Growing Up!

All the children are growing up.

I have not been one to be sad about this fact.

I get so excited for new milestones.  I love them to walk.

I am so excited when they go to Sunbeams.

I am super happy for them to go to Kindergarten.

When Gorgeous Graduated graduated, I was ecstatic!

So the other day, when it was Cheerful Cheerleader's last day of school, I was so excited for her (she has one more year of HS).

Then it hit me, hard.

She only has one more year of HS.

Then the Little Misses will start Kindergarten the following fall.

Wahhh!!!

The beginning of the year when the Little Misses went to sunbeams, I was quite sad.  

I was excited for them.

But I was also sad.  

I'm not sure if I am feeling the approaching empty nest.

Or if with having one graduated, I am sensing the next faze coming.

Everyone said I will be sad when they leave home.

I will be sad to not step on legos or barbie shoes.

That it will be hard not having walls  with crayon on them.

I'm now sure that it is true.

Not that I didn't believe them.

I just could see it.

So here is one of the things the Little Misses are doing that prove they are big.

Pumping on the swing.
 

This is one of those things that make me happy.  Now that I don't have to push for hours and hours.  I use to do yard work and push in between.  The yard will get done so much faster without having to stop every couple of minutes. Pin It

Boys Lacrosse

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Solar Eclipse

We had so much fun yesterday watching the eclipse!
I was trying to figure out a way that the kids could see it.  Especially once we found out the next one won't be until 2023.

I tried getting a black piece of construction paper and soaking it with oil.  Remember making those stained glass pictures we made in elementary school.


That didn't work, so I tried white paper.  That didn't work either.

How I was wishing to live closer to my parents so we could borrow a welding helmet.





We did the paper thing with holes punched in it.  That was cool.

We also used a colander.  That was awesome!














 






 I tried using sun glasses to try and mute the sun.  Didn't work at all.













We loved how the shadows looked!

  

Then Uncle G came over 

baring a wonderful gift!  

Tinting leftover from a shell to the truck!

 If we folded it over 3 or so times, we could see super well

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Ogden Half with Friends

Saturday was an amazing day.  the weather was perfect.  The view was as well.  And after training since the fall, it was the perfect ending (well, middle) to a  long 9 months of getting back into the shape I haven't been in since high school some 20+ years ago.
Last fall I saw some of my friends from the ward out running.  Once of which had just had a baby.  I thought, if they can do it, so can I.  I  decided to join them. 
That first run was such a laugh.  It took me 40 minutes to run/walk 2 miles. 
After about two weeks, I was doing a bit better.  After a month, they started talking about running in the Ogden half marathon.  I didn't even know how far a marathon was.  But they all seemed to think it was possible.  Two of them had run a half before.  So, after a couple weeks of thinking about it, I signed up.
I eventually got to where I could run 3  miles without walking.  Then my knee started hurting.  I was more worried about my hip, the hip that Little Miss D had her head pressed against for the last 2 months inside.  The hip was fine, but the knee, wasn't. 
I started taking fish oil and icing it after a run.  I could do this.  I didn't want to quit.  After Christmas, my knee didn't hurt unless I missed running for more than 5 days. 
We started following a training schedule, and adding on miles, and being more diligent.  5 miles was the furthest I had run in high school.  Six miles was a major accomplishment for me.  When we ran 10 miles, it was such a great feeling. 
Two weeks before the race, we found that it would just be two of us running still.  There were 6 of us training together, four of which were not signed up to run, but were such a great support for us two.  Then, major happiness, 3 of our friends were able to talk the others into letting them have their spots.  I was so happy.  It is so much better to run with friends. 
We made t-shirts, made plans, and were set to do this thing.

I am so thankful for my body, for my friends, for my family who supported me, and for Heavenly Father for helping me to keep going. Pin It

What Happened Here???

So Thursday afternoon I looked around, and this is what I saw:

So why is the kitchen such a mess?

Oh, yeah.  

Well, after making 26 jars (some pints, others half-pints) the rest of the house was just as messy as the kitchen.

Too bad I'm not coordinated enough to make jam and clean house at the same time.

But what a yummy reward!

I love jam.

Raspberry is my fav.

Apple Butter is my second fav.

 But strawberry is right up there with those two somewhere.

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