A day of firsts for our family!

On Saturday May 16 our family had a couple of milestones. The first one was the completion of my first (and probably last) marathon!!!! After 16 weeks of training I was so happy to finally be running down Ogden Canyon. I didn't finish quite as fast as I'd hoped for, but my ultimate goal was to just do it, and I did it! The weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous. After I crossed the finish line the kids were playing on a playground in the park while I got my piece of bread and Jamba Juice (there was better food at the finish lines of my 10K and half marathon, that's for sure!). When I went over to get them I saw JR crying under the slide and I knew right off that he was really hurt. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the Doctor after running 26.2 miles, but what is a mother to do? Justin had to go to work, so we ran home so that I could have a quick shower and then it was off to the instacare. 2 1/2 hours later we had x-rays confirming two broken arms. Neither Justin or I have had broken bones, nor any of our other five kids, so this is a first for our family. Now that he has his casts on life is much better because he can bend his elbows and touch his fingers to his thumbs. The five days of splints were enough for me, it was like having a baby again. I had to feed him, dress him, open doors for him, buckle him in, and even help him put his shoes on. The doctor expects about a month in casts so he should be free by the time we go on the family camp out to the lake!

Greenville Idol presents: Taralee Carter

Taralee's school held a talent show that they called, "Greenville Idol". Taralee performed some stand-up comedy from Brian Regan. She made it through the first round of 3 mom judges and then she made it through the second round of the student body voting. Now she gets to perform one last time in front of the whole school when they reveal the top 3 winners. This isn't very good footage, but it gives an idea of funny she was!

I'm not a fun mom!

Upon leaving the grocery store today Melanie says, "Mom, you're just not a fun mom. You're always mean and we never get to do anything fun.

"Like what kind of fun stuff do you want to do?" I ask her.

She comes back with, "Well, you never let us ride in the driver shopping carts."

It's true, I hate those enormous carts that are impossible to maneuver. The kids always fight over where they get to sit and before long they are all running around the store. Even Addilee, who has probably never sat in one, tells me EVERY time we get a grocery cart that Mom hates those!

I guess I'm going to have to relax a bit and be a more fun mom, maybe.

We're Lost!

Several of the girls in Justin's office and some of our neighbors convinced us to start watching the series Lost. Over Christmas we checked out season 1 from the Library and it didn't take very long to get addicted. We caught up to the rest of the world last week and now we have to suffer with everyone else waiting for a new episode each week. We are totally "Lost" without it!

Can you spot the difference?

After: Before:

This is what happens when I suffer from spring fever. I've been wanting to paint this wall since we moved in and with the winter dragging on I just decided to do it! I love the way it turned out, and now I'm itching to paint the downstairs bathroom. (I don't know why it put the after picture first, I'm still trying to figure out this blogging thing.)

Melanie turns 5!

Melanie started asking for a birthday party last week, but I was a little hesitant to agree to one. I asked her what she wanted to do for a party and she said she just wanted to take Stella to Grandma Ashbaker's to soak in her hot tub, watch a movie and eat gummy bears. I thought that was a great idea for a party so that is what we did! After our soak Grandma and Grandpa took us to Pizza Villa for pizza, yum yum! Then it was off to redbox to claim our free Monday rental. The girls wanted to see Horton Hears a Who (again), but they only lasted as long as the gummy bears held out and then they wanted to be in on the cake decorating. I should have bought more gummy bears! After dinner (leftover pizza, thank you Grandma) we had the Anhder's over for the traditional cake and ice cream. She opened her presents, which included a new summer wardrobe and a coloring book. (toys were provided only by the grandma's & the aunt's) I can't believe Melanie is 5, it seems like just last week that she was 4. (hee hee)

New table and new grills!

After 15 1/2 years of marriage we finally made a furniture purchase at a real furniture store (Shopko does not count as a real furniture store!). We've been wanting this dining room table for a long time and we finally got it this last month. There was a little hassle with the delivery (a little surprise when we opened the box to find the wrong table), but after it was all said and done we are really happy with it. It's nice to have a seat for everyone at one time!

Emillie and I are also sporting new grills this month. She is wearing her Dr. Poole & Dr. Willis ortho sweatshirt that she got the day she got her braces, and I'm wearing my Nebraska College of Dentistry sweatshirt where my orthodontist, who is in the background, got his training. She was a good 2 weeks before she wasn't in a ton of pain, but lucky for me I was feeling pretty good after a week or so. Also lucky for me I will be done by the end of the year, she will be sporting her grill for two years. What we won't do for some mother-daughter bonding.