my girl

My girl loves her new scooter. Our cute little neighbor came over and asked Morgan if she wanted her old scooter and Morgan has been slowing scooting around the neighborhood (actually the driveway, but I'm sure she'll be ready to tackle the entire neighborhood soon).

Morgan has a few cute rituals she does each night before going to sleep. After she's tucked in and we've left the room, she sneaks out of bed, opens her dresser drawer and gets out her little pink Christmas tree. She plugs it in and then decorates it with pink ribbon. Before we go to bed we go in to check on her, and this is what we find on the floor every night. We like to think it's her way of keeping the Christmas spirit alive all year round.

After she decorates her tree she gets out her notebook, turns to a fresh page and draws a little picture. The cute thing is, when she's done she always remembers to neatly tuck her minnie mouse pen away in it's spiral home. Sometimes I wonder if I created her to be this way or if it's just how she is. Either way, I think her compulsive behavior is cute.

my boy

PEEK-

A-BOO

My boy is so cute that I could die.
Why won't he stop throwing rocks? I've tried everything to get him to stop. I even sat on him while he was on the naughty bench. Now when he throws something (usually a rock) he gets in the fetal position when he sees me coming and says "bum bum?" Then I say," Yes, you are getting a spank on your bum bum." He still won't stop... Then he says, "Sorry mama" and gives me a big kiss. How much do I love this boy (even though he hit our neighbors Pilot today with a rock while they were standing right there...Grrrr...)

Oh how I love my son! And oh how he loves peaches...

victory over the columbus half marathon

Today was the day we've been waiting for. Over the past 10 weeks we've forced ourselves to run 200 miles in preparation for this one day. All that training for one run. It's no wonder why I couldn't sleep last night and my IBS has been acting up for the last 2 days... (IBS for all you normal people out there is irritable bowel syndrome). But the race came and I'm proud to say we all rose to the challenge.
Here is part of the group of us that ran today. This is before the run so we are looking fresh (even though inside we are terrified of the next couple hours...)

And here we are after. All of us had our fastest runs ever! Mike beat me by 4 minutes coming across the finish line and 1:50 (that's about 8:30 minute miles - HE ROCKED!!) and I followed at 1:54 (8:45 minute miles - my best for that long of a run!!)

It was so fun to train for this race with friends and go through all the aches and pains with my man. I definitely love running and I'm so glad we decided to do this together. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to cross the finish line - so great that I'm sure it won't be our last race.

In case you're wondering, AnnDee was the winner of our little group... She's an experienced runner and she trained hard. I'm so proud of her for reaching her goal to run in 8:15 minute miles. NICE WORK BUDDY!

We also want to give a big THANK YOU to Grandma and Grandpa Dehner who came over so early to watch the kids. The kids had a great time - and Grandpa even surprised us and cleaned out the fridge. I'm asking Grandpa to babysit more often :)

i heart washable markers

Yesterday I was really nervous for my race and I didn't feel like my stomach could take much disciplining, so I let the kids do whatever they wanted. While I was doing the dishes they decided to use the kitchen counter for their works of art. Morgan wasn't sure if this was okay and waited nervously for my reaction... Then she got a big smirk when she realized she wasn't in trouble.

Myles was drawn to the color brown a lot yesterday. It may be a new favorite color...

The surprising thing was they had more fun cleaning up the mess than making it. I seriously love washable markers!

breakin' from Keith - this cracks me up - I know I'm easily amused

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a few good things during this dreary winter

I've come to the conclusion that I NEED SUNSHINE. I think I've done a pretty good job at staying cheerful this long, gray winter, but I think I've reached my breaking point. I told Mike last night that I'm officially done, but he says that's not an option.... So, instead of being grumpy, like I want to be, I'm going to focus on the positive. There have been things to smile about over the last little gray while.

Decent thing to happen lately #1: Last week our ward had a pinewood derby. Mike didn't make a car but decided to pull his old car out of the crawl space, dust it off, and bring it along. Mike's little car wasn't intimidated by the newer, shinier versions... It raced it's little heart out and took the grand prize. After the race Mike mentioned that this wasn't the first time his little car has won a derby - in fact, he took it to a regional event when he was younger and took 3rd place...
I asked Mike if he felt good about beating a bunch of primary kids who spent a lot of time making their cars over the last few weeks. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "yes".


His car is the black and gold car in lane #1. I have a feeling this car is going to be passed on to Myles when he gets bigger... No reason to make another one when you already have a winner. I mean really - it's not about the experience of making one yourself - right babe...

Decent thing to happen lately #2: I spent a week trying to find a certain pair of shoes for Morgan, and just when I was about to give up and settle for another color, I FOUND THEM!
I've wanted to get Morgan some mary jane cotton candy crocs for a while now, but apparently they are next to impossible to find. After I bought them, I couldn't help but be in a cheerful mood. She was pretty excited about them too!

Decent thing to happen lately #3: Even though today is a little chilly and gray - I went out and did some yard work. Something about working outside in the fresh air always lifts my spirits. I let Myles run through the huge muddy puddle in our swampy backyard while I cleaned out the flower beds. Morgan of course walked around the puddle, but still managed to have just as much fun.
I feel refreshed again. But I still want the sun.