Spring Break Recap

Last week was Josey's spring break, so he had a week off from school. Since Arielle had knee surgery on the previous Thursday, we spent the week at home, and Jan came down to help Arielle out. At the end of the week, Josey's brother Jesse also came down to spend some time with us. So we didn't do too much, but it was nice to have a little break. Here's a little of what we did:

The boys found a new best friend, their uncle Jesse. After spending the first day with them, he asked us if they were like this (energetic, hyper, etc.) every day. Yes, they are!

We went swimming at the Kemmerer pool. We do this at least once a week, but this time I took a camera. I would take them more, but the pool is FREEZING! They are fine with it, but I am not.



We visited the Easter Bunny that "lives" at the Fossil Country Museum.


We decorated Easter eggs!


The boys played with their new baseball "mittens" that the Easter Bunny left them. Yes, it was still too cold and windy to play outside. Maybe by next week it will be nice enough.


We decided to brave the cold and wind to try and get some family pictures. It didn't work too well! Maybe in a couple months we'll try again. I just have a good feeling that spring is almost here in Kemmerer, after this next snowstorm blows through.

SO Close...

Yesterday I ran the Provo City Half-Marathon. When I started training back in January or February, I set a goal for myself of 1:40. As race day got closer, I kept thinking there was no way I was going to come close to my goal. At one point, I was overtrained and fighting fatigue every day. My legs felt dead every time I ran, and I did not look forward to it. I took a few days off and felt quite a bit better after that. I backed off quite a bit, and was running my easy runs at a very slow pace. So when I started doing speedwork again, I felt a lot slower (not that I was ever fast to begin with, but still...). Then last week I pulled my groin muscle doing some lunges, and I took a few more days off to make sure it was better for race day.

I was still looking forward to the race to see if my hard work was going to pay off. We stayed at the Marriott in Provo (the race headquarters) and the boys had a blast swimming and jumping on beds. My mom came down to cheer me on and help with the boys. She knows they don't sleep when we're at a hotel and I needed some rest. Josey had a track meet in Salt Lake on Friday night, and so he didn't get down there until after we were in bed. But I'm so glad he made the effort to come and support me. It wouldn't have been so much fun without the support of my family.

Anyways...my final time was 1:40:44 (An average per mile pace of 7:41). I missed my goal by 44 seconds, but I was still very happy with my time and my performance. Like I said, I could barely sustain that pace for 5 miles during my training, so I was quite surprised. I got 5th place in my age/gender category, which I was very happy with. I guess the excitement of race day helps a lot. I also wonder if the altitude has anything to do with it. Kemmerer is at over 6900 ft. and Provo is at around 4500 ft. Also when running in Kemmerer I am always either running uphill or downhill, almost never flat (unfortunately, my treadmill is also stuck at an incline because I can't find anyone to get to Kemmerer to repair it, so really, I'm always running uphill). This course was mostly flat and I loved it. I got to run in some places that I used to run when we were living in Provo, so it brought back some memories too. The weather was the main disappointment. When I signed up for the race, I was hoping for some nice spring weather. Instead, there was light snow falling the entire time, and it was quite windy, though again, nothing compared to Kemmerer. So I guess I can't complain too much.

I really love race day. I'm on a little high for the rest of the day. After the race, we went to the BYU Bookstore and bought the boys some BYU shirts. After running 13.1 miles, I wanted something good to eat, but guess where we went? McDonald's with a Playland, of course. I couldn't help it. I thought my boys were being so sweet and happy that I wanted to do what they wanted. According to Josey, they weren't being very sweet or happy, but I guess my endorphins were making me distort reality. We had a peaceful drive home listening to conference. When Josey went to the priesthood session of conference on Saturday night, I turned on a show for Jordan at 6:30 so I could lay down for a minute, and I ended up falling asleep until Josey came home at 8:00. Oops! But I was exhausted, and a little sore. I feel a lot better today after getting a good night's rest.

Thanks for reading my race report. Now I'm hoping for a nice turn in the weather and some relaxing easy runs outside this week. I might consider training for another half-marathon later this fall. We'll see if I want to get another race in before I decide to have another baby.

Josey tried his best, I guess, but he is not the greatest race day photographer. Here's me making some sort of weird face (completely exhausted after a final sprint with a girl who was trying to beat me at the last second - she didn't beat me, by the way) with my mom after the race, and here's me running so fast that it's all a blur to Josey. :)

Snow Day

Since we woke up to this (at 5:45 a.m., of course - I really wish my kids liked to sleep in!)...

...we haven't gone out yet. It's one of those days when I really don't have a lot to do. I've done most of the housework, and I don't have anywhere to go, so I decided I better indulge Jordan and play some games with him. Candyland was pretty fun, although it only reconfirmed my suspicions that he is colorblind. He cannot tell the difference between red and green. Next came a rousing game of Hi-ho Cherry-o, which is my favorite because it goes quickly and Jordan knows all the rules. He does like to try cheating at this game. I don't know where he got that idea from, but he is very competitive and loves to win. I have to lay down the law sometimes when he doesn't want to spill his basket. Finally came the dreaded Chutes & Ladders. Whenever Jordan says he wants to play this game, I cringe. He knows how to count, but he just cannot seem to get the rules on this one. There are so many squares and pictures to get a kid like him very easily distracted. (Notice the picture - does he really look like he's concentrating on this game?) And it takes FOREVER when you keep landing on the chutes. I even have to admit that mommy had a little meltdown during the game, during which I fervently stated (whined), "I'm done. I've had it." But Jordan wanted to keep playing so I took a little break instead to take a couple of pictures. While I was taking the pictures, Jordan took his turn and magically ended up very close to the "Winner" square. I turned a blind eye. I just wanted this to end. And it did soon after. And the boys were happy. It takes so little to make them happy.

I think in a little while, we'll head over to the Rec Center. Jordan loves the Rec Center. He likes to run on the track, climb the climbing wall, and play soccer/basketball in the gym. We also play tag and he will keep chasing me for a very long time until he can catch me. He does not get worn out easily. I wonder what kind of an athlete he is going to be, because to me he seems very athletic, but of course I'm his mother and I have high hopes. He LOVES to run. He's always telling everyone how fast he is. He wants to wear his "running" shorts every day. The other day when we were telling him to clean up his toys, Josey told him that he needed to do some work around here. Jordan replied, "My work is running!" That made me smile. I'm glad he's got something that he loves so much, and in that he's not too different from me. In the past couple of years, I've found a great love for running too. It's the perfect time for me to unwind and have some time to myself. I'm running a half-marathon in a couple of weeks, and after that I just look forward to running outside again and running for the joy of it (not training) during the summer. I think I've worn myself out a little training for this race, and I'll be surprised if I meet the goal I initially set for myself (1:40) - we'll see how it goes.

All this talk about my Jordan runner boy makes me reflect on Jarrett. He's not quite the athlete, nor nearly as active as Jordan has always been. He's a clown. He loves to make people laugh. Josey gets mad at me sometimes because Jarrett will say some potty words, and even though I try my hardest not to laugh and encourage him, I can't help it!! I try to hold it in at the dinner table when he's being naughty, thinking he's funny, but again, I can't help it. He's hilarious, and he knows he can always at least make mommy laugh, so he keeps trying. He's a sweetheart most of the time, but has started to learn some stinky boy tendencies (probably from his older brother.) Despite the occasional fits and tantrums, I can't help but look at him and have my heart melt with love (and smother him in kisses). Sounds corny, I know, but it's so true!

Our Weekend Adventure

This past weekend we traveled up to Worland, WY to watch the Kemmerer girls and boys basketball teams play in the regional tournament. The girls won their first game, but lost their next two so they are not going to the state tournament. Josey's pretty bummed, but they had their best season in years, or so I hear. And he's looking forward to track starting next week, once he gets all the "what ifs" of basketball season out of his head. He's the head track coach this year, but he's having a hard time getting kids interested in coming out. I hope it goes well for him.

Lyle & Jan traveled down for the weekend too, so we got to spend some time with them. I think they miss Arielle a lot! Luckily they got a hotel room in Thermopolis that had some mineral pools so we got to take the kids swimming in warm water that felt great. We stayed with Josey in a stinky motel room. Luckily the motel had a good continental breakfast.

I forgot to bring my camera this weekend, but we had some really funny moments, thanks to my kids, who really drive me crazy, but are hilarious at the same time. (And thanks to Arielle, who finds the things they do and say very humorous, even when I'm ready to stop the car and throw them out.) One night we went to dinner at a little cafe. We walked in and the place reeked of cigarette smoke and something else really stinky. Jordan takes a big whiff and says, "Mmm, smells good!" He's so weird!! I still laugh when I think about that. And to top that off, there was an ashtray sitting outside of our motel room, and of course he'd seen the lady staying next to us chain-smoking nonstop, so he decided to give it a try. Gross!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Yes, when you live in Kemmerer, this is the news.

(If you can't read the caption, it says: "It's the Josey Allen Show! - Teacher Josey Allen blew past all his younger competition in the plunger race, pictured on Wednesday. Allen also won the American Idol singing competition with his rendition of John Michael Montgomery's 'Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident.).'"

Thanks A Lot Grandpa!!

The other day I was getting ready to make dinner, and I told Jordan, "I don't really feel like making dinner today." He said, "Why? Do you just like to eat candy all day?" (I must be setting a really good example of healthy eating habits, don't you think?) Well, someone must have relayed this conversation to grandpa, because this is the package Jordan and Jarrett got in the mail today from Josey's dad:

Where's My Camera When I Need It?

I'm really mad at myself for forgetting to take my camera everywhere I go. We went to the BYU-Wyoming basketball game a couple of weeks ago. Forgot my camera. Josey's basketball team's been doing some great stuff. Forgot my camera. I took the boys on a fun outing with their cousins yesterday - bowling and McDonald's. Forgot my camera. So just use your imagination for now.

I'm really just making this entry to get some blogging done. Today is my day to get everything else done (laundry, clean the house, organize, etc.), so why not blogging too?

As soon as I'm done with this stuff, I'm going to try to think of something great to make up for not getting Josey anything for Valentine's Day. I made the mistake of just kind of putting it off until the last minute, and then...one of the greatest husbands in the world (seriously) didn't get diddly squat, except for some tomatoes in the shape of a heart on the pizza I made him (that he sliced and ate before even recognizing the heart). I didn't think he really cared that much until last night when the subject came up. Oops. He's a sentimental kind of guy, and would probably appreciate nothing more than a heartfelt letter or card from me, and I didn't even do it. I started to. I started writing him a letter, but it sounded all wrong so I threw it away. So today I'm going to try really hard to think of something special to make it up to him. Just for the record, I made his Valentine's Day really easy. I wanted to go for a long run outside, and have some M&M's, and if I was really lucky (or loved), a massage. He came through with all I wanted. Really, it was just a great day. The Kemmerer girls beat the #1 team in the state, so he was in a good mood. Then we just got to relax and watch the BYU basketball game on TV. Then he got to go chaperone the high school dance (okay, so that part wasn't so great, but he wouldn't take my advice to tell one of the single teachers to do it.) It was a day that I felt a lot of love for my hubby; I just didn't do a good job of letting him know it.

Okay...I've got something for those of you wanting a picture. While I was writing the previous paragraphs, my sweet son Jarrett flooded the bathroom by filling the sink to overflowing and clogging it with a towel. Lucky for me, Jordan tattled. The only problem with Jordan's tattling is that he doesn't tell me until all the damage is already done because he's having so much fun watching (and participating too, I'm sure, but I'm blaming this one on Jarrett because he's been up to no good all morning). I tried getting a picture of Jarrett throwing a fit so you could see how sad he was that he got in trouble for being naughty, but by the time I got the camera ready, he was ready to smile and play again. And now I better go clean up the flood, which somehow came through the floor and drenched my laundry room floor in the basement. Love these boys. This is what happens when I try to update my blog!