Is it Friday yet?

I am so tired. I think I finally got into bed at 1:15 this morning and then I sat there and kept worrying if and when I was going to fall asleep and then you know how it works the more you look at the clock and worry about it the more you stay awake. I think i finally dozed off close to 2 AM.. The days seem so hard when you are going on no sleep. Exspecially when you are doing it all on your own with 4 kids. The night doesnt come quick enough to get them all in bed. Alas I finally got all my orders caught up and done and I may just make it into bed tonight before midnight. I think that would be a first in about a week. LOL
Well I'm a little bummed out today. I found out I will not be able to run my marathon ever. It really stinks to get old... I so really wanted to start running but it doesnt look like its in the stars for me.. For more details you can check my other blog here..
The day's been kinda a blur for me. Still alot of run run. And still not enough time in the day to get everything accomplished... Guess there's still tomorrow.. Well I think I will call this good.
Until tomorrow....

Another Crazy Day

It's been another crazy day for me. Steve left yesterday I miss him already..I spent most of the day putting my blog page back up. The last blog I posted with the slide show somehow pushed all my widgets and side bar stuff down below my post and I couldnt figure out how to get it back. By the time i got it figured out which was pretty simple once I got the awnsers I had already managed to delete all my side bar stuff and change the layout so I spent all day trying to put it back together. I had 6 orders come in over the weekend and today so I am trying to get caought up on them. I have managed to get 4 done since I put my kids to bed and only have 2 more to go,but seeing how it is 12:25 in the morning I think I will wait until .... I was going to say tomorrow but it is already tomorrow... LOL gosh just not enough time in the day to complete everything I want to... And I'm guessing today is going to be another long tired run run day. I have dr. appts and kid activities already lined up.

Wish I was my friend jodi right now probably soaking up some sun on the beach of hawaii. Catch some rays for me girl its been pouring all day here. Well if I am going to be able to function in a few hours I best be off to bed.

Help with page

I lost all my side bar and widgets. Somehow my post pused them all down in a row under the post. Anyone know how to get them back up on the side where they used to be?
Thanks

Perseverance

I dont think I knew the meaning of perseverance until today. I just wanted to share our day so far. This morning my husband and son got up early and went to play basketball at the church. So I got up went and got in a short run and met up with the family to go to my son's big belt rank advancement test in karate. I was expecting it to be much like the testing they did in utah. About 1/2 to 1hr test. Minimal effort. Basically showing the forms and sparring, self defence and be done. Wow was I wrong!!!!
This ended up being a 3 hr test which was very rigorous, and difficult. They were split up in 3 groups of 6-7 kids. 1 group would go in front of the judges and pass off their kicks while the other 2 groups were doing either crunches, push ups, running in place or jumping jacks. Then they would rotate. It was a continouse rotation the whole 3 hrs. After oassing of the moves they went to passing off their forms. They would pass off 1 form at a time then rotate. The most omount of forms soe of them had to pass off was 7 so it took a very long time. Austin had to pass off his forms 1-4... He did great and was so sharp and crisp in his moves.
Once everyone had a chance to pass off their forms it went to passing off self defence and then 40 minutes of sparring. 3 rounds with 1 partner then switching partners and going another 3 rounds. 3 diffrent partners with 3 rounds and a minute to two break in between. It was so tense. And the pushups they did were men pushups. crunches had to be with the shoulders coming off the matt and with running in place knee's had to be high. They would literally do these push ups and crunches or running for 4 or 5 mins at a time until they rotated. I think i would have killed over. I couldnt believe the stamina and perseverence these kids had to have to pass. There were some who did not pass and get their belts because of laziness or lack of knowledge of their forms. It was so strict and hard. Back in utah when they would test to become a blackbelt they would have to spar for like 5 or 10 minutes or something like that and it was called sudden death and i thought that was crazy but it didnt compare to what these kids had to do and they are not even testing for their black belts.
I could see my son throughout these 3 hrs give up and shake his head and mouth to me i'm done and he kept saying he failed because there was a kick he just had learned this week and had to pass it off for the test. He did not do it very well and the master was yelling come on austin get your leg up jump. It's called a jupmping spin cresent kick. Its difficult. And he tried real hard to do it but assumed he failed because of it. He was so tired and exhausted and the sweat was just pouring from him. I kept trying to reassure him and say keep going you will do it.
This master was hard on them i am not sure that I could perform like he wanted them to after doing pushups and crunches and running for 3 hrs. He would say some of you have already failed and you would have to go through all the test wondering if you were that one who failed.
Well Austin was so shocked when they called his name to get his belt. He couldnt believe it. He was on cloud 9 for hours. So excited.
I dont think I have ever been more proud of my son for accomplishing something then I am today. He worked so hard and persevered. I just cried when they called his name. I'm so proud of him.. And to find out he did all this on an empty stomach because he skipped breakfast this morning to go play basketball with his dad and had to come home and hurry off to karate. How he went through all that without passing out is incredible. And he didnt even tell me until after the test because he knew i would have been freaking out... I was on the end of my chair the whole time...
Today is his day.... We are going for icecream a little later then having pizza for dinner and watching a movie as a family. This was his special request..... What a little man I have...
Steve flies out tomorrow to florida for a week with work. It will be the longest he has been away since we moved here. It will be a hard week. It seems we have alot of things going on as well. It will be run run for me. We will make this night with the kids great and memorable to get us through the week. Gotta go get some grocery shopping in before Steve leaves so I wont have to go do it while he is gone. So i better be off. I am including some picts of austins test. I had a hard time with the camera so I apologize for the quality of the picts... If it is just showing words and asking for email and stuff just click the x in top right corner and it should start showing the pictures.....

Fridays Feast

Appetizer

Name something you would categorize as weird.

MEN!!! Need I say more..

Soup

What color was the last piece of food you ate?

Brown and white. It was a Oat and egg powder pancake from the diet i'm doing.

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?

Oh I would say a 7.. I dont mind being alone at all but I am a people person too.

Main Course

Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.
I will always vote for more love and peace in this world.

Dessert

Describe your sleeping habits.

I usually go to bed somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00pm. Sometimes i lay there forever going over all the things that happened that day or all the things i need to do the next and it takes forever to fall asleep. Sometimes I take an ambien and I crash and get in a great sleep minus we have no kid problems during the night. i am a very light sleeper so the littlest noise wakes me up..

Quite The Day

Well it started out as quite the day..

I went to pick Logan up from school today and as i came down the street in front of the school I could see all the Highschool students out in the football field, and as I approached the entrance it was barracaded with police cars. my heart began to race a little and the officer told me the school was in lock down and i couldnt go in. I explained that I had a preschooler in there. He told me to go to the other entrance and talk to the police officer there, so I went back to the other entrance and there was no officer so I drove down to the side of the building to where the preschool room was and saw a few parents standing out there so i got out and was told by some man walking away from the building that our children were with the highschool students out in the field and that they couldnt be released to us until they dismissed everyone to go back into the school and do a role call to make sure everyone is accounted for. This man said they didnt say what the lock down was for but that he thought it was for a bomb threat. So I went out and found logan and sat with her on the bleachers for about 20-30 min until they let us go back to the school where they took a role call and let us go... I swear what are these days coming to.........

Then it was just a run run day for me. I had visiting teachers coming this afternoon and right after that I had to go to a meeting with Austin's teacher then had to run home and get everyone off to austin baseball game and they had to eat dinner in the car on the way because we didnt have time to sit down and eat. It just been so crazy.. I came away from austins parent teacher confrence just angry, and sad and worried all at the same time.. Apparently He is doing much better as far as his behavior somewhat but he is still struggeling. I guess out here you are not allowed to be or act like a boy and this frustrates me. It was tough to move out in the middle of a year and children out here are so involved in school and other activities that there is no time for kids to be kids. you seriously have to arrange play dates.

The academics out here are crazy. Lots of very advanced geniuses out here. austin came into this school and really struggled. He made some bad choices right off and it has caused himself to gain a reputation as a bully or bad kid so to say right from the beginning. So the teacher has told me the kids in the class dont want to befriend him because he has set this frame of mind in the students minds that he is a bully or gets in trouble so they dont want to have anything to do with him. there is one boy in his class that he knows well that is in the same primary class with him so he was a comfort to my son from the first day of school and they seem to hit it off pretty good, but they seem to not be a good match at times. They seem to get in trouble alot when they are together.. In school, in church, in scouts.. i have had complaints from the scout teacher as well as from the school that Austins behavior when he is with this kid is not good. Yet at other times they are so good with each other and play good. Its so hard because this is his only friend he plays with that lives 6 blocks away and is the only boy his age around us.. Apparently they really frown on kids having any physical contact with each other or playing rough or even pretend fighting. No pretending to play army or shoot em up kinda stuff. It really freaks everyone out around here. At our other school this was all considered to be normal boy play. They would play fight or tackle each other or pretend to be army guys and shoot each other and it was ok. So it has been a rude awakening for him to come here and not be able to do or act like this. So not only did he have to pick up and move in the middle of the year, leave all his friends behind. Come to an area where the church is so spread out and a minority and have no children to play with in a decent walking or riding your bike area but then to be told you cant talk or act the same as you always have, and be tagged as a bully or trouble maker from day one. And the sad thing is the things he got in trouble for were things that he would have never got in trouble for in schools back home. i.e (play fighting at recess, or showing his karate moves to another kid, He did hit a kid because he was defending a friend who was getting pushed around and i have to say part of me feels that is not bad although i can understand why he got in trouble and he shouldnt have hit. One recent one was he and his sister were playing around on the bus mimicing a movie they watched and my son slapped her across the face a little to hard. yes he should get in trouble for that by me but not his teacher. A student on the bus got freaked out when he saw that so had to tell the teacher. You know normal sibling rivalry. Who hasn't hit their brother or sister before. He apologized to her for hitting her to hard but they were trying to re-inact a scene from a cartoon movie. Things are taken way to seriously out here. ) It's a shame to see people think that because kids play like their shooting each other or play fighting that they are going to grow up and be bad kids or gang members. He's only in 3rd grade... I remember playing shoot em up when I was a little girl. It's sad what the world today is coming to. I definently understand why some percieve it that way becuase of all the bad things that happen in society today but its hard to know where to draw the line. Sorry more rambling!!

My heart aches for him and i wish I knew what to do for him. It seems he is always angry, He hates school, he gets angry at the homework, he gets angry at having to do chores around the house he gets very mouthy with us as parents he is just plain awnry. And i dont know how to help him. I'v tried working with his teacher to try and get him involved with other kids but things just are not working. We have tried talking to him until we are blue. We have tried different approaches in the way we talk to him we have tried to be understanding. I am so angry at hearing how my child has made a reputation for himself and how his behavior is not so good. It just makes me want to come back to utah so bad and put them back in the schools there. I am not condoling his behavior and i definently can understand the situations but the whole feel out here is just so diffrent here as far as school and church goes. Very frustrating for all of us. I am considering putting him into counseling to see if talking about it will help but i just dont know what to do anymore. I just feel like going home back to utah would help immensly. I really wanted to give NJ a fighting chance but from the beginning all I have wanted to do is go home.

I know there is a purpose to why we are here but I am really stuggeling with it right now. I hate to see my kids suffer and struggle and have a hard time. aaaagghhh...

Oh and did I forget to mention that I am still way behind on my die cut orders I feel like I am never going to get caught up with all this running oround i am doing. I guess i should be thankful to have them and the extra money it gives me but my time is just so limited lately and I seem to be getting bombarded with orders right now. It must be scrapbooking season... LOL

Well I am off to go to an orientation for the new school he will be attending next year so better go. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear from you. Sorry for such a long rambling blog but i just had to get it out and maybe someday I can look back at this and say oh what a funny time that was and look how we have grown and changed.

The weekend was just a little crazy around here with so many things going on that i havn't had a chance to get on and blog so I wanted to take a few and catch up. Friday I had my test on my stomach. Dont remember much of what they said I was alittle in-coherent but Im hoping to talk to Dr. today to go over results. All in all I think things were pretty good.
They are putting me on some diffrent meds. to see if we can quiet things down in there. Saturday we kept busy running from 1 activity to the next. It was such a warm day. It got up to 85 and we all got a little sun burned sitting out at Austin's Baseball game. By the time we got home from that we were so tired and worn out from being in the sun that all we wanted to do was relax but we had to get dinner and still go do the grocery shopping so we were off again. We got home late and got all the kids bathed and off to bed. 9:00 church comes early... We had the sister missionarys over for dinner sunday and it was great having them in our home. They shared a little movie with us that had some personal testimonies from recent converts and some clips from Brother, Eyering. It was great and I couldnt believe for that 20 minutes my kids sat in total silence and actually watched the movie. I was hoping that it was inspiring Austin to have the desire to go on a mission and to see the great joy of those who have found the gospel.
Yesterday i spent most of the day trying to get caught up on some orders for my cuts on ebay. I probably havn't mentioned before but I run a little die cut store on ebay selling die cuts and various other scrapbooking things. It's not a real thriving buisness but it helps bring in a little spending money and I enjoy doing it. I will be spending most of the day as well today trying to get caught up. So that is it for me the last few days.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
Name a color you find soothing.

Well i dont know if its really soothing or not, but i really love the color burgandy. My house is accented in burgandy or cranberry colors. Another one would be a pretty tropical torqoisy or sea blu color. like the water in hawaii. That is soothing...

Soup
Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience.

Well since it was when I was 11 and my dad was letting me drive his brand new corvette in Idaho well actually I didnt have much of a choice my dad was passed out in the seat next to me so I drove it all the way back to utah.{ It was scarry, horrific, terrifying, exciting, thrilling, and made me feel grown up all at the same time}

Salad
What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of?

I have a dressy shirt that I believe is made out of rayon and it is so soft and silky. I love to wear it.

Main Course
Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see?

hmmm Im not really a big concert goer but I would love to see Tim Mcgraw in concert. Also Journey.

Dessert
What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)?

I dont have just 1 letter used more in my name. 5 of my letters are used twice.

What A Day

Well most of this day was blogged on my other site and you can go here to read about it. It was a great day mostly. Really warm today I think it got up to 78. I was actually starting to get hot and sweat as I sat outside to watch jessie at her horse riding lessons. My 2 youngest even got a little sunburned today being outside to long. I just love this kind of weather not to mention how beautiful it is out here with all the trees in this state blooming with flowers everywhere. This whole state is like living in a forrest. Trees everywhere!!

I am so angry with Allies school right now. She forgot her spelling book yesterday so for punishment they made her miss her recess today and made her stay in and read. Well lunch is right after recess and she was stuck in this room with some other teacher reading and the teacher left and forgot about her and by the time she got back and saw Allie lunch was over so Allie didnt get lunch today. That is to long for a kid to go without eating. She had breakfast at 7:30 and got home at 3:40 She was so down and famished. I havnt had her tested but i think she is hypoglycemic because when she goes to long without eating she really gets dizzy and shaky and doesnt feel well. I was so mad i called the school but the teacher had already left so I am supposed to get a call in the morning from her or the principal. They could have at least got her a sandwhich or something. Well tomorrow I have to have a scope of my stomach done to check for ulcers and stuff so I only get clear liquid in the morning until 9:00 then nothing and my procedure is not until 2:45 and I'll get home around 4:45 - 5:00 Geeze that is a long time to go without food and water. exspecially when my body is used to eating every 2-3 hrs 6 times a day and drinking 100+ ounces of water a day. My body will go into fits... I always feel so dehydrated if i am not getting water into me since i have been running and dieting. Owell I should make a fast of it. But right now I am going to go have some yummy cinnamon apple craizen pie with icecream to sustain me. LOL.... I know..... I am bad!!!!!

Im excited for friday to finally be here. Tune in for tomorrows Fridays Feast.

Crazy 8 Meme

Tag ~ Crazy 8 Meme

Sorry Jodi alot of your awnsers were perfect for me too!!!

8 Things I’m passionate about

*My Family*My Faith*Motherhood*Chocolate (duh)*burgandy*Traditions*dragonfly's (I know your thinking dragonflys?)*running right now!

8 Things I want to do before I die

*Get my photo albums caught up (and it will take that long too!)*Travel to some awesome places**Run a marathon...See my children grow up succesfull, healthy, and happy*See all my grandchildren grow up* Go back to school and get my RN* Win the lottery* See my brother join the church

*8 Things I often say

*"Hurry and Eat"*"Hurry up or we're going to be late!"*"Stop fighting"*"You knock that off right now or you are going to be in big trouble*"It's cold in here!!!"*"I have no idea"*"I'm to old for this"*"Love you!"

8 Things I've learned this past year

*That I love to blog!*That I am a runner.*that i spend to much time on the computer!*If god brings you to it, he will bring you through it...*Life is hard*It will all work out in the end.*Kids grow up way to fast.*to be humble*

8 Things I must do each day to feel good

*Shower/Hair/Make-up*Hug each of my kids and tell them i love them*Exercise*Eat chocolate!*Service of some kind*Accomplish at least some of what is on my agenda*sleep*Spend time with my fam♥

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

*Great Sense of Humor*Accepts me for who I am*Easy Going*Positive Attitude*Generosity/Giving*Someone I can easily talk to*Common sense*Fun!

8 People I think should do Crazy 8's☺*

hmm i dont know many on here yet and some of those i do already have. Rich, Amanda, Natalie, Jody hasn't done it yet,

New Blog

Today I have spent most of the day configuring my new running blog and i finally finished it.. Yay!!!! I spoke to soon on my last fridays feast. This weekend I came down with the flu and had a horrible cold with horrible head aches, body aches, you name it. Then on sunday my youngest started fevering and has done all weekend. She has no other symptoms other then here fevers. Kinda strange but I'm hoping she is over it now and i am feeling much better today as well.
It was a very beautiful spring day today. I had a pretty good run to hear more about that go here.

Gosh there isnt much to post today because i just stayed down most of the weekend and have spent all day on the computer trying to get my other blog up and running in between running kids around, doing homework and making dinner. I am beat so i am going to call it a night. I have been challenged to do a crazy eights tag so i will do that tomorrow. Should be fun....

Fridays Feast (Leftovers)

Today they didnt post a Fridays feast so I am doing one of the old ones that I did not do. Leftovers are always great!!!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?

Gosh that is a hard one. There is 2 that i wouldnt mind being, Jennifer Aniston I think she is fun and has a great personality and is really funny and witty at least on tv she appears that way. Plus she is beautiful.. And Angelie Jolie. Has a great body well when she's not pregnant.. Of course i wish i would have looked as good as she does pregnant. She has alot of money. And of course she is with Brad Pitt....

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?

Oh it depends on the person I'm talking to and what i am doing at the moment. I usually dont like talking a whole lot but if i am not doing anything and it's someone i care alot about i can find my self talking for an hour at times.

Salad
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).

I just donated to a group who is trying to protect children from the toys that are being made with the harmful plastic that they have been recalling. If i had alot of money i would like to donate to some of the fundraisers they do for the children over in africa and various areas that are starving and or have Aids, malaria, and have lost their parents. It breaks my heart to see that kind of stuff...

Main Course
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?

Hershey's reeces mini peanut butter cups. Oh wait i have already ate those every day for a month!!!!!! LOL And i wish i could do so without any side affects.. No wonder im packing on the pounds..

Dessert
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?

Thank Heavens no (knock on wood) we have had a few colds, bad case of strep but nothing to bad.. And no stomach flu yet yeah!!! There is one thing i just cant stand in this world and it is me or anybody around me throwing up. Yuck... i seriously do not handle it very well and most of the time it has a chain reaction with me.

Well woke up this morning and my swelling in my knee was finally down and my knee felt pretty good. I thought hmm maybe i can go today. Of course i knew it would be foolish to try and run when my knee was twice its size all day yesterday and hurt like crazy so i thought well maybe i can speed walk today. So thats what i did and my knee did great no pain hardly at all. I mean i could feel it mildly but nothing like when i run. I tried a couple times and as soon as i tried running the first step i immediatly felt the sharp stabbing pain. I dont know if it is the angle that the knee is in along with the impact of hitting the pavement when you run or what but as long as i walked and my knee was in that position I was fine. I went a slightly diffrent route today. I decided to walk my dog first so we went 1.3 miles then i dropped him off and grabbed a few swigs of water and went my other route by the time i got probably 4 miles in i had to tinkle so bad i didnt think i was going to make it any further so i cut up past my house and stopped in to take care of that then headed back out and got one more mile in and by the time i finished that mile i was starting to feel my knee a little so i thought it was a good time to stop.
I figured i had gotten in close to 6 miles and i thought i had probably gotten in 6 miles but when i went and drove it to check my total mileage only came to 5.2 so i was kinda bummed.. I think its a little harder to power walk verses running. It takes alot longer so it seems like you poop out a little quicker i dont know. Yesterday when i ran the time just flew by and before i knew it i was already half way through my route and when i got back to my house and checked the clock i just couldnt believe my time. 6 miles in 50 minutes maybe 55 im not positive. But today it just seemed to drag on i just couldnt go fast enough.. As far as it working my body i think it worked it just as well if not better. I could feel it working my butt and hips and thighs pretty good and i was a little sore and achy when i finished so i dont know which way works you the best.. I would really like to know if they have found one way better then the other as far as working the body more and loosing weight, slimming down... But at least i do know it is a whole lot better on your knees and joints. I just didnt enjoy it quite as much..
I think im going to track my weight loss as well in case i need to reflect back i can.. I already mentioned my diet in an earlier posting and im really gonna try and stick with it and commit. Maybe just a little cheating but not like i was. (Maybe only 1 or 2 reeses cups instead of handfuls.) LOL My goal 21 pounds. so far 3 pounds this week!!! Yeah its a start. But seems like I fluctuate alot with these 3 pounds. Over the last 4 or 5 months i seem to go down then i go back up and it usually depends on what i ate the night before, but i never seem to get past the 3 pounds. Owell will keep trying.

5.2 Miles in 70 -75 minutes if you take out the time it took to grab dog and stop and potty....

-3 pounds

So Sore Tonight

I want to start a new blog spot for my running but just havn't got the time right now to go in and create one but just wanted to write my progress down. I ran yesterday after going 5 days without doing anything and i thought i would probably be pooped out before i got my 5 miles in, but to my surprise i didnt do to bad. My knee got acting up about 2 miles into it but i managed through it. but by last night i could hardly walk i was hurting so bad. We were also out at a baseball game and it was really cold so i think the cold was affecting my arthritis in that knee.

I didnt think i was going to be able to do much running this morning and i probably shouldnt have but i did and i started out pretty good and my knee didnt really start acting up until about mile 3 and then i went down hill really fast. By the time i finished 4 miles i was hurting. But i went in grabbed the pooch walked him about a half block or so until he did his thing and pee'd on every tree along that street then ran 2 more miles. So i got a total of 6 miles in today.. I think it was probably not the wisest decision because now i am limping and hurting pretty bad. I iced it for an hour when i got home but it is still swollen tonight. I think i am going to have to find a orthopedist out here and go have it looked at. Other then my knee it felt great i loved it. However today was a really warm day. It got up to 78 degrees today. It was so nice. I started about 9:15 this morning and it was about 58 degrees out side. I went without a jacket today it felt so good but when the breeze would stop it was actually a little warm i was really sweating today. I think as it starts to get warmer i am either going to have to get up real early and go in the early morning hours or wait until night. With the humidity out here it just really sucks the life out of you. It was alot more challenging today because of the heat i think. I probably wont be running tomorrow or even for a few days depending on how it does. Maybe i will have to convert to fast walking again and give up running...

I was so having fun being able to finally run and do so well for not having ever ran before but i think that it is going to be to hard on the knee. Maybe i just wasnt cut out for running... But i sure have enjoyed it while it lasted. I will try and get a blog up hopefully in the next week to keep everyone updated and keep a track for myself my progress. If anyone has advise i am all ears..

6 total miles in 50 minutes








So are any of you into watching American Idol.. We have watched every episode for the last 3-4 years. We tivo it. Last night they did their Idol gives back night and i just have the hardest time watching stuff like that and seeing the children over there suffering so much and having no parents. The picture i am putting on here is a grandmother who lost 4 of her children to Aids and is now raising their 8 kids total between them. One of the children she was 14 and she was suffering from aids as well. Another family of 4 children the oldest was 15 and the youngest was 3, and the 15 year old was raising the other siblings because they had lost both parents to Aids. What a responsibility to be only 15 and taking care of your younger 3 siblings. 1 being still a baby. And to see them starving and not being able to do anything for them.. So heartbreaking. My heart just goes out to these people and it makes me want to donate everything i have and adopt all the children.. We are so blessed and have so much and the sad thing is most of the time we are always wanting more and are not happy with what we have. Of course the highlight was seeing one of my favorite actors Brad Pitt... WOW He is so cute.. I hope they had a great contribution this year. I am excited to watch tonight to see how much they raised.

Well time to put kids to bed so i better be off. Thanks to all who is reading and leaving me comments. I love to hear from you all..

Spring

It's late and dont have the time to post much but wanted to show how pretty it is getting here. I have some trees that are starting to bloom and they are so beautiful. My yard smells sweet of new flowers coming out and blossoms from trees. It's still very cold here and the looks are decieving but im hoping the warm weather is on its way.

Sunday i came down sick and have spent the last 2 days recovering. Today was much better. I hope to write more tomorrow but i had to share the pretty photos i took today.

Fridays Feast

Fridays Feast #4

Appetizer

Invent a new flower; give it a name and describe it.

How about Gerber Dilly. It would be a cross between gerber daisys and a day lilly. I love these 2 flowers and the bright colors. Bright Purple would be great and the smell would be like a sweet springtime smell. Not sure how to describe it. Out here in jersey there is some kind of bush, tree or something that is just putting off the best yummy sweet smell. Dont know what its coming from but i would love to have my flower smell like it and then i would plant them everywhere around my house.

Soup

Name someone whom you think has a wonderful voice.

Hmm i have always wished i could sound like Sarah Brightman. But a little closer to home would be Craig Evans from the Tabernacle Choir. He lived near me in Santaquin and i got the priveledge to be in a community choir for 2 years and he was the conductor. He is amazing with the things he could do with his voice. He can sing any part out there.. Plus he is a very genuine nice, caring, loving, spiritual person.

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how clean do you keep your car?

Oh i would say 8 or 9. my husband is kinda meticulouse about that kinda stuff. Of course with 4 kids thats quite difficult but it really bugs steve to be dirty.

Main Course

How do you feel about poetry?

I love poetry. Im not really into the profound crazy speaking ones that you read and have no clue what it said but most poetry i like.

Dessert

What was the last person/place/thing you took a picture of?

My Son's Pinewood Derby car (thing)

(Person) my kids on Easter

(Place) My backyard and the work we had done on it over spring break

Well in case i dont get back here (Fridays are always crazy days for me) I think today is just going to be one of those lazy days. Rainy and cold out side. I have to take my poochy to be groomed today and have to run kids to and from their activitys but other then that i think it will be a movie by the fire and popcorn night..

Woo Hoo 5 miles

I did it and then some.. I ran 4 1/2 miles today and power walked 1/2 of mile so i got in 5 miles total.. It was great!! I couldn't believe it.. About mile 2 my knee started hurting and i didnt think i was going to make 4 miles which was the goal but i kept pushing through and by mile 3 my leg was either numb or i just got used to the pain because i couldn't feel the pain hardly at all so i got in my 4 miles and then i went home grabbed a drink of water and grabbed the dog and went 1 more mile. running half and power walking half. The dog was wanting to go further but i thought i was probably done by then. There was only a couple times i thought i had reached the pooped out stage but i forced myself to keep going and i did it. I am so proud of myself... woo hoo..

It was a great day!!! Well This is all im going to post spending time with the kids tonight.. Gotta go

3 Miles Today

Yeah I'm so excited i ran 3 miles today!!! And i could have kept going if it was not for my knee.. physically i felt pumped. I got diffrent headphones for the ipod today so i had my tunes wich made a huge diffrence. Its amazing what music can do to your feelings and body. I didnt have my workout songs downloaded yet so I only had a few on there and the rest was a mix of country, soft rock, church hymns, disney, classical not exactly pumping music with a good beat, and it was funny because when songs like Sarah Brightman or enya came on I could totally feel my body slow down and it was actually difficult to keep going...

I had a diffrent brace on my knee and after the first 2 miles i thought i was going to die. My knee was hurting so bad all the way down my leg and into my foot so i swung by the house and dropped my pooch off and adjusted my brace i think it was to tight and decided to go one more mile. My knee was much better but by the time i finished the last mile it was hurting pretty good. I really wanted to keep going b/c i had great stamina and i wasnt pooped at all. I would love to see just how far i could really go before pooping out. But i just dont think my knee is going to keep up with me.. But i think for never running before i am doing pretty good. I'm quite proud of myself. It's becoming addicting. I really am enjoying it.

My mom keeps telling me i should just do fast walking which she is probably right but it has just been so fun finally being able to run. I know running is supposed to be harder on the joints then walking but i want to know if there is any benefit running over walking or vice versa as far as burning more calories or loosing weight or toning. So all you avid runners out there drop me a line if you know or have some insight for me.. Also do any of you know what i can do for my knee to keep it from hurting so much or how to treat it so i dont do any more damage to it??

So tonight was our annual Pinewood Derby. There were 15 cars and Austin placed 6th and recieved the award for the best painted. He did it all himself so he was excited. He was a little dissapointed not finishing in the top 3 but overall and after recieving the best painted award he felt pretty good.

Well it 11:40 PM and im just finishing up downloading all my workout songs to my ipod so i will be all ready to go tomorrow for my run..That is if i can make it out of bed.. Im trying to decide if I should let my knees rest and ride my bike instead of running. If i do run I'v mapped out a new route which is 4 miles so i'm gonna give it a try and see how my knee holds up.

April Fool's Day

Happy April Fool's Day...



Today I think the fool was me.. :)



My day started out going on my run and I thought i would take my ipod with me for a change and thought the music would help pump me up and i was all geared up had my knee brace on finally smartened up and thought it would be wise to use it.



I came home from dropping logan off at school. Usually my dog is standing at the door waiting but today he wasnt so excited. He usually is in front of me the whole 2 miles dragging me along.

So we get to the park where usually the dog does his duty and i can pick it up and discard of it in the trash can at the park but of course today he doesnt do it until we are all the way around the park so I am trying to run with my ipod in one hand, the leash in the other with the poop sack as well with the fresh aroma of dog doo blowing in my face. Im trying to run and the little ear pieces to the ipod keep falling out of my ears and i have to keep stopping and try and put them back in. I was practically dragging the dog for some reason he was not in the running mood today and it was so warm today it was 71 and extremely muggy so i was pretty much wet before i even began. So needless to say we ended up walking the majority of the way and i was so mad. So i have to finish up the last 1/2 mile by going past my house so i dropped the dog off and discarded the poop sack and decided i would go finish running the last 1/2 mile. I headed out and still my ear pieces kept falling out and then it opened up and started pouring rain so i said forget it and turned around and came back home... What a dissapointing morning.. then i go to get ready for the day and turn on my bathroom faucet to find water squirting straight out at me soaking the floor and my clothes. My kids had decided to tape the faucet.. They are getting pretty clever as they get older...

But alas i did get them back tonight i made the meatloaf cupcakes with the colored mash potatoe frosting for dinner found on the family fun magazine. They were so thinking we were having cupcakes for dinner... It was fun..


All and all it was a pretty good day.. Now i am off to activity days with my daughter..