Running Group and Gym Envy

Meet Shmuffy my new 'running group'

I am really trying to kick it into gear. I would love to run with Brian or the girls in the neighborhood etc. but because of my schedule, Brian's schedule and my kidos it just wasn't happening. I felt bad for a bit but decided I had a solution..Shmuffy!!!! About two weeks ago I experienced gym envy or jealousy. My friend was saying that now her youngest child is in school all day she can; get the kids off to school, hit a class at the gym, sometimes even two. I was so envious!!!! How crazy to be jealous of someone else's schedule. I was whining to friend I work with and she said get up at 5:00am and go to the gym. Schedule wise this would work unless Brian is traveling. I love to work-out and I would love to start going back to the gym (usually I just hit our basement) BUT YUCK I hate 5:am and if I wait until my kids are in bed at night I AM WAY TOO TIRED. Deciding the gym envy wasn't getting me anywhere and whining certainly wasn't reducing he number on the scale I am getting up at 4:59 to make the 5:30 class. I am not sure I am in love with it yet but it feels good!

London Bridges Falling Down

Do you remember the second verse to London Bridges... "Take the key and lock her up, lock her up...." This is the hutch in the entry. These are Zoe's baby dolls locked inside. Should I be worried? She has two baby doll beds but for some reason the hutch is a better place to sleep. Makes me wonder why I bought the doll beds.

Simple Things I love / funny forwards

FWD:WORST FIRST DATE STORY EVER
If you didn't see this on the Tonight show, I hope you're sitting down when you read it.
This is probably the funniest date story ever, first date or not!!! We have all had bad dates but this takes the cake. Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first dateexperience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize! She said it was midwinter...Snowing and quite cold... and the guy hadtakenher skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City , Utah . It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, andhadnever met before. The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until theywere headed home late that afternoon. They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte. They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere!Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a pointwhere she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside theroad, or it would be the front seat of his car . They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. In the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear
fender to steady herself. Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking. All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather embarrassing nature of the situation. Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation. As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to poles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem, due to the extreme cold. Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about' what is taking so long' with a reply that indeed, she was 'freezing her butt off' and in need of some assistance! He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst outlaughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma. Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal! Thinking about what had gotten her into thepredicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free. So, as she looked the other way, her first time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender. As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down. Or perhaps that should be 'pants down. 'And you thought your first date was embarrassing. Jay Leno's comment...'This gives a whole new meaning to being pissed off.' Oh and how did the first date turn out? He became her husband and was sitting next to her on the Leno show.

Can January PLEASE be OVER?

I've started getting up at 4:59 to get to the gym by 5:30. At the same time I thought I would take a challenge from my brother and give up Diet Coke for the month of January...... Bad combination.........
SERIOUSLY WHAT WAS I THINKING?
By 10:00am my body is craving caffeine and or a nap.
I have caved on the Diet Coke twice (ok to be honest a few times). Twice because I was about to drive off the road. Once because I was eating Mexican, I can NOT eat Mexican without a coke and this last time because I was sitting down to lunch with my co-travel rep and I just plain WANTED ONE! Those of you who are serious about your soda know that not all diet coke is created equal. McDonalds typically has good Diet Coke but even from one Micky D's to another it will taste different. Marketplace grill in SLC by the Old MILL has DIVINE Diet coke. Be sure and ask for the lime. Lunch and the Diet Coke were courtesy of 3M - Thanks Kristen!

ps January only has 3 more DAYS!!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH

The Homeless Man and My Chicken.

This post is basically a random re-cap of the events of this week, and random it was....most likely significant to no one but me*The homeless man and my chicken - Cam and I did a quick Costco run on Monday. I should never go to Costco hungry. I LOVE their rotisserie chicken. I've got everything but the chicken loaded in the back of the car and this homeless man comes up to us and says, "Mam do you have six dollars. I'm trying to get enough money to stay at this hotel here in town tonight." Me, "I don't have any cash on me." At this point he is eyeing the chicken I have in my hand and says, "That sure is a nice chicken you have there." The chicken is in my hand and not in the back of the car because I know I have a plastic fork in my glove-box and I have every intention of sampling the chicken before I even get out of the parking lot. I said to the man, "Would you like my chicken?" Thinking he would say no because sometimes they are only after money. He says, "If it won't put you out to much that would be nice." I give him the chicken and Cam and I get in the car and buckle up. I am kinda bummed at this point because I was REALLY craving that chicken. I looked out my window and the man had sat down immediately on a rock and was diving into the chicken. He was indeed more hungry than I. Cam then proceeded to ask. Why did you give him our chicken? Why doesn't he have a house? Why doesn't he have an apartment? Why doesn't he have a job? In my mind before I answer I am thinking, TEACHING MOMENT - DON'T MESS THIS UP!!!! It was good. We had a good talk about what would Jesus do.

*The Scale and the Chocolate Doughnut - For two straight weeks I have worked out hard and eaten really well (not perfect but really good) I got on the scale Friday morning to discover I had gained a pound in those two weeks. Muscle weighs more than fat...WHATEVER! I need the fat to take a hike. FREAKING SCALE!!! I am pondering this while I am at work. I passed a 7 11 and I thought, BAG IT!! I'm going in for a double chocolate doughnut, my fave!!!! I pick up the doughnut and I look at the top, it's extra shiny, kind of odd, but ohwell. I walk to the register, and take a bite as I am paying for it. The cashier took one look at my face and knew something was WRONG. It was disgusting! I don't know if it was old or what the problem was, but she didn't make me pay for it. If you're going to jump off the wagon it better taste good! I did find a sugar cookie at Hug Hes cafe later in the day and it was DIVINE

*The Jesus Song - I have a resolution to pull out my very RUSTY piano skills. At random points in the day sit down and play a hymn or primary song. I have no intentions of being a pianist. I just want to be able to play a hymn or song in primary in a pinch. I was playing 'I am a child of God and Zoe came running in from the office to say, "Mom you're doing the Jesus song." I have no idea where she got that, so I am assuming it was nursery....gotta love nursery.

Simple Things I love week #3 - Sisters

I grew up with one Sister and she is the BEST! I could go on and on about how much I love Mindy. Since then I've acquired two more. First was Lynette (Matt's wife) I love Lynette because she is always so willing to help out...with ANYTHING. She is the greatest with my kids, and I think the dishes at the cabin would never get done without her. Jana is my newest sister. She is like a little ray of sunshine. She is sporty and fun and I love to be around her.

When I started this project the rule was; the simple love or the joy I was blogging about had to actually occur the week of the post. I was having an issue this week, and I simply didn't know what to do. I called Mindy, and in the middle of her hundreds of meetings this week, and the mountains of stress she is dealing with, she imparted some lovely advice. The minute she told me what to do, and what to say, I felt instant peace. Mindy is the best at advice on almost anything ...Seriously I should give out her number and you should call her! Just don't tell her where you got the number. And I did mention to her she needed to start charging for her advice, so there might be a small fee involved.

What to wear? What to wear? What to wear?

Is it blog etiquette to talk politics, or at the very least fashion in politics? Talk about serious pressure!!!! Can you imagine the stress of trying to pick out what to wear knowing you will be photographed from every possible angle? My personal opinion is that post election night the fashion police or fashion-aid from the White House (do they have one of those?) Got their hands on her and went to work. I can't imagine the price tag on the dresses worn today. I'm all for the First Lady looking good, but the dollar amount would probably feed a small US family for a year. As for myself I was sorely tempted to wear black (for mourning) today. I looked at all the media coverage of the cheering crowds and the happy people and I thought," That is not me today, this is what it feels like to NOT have your guy win." I opted for all brown instead of black, because I have to have a ray of hope. I actually do pray that, my gut is wrong and all those thousands of people (including the very liberal media) are right; that he will go down as the best President Ever. Heaven knows this country needs it. You may not have my vote President Obama but my prayers are with you.

Even her beloved media called this a disaster dress. "she had a temporary lapse in judgement" I liked her dress..love the glovesThis was my 'fave' of the day

front of the dressback of the dress

Dress in motion..

Simple Things I Love / week #2

I'm going to date myself here. When I was little I LOVED to watch the solid gold dancers was sure that I was going to be a SOLID GOLD dancer when I grew up. My favorite was to play a record (an actual black vinyl record) on the living room stereo as loud as my mother would allow and dance my heart out.

I've discovered two things:
1. Some things are indeed genetic and 2. I never became a Solid Gold dancer but I haven't grown up either.

Brian was out of town this past week and after dinner Tuesday night Zoe asked where my Ipod was, she wanted to DANCE! (My 2yr old asking about an ipod still floors me). I glady ignored the dinner dishes and pretty soon I had the speaker cranked as loud as it would go and all three of my kiddos and I were shaking our booties.




Weeks Brian has to travel are not my favorite. By the time I get to Thursday I am so beyond THRILLED to sit down with a new episode of Grey's Anatomy and veg out. I don't watch a lot of Tv and if I do I'm usually on the spin bike or somehow multi-tasking. Thursday nights from 8-9 is my time to sit and do nothing!!! I LOVE IT

Autograph please!

I have this fabulous dentist (Dr. Brent Craven in Layton) that is a client of mine. He knows how Remy has an addiction for all things sports and especially the Jazz. Both this season and last season he treated us to a game. I walked in last Thursday and he handed me tickets for the autograph party.

How cool is that!!!!This is the first table we hit. The pictures aren't the best because you're not even supposed to be taking them! -oops my camera just went offIt's hard to tell but that is Remy the Bear is hugging. When he spotted Rem he stood up from his chair and enveloped him in this big hug. Remy knows who Matt Harpring is, but he was still was hesitant to hand over his ball. By the time we made it to the second table Remy had it figured out.

We also saw AK and Memohhh (as Remy would say)

The ESA just hapens to be too close to my fave the DODO. It was Remy's birthday but I was the one to give birth so I rewarded myself with the DODO to die for Key Lime Pie!
Thanks Dorothy and Dr. C. we had a great time!

Happy Birthday Remington

Remy's first 'friend' birthday party. Everyone had a blast. Personally I'm impressed he can climb this thing....for any other kid it's no big deal but for us it's HUGE!

Way to Go Rems!
Pizza faces...I'm keeping these and tormenting them when they're teenagers

Blow baby!

Cooper Remy and Hyatt
Touchdown Steelers! It was the perfect birthday weekend for Rems

This picture is about 2 years old, but it's one of my favorites! It's hard to look at that picture and see that joy and know a week later he was hooked to a life support machine at PCMC that was breathing for him. It's a good reminder to me that we never know what may come. We taped this picture to the head of his bed in the ICU and we became quite popular. Everyone wanted to see that grin. Personally I believe the best is yet to come. I wish for his birthday I could give him a colon or a normal chromosome count. Someday, someday those things be granted him. People say these children only come to special parents. I don't believe that. I believe Remy is special and feel blessed he chose Brian and I as his parents.

Simple Things I Love/ week #1

I can't just pick one this week

1. Pink... I was doing a morning cuddle with Zoe and her silky and just really loving all her pink.
2. In addition to #1 Sharing sparkle pink lip gloss with my daughter.
3.Humor....I really want a new car because I live in mine for my job and it's got 125,000 miles on it and it doesn't agree with snow. Instead, I've got 4 new snow tires with studs. Have you ever driven with studs? (NO this is not 4 hot guys sitting in the car with me!!!) Between 0 and 15mph hour it sounds like I'm driving on streets covered with Rice Krispies. For some reason that visual makes me laugh.

Welcome 2009

Ten and Five! No this is not a football term. Last week my husband asked me to make a list of ten things I could START doing and Five things I could STOP doing; that would make my life the lives of my family better. He would make the same list and we would compare. It would be rare to find us reading a book on marriage together, but we do plan together. I am not going to post my list, but one of mine was staying current on our family history; in my world at this moment = blogging. This year I am hijacking an idea from my BFF Kath. I am going to do 52 weeks of My Favorite Things. Two of my favorite songs are "Simple Things" by Jim Brickman and the Favorite Things song from Sound of Music. Most of my favorite things are the simple things. When I was in high school and to this day whenever I am feeling down; I write a list these favorite things. I've never actually recorded or kept any of the lists; thus my project for 2009.

Family pics 08 - without Photoshop!

As we say good-bye to 2008 the journal/blog wouldn't be complete without the family pics from this year. We had a great photographer; we had really cranky kids!!!! How do you say in a positive way it was family picture day from HECK! I didn't bother to re-touch because to quote a favorite saying at our house, "It is what it is!"

Sweet as Sugar

We ended our seasonal festivities with the Sugar Bowl last Friday night. We partied with Nana, my bros, Cass and Megan. What a game! So sweet 13-0 a perfect season.

The best comment of the evening came from Adam when we had just told the kids they needed to calm down. Adam said, "What are you talking about, you guys are way louder than we are."

Disneyland Surprise

Thursday morning before school let out for Christmas break we tied some Disney balloons to the kids' suitcases and pulled them out of bed telling them we had an early Christmas present for them. Off we flew!

Disney faves

Jedi Training for the BoysMinnie where have you been all my life?

Zoe froze when it came to her favorite Sleeping Beauty
Everyone should take a 'Cass' to Disneyland - Thanks you're the bomb!

Cinderella
All my Monsters!

Dancing downtown Disney

About two weeks before the big trip I tested the surprise waters with Cam and asked him what he thought about going to Disneyland for our next family trip. He told me that would be dumb. So much for thinking I was a 'supercool' mom! He was indeed surprised and excited when we sprung the news on him. Everyone should get to see Disneyland at Christmas. Wow!

My favorite things about this trip:

1. It felt like a dream. Our kids didn't ask for much and we tried to say yes whenever we could. They were the perfect ages to go to Disneyland. Zoe wore her princess dress in the park for two days straight, and cried when we had to take it off at night. It may be the happiest place on earth but it's still a family vacation and there were occasional melt downs. I was so impressed the leader of our pack (Brian) didn't loose his cool once. He did however go a bit pale when he got the bill for dinner with the characters.

2. Cambridge and Remy Jedi training. They loved it. We went back three times. Cam got picked twice. On the third time; Remy kept saying "my turn" "my turn". I hoisted him on my shoulders and they picked him. They allowed me on the stage to help him. After about 5 minutes he gave me a push and said "Go" which was my big hint to get lost.

The Disney cast members did a great job helping him and he got to fight Darth Maul!

3. Everyone should take Remy to Disneyland. After a little persistence Disney gave us a Golden Arrow pass which allows you to enter the exit and get right on the ride = NO LINES. (It doesn't work on every ride...but most). This has to be one of those times without any reservation I was sooo grateful for that extra 21st chromosome.

4. Dancing Downtown Disney - Our first night there we went to Downtown Disney (located just outside the park) There was a guy playing some grooving guitar and a little kid dancing. Remy and Zoe decided to join. I decided to jump in as well. We were laughing dancing our hearts out when I noticed a little down syndrome girl had joined us. I went over to talk to her parents when I turned again two more down syndrome boys had joined our little dance group as well. So Rare! But soooo much fun!