sick kids

Okay, today I'm home{all day}. My washing machine is broke and Eliza is sick. The guy is suppose to come and fix my washing machine sometime between 8am and 5pm.{ugh!} It's 12:39 and were still waiting. Eliza has a yucky cold that is making her feel pretty yucky. I put Charlie down for a nap and went to the computer to check email and read a friends blog. Before I knew it, Eliza had climbed up on my lap and was sound asleep with drool coming out. So I decided to enjoy this quiet moment with a sleeping child on me and blog how much I love sick kids. No really....I don't like for my kids to be sick but I have to admit that some of my favorite moments as a mom are when they are sick. They tend to be more cuddly and calm. I love it!!

I have lots of pictures of kids sick, asleep with a "throw-up" bowl beside them.

The bowl is missing in this picture because her sister is wearing it on her head and being a monster. ;-/ (I learned that little face from Amanda:-) )

Funny pictures of snot coming out of their noses in big bubbles. I know their are pictures somewhere of the bubble but I can't find it right now. This picture is Charlie in March 2007 with a little RSV.
Or my favorite is the picture of Emma Grace with her cast on her leg. The two of us on the couch exhausted from the long day of being at the hospital and I'm holding up her casted leg as if it's our trophy. This picture is so gross...me after a day at the hospital...ek! But I had to share the picture of Emma Grace and the cast.

For all of you who didn't know Emma Grace at that age{17 months) but know Charlie right now, doesn't he look just like Emma Grace{the boy version}? In this picture she is the same age as Charlie is right now.
Isn't there a way to put a big black dot over my face in photoshop? Boy, I need to learn how to use that program.

I will Follow the Prophet

After the passing of President Hinckley, President Henry B. Eyring said,

"President Hinckley had the gift to make

people want to do better and

to feel that they could."

The gals at "marathon mommies" have made a challenge...dedicate your run to President Hinckley....HOW MUCH CAN YOU DO?

This Saturday I'm taking the challenge of dedicating my run to President Hinckley. I was only going to run 6 miles but because of the challenge I'm going to run 13{a 1/2 marathon} to remember the life of President Hinckley and push myself a little bit further.

He lived an amazing life! He always pushed himself to do more. And so this Saturday while I run I will think of all the ways I can follow his example and his prophetic counsel.

Come on...join the challenge and do a little bit better!! Post how much you are going to do on their blog so they know how far this challenge reaches.

My friend Kristi posted these ideas on her blog.

1} download a some of his conference talks on your ipod and listen to them while your walk/run
2} write the 9 b's on your hand and think about how you can apply them to your life Be Grateful - Be Smart - Be Clean - Be True - Be Humble - Be Prayerful - be Positive - Be still - Be involved
3} put a photo of him in your pocket of your jacket (of course this would apply to all those in freezing running weather... burrr!
4} ask yourself, "how far would you go for the prophet or leader of your church?"
5} set a goal higher than you think you can go and watch yourself be amazed when you walk/run with a purpose.

taking sign ups

{in case you can't read the sign it says: "sign up for acting classes,

every Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30pm, $2.00 a month.

your teacher will be Brenna, phone number: ask us"

If you come to my house right now, this is what you will see. Brenna has decided to give acting classes on Thursday afternoons. My first thought when I saw this posted and a little neighbor friend looking at it was "no way". But before I said anything, I thought, "no, just let her do it and help her". So tomorrow is the first class for "STARS R US" right in my living room. She is so excited! I have tried to help her think of things to do and she has it all planned out. The other kids on the street and my other kids are all very excited too.

In case you haven't read it on my blog previously, Brenna has been taking acting classes for about a year now and absolutely loves it.

tooth tunes

She was actually dancing to the music of her toothbrush in this picture but I didn't catch any of her cool moves.
For Christmas Santa Claus brought the girls these very cool toothbrushes. If you haven't seen these yet, they are really fun! Santa Claus brought Eliza the toothbrush that has "We Will Rock You". That is my life with Eliza!! She rocks my world everyday!! It's so great when she walks around singing, "we will, we will ROCK YOU". You can buy these toothbrushes at TARGET or here is the website: http://www.hasbro.com/toothtunes/

s t r e t c h i n g

{Brenna and Emma Grace stretching with me in the bathroom

after my run this morning. They were very funny trying to get

their feet up there since it's kind of high for them}

I love stretching! I love YOGA! I would probably go to Yoga everyday if I could. So there is an ongoing conversation{or my husband may say nagging} that goes on in my house. He says he stretches after his run and I'm not sure that anyone would really consider what he does to be stretching. So the other day he went to see Dr. Brimhall after the 1/2 marathon because he was having a ton of pain in one of his legs. One of the first things Dr. Brimhall asked him about was stretching. Then he had Todd lay on the table and he lifted Todd's leg up until Todd couldn't stretch it anymore and Dr. Brimhall said, "You're kidding me. Is that it?" And then proceeded to tell Todd that he needed to stretch. THANK YOU DR. BRIMHALL!! I'm not saying that Todd has to come to yoga with me but if you're going to run you've got to stretch.

just keep running!

So what do you think...does it look as painful as it felt at some points in the race? {these are "official" race pictures from www.zazoosh.com}

st. george 1/2 marathon

I ran my first race in these shoes{the middle ones}! Nikes{they are even pink}! How often do you get to eat whatever carbs you want and not feel bad about it? Everyone says you should carb load the night before a race. So we went to a very "carb-o-licious" place to eat...The Pizza Factory!! The breadsticks are so awesome{check out the picture below}. They taste even better than they look. It's a good thing they don't have one of these restaurants here or I would be carb loading when I shouldn't. We loved it so much we went there for lunch the next day before we went home.


Because I was so excited about the race, I didn't sleep very well after about 4am. We finally got up at ....

Here is the three of us just starting the race. Some of those layers of clothes were dropped at mile 2. Do you see the smiles?...that's how you can tell it's the very beginning of the race!
Okay, so we're smiling here too but is only because it's over. We made it!! It was so awesome!! And now I'm looking forward to more races with Todd and Tara and anyone else I can recruit to do it with me.
These are the "runner cards" that show what our stats were for the race. I met my goal for the race...to run it in under 2 hours!!
My ipod is my best friend while running. It helps me not think about what my feet and legs are doing!! Thank heavens for the ipod!!

pancakes

Brenna set her alarm for 6:00am and got up and made pancakes this morning. Yes...you read that correctly. Could my life be any better? And they were really good (from scratch) pancakes. She's awesome!!

jelly donuts

This is why you should never leave your husband in charge of breakfast!! Todd inevitably gets a box of donuts for the kids. They LOVE it!! Charlie pounded a jelly donut. Fortunately for me and the children AND TODD, I only saw the pictures. Oh well....what do you do!!

pinecone hunt

Last year we collected some pinecones while on a walk and they were still hanging out in this basket in our garage and Eliza discovered them the other day. So we decided to hide them around the living room and Eliza and Charlie (Brenna & Emma were at school) found them. This was Charlie's first time to find and collect things in a basket/bucket and he loved it. All of the girls have always loved for me to hide things around the living room or in the back yard. One day we took lot of random little items from the "junk drawer", counted them(so we would know how much they were looking for) and then hid them. They played that forever!

This past year for Brenna and Emma Grace's birthday we hid the presents around the room and they had to find them. We told them if they were "hot" and "cold". The girls liked it so much they have insisted that we continue it for all family birthdays.

i want you

This picture reminds me of Uncle Sam and makes me want to laugh. I, of course, wasn't trying to get this shot but it just happened. I couldn't help but to put it on my blog next to Uncle Sam.

But my mind couldn't stop thinking of how I could use this on my blog other than just for laughs. So there is something "I want you" to do. There are lots of you out there reading my blog and not leaving comments...you know who you are. For a lot of you that are not familiar enough with blogging you may not know how to leave a comment. So here is a tutorial:
1. Read the post.
2. If you think of something and you would like to make a comment, click on the link under the post that says "comments".
3. You will have to type in your email address and a password(something like that...it's been a while since I very first left a comment).
4. Type your comment.

It's that easy!! I love to hear from all of my friends and family who are reading!!

you use olive oil for what?

Okay...go ahead and make a comment telling me I've gone crazy!! No really....if you have a baby who has a diaper rash you have to try this. A couple of nights ago Charlie had some redness in his "rolls" and then when I wiped him there was a tiny bit of blood. So I thought to myself, "well which do I use...baby powder or desitin". I decided to call a friend who has 10 children and her youngest is a baby right now. I asked her for some advice about it and she told me to try a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. She told me that Charlie's problem would be gone by morning. I was eager to put it to the test. I'm not kidding you...it was better in the morning. His bum was swimming in olive oil all night but it worked and he was a happier camper the next morning.

So go buy a special bottle to keep by the changing table. You're not allowed to take it back and forth between diaper changes and the kitchen!!

9 days

(that's not me in the photo...I wish that was the scenery in AZ)

I've officially started counting down the days to the race! Nine days until Todd, Tara(my sister in law), and I run the 1/2 marathon in St. George, Utah. I'm so excited!! I'm not sure that I ever really thought I would be running a marathon, although it was in the back of my mind. For years I have wondered if I could ever do it. But whenever I even tried running, I would stop after a few minutes and think "that is crazy. running is painful". What I've learned is that you can do anything that you put your mind to. How many times has my mom told me that in my life?!

Over the past week or so my left foot has started hurting. Not wanting it to slow me down, I've continued to run in the morning. But on Tuesday morning by mile 7 it was killing me and I was pratically limping while running to try and compensate for it but I didn't want to stop and I ran 8 miles. So this morning I went to see Dr Brimhall and told him he has nine days to get my foot feeling better for the race. Yikes! He pushed and pulled and twisted and gave me some more supplements. And I'm very confident that my foot will be fine for the race next Saturday. He's awesome!

charlie monkey

When I came across this book in Barnes and Noble before Christmas, I couldn't believe it. I always call Charlie "Charlie Monkey". He makes noises like a monkey and climbs like a monkey. He was even a monkey for Halloween this year. I was so excited to buy this book and it is the cutest thing just like my little Charlie Monkey.

lovin' the beach

We love going to the beach!!! It's so relaxing!!
We spent four nights at the beach over New Years and enjoyed every minute of it. We can't wait to go back again.

Things we love about going to the beach(in no particular order):
1. digging in the sand
2. wearing whatever feels the most comfortable
3.searching for shells and seaglass(thanks to Brooke S.) and crab claws(good job Todd)
4. buying Mexican vanilla
5. going to bed early and waking up late
6. smores at night by the fire
7. kid movies every night
8. no responsibilities
9. no phone or internet
10. taking a nap on the beach!!
11. meeting new friends
12. playing with other people's dogs(Emma was in heaven)
13. finding carcuses of dolphins right outside our condo(okay so that's not really a favorite)

i'm a big boy now

Charlie went and got his haircut today!!

While getting his first haircut today, Charlie took being the center of attention all in stride. The girl cutting his hair couldn't believe how good he was for the whole thing. He got to sit in a car and eat a sucker and he was the only kid in the place for all of the stylist to dote over. Why wouldn't he be good!

He got a little bit of a "buzz" so that we could spike it up. It made him look more like a big boy than my little baby. It was a little sad for me but he's so handsome that I got over it real fast.

just like their mom

I am notorious for singing the wrong words to songs. I simply make up whatever I don't understand or remember. My girls all take after me. Emma Grace sang "like a Dinah in the sky" forever for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Well, Emma Grace and Eliza rewrote "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" this year.
After church one Sunday, Emma Grace asked, "what is the tithing song"? We were clueless. We racked our brains, going through every primary song we knew and came up with nothing. A little while later we decided to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" when we went caroling to the girls' primary teachers. We started singing it and Emma Grace said, "that's the one". She sang, "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Good TITHINGS we bring to you and your KIDS. We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year".
Meanwhile Eliza was singing, "We MISS you a merry Christmas".

things we love about Christmas...

Being together!

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Enchilada Sauce

Making enchilada sauce is a new tradition in our family that was started 2 years ago. My wonderful friend Cindy L. introduced this yummy recipe to me. She has some of the greatest recipes!! Her family has lived in Arizona for several generations and enchiladas at Christmas time is part of their family's tradition. They all get together on the first Saturday in December for an enchilada dinner and her mom is in charge of the sauce. This sauce is amazing!! Cindy has come over and helped me make it the past two years and this year I graduated and was on my own. I did it!! I made 8 large quart jars and put 6 in my freezer. The picture above is all of the ingredients waiting to go in the pot. Then you cook your pork, put them in corn tortillas and smother it in sauce. Yummy!!

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Christmas Dance Recital

We love Campbell's Dance Studio. It is such a great dance studio and the girls are learning a lot. One of the things that I love most is that I don't have to pay for costumes and tickets for their Christmas Dance Recital. Yahoo! They reuse little costumes every year and they do the recital in one of the big dance rooms.

Picture #1 Emma Grace and her friend Laine Norton doing their tap dance. Emma Grace is fortunate enough to get to go to dance each week with Laine, one of her best friends.

Picture #2 Emma Grace doing her ballet dance. How cute are those leggin's? Her ballet teacher is so adorable and a great teacher. She made up some really cute choreography.

Picture #3 Charlie has fun wherever we go but put him in a room that already has an audience AND a water fountain and he is set.

Picture #4 Brenna rocked out in her tap dance. She's awesome! She really enjoys tap dance.

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Triple Threat (in class) Performance

Brenna has been involved with "singing, dancing, acting" classes called Triple Threat since February of 2007 and has absolutely LOVED it. She enjoys going every week and when it comes time for a performance, she just can't wait. The night that Ms. Beckie taught them how to cry was hilarious. She came home just amazed that Ms. Beckie could do that. We have since had the opportunity to watch Brenna while we know she is using the techniques she learned that night. Her in-class performance was fun. They set it up as a "theatre in the round". All of the kids had a chance to be in a skit as well as direct a skit.

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Fun at Preschool!

Eliza has just loved being in Preschool this year! It helps that she has the most wonderful and loving Preschool teacher ever. In December they do all kinds of fun Christmas activities and then top it off with a little program for the parents. The program is called "The Gingerbread Caper". It's all about the gingerbread man and is so dang cute!! The top picture is Eliza with her sweet teacher, Ms. Kerri. The other picture above is Eliza with two of her preschool buddies during their program. The little girl on the left is her good friend Brooke. And the little boy on the right is Michael. He is the one who tells Eliza that he loves her and that she is his girlfriend. Every day when we arrive at Preschool, Michael is waiting for Eliza at the door and is yelling "Eliza is here. Eliza is here". No wonder she loves going to preschool...she has her own cheering section.

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Great Primary Teachers!

We live in such a wonderful ward and all of our children are always so blessed to have great teachers. This past year Jim and Kim Robinson were Emma Grace's teachers. They are always so prepared and do such wonderful activities with the children. Each week they give them "homework". Sometimes the homework is something like "do something nice for a brother or sister" or "ask your parents about some gospel principle". So cute! Emma Grace is always telling us stories that they told in class. For Valentine's, they sent Emma Grace a card. And as you can see in this picture they came to our house to give Emma Grace a Christmas present. They sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" for us.
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A Christmas Carol

We are so lucky to have the Hale Center Theatre so close to our home. It's a theatre in the round and there isn't a bad seat in the house. There also has never been a bad performance. Everything that we go to is great!! Todd and I took Brenna and Emma Grace to see "A Christmas Carol". Nothing gets you more in the Christmas spirit than to see this wonderful play. At the end, all of the performers line up outside and sing Christmas carols while snow(bubbles) falls from above you as you exit the theatre. Oh my...it's so wonderful!!

I got the tickets 5 months in advance for "A Christmas Carol". They sell out fast! Other people like this little tradition as much as we do.
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Reindeer Run

The girls got to run in their first race this month. We signed up for the Reindeer Run through our gym. The run takes place at Tempe Beach Park and is .6 miles. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there along with Rudolf, of course. There is also a 5K run that Todd and I were going to sign up for but decided not to because we weren't sure what to do with the kids. But when we got there, we were kicking ourselves that atleast one of us didn't run it. So we will do it next year! Overall, the girls had a great time and felt so cool that they had run their first race and look forward to doing it again next year.

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Sharing Christmas Treats!

Another favorite Christmas tradition takes its toll on our waist line. Throughout the entire month of December our doorbell rings and their is someone from our ward bringing us some yummy Christmas treat. Oh my...this year everyone really out did themselves. Everything was so good! For the past several years we have taken Peppermint Truffles to everyone. This year Eliza and I started by crushing 17 boxes of peppermint candy canes. I went through 14 boxes of semi-sweet chocolate and still should have made more. My mom made the cute little cards to put on the top of the box. Cute huh! She did a great job! Thanks for doing that mom!

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Nutcracker

Since the beginning of October, Brenna has been giving up a couple of hours every Saturday morning to rehearse for the Nutcracker. We were so thrilled for her to be a part of this Christmas tradition. She was a "Ginger Kid". She dance with about 15 other girls and they did a wonderful job!! Brenna is becoming quite a performer.

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Gingerbread House

One of our favorite traditions that we do at the very beginning of December is building a Gingerbread house. Todd always puts the main part of the house together and then we all get to decorate. This year we decorated like the one on the box. It kept things a little more simple for the three year old who likes to take over. She had her bowl of candy and put it where it showed in the picture!

There have been a couple of years that we have struggled a bit with the icing and not had so much success with the roof. One particular year when Brenna was 3 years old the roof was not cooperating. When she said her night time prayer, she asked Heavenly Father if He would please fix the roof on the Gingerbread house. Todd and I went back downstairs and got out the glue gun!
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Putting up the Christmas tree!

Todd and the girls went and picked out a beautiful Douglas Fir. Todd put the lights on the tree Saturday night and we decorated it Sunday after church. The lights on the Christmas tree are mesmorizing. There is nothing better than sitting around the tree at night just looking at the Christmas lights and reading Christmas books. We keep our collection of Christmas books near the tree so they are ready every night for cuddling and reading.