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!

Our January

I've been meaning to sit down for awhile and do some blogging, but you know how it goes. Life gets busy, and time flies by. This time, quite a bit has actually been happening in our lives, but I haven't taken too many pictures. Here's the rundown... (stick with me, this might get a little boring, but we really have had a lot going on.)

Both of my sweet boys had birthdays in January. Jarrett turned 2 and Jordan turned 4. I hate to admit that their "parties" were anything but spectacular, if you can even call them parties. I think both nights Josey was coaching late practice, which means he comes home from school at about 5 for dinner and then heads back to practice at approximately 5:15. Both boys got boring presents from their parents (coats), although Jordan did get a computer game, which turns out to be the biggest waste of money ever because it is really DUMB and doesn't teach him anything. (Does anyone have any suggestions for computer games for preschoolers?) At least they both got some fun presents from their grandparents, and next year I will do better, I promise! We want to make a yearly tradition of taking them to a BYU basketball game for their birthdays since they are so soon after Christmas, but we didn't think we'd get to go this year because Josey coaches basketball practically every Saturday. He actually doesn't have a game this weekend, and it just happens to be Family Day at the Marriott Center so we got cheap tickets and we're going. They're playing Wyoming, and it should be fun.

Poor Jarrett didn't even get a cake, just some ice cream with a couple of candles.

Jordan fared a little better; at least he got a cupcake.

Some other big news is that Josey's little sister Arielle has come to live with us. She's a senior in high school and she's going to be staying until the end of the school year. Josey felt inspired to ask her if she wanted to come live with us, and it was a really hard decision for her to make, but it felt right, and she moved in last week. I hope it's a good experience for her. My boys are loving it so far, although I hope they adjust to all the change soon. They got bunk beds and have been waking up at about 5:45 or 6 every morning and going into Arielle's room instead of ours. At least she's already getting up to get ready for seminary, but still, I feel just a little guilty. Plus the lack of sleep is making Jordan a REALLY grumpy little boy come about 6 p.m.

On top of this change, my mom had to have an emergency stomach surgery last week. She is still in the hospital, but when she gets out, I'm hoping I can go over there and help her out for a few days. She's recovering well, and I think she should be getting out of the hospital soon. She'd been complaining to me about her sore stomach for a couple of weeks, and it turns out she had a hole in it, and the pain finally became so excruciating that she could barely move. Poor lady! I've been worried about her, but luckily she didn't get any infection, which was my biggest concern. So for a few days, I felt pretty tired and stressed (because on top of these things, I have also had a mild cold that still won't seem to go away and it's been almost 3 weeks), but life seems to be returning to normal.

We'd been experiencing unusually mild winter weather for Kemmerer until about this past weekend. I've even been enjoying running outside a little bit. Then the snow fell, and now I don't know how long I'll be stuck inside. Running on the treadmill or 140 times around the track at the Rec Center just isn't quite as fun as running outside, and I want the snow to GO AWAY!

Now I have just have a few thoughts to share about a little horrifying experience I had this week. I went to the grocery store with my boys, and as we were walking towards the store, Jordan took off running right behind a truck that was backing up. I took off running after him and slipped on the ice and fell. I think I managed to grab Jordan's arm and pull him back, but I don't know. It's all a blur. The lady never did see Jordan, but maybe she saw me, and another truck saw Jordan and honked at her. It was such a close call. I don't know if I've ever been that scared. I'm sure Jordan didn't understand the enormity of what he had done. I was too scared to do anything to him other than reprimand him for running away from me and not listening to me when I yelled at him to "Stop!". I don't know what I needed to do to teach him to never run away from me like that again. It's time like these when you hear a spanking is in order. Well, in that moment I was just so grateful that my little boy was not hurt that I couldn't spank him.

We went into the store and I was pretty close to tears, shaking and just trying not to cry. Then this old lady comes up to me and starts telling me how she saw what happened, and she was talking to the boys, asking them questions, just trying to be friendly. This made me break down, and I started bawling my head off right there in the store. I finally calmed down and managed to finish my shopping, but the old lady gave me a hug and bought me a chocolate rose. I thought this was a sweet thing to do, especially from a stranger.

That night during Family Home Evening, it was just me and the boys because Josey and Arielle were at basketball practice. We had a lesson on obedience, and the boys were practicing obeying me. It was Jordan's idea to practice running away from me and stopping when I said to stop. I just hope they learned a little lesson there about why it's important to listen to mommy and daddy (because we love them!! and want them to be safe!!). That night as I said my prayers, I made sure to tell Heavenly Father how grateful I was that nothing had happened to Jordan. I love him so much and I can't imagine the pain I would be in now if something had happened to him. Kids are so precious, so make sure you tell them all the time how much you love them! I know we all know this, but it's moments like these that remind us how precious they are.

These Boys Make Me Laugh

Mommy (after witnessing Jordan running around in nothing but a shirt): "Jordan, did you wet your pants?"
Jordan: "Nope, I was wearing shorts." And runs off playing happily. (It was really just the way he said it that made me laugh. He was thinking he was really smart because he didn't have to tell me that he actually wet his pants.)

Overheard while I was in the other room:
Jarrett: "I pooped."
Jordan: "Don't tell me. Tell my horse." (His new little toy horse.)

Oh the many funny things I get to hear my kids say in a day. I'm so glad they give me something to laugh about!