strawberry picking

We went strawberry picking over a week ago.  It was an overcast, kind of cool morning and perfect strawberry picking weather.  The berries were juicy and red and delicious.

There was lots of taste testing going on. 

like this....

 and this.....

and especially this......

 Chandler was an amazing picker this year and just went off on his own and I thought he was probably just walking around not doing much but when he came back his basket was full and full of nice ripe ones.  He was awesome!  I think I mostly filled Emery's.  She mostly just ate them:)

 Is it too much to ask for a nice smile for the camera?!  And Chandler insists on his hat being pulled down.  My how they've grown since last year.  2011, 2010, 2009

 I want to go again before the season is over.  I need to get some to freeze since we just ate all the ones we picked this time.  I usually make jam but I don't think I will this year since I have so many jars still.  We don't really eat very much jam so we don't go through it very fast.

 Looks like love but Beckett was screeching and trying to get away about a second after this was taken.  He does not like holding hands or being pushed around by other kids.

 This year the farm added a lot of new little attractions for the kids.  They had fun playing around.  I wish I had brought a lunch because it was past noon and I wanted to get going but they wanted to keep playing.

 Beckett disappeared and then popped up in this hole.  It was hilarious to see his little head come through and how proud he was of himself.  Maybe this year Steve will actually be able to go with us.  He has never been strawberry picking with us and I think I have gone every year but the first year we lived here.

We are going to try to go tonight for Family Home Evening and have Steve just meet us at the field.  Hopefully he can get off work and make it.

most random mother load of pictures.......

It was spring here.  Along time ago.....the trees were beautiful and the days so nice and warm.  We have a weird cold spell right now and had to turn our heat on this morning.  But on Thursday it is supposed to be back to 80.  

Remember how we were redoing our room so many months ago??  Well, I finally painted the headboard and now that is in our room.  Now I just need to sew up a bed skirt and hang something on the wall and it will sort of be finished.  I doubt I will ever finish it but it is so much better than it was!  Anyway, I love having the curtains in our room, I think they are lovely and so do the kids.

Back when I was "training" for my run, I took the kids with me to the neighborhood park and made them run with me.  On days when Chandler didn't go to school I didn't get a run in unless I did this.  We walk to the park and then once there run around the track.  Chandler usually ran one lap with me and then played while I ran more with the stroller.  Emery always had to get out and run half a lap or a little more with me.

I just love her little flailing running legs and arms.  Her body is the cutest little thing ever.  Seriously, could she look more awkward or any cuter?!?  

After running the kids got to play on the playground for a little bit.  Beckett just likes to test how many lives he has.  That kid is lucky he is still alive with all the stunts he pulls.

Another cute little runner.  

I was hoping for a day when the dandelions were out so I could get some good blowing of dandelion pictures but every time we went they had just been mowed that day.  I was so bummed.  But it was nice to have short grass so Beckett could walk easier in it.

Beckett stayed happy by hoarding the snack and munching on apples.  

I made Emery a new shirt.  She wasn't very happy about posing for me so she wouldn't look and then she ran away.  So much for trying to take pictures of her.  The honeysuckle behind her smelled so yummy!

Beckett loves dirt.  He also loves climbing onto things and standing.  I remember when we got Chandler that little Red Sox outfit.  He wore it to his first Red Sox game and was so so so cute.  I can't believe that Beckett now can wear it.  I love having Beckett able to wear all of Chandler's old clothes.  It brings back so many memories.  And makes Beckett kind of look like Chandler looked at that age.

About a month ago we finally painted the kids room.  It is a really nice light gray.  (Benjamin Moore Shoreline)  I thought it would be a good neutral so I can do girl and boy stuff with it.  Chandler wants green and Emery wants pink so they will both go with the gray.  I still haven't done the stencil on the wall but I finally got the paint yesterday so hopefully I will get that done this weekend.  It's so hard because I can't have Beckett around but Emery naps so I can't do it during nap time and we can't do it at night because the kids are in there.  So hopefully when I have someone to watch the kids during the day I can quickly stencil the one wall and then get on with actually decorating their room.  It is very far away from being done though because I want to make quilts and I know that will take forever.  I really hate decorating if you haven't noticed.

 Boogers!  Everyone has them around here right now.  A nasty cold swept through our house and there has been so many boogers and so much coughing.  Hopefully it is on its way out.  The kids love playing behind the chair in the living room.  I never know what will be found back there.

More boogers!  I couldn't help but take a picture of Emery when she fell asleep in the car.  It doesn't happen too often because I try not to drive past 1:00.  But Chandler started speech and it gets done at 1:15 so we are always driving around 1:30 and Emery just can't stay awake sometimes.  Thankfully she will transfer if I'm really careful.

Beckett thought it was hilarious and was trying to poke her and was laughing.  I wish I had gotten his face because it was hilarious when he pointed at her and then looked at me with the hugest grin.  I love that kid.  He had climbed back into the van after I got him out.  I hate that he can climb into the van now because he will climb in and thinks it's so fun to play and go sit in Chandler's booster and it is so hard to pull him out.

 While I was gone running my race, Steve's cousin Golden came for a visit.  He was auditioning for the Charlotte Orchestra and stayed with us while he was here.  The kids LOVED him!  Seriously, when I got home Sunday morning they came flying out to see me and immediately started telling me all about how daddy's cousin Golden is here.  He stayed until Monday night and then had to get on the road home.  Unfortunately he didn't make the call back (there were 80 tuba players auditioning for one position)- we were bummed because it would have been fun to have them live near us.

 I love sleepy wake up eyes.  Beckett always has watery eyes after a nap (usually because he cries when he wakes up).  Don't mind his filthy shirt.....the kid drools constantly and won't wear a bib while eating so is always so dirty.

 I've never given a kid a bath in the sink.  I would love a really cool big deep sink (I think they are called apron sinks? farmhouse sink? whatever they are I love them).  Beckett was being super fussy one night while I was trying to make dinner.  He had gotten into dirt while outside so I decided to plop him in the sink while I finished making dinner.  It worked and he was happy and I got dinner done.  I love his blonde hair and long eyelashes and round little head.  I personally think my kids have the perfect shaped heads.  They are so nice and round.

 Chandler had a little accident at school the other day.  When I picked him up his teachers were like, "we have no clue what happened but his pants are ripped, we tried to change him but he wouldn't let us".  His shorts were totally ripped the entire length of the back.  He says he just squatted down and they ripped.  I couldn't help but laugh when I thought about him playing at recess flapping open.  Good thing I put cool looking underwear on him that day:)  Anyway, they were new shorts and I brought them back and got them replaced (and returned the other pair I had gotten).  I would have just returned these and tried to get my money back but Chandler loved them (because they have a shark on them) and was going to have a fit so I'm just hoping it was a fluke and they will be good shorts and not rip again.

 Emery is a smart girl.  She traced all these numbers.  I had no clue she could do that and didn't even know she had found this book and was working on it.  I think she did it when I was in the shower one day.  It helps having an older sibling because she does everything Chandler does.  It's funny when we practice Chandler's speech stuff with him and Emery is right there saying the words and sounds with us.  I love it.

 Again, Beckett has 9 lives.  He is constantly climbing onto the kitchen table.  He usually likes to stand up and walk around.  Even if I push the chairs in he is able to weasel his way onto the chair and get up.  Steve said he fell off the table when I was gone at my race.  I said, "don't tell me, as long as he's fine I don't need to know".   Even though it makes for a terrible picture I love how much sunlight our house gets.  I remember when we first looked at the house that is the first thing I commented on.  It is so nice and bright and I love it. I just really want to change our wall colors.  I'm on a gray kick and want all light colors.

 This is something Chandler does about once a month.  He will hook a straw up to the water dispenser and drink from the straw.  He then gets carried away connecting lots of straws and making a nice long water dispenser.  At least he was courteous enough to put a towel down to mop up his huge water mess that takes place.  We could never have wood floors in our kitchen.  There is always water on the floor.

I had been saving toilet paper rolls for a long time.  Every time it was changed I just threw the old roll under the bathroom sink.  I pulled them out one day and made this little contraption with the kids.  It provided entertainment for the day and they thought I was pretty cool.  win win

Another creative thing, set up the kids did.  They play so well together sometimes and are really creative in their play.  They act things out and pretend like crazy.  I love listening to them.  Chandler has started calling Emery "Em" and all I hear is, "Em, look", "Em, Em, Em do this", "Em, come here", "Em, Em, Em".  It's cute but I also kind of don't like it because I really don't want her to be Em.  Her name is Emery.  I know I have no control over it but I just hope that Chandler doesn't tell people that is her name.  Oh well, better than Bucket or Bucky, right??

 I was feeling nice one day and bought a bag of sand and put it in a bin for the kids.  Of course they loved it but I was so annoyed at the mess they made.  It drives me insane that Chandler disobeys and puts sand everywhere.  I mean he will dump it on his head and on other kid's heads.  My mom said he sees it as experimenting.  I still think he should be a little better about trying to keep the sand in the box.  They had it for about a week and now I've made them have a break from it since I was sick of sweeping up the patio.

 I even tried putting a tarp down and they still managed to put tons of sand off the huge tarp.  That made me furious because they had so much room and still spread it everywhere.  Now I don't know how much I can trust them if we put a sandbox under the swing set.  Will they dump it all out on the grass around the swing set??  probably.  But they love sand so much I have a hard time taking it away.  They just need to live at the beach.

 Here's a conversation I had with Chandler at dinner one night:
Chandler: what happens when someone eats something they are allergic to?
Me: well, they might swell up or get a rash?  (lots of back and forth about what swelling is and where and what happens and how to fix it)
Chandler: they can only eat something they're allergic to if you are close to a hospital or at the beach.... because they can just go in the ocean and the sharks will eat them.
Whatever dude.....sometimes his mind is so funny.

Good night!

Team Bling

I am so happy these girls asked me to run this relay with them.  It was seriously so much fun.  I'll admit I was a little nervous and hesitant about it.  And then when they wanted to decorate my van and wear tutus I almost dropped out:)  (j/k, i wouldn't have done that).  But I am so glad that I did it and went along with it all.  It all started Friday afternoon when we gathered to hit the road.  

The van was decorated with our pictures and names and lovely Judy Blingalicious (barbie attached to the front).  I had to get a babysitter since there was no way Steve could be home at 3.  The kids were great about it and I had nursed Beckett for the last time before putting him down for his nap. (he is officially weened now...I'm still kind of sad about it)  I was so nervous about leaving him but he was fine.  I'm just glad he was sleeping when I left because it would have been so hard to have him clinging to me and crying.  

We got to our hotel safe and sound, though we lost two pictures along the way:(  Then we all settled in and tried to get some sleep.  I don't think any of us really slept.  I couldn't fall asleep until well past midnight and we had to be up a little after 4 in the morning.  I maybe got 3.5 hours of sleep.  It wasn't a very fun night. 

But we were up nice and early and ready to get going.  I think we were all nervous.  It was freezing outside which I wasn't prepared for.  I spent all my time trying to plan my clothes for running during the day and didn't even think about the fact we would be up before the sun and it would be cold.  We snapped this right after Joni left on the first leg of the run.  She was so amazing and awesome.  Perfect person to start the race for us.  She is super fast and ran with all the men at a 7:45 min mile........for 9 miles..........in Vibrams..........in the dark!!!  

I started my first leg (leg 3) around 7:30 in the morning.  It was really pretty even though the sun didn't really come up because it was kind of cloudy.  There was a pretty haze/fog in the fields.  I did not expect to be wearing my long sleeve so my bib number was on my t-shirt and I didn't feel like changing it.  I did get hot towards the end of my run but it was pretty cold still.  I ran 7.5 miles in just over an hour so I was happy with that.  I had no clue how far I had gone or if I was going too fast or too slow.  I knew I couldn't go all out because I still had to run two more legs but I also didn't want to be too slow.  I really need a Garmin to run with so I know my pace and time and distance.  There weren't really any race signs like in a half marathon (the mile markers always keep me going and on track and something to look forward to).  Here I was just running with no idea where I was.  I did try to stay distracted by looking around.  I saw a dead deer with about 15 HUGE vultures all around it.  Gross and scary......they kind of looked at me and I was worried they would attack me or something.  

I finally made it.  The "exchange zone ahead" sign was such a relief to see!!  Michelle was the first of us to wear her tutu running.  She was the mastermind behind it all and made them and just surprised us with them:)  I didn't want it during my long run in case it bugged me.  

Most hilarious picture taken during our trip.  I'm pretty sure I was asking Joni if she needed some toilet paper because one of them didn't have any.  She was taking her skirt off so it wasn't in the way when she went to the bathroom.  It's just so funny especially since there was another guy that came up and made some comment about "that's so wrong" as Michelle was taking a picture of Joni taking her skirt off.  Ah, I guess you had to be there:)

And we made it to the beach.  The run was from the middle of South Carolina to Charleston.  This was the exchange zone for leg 8. 

This was the only time we actually got to see the beach.  It was a little section between Isle of Psalm and Sullivan's Island.  

Ready to start Leg 8.  Shanda ran two bridges on her run and over the Isle of Psalm connector and then handed off to me.  This was a 2.9 mile run and from looking at the map I thought I was running along the beach and would be able to see the beach but I couldn't.  I was one road too far in.

I basically ran the entire length of Sullivan's Island and ended at Fort Moultrie.  I love how it looks like Joni is meditating waiting for me.  You can see me coming in the distance.  

Then a mere 32 minutes later I was off running again on Leg 10 (my last leg).  This time 3.1 miles.  It wasn't much of a break but kind of nice because I was warmed up still.  The guy standing in the white shirt made a comment to me about, "didn't you just run".  Yes, yes I did!

Then I ended at the base of the huge new suspension bridge in Charleston.  I had to run through a really busy part of town with lots of lights and even got stopped by a light.  Felt retarded in my tutu but I just focused on the guy in front of me and tried catching him the entire time.  It was hard but at the very end I sprinted past him and another girl.  It was nice having something keeping me going and I knew it didn't matter if I killed myself because I didn't have to run again.

We couldn't follow Michelle because she ran the huge bridge but then veered off into downtown Charleston. I'm so glad I didn't have that run because she had to run on cobblestone streets and through masses of tourists.  At first I was jealous of her run because I thought the bridge would be cool but when she finished and told us that I was happy she got to run it and not me:)

Then we drove to the finish while Jolin ran the last leg.  We watched teams finish.  Like the only other all female team Moms on a Mission.  They ran the 200 with only 6 of them which means they all ran 33+ miles!!!  Pretty amazing.  When we asked how many kids they had and they said 14 but only between 4 of them- the other 2 are dog moms "so that totally counts".  Joni then pipes up, "yeah, we have 17 kids between us!".  It was hilarious how we played off each other.  We all wanted to tell them that but realized that when Michelle asked how many kids she couldn't follow up with our number so Joni had to step in and say it.  As we walked away we were all scoffing at the dog mom comment and agreed that it does NOT count.  Shanda put it oh so nicely by saying, "yeah, you didn't push that dog out of your (insert word for where babies come out)!".  But really those girls are amazing and I know there is no way I could have run that much.  Plus they were cute in their matching outfits.

We waited for Jolin at the finish and started getting worried when she didn't show up when we predicted she would.  We knew there was no way she was that slow so we were worried she was injured.  Finally a team came by and told us our girl was on her way.  We all ran across the finish together and Jolin was so mad.  She had missed a turn and ran an extra mile or so.  Her leg was supposed to be 6.66 miles and she said she didn't want that bad luck and was going to stop running before the finish line or something so I guess she found her way to not run that number:)  j/k  I would have been super mad.  Plus she had the most miles added up anyway so she ran even more than that.  Jolin is awesome though and super tough. She's run multiple marathons and has triplets so she's pretty amazing.  

Really though we were all amazing (we finished with a 9:18 min/mile pace almost an hour faster than we had thought).  We even had another girl tell us she hopes she looks as awesome as us after having kids.  We had two different teams ask to take their picture with us because of our outfits.  Too funny!  I'm so proud of all these girls and I love that we could have such a fun weekend and could spend it with girls who have the same standards as I do and we can all relate to each other.  I'm so lucky to be in a ward with so many great friends who also love to run races too!  There are even more girls at church who run too.  It was an awesome race and I think there will be more years of us participating in this race.  

By the way, I've never thought of myself as short but when I'm with these girls I feel so short!!  I'm 5'7" so that isn't that short for a girl but look at me next to all of them and their tall skinny legs!