Everyone point at the thirty-year-old!

Happy Thirtieth Birthday to ME!

This was seriously the BEST birthday I can remember-
thanks SO much to everyone who remembered me with cards, calls, texts, facebook, and food!

It was a celebration that stretched over three days and ended with a giant checkmark
on my Bucket List!

We headed down to Provo the morning of to hang out with my sister and bro-in-law before eating Papa Johns, opening presents . . .

I loved this card-

"I'm so freaking glad you were born. . . " oh-so-Melese!

. . . and getting spruced up for Hale Center Theater's production of . . .

A total mockery of the 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John, we laughed so hard tears were rolling down our cheeks.  The cast was hilarious, and being products of the 80's ourselves, it felt only appropriate that we attend.

But, uh, we haven't been able to get Evil Woman out of our heads ever since.  :)

The next night we had a fab family bash at my brother and sis-in-law's,

we ate SO much food (complete with a delicious tres leches cake- thank you Uchi!), watched aliens in the attic, and played what is fast becoming the family favorite
The Game of Things
(Thanks Badgers for tipping us off to that little gem of a game!)

There was more laughing and even more tears shed.
Then, because Shay and Uchi are amazing, we left our little munchkins to spend the night (and, er, paint their poor one-eyed cat with pink marker polka-dots- so sorry about that guys!)
and headed home for a good night's rest to prepare for the

UVU & Habitat for Humanity's
No-Snow 5 K

We stretched. . .

. . . we deliberated. . .

"Do you think we should take the stairs?  I'm pretty sure there's only about 18 FLIGHTS or so!"

Seriously.



Joining the 'stair group'.  See those fancy-looking runner girls in the front? 

Yeah, we finished before them in the end.  :)

. . . We RAN!

I had originally thought either Ry or I would strike out ahead of the other, but we decided to be buddies through the race, and run and talk side-by-side.  It was one of the funnest things we've done together!

But, when it came down to the final stretch, we both remembered the terms of the bet we'd made, and what would happen to the loser. . . 

 

So I,

 in a never-before-seen event,

outsprinted my husband with legs twice my length!!!

I should mention (before Ryan hacks in to point it out) that I beat him by only a second or two, however, I will ALSO point out that

I STILL BEAT HIM!!!

Huzzah, huzzah.

(Don't you just love the facial expressions going on here?  This may be my favorite pic of all!)

Our time was 32:42

(the stairs kinda threw me off my normal time- oh well!)

And we finished

9th &10th out of about 50 or so runners-

Hooray!

We're so tough!

Sweaty & red-faced, but we had a blast!



Fie-uh, Pow-uh!!!



Thanks so much for doing this with me, Babe! 

It was my favoritest gift EVER!

PS- Don't you worry, folks,

I will DEFINITELY be posting the terms of our bet very soon. 

I, for one, cannot WAIT!

The Bishop's Mom

One of my good friends happens to be our bishop's wife.  We hang out quite a bit and Reese absolutely loves her.  My friend told me yesterday that a few weeks ago her husband had visited her sunbeam class and two of the little boys were arguing over why he should sit next to one instead of the other. 

Not to be outdone, Reese piped up with,
"Hey!  His mom and my mom are friends.  So he should sit by me!"

Flashback Friday

Hey there.  

One of favorite gifts this last Christmas was the burned cd of a giant shoebox full of old family pictures my sister-in-law scanned for each of us.  I've had a blast looking and laughing through them and had to post a few.

That shot up there just seemed the perfect opener for this 'Flashback Friday'.  

I look like I'm ready to host an episode of Masterpiece Theater- the ruffle and patent leather version, mind you!

To start off, here are a few of my favorite family photos- don't you just love the style and hair going on here?  

And how bout that adorable chubby baby? (Wink!)

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but this is a perfect visual of EVERY CAMPING TRIP OF MY CHILDHOOD.    I don't know how we would have coped without a steady torrent of rain and soggy beds!

Um, yeah, that's me in  the front.
With a giant, angst-riddled dog on my shirt.
Looking like a boy with my floppy short hair.

And this one just makes me laugh!  My mom and her sister Tana sang Sisters  from White Christmas once for a Relief Society party .
They were the ultimate in tacky and oh-so-much fun!

FrankenSam

Last week was surely one of the most chaotic experiences of my parental life.  And that's saying a lot.

There were expensive shattered vases (bless the souls at Hobby Lobby for mercifully chalking a little foam sword play up to 'That just happens sometimes'), ear-splitting alarms set off from 'do not exit, alarm will sound' doors swinging wide in restaurants, and nameless other exasperations that ultimately culminated in our very first rush to the Emergency Room.

Well, it was Instacare, but heck, it's practically the same thing for a panicking mom holding a towel to her bleeding baby's head.  And, as my grandma always said, exaggeration always makes for a better story. ;)

Kicking off from his highchair landed Sam on the track of our sliding glass door and moments later (thanks to my amazing husband that- despite our usual set roles of Panicker and Calm One- took control the second I flipped out) got us all into the car and down the street to the doctor.

Sam was a trooper and didn't even cry, I on the other hand cannot say as much.

We were informed that he'd need a staple ( a STAPLE!) in for about a week to help the cut close up.
You can't staple my BABY! I wanted to yell.  He's not some experimental conglomeration of body parts from a science fiction novel!  But I'm a big girl and am not fond of dramatic scenes so I kept this opinion to myself.
When he pulled out a regular-looking staple gun and popped one into Sams head he barely flinched- I couldn't believe it!  We were done.  We loaded up, drove home and plopped ourselves into bed, exhausted from the week's events.


The next few days were spent keeping Reese away from 'inspecting' Sam's ouchie and playing doctor herself.  We decided not to tell her  the exact term for what the doctor used to close Sam's cut up.  She knows we have a stapler of our own and where it is.  We figure it will be safer for everyone in the long run if a few details are glazed over in the retelling.

Porcelain Confessional

There are any number of things that go wrong in a day, and as a mom it seems you're constantly trying to communicate the importance of remorse for your crimes, what 'I'm sorry' actually means, etc. etc. etc.  I'm not sure how it happened, but I guess something finally clicked with Reese because lately there has been an outpouring of apology and regret.  The funny thing is that it always happens at the same time and in the same place each day: while sitting on the potty.

I still go in to help and talk to her (mostly to make sure we follow all the steps of the procedure and don't skimp in areas involving toilet paper or the proper and sanitary procedure of hand washing), and for several weeks now she's taken it as time to unload her tender shoulders of every burden placed upon them.  Sitting there, listening, I'm impressed at the things she remembers and most of all, how she goes about making amends.  I'm convinced the sincerity in her voice is evidence, not of my own hard work in teaching right and wrong, but the effect a dramatic Disney film can have on a four-year-old.

"Mom, I'm so so sorry I squished Sam like a bug today.  He was really really sad, and that was not nice."

"Mom, I'm SOOOOO so sorry I ran away from you at the library.  But I, I just. . .  really wanted to play Big Bird on the computer."

"Mom, I'm so so sorry I said stupid.  Stupid is a not nice word. We put it in the garbage!"

(One of the funnest parts of this whole scene is me trying to remember and pinpoint exactly when the sin she's recounting actually happened.  Some of them have been as far back as last summer!)

And my personal favorite- the persevering apology that has no idea what it's for only that it's necessary to get her back in the clear and set the world right again.  I only wish I could communicate the bewildered look on her face as the words tumbled out.


"Mom, I'm so so sorry I . . . that you. . . were angry. . . at the store today."