She just thinks this idea is so funny!!

My William is FIVE!

I made him a "bat which is all black with red eyeballs" as requested (over and over, hence me having it memorized, which was the purpose of the repetition, I guess). I filled the specifics of the request and was more than happy to use my extra dark chocolate frosting!

He was so cute making sure he was blowing well.

There are lots of bugs outside to gather in his new bug catcher and inspect with his new magnifying glass.

He was so excited about new books. They were read through many times in just the first few days. At bedtime the night after his birthday, he already had parts of these memorized.

 He was sure there was a dump truck in this bag, so wasn't sure how to respond to a remote-controlled red and black monster truck.

 He certainly loved the idea of the remote.

 We were impressed it did so well out on the grass.

 I am also informed that it climbed up the rocks, but I think they reserved that for when I wasn't looking so I wouldn't wonder what it would climb up next!

 Happy birthday my wonderful William!!

Matthew's 3rd Birthday

This boy loves trains.

I was trying to convince William that he did NOT want a dragon cake and every time we saw a train, Matthew got all excited and called out "a TRAIN! A TRAIN!!" That told me I really needed to make one for him even though I've done a train before.

 He took some huge bites of his cake! Even though he was using a fork, he still had some finger licking to do!

 He loves to read books and Paul found him a cute tractor one. 

 Although it was a bit tough to open, he was so excited to get into those presents.

 He had lots of fun catching the ball in his Velcro catchers.

 He got a card that had a paper airplane built into it. Sid helped assemble it, but Matthew had fun throwing it.

The GIANT dump truck has gotten a LOT of love! He ran all over the place with that thing and it is great to fill it up with cars (and then dump on Mom and Dad's bathroom floor--I think they are still in there...maybe we can direct the dumping into their drawer in the future).

Happy birthday to my big baby boy, Matthew!!

Lake Lowell Half Marathon

I ran in the Lake Lowell Half Marathon and it was quite an experience. My goals were to finish the race, run the entire distance, pass at least one other runner, and finish in under 2 hours.

To sum it up, I did great for the first half of the race, had to hit the bathroom at the halfway mark and thought it was just because I was so well hydrated, but at mile 10 I was actually dehydrated, had heat exhaustion, and my body was just rejecting my efforts to stay nourished and hydrated.

My vision started going blurry and although I kept telling myself that I could walk at the next mile marker I was also telling myself that I only had a 5K left and also kept reminding myself of my 2-hour goal.

By the end of the race I barely staggered across the finish line. I still can't believe my watch clocked my time at 1:59:58 although the official race results gave me a 2:00:05 finish. I am calling it a "met the finish-in-under-2-hours goal" anyway! I would have been a lot better off had the last half mile not been a brutal uphill.

I was sick, I was checked out by EMTs, I stood around for much longer than anticipated waiting to be sure I could walk straight, and tightened up really well because the desire to not pass out won over the desire for some nice long stretches. It was certainly not the grand, cheering, victorious finish I was anticipating, but I am glad I stayed conscious (although not completely coherent) and that I hadn't given in to the caffeine temptation because that would have made my situation much worse. I kept feeling so worried about where the kids were since Paul was there helping me and even though he kept telling me they were okay and "right over there" I still felt anxious that we were loosing track of them just because I wasn't doing great.

I really just wanted to feel fabulous and give them all big hugs and have a big, happy, excited finish and I think I felt anxious about them because they weren't right there with me. Even with my frustrating ending, I DID IT and I have to keep reminding myself of that. If I ever do another one it will be in the middle of the winter, really early in the morning, or I will be walking if my vision starts to go blurry.

I ran the first half of the race with my friend, Liz, who I did some training runs with and she had a finish of 1:51:58. Don't think she's mean for getting ahead, it was the potty break that separated us and we  established the pirate's code for the race before we started. She is amazing! 

To end on a positive note, Matthew is sitting on my lap as I type this post and as he looks at the pictures he is saying "Mommy exercises" and "Mommy WIN!!" That will help a person feel better any day!

Katelyn's Birthday!

My sweet baby girl turned one year old!

 I made her a strawberry short snake since she loved the huge python we saw at the reptile gardens in October. It was nice to make something that was easy to put together, a bit healthier with all those strawberries, and also super cute.

 The super cute part matches the birthday girl!

 She is the first baby we've had that reached for the cake instead of the candle. She was ready to dig in, but we still tried to see if she would blow it (she DOES blow, but was then too fascinated by the fire).

A big bite reveals...

 ...she thinks it's yummy!!

She got a touch-and-feel book. 

 She did pretty well with opening the gifts herself although she had lots of people trying to jump in and help.

 She loved her noisy animal ball.

 And she found the garbage pile to play with as well.

Happy birthday to my sweet baby Katelyn!

Spring Break

We went on a day trip and met up with my sister and some fun cousins to find some waterfalls.

This is our group at Shoshone Falls.

Matthew is such a cute little boy.

 This is one side of Twin Falls.

 Katelyn was playing peek-a-boo with the hood of her sweater.

 This is Perrine Coulee Falls.

 It was still pretty cold and the icicles were pretty neat hanging off the sides of the cliffs.

 This is a shot of Perrine Coulee Bridge from the falls.

 We visited the Herrett Center for Arts and Science at the College of Southern Idaho. Matthew was teaching April something profound, I am sure.

 The kids made trilobites with clay.

 The two older girls wanted their own table for the project.

 Paul took the day off and we spent it at the zoo as a family.

Notice the little boy with no shoes on? Savannah was super helpful in getting him in the car with his seat belt buckled, but we didn't know he was shoe-less until we got to the zoo. It's a good thing he was already in desperate need of new sandals. Paul ran to a nearby store and got him some while the rest of us started around the zoo. Matthew didn't want to be stuck in the stroller, but had to stay put until his new sandals arrived.

 Austin and William were super cute popping their heads out, but didn't stay put very long.

I'm still surprised this one didn't turn into a fight and/or injury. 

 The Komodo Dragon is always a favorite.

My bunch of hatchlings had a great time and were so well behaved that it was just a wonderful trip! 

Silly Little Boy

Matthew is such a sweet, silly little boy. Here are just a few of the things he's been up to lately.

Adorning his hair with lots of clips (yes, I DID help him as requested).

 Falling asleep minutes before bedtime on "Daddy's bed." He just couldn't make it two more minutes for his own, I guess.

 Climbing in seats that are way too small...

 ...and getting very stuck in them.

He has found a new love: "helping Katelyn," which mostly involves showing her how to make messes.

He's also been known to make messes for his own entertainment without trying to be the teacher (this room was CLEAN, I promise!!).

He's a busy, fun, sweet, goofy little friend!