Girls Trip/SLC 5k race

This last weekend, a group of us friends went to Salt Lake to run in a 5k.  There were eight of us who went and let me tell you, I love all 7 of these women.  They are AMAZING!!  Just on the way down to Utah, my cheeks hurt so bad from laughing so much and it just kept going!!  We seriously had so much fun.  We got there Friday night, picked up our packets and then went out to eat at Olive Garden.  Of course we had to go there, because we had no husbands with us to complain that it was a "chick's restaraunt"!!  Then we stayed up way too late talking and laughing some more!  We woke up bright and early at 5:45-6:00 am and got ready for our race that started at 7:10.  Funny story, we got on Trax close to our hotel and it was packed.  We started talking with some people next to us and they were saying things like, "Yeah, I can only run it in 1 1/2 hours."  "Wow, I wish I was as fast as you, this is my first so I'm just hoping to finish."  My friend Gwen and I looked at each other and realized we were on the wrong train.  We yelled to the rest of our friends to get off the train and proceeded to rush out before the train left for the next stop, all the while laughing hysterically and being "laughed with" (OK, laughed at) by those half- and full- marathoners!!  Yeah, stupid moment by us!!  At least we made it to the starting line in time and had no problems after that! :0)

I had 2 goals going into this race.  #1 Stay with Dana (she's awesome!) and #2 Don't stop to walk.  I met both of the goals, so I was very happy!  I was even happier when I found out the next day what my time was.  I ran it in 28:19 which is my fastest time by 2 minutes.  Also, in my age group, I was 13th out of 160 runners.  How cool is that.  For a person with a definite "sprinter's mentality", I was pretty proud of myself.  I just have to thank Dana for being my running partner and not letting me give up!

After our race we HAD to do a little, or a lot, of shopping!  Before we could get started with that, though, we had to stop at Les Schwab to get a new battery for Steph's Excursion.  After about 2 hours, we were on our way.  Yeah, I said 2 hours.  With having to get a new alternator and having just a few mishaps with the Napa store less than a block away, we were there for 2 whole hours, but it wasn't that bad.  It just gave us more time to sit and talk.  We would have done the same thing no matter where we were.  The funny thing is that 2 of the girls have husbands who work for Les Schwab and Napa, so we had to laugh at the whole situation!

These pictures are from our last shopping stop of the day.  Tai Pan Trading.  How I love that store!  I came out very inspired!  Projects, here I come! ;0)  As you can see, Steph (our expert packer) was put to work to fit all of our stuff in the back.  Between stops at Hobby Lobby, several stores in the mall, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, Target and Tai Pan, we were packed like sardines on the way home!  It was great!! :0)

Thanks, ladies, for a wonderful trip!!  And thank you to our sweet husbands for taking care of the kids while we were away.  We knew they were in the best of hands!!    Besides Brian and Paige getting sick, there weren't many incidents on the homefront, that we know of anyway, so it was great all around!

Silly kiddos

My kids always keep me on my toes and they always make me laugh.  Every day!  Here are a few pictures of them.

When my sister was at my house last, they needed a binkie for Dawson.  I had this one that had never been used, so we gave it to him for his nap.  Bryn found it when they left and she thinks it's the greatest toy ever.  She doesn't suck on it (she loves her thumb too much for that).  No, she just sticks it in her mouth and clamps down on it with her teeth.  She bites down on it so hard, I can't take it out of her mouth unless I want to pull teeth out with it.  Crazy girl!  She refused to take one when she was 2 months old and now she thinks it's a toy!

Here are a few "close-ups" of the kiddos.  Bryn started it and as the saying goes, "monkey see, monkey do"!  

Some more projects

You know me, I can't go more than a few days without making another craft or project.  Here are a few of my latest.  

I embellished this onesie for a friend's baby who just turned one.    I loved how the ribbon around the back neckline turned out!  The heart was made by sewing strips of fabric together at different angles and then cutting out the heart shape.  I then sewed it on to the onesie. The rosette at the shoulder was just the perfect finishing touch.

We're redecorating our master bath.  So far, we've painted the walls and the vanity, but we're needing to get a new countertop and sink to match.  When everything is done, I'll post before and after pics.  Right now you just get to see the shelf I put up and the boxes I made for it.  I got the shelf from Hollie from Vintage Farm Furniture.  So many cute things that she refinishes!!  Highly recommend getting things from her if you are in the area!  For the boxes, I just took a shoe box (on top) and mod podged paper onto it.  I then glued a strip of muslin around it and then added the fabric rosettes. I then found another cardboard box (on bottom) and covered  it with fabric (the same as the rosettes on the other box) and then made a fabric flower with the muslin and glued that on.  It was super easy and didn't cost me anything to make the boxes.  It was great!!

  

I found a tutorial for these Peeps Bunny Plushies on Dandelions and Lace.  When I saw them I knew I had to make them.  I think they turned out pretty well and the kids LOVE them.  They sleep with them almost every night.

Some of my friends and I went to Utah to run a 5k (more on that later), and of course we had to go shopping.  When we were at Old Navy, I saw the cutest Easter basket and I couldn't bring myself to buy it because I knew I could make it for free!  So, after the kids went to bed last night, I whipped this up for Bryn.  (Paige and Austin already had baskets, but poor Bryn didn't have one.)  It was so, so easy and so cute!  I loved being able to play around with some of the stitches on my new machine! :0)  I didn't have the stiff felt like the one at Old Navy, but I just put two pieces of felt together for the eggs and that worked well. 

Sensory Safari

Our library hosted a "Sensory Safari" a few weeks ago and we had to take the kids.  We went last year and loved it so much we had to go again.

Paige was trying to be a good helper and keep Bryn by the lions for the picture, but Bryn had other things to see.  She would not stay still for a minute because there were just too many animals to see.

The 2nd picture without Bryn. She was long gone.

I think this was Paige's favorite!

Austin touching the crocodile's teeth.  It has a gazelle in it's mouth.

Sorry this is such a bad picture.  Paige is touching the boa constrictor and it's posed to attack the world's smallest antelope.  I can't remember the name of it.

She held still long enough for a picture!!

Austin's favorite display!

Bryn was fascinated with this crocodile.  She finally got brave enough to touch it and then we could get her to leave it alone!

I think this was a water buffalo.  I just missed her touching it's leg.  It was pretty funny how quickly she pulled her hand away! :0)

Paige's real birthday party

How sad is it that I am just now posting Paige's birthday pictures!  I've had good intentions, I promise!  

She did have a good birthday.  She loved having her Aunt Kandra, Uncle Brandon, Sydnee and Dawson over to help her celebrate on her "actual birthday" (her words, not mine).  As you can see, she asked for a My Little Pony cake.  This is what we came up with.  The marshmallows are supposed to be clouds.  I had the kids help me with that part and this is end result. :0)

Austin being silly as usual.  He really is a funny boy.  We never know what he's going to come up with next!

Paige is opening up her present from Aunt Kandra and Uncle Brandon.  They gave her the BrainQuest quiz game and it is so fun.  Paige loves to play it and figure out the answers.

 Opening up her gift from Mom and Dad.  She was so excited to have a scooter.  She would always try to ride our neighbors' scooters all the time, so we figured she needed one of her own.  She goes so fast on it now!  It's quite impressive.  As you can see from the last picture, Bryn and Dawson were quite interested in the scooter as well! ;0)

We are so blessed to have Paige in our family.  She is so willing to help, most of the time, and she tries really hard to set a good example for her little brother and sister.  She begs me almost everyday to change Bryn's diapers and help her get her breakfast in the morning, put her shoes on, etc.  She loves to help Austin learn his ABC's and count.  She's a great little teacher.  We don't know what we would do without her!!  

St. Patrick's Day

We actually celebrated St. Patty's Day this year.  I haven't been very good the last couple years, so I decided I'd make an effort this year.  I'm so glad we did.  Paige and Austin could not stop talking about the tricky leprechaun who turned our milk green and left us some leprechaun cereal (Lucky Charms).  The kids really thought they would trap the leprechaun, and I think they were close, but they just said they would try again next year.  Paige already has an idea for another trap.  Trust me, it's a good one!!  Austin wanted me to write that the thing to the left of the hat is a swimming pool for the leprechaun.  Funny boy!