My race

I went to the doctors this week and I saw a sign, in the waiting room, advertising a cancer race. I had been telling Thayne that I was interested in participating in a 5K run/walk race but thought I might have to wait until spring. Well, when I got home I looked for the cancer race info on the internet, I found out that the race was to take place in 4 days and they were still accepting registration. I didn't know if I was really ready for it but I didn't want to pass it up. So, I got registered and planned for the big day. I was nervous about doing it but felt like it would be a great opportunity for me since I"m starting to get back into exercising.
Last night, Thayne helped the kids makes signs for the race, which I wasn't allowed to see. They were so excited when we told them that I was going to be in a race. The morning of the race, Indi kept saying, "I know you gonna win, mommy!". I knew I wouldn't even come close to winning but it was so cute to see her so excited.
There were over 5000 people registered to race, which was so overwhelming. When I got to the starting line with all those people I almost stepped out but then I saw Thayne and the kids watching me. The horn was blown and we were off like a herd. I waved goodbye to Thayne and the kids and focused ahead. The first part of the trail was hilly so by the time I saw Thayne and the kids again I was pretty tired and red. BUT, there they were, on the side of the road with their signs waving me on. My heart was touched and I even felt a little emotional. I have the best fan club and cheerleaders! They are always there for me, cheering me on, whenever I need a little motivation. I just love them so much.
The rest of th race was not as bad as the first part. I felt rejuvenated, thanks to my family, and ready to finish. When I was almost at the finish line, I looked over and there was my little family again. When I slowed down to greet them, the kids patted me and gave me quick hugs. They walked with me through the finish line! I finished the race with 5 minutes to spare from my goal. I can't begin to tell you how refreshing and good I felt to know that I accomplished something like this. To others it might not seem like a big deal, but this was a triumph for me. With my fan club behind me, I feel like I can accomplish any goal I want. I feel so blessed to have a great husband who is very supportive and loving, and four beautiful children who think I could do no wrong. Thayne told me that Jaed was a bit upset when they were waiting for me at the end. He asked Thayne, "How come these people don't let Mommy go first?". Thayne said he had to remind Jaed that being the first person doesn't mean you're the only one that wins. If you finish the race, you're a winner.


This is exactly what I saw when I saw them on the side of the road!



















Here we are after crossing the finish line.

Why is it.....

Why is it that when you ask your kids to bring you some toilet paper (cuz you're on the throne) that they bring you 3 squares of TP and seriously think that it's sufficient BUT when they do number 2, and wipe themselves, they use the WHOLE roll of TP? I'd like to believe that they think by bum is smaller than there's, and 3 squares would be plenty, but we ALL know their thought process doesn't work like that. I even asked Jaed if he thought I might need some more and he said, "No, Mom, we can't waste it!". He is the MR. WASTE KING of toilet paper, so he should know. He has clogged the toilet more times then I can count!

Why is it that kids think they know how to solve you're problems? As I was trying to usher all the kids to the car, the other morning, I said (to myself) "I really need to find sometime to clean today.". Well, Jaed heard me and said, "Mom, after you drop me and Josie off at school you only have two kids to watch so it should be easy to get your JOB done!". My first thought was to say, "Who in the heck asked you!", but instead I bit my tongue and completely ignored him. What a stinker!

Why is it that my girls have 30-35 pairs of underwear between the two of them (they wear the same size) but after 4 or 5 days there are no underwear in their drawer? I seriously think they change underwear every time they change clothes, which is SEVERAL times a day. How do I stop this insanity? I have learned to pick up any underwear I see, laying on the ground, and put it back in their drawer. Indi is the only one who has said, "Mommy, I put those ones on yesterday!". My response was, "You didn't wear them long enough to make them dirty" and she said "Oh" and put them on without another word.

Dang Cute!

Thayne got home safely, yesterday, and we were ALL so excited to have him home. He brought skittles for the kids and dry apricots for me :). He knows I"m on this health food kick so he chose accordingly and did well. He also brought back some gifts from my mom which were matching dresses for the girls and a great pair of pajamas (that light up) for Jaed. They were all thrilled and wanted to try them on right away. Jaed wore the pajamas to bed that night and the girls wore the dresses to church the next day. I think I have the dang cutest kids!!

Kaia was so excited to be sitting between her sisters. She sat up so tall and just looked at me the whole time. Her sisters kept looking at her and Indi said, "You so cute, Kai" several times.


































Jaed was constantly pushing the helicopter on his shirt so it would light up. Then he'd say "Look girls, it sparkles!". They'd look the first few times then they ignored him thereafter, but he didn't seem to care because he kept saying it. He probably pushed it in his sleep too! (Click on his picture below, Mom, so you can read his sign he made you!)

Standing already

Kaia is almost seven in a half months old now and she's been pulling herself up to things since before she was seven months old. I think the first time she did it was three days before she turned seven months old. That is waaayyyy early but when you have three siblings constantly pulling you up to a standing position you're bound to figure it out on your own shortly there after. I wouldn't be surprised if she was walking next week....hehehe.....just kidding. I'm sure she'll walk early, like two of her other siblings did.

This is Kaia's favorite place to pull herself up to. She cries and produces HUGE tears if we even think about putting her inside the saucer.

All alone!

Thayne leaves today to go to Utah for his brother's wedding. I wish we all could go. I'd love to see my mom, dad and my brother (and family). I don't usually get homesick but I've been feeling it a lot lately. I don't look forward to being the mom/dad for three days either. I really rely on Thayne in the evenings to give me a break and take care of all the responsibilities of the kids. The kids don't even know yet. I know we're all going to cry driving home. I think Jaed will be the most sad. He loves to play games with Thayne right when he walks in the door. Listen to me.....I'm talking like he's going to be gone for weeks. How pathetic! You would never have guessed that we were a part from each other for over 5 weeks this summer or that we've been married almost ten years. Well, I know we'll be fine because I'll pull up by boot straps and going into extreme survival mode!

At Jaed's school the kids can go to the cafeteria before school starts and grab something for breakfast. Well Jaed came home last week and was telling me that he had a great cereal bar at school and he hopes he can have it again tomorrow. I quizzed him a little about it and realized that he was making a trip to the cafeteria before school started for breakfast. First of all, I didn't even know that they offered breakfast at school until I got this story out of Jaed. Second of all, he eats breakfast every morning at home. I immediately called the school and asked more about this little trip Jaed was making to the cafeteria. When I told the office lady that Jaed east breakfast at school her response was, "Well he must still be hungry, mam!". I doubt it. On top of it all I found out that breakfast is $1.40 every morning and he had been doing this for three weeks, running up a tab for us. I asked Jaed how he found out about the breakfast thing and he said he followed some kids to the cafeteria one morning to see what they were doing and just got in line with them. I seriously didn't know if I should laugh and lecture. I finally decided to laugh and chalk it up as a learning experience, which is to be more informed about what goes on at school. luckily, we found out that the free lunch program Jaed is on also covers breakfast so that tab we thought we were going to have to pay is nonexistent.

I found out that Jaed was drinking milk at school so I had to call the food service department and have them put on their computer that Jaed is allergic to milk. Jaed told us the next day that he tried to take some chocolate milk and they wouldn't let him because he was allergic to it. Well this morning I got a call from his principal. He said that Jaed took a breakfast bar that morning and the cafeteria ladies didn't see him take it and caught him with it after he had already taken four bites (I'm surprised it wasn't gone by then!). He was extremely apologetic and asked if they should call the paramedics. I explained to the principal that Jaed was allergic to milk in large quantities such as ice cream. I also told him that he could not drink it at lunch because it was too much for him and he would break out in a horrible rash. The principal let out a huge sigh and said, "Oh, thank goodness!". What a little stinker, Jaed is. I know that he grabbed that breakfast bar when those ladies weren't looking.

Comments galore!

When we moved here from Utah I was shocked how much attention we attracted with three kids. But now that we have four the attention and comments come ten fold. I took the kids to the store the other day and decided to count how many times we were starred at (with a shocked look) and commented on. I lost count after 13 and that was just in one grocery store. Here are some of the comments we get when we're out and about:

"Are all those yours?"
"Look at all those redheads!"
"That's quite a group you got there."
"Wow, how old are they all?"
"Does their dad have red hair?"
"I"m sure you're glad school started!"
"You're a brave woman!"
"You've been busy, haven't you?"
"Looks like you might need another hand."
"Phew, I'm glad I'm done with that stage."
"Don't worry, it gets better."
"Are you having any more?" (and when I say yes, they are speechless. hehehe)
"You're brave to take them all out on your own!"
"That's smart to keep them in a cart."

I'm sure I could think of a lot more but these are the most recent ones that I jotted down. Sometimes if I'm not in the mood to hear the comment, I'll say what I think they're about to say before they will. Like, "Yep, they're all mine" or "I sure do have my hands full" or "I'm a brave woman!". Then they just shake their head in approval and smile. It certainly is an adventure every time we go to the store.
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Quick Nap

When I have had a rough day or a rough night I look forward to a quick nap.....but...I have four kids to deal with at the same time. You may wonder what I do. WELL.....I wait for Kaia to show signs of fatigue, lay down on the couch with a blanket, and call the other three kids to come in an hop on. They each of an assigned spot behind my legs and are content with it. I turn on a PBS show (*wink wink*) and they don't move an inch until the show is over. Kaia is all snuggled next to me so she goes right to sleep and so do I. If the kids move at all I wake up immediately. It's amazing what you can train yourself to do as a mother. I think I have a pretty good strategy here and I hope it works for a LONG time. Here's a picture of how we look, in case you couldn't get a visual:









The kids know that I am taking a short nap and when the show is over they are ready to get up and play again. Today they started to sing, "Get up, mom....get up"!

Dresses on everyone!

Indi had a playdate at a friends house last week and they played "dress up". Even her little friend who was a boy put a dress on and twirled around with everyone else. He really felt like one of the gals. I'm actually surprised that Indi didn't say, "Dress up is for girls!" because she says that to her brother. Instead, they held hands and twirled a couple of times and went off like little princesses (and prince, of course!).


I think her (boy) friend looks dang cute in that dress!
















Indi's little friend (to the right of Indi) is dancin' away while Indi and her other friend are posing like pros!

No Learning!!

Josie has this idea that the word "learning" is linked to no fun at all. Every time we would take her to school, me or Thayne would say, "Learn lots, Josie" and she would yell back, "I DON'T LEARN!" and walk off in a huff. When she would get in the car after school we would ask her what she learned that day and we would get the same response as before, "I DON'T LEARN".
Last week, after I picked her up, I asked her what she learned and she yelled, "I DON'T LEARN, I JUST PLAY!!" and then she started to cry. I asked her what she was crying for and she said, "You make me cry, Mommy. I don't want to learn, I just want to have fun!". I tried to tell her that learning was fun but she wanted nothing to do with the word "learn". I comforted her a bit and then let it drop. When Thayne got home we laughed about it but decided we better help her understand that learning can be fun.
That evening I was snuggling her in bed and we talked about things she does at school and everytime she said she did things that were new I told her that she was learning new stuff. At first she resisted but then she decided that learning was okay. The next morning I told Thayne to ask her what she learns at school and when he did she started to smile and said, "I learn to write my name and paint!!" YIPPPEEEE, it worked. She is ready to learn now!