Calling all little runners....

We just signed our kids up to run in a 1K race on September 29th. So this is a fair warning for all of you who say "I would have done that too if I'd known about it." Now you know! We want all our friends to come do it too! Just click on the link and it will give you all the information. It's at University of Utah - don't tell Eric or our kids won't be running...

Saturday

Yesterday we had a full day! First thing in the morning I went and ran the Wasatch Woman 5K at Thanksgiving Point with a few friends from my neighborhood. I'm finding that I'm not a speedy runner - I'm more of a distance runner. But we had a great time!

Then I rushed home to get ready for the annual Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk at Murray Park. My friends Natalie and Collin Richards have a son with Downs Syndrome and they were kind enough to invite us to come and participate with them! Natalie and I have known each other since I was about 10 years old and then she married my friend Kelly's brother!!! So Kelly was there with her family too. (Although I didn't get to see much of you Kel - we'll have to do something this week.=))

This is Mason, Abbie and Paige, then me with Bode Richards and my Cameron on my lap and Natalie (Bode's mom). And yes, my hair is really ugly right now....that's another story.

Anyway - we had such a fun and busy day and I'm wishing that I'd gotten some pictures of us at the race....ooooo, or maybe I'm glad I didn't. The only thing worse than my hair right now is my hair just after running.... not pretty.

Loving these boys today

My day has improved. I'll have you know that my boys BOTH did poops on the potty before they went to school and kept their undies dry for the whole two hours!!! I know you've all been losing sleep worrying about my kid's bowel movements. =)

I got these cute pictures of Adam and Luke coloring before school. It's their new favorite activity.

After school, the boys said they weren't tired and they really wanted to play with their new cars. So I told them to go play in the basement while I finished up a few things. It got really quiet... and that usually means trouble at our house. But guess what I found...

duh

Who in their right mind would buy 'dry clean only' comforters for their potty training 3 year old's beds? Yea, that would be me. UHG!

This picture is how much my washing machine liked the comforter. Remember that old movie 'Mr. Mom' when the washing machine is practically chasing Michael Keaton? Apparently that's how my day is going. It's completely blocking the laundry room and door to the garage.

This morning I came home from a miserable run to find Luke looking like he had a scary skin thing going on on his face. I rushed over seeing a bruised looking ring on his cheek, wondering when the doctor's office opens. Then Luke says, "Mommy, Adam bit me on my face." For the love! When will Adam stop this??

My sweet baby girl

Every single parent out there can relate to the anxiousness of putting your child on the bus for the first time. You hear all those stories about kids being bullied on buses and it's almost enough to make you drive your little ones to school. Almost. Cameron is the youngest one on her bus because she's not even in Kindergarten, she's in preschool. So you can imagine my horror when I got a phone call from a concerned parent (whom I will keep anonymous).

Me: "Hello?"

Other Mom: "Hi. Did Cameron tell you about what happened on the bus today?"

Me: "Uh, no. Did something happen?"

Other Mom: "My son told me that he was running around the bus today and when I asked him why he told me that Cameron (and two nameless partners in crime, also girls) were hitting him and scratching him with their nails."

Me: "Oh my gosh. I'll call you right back."

I sat Cam down for a talk and she 'can't remember' and 'doesn't know exactly' what happened. So I told her not to move off that chair till she 'remembered.' She must have sat in that chair for over an hour, crying the entire time! The rest of us had eaten dinner and cleaned up while she sat there. Then she cracked and told me that she had indeed hit the boy. I was devastated. The good news is that she was completely devastated too. I made her walk up to the boy's house and apologize to him and his mom. And she couldn't ride the bus or play with friends today.

Where did she get the idea that behavior is okay? I am mortified. This morning, she's been a little better than yesterday and she didn't complain when I drove her to school. We've had countless conversations about it and I hope she's learned a valuable lesson. I just can't bear the thought of my sweet baby being the bully.

Great Day

Luke and Adam went to school for the first time today!! Hallelujah! They were so excited. Cameron was excited too! Having attended Miss Mikki's school for the last two years, Cameron is a pro at showing the boys around. She hung up their backpacks, gave them a kiss and was so proud. I do apologize that this is the only picture were both faces were showing. Those boys hate the camera and hide when possible.

We're still in the potty training process (has it ever taken anyone longer than me?). So they had to wear Pull-Ups, but we're hopeful that within a couple of weeks they'll be in big-boy-undies all day.

This afternoon my niece Jessica came over to play with the kids. She's 17 years old and taking a child development class and my kids get to participate for the next semester!! How fun! She took them outside to play with play dough. I got some cute pictures.

Please note that only one of kids is actually looking at the camera.

What a nice day to feel like my kids are getting a little more independent. For so long, this whole motherhood thing has been so overwhelming. Now if we could just conquer the potty thing - we would be home free!!

Football Sunday

Last year I had to listen to endless hours of "I got the Sunday Ticket, I got the Sunday Ticket, I got the Sunday Ticket on DirecTv!" (sung to the tune of 'I've Got the Golden Ticket' from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory) He still has the ticket this year, but the song got lost somewhere (thankfully).

We had stake conference today. For those of you non-Mormons - it's basically a really long meeting with no children's classes. So all the dads on the street graciously decided to stay home with the kids so the moms could attend in peace. As us moms settled into our pew I heard that Eric had invited all the dads and kids over to our house for a football party. Holy smokes - what are they all going to eat??? So much for the peaceful meeting.

We rushed home to find this in my basement.

And this picture doesn't really do it justice because they had three TVs with different games and then all the guys had their laptops checking on their fantasy teams.

Here is Eric in the zone - don't try to talk to him right now. And here is Jenna's hubby, Raul, with their boys, Gabe and Andrew.

We also had the Meinzers and Bettinsons over, but I didn't think to take a picture before they started leaving. It was such a fun time. I guess I don't hate football season as much when I have all the friends around. One last picture of all the pizza rolls - there were just SO MANY!!!