Boden Chews up Everything

We are on our first official family trip with Boden in tow. He is a pretty good traveler so far, however I keep forgetting about the chewing up factor. We have had a few casualties on this trip, and I feel like after the first casualty, I have been pretty proactive. Obviously, that's not the case! As to date, here's our running list:

1 pair of Ashley's sunglasses
1 Creating Keepsakes magazine
3 colored pencils
1 of Holland's headbands
1 piece of plastic that covers some nuts and bolts in our car
1 sheet of stickers
3 or 4 smiley face stickers from that sheet
1/2 of an abandoned donut
part of a plastic grill cover at a friend's house

and he started to nibble on a pair of the wireless headphones that go to our car DVD player - that would have been big trouble for him! I'm so glad I noticed those when I did.

I think that is all for now. Hopefully, there won't be any additions!

Oh! the joys of dog ownership!

Baby Teigan

We drove over to Yakima this weekend to meet our "gran niece". Can you believe that Jonathan and I have great uncle and great aunt status? Pretty crazy, I know. We are much, much too young for that. However, we are truly delighted to welcome baby Teigan into our family! She is absolutely beautiful! Here are a few of my favorite shots of her.....

I interrupt all this race talk to bring you these.....

Here I am, In ALL My Fairy Glory

runner 10
"costume contest"
fairy costume
4.0 miles for this first leg
streets of spokane
one intersection after another
not another runner in sight
strange looks from drivers
stranger looks from pedestrians i had to pass
construction site - breathing in dust and freshly poured asphalt
onward through the public park
still in fairy costume
ran past a wedding ceremony (hee hee)
still no other runners in site
103 degree weather
no shade, black asphalt trail
scorchin' heat
not enough water
looking for my family to cheer me on
family at starbucks getting a snack
feeling bummed
wondering if there were really other costumes out there

wondering if my family was ever going to show up

wondering how much longer i had to run

wondering: what was i thinking??

seriously, it was a fun, fun race, and i am so glad that i did it.
however, I am way too tired to write a full report at this time!
more to follow....

Race Day

What was I thinking??

It just so happens that "what were we thinking" is the name of our team, and it couldn't feel any more appropriate than it does right now - 4:45 am on race day after a sleepless night. However, I imagine it will ring even more true as we head into our second leg in the middle of the night, and then again on our third leg as we are on the homestretch, but yet still so far away!

I had a very restless night. I'm feeling anxious, excited, overwhelmed, under trained, sleep deprived, and a little bit giddy. A weird surge of emotions. (the 4:45 a.m factor might be partly to blame)

Stay tuned for a full report.

Let the race begin......

Things to Pack

I have spent the last day 1/2 packing my bag for my little adventure that I am about to embark upon. I seriously had no idea what I needed so I have been making a list over the last week or so. Here's a glance as to what all needs to fit into my bag:

*running shoes (complete with flower embellishments for my costume leg)
*2-3 pairs of extra socks
*2 short sleeved running shirts
*1 long sleeved running shirt
* sports bra type running shirt
*2 pairs of running shorts and 1 pair of running pants
*extra "underroos" (as our race director put it in a mass email)
*a little running pouch for carrying my cell phone for my whee hours of the morning leg
*sports watch
*Ipod to listen to during my down time
*reading material (people magazine - brad/angelina family photo shoot! , a novel, catalogs)
*heed enhancement powder, gel, and recoverlite drink
*trail mix, bananas, granola bars, other misc. snacks
*car/travel games to play for when our van is "off" duty
*pillow, blanket, towel
*small grooming kit in case we stop and take a shower
*breath mints and gum, toothpaste and toothbrush
*car cell phone charger
*costume - flower petal tutu, head wreath, fairy wings, fairy flower tattoo, etc
*water bottle
*camera
*cash
*printed directions for each of my legs so I don't get lost (especially in rural Idaho farm land)
*extra comfy clothes for when I'm not running
*pictures of my girls (and probably Jonathan, too!)
*trash bags (because that's what I signed up to bring!)
*race manual

and lastly, I can't forget: energy, lots and lots of energy!

I think that about covers it. I might need a slightly larger bag though!

Midsummer Day's Run

Here is a sneak peek at some of my costume items! The rest of the costume won't be revealed until race day which by the way is in exactly 57 hours and 10 minutes from now!

Hoopla Schmoopla

I had one main complaint about running the Spokane 1/2 marathon - not nearly enough "hoopla" for me. If I'm gonna run 13.4 miles for no real apparent reason, other than putting my body into complete and utter shock after being on bedrest for 5 months, then I want song and dance. I want cheerleaders all along the route. I want costumes. Bands. Dancers. Musicians. People in wigs. People doing jigs. People eating figs.

You get the point.

Hoopla is what I want. Lots and lots of hoopla.

Now what is striking me as sorta funny is that I have this big 190 mile relay race coming up next weekend (exactly one week from today), and from the sound if it - there is going to be lots and lots of hoopla. There are 36 legs for 12 runners to run. One of the legs is a wig contest, one of the legs is a costume contest, one of the legs is a night time leg with a bright lights contest. There are also team spirit awards, and best decorated van awards. Hoopla, I tell ya!

So what's the "funny part?", you ask. The funny part is that my leg got changed a couple of weeks ago to the costume contest leg, and now I'm feeling a little less hoopla might be just fine! Hoopla Schmoopla. I am so stressed out about it, and I don't know why. This is seriously right up my alley. At least it use to be right up my alley.

Something has changed as I have gotten older, and I'm not sure I like it. Years ago, I would have jumped up and down and begged to get the costume leg. I would have been ecstatic about it, so much so that I would have picked out the loudest, craziest, and wackiest costume ever!

So, what happened?

At what point in my life did I make this shift and will there be point in my life in which I make the switch back? I think it all has to do with the whole "comfortable in your own skin" phenomenon. I am totally comfortable in my own skin around my life long friends (meaning the ones that I had years ago who knew me when I would have begged for the costume leg), my family, or in a situation where I can be totally anonymous. The problem is that my every day life doesn't include any of those things. I have dear friends here in Spokane, but they don't really know that side of me. My family isn't close by, and they wouldn't be running the race with me anyway, and of course, I can't be totally anonymous.

So, what am I to do?

I'm thinking this will be a good therapeutic exercise for me. One that will force me to call upon my old self and bring her to the table (or to the race, as the case may be). One that will get me to ask - what would I have worn say 15 or 20 years ago?

Hoopla Schmoopla, my ass! I'm gonna get my groove back.....

Wish me luck.

any ideas?

Poem for Dylan

Dylan Grace
Fair of face,
Rosy lips and dancing hips,
Sparkling eyes,
They tell no lies,
The depth of you, our gift our treasure,
Poems and Wordles try to measure.

Love,

Grandma

14 Months

click to enlarge

A wordle for Dylan,
as she turns 14 months!


Make your own "wordle" here.

New Running Shoes

Apparently, I was in dire need of some new running shoes. I have been complaining about sore feet, tender heels, and tired legs for the last few weeks of my training. I talked with my coach about the heel thing, and she took one look at my shoes and gasped! I immediately went to my local running store, and got fitted for a new pair, because in two weeks these shoes need to take me here, and then three weeks later, they need to take me here, and then about 6 weeks later, they are going to need to take me here (just the 1/2 portion).

That's a lot of running! I have been working towards earning that "runner" title. I probably should have earned it after completing last year's 1/2 marathon, but I still didn't feel confident enough to identify with other runners. I think I am well on way to earning it by now though, what do you think?!

Mary, I think this means I am committed to the Leavenworth 1/2 since I have now written about it. Are you in?

And, She's Off.....

she swaggers

she totters

she stumbles

she wobbles

she wavers

she tumbles

she walks!

Mommy Bedtime Playlist

Something I want to rememer....

Jonathan and I alternate girls each night during bedtime business. While I am putting one down, he is putting the other down. And then the next night, we switch. When it is my turn to put Dylan down, we have a little bedtime routine. I make her a bottle, grab her soft and cuddly blankie, and rock her in the rocking chair. While I am rocking her, I sing to her, and I have realized that I have a little "playlist" that I sing each time. I don't stray from it. It's the same songs in the same order, every time.

1. I love you, Dylan
2. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
3. Tell me Why
4. Great Big Star
5. ABC song
6. The Earth is Our Mother

By the time I get to the last song, she is pretty heavy lidded, and usually asleep. Occasionally, I will go back through my playlist a second time, but not very often.

Tonight was my turn with Dylan, and she didn't even make it all the way through the playlist because she was so incredibly tired! That may have been a first!

As far as my Holland routine goes, it is pretty much the same each time, too. She gets on pajamas, brushes her teeth, and picks out a book. We have been reading a variety of different chapter books to her, so if we are in the middle of a chapter book then that is the one she will pick. I will read her a chapter of our book, a fairytale from our fairytale anthology, or an all together different story book- whatever she is in the mood for on that particular night. After I read to her, I set the kitchen timer for a certain amount of minutes for "cuddles", then when the timer goes off, I leave her to venture into dream land on her own. I usually tell her to have "sweet dreams", and then I also tell her "night-night sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite". In which one of us will continue it by saying, "don't YOU let them bite" and then we act like we are taking a big bite out of each other (complete with bed bug bite sound effects).

Then we laugh hysterically.

A great way to end the day! : )

Testing Out the Window Light

A Fairy Garden, In the Works

Holland, Mimi, and I started working on our fairy garden this afternoon. Holland insisted on having snap dragons in her fairy garden so we went on a snapdragon hunt until we finally found some. Holland decorated the fairy garden sign, and hung up a couple of her fairies. We made a little fairy house, and Holland also made a sandy path for the fairies to follow. We are going to add a few more items, but we aren't real sure what those items are, yet. We will know them when we see them - possibly a fairy garden statue, some shiny marbles to line the path, some more hanging fairies or sparkly butterflies, and whatever else suits our fairy fancy!

Any ideas on what else we might need?!

This Tuesday's "Ten".

1. Our new addition to the family has been quite successful so far. Both girls just go nuts whenever they are around him. The only real problem we have been having is that he thinks Dylan is one of his littermates. He wants to roll around on the ground with her and paw her and snip at her. Other than that, he is pretty mellow as far as puppies go. He likes to sleep a lot. He found this little area under our back steps, and has claimed it for his humble abode. It's actually a perfect spot for him, and how we don't need a doghouse!

2. We have had a super busy last week or two. It seems like we have been going nonstop, and our summer is just zipping by. We went to Kennewick, Wenatchee, Lake Chelan, Silver Mountain, and back home again over the course of 4 days! For those non-Washatonians, that's a lot of driving! We had a ton of fun at each visit - wish we could do more driving and visiting all summer long!

3. On Thursday, my friend Mary and her son Koren, came over from Wenatchee and we all participated in the Cherry Pickers Trot and Pit Spit. This is an annual event that I have always wanted to do with the idea of making a family tradition out of it. They host a "Tot Trot" for kids 5 and under and they each receive a ribbon at the finish line. I love the idea of introducing Holland to fun family events that includes good physical activity - like running! The course was a pretty hard little course -four hilly miles through the orchards and countryside. Good job, Mary!

4. The following morning, my same friend, Mary did a family photo shoot for us out in Jonathan's grandma's wheat fields, near Spangle, Washington. It was so much fun. You can click here to see some of our shots. I can't wait to blow some of them up and hang them on our walls!

5. My crazy relay race is coming right up, and I am still stressing out about it. So much that I had a dream about it last night. I dreamt that I went to the place where the race was to have a meeting with my team, and it turned out to be the actual race instead. I had the dates wrong in my calendar! I was not prepared at all. I didn't even have running clothes. I didn't have my change of clothes for each legs I am to run. I forgot my costume that I was suppose to wear, and I had my stroller with my purse and camera in it. No kids though - just the stroller. All of my teammates were there and they were very familiar with the course because they had been training on it. I was in tears, but the gun went off and I had to run - prepared or not!

6. Little Miss Dylan is starting to stand up by herself and take a few independent steps. (FINALLY). This only happens though when she is totally unaware of what she is doing! As soon as she looks around and figures out what just happened, she drops to all fours! I am thinking any, any day now!

7. Holland is very into sounding out words and writing them down. She will often label her pictures with the names of the objects. She is actually pretty good at it. Be on the lookout for some uploaded examples, and a funny story of her writing the f-word. (yikes)

8. Dylan is at that stage that if you say "no-no" to her, she will immediately stick out that bottom lip, make it quiver, and then she bursts into tears as if you just did the most terrible thing in the whole world!

9. Holland, my mom, and I are going to put a little fairy garden in our yard today. We have been going on walks each night with our doggie, and one of our neighbors has a fairy garden in their front yard. It is so cute. We'll share our pictures when we finish it.

10. My mom is here for about 4-5 weeks this summer. She is house sitting for a friend of ours. She just came over for coffee, and I have been ignoring her while I post this so I better go for now. Thank goodness I made it to ten!

Happy Tuesday!

A New "Do" and a Tattoo, Too

The Doggy Name Game

Dudley
Bailey
Hummingbird
Binx
Guiness
Boden
Rocketmoon
Oliver
Max
Baxter
Lovebug
Hershey
Java
Choco-latte
Rocketstar


And the winner is..... "Boden" or "Bodie" for short!

(can you guess which names Holland came up with?!)

Our New Adventure

So, we took the plunge today, and we are officially the proud owners of a nine week old puppy! He is an English Pointer/Chocolate Lab Mix and cute as ever. He has mostly blackish brown fur with a white chest, white paws, and a white nose with a couple of freckles. He came from a house full of children, and one of them temporarily named him "freckles".

Cute, huh?

That's just it though - it's cute.

Too cute, actually.

Jonathan and I both agree that we need to re-name him, but we are going to have to "sell" the idea to Holland, and we're not too sure how we're gonna do that. We are open to suggestions!

Here are his first photos.....






Let the adventure begin!

I Haven't Posted One of These in a While.....

(because neither girl will ever sit still long enough)
I didn't even try to push my luck and get them both to look at the camera!

Ten.

1. For those of you who are dying to know what the purchase was that got Jonathan into trouble...... it was indeed blinking shoes. But not just any blinking shoes, they are Tinkerbell blinking shoes. He also threw in some princess hair accessories (another forbidden item). The plot thickened though as I learned of the details surrounding the event. Come to find out, the reason they were even looking at shoes is because Holland had failed to put shoes on when they headed out the door. He didn't even notice she was wearing her high heeled glass slippers when he buckled her into her carseat. So, I'm not so sure that walking around the store in her glass slippers would have been so bad. At least not as bad as coming home with blinking light princess shoes!

2. Seriously though, for those of you who are now thinking I am a total snotty B*@#% - I'm not. I am slightly annoyed, and I can't wait until she grows out of them, but that's truly about the extent of it! : )

3. My big 190 mile team relay race is coming right up, and I am starting to freak out. I am discovering that I am not that good at training by myself. I really need a team and a coach to encourage, motivate, and inspire me. I will be running three legs of the race totally 15.5 miles over a 36 hour time frame. I was online reading last night about these races, and I should be training as if I am running another 1/2 marathon. I am not even close to being at that stage of my training so I really have to step it up these next few weeks. YIKES. Wish me luck!

4. Keeping on that same subject (the relay race), I received an email last night from the race administrators, and there have been a few changes. My first leg is now the "best costume" leg. Lucky me! Seriously, I think I can totally get into this, but I'm just not sure what kind of costume will lend itself to running, sweating, and of course winning! Any ideas?

5. I had my first newborn photo shoot the other day, and it was a lot of fun. However, I was a little discouraged though because the pictures didn't come out quite as good as I wanted them to. I had rented a lens from a local camera shop, and I wasn't use to it so I think that played a big part in my focus, exposures, etc. It was only practice so that's good. I just have to keep on practicing!

6. My online photography class has come to an end, and I am so sad. It was such an incredible class. It left me wanting more. The critiques were my favorite part. I would really love to find a photography mentor. Someone who could look at my shots and tell me how I could change my settings, or how I needed to find a different lighting spot, or how I could have composed it differently. Just good solid critiques. I've been reading a lot and learning a lot about how everything in your shot needs to "deserve to be there". Wow. That's a hard concept to grasp.

7. Moving on. We have two play dates scheduled for today. One at our house and the other one at a friend's house. I'm exhausted already! It should make for a quick and easy bedtime tonight though!

8. Dylan will absolutely NOT let go of our hands or little fingers to walk on her own. She will cruise all over the house and yard with her hand clenched tightly around one, tiny finger, but the second you wiggle your finger as if you are going to make an adjustment, she drops to the floor. Back on all fours.

9. I almost forgot to update you on Piddlelina and Pupcake. They have been set free. So we are back to wanting a puppy. (honestly, I don't think Holland was really replacing the dog idea with some measly little rollie pollie bugs, it was just the novelty of them). I'll have to update the dog situation later.

10. I have a hair appointment in 20 minutes and I'm still in my pajamas so gotta run...

Happy Tuesday!

My Husband Is In Trouble

There are a few things that I feel very adamantly about NOT EVER buying either of our daughters. No matter how much begging, pleading, whining, screaming, negotiating, or crying occurs. I just won't budge. I don't know why I feel so strongly about them, but I do.

Most of the things that I don't want them to have are associated with characters or princesses. Don't get me wrong though - my girls have way more than their fair share of character and Disney princess paraphernalia. (books, toys, costumes, games, jewelry, movies, etc.) You name it - they probably have it. Except for the things on "my list".

That is until now....

Yep, Jonathan got suckered in by a big, sweet, "pretty please, daddy", and he immediately got weak in the knees, pulled out his wallet, and promptly forgot any discussion that we had previously had.

He is in BIG trouble. I think Holland may have known that I wouldn't have budged so she was testing out the waters to see if Jonathan would cave or not. Sure enough, he did.

So here's the list:

1. Character or Disney Princess Sheets, Pillows, Bedding and bedroom decor
2. Princess Sporting Equipment ( I ABSOLUTELY draw the line on this one)
3. Blinking Light Shoes (with or without characters or princesses)
4. Character or Princess t-shirts, jeans, or basically any attire (pajamas - okay)
5. Princess hair accessories (pony tail holders, barrettes, etc)

I do realize that the character clothing will creep up here and there from special aunts, grandmas, other relatives, and even friends,and that is totally okay because she absolutely adores them. It is fun to watch her delight in them, and I'm glad she gets the occassional opportunity to wear such things when given to her. I'm just not the one buying them!

So, which one do you think he came home with? Or which combination of things do you think he came home with, is more like it......

Place your bet in the comment section, and I will reveal the answer very soon!

4th of July

Two New Pets

Holland is absolutely tickled with two, new "pets" that she now has. She found them in our backyard, and quickly put them in an appropriate container so she could keep them. She gave them each a name: "Diddle-Lina", and "Pupcake"!

"What are they?", you ask.

Roly Polies!

After a quick suggestion from mom, she put some dirt, leaves, and a flower (her own idea) into their new home so they would be comfortable.

And guess what? I know you won't even believe it, but they both can do tricks! They can each roll up into a tiny, little ball! How cute is that! I saw them do it countless times - (pretty much every time Holland tried to pick them up and show them off)!

And the best part of this whole story is that Holland told me, "I don't even need a dog now, Mommy!"

Here they are in their cozy, Tupperware home!
(click on picture to enlarge)

Midsummer Day's Dream

This is my last photo assignment for my online photography class. I was suppose to put together some sort of "photo essay" or a storyboard, of sorts. This isn't quite what I had in mind when I set out to complete my project, but this is what I ended up with. It definitely captures a day in the life of a four 1/2 year old!

Just one day in the life of - for the next day she might be a pirate.....