Wasatch My Back, Year 4

(Technically, the first year I ran this crazy thing, our team name was The Goobers, but we'll let that slide.)

Here we are at my house before we took off for Eden, UT to meet our first van:

(From L to R: Sarah (amazing last-minute replacement #1), Abby, Crystal, Brooke, me, Melanie (amazing last-minute replacement #2)) How smiling and optimistic, how excited we all were! How naive...

When we arrived in Eden, we clambered out of the car and were immediately accosted by some guys who RagTagged us:

And then, for some reason, all the pictures I have are of Crystal:

cute and sassy, as always

happy to begin her third and final run

yep, that's my leg. too lazy to take it down.

Here's our team at the finish. 3 of our girls had to be home early and one had her husband pick her up right after her last run. Out of the 6 girls in our van, 3 got the runs that you don't want when you gots to run. Made for an interesting Ragnar this year.

Along with the Ragnar slap bracelet, we passed along this:

 

One of our friend's daughters has SMARD (Spinal Muscular Atrophy with Respiratory Distress). She sells these bracelets to raise money and awareness for this disease. On the other side it says, "PRES ON" because the little girl's name is Presley. Here is a link to their blog. It was a nice reminder for us -- when we were sleep-deprived, when we were in pain, when that hill was just too steep, when we felt to sick to move -- to press on. Thanks, Presley! 

Every year I sign up for this race. Every year I get to a point when I wonder why. Every year I can't wait to do it again. I love the girls in my van and on my team! I met some great people while running who were such an inspiration to me. I got passed by an egotistical guy whose team offered me $100 to beat him to the finish. And what was better than, three days after the race, to hear Brooke say of him, "Ragnar this, fishpad!" But seriously, Melanie --15 weeks pregnant who power-walked her legs; Sarah -- who started feeling sick at 6AM but who ran her last leg anyway at noon; Abby -- whose first Ragnar this was, and definitely not the last. She kicked butt up Ragnar hill; Brooke -- who began the sickness and had the hardest runs and texted us in the middle of two of them. She's "super awesome!" (even if she doesn't recycle); Crystal -- who had a baby 6 months ago, got sick, and still ran like the wind to bring us in on the last leg. In the words of Abby, "You're all my best friends!" And that is why I do Ragnar. Every. Year. 

All right. Who's in for next year? :)

Surviving Summer

We are now three weeks into Summer Break and doing fine! Here's how the past few weeks have gone:

Sunday 6/10: Used the solar oven to cook beef stew for Sunday dinner. Oh yum. I love the solar oven! This date 18 years ago I met the man who was to become my husband. His first impression of me was that I looked like a praying mantis. My first impression of his physical appearance was that he was the funniest looking guy I'd ever met -- tall, almost unnaturally skinny and wiry, blond as they come, big round eyes behind big round glasses, round nose, round nostrils, wide curving smile. What impressed me the most (and still does to this day) was the strength and gentleness of his spirit. I felt his big heart and compassionate nature even then and it's what I fell in love with a few years later. It's what I love the most about him today. From that porch in Somerville, NJ 18 years ago to 13 years of marriage and 3 kids, it's been a wonderful adventure.

Monday 6/11: 5 mile run in the morning. The monkeys began tennis lessons, S&O on top of their thrice-weekly swimming. When we came home from our wild and crazy morning, S&O formed a band. This is the picture they had me take for the cover of their first album:

And nothing says summer like popsicles on a porch swing. This was the spontaneous picture:

This one was after I said, "Smile!" Is S approaching adolescence? Yes, I think so.

Chef H chose apples, crackers, and cheese for lunch and pancakes for dinner. We went to "Shakespeare for Kids" at the library ("Romeo and Juliet") and then to the Scera Shell to see "The Wizard of Oz." One of my friends was the Munchkin coroner, and one of S's friends was in the ensemble, so that, coupled with bug repellent and treats, made it a fun evening!

Tuesday 6/12: On account of our late night, we all slept in -- even my little alarm clock H! We weeded the garden. Chef H chose quesadillas for lunch and baked potatoes (in the solar oven) for dinner. O's best friend came to play, and a neighbor girl came to play with H. Tons o' fun.

Wednesday 6/13: 3 mile run in the morning, followed by the busyness of swimming and tennis, followed by a slow afternoon. J worked from home. After dinner I ran errands, going to the grocery store and Costco by myself, which was a real treat! It's the simple things that make life great, right?

Thursday 6/14: Made granola bars, cleaned out the van, prepared food, packed my backpack. Did the laundry, took kids to piano, collected reading rewards from the library. Chorale at night, at which I was completely distracted because...

Friday 6/15 - Saturday 6/16: I ran the Wasatch Back! Separate post pending...

Saturday 6/16: I arrived home from that crazy relay at 7, pulling in front of my house to see J working on a project, the driveway and garage a mess, the house even worse, and the kids not even close to being ready for bed. But they had fun with J, so that's all that counts...

Sunday 6/17: ...except that due to lack of sleep on my part, I was super crabby about getting to clean up after party weekend at my house and in my van. I did get up and make yummy cornbread muffins for breakfast, started the potato salad, and put ribs in the solar oven for dinner. During church I visited with one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I snuck a nap in after church. That helped. Must note that when I don't get enough sleep, the filter that catches inappropriate things from slipping out of my mouth just goes away. It sure made church interesting.

Monday 6/18: Swimming, tennis, S to a writer's workshop at the library, car wash, lunch, conducting lesson, Quiet Time, Shakespeare for Kids, dinner, bed! Somehow we packed it all into Monday! Plus a brief visit with a friend who was in town only for a few days, a quick facebook chat with another great friend that I hadn't heard from in a while, and J home early from work. H chose left-over meatloaf muffins for lunch and angel hair pasta for dinner.

Tuesday 6/19: 4 mile run in the morning. S mowed the lawn and attended the writer's workshop. I took apart the Dyson vacuum that stopped sucking a week after I bought it, extracted the carpet fuzz stuck in its innards, and rejoiced when it started sucking once again!

Wednesday 6/20: Tried like the dickens to get O (aka "Little J") up and at 'em in the morning:

 
It's amazing how much like J O is. (H is on the chair, awake at 6:30AM like his mom, obsessed with technology like his dad.) Most mornings when everyone is dressed, O is still in bed, with the covers over his head. Took the kids to Costco and the grocery store, after which I left them all at home under S's watchful (?) eye to drop by a few friends' houses and restore my sanity. After Quiet Time, S's best friend came over with her bike, so we went to the church parking lot to ride bikes, picking up a few kids along the way. Homemade bean burritos for dinner.

Thursday 6/20: 6 mile run in the morning. Chores done before piano. H's best friend over to play in the morning. H to another friend's house in the afternoon. I tried a new whole wheat bread recipe that's a winner! Chorale at night. Much-needed walk with J once I got home from Chorale. I need music and I love music, but along with music comes wacky-E. Trying to find balance there...

Friday 6/21: This morning I went to watch the boys' swim practice. That scrawny little S has some skinny arms, but when he starts gliding through the water -- holy back muscles, Batman! It's so fun to watch those kids take off like fish! I fussed with the sprinkler system at a rental and came home to find J home from work early! After lunch I lined the kids up on the carpet and with a stern look on my face told them they were in so much trouble. I said, "You kids are the best kids on the planet, so as punishment, we are taking you out for ice cream!" 5 cups of ice cream, 5 coupons, and $0 later:

We are surviving summer really well this year. We even skipped the horrible 1-2 week adjustment period that we've had to go through in the past. We've worked hard, had a lot of fun, spent a minimal amount of money, and played with friends. Quiet Time each day has saved us. We skipped it one day and will never skip it again. It gives us all just enough space that we are happy to be with each other again once it's over. I'm optimistic that we can keep this up for the next few months. Wish us luck!

Week in Review

Highlights of the week by day...

Sunday 6/3: Cooked a delicious roast in the solar oven! The kitchen didn't get hot, the roast was tender and moist. We had a friend and her daughter over for dinner and FHE. She brought dessert -- yummy!

Monday 6/4: Day 1 of our summer schedule went well. It includes (but is not limited to) swimming, cleaning, weeding the garden, having each boy be "Chef for a day" twice a week, and Quiet Time. Chef H picked Swedish pancakes for lunch and waffles for dinner. Lots of breakfast when that boy is in charge. We happened to be at the library when "Shakespeare for Kids" started.

 I can't believe we've never been to this. It is so fun. The kids have been asking to go back every day since. Yes. We will.

Tuesday 6/5: 10 mile run, which felt fabulous! Weeded the garden. After Quiet Time the kids rode bikes in the church parking lot. Chef H picked waffles for lunch and meat loaf for dinner. We began the meat loaf in the solar oven, but it wasn't warm enough to cook it all the way through, so we finished up in the oven.

Wednesday 6/6: Ran errands to 9 different places in 2 hours with all the monkeys, one of which was to the Scera Theater to pick up our Wizard of Oz tickets:
   




They weren't even crabby by the time we were done -- accomplishment! Chef S made sausage nachos for lunch -- O found a bit of melted cheese on his plate that was shaped like a cat
 

-- and crepes for dinner. Brought dinner (not crepes) to a friend and got to hold her brand new sweet baby. Spontaneously decided to go see "The Mikado" at BYU after dinner. Gilbert & Sullivan is (are?) so random.

Thursday 6/7: 7 mile run in the morning. Weeded again -- it was about time I payed attention to the raspberries that I've neglected for 2 years! Kids had piano. Chef O chose taco soup for lunch. After Quiet Time we headed up to Salt Lake. We met J after work and had dinner where his sister works. We were able to see her and her family who were also there for dinner. J took the kids home, I stayed for the Wasatch Back Captain's Meeting and then drove to Chorale. Long day, but great.

Friday 6/8: Worked at a rental all day with the kids cleaning up the yard. During Quiet Time, which O had in the kitchen, he carefully selected spices and other pantry items and made me a concoction:



I heard him clinking around and wondered what he was up to... He was so proud of himself. He even had it covered with a napkin and pulled it off with a flair. 
 

Chef O chose pancakes for dinner. Wasatch Back Team meeting went well. We spent a few hours at Orem Summerfest. O is a little adrenaline junkie. S was exhausted and was disappointed to miss "Exploring Music" on KBYU radio, although he did consent to go on the merry-go-round with H. Here's a blurry picture:
 
Irrigation came at 8:30PM

Saturday 6/9: Ran 6 miles in the morning. Sang at Orem Summerfest with the Orem Chorale. Worked on the rental some more. Chef S chose cinnamon toast for dinner, but since there wasn't enough for everybody, J and I had Smashburgers. Yum.

This week I've been thinking about how I want my kids to be hard workers. I want them to grow up learning the value and joy of hard work and the satisfaction of a good job done. I don't want them to expect to be handed things just because. I hope I can help them learn how to solve their own problems and not expect someone else to take responsibility for their actions. I half-considered trying to teach them a Little Red Hen-type lesson by not letting them eat the strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries in our garden because I ended up doing most of the weeding of those fruits. (I decided against it because, realistically, it's unenforceable.) Our summer schedule has plenty of work built in, along with some free, fun activities. The end-of-week rewards are places/things we have to pay for, but the kids have to earn it. We'll see how the summer goes...

The Last Week of School!

The last week of school and the first week of J being home was great! Since J arrived home a week earlier than expected, he was able to spend all of his time with us.


Sunday 5/27: J had tamed his shaggy beard on Saturday, but we had a good time on Sunday morning combing his hair and feathering it this way and that before church. He slept upright by me during Sacrament meeting, sat sleepily by me during Sunday School, and dozed a little next to me out in the hall during Relief Society. After church we had a lazy Sunday afternoon at home. We had chicken drumsticks for dinner and all squashed ourselves into J's expedition tent (that was set up to dry out) for FHE.


Monday 5/28: First thing in the morning the kids favored us with a flag ceremony. I think the color guard that posted the colors at O's patriotic program really made an impression on the boys:

  

 

 
I ran 7 miles in the morning and then went on errands with the whole family. J didn't find what he needed at Out-N-Back or Park's, but I came home with a cute hat and a new valve for my Camelbak. We had lunch at Taco Amigo and then came home to work on our yard. After spending our afternoon outside, we took the kids to the rec center pool, to J Dawgs for dinner, and then home for showers and bed! A nice way to spend Memorial Day.

Tuesday 5/29: We sent our kids off for their last week of school before J, H, and I spent the day repairing little random things in our home. H had a friend over in the afternoon. S & O were both home by 3:30. Piano, home for dinner (leftovers) and bed!


Wednesday 5/30: Ran 5 miles after S & O left for school. J, H, and I went to Costco where we were seduced by the 10-person Coleman tent. J had a haircut:

and a nap. After school S had some friends over to play. J came to watch S & O swim and accompanied us on our very last crazy Wednesday! Our neighbor came to watch the house (and sleeping kids) so we could go meet up with the rope team that came down off Denali early. We chatted with them until 10:45PM! Them home to bed to get ready for...

Thursday 5/31: The Last Day of School! Once we sent S & O off for their hour and a half of school, we went to the grocery store and then hurried home to set up the tent as a surprise for the kids. We walked over to O's school to pick him up and snapped this sweet picture

before he turned to me, threw his arms around my waist, and started crying as if his heart would break. Mrs. Nelson has been such a great teacher for O. We love her so much! Poor kid was inconsolable almost all the way home. We will text her and email her a lot this summer!

S arrived home with an awesome white elephant gift

 

which he generously shared with me

 and H.

The kids loved the tent so much that when I came back from the Chorale rehearsal that I was in charge of, they begged me to put on my jammies and come sleep out in the tent with them. Which I did. It was so fun.

Friday 6/1: I ran 8.5 miles in the morning. We all went to IFA for poison for our yard and The Italian Place for lunch. Our irrigation water came to make our yard less crunchy and our garden happy, and we talked to our newly-returned-from-a-mission neighbor through the fence. I made an outside enclosure for the guinea pigs so they could loaf around in our backyard with us. The male pig had his own separate space but managed to get his head stuck in one of the squares. Lots of squealing and gentle prying later and we hope he's learned his lesson. We cooked our dinner over a campfire (foil packets of chicken and veggies, baked potatoes), and then had too many s'mores made with Reese's peanut butter cups. Oh yummy. Another camp out in the tent.

 

 

This is J's frostbite in the sun. It doesn't look too bad. The middle one still hurts like the dickens, but he won't lose any fingers.

 I got a kick out of J eating chips and salsa with his thumb and pinky. Thank goodness for the opposable thumb!

Saturday 6/2: I ran 3 miles 3 times this day. I've concluded that heat is my downfall. Yikes. I made the yummiest burgers for dinner that I have had in a long time. Why? Because I didn't shred carrots, chop broccoli, or try to sneak any other vegetable into the meat patty this time. It doesn't mean I've learned my lesson, but I can't deny the worth of an all-meat patty. The kids went to bed early and I did loads of laundry and scrubbed the kitchen floor. Not a bad week.

It was nice to have J with us for the week. He's the most mellow man on the planet, but ever since he's been back from summiting Denali, he's even more mellow. I didn't know that was possible. It makes for a happy life over here, and I love it!