BREEZY FIELDS

Yesterday Mike and I ran 8 miles. While it was a stroll in the park for him, that is the farthest I have ever run. My heart felt fine, save it be for the slight incline I like to call a hill (Mike was kind enough to humor my definition). However, my hip flexor is flexing its power over me today AND I have two blisters (I was wearing my new shoes that I have only worn on the treadmill for a few miles). The blisters are in areas where I have some lovely calluses and they should be fine very soon. While I am in some pain today I do feel more confident that I will get there- to marathon status. Sawyer wants to play. Time to go.

A Tale of Two Yorkies... and a Rat Summation- We decided (that would be Mike and me and not the voices in my head and me) that after Jane's unfortunate 6th grade experience we would take the opportunity our move provided to "redo" 6th grade and make Jane older for her grade from here on out. Jane was pretty overwhelmed, hopeful, and heartbroken. I had to do something- I threw a dog into the bargain. A Yorkie to be precise. Jane researched and discovered that Yorkies were cheaper in Germany than in the States- by alot. We picked out a cute little Yorkie puppy that was supposed to grow to be a hefty 6-9 lbs. I know that little 3 pounders are all the rage but I could just see Ellyn or Sawyer reenacting a disturbing scene from Of Mice and Men. A month later we picked out a little friend for our young pup, also with the potential of reaching a whopping 9 lbs. Just so you know, Yorkies were once bigger dogs, they began to breed them to be small up in Scotland, so the wee l...

Life, for right now... I have had an awesome weekend so far. Well, technically it is only 2:11 on Saturday. We went camping last night at Henry Coe State Park, or something like that. It was so much fun. Rebecca came too, to help with Ellyn. Even though it was freezing and windy when we got there, we stayed in our somewhat warm-huge tent and had stew, then played a board game. The dogs, in my opinion were great!!! They are so fun to have, even if sometimes they are a pain in butt. Ellyn loved the camping, however Sawyer did not. He just wanted outside of the tent and then he was SCREAMING in middle of the night and my wonderful, strong mother had to take him to the car. I swear, he was happy for about 15 minutes the whole trip. I am having a hard time at school, social wise. There is this girl, that was my BF and now she has done this thing, where she randomly decides, "oh, I am going to make Jane's life miserable," Well, we have made up about four times. The problem is, ...

Near San Jose -- Post From My iPhone

What can I say? Life is so normal, so unimaginably good right now. I feel like I should pinch myself all day long. I have a husband that works way too few hours to actually broadcast on a blog (Don't worry, he'll be slaving away in two months and he did just work 24/7 for 15 months, your tax paying dollars are not being wasted) so for now he's home to play with me and help me all evening and sometimes even in the afternoon. I absolutely adore his company. There is a reason he is my best friend. Ellyn's program is being put together even as I write and she is much happier as of late. She even said "more" twice this week. She is so loving and you can't help but smile when you see her (unless she's freaking out of course:). Jane gave a family home evening lesson last night (long story about missionaries being an hour and a half late Monday due to a hike and no cell coverage) that brought tears to my eyes AND her father's as well (okay, more lik...

I am back to school now, after the wonderful weekend I had at the warm beach. It was SO hot today, I liked it though. I am more of a warm weather person. Tonight we are having the sister missionaries over for dinner. Today was not really that interesting, but I felt bad because I have not blogged in a long time. I am in MS success and tomorrow and this week we are talking about Autism and the six pillars of character. I am pretty excited about that,one day we have to be "handicapped". I am reading Gone with the Wind, it is really good so far. Well, bye.

This weekend was heavenly. I mean it. I loved every minute of it. Friday night was date night and Mike and I opted to stay home for a change. We fed the kids dinner and then sent them all to the other side of the house. Rebecca was here to watch Ellyn and the girls had Sawyer. Luckily our living room and the little ones' bedrooms are all behind the family room door. Mike and I grilled steak and shrimp, ate dinner out on the deck, came in, and played three games of Pandemic. Here's a little plug for Pandemic, a great cooperative game where you work together to stop the spread of disease across the world. It can be very tense (I know Ellynn- we are dorks. It is pretty much all Mike's fault). We won two out of three times, phew that we were able to save the world. Just call us "Legend." We finished our games and then came back to the living room and visited with the girls and Rebecca while we watched a short documentary about life in Iraq (I know the per...

Jane's First Fish This is Jane, either shortly before or shortly after Sadie's birth. We lived at Hamilton Station Apartments- for our second time- while we waited for military housing. We loved it there. We lived in an apartment just steps away from the walking path and a pond with a pretty fountain in the middle of it. We had absolutely great neighbors, I can't remember their names, how sad is that? Anyway, many nights we would sit on the lawn beside the pond and look for turtles and fish. They kept the pond stocked and Mike bought Jane her very own little fishing pole. This was the first fish she caught all by herself. Hmmmm.... I miss those warm Georgia nights. So here's the deal- I am not going to tag 6 people. I'm going to tag Mindi, Darla, Lisa, and Jess. Ellie Boo, you too if you are up on reading. 1. Go to your documents/pictures. 2. Go to your 6th file. 3. Go to your 6th picture. 4. Post it, and blog about it. 5. Name your picture. 6. Tag 6 peo...

Mike and I just registered for the St. George marathon in October. It's a lottery and we won't know if we are in until mid May. We registered as a group. Mike's brother Dave, my sister Meagan, and my fabulous friend and former running buddy, Lisa. Lisa and I ran together in Georgia and oh, how I've missed her for so many years. If we get in she will fly in from Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, so how exciting is that? I am incredibly nervous. I was excited a few weeks ago after Mike and I did a 6 mile trail run and I was feeling great. I was excited as I watched Mike and Meags finish up the 25K last weekend and Mike told me I could have done it. I became just plain scared this week, after I ran four miles and felt like I was going to die after being sick for three days and not running for six. But... I am going to try. Meags, Dave, and Mike are totally out of my league, but Lisa and I had Sawyer and Maggie a month apart (although I don't believe that 18 mos of not bein...

Many more to come.

This year we did not dye eggs. We were gone Friday night and all day Saturday for the 25 K that Mike and Meagan ran. Sunday the kidlets woke up to baskets and after church I hard boiled eggs. But... I was getting ill and very tired and bribed my kids into waiting till Monday, which ended up being a day where I was even more ill and tired. Sadie was consoled with the Easter Bunny hiding candy for her to find Tuesday morning and a little special present (which happened to be earrings that I had bought for her two Christmases ago when she got her ears pierced and had forgotten about, only to rediscover in my jewelry jar (yes, it's a crystal jar that holds misc. jewelry) last week), and the promise that sometime- "days and days from now when ( I ) am feeling better, can we can dye some eggs?" Would 362 days work do you think? Today Mike had to run out to Fort Ord to register for Tricare (our health insurance) and it is right near the commissary and so he told me that if ...

Woke up feeling less razor bladish. More coldish. Sawyer and I napped during nap time. Yikes! It's time. Deuces.

Mike and Sadie are talkin' in country talk. Cowboy and cowgirl talk Sadie says. I actually loved my day today. It did help that Rebecca came over to watch Ellyn at four and I took a nap. Costco was smooth. I really am sick, but I am trying not to be. If the razor in my throat is not gone in the morning I am going to have to go get a strep culture, it's day four. My girls are being sweethearts today and Sawyer is being a very cute little terror. I loved having Ellyn home today. It was fun to play together while Sawyer napped. I kind of wish we could just have an all day home program, but I know the socialization is good for her. Jane met two kind of shy girls at the Honor Roll lunch a few days before Spring Break and they invited her to sit with them at lunch the next day and she sat with them again today and she loved it. She had a good day. Sadie was a fabulous Little Red Riding Hood this afternoon in drama, so her teacher says. Time to snuggle my handsome husband.

Ellyn is home for one more day. How random is that? So I have Ellyn and Sawyer by myself. This is no easy feat. Ellyn and I went for a walk this morning while Mike was still home to play with Sawyer. Ellyn did not want to walk, she was screaming at the top of her lungs (it was after nine by the by). Two people came out of their houses to see what was going on, I explained the situation to one woman who then explained it to another woman who was out walking her dogs and asked Ellyn if she would please be quiet. It didn't bother me too much, but it did make me very grateful for all of my neighbors. Neighbors that I hardly ever see but who are friendly and supportive and think Ellyn is adorable (which she is). Sawyer and Ellyn and I are going to attempt Costco for some milk and produce and diapers. Can I tell you how much milk we went through when my mom and sisters and nieces and nephews were here? We should have leased 10 cows. Oh, but did we ever have fun. SO MUCH FUN!...

It has been a long time since I have blogged so I am blogging. It is spring break, the cousins, the aunts are here. It has been a lot of fun. We have gone on beach hikes, gone to the beach, the aquairium, lots of fun stuff. A funny story... Hazel was going to the bathroom and she said I was "Bugin'" her. She hit and said who do we hit? "We hit people that bugs us when we are mad," "No, we only hit bad guys," "Well, we don't hit uncle Mike and he is a bad guy cause he is in the army." Anyway... We are watching Indiana Jones and my mom and dad are about to pick up some Allegros Pizza - They have the best pizza - our favorite pizza place. Jane

Take it easy.