New Pictures of the kids

Taken May 12, 2010

Running All Day Long.

So life has gotten very busy. I spend all day moving literally. I wake early in the morning, sometimes to early for my sleepy body, to help get 4 kids off to school. The two older kids have to leave the house at 7 am to get to school on time. I drive them to school 3 days a week, then I return home to help the other two get ready for school. When it's cold (which today it isn't) I drive them and two more 2 days a week. It's then that I can finally relax, but I don't cause I have it set in my mind to get healthy and lose weight, which is going well. After my 2-3 mile walk I return home with a great desire to relax, but I don't of course because of all the housework staring me in the face. It's would be so bad, but housework is a big stinky circle. As soon as I get some of it done it's dirty again. I hate running in circles.

But let's get to the real reason of this weeks post - James. I may be busy doing things all day long but James is running in circles all afternoon, literally. In February he decided to join the High School track team. I was all for his doing something and being involved, but the kid has a hard time staying caught up with all the homework he's given with all the honor classes he has chosen to take. After much consideration and mumbling about all the extra bussing I would be doing I decided to let him join anyway. O.K so I didn't decided to let him join, Mark and I discusses the pros and con's and decided that this would be good for him. So really he's the one running around in a circle all afternoon. He decided that he would like to be a long distant runner. He's doing great. He's staying up with his homework and he's working hard. He's currently running the 800m and 1600m (or a 1/2 mile and 1 mile for us Americans)

He really is doing great. He can run the 800 in less than 3 minutes and the 1600 in less than 5. I'm lucky if I can drive the mile to pick him up from school in less than 5 minutes, stupid construction, but that's another issue for another day.

Triple Day

So April 4th was triple day. What is triple day you ask. Well that was the name Livi gave to April 4th. As we know April 4th was Easter. This was the 1st thing that made it "triple day" It was snowy and wet and it made it hard to hide the eggs outside, but it was still Easter, so we improvised.

The second thing that added to April 4th to make it "triple Day" was that it was general conference. Livi thought this was a great reason to celebrate. We got to "watch" church in our pajamas and play game while we listened. Yep I think that's a reason to celebrate as well.

The final thing that made it Triple day was that we celebrated Dad's birthday. What a great day it was. We slept in (no early morning church meeting), we stayed in our comfy clothes, we played games, we ate cake, we hid Easter eggs and spent the day together as a family. If only every Sunday could be that way.

Cami

March was a very busy month for Cami.

On March 10th she and the rest of the 5th grade had their Patriotic Program. It was very beautiful and inspirational. Something about honoring the men and women we know who are currently serving, or have served our country, always makes me cry.

Way back in January she started researching her History Fair project. She decided to research Nikola Tesla. A crazy inventor who wasn't credited for very many of his inventions. She placed high enough in the school competition to go to the district level again this year. The district level was much smaller than in previous years (stupid district split) and on March 26th Cami took 2nd place in the single person exhibit. She was very excited and showed everyone that stopped by her red ribbon.

The week after the History Fair competition Cami received the "Principal's Pride Award" honoring her hard work and commitment in class.

We are proud of Cami and all the hard work she has put into school this year. She is enjoying school and learning much along the way.

Memories

This morning dawned cold and early. It seems to me that the loss of one hour on daylight savings weekend doesn't really occur until the first day you don't get to sleep in. So for me that was this morning. When I woke, too early for my internal clock, I stretched, groggy not wanting to leave my bed yet, but I inhaled deeply so as to awake mt mind and body so I may begin they day. The coolness of the morning hit me too quickly in that breath. Spring is supposedly approaching, but you wouldn't know that after Saturday's snowstorm. Also, in that moment of deep inhale, I smelled something I hadn't smelled in years - grandma's house.

It's funny how smells bring back some many memories. Coffee and bacon will always remind me of time I worked at JB's restaurant. And sawdust, especially pine sawdust, brings back the early years of life married to a woodworker. But this morning was different. This morning I was 5 again. This morning I was laying on the cot next to grandma's bed. The one she always set up for me when we came to visit.

This morning I cool smell the cool crispness of California, and the warmth of artificially heated air. The smell brought back memories of gathering eggs just after breakfast, and hunting for lizards out back in the dirt. The walks in the garden gathering vegetables, or smelling flowers, the wet grass leaving dew around my ankles as I ran around the front lawn, and the enjoyment of swimming in grandma's large yellow bathtub to remove the days dirt and grim were vivid pictures in my mind.

But as quickly as the breath brought memories the next breath brought me back to today and the reality that lay before me this morning. The teenagers then clatters something in the kitchen, and the alarm clock sounded, again. The list of today's activities began push it's way into my head and yesterday's memories floated away. I fumbled my way out of bed to start another day in my life in West Jordan.