Another Conversation

Situation: Mom and Shea eating medium spicy salsa. Mom also doing dishes, feeding Zachary and refereeing a light saber fight.

Shea: "Mom, is there easy?"

Mom: "Is it easy to make?"

Shea: "No, is there easy?"

Mom: "I don't know."

Shea: "Ughhhh"

Hours later. Light bulb moment for mom. Easy salsa...not medium salsa. MILD!!!

A conversation

Mom: "Zachary, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"

Zachary: "Grandma."

I really hate to run...

This is my friend Julie. She is a real runner! She was there at the finish line to cheer me on. If it were not for her, I would not have any pictures.

In January we had the Activity Days girls write down their goals for the year. In a very weak moment I wrote down that I would like to complete a half marathon. I kind of forgot about it until around August when I found out about a marathon benefitting adoption. So, I had to do it. I started training. I am not a runner. I do not get that "runners high" that everyone talks about. I curse the entire run. But, Saturday when I crossed that finish line UNDER my goal time, it was an amazing feeling to hear my name announced over the loud speaker. Not only because I finished, but I actually accomplished a goal (maybe it it time to move on to cooking more) that I had made on a whim.

Adoption is very near to my heart and even though Shea and I sometimes just can not see eye to eye, I can not imagine my life without her as my daughter. I am so thankful for the sacrifices that had to be made by one person to make me a mom. I hope that by my running, someone else can get closer to what they want to be.

Cody's big day

Happy Birthday!!

With Cody around there is never a dull moment. The things that pop out of his mouth...and various other body parts, are sometimes inappropriate but are also impossible not to laugh at. He is an amazing brother to Zachary, who idolizes his big brother, and Cody puts up with the beatings from Alex with stride. For his birthday dinner this is what he wanted (without a hesitation):

hot dogs (moms kind)

cooked onions

marshmallows

cheetos

brownies in the shape of hearts and stars with frosting drizzled all over and sprinkles

Cody, we love you!

Happy 6th birthday!!

The Beach

Our biannual trip to the beach was amazing. We usually go in April and October right before it gets to hot and right when it starts to get cooler. It makes for a perfect day. The water was a little cool but it didn't stop Shea and Alex from jumping the waves that were extra big from the wind or stop Cody from shooting us all with his crayon squirt gun (thanks, grandma).

Once he got past the "yucky" on his hands, Zach had a blast.

Chasing the one with the ball...hmm, where is the ball? Does Shea really have it or is it just reason to push her down in the sand? Who knows.

Whoops, I missed.

We have taken this same picture since Cody was a baby. The line just continues to grow.

A Pact Between Friends

Last week Cody came into my room at 2:00 in the morning and wanted to sleep with me for a while. After a minute or two, I carried him upstairs and when I returned to my room, Shea and Alex were asking Steffen if they could watch a little TV. I couldn't figure out how they got by me and they proceeded to tell me that they had been up since 1:00 playing their DS's in the playroom in their little fort. They had made a pact to wake up at one and sleep in the fort. Only Shea would really wake up. All this would have provided a good laugh except for the fact that it was the first school night after Spring Break. I mean seriously, they couldn't have pulled this stunt two days earlier when I would have laughed about it?

Playing Catch Up

What a crazy week. We will start off with the cats. One morning we could hear crying from across the street and of course, the kids had to investigate. They found three tiny kittens. They had appeared in our neighbors bushes the day before and she didn't know what to do with them. The kids became a little obsessed with them and the next night, the cats moved across the street to our house. That night it was going to get a little chilly so we caught the kittens (which was no small feat) and made them a bed. I spent all the next day trying to find them (in the beginning there were three) a home. I called all the shelters and homes and noone had a place for them. So, Lindsay had the bright idea to try Craigslist. Brilliant!!! Five minutes after I posted the kittens we had found a home for one of them. The next day animal control came and got the others. The kids were crushed...but I am not a cat person and besides, they knew Grandma would never come visit if we had cats.

CHEESE!!

It was slightly warm and sunny and the kids were begging to go outside and get wet. As a nice mom, I said yes, knowing that in five minutes they would end up like Shea. The boys lasted a littel longer but in the end, jumped inside and asked for hot chocolate.