Sea World November

Another trip to Sea World in November.  Grandma Finlay and I took the 3 cousins (their little brother had just been born) along with my 3 kids.

The girls are inseparable when they have the chance to be together.

We took the toddlers on the little kid rides.  Preston doesn't seem to have the affinity for roller coasters that Brielle and Ethan have always have.  His face turned white after the dizzying rides.

These kids have so much fun together.

These two were pretty proud of being tall enough to ride on their own.

Happy Thanksgiving

Our Thankful Tree this year. 

I love seeing what the kids come up with.  This is one of my favorites from Ethan this year.  "Silly Faces."  :)

We also enjoyed learning about the history of Thanksgiving. 

This book was fascinating about the the life of Sarah Josepha Hale.  She is an amazing determined woman.

Here are some good videos to watch about the History of Thanksgiving as well.

Fly-On-The-Wall Wednesday

It's been 6 months since my last fly-on-the-wall post.  We're back to school routine, but with 2 kids at school this year.  So, here is a glimpse of what happened at our house on a Wednesday...at least every hour on the 30 minute marks on November 12th.

5:30-Up to Exercise
Preston slept through the night, hooray!  He seems to do well 3-4 days in a row then have a couple bad nights. It's a taper week as far as running goes, with a half-marathon scheduled Saturday.  I ran yesterday, so today I am just going for a walk.

my plans for the day

6:30-Prepping Breakfast
Starting water to boil for oatmeal today.  The 2 big kids are up and starting their morning routines.  James getting ready for work.

morning routines complete-with bed's made.  I walked in to check and saw Ethan saying his prayer on top of the dresser next to the top bunk...wish I captured that in a picture.

7:30-Driving to School
Reviewing Articles of Faith on the way to school.  The kids had forgotten them when we were working on other scriptures, so we went back through them again.  Ethan is on #12, Brielle on #13.

8:30-Play Time
Nora is with Preston and I this morning (I picked her up when I dropped the kids off at school).  They are both very interested in climbing right now, so I am spending a lot of time spotting them on the ladders.

9:30-Story Time
Home from the park, got breakfast dishes done while the kids played. Now reading "boops" (Preston's word for book).

10:30-Snack Time
Home from Costco (I love that even though they say they open at 10, they actually open the doors at 9:45, so I can be out of there by just after 10 before it gets crowded!).  I am putting away groceries while the toddlers eat a snack.  Nora asked for yogurt after she saw me buy some at the store.  I should have listened to my brain when it said handing a yogurt to an unsupervised toddler is a bad idea.

11:30-Outside-Talking

Nora's getting picked up.  I tried to get Preston down (he usually goes down about 11) but, he knew Nora was still here and wanted to play.  Going to have to try again.

12:30-Dinner Prep
Preston finally decided to nap.  I'm getting dinner started. Tonight's menu: Pasta e Fagioli Soup and Oatmeal/Applesauce bread.

1:30-Cleaning
Nap time is my rush around and get my to do list done as quickly as possible.  Getting my desk drawer cleaned out right now.

2:30-Diaper Changing
Trying to get Mr. Wiggles to hold still long enough for a diaper change.  Margaret called and offered to bring kids home from school, as she had somewhere to go this direction, so I had almost an entire unplanned extra hour!  Got a head start on some of tomorrow's cleaning!

3:30-Monitoring Kids
Preston and I are making bread.  Ethan is working on homework, Brielle is doing her reading time.

Preston loves to help in the kitchen.  He pulls out all my kitchen tools while I try to cook and make sure he doesn't fall off the counter.

4:30-Bike Ride
Letting the kids get some exercise and enjoy some time outside.

Sun is setting already at 4:30.  

Brielle has outgrown her bike, but still loves to ride it anyway.

He wasn't as excited about the bike ride and being trapped. 

5:30-Cleaning out Fridge

Finishing dinner prep and cleaning out cheese drawer with Preston's 'help'.  Big kids finished all their jobs and are watching a show before dinner.

6:30-Dinner Complete
James got home just after 6 and was able to join us for dinner.  Clearing off the table now as the big kids go up to start getting ready for bed.

7:30-Kitchen Clean Up
James left to his Elder's Quorum Meeting.  Preston went down a little after 7 while James read to the big kids.  I gave the kids their kisses and questions, then headed down to face this pile in the sink.

8:30-Computer Time
Updating the PTA facebook page and responding to e-mail.

9:30-Show
James got home from his meeting.  We are relaxing, watching an episode of Modern Family.  My cold caught up with me again with the sore throat and congestion, ugh.

10:30-Bedtime
This cold has been weird.  I'm able to function fine during the day, but it knocks me out in the evenings.  So tired!  Going to sleep.

Canyon City Half Marathon

November 15th I ran my first Half-Marathon.  I had some pains and injuries trying to get back to running after having Preston, but finally felt ready to train for something.

As this was the first year for this marathon, it was a discounted price, AND it went right past out house.  It was so nice to have it be local.

I loved the kids posters they made for me.  It was so great to see my family there to cheer me on for the last couple miles.

So many things about this picture make me smile. :)

It was a gorgeous day.  We were bussed up to the starting line.  The bus ride felt really long as I looked out the window at the road I would be running back down.  It was cold up in the mountains as we waited to start, but once we started running the cool weather was perfect!  I had a cold a couple weeks before the race.  I was feeling okay that morning, but still not 100%.  I did not feel very well trained, but knew I'd be able to finish just fine.  My finishing time was 2:05:39, which was quicker than I was planning, but I know I can do better---bring on another race! I enjoyed having a local race, as there were quite a few people from our ward and stake involved (both as participants and volunteers), so I got to see a lot of people I knew.  My neighbor and I decided to walk home so we could stretch out.  Our was about 3 miles from the finish line along the race route, so we got to cheer people that were still running.

City of Hope Family Picnic

 James' work put on a very fun family activity at the Santa Anita Race Track last month.

James had to convince the kids to go try the trampolines, (the 8 options of blow-up toys/slides/obstacle courses were more intriguing)

but once there they loved it!

They also weren't too sure about the climbing wall, but said that was one of their favorite things. 

Preston was more impressed by the stroller in front of him in line while waiting for his turn, than by the actual pony ride.

We got to see the horses racing (you can see them in the background in this picture), it is always amazing how fast they move.

And we LOVED the family science projects.  There were all kinds of hand-on projects to try out.

Kinetic sand, dry ice bubbles, planting seeds,  rainbow crystals...lots of fun ways to learn.

Halloween

Our Halloween celebrations began a few weeks before Halloween at the pumpkin patch.

The kids searched the pumpkins looking for their perfect pumpkin.

Ethan was going for the biggest he could fine.  He lined up at least 10 of them before deciding.  Good work out.

a beautiful (warm) day.

Ethan was carved a skeleton face on his pumpkin, and was excited that he did it almost entirely on his own this year.

Our family dressed up as The Incredibles.  

We got to go trick-or-treating with all of our local cousins.

and the kids were once again spoiled by all of our good friends that we visited.

Plenty of treats to make everyone happy after only 6 houses.