I Did It!

Last week I ran in the Kemmerer Fossil Fest 5K (3.1 miles) run. Now, this is not a big race, and there was not that much competition. Consequently, I won!! I run a lot, but I'm not really fast (and I'm not really training to be fast) so I was surprised but happy that I was able to beat all of the other women in Kemmerer. (I got 3rd place overall, but was the 1st female.) My time was 21:30, which I know wouldn't have even come close to winning in a 5K with more competition, but it was only my first race where I was actually trying so I was happy. I also got a $20 gas gift card so it was worth it (even if that only fills up less than half a tank now), and I could hardly breathe for a few hours afterwards because that's the fastest I've ever run. Here's a cheesy picture of me with my medal, and a pic of me with my two silly boys who were waiting at the finish line for me & gave me big hugs. (No, that's not a real gun that Jordan has.)


And in other happenings...Jordan and Jarrett got ahold of the lotion bottle and had a little fun giving Jarrett a lotion bath & shampoo. At least he smelled nice afterward. They both got a spanking from daddy (who I thought was watching them until I heard a loud scream from upstairs.) The spanking didn't faze them for one second - we're having some discipline issues - and I probably shouldn't even mention spanking on my blog (I wouldn't have given them a spanking if I was the one who caught them). Anyways, I couldn't help but take a few pictures. (I tried to get Jordan to make a sad face for being a naughty boy, but this is the best he could do.)

What I Love About My Boys

Josey has been home for about a week and a half now and it seems like he's been busy every minute working on our yard or home improvement projects. I'm glad he's finding plenty to do to stay busy, but we've also had some fun too. We got to go to Utah for his cousin Luke's wedding on the 4th of July. It was beautiful and fun to see so many of Josey's relatives. We also took the boys to Bear Lake and they had a wonderful time. I love summer!

I just wanted to share a few things that I love about each of my boys:

Jarrett

Jarrett has always been such a good baby. He has his bad days (almost exclusively when he's teething), but overall he's just a sweetheart. He loves to make people laugh, and it is pretty easy to make him laugh. He loves to copy everything his brother does, even when his brother has continually pushed him down and bashed him into the wall a dozen times (he's very forgiving). I love how when he's sitting on my lap he doesn't want Jordan invading his space. He wants me all to himself. I love walking into his room after a nap and hearing him say "hi." I LOVE it when he cuddles with me. This usually lasts about 2 seconds, but occasionally for up to 5. (I thought when he was born that he was going to be my cuddly baby, but I was wrong.) I love how he finds so much joy in everything, just because he's a kid. I also love that he's so stinkin' CUTE!! I can't help but kiss his little face about a million times a day (probably one of the reasons he doesn't like cuddling with me, because I smother him.)

Jordan

Jordan is my little buddy. Each day is a new experience with a 3 1/2 year old. He's so smart (at least I think so because I'm his mom.) He has an amazing memory. He is a very active little boy. I like going on walks with him because he wants to run up the steepest hills in Kemmerer and then run down them in his flip-flops, biff it (he doesn't like to biff it, but he does), and he doesn't even cry as long as you pretend you didn't see it. Even when he tells me I'm a "mean old mommy" I can't help but smile. I think it's kind of cute (but I don't love) how he's very adamant about what he wants to wear. Almost every day he wants to wear his running shorts or a dinosaur shirt (notice the pictures). But usually his pteradactyl shirt just isn't good enough (of course, because it's actually kind of cute); it has to be his T-rex shirt. He'll get a shirt and put it on and then bring shorts out to me and ask "is this fine?" Usually I say no, but if we're not going anywhere I let him wear it anyway. I can't believe a 3 1/2 year old boy cares this much about clothes. I can get him to sit with me for as long as I want as long as I'm reading him books, but this is the only time I can get him to sit still. He loves to tease his little brother, but he also loves Jarrett and tries to make him happy when he's sad. Almost every day, one of the first questions he asks me is "where are we going today?" On most days the answer is "nowhere" but even a trip to the bank is very exciting for him. It makes me a little sad that he's growing up so fast, but I'm glad that he's a happy little boy and he still loves to give me hugs and kisses.

Josey

I love being married to my best friend. He understands me and knows me better than anyone else. He's very forgiving and understanding. He lets me do so much, whatever will make me happy. He supports me in the things that I do. He works hard to support our family so I can stay home with our sweet sons. He's really smart, and loves to learn. He loves our boys and he loves playing with them, teasing (tormenting) them, and making them laugh. He doesn't make me feel guilty (usually) about doing things and leaving him with the boys. He's willing to talk when I want to talk, and he's a good listener. He tries hard to be a good husband, father, and priesthood holder. I just love being with him, no matter what we are doing. I love it when he laughs because it always makes me laugh. He's my sweetheart, and he's handsome, and I could go on and on...

A Trip to the Farm

Since Josey is still in Mississippi, we decided to come up to Montana and visit his family without him. We've been having a great time, mostly just relaxing and enjoying the great weather. We've been to the auction, to Russ & Wendy's ranch, swimming, and sadly, I didn't get many pics until today. Today we took a trip out to a farm of one of the ladies that works at the auction. Jordan and Jarrett got to ride a pony, see and hold some baby ducks, and play with some sheep. They had a great time, especially Jarrett, my little animal lover! (There are a lot of pictures, but I figured their daddy would like to see what they are up to.)

Down in Mississippi

So I get snow and he gets this? What can I say, I'm jealous! (Except not of what he's eating.) Here are some pics of Josey in Mississippi. Hopefully he's learning something while he's down there too. Josey, we miss you! (But you're kind of looking a little lonely, aren't you?)

Almost Summer in WY

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. C'mon, don't you wish you lived here? I don't think we left the house the entire day. It's getting depressing. That's why I changed my background to these beautiful blue flowers. (Thanks Rachel, I'm finally using your tips!) Maybe it will give me a little mood boost. And maybe (here's hoping with fingers crossed) tomorrow it will finally be nice enough that I can actually plant my real flowers.

Good News and Fun Times

Teacher of the Year!

On Josey's last day of school, he was awarded for being Kemmerer High School's Teacher of the Year. I was very proud of him. Good job! (This was a forced picture taken as soon as Josey got out of bed this morning.)

Four-Wheeling with Grandma

Whenever we go visit my parents now, Jordan wants a ride on their 4-wheeler. I guess it's pretty exciting for a 3-year-old to ride around the block with grandma going about 5 mph!

Let's Get Moving!

We decided to break out our rollerblades tonight and take the boys on a little ride. Kemmerer has a little walking/biking trail that goes along the river by the golf course. We took them for their ride and then they had to get out and throw rocks in the water, which is their favorite thing to do. Whenever I take them jogging, the deal is that I have to let them throw rocks in the water when I'm done. With this promise, they are always good boys for me in the stroller.

Outdoor Heater

Josey was figuring out how to install our timed lawn-watering system (needed because I will be gone a lot this month visiting family since Josey will be gone.) It wasn't very warm outside, but of course when Jordan heard the word "sprinkler" he had to get his swimming suit on. Luckily, he found that our dryer vent was blowing warm air and he thought this was a great heater for his belly.

Yummy! Jarrett must have thought this marker tasted really good because he ate the whole thing!

Happenings with the Allen Fam

There hasn't been too much going on here so I haven't posted for awhile. Last weekend I took the boys to Casper to watch the state track tournament. It's a 5-hour drive to Casper, but the boys did great in the car (Josey had gone over a day before with the track team.) I thought it would be fun for the boys to stay in a hotel, go swimming, and just relax a little. Friday turned out to be quite the disaster, with Jarrett being sick and Jordan being just plain miserable. Luckily, after getting some rest, the boys were much happier on Saturday and the weather was the best we've seen all year. Jordan especially loved riding around in the bus with Josey and the track team, and he was the center of attention with all of the kids. Kemmerer's track team did not do very well, but that's okay. I've never been interested in track at all until being married to Josey. I'm still not that interested, but I like watching some of the races.

Tomorrow is Josey's last day of school. Then we get a few days to spend together until he goes to Mississippi for a month for something called Industry-Education Partnerships. We will miss him!!

My biggest headache as of lately is Jordan's nighttime behavior. Jordan was the BEST sleeper ever until I had Jarrett. For the last year and a half, it's been a struggle to have a consistent night's sleep for him. Jarrett is a wonderful sleeper, thank goodness, and I'm hoping to soon get Jordan back to sleeping in his own room and his own bed for the entire night. When Jarrett was a few months old and we moved him into Jordan's room, his nighttime wakings would wake Jordan up and then I had to get both of them back to sleep. Soon Jordan got into the habit of coming into our room when he woke up in the middle of the night or going onto the couch. This didn't really bother me, because it was only occasionally. Well it has become a regular thing and it is bothering me now! (Mostly because I rarely get to sleep in past 6:00 a.m. because Jordan is a very light sleeper in the morning and he gets up when Josey does. Sometimes I don't mind getting up at 6:00 a.m. because that's when I exercise, but I would like to get up by myself, not with kids.) Anyways, when he has been coming into our room, I make him sleep on the floor. I just can't really sleep with him in the bed. He doesn't mind sleeping on the floor and usually he'll just stay there until morning, but sometimes he keeps waking up and trying to get in our bed and whining and I'm not very patient with him. Our bedroom door does not lock; it doesn't even shut all the way because it's broken. So a few weeks ago Josey got the brilliant idea to wedge his shoe under the door to lock it. It worked, and Jordan laid outside the door bawling and throwing a tantrum (banging on the door, yelling ridiculous things) for at least an hour. He does not give up easily. I was laughing really hard at the things he was yelling at us, but at the same time my heart was kind of breaking because he was so sad. Needless to say, this was a failure. He eventually fell asleep in the hallway, but the next night I just couldn't bring myself to do it again. I think at that point I should have not let it go so far, and I should have just taken him back to his bed and he would have calmed down and fell asleep. If I did this consistently, I think he would eventually get the point. The problem is I'm tired and I don't want to spend half the night taking him back to his bed so I just give in and let him sleep on our floor. So stupid us, last night we did the same thing (locked the door) and went through the same thing (huge tantrum for over an hour). Only this time he woke Jarrett up. Tonight we're not locking the door, but if he gets up I will just have to get my lazy bum out of bed and take him back to his room, I guess however long it takes. This is not fun, and I'm mad that he's such a bad sleeper when I had him trained so well! Sorry this is so long, and probably really boring, but if any of you have any suggestions, please let me know!