Our Garden

I am burned out with my school work, so I thought I'd blog for a minute because it is more fun. We put in a garden this year, and I'm really glad. We've eaten a lot of fresh veggies. It is not a pretty sight...half of it is still weeds, but I have big plans for the future. I have three boys who are going to need some yard work to do to keep them out of trouble. Along with the rest of our yard, we will get it done in phases.


I already knew zucchini went a long ways and now I really know. I've been up to my eyeballs in zucchini. When I don't pick for more than about a day this is what I end up with. The boys have been pretty excited to go tromp around in the mud and help me pick stuff. We've also watered it by hand all summer, so they both like to use the hose in dirt...which of course makes mud.


Cowboy Luke doing the work. For a while we had an infestation of squash bugs, and we were on a mission to kill them. He worked pretty diligently with me for several days in a row to get the "bad bugs." We had them by the bazillions. During one of our killing sprees a huge thunder/hail storm started, and we had to make a run for the house. Luke had on his rubber boots and ran out of them/fell down on the way. I was pretty much just thinking of myself and running for cover, but I did end up going back to help him at the same time Jer came out to assist. We all got completely soaked in a matter of seconds. He now insists on wearing boots that are "better for running" while gardening.

We've had tons of tomatoes and Jer and I have had lots of BLTs this summer...actually they are usually just BTs or BATs (avocado). Very good. We've had to race our neighbor's chickens to the ripe tomatoes and that has resulted in a very unhappy Jer at times, but we've had plenty. My mom and I spent a fun afternoon chasing kids and making salsa which turned out really good. That's my canning effort for the year. Now when I have extra stuff I just take it to my neighbors whether they want it or not. Next year I'm definitely putting in some berries. I took Seth to my neighbor's house to pick raspberries the other day and he was in heaven. I could not get them in the bowl faster than he just ate them.

Sidenote: When Luke brought Seth into the house the other night looking like this the first word out of his mouth (before I could even ask) was "nothing!" I think I know exactly what kind of "nothing" happened to Seth.

Park City

I have been meaning to post about what we've been up to the past few weekends but just haven't got around to it. Before I give a quick travel log I just wanted to say what a great kid I have. Saturday I got the worst migraine...it was my run that started it, but it turned into one of those I only get every year or so. Jer had to leave about noon and by about 4:00 I was so sick. Luke was the best helper ever. He brought me an ice pack for my head and helped tend Ian without me even asking. He was really so sweet. He asked me, "When moms are sick do kids get to watch movies?" I wanted them inside where I could keep track of them, so about 6:00 he and Seth settled in to watch Madagascar. I did manage to get myself off the couch to pop them some popcorn and then Luke told me he was going to get them some more snacks. He came over with a huge tupperware of fish and fruit snacks each for him and Seth...really huge. I was just glad he was taking care of everything. Anyway, they were all great boys and took good care of each other and me. About 8:30 when I felt like I could move again I was about to put them to bed, Seth asked innocently, "Eat dinner?" Oh yeah, dinner. So they had cold cereal and headed to bed. I probably won't be mother of the year, but they were boys of the year. I'm pretty lucky!

Labor Day Weekend we stuck around home, but the boys played hard. Friday evening they headed up P Canyon with Jer on the 4-wheeler and then we attempted to sleep out on the deck. We didn't head out until almost 10 pm but once our motion lights turned on it chased out the wasps living inside them, and we literally had hundreds swarming. That put an end to sleeping out and a couple of disappointed kids headed back to bed inside about 11:00. We will try again. The next day the boys spent all day with Jer up at grandma and grandpa's house. They went out in the boat fishing with Jer and his dad and had a great time. Luke caught two fish. Luke held up his hands to show me the size and then said the other one was "five feet more bigger." We're still working on that grammar. They didn't get home until almost 9 pm after a day of fishing, biking, and playing with cousins and they were exhausted. We headed back up Sunday for Tucker's blessing and by then Seth was so tired he almost couldn't function. Monday we went to the Founder's Day parade and festivities and barbecued with the Dattages. They wrapped that up with another ride up P Canyon with Jer and my dad, and they were both so tired they fell asleep on the way down. It was a great weekend spent with family. We are lucky to have such great family on both sides!

Last weekend Jer and I took the boys and used a few days at my family's time share in Park City. Here's a bunch of pics...I couldn't decide.


Anytime there's a pool, kids are happy. We swam and swam and swam some more. Ian was a champ to hang out in his stroller on the side, so we were all able to swim together a lot. Luke is becoming quite the little fish.

We went to the Olympic Park and watched the aerial jumpers practice. Jer and I thought it was awesome. The kids thought it was pretty neat too.

Ice cream also equals kid (and dad) happiness. Seth managed to get his on everyone in the family somehow.

Ian was great as usual!

I wanted a few pics with the kids but getting them all together was difficult. Luke was cooperative though.

Seth...not so much (although at 2 I couldn't get Luke in a pic for anything so there's hope).

This says a lot about what Seth was up to. We were right by a bookstore and the owner came out and asked Seth not to chase his cat...I kind of thought he should keep the cat inside if he didn't want it chased!

This was the main attraction. Seth yelled over and over as loud as he could, "Enbuddy (anybody) here?" It was cute.

This is Seth's face when he says "tigers coming."

What kid can resist?

A ride up the gondola to hike around.

The hiking got rained out, but the kids liked the ride anyway.

My boys...I sure am thankful for them.

Jer and his mini-me. See the resemblance?

Thanks to all my boys for some great memories. Love you.

Oh Seth

This post is dedicated to my cute Seth. He's up to lots lately, and I wanted to record it for him. I'm amazed looking at the picture below taken at the beginning of the summer how much he has changed in just a few months. He's definitely two and sometimes it can be a bit terrible, but he is also so much fun. He keeps me literally running around all day. He is super active but also very loving and cuddly if you can catch him. Often when he is naughty he gives me this little sideways look/mischievous smile that is hard to resist. Jer and I often find ourselves trying not to laugh while disciplining him. So here's what Seth is up to at this age and stage.


Seth loves all things wheeled and/or motorized. If they have both that's even better. Seth brought his scooter in from the garage and was enjoying some fruit snacks in the photo. If you are what you eat, Seth would be fruit snacks and chocolate milk. I may have to get a child proofer for the pantry because Seth tries to help himself a lot! Seth is awesome at riding his scooter and the little tiny bike we have with training wheels. He even usually wants his "helnet on." Safety first. As far as motors go, Seth loves going on 4-wheeler or motorcycle rides with Jer, and I mean loves it. He will just go out in the garage and get on the 4-wheeler and say "ride wheeler" over and over (and turn everything on and kill the battery).

Here are a few places Seth has been discovered lately (and like any good blogging mom a photo has been taken prior to discipline):


In his bedroom closet with an Otter pop and scissors.

In the kitchen eating Quik with a spoon...and spilling it!

At the bar helping himself to some Lucky Charms.

In the fridge helping himself to some orange juice. This one was not so funny...he spilled almost the whole thing and made quite the sticky mess.

When Seth isn't up to something he's...sleeping. That has been quite the change this summer as well. When we moved Ian into the crib, we borrowed a crib from my parent's house for Seth. Less than a week later he was climbing out of it. I considered a crib tent but decided to just bite the bullet and teach him to stay in bed. Most nights it's not that bad. Sometimes during his naps (which he is trying to give up on) I hear loud thumps and he is in there playing with toys and rearranging everything. Jer also found him under his crib one night eating popcorn from a bag he scavenged out of the garbage can! A few weeks after his new found ability to get out of bed, we took the binky away. We had a few rough times, but it has been almost a month and it hasn't been that big of a deal. For a week or so he switched to band-aids for comfort and was crying out for them when he should be sleeping. After going through several boxes in one week, yes he was helping himself a lot, we had to put the stop to it. I was making just as many trips into his room to apply band-aids as I did to retrive the binky! I think we need to save a few band-aids for an actual injury.

One of the most amazing developments with Seth this summer has been in his speech. He was slow to speak, and I've had some concerns but he has made such progress lately. We have been working with him, and it is really taking off. He now has all the speech sounds a kid his age should have, and he is putting endings on most words. It is so fun to finally hear him speaking to us in little phrases. Luke has to watch it now because now he can tell me "Luke punch", etc. He also uses phrases like "stop it" and "go away" quite liberally. When Ian was born he called him "E" and then a month or so later it was "Ea" and now he actually says the whole name. Luke has also graduated from being called "Lu." I have been so relieved and excited about his progress. Two common sounds he doesn't make yet are "s" and "f," so this leads to some pretty cute pronunciations. He is always laughing and saying things are "yunny." He's obsessed with wearing his "running dues." His name gives him all sorts of trouble still because "th" is not in his repertoire yet either...that doesn't leave a lot to work with.

I'm sure I'll think of more later but for now this is what comes to mind about Seth. He goes through life like a bowling ball, and is definitely my child most likely to tip over a huge display at the store or something. He makes life very interesting and just tonight Luke told me he was so "glad Seth was part of our family." I couldn't agree more. So here's to our little "bull in a china shop." All things edible or fragile beware!

13.1 I Run

That was the catchy saying on the shirt I received for running the half marathon on Saturday. 13.1 miles of pure enjoyment. Not really. I don't particularly like to run, in fact, it is always quite painful but I'm glad I did it. Saturday morning as Jer and I took the bus to the start I was wondering why I had paid money to get up really early on a Saturday morning, pump, and run 13 miles, but it was a pretty good experience. I decided while I was pregnant that I was going to do this to get back in shape, and it was really good to have this race looming out there forcing me to run. It is has been crazy to juggle my running with Jer's running while still nursing Ian, but we made it. Most of my training has been done in the morning while I'd rather be sleeping or at night in the dark. I ran a few times the end of June and then started on a half marathon program for beginners after the fourth of July. It was a little frustrating to start from scratch, but I've made a lot of progress.

I made it through the race without needing a potty stop and ran faster than I had hoped, finishing in 1 hour 58 minutes. I have two toenails that didn't quite survive the journey and will probably leave me shortly but that's the only casualty (except the wicked migraine I had after). Both of those things were to be expected though. I have bad feet...never survived a backpacking trip without blisters or loss of toenails or both, and I get migraines after intense exercise. I looked for some pictures of me looking refreshed and wonderful at the finish and there weren't any so here is what I do have.


Me walking it off a bit after crossing the finish.


My parents brought the kids to cheer us on at the finish which was really fun. Before the race Luke was asking me if we would win, and I told him definitely not...I think he was a little disappointed. There were about 2,200 runners this year.

Here we are...hot, sweaty, tired, and best of all...finished! Did I mention that 13 miles was hard on my old knees??? Complaining aside, I am definitely considering doing this next year again with more time to train and I am going to run a full marathon...someday.


Luke brought his camera and was taking pictures of us at the finish. He got some "good ones."
After the photo shoot we headed to the feed area to eat, drink, and take a load off for a minute. You get a few looks when you're nursing your baby after the race, but I wasn't the only one. We did have lots of friends that ran as well, so it was fun to talk to everyone at the finish.

As mentioned above, running is not really my thing. I don't love it, and it requires quite a bit of suffering. Because it's so hard though it is more effective than any other exercise in my opinion. I started jogging in college and was quite dedicated for a while and have since been a here and there and a couple of times a week jogger. I have mostly done other things for exercise until now. I have run and run alone since Ian's birth. I have developed a love-hate relationship with it. I love how I feel after and am glad I did it...I mostly hate it while running.

So, here are a few truths I've learned about running the past two months:
**What goes down must come up. Where I live I always get to start with downhill but unfortunately that means I must conquer a big hill at the end of each and every run to get home.
**Running on the road provides incentive because you have to get back home! It's easy to wuss out on the treadmill, but when you're still a few miles from home keeping your body moving is really the only option.
**Music is essential! My iPod conked out on mile 2 of an 8-miler, and I suffered. Listening to yourself huff and puff is not pretty.
**Accidents do happen. Being a thirty-something woman who recently gave birth and running don't always go together. I'll just leave it at that.
**Running in the morning is strangely refreshing once you're up. Running home in the dark can get creepy.
**I'm a gadget girl. Jer bought me a Garmin GPS watch for our anniversary that tells me my distance and pace, and I love it. It is the best gadget ever. I am constantly in a race against that virtual partner in my watch.
**Looks can be deceiving. Some of the people that passed me on the run were older, heavier, you name it, yet ran right past me. That is not a confidence booster.

Well, enough rambling about running. Now I've got to come up with something else to work toward so I don't become a couch potato. Since this post is pretty much all about me here's what else I'm up to (besides the obvious)...I'm taking two classes for my master's degree, and I'm already behind. One is called "Cancer Biology" and should be really good, the other is another "Current Issues in Biology" and is sure to be horrible. I just finished my first year "teaching" for a private online high school. I am actually picking up a bigger student load now so my checks aren't quite as pitiful...especially since it only requires a few hours a week. I'd really like to work on my digital scrapbooking or just read a book if some spare time magically appears!

Next time I will return to posts featuring my cute kids instead of sweaty old people!