her name was lola

This is just too funny not to post. Even though I do it at great sacrifice to my dignity.


For our youth activity this week, we played Where's Waldo at the mall. This is when the youth pair up and get an hour to find a list of ten people that are shopping throughout the mall... in disguise! It is all very thrilling.

So here was my disguise:

Only one team found me, shopping for shoes at Kohls. Lola loves shoes!

secrets revealed!

You were all so nice to pretend to be interested in my mystery location! Now that the weekend is safely behind us, I am prepared to reveal all. I was in ... wait for it... Seattle! Jared's mom planned a surprise girls' getaway for his sister's birthday, so we all snuck up to Seattle, showed up on her doorstep, and kidnapped her away to Whidbey Island for the weekend. So I didn't want to say anything too specific on the off chance that my sister-in-law happened to decided that Friday was the perfect day to catch up on my blog.

It was a perfect weekend, I have to say. I drove up a day early and spent the night with my brother and his family, which is always great. Several restaurants and one awesome game of Beatles Rock Band later, I was off to the airport to pick up Jared's sister flying in from Colorado. (I know my brother secretly thinks I just love visiting them for the delicious restaurants we always go to... okay, so that is partly true. But now I will mostly love visiting them so I can pretend I am a Beatle! Coolest game ever! And thanks for letting me stay, guys - you know I like you more than the food. And Paul.)

After kidnapping the birthday girl, we took the ferry over to Whidbey Island and began our relaxing weekend. We rented this cute beachfront cottage that was filled with all sorts of vintage treasures from the original owners (complete with a magnifying glass with the owner's address in Seattle typewritten on a label... I'm sure it's a 7-11 now.) The house was cozy and comfy and we spent the first night chatting in front of the fireplace with the waves lapping against the shore just a few yards away.

The next 36 hours were filled with talking, eating, hiking on wooded trails, exploring little seaside towns, eating ice cream cones at 3:30 in the afternoon, visiting Deception Pass State Park, getting totally schooled by my sister-in-law in a game of Scrabble (you rock, Jerilyn!) ... but mostly talking. Couldn't ask for a better time.

Hard to believe that just yesterday I was waking up on a beautiful island in Pugent Sound and now I am back to my regular routine, grocery shopping and shuttling kids to and fro. My idyllic little weekend almost feels like it happened an eternity ago, but that's what 8 hours and 500 miles can do.

But I am glad to be back, too. My brother says I should rename my blog "Thanks, Jared!" because I am always leaving him with the kids while I run off and do fun things. It's true - I can't thank Jared enough for being so supportive and for being such an awesome solo dad while I was away. But it was so nice to come home to him last night!

And a big thanks to my mother-in-law and sweet sisters-in-law. I am always so touched that Jeannette considers me her daughter and I am honored to call her my mom. Thank you for including me on this special weekend. And I only wish I lived closer to my sisters-in-law - we would have such good times!

I am terrible at remembering to take pictures, but here are a few:

The house from the beach

The view from the upstairs

At Deception Pass. We do have one with all four of us. but sadly it is on Jerilyn's camera. Can I get a copy?


The view from the living room out to the Sound.

The birthday girl!



My bed. Can you see the baseball bats? It was awesome, I tell you!

Jared's mom, looking jaunty.

Thanks for the great weekend, ladies! My only question is where are we going next time? :)

getting there is half the fun

I have arrived safe and sound at my mystery location. A few things I learned today:

1. Books on CD are like magic. Before I knew it, I was in a different state and hadn't yawned once.
   
2. When you don't have kids in the car, you don't ever ever have to stop. Which, if you ask Jared, is my idea of a perfect road trip. I am the Queen of Not Stopping Until We Get There. Unless you drank too much Pepsi, whereupon you will have to stop briefly in two cities whose names I cannot divulge at this time.
3. I think I want to be a truck driver. I enjoyed myself way too much today, apparently.
   

Few things nicer than a clear day, a loaded mp3 player, a stocked cooler, and a full tank of gas. A lot fun things to happily anticipate this weekend, but I will also be looking forward to my drive home!

solo trip

Tomorrow I get to drive for a very long time all by myself to a location that I cannot disclose until after the weekend. I am very excited. I am excited about arriving, yes, but I think getting there will be half the fun. The girls feel very sorry for me - "Won't you be lonely? Won't you miss us in the car?" Hmmmm... there is a right answer here and an honest answer, so I chose right. "Of course I will miss you! Don't have too much fun without me!" Secretly, I am relishing not having to perfect my twizzler-throwing skills while listening to Junie B. Jones on CD for several hours.

In fact, I went to the store today to get trip food for myself. But I have no idea what it is that I want to eat on a roadtrip! Twizzlers? Fishies? Wheat Thins? Those are everybody else's trip foods! I settled on a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi (with lime, of course), peanut butter M&Ms, and Garden Salsa Sunchips. I think this is going to be awesome.

I also figured this would be a great chance to catch up on my Newberies and checked out several on CD: Sounder (Bleh! Do I have to? This one and Shiloh I am kind of dreading. Boy-meets-dog-but-then-bear-mauls-dog-to-death books are not my first choice), Bud, Not Buddy (Funny and contemporary... and read by Fresh Prince's James Avery!), Island of the Blue Dolphins, and... Hatchet I think was the last one. 16 hours of Newbery bliss! We'll see how many actually get listened to.

Off to finish laundry so I can pack!

in which I breathe a sigh of relief

I am so glad those last two weeks are over! So busy and such an emotional rollercoaster. Between the race, sick kids, sick self, watching our dear friends move away, and having to prepare and present an hour long workshop for 50 women - plus the usual hustle and bustle of dance class, helping at school, Mutual, presidency meetings, etc - I was barely keeping it together, I tell you.

Friday was the worst. I watched my friend's sweet girls all afternoon and into the evening, which usually would have been a delight. Except this was their last day of school and they were preparing to leave Medford in a few hours. I held many a sobbing Wilhoit that afternoon while my own heart felt like it was breaking. After their truck was all loaded, we had them all eat dinner with us. Then we all cried and I watched their loaded down van drive away for good.

That night sucked. All I wanted to do was have a good cry, and then maybe eat some chocolate and do something to distract myself - a movie, a book. Instead, I had my good cry and then worked on my talk until midnight before falling into bed.

On the upside, everything looked better in the morning. I put on my game face and marched off to my women's conference. And I think my talk went pretty well. Everyone laughed at my jokes which is a good sign, right? I even made a new friend (Hi, Holly!) And then it was all over.

Yesterday was a good day. I read to my girls for an hour, I played with Sam, I messed around on the internet, I even read a little myself. I may even do a little TV watching tonight! Crazy, I know!

So glad to be back to my normal life. Maybe it's good to have crazy weeks like that to remind me how good I really have it. It's true, I've never felt quite so excited about mopping my floors before...

victorious!

The week hit like a whirlwind so I haven't had a chance to post yet, but I'm stealing a quick minute now to report that the race was great! Thanks to everyone for all the cheers and well-wishes. Even though I didn't know anyone at the starting line, it was nice to know I had so many kind friends and family cheering me on from all over the world. I crossed the finish line at 9:58, pacing just under a 10 minute mile. Not too shabby for my first race in years.

I was feeling pretty awesome in this picture, but not looking so awesome. I think my goal next year is to look slightly more cute in my triumphant finish line pictures. The girls and Jared were so excited and happy to see me - the girls had made me cards and Jared put together a little bag of running goodies, including a coupon for a foot rub for my poor exhausted feet.

To be honest, the race was great but it ended up just being a blip in an otherwise crazy and stressful day. Sam had been up screaming all night on Friday. Jared kindly offered to get up with him so I could "sleep" - which was very kind of him - but mostly I just laid in bed and listened to Sam shriek and cough his head off all night long. Not exactly the best mental preparation the night before a race! I was pretty stressed the next morning and worried about Sam.

After the race, we would have normally stayed to watch the parade and the rest of the Pear Blossom festivities, but instead we took Sam to the doctor. A double ear infection was the culprit. Poor baby! So while Sam slept off his ear infection courtesy of some antibiotics and pain killers, I ran Eve to dance rehearsal and then ran around town getting last minute items for the going-away party we were throwing for our friends Sunday evening. By this time, I had kind of forgotten I had run 10 miles that morning.

The party on Sunday went well and showed me that I can cram the whole ward into my house if I want to. But we're not done yet! This week not only are my friends moving away and breaking my heart, but I am also needing to prepare an hour long workshop for the stake women's conference this Saturday. Oh, and I'm sick. Bleh.

Not a great shot - just proving that I can indeed fit the whole ward into my house. And that's just the living room! And showing how many people love the Wilhoits.

Next year, I'm hoping the race falls on a slightly less stressful weekend. And for healthy kids so we can stay and watch the parade. Also hoping I know more people at the starting line next year. Any takers?

because I'm kind of shaped like one

Once upon a time, I did this:

That is me in the center of my loving family, basking in the glow of having completed a marathon. Well, I call it glow. Everyone else would probably call it sweat.

It was an eternity ago. Or at least 6 years ago, which is kind of the same thing. In the intervening years, I have had two more children and lived in two different states and not run a single race

Until tomorrow, that is! Tomorrow I am running the annual Pear Blossom Run 10 mile race here in lovely Medford.



I decided in January that I was tired of talking about wanting to run the Pear Blossom - I was just going to do it. So I bought these awesome new shoes (they are hot pink which I think will make me run extra speedy quick!)

and put some great music on my mp3 player and ran out the door for the first time in ages. And it was great. I really love starting the day with a run, but I really really love the promise of at least 40 minutes of peace and quiet, all to myself, every day. Even if I have to be running to get it, I will do it. And a big thanks to Jared for getting up with the kids, especially on Saturdays, so I could get that precious peace and quiet. He's a rockstar!

Wish me luck tomorrow! I don't think it's supposed to pour rain, which is always a plus. And to the lady in the race packet line today who looked at me, raised an eyebrow and said, "The 10 mile?" like someone as stumpy as me shouldn't be allowed to run it, just watch me! I will be crossing that finish line at approximately 10:00 tomorrow. I hope she's there to see it!

even better than a yolk!

My sweet friend Angela brought over this beautiful Easter treat over the weekend. It is a real eggshell, filled with a chocolate shell and chocolate orange ganache. It was almost painful cracking the shell and ruining this work of art that I am sure cost Angela hours to make... but once I tasted it, I got over my guilt. It was incredible! I just wanted to dive into that ganache.

She followed these instructions from Martha Stewart and, if you want to spend hours and hours making a chocolate work of art, you can follow them too!

Angela is one of several friends that will be moving away in the next few months and I am heart broken to see her go. (Curse you, failing economy!) I just want Idaho to know how lucky it is to be getting this great family - I wish I could keep them here!

easter fun

A few days late, but here are some pictures of our Easter weekend. So nice to hole up for the weekend and enjoy General Conference - I love when Conference and Easter combine to make one big churchapolooza of a weekend! Always a spiritual high.

Aside from basking in the glow of the testimonies from Salt Lake, we were also able to squeeze in some egg dying (during Sam's nap, which I thought was genius of me), some killer french toast courtesy of my sister-in-law, a candy hunt on Sunday morning, and had friends over for Easter dinner. Despite the rain and wind, it was a nearly perfect weekend.

Not the greatest picture, but I love the look on both their faces. Sam couldn't believe his luck Sunday morning. It was like all his dreams had finally come true.

Sam looks like a lurp, but I'll take what I can get in these group shots.

Our kids and the Wilhoit kids poised for an Easter egg roll down the hill in our backyard.

You can tell which kids didn't really get the concept. I love how happy Sam is that he is still has his egg, unlike the chumps who rolled theirs down the hill.

Oh, how we will miss this family! They leave for Portland in a week and will leave a huge hole in our hearts as they go. Thanks for sharing one last crazy dinner with us, Wilhoits!

mmmm....newberies!

I really like reading kids books. And I really like lists. So I decided to combine two of my great loves and read my way through the list of Newbery Award medal winners, from 1922 until... well, hopefully until 2010. I bet I can do this in a year.

I am going to add a little feature to my sidebar to help me keep track. I have read a handful in the past year or so, so I will just go ahead and add those to the list. As good as The Graveyard Book is, I don't want to have to read it twice in 6 months.

I have to say, there are some books I'm really looking forward to reading for the first time: Holes, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Westing Game, to name a few.

Some I read as a kid and absolutely detested, but will force myself to revisit and see if 20 years has changed my outlook at all. (I'm looking at you Bridge to Terabithia! Blech.)

Some of them I read as a kid and adored and can't wait to read again: Caddie Woodlawn, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

And some of them I am just plain dreading, based solely on title alone. Because I'm shallow like that and will think a book is a total snoozefest based on it's name. The Story of Mankind (the first winner... I don't know if that's a good thing,) A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers, Lincoln: A Photobiography. I know, I'm totally shallow, but there it is.

And some just make me wonder if it was a real slow year in children's literature. Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon. Need I say more?

I have a little database and a random number generator, so that will spare me having to slog through all of the old-timey 20's and all of the touchy-feely 70's all at once. I wonder what my first one will be! So far I've just been reading my way through all the Newbery winners that we own, but I think I finished our last one last night.

I'm really hoping this little exercise will do more than give me a sense of accomplishment for having arbitrarily read my way through a list. I hope to get some sort of education in the evolution of kids's books in the past 70 years. I kind of wonder if the books that adults choose for children are not necessarily the books that children would choose for themselves. And I kind of wonder how I'll figure that out, being an adult myself, but I will try to keep an open mind.

Mostly I hope to uncover some gems that me and the kids can enjoy together. And some stinkers to steer them away from. Still looking at you Bridge to Terabithia.

Are you fond of any particular Newberies? What would you recommend? Or not recommend, as the case may be?

spring break catch up

Last week was our spring break and, while we didn't take a trip or anything, we had a fantastic time. So great to not be a slave to our school day schedule and routine. We slept in, ate waffles, took scooter walks to the park, got ice cream cones, had afternoon movie parties. I think there was one day where Eve stayed in her jammies and read until 1 pm (okay, so that day kind of irked me, but maybe just because I was jealous.)

I don't have a ton of pictures from spring break, but here are a few I found on my camera:

St. Patrick's Day dinner. Didn't really happen on spring break, but we had a fun night. I love theme dinners.

Eve on her way to her first sleepover. We've been real sleepover nazis, so when she got this invitation we completely discounted it. But then we realized that of her two best friends, one is a boy (not a lot of sleepover future there) and one is moving in a week. And we know this little girl and her family pretty well and only one other girl was spending the night, so we decided to take the plunge. Eve was ecstatic and had the time of her life. I think she could use some "big girl" treatment, something special just for her.

Eve demonstrating why she really needs some big girl social interaction. That girl never has two seconds to herself. She is a very patient and long suffering big sister. See how Eleanor is pressed right up against her? Very indicative of their relationship.

And now for our ubiquitous spring break trip to Scienceworks, the local kids' science museum. For our little community, it is an awesome science center. And they had a ton of new exhibits up which I will sadly be showing you very few of, because my camera's batteries died. But here are a few:

Now that spring break is over, we are back to our usual routine. But it was a delicious taste of what promises to be a great summer vacation. Two more months!