Phew. A date. And I'm not blogging tomorrow!

I can't really say I made it, since I missed a day, but I did post 30 times in 30 days. Phew! I'm exhausted. I agree with KaLee, it was really hard. I really could have written the post she did, about the style of blogging I do. When I'm feeling like it, I blog. When we're busy living life, it fades away. I can't believe it's the last day of November. Today it was more than 50 degrees. Clint and I took advantage of it by going on a double date. We went to the gun range and then to lunch. Of course we had a little tag along, but there's not a cuter third wheel around!
 
Clint asked where the picture is of him with his pistol. I asked how many pictures he took of me. None. So there are no pictures of me, and I took the wrong ones of him. We had a really fun time, though. It was great! Until next time (it won't be tomorrow) have a happy day!

Chani lost a tooth

When I took the kids to the dentist last, they said it wouldn't be long before Chani lost a tooth. I almost cried, she's barely 5.

Today was the day. It's been wiggly for a while. I finally conbinced her to let me pluck it out. She's thrilled and hopes the Tooth Fairy brings a lot of money!

By the way, I didn't cry today!

Christmas Spirit

Weeks ago, Chani came home from school asking to sing Christmas songs.  I told her the rule here was not until after Thanksgiving is over.  I guess it's time.

I blogged once before about a friend of mine from high school and her family that does these crazy awesome music videos.  Here is a Christmas one. I can't get the other to load, but if you search Kesler Family Music Videos on Youtube, you can watch them all!



Merry Christmas!

The parable of the broken crayon

We had some friends over for dinner the other night.  The kids were playing Chutes and Ladders.  Emery was certainly in a mood.  He kept tattling and whining, which is really not like him.  He was having a difficult day.  He came up to tell us something about what someone else was doing wrong, and after he had shared that, he exclaimed, "I have to be the broken crayon."  The kids had lost a game piece, so Emery's marker was a broken crayon.  I've been thinking about it ever since.

The parable of the broken crayon:

No one loves to color with a broken crayon.  They are hard to hold, they don't have a nice fine point for coloring near the edges, and sometimes you can't read the color off the wrapper.

We're all like broken crayons sometimes, hard to hold (love), we don't work the way we're meant to (staying inside the lines, looking and acting the part) and sometimes we don't even know who we are.  The amazing thing, is that we're still serviceable, just like Emery's crayon was.  Sometimes, what we think we need to be (a perfect pointy crayon) isn't all our usefulness.  Emery's crayon was more than a coloring utensil, it was a marker to hold his place in a game.  Can we fill a niche that we didn't know we were made for?  Absolutely.  Can we be useful in an area we're not perfect in?  Yes!  Can we change our goals and our outcomes?  For sure.  Knowing your skill set is important, but knowing you can change is liberating. 

The moral of the story:  Looks can be deceiving, even broken crayons make beautiful pictures!

Family Newsletter

Several months ago, my wise oldest sister started what has become a mostly monthly tradition in our family.  Each of the siblings (and sometimes my mom and dad) send out a letter telling everyone what's been going on in their family.  I love getting a brief catch-up of what's going on, especially since I live farther away than most.  Here's some of what I wrote tonight:

Clint is busy at work.  He's creating a hybrid course that will include video lectures for the students to watch online with in class lab time.  It is sounding like it may be online as soon as spring.  He also had to complete a portfolio to apply for continued employment, which is what they call tenure in Wyoming.  It's finished and turned in.  He's also training to break his 5k record.  It's cold and windy, but he's committed.

Emery is thriving in first grade.  It is a challenge, but he's doing really well.  He is learning how to spell words like resource and Plymouth,  He's struggling with through this week, but i think he'll figure it out.  He loves to read, and after blowing through all the Magic Treehouse books, he's taking off with Hank the Cowdog.  Of course, if he can sneak a Ninjago book into the book bag at the library, he's thrilled.  Emery received a Citizenship Award at school.  His teacher picked him because he follows the school motto which is to respect himself, respect property and respect others.  He got a cool medal and a certificate in a frame.  He informed me that it was his coolest first medal ever.  He dressed as Jeff Corwin for Halloween.  He carried a snake and a scorpion.  It was so nice here that we didn't have to wear coats.  He turned 7 this month, that means his baptism is only a year away. 

Chani dressed as a ballerina for Halloween.  I was happy because I only had to buy a new pair of tights (which I would have had to buy anyways).  We went trick or treating with our friends who live in a pretty nice neighborhood, and we got way too much candy.  Chani loves kindergarten.  She's struggling a bit more with reading, but is very good with her numbers and math skills.  She's pretty social and has lots of friends from other classrooms.  Her primary teachers tell me often how reverent she is, which makes Clint and I shake our heads since she can't sit still for scriptures or family home evening.  Chani is our little artist, and can burn through a stack of paper in one afternoon of drawing, writing, or coloring.

Saya is so much fun right now!  She is learning new words and things every day.  She loves to point to her nose, ear, and mouth and say what it is.  She adores her daddy, and squeals running to the door when he arrives home from work.  She has 8 teeth and is working on a couple more.  Saya is brave and will climb anywhere she can.  If anyone is using the bathroom, she wants to sit on the potty too.  Even when she doesn't go, she will stand up and clap for herself.  She's a good little buddy when the kids are at school.  She wants to help with whatever I'm doing, and her life isn't complete if she can't eat at least one banana a day.

I'm staying busy with Relief Society, volunteering at the school, keeping the house running smoothly, and everything else that a mom does.  I've finally made a set of curtains for the kitchen.  They turned out super cute, but they certainly weren't cheaper than pre-made ones.  Maybe one day I'll tackle the rest of the curtains in the house.  As it stands, I'm neck deep in your Christmas presents.  I really wanted them to be in the mail by now, but they will be a few weeks, still.  When you get yours, open it.  They are meant to be used right away!

If you are looking for some fun summer plans, Cheyenne Frontier Days is a week packed full of fun things to do here.  It runs July 19-28.  The concert schedule is out, and they have some big names coming in like Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts.  You can check out the whole schedule here.  http://www.cfdrodeo.com/schedules/general  If you want to come, we have room and would love to be your tour guides.  The USATF Thunderbirds are also worth seeing.  Think about it!

I really mean that last paragraph, even if you aren't family.  Come visit, I promise we'll have a great time.  And, if you have kids, free slave labor I'm sure we can work something out if you want to see a rodeo or a concert!

Saya learns new tricks

Also yesterday, Saya went for her first vacuum ride.  Every third month, our church congregation (called ward) is asked to clean the church building weekly.  Clint's job yesterday was vacuuming the halls with this big monster.  Saya loved the ride.  Then she fell off (she has a rug burn on her head) but true to form, she got back on.

The kids taught Saya how to spin last night.

Face time

One of the bummers about living far from home is not getting enough face time with everyone. My parents have an iPad but aren't really brave to try all the apps and features. When my brother in law comes to visit, he's always willing to help them learn how to do something. He was so kind to set them up with facetime today. (Thanks again, Howard!)  It was fun for the kids to show off missing and loose teeth. Saya loved poking Grammy's face. It was fun to see some of our cousins too.

The word on the street is that Grandma is getting an iPad soon, so hopefully we can have some facetime with her too!

Thanksgiving means one thing around here....

(I apologize for the crummy format.  I posted the pictures from my phone and since I'm a blogger dummy, it's what you get.)

And that's running.  We headed down to Fort Collins bright and early yesterday morning so Clint could run the Thanksgiving Day Run.  It's a 4 mile race, which is sort of a strange distance, but even being a strange distance, there were over 4000 runners and walkers.  It was a crazy mob.  I was glad that Clint finished near the front so we could leave before it became a zoo.  Clint wasn't thrilled with his results, but within the 4 mile, he ran his fastest 5K of the year.  His goal is to run a sub-15 minute 5K, so if you know of one (anywhere in the country, we're not picky) please tell me about it, we're willing to travel to find one.

This was long after Clint had crossed the starting line.  He went out right behind the elite runners.

My turkeys













Clint, after he finished.












We even found a really nice guy giving away hot chocolate and coffee.  It was a nice day, all things considered, I think it was almost 50 by the time Clint finished.  Beautiful weather for Thanksgiving day.


We also saw these funny turkey hats. The kids wanted one, but I never saw any for sale. I don't even know where you would find one.

Happy Thanksgiving

From my little turkeys!

10 things

My friend KaLee posted 10 things she loves and hates.  I'm stealing borrowing the idea.

I love:
1. My smartphone.  It's so easy to look up something, add coupons when I am at the grocery store, check out a blog post while I'm hiding out for 2 minutes in the bathroom, and a million other things.

2. Fresh baked goods.  Bread and rolls are my favorite, including cinnamon rolls.  I've been searching for a while for great cinnamon rolls, and I really love these ones.  They are fast, and only make 12, which is perfect for my little family for a couple of meals.  Even better if I don't have to make them.

3. My serger.  My sister gave it to me when she upgraded to a brand new one, and I love it!  It just makes a nice inside edge on everything I sew.

4. My craft room.  It's so nice to work on a project down there.  I can shut the door and not worry about the mess.  Except when company comes (not often), then I just shove everything in the closet.  If you come to stay, don't open the closet, it might bury you alive.

5. My fruit room.  Are you noticing a trend?  I really love my house.  I love being able to send the kids downstairs for a bottle of beans or tomatoes, or a can of whatever.  It houses my buckets of rice, wheat, flour, sugar, etc.  I am glad to have a space that keeps things cool, dark, and protected.  Cold storage rooms are unheard of in the south, that was one of the hardest things for me.

6. When Clint talks about running.  I may not listen as intently as he wants me to, or understand all of what he is saying, or recognize the name of the runner, but he knows so much about how running works.  He's good at writing workouts and he's done a ton of research on the most effective training methods. 

7. Having chickens.  It's so nice to have the eggs.  Although, about a month ago, a fox got into the hen house and packed off our bantam rooster and all of the chicks we brought from Idaho.  It was very sad (not from the pet point of view, because they are not pets to us, but because we had paid for them and invested time and food into growing them to be laying hens.  So, last Saturday we adopted 6 hens.  This has disrupted the happy home, and so this week no one is laying.

8. When Saya gives a hug, she uses her hand to pat your back.  Or, when she wraps her arm around your leg, she pats your leg.  So cute!

9. This fall weather.  I know we're going to get smashed soon with wind and cold, but it's been great around here.  We went to the park today in light jackets.  It was so fun, and warm.  The day before Thanksgiving.  Who would have thought?

10. A! Absolute make-up removing cloths.  Soft, and smell good, perfect amount of wetness, without being drippy.  The rose is my favorite scent, followed by cucumber. The pomegranate smells like cough syrup.

Things I don't like:

1. Washing out the chicken scrap bucket.

2. Slow amazon shipping.  We ordered Emery's birthday presents 2 weeks ago.  They.are.still.not.here.  I'll be ordering everything for Christmas, on payday....next week.

3. When it snows and then melts some.  Because then, all winter long, my kids (and Clint and I) track mud into the house whenever we go outside.

4. The cost of diapers.  It blows my grocery budget every single month.

5. One day sales at the grocery store.  They are usually really great deals, but I can't go to the store every day.

6. Losing teeth.  The tooth fairy is going broke around here.

7. Laundry.  Especially the folding part.

8. Lack of kitchen counter and cupboard space.

9. Sensitive skin.  Coupled with Wyoming, in the winter, forget about it.  I feel like walking sandpaper.

10. All the papers that come home from school.

Talk Radio

About a year ago, Clint taught the kids about the snooze radio button on the alarm clock.  The kids loved the idea of drifting off to sleep to some music. 

For the past little while, Emery has been having a hard time following the bedtime rules, i.e. only reading (no lego's or other toys), soft radio only.  A couple of nights ago, I caught him at 9:30 with the radio on full blast, and it was talk radio.  So, after a night of sleeping with the girls (so I could monitor him better) and a night of no radio, Clint went down tonight to tuck him in.  He asked Emery if he wanted to read or listen to the radio.  Emery picked radio, so Clint turned it on.  Rush Limbaugh was talking.  Clint asked why Emery was listening to that, and Emery said, "It's the only thing on the radio, dad."  Sure enough, every AM station on the dial was Rush.  Clint flipped the switch to FM (still not sure how it got flipped in the first place) and found him some music to listen to.

I wonder how long my son has been being indoctrinated......

When Emery was born.....

I blogged about Chani's birth on her birthday a few years ago.  Since I wasn't a blogger when Emery was born, I'm reaching back into my memory to post a few things about his birth.

I was due on December 16, so when I woke up on November 18 feeling pretty crummy, I was surprised.  I sent an e-mail early in the morning to my parents (serving a mission in Africa) telling them that I thought maybe I was in labor.  I just felt achy and cramping (contractions).  I called the doctor when his office opened, and he told me that he was sure I wasn't in labor.  He told me to lay down and drink some water and call him back at lunch time.  I spent the morning on the couch, and at lunch time, I still felt like something was going on.  When I talked to the doctor, he told me to go to the hospital and let the nurses see where I was.  Clint was in class, so I called him up and told him to come home.  When we got to the hospital, at about 2:30, I was a 4, which meant that this baby was really coming.  I was sure that Em (that was the nickname) was a girl.  Clint went for a run, and I just hung out on the monitors watching Food Network.  Dr. P came after work at about 5:30 and broke my water.  I progressed quickly after that, and Emery was born sometime between 7:15 and 7:30. 

Funny things I remember:

They gave me some stadol, and it made me so.dang.tired.  I would push when they told me to push, and then I would put my head down on the bedrail and tell Clint I just couldn't do it anymore.

When the doctor wasn't in the room, he was in the doctor's lounge watching high school state football on T.V.....only in Nebraska, people.

 Clint and I were both surprised when the doctor said, "It's a boy!" 

Emery was born with lots of black hair.

My mom and dad called the next day (Saturday) and when I said, "It's a boy, and we named him Emery."  My mom said, "I love the name Henry."  I blame the poor cell reception......from Africa.

Emery turns 7

I can't believe my baby is 7.  It doesn't seem like I'm 7 years older.  But, he's certainly changed since he was born. We're so lucky to have him in our family!

Several weeks ago, Clint took Emery to pick out a scorpion for his birthday.  It's been living in his room, and he loves it.  There was a rough patch when the first one died, but the store kindly gave us a replacement, and it's doing well.  It is a great pet, it doesn't smell, make messes, or shed.  It is always quiet and we don't even have to clean the cage.  It eats 3-4 crickets a month and everyone is happy.

His other presents are lost in the mail.  He did get swimming lessons from Grammy and Papa, and he loved those.  The cake was made with the best of intentions, but turned out pretty lame.  I wanted to do tin can cakes, and instead of using a box mix, I used a scratch cake.  It didn't work too well, I think it was too dense.  But, in all fairness, even though it looked dumb, it is the best chocolate cake recipe I've ever made.  Dense and rich, and moist.  Yum!  I also made up for the cake with dinner.  Emery picked pizza, so we had excellent homemade supreme pizza and a delicious fruit salad.  It was a happy day!

3rd birthday
4th birthday
5th birthday
6th birthday

The clock is ticking....

Every year I stress about the gift I give my siblings.  This year, I had a plan.  I knew last December what my gift was going to be.  I didn't start it, though, until today.  I should have started on January 1.

Anyone want to pull several all-nighters with me?

And just like that.......

I dropped the ball. Sigh.  Proof positive that I. can't. keep. it. all. together.

However, I'm going to carry on and pretend that I didn't forget last night because I fell asleep at 9:50 ona Friday night.....I know you are all jealous.

chicken.....and beef

I like a good deal.  I also like buying in bulk and doing a lot of prep work all at once for convenience sake in the future.  I've purchased chicken from this company twice now, and it's a quality product.  I blogged once before about it.  When I picked up my chicken the first time, the driver told me that the chicken was alive on Monday (we picked up on Wednesday).  It's fresh and never been frozen.  The breasts are good sized and have awesome flavor. 

They have a ground beef event right now, it's a pretty good deal too.  They do events all over the country, so you might just be able to find a location near you!

Let the record show

I had a pocket of time this morning.  I should have used it to shower, people would have noticed that. Instead, I vacuumed the floor.  The sad thing is that it will be a mess again before the big kids get home from school, and when the next unexpected guest drops by it will look like it hasn't been done in months.  If you want to see it for yourself, you have about 10 minutes.

Twenty-three....or thirty-two

When Clint started teaching in 2008,he told his students he was 23 (he was 28) .  He's still telling them that.  The funny thing is that some of them believe him.  That was ok when my kids were 1 and 3,but now they are 5 and 7 (in 5 days)....and 1. 
Clint is celebrating a birthday today.  He's not twenty-three anymore....but don't tell him that!

Friends

Since I wrote a post to my distant friends, I decided I needed to write one to my local friends.  I'm truly blessed with great friends in Cheyenne.  I'm not going to try to list individually, because I don't want to miss anyone. 

When my parents lived in Laramie so my dad could get his Masters Degree, my mom met a lot of married students.  One of the wives told her that it took her about two years to make connections and friendships with other women when they moved to a new place.  I saw the same thing in Texas with some of the women I became friends with.

Luckily, that has never been the case for me.  I belong to a great church that helps foster friendships from the beginning.  These women that I meet at church become fill-in family.  These are the women I turn to when I need to borrow something, when I need help, or advice.  We do late night movies, book club, supper club, baby showers, and playdates.  We go shopping together and do lunch. 

I have lots of "sisters" that I could call for anything and they'd be there.   Likewise, if they they call me with a need, I'm on it.  I joke (mostly) that I'd way rather clean one of their houses than my own. 

I've also made friends with our kindergarten teacher and with a mom from Emery's class.  I really am surrounded by great friends here.  I've had good friends everywhere we've ever lived. 

The boxes

For a week or so now, Saya has laid claim to a box I use for canning.  Really for hauling empty jars up and carrying full jars down to the fruit room.  Saya climbs in several times a day. The other day she climbed in and pulled her lovie (blanket) in after.

Yesterday while I was making shower food, the big kids each scrounged a box and they were pretending to be airplanes.

Who needs toys?

Digging one out of the archives

Once upon a time, I made a cake for Chani's birthday.  It was excellent.  Emery called it happy cake!  I helped with the food for a cowgirl baby shower today, and when my friend sent the link of the cake she wanted, I knew that Happy Cake was it!  My cake didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, there's something about the elevation here that I really struggle with....especially since I used to live at sea level.  Oh well, it tasted delicious!





Sorry about the crummy pictures, I can't find the charger for my camera.  This time I only did two 8 inch round cakes and since I had a little trouble with the elevation, I didn't slice them, I just did two layers with the raspberry in the middle.  But, if I were making it again, I'd go back to the 3, 6 inch round cakes, sliced in half, to make it super tall.  Then I'd frost with the roses and put something on top.

Tender Lemon Cake
* 1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
* 2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 6x2 inch round cake pan. Line with parchment; butter; dust with flour. (I did this three times for three cakes, splitting the batter in thirds.)
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 minutes. Add sugar; beat well. Reduce speed to medium; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Reduce speed to low; alternately add flour and buttermilk, starting and ending with flour. Stir in zest.
3. Pour batter into pan; bake, rotating halfway through, until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Remove; let cool completely right side up on rack.
The original website can be found here.

After cooling, I cut the cakes in half and filled them with raspberry filling. I piped frosting around the edge to keep the filling from coming out.

Raspberry filling

12 oz. frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. corn starch
1/4 c. sugar

Combine in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and filling is thick. (this filling is tart, I like it that way, if you don't add more sugar)

Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting


INGREDIENTS

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 1/4 c. milk
* 1 envelope gelatin

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve gelatin in milk. Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and no longer grainy (about 4 minutes) Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and milk mixture in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth. Let stand 10 minutes in fridge.  Will be extremely thick.  Whip cream to soft peaks.  Beat cream cheese mixture until smooth again. Fold into cream and beat until thick and smooth.

This recipe came from all recipes, but I've changed it quite a bit. I was worried about it not holding up, so I added the milk and gelatin, and that helped a lot. It may be stiff enough without it, but I didn't want to chance it.

Taryn (and others)

Taryn,

I was thrilled to see your comment on my blog.  I've been thinking a lot about my friends lately.  I tried to e-mail you (Taryn) but it came back to me as undeliverable.  I'd like to catch up, will you please email me?

I went looking for a picture of us together, and I don't have one of the two of us alone.  But, when I was looking I found some great pictures of lots of my friends.  There was a fun pic of my roommate, Amber, when she broke the leg off the table.  There were some fun pictures of me and my college debate partner, Christy (and every time I see spicy snack foods, I think of you).  There were pictures of me and Shanan, who is a dear friend who writes the best letters I've ever received.  There were pictures of Brandon, Michelle, Julie (love you dear!), Rachel, Tegan, my cute sisters, Shanda, Amanda, Jennifer, Deana, Heidi and lots of others.  I know there are lots of people who I don't have pictures of who have made a difference to me.  There are people I didn't list who I love and miss.

If you're out there blog stalking me, will you just say hi?  There are stories that we share and moments that I remember when I'm doing X or hear that one song (thanks for drawing attention to this, Deana) and I'm swept back to that moment.  There are miles between us, and years gone by, but when I talk to a long lost friend, it's like no time has passed.  And, despite the time, and distance, I still cherish our friendship!

Love,
Jill

The washing machine

Last Tuesday, I was trying to get a few loads of laundry done before I needed to run out and grocery shop.  The school called to tell me that Emery wasn't feeling well (coughing, wheezing, general crumminess), but that he wanted to stay at school.  Chani had been sick, so I decided maybe I'd better go get him.  I walked down the hall to help Saya find her shoes, and I stepped in water.  I opened the laundry room, and there was water all over the floor.  I shut off the washer and started trying to mop up the water.  Then I realized that my piles of laundry in the hall were also soaked.  The school called back at that moment to tell me that Emery needed to come home.  I told them that I couldn't come but that I would have a friend come get him.  Thank heavens for my friend Carla.  She's the best.  Carla was on pick up duty, and I continued to get things mopped up.  I got most of the water out of the laundry room, but wanted a couple more towels.  I ran downstairs to get them, and it was raining from the ceiling.  Sigh!  Carla got home with Emery.  He was very helpful despite being sick.  We got all the water vacuumed up in the basement and started running the fans to dry everything out.  I still had 3 loads of soaked laundry and two huge loads of sopping towels.  I have the best friends.  Carla and Jo each took some loads and brought it back washed and folded.  Yippee! 

After a couple days of looking, we picked out a new washer.  The kids love to watch it wash.  It is smarter than me, and has a lot of bells and whistles.  I'm just grateful to have a washer, it would be awful to have to be without one long term!

Running

First I need to say, that I really don't like running.  But, I really like what running does to my body (i.e. weight loss and tone) so I do it.....but, I've been hit and miss.  I was good for a while after Emery was born, and I also did a pretty good stint in Texas. 

At my thinnest, I looked like this.


But then my running buddy decided to have a baby, and I have a much harder time being motivated without someone to keep me accountable.  After we moved to Wyoming, I recruited a friend, and then I got pregnant, so I guess turn about is fair play.

I really wanted to take up running again since the big kids are in school, but I didn't have a way to go with Saya, so with the help of a friend I found just what I needed at Once Upon a Child.  It's not as fancy as my sisters, but it works for us.  I love my BOB!



I drop the kids off at school and then Saya and I go for a run.  The path I use is packed with cute old couples and individuals, and they are all so friendly.   The lady who drives the red VW bug is my hero.  She's older than my mom, and runs at least 2 miles every day.  She's out there no matter the weather.  It's pretty inspiring.


 We used to feed the ducks, but the city has passed an ordinance making it against the law.  If you are caught feeding the ducks and geese, you get a ticket and/or jail time.  So now we just look, and Saya says, "Duck."

 Saya is a good little running buddy, and it's fun to be out with her each morning.  I tried to recruit a friend, but she was allergic to running....and then she got kidney stones from it.  True story.  (Sorry, Jo!)

It's supposed to snow this weekend, so I don't know how many more good days of running I'll get in this winter, but I'm glad that I've been back at it.  One of my goals in January was to run a 5K.  I don't think I'll get a "real race" in before December 31, but this morning, I ran for 32 minutes without stopping, approximately 3 miles (5K).  It was hard, and I had to talk myself through it, and I'm so glad I did.  It will make training for the Colter Run (JoAnn, I'm training, when will you send the reunion stuff out?) next July a little bit easier.

Today I......

Here's my nutshell of a day.  I got everyone ready and delivered at school, then Saya and I stopped for a run.

It was a beautiful morning and we loved it!  After a shower (me) and a nap (Saya) I went to the school to help in Emery's class.  We then headed to the polls to vote.

 We ate dinner and then I spent a few hours at Relief Society Meeting. 

Citizenship award (also known as my first medal ever)

Emery got a special citizenship award at school today. That means (quoting Emery) respecting self, respecting others, respecting property. He got a medal (his first ever, he told us at least three times tonight) and a framed certificate. I'm glad that he's such a good kid, especially when I'm not there looking over his shoulder.

As a side, three kids from our ward (church congregation)  represented....pretty cool!

Dates

Clint and I decided that with as busy as life is, we needed to make more effort to spend individual time with our kids.
First up, Clint spent a few hours playing Magic with Emery. They both loved it.
On Friday, Chani asked when she could get earrings. Clint knew that was date material. So, without telling her in advance, off they went to Claire's. When they got there and Clint told her, she said no. She thought I would be mad. She was very brave and didn't cry at all.....until bedtime and we had to turn them. Today she says they don't hurt at all.

Next week it will be Saya's turn.  After that, I'll probably take some turns.  I really like this!

Family pictures

Clint's little sister got married in September.  She was kind enough to share her photographer to take some family shots.  We got a few great ones.  I'm so excited to get them printed an on the wall.

Halloween

We had a happy Halloween.  We had a ward party last weekend with dinner and trick or treating.  It was fun.  On Halloween we trick or treated with our friends since they have a better door to door neighborhood.  It was a gorgeous night, warm, with the most amazing moon. 

 

A ballerina, a chicken, and Jeff Corwin.

 

Cutest chicken EVER!!!

 

Halloween Jammies

 Notice the cheeks full of candy.

Just a note about Emery.  He has been watching a lot of Jeff Corwin lately.  When he decided to be Jeff Corwin, he noticed that Jeff always wears plain t-shirts with no print.  Emery doesn't own a plain shirt, so he turned his shirt inside out so there wouldn't be any print on it.  Love that boy of mine!

November

I'm borrowing KaLee's goal to blog every day in November. I'm really behind in blogging, so I'm hoping this will get me back on track!