Zoo

Winners of extra GAS....

We were one of the winners of the WA state "Text Me Back" competition. I correctly answered a trivia question to earn this $15 Chevron giftcard.
Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible to win, as these text trivia questions are only sent out to 7 people. All happen to be offspring of Steve and Debbie Smith.
I'm keeping my phone close by, ready to win the next one!

Honey chugging

I do not condone this behavior.


But I definitely take pictures of it when it happens.

Provo Philippines Run & Dunk

We are on our way home now from an adventure in Utah County.

About a week ago, Brian found the laptop up with UtahRunning.com on the screen.
The race event title "Run4Philipinnes" caught his eye, as does everything Filipino-related.
So he looked it up, discovered it to be a 5k/10k fundraiser event for the typhoon disaster relief effort, and insisted we go.
I wasn't too keen on it, simply because I hate sitting in the car so long.
It's an hour drive, if traffic is ok. Yuck.
Spending gas money, contributing to our state's awful air quality problem (SLC=worst in the country!!), not my idea of fun.
But what room do *I* have to stop *him* from racing?!
After the manymany race events he's supported me through....
So we loaded up the ninos and headed down to Brianna's birth city.
It ended up being a lot of fun.
Brian liked the 10k course that went around Seven Peaks, the kids loved all the post race refreshments, he got a shirt he'll probably wear everyday forever, and the kids got to see Brian's parents.

Brian hasn't run that far in YEARS, so it was a ego boost for him.
 And as always, a sad reminder for me of how much I miss my favorite sport.
Sigh.
Someday hopefully I can get back to it.




Brian did the dunk tank. Into ICY WATER!! Crazy boy

Lonely baby

I believe this is her second time ever snoozing a wink in this bassinet.
She's slept right with me since day 1.
The bassinet next to the bed basically functions as a dresser :) And I love it this way.
Babies aren't meant to sleep alone!
She looks so lonely (though cute) by herself.
Good thing she woke up moments after Brian put her there.
Back to Mommy's arms!
Someday she'll be big like BriannaBennettCourtney and won't want/need me for sleeping.
I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Swimming with (whiney) MOMMY!

Well, technically I'm not swimming with them...I'm standing ankle deep watching, wearing baby Charity.
But it's still a big deal because it's ME here with them, not their Daddy!
*I* haven't taken them swimming since August.
The reasons should be semi-obvious... hugely pregnant for awhile, then basically disabled the month post birth, and then there's the fact that I kinda hate the indoor pool. It's a huge SAUNA.
So steamy and chlorine smelly.
But I've been feeling awful mama guilt the past while cuz most days we don't go anywhere.
Literally never leave the house all day.
I'm cool with that, being the homebody I am. But the poor kids go a widdle cwazy. They spend wayyyy too much time playing ipad games.
So I decided to stop slacking and do something fun with them. Esp since Brian's in Vernal.
They chose pool over Discovery Gateway. And were nothing short of SHOCKED that Mommy, not daddy, would be their escort.  They better reward me by going to sleep easily tonight....cuz UGH, its sweltering in here!!

Imaginating math

I don't want my daughter being one of those girls who thinks they're bad at math, or that it's too hard.
So among other mathy life activities, we do worksheets at home to keep her ahead of the game.
She was VERY proud of herself for getting  all of these correct.
She told me, "I just count on my fingers and if I dont have enough fingers I just imaginate that I have more and count on them."
:)

Granny pants

Maybe 85 yrs from now she'll be wearing a similar ensemble...

Scooters!

Yay for a few warmish sunny days in the middle of this smoggy frigid season! 

And thank you Grandma for the Radio Flyers.

Thick-Bummed Baby, Narrow-Minded Doc.

This roleypoley 2 month old had her checkup yesterday.
Nothing short of TRAUMATIZING.
Not for her. She endured the quick exam and one shot quite well.
But for me... Ohmyword. Never felt so pigeonholed and belittled by a fellow professional.
Yeah, that's right Dr. Moskun at IHC (name droppin!) You sneered at me like an insubordinate illiterate inbred. Dismissed me immediately and attempted assembly-line fear mongering persuasion scare tactics.
But guess what- I'm not a brainless victim of Jenny McCarthy's crusades.
I'm a Master of Public Health. I'm an accredited Leader by LLLI. I'm a business owner and National Champion athlete. Most importantly: a human being, child of God, and mother of 4.
I deserve the same respect you'd want someone to give to your own daughter. I do NOT deserve to be stormed out on after 4 minutes with a slam of the door and eye roll.
It's not a crime to have questions and feel overwhelmed and confused by the litany of at least semi-reputable information out there on children's health and safety.  Yet I'm pretty sure this aged pediatrician would've very much enjoyed reporting me to CPS for not taking her word as gospel truth. Kick me under the bus along with all the other deadbeat hippie moms. How DARE I question a panel of AAP experts on the care of MY children.
It's not like they're unique human beings or anything. 
I'm very grateful to live in a time and place where I have many Health Care Provider choices. 
We've got our subsequent routine checkups already set up elsewhere. Whew.
Hopefully our next encounter features a medical professional that begins his side of the conversation with, "Hey, I understand there's a lot of confounding information out there. What are your thoughts and questions? Let's discuss them."
Unreasonable expectation?
A happy sidenote: Charity is HUGE! 98% percentile for weight, 97th for height. I adore my snuggly piggy.

Storytime at Discovery Gateway

Every 90 minutes the Curiosity Shop within DG Children's Museum has a class - music, art, science, storytelling, etc.
The girls love it. Bennett....would rather spend all his time at the Construction Zone.
Today's topic: MONEY!
Yay for their first course in finances.

Baby Charity adores being adored

From Moonbeams to Sunbeams

January means time for LDS Primary children to move up to the next class!
For Brianna, that means CTR 6.
For the twins, it means graduating from Nursery to Primary!
Though I'm sure they miss snack time and all the free play, they are totally ready for the big leagues.
Bennett loves sitting next to his friend Josh and Courtney loves the attention she gets when wearing her Pioneer dress :)

Visiting Gma

We stop by Grandma Smith's home at least once/wk.
I know she really appreciates it, and we enjoy helping her not feel so alone. My Grandpa passed away in '05 from dementia.
I can't imagine what it's like to live by myself.
I know I'd have a heckofalot cleaner and more organized house! And quiet - sweet, sweet, quiet (typing this as children are running around yelling and baby is having her evening fussy period).
But it's gotta get depressing.
When I get to that stage, I'll probably rescue a few pets from the animal shelter. One that likes to snuggle on the recliner with me and one that likes to go on long walks. And live somewhere in some community with a playground so my grandkids can come play without destroying my house. But if they do, I'll be relaxed about it so they feel comfortable coming over.
And I'll hang out at the senior center doing puzzles. And volunteer at races cutting up orange slices for the runners.

There.  Golden years all planned out.

My Kindergartner

Not exactly the most sincere smile on her face...
but I still think she looks beautiful :)
I had to work hard to convince her to wear her hair like this - she likes it either ALL up or ALL down. Plain and simple.
She's lucky her hair has such a cute natural wave to it - unlike her mom's frizzy bumpy weird wave.
Which I hated while growing up, but I'm fine with it now.
Hey that's similar to how I felt about most parts of me growing up!
I hated my height, my round face, my bumpy nose, thin lips, outta control eyebrows, etc etc. And now I'm fine with all those things.
My wish: that somehow Brianna skips that phase and loves her gorgeous self 100% for her whole life.
Because she really is so amazingly beautiful inside and out.

Now we just gotta help her learn how to do a genuine smile for the camera.....  =)

Her first running jersey

I'm posting this on our UtahRunning.com FB Page to see how many Likes we can get for the newest member of the Utah Running community.

I'm going to be seriously bummed if it's not at least 2K.

B treadmillin'

Bonus: Netflix on the iPad while running!

This treadmill has some history to it. It sat unused for almost 2 yrs in our condo in Bountiful, before we moved to this house. I thought it was broken and kept meaning to sell/dump it. Somehow the jarring of the move brought it back to life! Barely. It's sticky, the monitor screen is shot, and the belt is off center. But it's still alive, and I'm keeping it til it's really dead! I worked hard for it. I had to harass the people at NordicTrack for months to send it to me cuz they kept forgetting to. It was the prize for winning the Salt Lake 5K, back when NordicTrack was the title sponsor. I remember thinking how odd it was that myself and the full marathon winner earned the same prize, but she had to run 23.1 miles more than I did :)  And when my track coach at BYU found out I did the race after he told me not to, he threw a tantrum and punished me by not letting me go to Nationals. Then I think he was even more mad when I didn't care. I had been dreading another 25 lap race around a track, simply to earn another piece of paper and medal. I was finally FREE to go race whenever! This was 8 years ago.... pretty much a different lifetime. Seems so far away now, being as out of shape as I am. But my treadmill works again, so there's no excuse not to get back on it :)  Well, besides the 4 little people. They are beautiful little excuses. But if Brian can make it a priority, so can I!

Bountiful Biggest Loser!

Last Saturday we kicked off the Bountiful Biggest Loser competition!
I was so nervous to put myself out there and get this started - so afraid no one would join.
But we've got about 25 participants! WOOT!

Body fat ultrasound scans from Four Pillar Fitness.
Got them to do this for us for free!

Details: (I made these all up, crossing my fingers others would like it): 

10 weeks, 10 bucks, ten-times-more-effective than going at it alone!

• Weigh-in every Saturday morning. Four Pillar Fitness has graciously agreed to let us do our weigh-ins there. 
• Weight # kept confidential, but  percentage of loss posted each week
• We have a Facebook Group Page (HERE) to communicate with each other, as well as the blog. 

http://biggestloserbountiful.blogspot.com/

I really want to win!
But even if I don't, I'm really glad I started this. It's helping others and motivating both Brian and I to lose OUR baby weight and be healthier.

Baby in a sack

Her first Christmas

Brianna watching the talking squirrel e-card from Nonny

Charity was especially excited to see the talking squirrel e-card on the laptop.

Future roomies

I've promised Brianna that someday Charity can sleep in her room.

She's enamored with that idea.

Sadly for her, it's still a ways off in the future.
There's no way I'm putting a nighttime nursling more than arm's reach from me!

So Brianna will have to settle with daytime snuggling. 

My 2014 Resolutions

Ya know... some people like to hide behind their I'm-too-cool-for-resolutions facade. Like they're *above* our silly societal tradition of declaring personal improvement goals at the beginning of a calendar year. 

[sigh]. Someday I hope to be as perfect as them.

Until then, I shall RESOLVE!

And I certainly have much to be resolute upon. 

Let's make a few simple goals for 2014:

Floss everyday

Introduce new fruits and vegetables to my children more often

Finally finish reading the Old Testament (Meant to finish it last year)

Be in bed by 10pm

Read a book just for fun. Maybe even a *gasp* FICTION book!

Be a better LLL Leader

Make more progress towards IBCLC accreditation

Brush my teeth twice per day instead of once

Exercise first thing in the morning

Figure out how to make my eyebrows look better

Wear earrings more often

Keep the fish tank cleaner

Help my kids do as many races as they want to do

Teach Brianna to ride a bike (I know - way past due!)

Teach Brianna to tie her shoes

Stop wasting time on FB, no matter how interesting the links

Be a better +UtahRunning.com employee

Get back to regular piano practicing 

Enter lots of giveaways... but not TOO many!

Do some awesome yardsaling... but not TOO much!

Don't bring anything with chemical food coloring in my kitchen

Clean the stickers off the inside of my car's windows

Read to Bennett more

Read to Courtney more

Read to Brianna more

Keep Charity alive and healthy

Remember to bring tithing in more often

Give generously

Clean the garage floor as soon as the weather's warmer

Fit back into ALL my clothes - including the boxes in the garage of small stuff

Stop late night snacking

Start meal planning for the family

Go visit Grandma more often (2x/wk minimum)

Send notes/letters/pictures to Grandpa McKell and Berrett at least bimonthly

Stop missing spots when I shave my legs

Figure out how to make healthier house cleaning products 

GARDEN!

Memorize favorite scripture passages

Hold Family Night on Mondays more consistently

Get Brianna involved in planning Family Night

Organize Charity's clothes

Organize the kids' shoes

Go to Discovery Gateway Museum at least biweekly

Go on dates with B more often

Reduce my shoe collection

Reduce my clothing inventory

Have green smoothies at least 3x/week

Do art projects with my kids more often

Vacuum my car once/month min.

Be more on-the-ball with my super simple RS calling as VT Supervisor

Consolidate banking accounts

Cut my hair

Help Brianna do her workbooks everyday

Do pushups everyday. Real ones.

Get better at tricep pushups

Keep my toes trimmed and painted

Keep the girls toes trimmed and painted

Organize our CDs

Facetime with Nonny once/wk min.

Get better at kite flying

Figure out this essential oil thing

Stretch more

Be faster at everything

Be better at everything

Do everything better and faster.

And that sums it up. My 2014 will rock now that I've got serious expectations in place.