Blogging is...

...so easy to do, but I slack.

This month, since I only blog once a month these days, here is what happened:

Look at those lips. It's not my fault my kids are so freaking adorable! Oh wait, they were grown inside of me so yes it is my fault.

On November 19th, 2010, my baby turned 2. There was much celebration on our part, much crying on B's part, and much cake eaten throughout the weekend.

We had birthday pancakes the morning of, and built forts in the afternoon. Super.

Later on in the month, it snowed buckets of snow! We were all very excited, then I was horrified. No gloves? Check. No hats? Check. Boots too small for B and too big for Drama? You betcha! We made do, and they played in the snow- what a relief.

Then Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday in Southern Utah with the Ballou's and had heaps of fun. In an attempt to make the children look one way and smile, we took about 1000000 photos and hopefully got a good one. Here is a sample of a typical picture:

"Eva, don't stick your tongue out! Clark, look over here, sit down! Brenner, hold Charlie up a little more! Charlie, look cuter (not possible)!"

So there I was, all tucked in bed by 11:30 on Thursday evening, my body working overtime at digestion, when I got a phonecall: "We're at Walmart, Grandma is here, so rally!" What was I to do? Rally of course. You don't want to miss Grandma Green shopping at midnight right? Hoodie, pajama pants, TOMS, and Cindy-Lou Who hair is the perfect outfit for Walmart midnight black Friday madness. We came, we saw, we conquered. Jana+Sarah+Blake+Tanner+Grandma Green+me+28383747 people+3948239482 shopping carts= fun.

I have much to be thankful for and although I try hard not to be serious on this blog, I want to say that I love my family and extended family so very much. I am grateful that I married in to such an amazing family as well, and I always feel so welcome and loved by them.

Thanks for the laughs Thanksgiving 2010. Hellooooooooo December!

Halloweener

I just ate 4 "fun-size" candy bars in a row. Wrappers are sitting here by the side of my computer and I'm wondering where they went. I can't imagine why I'm not skinny.

Moving on.

This year Halloween was not the relaxed "Guess what you're going to be for Halloween?!" No, instead it was "Mom, I want to be____" (Insert hard to make and complicated costume)

For some insane reason, I felt that a good Mom has to physically make the costume. By 5:00 P.M. Monday I had definitely had enough and the whole "home-made pirate costumes" idea was thrown out. My Mom, in her infinite wisdom said to me, "You know, you're still a great Mom if you go and buy a costume. You don't HAVE to make it by hand..."

Just what I needed to hear. We were off to a Halloween boutique shortly thereafter.

Amidst the slut-o-ween costumes and crap, B found a "Knight in Shining Armor" costume which included a breast-plate, a sword and sheath, a shield, and helmet. Perf. Throw on some grey sweats underneath- done and done. It wasn't until we got to the car that I thought about B taking a sword to preschool that Thursday for the Halloween party. Yikes right? You know him right?

Keh.

So after some extreme coercion/bribing, he agreed to be a weaponless cowboy for preschool and a knight for trick-or-treating. Phewf.

On to Drama.

When B was 18 months I bought an adorable skunk costume online but it was accidentally dropped at my neighbor's house by the UPS man the day before Halloween, and she brought it over the day after Halloween. Devastation ensued. Nonetheless, I had a skunk costume that barely fit Drama and he was taken care of.

I didn't get any pictures of Drama in his skunk costume or B in his Knight get-up, but here is the cutest cowboy ever:

Happy Halloween, so glad it's over.

Updates

Once again I'm behind and a lot has happened so I'll update in pictures because it's probably better for you to see pictures than for me to sit and type a lot of words.

We went to the circus! My mom and her hubby took us to the Ringling Circus and it was a total blast. The show was amazing and B and Drama thought it was top-notch. Of course, Grandma and Papa had to buy them every bazillion dollar snowcone, cotton candy, hot dog, and licorice that came by, culminating with the purchase of this beautiful sword for B. He adores it, I have a love/hate relationship with it.

We decided to ride TRAX to get to the show, which was a great choice and the boys thought that was better than a bowl of jelly beans left on the floor.

Ok I had to put this picture in because it's one of the rare instances that I have both eyes open, the light is good, and I don't look like a huge dork. Who cares what the kid looks like right?

Then....

Chuck was born! We traveled to Boise to see the new baby boy of my super-hero sister in law Nicky. I think my brother Eric had something to do with the new baby too. His name is Charles and he's so cute and squeaky and we luuurve him. Nicky is like a birthing goddess, sincerely. She was wearing pre-prego pants and nursing that baby like it was no sweat at all.

We also took the boys which was a little crazay but they had fun with Eva. This picture is so great because it seems like they are all looking at me when in reality, Eric and Nicky's TV is mounted high above the mantle and they are watching a movie.

Tricky.

More haps in September included my first root canal (YIKES, I blame RAGNAR) my birthday, and other outdoor fun in the best month of the whole year.

I'm also going to do a plug to win this Madsen bike because it's so very awesome. Click on the link and check it out.

I'm sure I would look just like this girl if I had this bike, and my boys would sit happily strapped in the bucket, smiling with their arms securely folded.

Life's Cliches Coming True

B on his first day of preschool.

It's a little unnerving when the things you always hear people say actually start to happen to you.

Things like "Your kids will learn which buttons to push and then they'll smash the buttons to pieces." People say things like that when you're in your weakest moments at the grocery store and your kids are being savages and you're about to do one of two things: rip your hair out or rip open a bag of M&M's to pacify the beasts.

Tuesday another one of those things happened to me. The inevitable "They grow up so fast! One day you're changing a newborn diaper and the next you're sending them to school!"

It's insanity. Insanity I tell you. The years go by and although B is only 4, I feel like he is changing and growing without my knowledge or consent.

Tuesday was his first day of preschool, and after donning some new school clothes and his brand-new "Buzz n' Woody pack pack" he was off to un-mothered territory. Frightening and happy at the same time for his parents. Absolutely thrilling for him.

As for all those things people say, I'll take them one day at a time.

Ketchup

No no no, I'm not dead. You know how when you don't blog for a long time you just put it off more because you feel like you need to play catch-up? That's where I've been for the last few months.

So I decided I'm just not going to update extensively.

A lot less work for me, a lot less blahhhhg for you.

I am, however, going to go back to June because remember when I did this post about being a runner poser? Well guess what....

I did the Ragnasty.

(Ragnar, or the Wasatch Back Relay, for those of you who don't do the Ragnasty)

188 miles, 12 people, 29 hours of thrills. That's me, back row, far left, looking absolutely stunning after running 3 legs and not showering and sleeping in the suburban. So sexy.

I did it, I loved it, and I'm doing it again next year.

As for the half-marathon, I'm looking to do one in November. Strangely, I'm having a hard time wanting to run. Weird I know.

After the Ragnasty we had some good times in Idaho Falls and did the big fireworks show:

B decided to shake his booty in the street while we waited for the show to start.

THEN......IN MID-JULY......

We moved to Salt Lake.

Wha? Yes you read that right. We moved back to the land of my birth and said goodbye to Idaho Falls.

YAHOOOOOO!

THEN... ONE OF THE BEST WEEKENDS OF THE YEAR...

THAT FAMOUS PRESTON NIGHT RODEO! (That's really what it's called)

Hand dipped corndogs, fresh lemonade, and fab rodeo.

August took us to St. Geezy and we went to Sand Hollow and had fun with Megs.

We're hoping to squeeze the life out of the remaining warm days of Summer.

Yesterday I stepped outside and took a big sniff.

It was then that I detected it.

Yes folks, the smell of FALL is in the air.

Bring on September, the best month of the year!

You Said it Dude.

Take a breath and read this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/01/29/notes012910.DTL

Makes you think eh?

Hello, Goodbye

Well, May came and went without so much as a hello or goodbye and now June is following suit. Things have been busy for us, and since I can't remember the details, and since that would take forever, here are the highlights since the last post:

May began with a two-week long excursion to Salt Lake. I was assigned to be with my teenage brothers while my parents took a trip to Africa. Our mornings were spent like this:

At first, we had a great time; shopping, visiting friends, and the like. Then there was the inevitable sickness. Stuffy nose and the usual. Just when that was letting up, the basement flooded. No big deal, get some fans right? I wish. The drain guys said it was a "soft clog" and that we should call disaster clean-up. When that guy came, the conversation went like this:

Me-"Yeah we sucked up as much as we could and put fan on it since it was Saturday, and I called my parents in Africa and they said to have you come give them an estimate."

Him- "Ok well what you've got here is level 3 damage. So what we're going to need to do is rip out all the carpet, cut out the baseboard and drywall 3 feet up, take out the vanity and linoleum in the bathroom and lift up the HVAC system to have it cleaned."

Me-"Uhhh... ok how many levels are there?"

Him- "Yeah, 3. This is raw sewage, I wouldn't let your kids be down here."

Me- "Holy Sh*%"

So they came and did all that and the company was great and although it was a huge mess, it's all put together now and I was a hero for being there to handle it.

I thought raw sewage in the basement would be the last speed bump of the trip. Wrong. We were scheduled to go to the zoo with some friends and family and on the way, I noticed B scratching his arms. Upon closer inspection I saw a bazillion hives all over, hot and forming sores from the scratching. YIKES! After the zoo, some benedryl, and cortisone cream, I took him to instacare. Bloodwork and steroids, unknown cause for the hives. Beauty.

In the end we had a great time and miss SLC and our peeps there like crazy. Quinn and Russ, I love you like a fat kid loves cake. Thanks for testing my vegan cooking skills.

There was a brief period of normalcy at home, then B's 4th birthday.

Whah? B is 4? Yes, it's true.

Birthdays always make me think of that Bright Eyes song. Happy birthday darling, we love you very very very very very much, do you know that one? I played it for B and we danced and sang and it was music magic.

I made an amazing cake and then destroyed it with blue jello. I salvaged it but it still looked like something crazy out of a Dr. Seuss book. Thanks to everyone who made it, I still have balloons on my ceiling.

A few days later we went to Island Park for the Memorial Day weekend. Fun had by all, especially in the tub.

Into June we have been mostly home. We spent some time in Weston on the farm, had some fun, did some training with my main runnin' woman Annette.

Last weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay, but that was so monumental it deserves it's own post.