is it spring yet? and hippies

Jeez, less than a month until summer and we're still wondering if spring is going to make an appearance. I've seen a few glimpses, like the beautiful blossoms in our yard.



Finally this weekend the weather forecasters got it wrong. Not that that's new. But we were pleasantly surprised with hot, sunny weather on Saturday after choosing a nice, indoor, rainy day activity: the Pacific Science Center.

We played in the water. . .

And played in the water. . .

And played in the water some more.

James got to touch a calf brain. (Now he doesn't have to rely on Daddy's experience--they ARE slimy.)


And Addy got to touch a cockroach.


We had to remind everyone NOT to touch the butterflies.


Addy loved the giant checkers set.


But being the clean freak he is, he wouldn't leave until it was all cleaned up.


After the Science Center, we walked outside to Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. Saturday was the first day of the NW Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center, a celebration of the Northwest's folk, ethnic, and traditional arts and activities, going on it's 38th year. Basically it's hippie fest. I've never seen so many people without shoes and with unshaven body parts in one place. Amazing. But the food and music were great, and we had so much fun taking it all in with our friends the Clarks.


We walked around and browsed the booths.


We discovered nature (i.e. let's pick all the bark off this tree, even though Mom said it hurts the tree.)


We listened to reggae music and ate yummy festival food for lunch--Thai for me and Cree, popcorn for James. I know, we're stellar parents.


The boys had a great time dancing and acting silly. Addy couldn't quite understand the directions for walking like a crab, so he sat in this position for about 2 minutes. Notice the near moshing going on later between him and James and their best friend Aidan.


It was all so exhausting!


Thanks for a great day, Clarks! We're so blessed to have you as friends.

We ended our evening with a quiet BBQ in the backyard, complete with ice cream cones. Addy demonstrates here how to eat one.


So I guess I can believe summer is coming. I just wish it would hurry up. I got out all the boys' shorts tonight, hoping it might speed things up. The trick here is to never put away the long-sleeved shirts.

so mad!

Addy's a pretty laid back guy. But when he gets really mad about something, he'll tell you, and lately I can't help but laugh! He puts his little hands on his hips (I wonder where he learned that?), scrunches up his face, and says emphatically, "I so mad!" That's when you know he's serious. I love that he voices his anger instead of just throwing a tantrum. Okay, he's pretty good at throwing tantrums, too. But it speaks to his reasonable mind that he can verbalize it at such a young age. Something he didn't learn from me.

I've been trying to catch it on video for a while, but he gets over stuff pretty quickly. Luckily, this time I already had the camera out, and he was really mad! Check out the angry pace across the bridge. I don't know what little baby he's referring to, but she must have done something pretty awful. . .

boomer!

"Take your camera for this one. And we don't mean for before-and-after photos. We mean during. The race begins in the predawn darkness 26 miles out of St. George (they light huge bonfires at the start). Several miles into it-as the sun comes up-you're treated to the sheerest and most breathtaking red-rock formations this side of Mars." -Runner's World March 1999

Three of five years I've run the St. George Marathon (two were before I joined the digital camera age)

As far as I'm concerned, the St. George marathon is the best marathon in the world. Okay, so it's the only marathon course I've run, but it is not only beautiful, it is well-organized and fast. If you could call a marathon "fun" (which you can't), this would be it. I talk this race up to everyone I know, even non-runners who think they could never run a marathon (that was me seven years ago!). I am one of it's biggest fans! That's why this year felt like a slap in the face. That's right--I DIDN'T GET IN! The registration is a lottery, meaning you sign up for a chance to run, but only if your name gets picked. If you sign up in a group of up to five people, you have a better chance of getting in--if one name gets picked, you all get in. And we've never had a problem in the past. But this year our group--me, Paige, Laurie, my dad, and a friend of a friend--did not get picked. Paige and I are absolutely devastated. This has become our family tradition. We plan a whole vacation around this race. We have our rituals and traditions that we talk about all year long. And this year Peen and I are going to be totally left out of the festivities. She's sad--I'm bitter. What a let down.

It's not going to stop me from running, though. Training for the marathon is my only motivation to exercise these days. We're signing up for the Top of Utah marathon in Logan, Utah instead. It's about the same time of year and supposed to be really beautiful, and it means I'll get to spend time with my grandma and aunts and cousins in Logan. Yea! But I will miss our annual fall trip to SG, the birthday party for the boys, the plush accommodations, running with all the Sybrowsky clan, and of course the time with family. All I can say is, "BOOMER!"

waz up!

This is my handsome, sweet, brilliant James in his 2007-2008 preschool picture. What a perfect little smile! It is so him. Or is it...


Actually, I'm not sure how the photographer got that sweet, innocent smile. It seems all I can get from the kid as of late is something that looks like one of the "Waz up!" Budweiser commercials from a few years back. You know, the ones that feature a bunch of guys calling their friends and yelling "Waaaz uuup!" with their tongues hanging out of their mouths? I don't think James has ever seen those commercials, but he's got the tongue-thing down. He's definitely his father's child.

my day before mother's day

Happy Mother's Day! This was taken at Carly & Brian's a couple of weeks ago while their magnolia tree was still in bloom.


True to form, Christian was on call today, which means I spent Mother's Day alone with the boys. This did not make for the best Mother's Day ever. Let's just say that by the time I finally got them in bed, after wrestling them at church and most of the rest of the day, I was in tears. Seriously, they know how to push all my buttons. But the night before Mother's Day was about as close to perfect as I could imagine.

I got my real Mother's Day present a few weeks ago. A new bike! We've taken a few long rides on the trail as a family and it is so fun! Christian pulls the trailer and I try to keep up. It's a great workout! And I love having a cross-training option when I get bored with running. Here' s a picture of it after a long ride (you can tell how long by looking at James' face!).
But last night I got something even better. First, Christian took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's while I enjoyed a girls night with some friends from church. We saw Made of Honor (there were Milk Duds, Coke, and a hot costar, so it didn't really matter if the movie was a tad predictable), then went out for appetizers and dessert (six-layer chocolate cake--evil!) at Claimjumper. Just having a night with no kids and good conversation was so relaxing--just what I needed. But it got better. When I got home about 10:45, the kids were still up, but they were bathed and completely ready for bed, and Christian was folding laundry. I know. You don't believe that Christian and laundry could exist in the same sentence (unless I was referring to the piles of scrubs he leaves in the laundry for me), but it's true. He had folded the three loads of whites I had done earlier in the day. A-maz-ing. Then the kids got to give me my present, since Daddy wouldn't be there on the actual day.
They had gone to the store and picked out bunches of my favorites to make me the best basket ever! Tropical Starbursts, Junior Mints, Chocolate-Mint Milano cookies. . .oh, and dark chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Are you kidding me? I'm already fighting the battle of the bulge, but come on, it's Mother's Day. How can I turn down treats picked out by my sweets? Plus some fun pampering items for soft feet, face, and lips, and my guilty pleasure--Us Weekly. But the very best part was that magnetic key case you see in the front of the basket.

My husband is such a very thoughtful gift-giver, just like his father. In the last year, I have locked my keys in my car three times. That's more times than in the rest of my entire life. The last two were only about a month apart. Of course it happens when I am far away and have no family to bail me out. So when it happened last week at the post office on a night that Christian was on call, I decided I had to do something. I needed an extra key attached to my car.

I had been putting it off all week, dreading taking the boys to Home Depot to wait for a copy of my key while they climb in and out of the cart, run laughing down the plumbing aisle, and generally drive me out of my mind. But it had been on my to-do list all week. The best present you could ever give me was that key and key box, Cree. You know how much I hate doing stuff like that. I LOVE you! And I'm so glad I don't have to worry about calling you at work to ask you to come get me in Marysville ever again. What a great gift, and a perfect {night before} Mother's Day!

Being a mom is hard. I will not lie--my kids are challenging to me right now. I've been accused of looking like I have a perfect life on my blog. Well of course I want to post all the good, cute, funny stuff. But sometimes their silliness is enough to make me want to run screaming, when I know I should be cherishing their sweet giggles. Sometimes saying, "James, leave your brother alone" and "Adam, get out of the water!" for the millionth time in one day pretty much sends me over the edge. Maybe it's just too much time alone with them, and not enough sleep for me. It has been a hard six months or so. But then I look at how sweet they are sleeping, or pass a drawing James has done for me on the refrigerator, and I want to give myself a good talking-to for being so selfish. I have two beautiful, perfect children, who are smart, healthy, and full of life. I have a loving husband who gives me every opportunity he can to take a break. And I have amazing friends who often commiserate and offer wonderful advice when I complain.

". . .Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." ~M. Russell Ballard

I am going to do my best to remember that, and take more time to see and appreciate those shining moments. Being a mother is my favorite blessing, and I believe it is my purpose, my mission in this life. I'm thankful for a mother and mother-in-law who have taught me how to mother, and given me perfect examples to follow. I am so grateful for my boys, and my future girls! And I'm grateful for an incredible husband to share this adventure with! Happy Mother's Day!

let's go fly a kite

James has been begging me for a kite for months. Maybe since our trip to St. George last October for the marathon when Grandpa Brent flew the dragon kite with him. I finally broke down when I saw these kites for $1 at WalMart. I figured they probably wouldn't get off the ground, but I also wouldn't care if they got trashed the first time we used them. James has been watching out the window for wind constantly since we bought them, and today he finally got the perfect combination of sun and wind. Look at these kite-flying maniacs!


P.S. The picture and sound are distorted because I edited the clips in iMovie and compressed them. That's why it sounds like there are poltergeists in the background. I'll refrain from compressing in the future so I don't creep everyone out.

our visit to the sun

Ah, vacation time. Christian scheduled a vacation this month so he could go to Southern Utah and mountain bike. The kids and I went along to visit the sun. Unfortunately, Mr. Wind was also in St. George, so it was a little cooler than we hoped it would be. But the sun was still there, and the cooler air made it perfect biking weather.

We drove through the night (knocks almost two hours off travel time when you don't have to stop and eat lunch, take 20 potty breaks, and adjust the DVD player every two hours). We almost made it in time for the first session of General Conference, but we were delayed by a nail in our tire for about an hour. So we joined in the solemn assembly from our car, which was quite a unique opportunity. We were greeted by the Sybrowskys with pancakes and homemade syrup when we finally made it to Sandy. It was so good to see everyone! We were also able to finally meet Lewis the chihuahua and see a silkworm stigma under Grandpa Layne's grade school microscope.


While the boys attended the priesthood session, the girls took advantage of ladies night at TaiPan Trading. (Why oh why can't they open a store in Seattle? It's tragic.) What an exciting day! And of course on Sunday there were the traditional Bear Claws and Horns O' Plenty with chocolate milk while we watched Conference. I love family traditions. Plus we had our favorite flank steak dinner with all the siblings and cousins. I really felt the blessing of family on this trip. It was so fun to watch the cousins play together. Thanks for all your wonderful hospitality, Grandma Jode & Grandpa Layne!



When we left for SG on Monday morning, it was snowing. What?! We really did pick the worst week to be in Utah. The day before we got to SG it was 80 degrees; during the week it dipped down to the low 60s; and the day after we left it shot right back up to 80°. Seriously? But we did have a blast.

We got to spend the day with Sam, Lucy, Sara, and Dan (at least for lunch) in sunny (but windy) Las Vegas. It was so windy that we had to ditch the park for the McDonald's Playland. We loved seeing their house and playing on the trampoline! James was so sad that Sam wasn't coming back to St. George with us. They had such a great time together. And it was fun to see how big little Luce is getting! Thanks for having us, Sari!



Christian biked almost every day. Layne, T, and Roger came down to bike one day and found out that Christian really IS a doctor. When Roger took a tumble and a rock to the face, Christian pulled out his suture and sewed him up right on the trail. (My mom has speculated that Christian likes to take inexperienced bikers on rides just so he can practice his wilderness medicine skills, since this is not the first time someone in his group has been sent to the hospital.) We swam, watched movies, shopped, and of course we ate well. All I really cared about was a Cafe Rio run for pork tacos, and they did not disappoint. It was so fun to spend time with my mom. Even with all her aches and pains, she kept up with us--what a trooper! It was such a relaxing week. Thanks for letting us take over your house! We were so glad Grandpa made it down for the afternoon before we left--the kids had a great time with him.

James: "Grandpa, do you have any prizes for me? Grandma is all out."

Friday we took our new bike trailer on a little spin on one of SG's great paved trails. We biked up to the top entrance of Snow Canyon (literally along the marathon route, only uphill), then coasted down through the gorgeous state park, stopping once for a snack break and to take a little hike. The boys went crazy for the red rock and the chance to run around. After the 18+ mile ride, it was nice to get back to the house, but it inspired me to find a cheap Craigslist bike and put that trailer to use! It was great exercise! Christian got really good exercise pulling almost 100lbs. behind his bike. He is amazing!


To my family: doesn't this look very similar to baby pictures of me? I think it's the eyes.






I have missed St. George so much. When we lived in Utah, we probably went down there about once a month. We decided this trip that no matter where we end up, we will own a vacation home there. It is the perfect getaway. We were able to make it back in time to enjoy Saturday with the Sybrowskys again (mmmm, Crown Burger). And Lind & Code were able to squeeze me in for a cut and color--you rock! Thanks to everyone for making it a great trip!