A Few Things I Love...

---Monday mornings! Most people don't like monday's, but I do. Wanna know why? Garbage day! It starts my week out great when the boys happily jump out of bed and get dressed right away and wait by the window for the garbage man to come by. Since this is the case EVERY SINGLE monday morning, all the garbage men know the boys. They stop by the window and wave, they honk the horn, and sometimes they even let them yell the magic word and then the garbage cans go up to be dumped. It is so magical for them. It gets even better though...ALL day as the garbage trucks drive around town they recognize the boys and they honk and wave. It is so cute! We actually just got back from a little walk and one of the garbage men that we haven't seen in awhile actually pulled over his truck to jump out and say hi to the boys and give them a "hi five". I wish they all could know how much these little guys look forward to seeing them each week.

--My Running Cheerleader! The other day as I was trying to go five miles (after not running on my injured knee for about 10 days). It felt like I was running 10 miles. It was so hard. Right around 3 miles I really felt like giving up and my legs were sore and I had just hit a wall. I turned a corner onto a major street and up in front of me about 50 feet was this woman with a bright orange and yellow African dress on with a matching head piece. It was gorgeous. She was old in age, but very young in spirit. As soon as I turned the corner with my jogging stroller, she jumped up and started cheering for me. "Come on girl! You can do it! Wow, what a woman! Girl, you got it goin' on!" She just kept cheering for me and clapping. I was a tad bit embarrassed at first, but then I didn't care. As I ran past I am sure I had the biggest smile I've ever had while running. Thank you wild and wonderful lady for keeping me going!

--"Cami-boy". When Cameron was first born, Scott and I didn't really want people to call him "Cami". It sounded too much like a girls name. But, I've gotta tell you...hearing Tyler call him Cami or Cami-boy is the sweetest thing I have ever heard.

--I love that a few weeks ago at the park, we saw this man with a HUGE dog that was black and white and Ty asked the man "Can I pet your cow?"

--I love that while I was writing this post, the boys decided to eat sugar by the spoonful. Literally. I accidentally left the bag of sugar on the table from breakfast and when I peeked out to check on the them, I caught Cam white-handed with an overflowing spoonful of sugar that he popped into his mouth before I could reach him. Sugar ALL over the floor. Sugar all over their clothes. I wonder how much they ate....

--I love that no matter how hard I try or no matter what I do, boys (or at least my boys) turn every toy into some kind of weapon. Right now, Ty and Cam are wandering around the house as a firefighter and a police man and trying to get the bad guys with their golf clubs that they hold up to their eye and then shoot. Where do they learn this stuff? They will have none of this coloring or sitting down to do a puzzle. Not enough aggression or physical contact.

Buck, the scarlet retriever

Today at the park, Ty found a ladybug.
He sat underneath the swing where he found it and played with it the whole time at the park. He called over Cam, and they admired it together. Ty was sure to let Cam know exactly how she liked to be held and how to talk to her just right. They giggled and laughed as her little legs would tickle the palms of their hands. They gasped in awe as she opened her wings and they saw how she could fly. But she didn't fly away. She just stayed there with the boys.
Ty begged and begged until finally I told him he could bring the ladybug home. He quickly placed her in the trunk (small container on the back of his tricycle) and put some grass in there and some sticks so she would be "nice and comfy for the ride home". Ty rode his bike very slowly home, making sure to not hit any of the usual bumps so as to not bother the ladybug. On the way home he said "Mom, I want her to be in our family forever. That is why I won't go on any bumps, because I want her to love me and to stay with me forever. She will be so happy in our family!"
When I asked what her name was he replied "Her name is Buck, just like Dad's doggy when he was a little boy. Buck was a golden retriever and that is what I want the ladybug to be."
I said "That is so neat Ty! Dad will be so excited! Except a golden retriever has fur that is golden...is your ladybug golden?"
(Ty)"No...she is red. Could she be a red retriever?"
(Me)"Sure...or do you know another name for red? It is scarlet.
(Ty)"Ooooohhhh. She could be a scarlet retriever!"
He beamed from ear to ear and pedaled even faster on our way home. He was one happy boy.

As soon as we got home, Ty rode right up to the front door and waited right there for me as I walked up. Just as I walked up and told him I would go inside and get a jar for Buck, he opened the trunk to check on her. I heard him gasp and then shout "Noooooo!"
Up, up, up and away she flew. Immediately came the flow of tears. I gave him a big hug and we talked about it for a minute. Still sad, he walked his bike over to put it away and then sadly, head hung low, he walked back to the house.
As he walked in, with huge tears in his eyes, he asked "Why did she leave me? We were going to be a happy family?" As I hugged him and talked to him more about it and told him that it was so wonderful that she living out in nature and we should be happy, he finally said "Mom, I think I just need to call dad. He can make me feel better."
A quick phone call to dad made his tears go away. Even though he still was missing her, things seemed to get better after that. I feel the same way about Scotty. He makes everything better!
I love that we had Buck, the scarlet retriever in our family for a few minutes.
I love even more that we have Scott in our family forever!

Midnight Snacks

On Saturday morning, I woke up and really wanted to make a raspberry smoothie. Scott had just been to safeway on Friday night, and I saw that he had bought two little packages of raspberries! I was so excited. But as I searched the fridge up and down, I couldn't find the berries. I hollered to Scott "Hey...where did you put the raspberries?" to which he replied "There are right there in the fridge." Nope. They were not. I kept searching as Ty casually walked into the kitchen. Ty said "Oh, are you lookin' for the raspberries? I ate them last night!" I totally didn't even pay attention and just kind of mumbled back to him til he finally grabbed my shoulder and said "Mom, I ate all the raspberries! I got real hungry in the night and you and dad were sleeping, so I just had a snack of raspberries."
Sure enough, both containers were there in the trash. Crazy kid! He ate 16 oz of raspberries sometime after midnight (cause that is when we went to bed).

Then this morning I found an empty bag of chocolate chips on the counter first thing in the morning and when I questioned Ty, he admitted that he was hungry again in the night. Luckily the bag was almost empty already!

In other news, our little Lango (aka Camerlango) is doing great. I can't believe he will be two next week. He climbs and jumps and runs like he has been doing it for ten years. He sings the abc's and lots of primary songs (but he usually only knows the word at the end of each sentence). He is a wild dancer, a fantastic wrestler (thanks to his brother), an avid reader (but only if there are trucks or tractors or diggers in the book), and he has a great imagination. Cam already plays by himself with cars and I can hear him helping them, singing to them, putting them in timeouts, changing their diapers, etc. He loves any kind of truck, especially fire trucks.
Cam is fiercely independant. It is sometimes painful. But, I have been learning patience and I turly have loved watching him learn how to do things on his own. (Even if it does take us an hour to get on shoes...)

Lastly, I ran three miles yesterday for the first time in 10 days. My body felt stiff and awful. I don't know how I am going to get my body back into "running" mode, but at least my knee felt okay...(not great, just okay. It hurt, but didn't throb with pain.) I am still nervous about it, but I am trying to not let it ruin my attitude!

That's it in news for us!

Let's make a deal....

It seems as though I wait to post anything on the blog until I have a cute story, embarrassing moment, or major catastrophe. As soon as I have one of those, I usually am too busy cleaning up said mess or waiting for said embarrassing moment to actually be funny, so I don't post it on the blog. This is a nasty cycle.
So today, I am just going to post about nothing. And everything. So it will probably be boring to everyone, but it will be fun for me :)

A couple weeks ago, Ty started saying "Okay, mom. Let's make a deal..." and then he would continue with some outrageous thought that usually included him getting candy or a toy. It started out hilarious...and it still is. To hear this little guy actually try to sell some of these bargains is just humorous. I know when he has thought of something he wants because his eyes will get big and a cute little grin appears on his face and he begins "Okay, mom. Let's make a deal. I will be veeery obedient today and you will clean up all my toys."
or "I will go wipe my nosey like you asked and you will buy me skittles."
or "I will watch a movie and you will make cookies,"
When I suggest a "counter-deal" (something like, he wipes his nose and then I will snuggle him) he thoughtfully replies "thanks Mom, but I like my deal best!"
He also has started asking me all the time "Mom, how did you get to be so pretty?" Gosh, the things this kid thinks up...it kills me!

In other news...
I am so excited for Christmas. I can't wait. The weather has turned a little colder here and it is overcast most of the morning. It is too much for me. I just can't handle having Christmas be so far away. I am already listening to Christmas music. I made chocolate chip cookies and watched Polar Express with the boys. I have had "Silver Bells" stuck in my head for several days. Do you think if I just will it to come sooner that it will happen?
Thinking of Christmas makes me miss my family. I desperately want to go and visit...and I hope we will soon. I think we will. Oh please, let's go!

Running hasn't been going so well. This week was supposed to be a 16 mile run...I got to mile 7 and had to stop because my knee was KILLING me. I could barely make it home. I was so disappointed in myself. I still kind of think it was 50% my knee hurting and 50% that I didn't want to run. And now my foot is really sore...really. It seems like every time I take a step, the top of my foot aches. But regardless, I am running today. AND I have already decided that I will listen to Christmas music, because that will most definitely keep me going!

I made chili for dinner tonight. I love making chili because I put it in the crock pot and it simmers all afternoon...and our house already smells like October. (Don't you think that the month of October smells like chili?) Mmmmm.

Last night, for Family Home Evening, I gave the lesson (really, it was more like a two minute thought) about serving a mission. We talked about how happy Heavenly Father is when people serve a mission and how happy it made me and Scott to serve a mission. Before we ended, we asked the boys where they wanted to serve a mission and Tyler said he wants to go to San Jose. Remember last year when he said he wanted to go to the North Pole? Things are improving! When we asked Cam, he just tackled Ty (as if just speaking to him suddenly gives him permission to release some atomic energy that had been building up in the three minutes that he had to sit still). End of FHE. Off to Dairy Queen for an ice cream.

Rats. Cam is awake. End of my blog post.

A small victory, but a victory none the less!

WARNING: This post is going to seem lame and weak to all of my runner friends. Don't laugh or mock or make fun of me!

Okay, so most of you know that I am training to run the St. George marathon in October. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time now and I am excited to just buckle down and get it done. We are about half way through our training schedule and I felt (note: past tense) like everything was going fine. I was keeping up on my schedule and getting all my runs in.
I have never been a fast runner...and I have never really cared that much. I just run. Put my head phones in and turn up the music, give the kids some snacks and books, and then I just go. I didn't even care how far or where I went. I just ran. And it was fun.
But, like I said, I am pretty slow. I am talking...like really slow.
Anyway, we just did 13.1 miles two weeks ago and I was feeling proud that I even did it. We finished in just under 3 hours...I think it was 2:55 or something like that. That is about 13:30 minutes per mile. (Side note: Scott is much much faster. But he trots around and runs in circles around me to keep me motivated. He tells me jokes and reminds me to push myself as hard as I can. He would run it in half the time...but he stays with me. Isn't he great?)
Anyway, we got an email from the St. George marathon with general information about the course, the schedule, etc., but the thing that stood out to me was the timing...it said that the course closes after SIX HOURS. Six hours. If my half marathon is just barely under three hours...then I am looking at finishing right at six hours. But what if I need extra time? What if something happens?
Do you know how discouraging it is to know that I could train for something for five months and then not even be able to complete it? I knew I was slow, and I knew I would be finishing at the very tail end of all the runners, but I didn't realized I would be LAST!! I didn't realize that they just might close the course before I could even cross the finish line. That is kind of depressing. I'll be honest, when I started realizing all of this, I was so so sad. Scott talked me through it and made me feel like I could do it...but I still doubted myself.
So, this past Saturday we had scheduled a 10 mile run. In the morning, Scott had a terrible migraine and he was going to be able to go, and I considered not going myself. Last minute, I decided that I would go. I geared up and took off. I had set some goals to try and run just a little bit fast this time, but I don't know what came over me. I just kept running faster and faster. And I would get lost in my thoughts and look down and I would be running an eight minute mile. So I would slow down (so I wouldn't burn out) but just kept going and going.
Finally, as I ran into our driveway of our complex the running watch showed exactly 10 miles and exactly 2 hours. I quickly did the math...that means twelve minutes per mile!
Seriously....do you know how hard it is to cut off a minute and a half per mile? FOR TEN MILES?? I was so proud of myself. As soon as I walked in the door, I fell on the floor and started crying because I was so happy. And Scotty, being the terrific husband that he is, made me feel like I had just run the whole marathon.
I know it sounds like I am tooting my own horn here...so for those of you who didn't catch it...I am still running a 12 minute mile (which is usually under the "jogging/speed walking" category) so it isn't much to brag about. But I am still really proud.
It seems like a tiny little step for most runners out there, but it was a giant leap for Rachel McPhie!