Ian and Asher in summer school and not much else.

Gosh, I don't know where I left off but I am pretty sure I left out this cute story about Ian. We moved rooms around and now Ian and Duncan are bunking together, Asher and Grey run solo. We talked about this with them a little bit ahead of time. Ian had a great idea... When Matthew said "Greyson is going to move upstairs, who do you want to room with Ian?" He thought long and hard with one finger to his chin and said "I thiiiink, I want to move downstair in YOUR room!"

This week Asher and Ian had school in the summer program and Asher did pretty well. The start of the second and third days were a little sketchy because I think he had his favorite things to do in the room and that's not how preschool works. You do things together. So no, Asher, you don't get to play on the water table when everyone is having circle time. You don't like that? Well... sorry, here's Shelley to handle the situation (and handle it Shelley did!). He had fun, he wants to go back and in a couple weeks we will.

Ian and Asher will be in different classes next year which will be good for them. I guess Asher is acting odd about not wanting to sit at the same table as Ian. Probably just because Ian expressed a desire to and Asher is a little toad but... Asher actually got in trouble for pushing Ian down the slide. (Things you do to your brother that you wouldn't do to a friend/stranger.) They told me he had to be removed and all that, he was in trouble. When I talked to him about it he was embarrassed, he kept pointing at me with tears in his eyes. I thanked the teacher though, I need them to let him know that no, it's not a mom thing. We really don't push! Even our brothers!

There are a lot of special needs kids in the class because of ESY. I would say half to 1/3 are special needs which I actually love. I love the idea of it being half and half and for them to be exposed to special kids in a kind of concentrated classroom. Pretty happy about that. When I asked how many ESY kids there were Ms. Debi kind of looked at me funny like I was going to question it, or not like it... it was funny, totally defused it when I said I would recommend the summer program to other parents for this reason!

Other than school, it's been kind of uneventful around here. We did the blow up pool outside on a day and that was fun. It was the day the lawn got mowed though and that was not fun. The pool is gross. I need to drain and refill it and leave it out for a day to get warm. When Matthew got home he was like "aren't they cold? Isn't it cold?" Really? I asked him if he cared that the hose was cold when he was little and if it stopped him from running though it. I mean really. I don't think kids have a thermometer when it comes to outside hose play.

He needs to get the tramp up. Yes... he does. It will add a whole new level of fun I think, especially with Duncan. He couldn't decide whether to bury it or not and, well... look, it's summer! So, yea. Get on that babe.

Traci and I did Color Me Rad again on Saturday and it was awesome. She told me we were going to walk it but then was all "we are totally not going to walk it". What? Come on now. We had fun as it got started and we got pulled up on stage for Zumba. I am not sure what they were thinking but Old Ladies Represent. Maybe we were the only ones dancing?

Anyway, we ran and ran and ran and got dirty... really dirty. Then we took the train back home and thought we totally spotted a drug drop on the train. There was a guy all acting crazy all up in these seats in the back and on the floor. We weren't sure what was happening but you bet we went to investigate! Well we came up dry, but it was an adventure and in our minds we were part of exposing a huge drug underground! Truthfully, to the people on the train, we then took his place and looked like we were acting crazy and after we got off they probably went to investigate and it started a vicious cycle.

We made up for that silly exercise by taking in some McDonald's breakfast amidst odd looks which is part of the fun of this annual tradition. Then I came home and tracked black (blue) stuff all over our carpet which wasn't so fun. Mental note for next year...

We went to the Cabin Sunday night and it was a lot of fun. Dylan has decided that she doesn't really like being in the stroller unless it's moving (so typical 18 month old!). When we went on a walk she was fine, until they stopped at the pond to throw rocks in. Ugh. So we walked up a hill, then back down, then back to the cabin because by then Ian needed a bandaid for something... Grandma LouAnn lovingly took Ian back and doctored him up and then made him two smore's which he thought was the best thing ever. It was really sweet of her and cute to watch.

At one point we put Dylan in the hammock and Matthew got her going and she LOVED it. She was smiling and laughing! Asher was with her and he liked it a lot but when we added Grey, he wasn't all about it. Meanwhile, Dylan's just having a blast! I think we need a hammock now, we need to figure this out. And no I am not kidding, you should have seen her smiling! I tried to get some pictures with my phone, so did Aunt Kristen... but I think Megan, who had a real camera, is the only one who got good ones. I will share them if I ever see them!

Matthew is working from home so I don't get to load the pictures from my camera, I don't think I have many anyway but here are a few from my stream. (Thanks Apple! I heart you!)

Oh yea, and then there is this awesome picture of the Dirty Dash. Sara bought it and sent it to me and said I couldn't splash it on the internet and look at me. Good thing I only have like five people who read this... (She's at Ragnar anyway, she will never know!)

Girl needs a hammock. Stat.

Look at this cute thing. And my thumb.

Before

After

Before

After

Kristen sent me this one from the cabin - So cute with their cousin Giselle!

The blob, the zoo, a race

Last week I made a water blob because that's what the interwebs told me to do. The words "hours of entertainment" may have been in the description... It was really easy to put together but the rest of the execution was a bit of a fail on my part. We have a lot of Aspens and an uneven yard. (I am really starting to hate this yard, our other yard was so much better and the grass was better too!) The problem with Aspens are roots and chutes everywhere to poke things and the problem with uneven is that these huge blobs actually roll if they aren't on an even surface.

Needless to say I didn't plan very well and while moving it, it sprung up leak after leak along the seams and by that time the kids were totally over it and had moved on to the sprinkler and the $14 blow up kiddy pool. So, uhm.... fail? But more the execution than anything else. I might want to try it again but I am undecided when a kiddy pool works just as well. I kind of regretting melting this huge piece of plastic together when it could have been a 25 foot slip and slide... So there is that too. Except, then again... our grass totally sucks. Maybe the new neighbors in the old house will let us come over for a water party. They don't even have to join us... Oh well, we had a fun outside day with Meggie's kids anyway.

Ian has something going on lately with his heart - He always asks if we can hear it pumping and today he said "Can you feel it?!" after he made me put my hand on his chest. I told him how heart were good because they made sure that all the blood gets moved all over our bodies. He said "Yea..." all confused and then said "hearts are what makes us love people right mom?" So cute yes, it's all in your heart. He would know, he is the sweetest of the bunch.

He is just absolutely adorable with Dylan, he just kind of always has been but he has really kicked it up a notch. Spending time in her room alone with her and giving her hugs. She get more excited to see him than any of her other siblings because he always talks to her and rubs her head and hugs her. As much as the kids fight over toys, if she shows any interest in something he has he hands it right over to her. Even if he had just fought with Asher to get it back. I love it. Watching them together is the best.

We went to the zoo with mom and she was trying to push Dylan in the stroller and Ian is relentless withe the doting on Dylan. It was hard to get him to get out of her stroller and leave her alone so we could walk. And this is while she was sleeping!

During the bird show my mom sat with Duncan, Ian and Grey and I sat with the naughty Asher and the sleeping Dylan. Ian said "Wow! That was freaking awesome!" and "That was the coolest bird I never saw n the whole world!" When we got home they wanted to watch Rio so I think they had a good time there.

We had Jess and Steve and Tracy and Shannon over this weekend for meat fest and it was fun. I loved seeing that baby Gus (who is almost one, but still a baby...), cutest face ever. Seriously, our friends have the cutest kids on the planet. No pictures because for some reason I have been lazy with the camera but there are some great mental shots of the kids all lined up on the picnic table eating cotton candy and looking very purple. Tracy took some so I think I will see those someday.

Matthew and I went to the temple on Friday night to see our niece Eden get prepared to go on the mission to Ecuador. I think we may have had to use up our favors for a little while getting kid coverage... My neighbor and her daughter came over for a little while and then mom and Bob came over for relief. Unfortunately during that first hour, the first time my neighbor has watched them, Dylan had a super fabulous blow out. I told her that that was the worst part of parenting Dylan and now that she had experienced that, everything else would be easy. Whooopsie. I owed her so I ran her over some cotton candy when I made it the other night. Seriously... it's bad. But, so great to be able to go and watch Eden go through this big step though. I am proud of that sweet girl.

I think Grey's nickname is going to be "Shoes" because he is OBSESSED with them. At any given moment there are at least ten shoes laying around. He goes and gets them and then put them on (and gets really frustrated if he fails!) and wants to be wearing them ALL the TIME. He is currently wandering around with one shoe on, must have given up on the other side or it fell off. He will be like this for hours.

I ran an awesome race this weekend so here is my race update - people who hate runners just stop here as I go on to relive my glory. Ha! Last year my very first race was the 10k at this particular event and I did the half this year. This means I have been running now for a little over a year but then I had injured myself last year in September and took all the weight gaining months off (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas...)

My first half was a downhill run. Like, really down hill. I think the elevation loss is like 2800 feet. So you get the speed benefits from that. I ran a 2:06 but who knows what it would equate to on a half with a somewhat normal elevation right? But who cares, 2:06 is an awesome time. Never gonna beat that PR on different race though I was planning on beating it on the same race this year. (I will break 2 hours, even if it's on a down hill run. Oh yes, I will.)

So for the race this weekend the elevation loss is about 800 feet but there is also a 450 gain in there (according to my Garmin) with at least one whopper of a hill. Still a little speed benefit but not nearly the boost of the other run so I had settled on a goal of 2:08. The info I have is that the elevation loss buys you one minute off your finish time. This was a good compromise which would still be a good stretch goal for me.

Even though I divorced my BRF Sara we have several races together but, girl kills it on the time. Like runs like 2 minutes per mile faster than me kills me on the time. So she was at the race and somehow I let her talk me into following the 2:00 pacer (spoiler alert, no, I did not make it at or under 2 hours... so yea...). The 2:00 pace is a 9:09 mile which I can pull for a few miles, but 13? She is crazy, but alas, I agreed. (There is no 2:08 pacer after all...)

Needless to say I lost the pacer. Buuuuut, it was after 8 miles of pulling the pace so hey, there's that. At the 6 mile fuel stop I started to lose him. I kept him in my sights but as hard as I tried I could not get back behind him, he wasn't getting any further away but I wasn't getting any closer. Then I got a stitch and was like, forget this, I run my own races. (I have never gotten a stitch running before!) I told Sara that it wasn't happening and I was never going to catch him. She decided she wanted to so she went ahead. I popped in my other ear bud and was on my way. The scenery was gorgeous, really amazing.

This race is torture because you can see the finish line for a full mile and a half. Uhhh... Well, I walked, ran, hobbled? Who knows... my way towards it and didn't really know how I did until I saw the clock. I was ignoring my Garmin. Whelp, 2:03 baby! A three minute PR over my extremely downhill race. Holla. My Garmin had me at 13.29 miles at a 9:18 pace. I felt like a did the best I could have possibly done but my competitive BRF was like "what's three minutes?!" because she was three minutes from catching the 1:50 pacer (that's right friends, her last five miles were 7:30 min miles). I give it to her, she is the reason I pulled this out anyway even though I don't like running with her. No offense Sara, I love you... swear.

And another (more actual race RACE) in the books. Our next half is in July and it's an uphill one, I am not sure what we were thinking. It will be pretty, that's what we were thinking... it goes around a lake and then in to town.

Uhhhh, hello scenery, how are you?

"Bye mom, I will miss you!"

You cannot possibly imagine the mess that this innocent little sucker made. See it dripping down his shirt? And what is not captured here is the green hair which apparently came later. Yes, we went straight into the tub with instructions not to touch a SINGLE THING on the way to the bathroom. 

We may or may not warm our towels for the kids getting out of the tub... Greyson was obviously comfortable. (Seeing as how I spend a lot of my day keeping him OUT of the toy basket, I think he didn't want to move a muscle lest I realize he was indeed... in the basket."

The dimple is ridic.

Thank You to Special Needs Fathers

I have the opportunity to start writing for a new special needs application from LionHeart Innovations. Not only is it a great application, but it's also an opportunity to start blogging specifically for special needs, the stuff I wouldn't necessarily put in my family journal. Some of the things I post there I will repost here if I want to save them forever and ever. This is one of those posts.

(Here is a link to the blog post for sharing; LionHeart)

Yesterday we celebrated Father’s Day and recognized dads everywhere for doing what they do best. Many of us know a very special type of dad, one of a special needs child. Sorry other dads, but these guys have to put in a little extra… For this us moms want to give you thanks. (And for those of you who aren’t as familiar with amazing special needs fathers, this is a great glimpse into our lives.)

Thank you…

 …for carrying the heavy child who can’t walk. You understand that without you, they wouldn’t be able to see the world.

 …for planning for retirement for three people instead of two. …for all of the phone calls: to the insurance companies to straighten things out or requesting audits or fighting for pre-approvals, to the medical supply company to figure out why received ten (or twenty?) envelopes in the same day.

 …for taking the child who can’t control their emotions to a place that’s more quiet (or more loud). We love how you always know what they need and how you have the patience to follow through.

 …for keeping us calm when we start to worry about the future.

 …for helping to kindly educate others about your child and their needs and being patient and understanding when people say things they probably shouldn’t. We admit that sometimes we are a little too quick to judge and defend.

 …for being on night duty while an exhausted mom gets some zzzz’s. (And maybe occasionally, pretends she is sleeping). Sometimes for hours, and even when you have to get up early in the morning for work.

 …for taking the kids who might feel left out on special daddy dates and fun errands. It is clear that you are doing your best to make sure everyone gets “enough”.

 …for surprising us by prepping the meds. It’s always nice to see everything already all lined up. It’s just like how food tastes better when you didn’t cook it.

 …for arranging your schedule around doctor’s appointments when we need you to. And when you need to take them, remembering EVERY DETAIL for the mom who wishes she could be at two places at once.

 …for not turning your back and running away when things get difficult and instead holding on tight, ready to weather (and sometimes shelter us from) whatever the storm might bring. We need your sanity.

 …for teaming up on the cleaning up when we have “fed the bed”; one parent for the child, one parent for the bed. And sometimes the ceiling is involved, we aren’t quite sure how that happens…

 …for doing the “evening shifts” at the hospital so we can be there during the day and with the other kids when we need to be. (We would say “sleeping at the hospital”, but we know very little sleeping actually occurs.)

 ...for giving the shots and willingly doing all of the other “hard” things. I mean… We would do it if we HAD to…

 …for bringing your binder, with all of your notes and records, to provide back-up at the IEP meetings when it’s needed. Sometimes one parent just isn’t enough (even though it should be).

 …for doing whatever it takes to makes the ends meet with the extra expenses of medications, therapies and co-pays.

We know that over-time, extra shifts and side jobs aren’t your idea of a good time, but you do it all anyway, simply because it’s what needs to be done. It is clear that we rely so much on our special needs dads; it’s nice to have a day set out to express our appreciation for all that they do. I am so blessed to have Matthew in my life, he is the best father, I cannot imagine my world any differently and any better.

Times up, pencils down!

The end of school has come! After this day I will no longer have two Kindergarteners and instead two first graders! What? How did this happen? Not cool time, not cool.

Obligatory last day of school shot

I am coming to terms with the last day of school business. I didn't think it would bother me but I have to admit, I am a little melancholy about the whole thing. I may never see these people again! My babies are growing up! My mom came over so I could run to the school to get pictures with the teachers (thanks mom!) and it was crazy, chaos. Both the morning and afternoon students were there, 50 kids! One classroom! It took longer than I expected but it was worth it. Drag it out so we don't have to move on! 

Duncan got his report card and again it was perfect... perfect! Woohoo! This was a bit of a surprise because we were told at the parent teacher conference that when she tested him he didn't pass a few sight words and if he didn't pass those off by the end of the year he would not get an E. I had been working with him for a while but for some reason, he had a really hard time with "went" and "where" so much so I was resigned to him just not getting an E and I was fine with it. So color me surprised when I got the awesome report card. Woot! He did pass them off!

His teacher is AWESOME and she sent home a TON of worksheets and some workbooks for the kids to be able to keep up their skills. Thankfully, she also sent a little schedule with it. Apparently if they do all of then and bring them to her at the beginning of next school year she will give them a prize! So helpful! Really! I had picked up some early reader books for Duncan to practice but as far as spelling and words I was a little lost. Excellent!

The Kindergartners had their own little fields day earlier this week and they rotated through a few stations, chalk, bubbles, big kid playground, their play ground and.... cotton candy. Shocker there right? I brought Ian with me and thought he would stay with me but she just had him be an extra kid. He was in Duncan's group and he took off and LOVED it. I think he thinks that's what Kindergarten is all about now!

His last day was last week and I don't think it really dawned on him that it was over until this week and now he keeps asking to go because he misses it and he misses his teachers. He got all pouty about it every morning this week as we were getting ready for school. Never fear Ian... you have some summer school coming! At the end of this month and a few weeks next month Ian and Asher will be in the summer learning program at the school. I think it's a good test drive for Asher who will be in the class with Ian, next year Ian will be in a different class. I think he will have fun... we will see if he agrees! He has wanted to go to school and it's kind of a big deal so I think he will be great.

Speaking of Asher also growing, that boy got a big boy bed this week! He has been in a toddler bed but it's time to move Dylan out of a crib size bed (she is fine, I swear...) and into a larger bed and the beds come together. Some of you might remember that Matthew modified an old crib to have a low side with an opening for her to crawl in and out of. It's perfect! except she rarely uses that gap to get in and out of it, rather preferring to stand next to the side and topple over it. Hey, at least the option is there right? So a while ago we came up with this plan of taking a top bunk (already has the rails and a gap for the ladder) and cutting off the legs. Walah! perfect big kids bed for her! Bottom bunk goes to Asher. We moved Asher over last night and he was not a fan so we had to totally down play it. I swear, nothing is a good idea to him unless he comes up with it himself! Matthew has to cut the legs off the other one and do some modification to stabilize the side where the ladder would be but he is on it. I bet she also gets a big kid bed before the weekend is over!

We will also be booting Greyson from our room. (Finally! Ugh!)There are three rooms upstairs so unless someone goes down, there will need to be sharing... so we sat the kids down and explained to them that Greyson need to go somewhere and where should he go etc. Ian's eyes lit up. "I know! I know!" He got very close to Matthew's face and said "I thiiiink, I want to move downstairs in YOUR room!" Uhm. No. You are missing the point young man. So I think we will be building their beds up again and Duncan will be moving in with Ian and Grey will be in Duncan's room solo.

The only problem I really foresee is Ian is spotless. I think you could eat off his floor. Duncan on the other hand.... Welllllll. Last night Ian shared a concern with Matthew. He said they can't move in the same room because "Duncan has Legos all over the floor and when he walks on them they will hurt his feet!" Valid. Totally valid. We will see how this goes. Wish us luck.

Ian and his teachers - Ms. Kaydee, Ms. Shelley and Mrs. Connie

We were driving in the car and Duncan told me to look out the window on my side and I looked over and saw this. A VERY cool cloud that was a rainbow! I have never seen anything like it. So we pulled over in the parking lot so I could take a picture and tell all my friends to go outside. I wouldn't have noticed it had Duncan not pointed it out. 

in a bag of hand me down from Aunt Eden there were these TINY sunglasses. The boys totally dug them though. When your too cool...

Dylan's Paras Natalie and Tammy

We are hoping they will be back next year but Natalie might be moving on. She got her degree and while we want her to stay for US - getting another job would probably be best for HER. *sigh*

Saying goodbye

Duncan and Mrs. K. 

For some reason all Dylan wanted to do was snuggle. She kept going in for kisses and snuggles!

She shoots, she scores! 

I can't remember if I have mentioned "Ian's Lady" before. Ian loves to wave at the crossing guard lady and she loves to wave to him! Today is the last day we will be seeing Ian's Lady so I told him we could stop and get a picture with her and talk to her if he wanted. (Even though he was in his jammies!). He was excited.... then star struck! She gave him a little treat from his bag and off we went. 

Another cute of of the twinkies

Last day of preschool. (Until next year's preschool...)

The big van pays off!

Somewhere recently I read that we all need to do a bit better at getting to know the city that we live in. The article I read said that people come from all over to visit YOUR city, to do things that your great city provides yet, a lot of time, the people who live there haven't even done these things! So true for us for sure! So I decided that we were going to be come a tourist in our own city and do some of the fun things available to us, right in our back yard... so to speak. Hopefully we will have a fun summer full of new things! 

First on the agenda? Shannon's idea... visit the Dugway Geode Beds and collect geodes with the kids. Shane and Traci took Greg out there several years ago and said it was really fun and, ever the interesting rock collector in my youth, I have always been intrigued. It was something Shannon had always wanted to do and this was the day... it was going to happen. (In our entire history, most of the fun adventurous things we have done have been Shannon's ideas!)

This is my blind-siding Matthew - He had no idea where we were going, how long it would take, how many times we would have to here "are we there yet?" All he knew is that Shannon and I had this hair-brained idea to go driving somewhere to look at rocks. Me thinks he wasn't very excited. He also expressed concerns about how good of a time Dylan was going to have while the rest of us were digging in the dirt. Time to get over it though... there are somethings we CAN'T do with Dylan... this is not one of them. We were going to go on an adventure! 

Matthew wanted to load Asa and Charlotte's car seats in the big van and have a big van party driving out. I am SO glad we did this! I was going to have the boys sit in the front and Shannon and I ride in the back but Tracy is nice, like... so nice... and the kids talked him into squeezing himself in the back row with Ian, Duncan and Charlotte. His bum wedged in there but his shoulders did not. I offered to go back there but he wanted to, they wanted him to, whatever... he is a trooper. Especially considering this trip consisted of about 45 street miles followed by 50 miles on a dirt road. 50 miles! Lucky Shannon was between Dylan and Asher! 

It was memorial weekend and there were a lot of campers out there in the wilderness! A lot of people with four-wheelers. I think I would prefer to camp where there were a few more trees, maybe some water? Shade? A fire? The idea of camping in the Great American West Dessert does not excite me... 

Little did we know, geode digging is serious business. When we came in on the side road there was a truck with a geode in the bed that was larger than a basketball. He said they has been digging it out for two days! While we stopped, one of the guys brought over a horny toad for the kids to see. Oh how I wanted to get my hands on that toad! I LOVE them and haven't held one in ages!

After a short drive we saw huge piles of dirt that had been turned up with a back hoe. Tracy dislodged himself, stepped out and said "this is the place!" looked down, grabbed a rock, held it up and said "look a geode!" Yes ladies and gentleman, it was that easy. Your job, dig dig dig, find a lumpy round rock, and bring it back to home base. Open, walah! Mission accepted!  The kids were off. Little kids, big shovels. 

Dylan was in the jogging stroller... and not too happy. I think she is coming down with something because she hasn't been herself all week since and the wind out there was not her bag. She was not happy unless we were moving which was convenient at the moment because I had to go to the bathroom something fierce so off we went to find an appropriate locale. I walked and walked on the road and saw a lizard sunning himself on the rock... briefly I thought about trying to catch it but having let go of the stroller for a minute I was reminded that Dylan was not on board for a quest of that sort. Perhaps a slower horny toad would reveal itself to me later.

Since I know Dylan wasn't all into the digging we took our time coming back to the car and what do you know? A toad. For real. I caught it, oh yea, no biggie. (They are slow, they rely on camouflage and that is no match for these well-trained Wyoming, lizard hunting eyes!) I then put a little gas on it so I could bring it to the kids to have them see it, rub it's little head and maybe even hold it. They all did, they took turns, it was so cute, and probably a little stressful for that toad so we walked away from the dirt piles to let it go. He sat there for a minute and let Charlotte and Duncan rub it's back and then, when he was sure he was free, he ran off. So so cute. Duncan spotted another running away from him that I picked up and said hi to too, he was adorbs, slightly bigger than the other one and a much cute face! 

After we had sufficient piles of rocks, we cracked them open to look at our treasures. Matthew told each boy they could pick their favorite three... but some might have, fallen off the truck per se. I have no idea what we are going to do with them... 

And we were off - home bound. After we got home it was all hands on deck to clean out the van that looked like we had been camping in it for three days. it was dusty, dirty, there were wrappers and stashed gold fish and licorice everywhere. But we were so happy to have it. It was an entirely different trip than it would have been than if we were to have driven separately. We were glad to have been able to spend all of that extra driving time with our friends, even though we crammed one of them in the back! 

Even the Greybie has fun digging! 

The first victim... 

You can see the thin layer of dust coating him... 

Victim #2, I think he was cuter... and not just because he is smiling for the camera. 

Two of Charlotte's favorites! 

Did we have fun? Yes we did! 

Farewell West Dessert - it will be a while before I see you again. 

On with the good stuff!

It was teacher appreciation week and the kids were told to write a note or draw a picture for their teacher if they want to and Duncan LOVES his teacher so I knew he would like the opportunity. I told him to make it like a card and I kind of showed him how cards work but I don't think he trusted the concept so he made sure to draw a nice big arrow on the front to let her know that there was more. 

On the inside he drew her playing soccer and what he wanted to say was "Mrs. Kubinak, you are the best teacher you help me with all my work" and was resigned to "you help me" when it came down to actually writing it. My favorite part is "Misiz".

Ian had his school program while Matthew was out of town. I think they sang three songs, you know those programs are sooooo short! The little girl next to him sitting (I don't want to put her all out there on the nets) is Emma and she and he are buddies. He loves her. He follows Shelley's sign language all the time and kind of mimics it with his hands. He is really sweet with Emma. During about the second song Emma finally realized that there was a room full of people watching them and she covered her eyes with her hands and her little bottom lip started slowly poking out. Then she would peek, and a little more... and then these tears came rolling down her cheeks. It was a heart breaker! I told her mom it was no fair because she stole the show! 

Duncan's program happened too and Matthew had to work. He was so bummed to miss it! It was significantly longer than Ian's program and the other kids had a hard time holding it together the whole time! Thankfully mom was there to help wrangle the yahoos. Duncan was cute but at the very bottom of the stage/steps and very hard to see. He was about as into singing the program as he was in to soccer.

As in not at all.

But he hung in there, at one point her and Ian were making silly faces to each other. He was messing with his hat... not singing... but present. He was definitely present.

Dylan also had a part in the program but it was totally screwed up by the special needs teacher. Like... ruined. I was so bummed.

About ten minutes before the program started (and you know it started late...) I looked in the back and saw Dylan in the wheelchair looking totally adorable. Little did I know, she was left in the wheelchair for the whole program so 40 minutes later when it was time for them to sing the Yellow Rose of Texas to her she was passed out in the chair so her *ahem* lame teacher wheeled her down the isle passed out, looking totally dumb and then turned around and stood there looking at the audience. It was so stupid.

Really, so stupid. Just don't have her do it! I was totally bummed because she would have walked had she been awake and it's a little known fact that she hates wheelchairs and being strapped down so when they strap her down she just goes to sleep. Oh wait, that's not a little known fact, it's WIDELY known, everyone knows that. Why in the world was my kid in a wheelchair for forty minutes when she was awake anyway??

When I went in to pick her up I walked in and said "Where's my lazy yellow rose?" and the aide laughed and I told her that of course she fell asleep, she was in the chair! And the aide said, quietly, "that's what we tried to... say..." and glanced at the teacher. Ugh! Whatever. The teacher's like "I know, she was fine for a while and we were laughing and playing and I was tickling her (right) and wouldn't you know? As soon as they started that song she fell asleep!" Oh sure sure.

So I walked out and ran into the Kindy teacher and I told her I was totally bummed that she was asleep and she was livid. She said the teacher wasn't supposed to have anything to do with the program. The aides were supposed to bring her in close to the time and walk her down the isle while they were singing. It was like, going to be a moment. Ruined. Completely ruined. Dylan didn't even need to be there but I think the teacher wanted to get out of work by having to be at the program! I am pretty sure the principal heard about this incident... but since she isn't coming back next year so it doesn't really matter, the moment is over. Llllllammmme.

Grey was not all that into it. He was nauuuughty. 

Anyway, now that that rant is over. We planted a garden finally this last weekend and Matthew bought lots of peppers. Lots and lots. I tend to want to over plant zucchini over peppers. Why one needs 6 different kinds of peppers is beyond me... and multiple plants of each too. He is nuts. He says he wants salsa. Ohhhh, wait... now that I type it out it occurs to me that he got a new blender recently and he wants to play! I bet that's it. Anyway... need peppers? Come over in a couple months... we will have peppers coming out of our ears! 

And for a running update - I ran a half this weekend. One of my running friends Alison was pacing a race that was a little bit of a drive (as in, leave the house at 3:20 drive...) at a pace of 2:30 (which is about a 11:20 min mile). This is a very easy pace for me and a great pace for a stamina training run... especially since I wasn't training for a half and hadn't had a double digit run in almost 2 months. I told her I wanted to do it with her and I registered with less than a weeks notice. My BRF Sara reminded me that when I started running one of my goals was to hear of a last minute opportunity for a race and just be able to do it. I forgot! Mission accomplished! 

It was probably my favorite run to date, it was gorgeous! The elevation was about 4600 ft, we were in these lush green mountains and it was a little rainy so it was misty. The clouds were settling below the tops of the mountains... some of which still had snow on them. I just am amazed by how pretty everything was! The race was about a mile up, then rolling hills down for the next 8 miles and then little rollers for a slight up on the last four miles. The down and then up usually proves a challenge for people but at this pace it was fine. I had great company, the pace was awesome, the scenery couldn't be beat. There were only 91 runners maybe? Super small because that area had a large half and full marathon the previous weekend. Loved. This. Race. 

Event though it was an early morning I will watch for this one next year. I really enjoyed it. 

 My pacing friends, Alison did the 2:30 and Michelle the 2. I couldn't have kept up with Michelle on a well-trained day! 

Ian's preschool picture we didn't buy...

Greyson thinks he is soooo big playing outside with the boys. He loves it!