A boy with a phone

And the sandwich he was eating.

Still Here

I promise I haven't given up blogging. However, every time I think about blogging, my mind draws a blank on what to post. Combine that with the busyness of the Holidays and I've got a pretty good excuse for letting my blog languish for a few months. I think I will continue the languishing until the start of the New Year! Have a Merry Christmas!

Picture taken by Chasey in Hobby Lobby - I think.

I am so old!

Scott, showing Taylor how to tune a radio.

My Run

It really didn't start out that bad. Just a few lazy drops of water coming down here and there. Those few drops started to multiply when I rounded the second turn. By the third turn the drops turned into snow and a fair amount of it. By the time I made my last turn home it was coming down fast. And to top it off, I was running straight into the snow, so my eyeballs weren't very happy. In general it is not a good idea to close your eyes while running so I ended up holding my hand up to my face to shield my eyes. Welcome to winter.

A Revelation

I just figured something out and I thought I'd share.

There have been some days lately that are busy. Very busy. As soon as the boys step through the door after school and after a quick snack I usually have them hop stepping to one of several things. Piano practice, homework, scouts or sports. This is usually accompanied by whining, whining, whining and more whining. They have other ideas about what their afternoon should look like which include playing with friends, some more friends and finally a couple more. I totally get that and understand and I try hard to make that happen. But there are some days when I can't.

So here's what I learned. If I include them in the planning and preparing they are MUCH more likely to do what needs to be done. It's not perfect. I still get some protest, but it is much less. So, every night or morning we gather around our family calendar and look at the day ahead of us. What is scheduled, who needs to be where and what needs to be done. And then we talk it over, problem solve and confirm plans for the afternoon. So when they walk in that door in the afternoon they already know the plan and they understand why.

What a difference. Funny. Kids are like adults. They don't like to be ordered around anymore than we do. And they also like to know what is going on and why. If we include them in the planning, they feel more responsible and more willing to do what needs to be done. And I feel less like a drill sergeant barking out orders and more like a nicer mom. It is a win win.

Blur

The days have been moving fast and have been busy lately. I haven't had time to do much other than try to keep up. This Fall has seemed unusually full this time around.

 

School started, and with that began the transition to schedules, carpooling and homework. Some of my kids transition quickly and others take awhile to get back into the swing of things.

Taylor started middle school this year, so we have had to adjust to two different school schedules. I took Taylor over to his school a few times to let him practice with his locker. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable doing the combination and getting it open.

Owen started first grade, and Ben Ben moved up to 4th which leaves me and Chasey at home alone all day. That hasn't happened in a long time. I have really enjoyed it so far!

We also started with a new piano teacher and a new lesson time. Owen started taking as well.

One weekend Scott and I went up to Logan so he could ride in the LOTOJA bike race again. He opted to ride just one leg of the race this time around, although he confessed to me after, that he wished he could have ridden more. Who wants to bet that he will ride the entire 206 mile race again next year?

The wives drove around in the van chatting and eating very unhealthy food while the men were riding. And can I tell you, by the end of the day I was exhausted. Is that the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard?

We have also been doing some interior work on our home. We are in the process of finishing Scott's office above the garage, putting in the rest of the cabinetry and getting some window treatments. Seriously. I love houndstooth.

We celebrated Owen's 7th birthday! He has so many friends, we invited them all, and they all showed up to the party! It was a very loud and chaotic hour and a half.

Even though I have been out of the workforce for 12 years, I have continued to keep my Social Work license current. Last year they changed the requirements to renew and I found myself needing to complete 20 hours of continuing education. After himming and hawing (are those words?) about it, I made a last ditch effort and did all 20 hours last month, finishing just days before my license expired. But I did it!

What else has occupied my time? Sports of course. I haven't even started.

Taylor is playing soccer and Bennett and Owen are both playing flag football. Right now our evenings and afternoons are full of games and practices. Luckily this chaos is all condensed into about 5 weeks. Only 2 1/2 weeks left and my schedule opens up considerably! All I know is that when I'm not coordinating and calendaring their sports activities, I am cheering them on at their games.

I do have some free time here and there when I am not being a mom. I continue to run several times a week. This keeps me healthy and happy. Although my hip no longer bothers me, my IT band flared up big time after my race. So I pulled out my ChiRunning book and I have been working on my running form ever since. I started out by video-taping myself running. ("So that's what my butt looks like while I'm running") I have switched to semi-minimalist shoes and most of my runs I focus on my form, which means slowing way down, listening to little to no music to focus (not fun) and running with a metronome (really not fun). I can't make any info-mmercial claims about it right now, but I'm definitely glad I am working on it. I also know that it is a process and something that takes a bit of time to perfect.

Reading continues to be my entertainment when I can find a minute here and there. It seems I am never without a book within arms length of myself. I usually have my nose in one while I'm waiting for kidlets in the many carpools that I am a part of. You do what you can to find time!

And last but not least, I have been slowly updating our photo albums and I am almost done! Plus, I've got a little book making project that I am excited to start. But that will have to wait a few more weeks. Only one project at a time and this one will have to wait until the albums are finished.

And lest you think it is all roses and chocolate over here, we seem to fill in the creases and cracks with our fair share of fighting, arguing, temper tantrums, dirty bathrooms and mysterious smells. I have been really trying to focus on being positive in my communications with my kids and being patient. Some days are better than others, but I will continue to work on it.

Whew! That was a long post! Have a Happy Fall!

Signs

2 signs that I have seen recently that I liked.


                                                        This one at a furniture store.

 

And this one at a pet store.

 

Our Son is Engaged!

I would like to announce that our son Owen Jeffrey Kimball is engaged to be married!  It is a little sooner than we expected, but I'm sure they will be very happy together.

I wasn't too surprised to find out about this engagement when last night as I walked downstairs I overheard him telling his brothers, much to their amusement,  that he was going to ask a girl to marry him the next day at school.  He was even practicing getting down on one knee and saying those famous words, "Will you marry me?" as his brothers were giving him tips on how to do it right.

Up until that point, I didn't realize he even had a girlfriend.  But, I calmly found out that her name is Kate and they have known each other for a very long time.  Ever since school started last week.  "How do you know that she likes you?" I asked.  "Because she chases me around at recess." he replied.  A very sure sign of affection indeed if you ask me.

He originally wanted to give her this lovely box that he made at art camp this summer as a sign of his love.  However, after thinking it over, he realized that his teacher wouldn't let him take something that big out to recess.  His next idea was to get a silver twistie and make it into a ring.  But after he finished, let's be honest here, it looked cheap.  I thought at that point, maybe this idea would fizzle and I forgot about it.

But, after school today I asked him if he proposed.  And sure enough he did.  He decided on giving her a plastic bracelet and key chain that he found in his hoarding drawer.  A much better option if you ask me.  "And what did she do?" I asked.  "She took them and went back to her friends" he replied.

And there you have it.  An engaged boy.

Hmmmm why do I get the feeling this kid is going to give me grief in a few years? :)  

We Love a Good Demolition Derby!

Sawyer and Chasey lovin' the show.

Especially when cars roll completely over!

Girls vs Boys

Do you want to know the difference between girls and boys? I have the perfect example.

These are three things that the 3 oldest boys wore to school on their first day.  There is nothing wrong with these items of clothing except for a few things.

1) They are stained and/or snagged
2) They are not the new clothes I bought them.

Normally, I wouldn't blink twice about these clothes, but I foolishly assumed that on the first day of school they would want to wear something new. (My girl mind thinking of course.)

However, my boys could care less about what they wear, even on the first day. After the first one emerged and I noticed that he was not wearing anything I had just bought him, I kept my mouth shut for about 5 minutes.  Then I couldn't stand it any longer, so I casually commented to him that his shirt had multiple snags all over.  His response.  "Nobody will notice."  Alrighty then.

It makes me wonder why I even bought them a few new clothes to begin with.

Girls on the other hand..... That's a whole other story.

Perfectly Said

We were at the grocery store the other day and I let the boys each pick out a piece of candy. When we got to the check out line, Owen asked me if this was his money he was spending or mine. Meaning, was he using his allowance or was I just going to buy it for him. I replied that I would buy it for him. His response: "So you are wasting your money and not mine."

Yes Owen. That is correct. 

Mt Timpanogos

Rewind 13+ years ago.  Scott and I and some of my various relatives, whom I cannot remember decided to hike Timp.  I thought it was a great idea.  What I didn't think about was that I was out of shape and had done little to no hiking or exercise.   I very distinctly remember that hike and how miserable I was.  I only made it to the meadow and had to wait while the others made it to the top and then returned.  I also vowed to myself then and there to remember how miserable I felt and to never, ever hike that again.  I kept that vow until last Monday.

At the beginning of summer, Scott and I thought that Taylor was old enough to hike Timp.  We talked to Taylor and he was excited to go.  I also knew that hiking 15 miles didn't really fit into my training schedule anywhere for my half marathon, so we scheduled it right after the race.  I was also pretty confident that if I could run 13 miles,  I could certainly hike 15.  And that I did.  It is amazing the difference a little exercise can make! 

The wildflowers were stunning.  You know, you just can't beat Mother Nature.  She does beautiful work.

Taylor did a great job.  He became a pro at picking out the M&Ms from his trail mix and leaving the raisins.  A man after my own heart.  When we got to the saddle, a point where you can see the entire Utah and Salt Lake Valley his first response was "Wow."  It was so worth it!

We were the 3rd group to make it to the top that day.  The first was a couple that got engaged just a few minutes before we made it up.  The second was an older man that hikes this route regularly.  So regularly that the day we met him, was his 551st time.  Yes, 551 times to the very top.  That is amazing.

 Till next time.....

I ran 13 miles

Well I guess 13.1 to be exact. And I write the story, because I know if I just post a pix about my race I will get questions about my hip. My hip is my most popular body part! So here goes.

In June I signed up for the Timpanogos half marathon. My two neighbors signed up and asked me if I wanted to sign up with them. I was quite hesitant for two reasons. One, running in a race has never really appealed to me. I have been running for several years now and I do it because the times I don't hate it, I love it. For me, it is about feeling good mentally and physically. I was also worried that forcing myself into a training schedule would tip the scales more into the hate category. I definitely didn't want that. It is a fine balance.

Two, despite taking 9 months off to let my hip heal from surgery,  it was still aching after running and I couldn't get an answer from my Dr. as to why. So to push myself further didn't really seem like a good idea.

But, since my Dr. hadn't told me to stop running because of the aching, I signed up and started training. My goal was to run 13 miles. No times to beat, just to be able to run the entire time.

Finally about three weeks ago, after my hip was continuing to ache a lot, I nailed down my Dr. His best guess (and it was a guess) was that my hip capsule was tight and I needed to stretch it out. He told me that if that didn't work then another MRI would be needed.

So, I got online and found 4 stretches that are suppose to stretch your hip capsule, whatever that even is, and I added them to the ever growing list of stretches that I do religiously after every run.

And you know what? The aching is gone. Totally.

Waiting to start

And my race? Other than a stretch around mile 9 and then again at mile 11, I felt good the entire time. I would never call running 13 miles easy by any stretch, but I was surprised that it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Not only did I run the entire race without walking, I finished it faster than I thought I would. So, all in all it was a good experience.

Will I run another? Well...never say never. But for now, I am very much looking forward to running just because I love it. That is of course, when I don't hate it.

Our Movie Night!

Way back at the beginning of summer, the boys and I talked about hosting an outdoor movie night for all of their friends.  Last night was the big night and luckily the wind left us alone!

As soon as Scott set up the screen the boys reserved their section of the lawn for their friends.

We loaded up on popcorn, soda and candy.  And let me tell you, those boys know how to put it down!

There are definitely some things we would have done differently, but everyone had a good time!  Even the ones who fell asleep before the movie was over.

Hmmmm we may need to make this an annual summer event at our house.

Let me define irony

You make a bad decision and decide to take all 4 boys with you to buy shoes for only the oldest 2, Taylor and Bennett.

Once you are on your way you realize the youngest two didn't bother to put on shoes before you left.

At the shoe store the youngest is running around barefoot, while the second youngest is making due with 2 jumbo-sized right footed flip flops that he scrounged up in the van.

The two youngest are loudly whining the ENTIRE time that they need shoes, while I repeatedly tell them over and over through clenched teeth that they are not the ones that need new shoes. It is the ones who are wearing shoes that need them.

That is irony.

Foam Insulation

Do you know what happens when you throw a rock at a can of foam insulation?

It explodes

Did you know that foam insulation does not come out of clothes and is difficult to get off skin?
This happened a few days after they came slinking home with stucco mud splattered on their clothes.

Let's talk underwear shall we?

Here is a story problem for you.
There are 4 boys that wear underwear in the house. 2 of the boys share the same boxers. (I'm fairly confident that they will have no problem with this until they move out of the house.) 2 of the boys wear whitey tighties, though one set is not white and the other set belonging to the other boy is never tight. Always droopy. One boy who wears whitey tighties wants to wear boxers as well, but mom does not want to go out and buy more.
After the laundry is complete there are three piles of underwear ready to be put away.
What does this tell you about one of the boys?
What do mom and dad need to start doing again?

Sadly, this isn't the only boy and the only time this has happened.

The Mud Run

Last Saturday, our good friends, the Westons invited us to join them in a 5K mud run.

The adults went first. I happily made it around the track once and then decided I was dirty enough! Scott went around 2 more times to complete the 5K

Next up was the little mudders. The boys had a difficult time waiting for their turn, but when they started it was hard to get them to stop. Owen kept up with Taylor the entire time. They made it around the track 3 times. Bennett happily went at his own pace and made it around twice, got a drink and then went back for more.

Originally I didn't sign up Chasey because I wasn't sure if he would want to give it a go. He changes his mind so fast, that you never know. But at the last minute, after he kept insisting he wanted to race, we signed him up. And that little kid ran around the entire race track with Scott. He thought it was great!

We had a lot of fun and found dirt in places we never thought possible!