Guess what we got???

Yep, a horse!!!

No, Just kidding, we got a trampoline! They are very similar though! I found a great used one on Craig's list. The kids can't think about doing anything else. Even Corbin thinks it is a blast! Ashlyn has slowly become accustomed to it and can jump right along crazy Dylan. Dylan's favorite game is dodge ball! (BTY we do have a net around it, not shown in this picture.)

Here is Dylan having the time of his life. He can even do a full front flip, no problem!! The kid has no fear!

And all three kids...

And their favorite time- Daddy time...

I had a hard time deciding between a play structure and a trampoline, I thought they might play with this one more! They would eat, sleep, bathe and read on the tramp if I let them! I think I made a good choice! The best part is that it is right up next to some big windows in my living room- so really I could just sit and watch them jump all day!

Cannonball Complete

I have done all the other distances (5k,10k, marathon and triathlon) but I skipped one run- the 1/2 marathon. So this year I decided to give it a try. Today I ran the Greensboro Cannonball 1/2 marathon. It was much more fun to train for than the full- that is for sure! Ashlyn was by far my best training partner and she always wanted to come along for a ride.

So today was the day- it has been 80 degrees all week long, and then the high today was 52!! Perfect race day weather!?!? I met and exceeded my goal of breaking 2 hours! I finished at 1:50. It was a very hilly course and the last 800 was a very steap hill- cruel and unusual punishment!!! But I was excited to average a less thatn 8 1/2 mile pace and place 8th in my division!! But I was beat!


Enough about me- Thanks to Connor for putting up with the kids all on his own for many hours of training and for race day!

Here is before the race:

Here are all three kids stuffed into our kidarooz:

And the after:

Here's to the next one! Anyone???

Adieu to Summer

I would like to take the time so say:
Ha, Ha, Ha- I wore shorts today and I was still HOT!!!

This is the first time I have ever been able to gloat about my warm weather, and I really like it. Sorry to all those who had to have a taste of winter last weekend! I KNOW how you feel.

So as we say good bye to summer and hello to fall, here are some of the reoccurring events that filled our summer here in Raleigh:

We have been playing a lot of tennis. I have been taking a class with some of the women in my ward. It is staring to pay off and I am actually getting better! Thank you Connor! Dylan wishes he could play all day, as you can see he is playing in the dark and still doesn't believe it is time to go home. He is our little athlete, he is as good as me and has great rallies with Connor!

Ashlyn is our ball girl. She loves to go get all the balls and never gets tired of it. As you can see she is getting really good at it- here she has at least four balls! Pretty good for the little thing that she is.

The kids LOVED the pool. Luckily we met some friends that have a pool. We went there at least three times a week. Ashlyn learned to be less afraid of the water (good and bad.)

Dylan learned to swim with no floating devices and even learned to dive for toys! He is now our little fish. Dylan and Lydia are great friends. Anything they do together is fun.

We also have a play place in the mall great for those rainy days. The kids love this little place, especially when our friends are there too.

They loved playing hide-and-seek in the boat!

I have also been doing a lot of running- again, THANK YOU CONNOR!! It was hard to get used to the high humidity and high temperatures (almost too hot to run at night) but now it is perfect!

Grocery Shopping with Super Hero's

It was Super Boy, Super Girl, Super baby and Super Mom against the Dark Fighter!

The quest: To secretly and safely get food for the poor citizens of the country.

We rushed to the nearby Super food store (aka Target) in our super vehicle (aka our Odyseey) with all our boosters on, to get there before the Dark fighter could catch us and stop us. We even were able to power up our super cart with a booster as well! We silently (as silent as can be with three little kids) snuck through the isles of food to escape the eye of the Dark fighter. But he saw us, so we raced to hide among the frozen foods where we hoped the "misty cloud" would keep us unseen from his dark mask. It worked and we were off again to quickly gather our necessities. Finally our list was met. We had to sneak to the register so that he would not see us leaving. We had almost made it out without being detected, but he found us as we were speeding away in our super car! Thankfully we have a super disguise button that makes us invisible. So if we are quiet enough, he is unable to detect our presence. We made it back to our secret hideout with super victory.

This is how our last minute shopping trip went on Saturday. Dylan never likes to go shopping with me anymore and he especially didn't want to leave because he wanted to play super heros. And since I am queen of multi-tasking I thought "why can't we do both." To sum it all up- we had the best shopping trip we have ever had with all four of us. It was 1. quick 2. quiet (meaning I didn't have anyone screeming down the isle) 4. Happy (I didn't get mad once or have to enforce any consequences for disobedience and 5. I had the best car ride home (it was literally silent!) I highly recommend it!

Conference

Oh how we didn't really like it when we were kids and now we love it but just can't seem to listen to it now:


General Conference!

So tell me what worked for you this last weekend of inspirational words from our leaders!

Did you build a fort and watch it? Did you play bingo with candy? Did you encourage the kids to sit quietly and do craft after craft? I am interested to know what you did, because I am in need of some new ideas for the spring!

Third Times a Charm?

Many of you have asked...

"How is Corbin doing?"

I bet you got this reply...

"He is doing much better."

BUT HE'S NOT!!!!!!

Yep, we still have an ear infection (assuming it is the same one) which is causeing breathing problems, running nose problems, sleeping problems, crankiness problems, mommy not sleeping problems, sick of shoving medication down this throat problems, and nursing problems!

So we are now on our third anitbiotic- each one has been sequentially "stronger" than the last. I hope this one is the one the kills it and we can get back to our "normal" life. Actually, he has been such a trooper. If I hadn't known what was really going on I would have just guessed he was a little irratible because of teething, but it's sadly much more than that. Poor guy, we love him so much.

What??

Isn't it interesting as a mom you would ALMOST give anything to your kids to keep them happpy and busy. Even at a little of your own expense. But then it really doesn't take long to regret your decision and wonder "what was I thinking?"

So this was what my day sounded like:

At least they were nice enough to play a tune for Corbin. Dylan even wondered why his recorder started to become wet. Notice the hula skirt Ashlyn insisted she wear to the library.

I think Connor is smarter than I am and doesn't even think/buy/imagine toys that are super noisy. He even grumbles about gifts the kids get (the lawn mower) that he knows will fall in this category. He would rather hide them in the attic or throw them away!

But all is well and I think I can still hear right.

Bad Eater

So here is where I need ya'll's (I can now say this since I am living in the South- but is that the correct plural form???) HELP!!! I have this darling baby who is the happiest baby in the world and who pulls on my heartstrings every time I even glance at him!

However, this kid will not eat a thing!!! No soft cheerios, no mushed up food, no rice cereal, no baby food, no yogurt, no bottles of any sort (he thinks they are toys) and not even sweets that Connor tries to sneak him! He LITERALLY gags every time I give him anything other that the good-old-fashion breast milk! I have Dylan try to make him laugh to open his mouth so I can sneak something inside. I doubt much even makes it down. He is going to catch on to my trick sooner or later. But we are coming up on 8 months now and my race is a few weeks away and there are also some Child Life Conferences ahead as well (As professional as that would be to take him with me!!) I am quite flattered that he thinks I am SO delicious but I need some space (I guess time is a better word.)
So my question for you:
How do YOU make food look more enticing than yourself???

Night Out

Corbin and I were lucky enough to get a night out together. Just me and him, a good mother son outing. It was great bonding time. We even got to stay at this amazing Hotel! Granted it was a very expensive Hotel with only one small bed and a very uncomfortable chair. But there were lots of buttons and gadgets, pre-warmed blankets, a nice flat screen TV and a few people at our beck and call. Here is where we stayed Thursday night...

It is hard to tell from the picture but it is our local ER. We are so lucky to have one just 2 minutes down the road from us, and brand-spank'in new!

We got to go see their beautiful radiology room. I got to experience an infant chest x-ray, great for my Child Life profile!

Right now my brother, Nate, is laughing and thinking I am crazy for taking one of my children, AGAIN to the ER. Really I do feel like a frequent visitor of these places as of late (and I have visited them around the country!). However, I have all evidence. A month ago Corbin came down with a cold which ended in an ear infection, no big deal. But he was also having a very hard time breathing. I thought that was in the past until out-of-the-blue, Corbin practically has a breathing attack Thursday night and can't breath. I rush him in, I was frustrated with the lack of rushing from the nurses. But after all the tests, we found that Corbin has pneumonia, and an ear infection. So our fridge is stocked with meds (steroids and antibiotics) and Here is the newest addition to our family...

a nebulizer to give Corbin his breathing treatments. Let's just hope that this is just pneumonia and no indicator of asthma!

So just as we were getting Corbin to sleep through the night, we are back to square one- or are we in the negative seeing as we have no choice but to get up and take care of his wheezing and mom is still trying to make of for the lost night.

Durham Bulls

Can you believe it- we got to go to a Durham Bulls game! For those who don't know, it is a minor league Baseball team. Luckily, the tickets were free and we didn't feel too bad leaving at inning... 5! Dylan just doesn't sit like he used to for live sporting events. Sadly, I feel like there is a void in my life. There really isn't a team to root for here. We have always been in cities where there is a "fan fire." I mean we were in Boston (Celtics, NE Patriots, Red Socks), Cleveland (Browns, Indians, Cavaliers, Ohio State), Colorado (Broncos, Avalanche, Nuggets, Rockies), and Utah (BYU, Utah, Jazz.) What now? Next move maybe.

Life and Science

Yesterday my friend Kendy and her son Matthew took us to the Durham Life and Science Museum and we could have stayed for a week! Here is a quick glimpse of our day...

We saw bears, lemurs, and wolves. We played on a really unique playground, played with wind chimes and drums, steered remote control sailboats, played with water pumps, touched clouds and tornadoes, caught "dispersing seeds", and went to the butterfly house.
Ashlyn loved the the sandbox!

Are you sick of my collages yet???

I just can't get enough of my kids!!!
My single car seat stroller has really turned out to be so versatile- it instantly converts into a triple!!!

My Effort to Stay Organized

This is my new project-

Connor was sick of my old Calendar that my mom used for the last 20 years. So I created this new one. I made custom magnets to make this smaller calendar more efficient. It is hard to tell with the light, but they are small glass marbles on top of paper and a magnet. So far it has been wonderful!!

First Day of school

Last week Dylan started preschool. I was stressed already from finding a somewhat afforadable preschool and a bad meet-the-teacher day. This combined with last year's experience- well I was a little worried. However, things went wonderful. He was excited to start school and we made it a whole week before he started saying he didn't want to go to preschool. But he comes home happy and smiling!
He is enjoying Chapel time, Spanish time, music time, and fitness time!!

As you can see Ashlyn is also ready for school!

"A Hurricane's a come'in"

For all those Little Mermaid fans!!

Hanna has hit and we have just experienced our first hurricane. Now we are preparing for Ike. It really wasn't that bad, just a lot of rain. Just seemed like a regular Cleveland storm. But it didn't have a high category rating either. Ike is a 4- so I will tell you what that is like. I even went out with a friend for a run this morning. We joked that we were "running in the hurricane." So I can put that on my bucket list!

We also had our first ward social tonight- a "Pig Pick'in"- a southern barbeque. Quite interesting. They barbeque a whole pig and top it with a vinegar based sauce, with a side of deep fried bread (hush puppies), which are delicious. Then there were games galore for the kids.

Labor Day Fun

We have now experienced the beach in the SOUTHEAST!!! Much warmer than the Northeast I might add! It was a nice, windy day. The waves were huge, to Dylan's delight!!! He could have jumped waves all day long!!! We flew a kite and watched the kite surfers- something I must try before I die. However, the kids eventually got sick of the sand and salt in the mouths.
I made Corbin a little seat in the sand and tried my hardest to create a "sand free" zone for him. As you can guess it didn't last long. He actually ended up falling asleep- it must have been an awesome seat!! What a little trouper.

Ashlyn LOVED the sand. I dug her out a little seat and she enjoyed it until it fell apart.

I also got turned into a Mermaid- just the way I hoped to be! Didn't they do a great job?
Hope you had a great Labor Day too!!