My Hunk

The Husband Tag...

1.What is his name? Connor, but his first and real name is Lincoln
2.Who eats more? I could put up a good fight, but I shouldn't
3.Who said I love you first? Ya know, I have no idea
4.Who's taller? All of you who know me, know that answer!
5.Who is smarter? Definitely Connor, that was one reason why I married him
6.Who is more sensitive? Maybe Connor- his sisters taught him well. But I really take the lead when I am pregnant
7.Who does the laundry? Me, I enjoy it, but I make him fold his own socks
8.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
9.Who does the bills? Me

10.Who cooks more? Me. But Connor makes some mean breakfasts and Japanese dishes
11.What meals do you cook together? Zip- how do you make anything together with three kids??
12.Who is more stubborn? We can both say it is me, but I know Connor is he just does what he has been told to do and tells me I am always right
13.Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Connor but it takes him longer to really get over it- weird huh
14.Who has more siblings? Connor- wins by three!
15.Who wears the pants in the relationship? We both wear one pant leg
16.What do you like to do together? play with the kids, be kids, dance, sing, play tennis, eat desert, watch movies, play cards, exercise
17.Who eats more sweets? Again I win this by a landslide!
18.Guilty pleasures? Eating deserts after the kids go to bed and staying up late and then taking turns sleeping in

19.How did you meet? In the biggest class at BYU- he sat down right next to me the first day and had to get my number or else we might never have met again.
20.Who asked who out first? Connor asked me to "study"
21.Who kissed who first? Of course he kissed me
22.Who proposed? Connor did, I was so mad at him, then I realized what he was doing!
23.His best features? If there was anyone close to perfection- that is why I picked him, but I do love his cheeks for some reason
24.What is his greatest quality? He does everything with his whole heart- he loves me, his kids, the gospel, he supports me in all my endeavors and he excels in everything he puts his mind to
25.Tag... everyone who wants to gloat about their amazing husbands!

Singing in the Rain

Ashlyn would have really sang and danced in the rain if I let her! The rain is welcome here cause it still stays warm!
Ashlyn would wear her rain coat any day. She looks for every excuse to put it on. So here she is enjoying the rain dry. Here she is standing directly under a broken gutter, so she is right under a stream of water- and loving it!!!

Isn't she a doll?!?!?!

Just for background- Ashlyn loves the rain. When we lived in Boston we would go out to our backyard (aka parking lot) and if it had rained there were always puddles. Dylan loved to stomp through them, Ashlyn loved that too, but what she really loved was to SIT in them. Seriously her favorite thing to do!! Guess she hasn't grown out of it yet!!

Could We Ever Get Sick of The Park?

We have some great parks here that we frequent often because of the great weather. Here we are at one of them with our friend Lydia. Her and Dylan have become great friends. They love this...

Dylan is really good at pushing it and going...

But usually ends up here...

All because he is going way too fast (all of you who know him, know what I mean.)

And here he is mastering the monkey bars. I can't tell you how many times he cried over the monkey bars. He wanted SO badly to get all the way across and all by HIMSELF. If I even took a step close to him he would insist he had to start over. And then when his hands got all sweaty and slippery, well he fell apart! But he did it! Funny kid!


Any my cutie (with her booboo nose), who is to brave at the park...

Here she is swinging before she goes down the slide... (she also hangs on all by herself on thos zipline things.)

And just another picture for my benefit- aren't they adorable!!!

Halloween

Here are all of our pumpkins that we carved the night before Halloween. But at least we did it. Dylan was a marvelous "cheer leader" who kept telling Connor and I that we were great carvers! I can now add another talent to my list! As you can see after two pumpkins each we were a little tired and the last pumpkin got the shaft! Poor Corbin's pumpkin is just a ghetto flower! Left to right- Spider, ghost face, flower, bat, and scary face.

I know some of you are thinking we couldn't possibly be the Incredibles one more time (at least moving has one good side.) But after making Ashlyn's costume I was tired out. This was my fall back. So here is Elastigirl and baby Jack Jack (undercover as you can see.)

Here is Ashlyn as Wonder Red from Super Readers! She even has "roller blades." Don't ask me what kind of pose she is sporting, I don't really know.

Here are the boys- Dylan was Dash for our Ward party but he was Luke Skywalker for Halloween. He was terribly excited to have his "life saver" with him. He hasn't take off his hooded cape since Monday (thank you Laurel!) However, I didn't get a picture- yet! I think I still have time. And isn't Connor a real life Mr. Incredible??? (Except for the fact that he looks really tired here!)

Dylan in his star wars costume. So there is a shirt that goes with the cape, but for some reason he insisted that he had to wear "black clothes" to complete his costume (which really are navy blue, but don't you dare try to correct him!)- I have no idea. So he has now worn his "black clothes" for 2 weeks straight!

Crazy 8's

So I got tagged twice and both were a little different, so I mixed them together for one, great big Crazy 8 list!

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Chipotle
2. Cafe Capistrano
3. Cafe Rio
4. Subway
5. TGI Friday's
6. Sheetz- does this count? I doubt any of my Western friends even know what this is, but I love it!!!
7. My husband's breakfasts!!!
8. Anything really that I haven't made sounds good.
Notice how they are mostly all Mexican Resturants!!!

8 things that happened yesterday...
1. Ran - Surprising, I know
2. I ate too many peanut M&M's- well too many is an understatment, more like the whole bag!
3. Dylan to and from Preschool
4. Parent- Teacher conference with Dylan's Preschool teacher- he's doing GREAT!!!
5. Had an interview for a casual pool position at the Hospital- so nerve racking!!
6. Played swords with Dylan
7. Read so many books I put myself down for a nap instead of my kids!
8. Nursed, Nursed and Nursed again!!!

8 things to look forward to...
1. Connor's Parents come this week
2. Halloween- I enforce the parent tax (20% of the candy goes to me!!!)
3. Thanksgiving with the Ellsworths
4. Christmas in CA with my whole fam
5. When Connor comes home
6. Sundays!!
7. Running another 1/2 in a month- can I say I am addicted???
8. Quiet time after the kids go to bed

8 Favorite TV Shows...
1. Dancing with the stars
2. Eli Stone
3. 24
4. Monk
5. CSI
6. Backyardigans, because it is so cute and I love the songs!
7. A football game here and there with Connor is always a treat
8. No TV might actually be nice!


8 things I love about Fall...
1. Crisp but warm days
2. Cruncky leaves
3. Halloween
4. Thanksgiving
5. Perfect weather- which never lasts long enough
6. getting out my winter clothes- fun until I realize how pathetic it is because I am always pregnant during the winter
7. Hot Chocolate
8. Cuddleing up in big warm blankets with my kids or husband

8 things on my wishlist...
1. My own house
2. Never move again (but first we have to move back out west)
3. My pre-baby tummy!!!
4. A cook
5. Time and energy for another triathlon
6. A masters Degree in Child Life
7. A cruise with just my husband
8. A month to play with my kids with no "to do" list

4th folder, 4th picture...
My super, awesome, little sister, Carianne who I guess is now making her debut appearance on my blog!!
If there was anyone I would want to be like- it would be her!


8 people I tag...
1. Carrie
2. Morgan
3. Jenny
4. Kristin
5. Liz
6. Robbin
7. Rochelle
8. Suzi

To The Farm We Go

Dylan's preschool class took a trip to Hill Ridge Farm last week. I didn't really know what to expect, but let's just say Dylan didn't want to leave after a full day of play! Here is a glimpse of our Day.
Sorry again for all the collages. Just an easy way to get more cute pictures in!!!

First we took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch...

All of us at the pumpkin patch- Choosing the right pumpkins is rather hard!! It was especially hard when I had to carrying all three of them, ALL my "stuff" (well not really mine, but you know) and get three little kids on the hayride back to the farm!

The pumpkin patch...

Then off to the maze. Ashlyn got quite confused (it is very long) but Dylan would have done it all day long. When Dylan announced he had to go to the Bathroom, instead of going straight there, he made a detour through the maze (he really had to go huh??). Thankfully he made it!

Dylan's favorite place at the farm was the Dried Corn Box- a lot like a sand box but with dried corn. We had to come back for a second round it was so fun! I loved it too- I could use one in my backyard.

There was also a hay maze- much easier for Ashlyn...

The tee pee...

This was a big slide. You sit on burlap and slide down it. Corbin even enjoyed it!

Best picture of the day... Isn't he the cuttest???

Bow Night

This is what I did last night with a few ladies in my ward. They are so cute I might have to build a outfit just to match them.

FYI, we found out some little tips to help, so if you ever make some, let me know and I will dish out all the details.

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???