Christmas Eve Eve

Ugg...I hate it when I take such large breaks from blogging. It makes it so hard to start up again. Luckily I'm too stubborn to give up and let the memories from the past couple months float away into forgotten-even-though-I-have-a-lot-of-pictures land. I don't know where to start, but I know I have to start somewhere, or I'll be kicking myself in a year. So just like in beauty pageants, these next few (or many) posts will be "in no particular order", starting with...Christmas Eve Eve.

We have been so crazy busy this month--even busier than the inevitable busyness of this time of year. Amongst all of the"important" stuff, there wasn't too many extended periods of low stress family time, so, even though we still had much to do before Christmas, on Christmas Eve Eve we took a trip to our neighborhood park and got just what we needed.

The boys were thrilled when I told them they could ride scooters and take what they call the "long cut".




...even when the long cut requires you to drag your scooter up a grassy hill.


It never ceases to amaze me how, within minutes of getting to the park, one of them will say, "Do you want to play monkeys, cheetahs, spies, ninjas...or one of several other names, and how the other will immediately agree and know exactly what to do. (By the way Reed and Max--all your games look the same and seem to involve a lot of talking)


Ruby was having a lot of fun too...until she crawled through the tunnel puddle.


Luckily she recovered fairly quickly from the wet pants and uncharacteristically enjoyed swinging with me.


Actually it was at the swings where we had the most fun. The boys loved having Sam there to push them super high. In fact, I'm pretty sure Reed asked for an "UnderDAD" when I tried to push him. I'm not sure if it's the pusher or the pushee who is having more fun here.


And then, like all good parents ,we encouraged our children to jump from the swings...and did our best to set an example.

Sam thought he was pretty awesome...we all did actually.


I did my best, but couldn't help but have visions of sprained ankles dancing in my head.


After watching us, Reed was eager to do his best too.


Max on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with jumping.


This was more of what he had in mind for a swing trick.


But even he finally gave into our prodding and gave us his best...


...and landed like this and realized that it wasn't as bad as he thought.


Even Ruby got a little brave and let Reed do an "Underdad"...


and liked it.


Our time at the park was just a quick diversion from the Christmas craziness, but it was special and just long enough to help me remember which part of the crazy matters most.

Have you tried..."Phenomenal"?

Reed had an assignment at school to find a larger but not too obscure word to present to his class. He had several options for how to present it, like making a poster or acting it out. He chose to make a commercial.

I suggested a style of commercial he could do and was all set to write it for him. I was planning exactly what he should say and how, but when I got home from work he already had the script written out. As soon as we finished dinner, we got right to work. An hour later we had finished filming, and after some brief editing it was ready to go. I think it turned out pretty well. If only I could think of a word to describe it...

His teacher said she loved it, but my favorite thing about it is that now I sometimes get to ask Lindsay, "Hey, why are you wearing Reed's jacket?!"

Ragnar-DC

TWO months ago...(yeah I am that behind) I ran the DC Ragnar race with 11 friends from North Carolina. If I had recorded my thoughts right after the race I think they would have been a little different, but two months after the fact all I can really remember was the fun. (OK...and maybe a little of the sleep deprivation).

The 200-mile Ragnar Relay is something I had wanted to do for a while, but I was especially excited to be able to do it with such a great group. It was fun to be with friends from North Carolina again. For two days it felt like I had never left.

Van #2


Julie started the race for us. She was a little nervous---I think we all were. After all the anticipation it was pretty exciting to finally be on our way.


We had 3 girls from the Garner Ward join and help to fill in some final holes in the team. They were very sweet and great additions to the team.


Shelley lead out for Van #2.


I was up next after Shelley for our team. I traded legs with another team member last minute, so I was a little nervous when my first run was listed as one of the toughest of the whole race--going straight uphill and then straight down. It was difficult, but it was also kind of nice to start with my most challenging run. I knew that if I could make it through my first one my other legs would be possible too.



Helen took off after me.




Suzie getting ready for her 2nd leg--luckily she brought her personal trainer/masseuse.


And with a little help from her brother, she was on her way.


Sam and the kids were supposed to meet me for my last leg of the race, but due to some miscommunication (and a lot of frustration on Sam's part) I never saw them. I had been looking forward to seeing them and getting a much needed boost.




It wasn't all about the running. Our team also knew how to have good time.


After my final run I was pretty exhausted... (Photo courtesy of Reed)


..but thrilled to finally see these sweet faces.






Poor Helen got lost on her last leg and ended up running 3 extra miles. Zach was our driver, but ended up getting some running in as well when he went to find Helen. The two of them ran into the transition area together. It was perfect.


Aside from the awesome company I enjoyed for two days, our perfect team name (Mormons on the Run) was a highlight of the experience. It was amazing how many other members of the church we met on the race. People definitely took notice and went out of their way to talk to us. More than once I heard, "Hey, I'm a Mormon on the Run, too"


After 2 days of running and sleep deprivation it was wonderful to cross the finish line as a team. The kids were so cute watching from the sidelines. Max said, "I think you got third place, Mom!"




The whole team--including our two dedicated drivers.



The kids only got to see the finish, but they were pretty excited and impressed by the whole event. In fact, for at least a week after the race Reed was extra helpful and obedient. When I asked why he was being extra good he said, "Well...I just know how hard that race was for you, so I'm just trying to make things easy for you." If that's all it takes think I'm ready to sign up for next year.

ハッピーハロウィン (Happy Halloween in Japanese)

My kids were definitely channeling the Orient this Halloween--and they were pretty darn cute while they did. The boys have known they wanted to be ninjas almost since last Halloween, so Ruby was the only one we really had to figure out. I'm not sure how long this whole "theme" thing will last, but for the moment they are pretty insistent and I don't mind at all.

I told them to be ninjas "saving" a Japanese princess. She doesn't look like she wants to be saved--probably because it looks more like an attack than a save.




Our actual Halloween night was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, in all my planning and preparing for the big night I failed to make sure my camera was charged and after just one photo is was dead. Ugg...I was kicking myself all night for not being ready to capture the pure joy and excitement brimming from each of my children. The Bywaters were kind enough to drive up and trick or treat with us as well, so my kids were pretty much in heaven.

I wasn't sure what Ruby would think of the whole trick-or-treating experience, but it only took one house for me to know. She was thrilled to be out with the crowd, tromping up and down the neighborhood. She outlasted both of her brothers' stamina when they were her age. After each house she would run back to show us what she had received, very insistent that we acknowledge her score with excitement equal to her own. I told Sam that she was absolutely in her element going door to door meeting strangers and welcoming their treats. Ruby truly loves to meet new people--especially when she thinks they have a fondness for her. I'm not sure if that makes her extremely kidnapable or just an awesome future missionary--I'm going with the later. Either way, I will always have to keep a close eye on this one.

One of the highlights of the night for me was at one of the houses where a woman passing out candy was also dressed like a geisha. Ruby immediately recognized the similarity and got very excited, pointing to her red lips and then to the woman's. It was priceless. (Did I mention how disappointed I was with the whole dead camera battery situation?)

After the fact, I did take a million pictures trying to make up for my loss. I certainly did not want to forget this cuteness. I was especially happy with how Ruby's costume turned out, considering we were just winging it from pictures on the Internet.




My ninjas being...ninjas. I loved their stop action moves for the camera. Max needs a little work a on the "stop" part of that action.




Reed's "ninja" eyes.


Max had a ninja meltdown during our photo shoot and this is the only picture I got of him that didn't also include tears and angry eyebrows.


Ruby liked getting her make-up on a little too much. I was shocked that she let me do it without a fuss. Even with my not-so-steady hand it came out pretty well.


In addition to finding out that Ruby likes to wear make up, we also discovered that she is not a big chocolate fan. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would be willing to trade all of her candy for a few pixie sticks--those, she can't get enough of.

Dead camera battery aside, it was a wonderful Halloween. The kids had tons of fun, the candy is almost gone, and Ruby now officially has girl dress up clothes.