging but it would be very ungrateful of me if I didn't admit it! :0)

But there are times when I get frustrated, upset and act in a way that no one would want to be like me if they saw! So I think I will try harder...

I will try harder to be that mom Mrs Walton thinks I am. All the time...

Which is a perfect thought to end on since I am about to try to bathe my four, happy, beautiful children and get them to bed ...