Hands Full

Lately it has really bothered me when I'm at a public place and someone says, "Wow! You have your hands full!" It's like they are thinking, "What was she thinking having kids so close together!" Little do they know that is not how it is at all and not how I feel about it at all. I love having these three so close together because they are great friends. Sure we have our days when they fight or it's tricky keeping them all quiet in sacrament meeting but that's not how it is all the time. The good times well out way the rest.

After working three nights this week and only getting about 3 hours of sleep after each shift I was feeling pretty tired by Thursday. Thankfully I got a burst of energy that afternoon. James told me he wants to get better at the monkey bars. So we drove around Lehi looking for a park that had monkey bars, not very many have them these days. Veterans Park has monkey bars that James approved of so we parked and headed over to play. We had the best time. Everyone was playing together. James and I took turns timing each other through the playground obstacle course we mapped out. He only went on the monkey bars once. These times make having kids so worth it.

James has to do 20 minutes of reading each day and so he has been doing it on the site Raz Kids. It's the best program and he usually spends closer to an hour reading because he likes it so much. The other two love listening to him read and looking at the pictures. There's tons of books to choose from and a quiz with each to help with reading comprehension.

The best part about being a mom is that you get to do fifty jobs in one. I'm a teacher (temporal and spiritual), cook, baker, house keeper(for better or worse), artist (I draw the best stick figures!), builder (build the best forts), athlete (They think I'm fast and good at sports), magician (make things appear and told them I have eyes everywhere and amazing hearing), photographer, comedian (they think my jokes are hilarious), warden (to kids going to timeout), dentist, pharmacist, psychologist, and the list goes on. I get to sample a little bit of it all and my kids think I'm all the stuff, the best and know everything. Well, at least they do for now. That will change when they get older.

Today we made Halloween shaped sugar cookies and frosted them with yellow frosting because we were out of red food coloring to make it orange. These two are so easy to please they didn't mind. James told me yellow was still a Halloween color because that is the color of the inside of a jack-o-lantern.

James told me he had to go to time out in class. I asked him what he did and he said he was pushing his head into another boys shoulder while they were sitting on the floor. He told me he didn't know why because he didn't break any rules. He started listing off the class rules and said keep your arms and legs to yourself. I told him he broke that rule and he said he didn't because he didn't use his arms of legs, but his head. Ha ha! He cracks me up. He is always saying funny things. I'm constantly entertained.

These two are my buddies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings after James gets on the bus. On the walk home Lynnlee tells me the plan for the day. It usually includes playing together with her princess castle and Kaden taking a nap. I love our one on one time together.

James memorized his part for the primary program so fast. On Sunday morning he practiced a few times and then he and Lynnlee practiced the song a few times. They pretended to be on a stage and I was in the audience. Kaden stood by them too. During the actual primary program James did really well and did his part all by himself. Glad to know he doesn't get stage fright.

 

 Kaden is my buddy on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I love our time together. I love his energy and curiosity about everything.

 

Did you see or hear about the cover on Time magazine in August. The title was "The Childfree Life, When having it all means not having children." I'm here to say this, "The Child Full Life, When having them means having it all." Those who choose not to have children will never know the feeling of holding a newborn that is your own, the joy of seeing a child learn new things, and the sound of a little child telling you they love you. I feel so blessed to be a mom because I have it all and it only gets better!

Lovies

I think I blog about this a lot but it's so crazy for me and I'm not used to it. James and Lynnlee were never good at climbing when they were babies. Kaden on the other hand can climb up the ladder on the bunk beds, climb up the stools, toilet, etc. I don't really know how to baby proof because nothing is safe. He figured out yesterday to scoot the stool over to different parts of the kitchen to get what he wants.  I definitely have my hand full with him. Yesterday he moved the stool by me. Then climbed on it and started posing so of course I had to take this picture.

I love the cooler weather which makes it nicer to get out more. Sunday we enjoyed a walk around the duck pond.

These three in the hammock reminded me of three peas in a pod. They have so much fun together.

For family night we had an obstacle course through the back yard. Then we snapped a picture after. It's so nice to finally have grass! Kaden was all wet from the water table so he's sporting a diaper and nothing else.

Go Big!

Everything about the Big Cottonwood Marathon was big, amazing and awesome. I definitely recommend this race. Races are expensive and most the time you are wondering what your money paid for. With this race I feel like I definitely got my money's worth! You get high quality race shirt, gloves, emergency blanket, lots of swag in the race packet that you actually use, plenty of aid stations and port-a-potties along the race course and a great finish line area with lots of nourishment and lets not forget the gigantic finisher medal. It's almost the size of Kaden's head, ...ok so not quite that big.

I'm addicted to running marathons. Not only does the training give you motivation to exercise everyday, but then you get the adrenaline rush during the race. Then after the race you have a huge feeling of accomplishment. I can't get enough. This is a crazy fast race. There is so much downhill. I was running ahead of the 3:25 pacer and then got passed up around mile 20. When I got to mile 20 my lets started cramping and it got really tough. I kept running until I was about 3 miles from the finish line. At that point I thought I was going to pass out and every muscle in my leg was so cramped that I felt crippled. I walked/ ran the last 3 miles and got passed up by the 3:35 pacer which was my end goal. I tried to keep up but there was so way I physically could with all of the cramping going on. It was a bummer but since I had my best friend with me I decided to enjoy it and be happy that at least I could finish and still beat my last marathon time. Marshall was an amazing support through the whole race! He stayed by me on his bike from mile 15 to mile 23. Then he ran with me from mile 23 through the finish line. I loved having him by my side and can't wait to run a full marathon together.

The canyon was beautiful! The weather forecast said rain but thankfully it was wrong and it was a beautiful sunny day.

I finished in 3 hours 41 minutes. It was 5 minutes faster than my last race. It's so exciting to continually improve despite everything. It will be nice when I can figure out the muscle cramping and hopefully get to the point where I can qualify for Boston. Until then I will continue to enjoy running the marathons in Utah.

Stinky Skunk

James and Lynnlee were reading a book today about a stinky skunk. They plugged their noses all on their own. Ha ha! It wasn't even a scratch and sniff book or anything special.

Aqua Triathlon

Marshall competed in his first triathlon last weekend. It was the Aqua Triathlon and it was at Seven Peaks. He wasn't able to train as much as he wanted because he was busy working on our yard. James said something funny to him the night before the race when we were talking about it. He asked Marshall, "But how are you going to do your race if you haven't practiced?" I never said anything to James and he completely came up with this on his own. Marshall never ceases to amaze me though because he did really well and got a way better time than he had planned, even without proper training. The run was first and it was a 5K around the neighborhoods bordering Seven Peaks. The kids and I were there to cheer him on through the whole thing. It was really fun and we were able to find a spot to sit and cheer from that he passed by during the run and bike portion.

This picture makes me laugh because it looks like he is on a leisurly run up the side walk but actually he was flying up the race course.

He looked like a natural on his bike and blew through that portion. It was 12 miles and luckily a pretty flat course.

Last was the swim in the wave pool for 350 meters or 14 laps. Swimming isn't his strong point but he gave it his all and didn't give up even when the pool got really crowded. This guy passing him in the picture could not swim in a straight line even with his goggles on. He kept running into people, including Marshall.

Marshall sprinted past this girl on his way to the finish line. He really gave it his all through the end.

His final time was 1:06:37. He did so great!

Good job Sweetie! I'm just waiting for him to do a marathon without training and totally beat my best time. I know he could totally do it.

First Day

James had his first day of Kindergarten on Tuesday, August 27th. We had been talking about the first day of school for weeks leading up to it. He was so funny the day before when he asked me what day kindergarten was starting. I told him it was the next day and he said, "Oh nuts!" As we walked to the bus stop he told me he was excited but also a little nervous. He goes in the morning and rides the bus with other kids from our neighborhood. One of his friends who is in second grade told him she would be his bus buddy and make sure he got to class. Now they walk to the bus stop together.

Lynnlee had her first day of preschool on Thursday, September 5th. I wasn't sure if she would have a hard time since she's more of a mama's girl and home body. She also had a tough time transitioning to Sunbeams so I worried she wouldn't want to go. Thank goodness she went right into preschool without a problem and came home very happy.

T-Rex

We loved having our cousins go to Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum a few weeks ago. James and Lynnlee by far had the best time they've ever had there.

It was definitely a crowded Tuesday but worth every minute.

Thanks Miller family for a great day!