I am still here...

FYI-I am still here; I DID NOT get sick; we are ALL better now; just haven't had time to post Easter Pictures, let alone take a bath without AT LEAST one child banging on the door screaming, "MOM!  Let me in. I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE!  I can HEAR the jets mom!  I can hear you groan your 'annoyed' groan as you slip under the water to drown out my screams.  MOOOOOOOOM!"

So relaxing.  Oh yeah, ran 10.3 miles on Saturday AGAINST hurricane-like winds.  It was a bugger.  This Saturday???  12 BABY!

BLAH, blah, blah, blah, blah...

"DUN, DUN, DUN...Another one bites the dust.  OW"  Sporty, who started all this icky sickey about 2 weeks ago, has succumbed to it again.  5 out of 6.  I may be jinxing my own health by keeping stats-only time will tell.

All finished

I would like to take this time to thank all my sick children for providing me the opportunity to stay home and finish reading my book.  Since I have been home bound since Thursday, I was able to start and finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I love, Love, LOVE the Harry Potter series.  For Christmas Trevor bought me the box set, complete with a Hogwarts Trunk to store the books in, and I set out to read the series for the 2nd time.  I am thoroughly entertained by this story and am planning on starting the series over again.  First I need to throw in something new....any suggestions?

Another set back

I spoke, er, blogged too soon.  Another one bit the dust...Z-man has caught the CRAP.  My heart aches when the baby gets sick.  He can't communicate to us that his tummy hurts; he just knocks the sippy out of my hands, or turns his nose up and away from the cracker.  Poor little guy.  He just wants to be cradled and snuggled and I am more than happy to oblige.
On the upside of things, Diva is starting to get better.  Let's just say that there is more time in between sessions than there were earlier today.  Poor kid.  Sporty just keeps asking if he can go far away so he doesn't catch it-I have had to remind him that he was first up with this whole thing when he came down with it a week ago.  Man, attention spans and memories are so short with my little twerps.  Gotta love them, though.

Now is as good as time as any...

So this blasted sickness has claimed another child...that makes 4 of the 6 to catch this crap.  Knock on wood, but Z-man and myself have so far managed to thwart this CRAP.  So no church today for Diva nor Lolo (although she is much better and probably over it completely, but just in case...) and Trevor and I will take turns attending.  He gets the classes and I get Sacrament Meeting...Why do I get Sacrament Meeting, well, I am theeeee, dum dum dum, the ward organist.  Yes, my brothers and sisters, I am she who tickles the electric ivories every week and sometimes I kick the the lower pedals-it really depends on the song. 

ANYHOO, I figured I would blog about my adventure with Sporty on his field trip.  We were able to go to an environment center up in the mountains.  While there we snow-shoed, cross country skied, ate lunch, watched a presentation about electricity and the kids rock climbed.  We had a lot of fun.  Can I throw in that if you want a SUPERB bum work out, you should try Cross Country Skiing.  My rear end has never hurt the way it hurt and I have never felt it in the place I felt it before.  I.LIKED.IT!  So enjoy these pictures-excuse the fact that I am in jeans-I didn't know we would be doing the activities until we got up there.

Sporty getting ready to snow shoe. 

and again...

 

This is my official "Skiing" pose. 

Sport did the loop three times, I did it two times, and we dusted everyone else

Sporty was quite the natural.  He really wants to learn to ski-we are just going to have to make it a priority and teach him.  We had a great bonding time!  Love ya kiddo!

SCREEECH...roll that one back

Good night! (said sarcastically)  Trevor's baseball team did not show up on Wednesday and they got their REAR ENDS whooped. 

AND on an even worse note, we are battling a puking/pooping war at our house.  OI! (Again, thanks to Ronald Weasley for saying it so many times in the book that I now know how to spell 'oi') Not fun, wouldn't wish it on my worse enemy; well, maybe I would wish it on the terrorists.  Anyhoo, I have been doing laundry all day and washing, cleaning, and sterilizing EVERYTHING.  Please do not let me catch this-if I get sick the world will come to an end...literally.

Off to a good start...

Trevor's baseball team is 7-1 in preseason.  Today they started Region play and won 10-5.  We are off to a fantastic start, 1-0 in Region, 8-1 overall. Hooray!

Finally..

Okay, Heidi, you can stop cursing me now and steal these pictures to go on your blog....sheesh, woman, patience!  JUST TOTALLY TEASING!  In all fairness, I have meant to post this for a week now and I could hear Heidi's voice in my head saying, "I'll just get those pictures off your blog" which she said during our conversation while I was taking these pictures. Take them away, take them away.

Trevor's mom, whom we refer to as Grandma Net, recently retired after 30 years of service.  Quite the accomplishment if you ask me-the only thing thing I have ever entered into for the long haul was 1) my marriage, and 2) having kids. 

So we, her kids and kid-in-laws, put together a nice afternoon/evening full of surprises.  Now, let me sidetrack for a moment-nothing, NOTHING, ever gets by this woman.  She KNOWS if you have been in her house; she is the one who makes and plans everything so she knows the itinerary by heart; she knows when each and every ball game, dance recital, piano recital, etc, is;  trust me, she knows.  So to pull this little surprise off would take great care, great planning, great sacrifice, AND a great lie.  We totally pulled it off!

Roger (pop-in-law) was able to get tickets to the Priesthood Session of General Conference for all the men and my cute little nephew that recently turned 12.  So this is where the fib comes in:  Brooke (a sis-in-law) asked Grandma Net to come to SLC to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to pick up her kids and take them around Temple Square while she and Nick had a lunch meeting at the restaurant The Garden.  Hook, Line, and Sinker.  Of course Grandma Net said she would.  So we all arrived early and waited in the restaurant for her to show up.  You should have seen the look on her face-PRICELESS.  I should have had my camera ready....just thought about that.  She was soooooo surprised, so happy, so grateful, even overwhelmed by what her family had just done for her.  It was a good feeling to see her face so full joy.  Grandma Net loves, loves, LOVES pictures of her family-so that's what we got her.  We are having a family portrait done.  WHEN?  That is going to be the tricky part, but hopefully as soon as it happens I can post it.  In the meantime, enjoy these pictures taken by an amateur.

C, Bradi, Sporty, W

Ben, Geoff, H, D

Nick (I feel it an honor he isn't gesturing me) Roger, Heidi, E, Brooke, K, and A

Lolo, Gma Net, A, Trevor, Sporty, Diva

Love the view from this angle-too bad I cut out the Temple!

Wow, that is really dark.  On my camera it wasn't that dark.....hhmmm  And look closely to the nugget on the back right-be glad it's just a pencil/straw looking like it's going up his nose.

Sporty and Trevor-love this picture!

Diva and E dancing around.

It was a really  nice afternoon and evening that we got to spend in honor of the matriarch of the family.  Congrats to 30 years!  That is really quite the accomplishment~

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball

I have married into a BASEBALL family.  My husband coaches the Varsity team at my Alma mater, his brother coaches with him; their dad coached and is coaching again, etc, etc, etc.  I think Nick is the only black sheep-he.just.coaches.football (said in a very dramatic fashion)
Well, little Sporty has started his season of baseball and we got to go down South to where the sun shines ALL THE TIME to kick it off.  His little team did very well-they went 3-1, and missed out playing in the Championship series by one, ONE, run.  But here is where I will stop the congratulatory comments and COMPLAIN.    IT.WAS.FLIPPIN.COLD.   Wind, rain, wind, clouds, wind, cold, WIND.  One day was warm-but the wind was still present.  I mean, SERIOUSLY, can we not have Spring baseball and forgo the wind?
I was able to go down with my four kids, my sister, and my mother-in-law.  Despite the weather, we had a very good time.  For the most part, my brood of 4 did well.  There were times I was secretly wondering where the nearest mental institution was located, but I made it through.  It really did help that I HAD help.  So THANK YOU Annette and Lyndi. 
And if you are wondering where Trevor was, he had his own baseball tournament up North.  We sure missed him!  Not just mentally, but physically!
Something, no matter the weather or circumstances, it's just nice to get away from reality.

Sporty idolizes Jorge Posada from the Yankees

 

Up to bat.. 

 

Gma Net, Z-man, Me, Diva, Lolo, Sporty

Smile Aunt Lyndi... 

The only nice day...even though it was windy

Good Job Sporty and Good Job Team Weber!

I'm not saying it is...

Went on a run this morning and I decided to go on a route that I haven't been on since the MOUNTAIN LION INCIDENT (he was frolicking across the street from where my friend and I stopped after coming up a huge hill).  Well, as Nat and I came up and around the hill, sure enough something LARGE in the distance sauntered across the street and up the hillside.  Now, I am not saying it is a COUGAR, but one must not chance that meeting, so Nat and I casually turned around and ran the way we came.  I don't think I will EVER run that way again-at least not at dawn, or without a Bazooka.

More running

I have this amazing friend who wanted to start running-just casual runs, like 5ks and the such. This is the same friend that I tricked into running under 6 miles last week...  Well, guess what, today she ran 7.45 miles with me.  She did awesome, I did awesome, WE DID AWESOME!  The entire time we chatted away and laughed and just enjoyed the morning air and sunrise-beautiful.  But I learned something today-We all need "Running Buddies".  What I mean is, we need that friend that we can connect with (other than our spouse) and totally relate to in every way.  I have been blessed in my life to have many of these "running buddies".  It is so refreshing to know that she goes through the same emotions and feelings that I do when it comes to children, household duties, the Gospel, etc.  It's also good for me to hear her (again, any of my "running buddies") talk about trials in her life that I have not experience, but that I can be a sounding board and just offer my support.  Do you know how great "support" is?  It's amazing!   Wow, I don't feel alone when someone has my back-even if they don't understand, they just have my back.  And I feel like I am worth something when I can repay the favor and pass it on. 

We have this little thing called Relief Society-and there are soooooo many "running buddies" in there.  It is such an amazing organization and one doesn't even have to sew to be apart of it.  ,,,said with sarcasm,,,  We can meet together at least weekly and inspire and uplift one another and just be a support to each other.  The lessons we receive are wonderful, thoughtful, full of emotion sometimes, funny, informative, etc.  I thoroughly believe that Joseph Smith Jr was inspired by our Father in Heaven to start up this organization over 150+ years ago.  It's patterned after the Priesthood and it's truly a blessing in my life and many others.  I walk away each Sunday with a renewed sense of hope, tranquility, peace and love.  AND then I go home and listen to kids fight....arrrrgh.  I love my kids!  I truly do-they are such a blessing!  And for all my "running buddies" out there, you TOTALLY know what I am talking about! 
Peace out and enjoy Conference Weekend, Y'all.