120: card exchange

It's hard to believe, but I have been in my card exchange group now for over 6 years! Every other month {I don't do scrapbook pages the other months} we have a theme and make about 12 cards to share. This months theme was boys birthdays! I can't take credit for this card..I found the idea online. I thought it was cute, plus, who doesn't love pop rocks?

119: my newest babies

The newest additions to my garden. 

118: mormon helping hands

Every year in April, our church does a massive service project for the community it's called, "Mormon Helping Hands". I think this may be churchwide, not sure, but each year we get more and more volunteers. Our project was to paint a mile long section of fence. I think the boys were wearing more of the paint then they got on the fence, but it showed that service can be fun!

117: jayden's turn for the kc award

Jayden's turn for the KC Award {kindness & compassion}.

So proud of him!

116: waxing time

Jenn got out her stuff tonight, so I did partake! A little eyebrow maintenance is always good thing.

115: rare license plate

When playing the license plate game, this is by far, one of the hardest plates to find!

114: a pinterest solution

I've put another Pinterest idea to practice! I ordered these nifty little spice racks {$2 for 3} to put in my baking cupboard to save space! Something so simple and easy made all the difference.

113: a visit to middle school

I said I would do it and I DID!

While running on my race last Friday, I received a call from Skyler telling me that his math teacher would like to talk to me. Apparently he can't control his excessive talking in class!!{sounds a little too familiar..apple doesn't fall far from the tree.} She just wanted to make me aware that his laughing and talking were becoming very bothersome and disrespectful. Instead of yelling at him and grounding him and all the normal stuff I do, I thought I would just make a surprise visit to his class. My dad often threatened me with that same thing, but I decided I would follow through this time and try and nip it in the bud before he got worse..like I did! So I arrived in class a little early. The teacher wasn't expecting me either but welcomed my presence. Skyler was the first one in the class and all I got was a huge smile. I don't think this mortified him as much as I was hoping but he was silent the entire class so it worked..at least for today! 

112: happy spachoola day!

Happy Spachoola Day! 

For many, it's Earth Day, but for Mari and I, it's spachoola day!{yes..I'm spelling it correctly, afterall, we made up the holiday, so we can make up the spelling} It goes back many years to our BYU-H days and having a little bit too much time on our hands! It's a day I will celebrate with my friend forever! Each year we exchange "spatula's or turners" in commemoration! These were Mari's to me! 

111: ragnar continues!

 At my last exchange we had some excitement!  A guy came running up in a suit with tons of signs. He was going to propose to his girlfriend. It brought so much energy to the crowd! I was just hoping our runner {theresa} didn't come in before his girlfriend. In fact, Theresa was right behind her, so I at least got to see her reaction before I took off on my last leg. 

{she said yes!}

 Put a fork in me..I'm DONE! Passing off the slap bracelet for the last time to Julie..who's about to embark on my hellish hills from last year! 

 The boys team at the finish line!

 The girls team at the finish line!! We did it in awesome time! 34 hours and 30 minutes. That's an average of 10:14 minute miles! Considering the heat that Van 2 had to deal with the day before, those times are pretty amazing!

2012 SO CAL Ragnar Finishers!! Couldn't have had more fun with anybody else! An amazing time with lots of memories made!

Thanks Jim for making me do this again! He knows I don't like to miss a party and would be sad if I didn't do it! And it is a PARTY!!

110: so cal ragnar 2012

 And so it begins..6:30 a.m. start time! Our race from Huntington Beach to Coronado. 203.5 miles. Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat! This year we had such an interest in Ragnar that we had to create 2 teams of 12.  To make it interesting, we split it up as an all women's team and all men's team. We were the RAnGry Birds 1&2. Shown in this picture are the runners of VAN 1. The boys didn't start till 7:30 a.m. {but caught up with us by our second legs}.

 Getting ready to tear apart my first leg. 4.7 miler. Notice the sun is starting to come up..and boy did I feel it shine! 

{no worries..these are temporary tattoos}

 Meeting up with Van 2 runners at the first major exchange. We just ran 6 legs and now get a break while van 2 runs their 6 legs. Feeling terribly sorry for Van 2 as the heat index was projected to be 110 today!

 The idea is to get a little rest before we have to start running again..very hard to sleep in 95 degrees.

Started my 7 miler night run at about 9:40 p.m. It had cooled down, for which I am grateful! I ran through the Temecula golf course up to Rainbow Canyon Dr. and ran down the very dark and narrow highway. Thanks to my shot bloks, I felt great the entire run!! 2 down, 1 to go!

**I need to find pictures of Jim. I know someone in his van took a couple. He should be documented as well!

109: let the ragnar begin..

Our big race is this weekend! Eric was not a runner or driver this time around, but he still shared his artistic abilities with us and drew angry birds on all 4 vans! This was only the beginning of the car decorations..

108: on the road to eagle

I've had a pile of Skyler's merit badges sitting in my office for over a year now! I just haven't had the time, nor desire to take out my sewing machine. Today I picked up that pile and did what I rarely, if ever, do! I paid someone else to do something I'm fully capable of doing. It hurt at first, but you know what?  I got over it real fast once I saw the finished product and knew that it was done! 

{he has 5 more that will need to be sewed on soon..but we haven't received them yet}

107: instant energy

These chewy fruit snacks = instant energy! I chew a few of them 30 minutes before a long run and maybe a couple during the run! I was leery at first, but now I'm a believer! I did a 6.5 miler tonight..my last training run before Ragnar..don't think I would have made it without these!

106: spreebird dining

My spreebird deal of $20 of food for $10 was expiring today so it was Bongiornios for dinner!! 

105: big changes

We had a special stake conference today. Elder Donald Hallstrom of the Seventies was presiding. The rumors have been swirling for weeks now about the wards splitting and the possibility of a new ward forming. After the conference, Jim was released from the bishopric. We knew this was coming so it didn't come as a huge shock! They had a special night meeting for members of 4 wards. They made some big changes. They did, in fact, create another ward of which I am now a part of.. The Morgan Hill Ward. Change is good! I will be sad to lose some dear friends, but they really aren't going anywhere..heck, I never really saw them at church anyways. I just don't know where I stand at this moment. I guess I don't have to worry about preparing a lesson this Sunday! 

104: golf course run

Ragnar is next weekend!! I knew I needed to check out my night run {which is in Temecula through the golf course into Rainbow Canyon} beforehand so I had a good idea of where I was going. I enlisted some of my girlfriends to run the 6.7 mile course with me this morning. It was brutal!! A little sketchy too! I think Temecula's homeless populations resides off this trail. We ran it in full sunlight..I can only imagine what it's going to be like in pitch darkness! The only light I will have is my headlamp! I'm getting nervous!

103: ryders awards

Ryder was recognized twice at flag salute this morning! First, he earned the KC award for kindness and compassion. Second, he has learned all his rocket words. He didn't even know he was getting called up..he was so excited! After flag salute, those who earned the KC award got to stamp their hand on the kindness wall.

102: two for $5

Now that we have a bigger freezer, I can take advantage of Rite Aids 2 for $5 special when it comes along. I started small this time..but next time, I'm going big! 

101: sky's renaissance project

Once again, Skyler waited till the very last minute to inform me about a huge renaissance project that was due on Thursday. I basically told him, good luck with that! Of course I said that, but ended up helping him..I always do! Actually, besides going to the store for the ingredients, Skyler pretty much did this all on his own, with my close supervision.  He made medieval herb bread and strawberry tarts. He cut the herbs, measured all the ingredients, even went next door and got freshly ground wheat from our neighbor. He kneaded the dough by hand and formed the balls. He made the tarts by first making a sugar cookie crust. Then he just mixed strawberries, sugar, and a little lemon juice in the food processor and blended. It was very time consuming, but I think everything turned out great!

100: back to reality

Back to reality! Somehow I thought it would be a great idea, after being gone 2 weeks, to put an enormous project on my very own shoulders.  Ryder's teacher is having her 50th birthday this week and I wanted to do something extra special.  Besides making her a cute banner and having all the kids make her cards and attaching them to sunflowers and getting her a gift card from the class, I decided to make her a video. I had 1 day! I spent the majority of Tuesday at the school intercepting kids when I could..at recess, lunch, and library time. I taped them saying their favorite things about Mrs. Skinner and asked them to give her a birthday message. It even worked out that the class had library time and Mrs. Skinner wouldn't be there, so I had them sing her happy birthday. I went home immediately and began editing the tape. I'm not going to lie..it turned out amazing! I even had a tear in my eye. I love it when a last minute plan comes together.

99: aloha..until we meet again!

A sad goodbye to the island we love! Aloha!

98: happy wet easter

 Quick stop at the Pali Lookout..not a bright idea to visit wearing a dress! It is like hurricane winds up there!

We drove back up to Laie for Easter Sunday! It felt nice to get out of the busyness of town and spend this special day with family. We attended Sacrament meeting with Brian & Cindi, but then skipped out early to take some pictures at the temple and get one last shaved ice. For the 12 days we were here, this was our only day of rain! It's pretty amazing to think we had sun the whole time..that just doesn't happen in Hawaii! The rain wasn't going to rain on our parade..or on our easter egg hunt. It just made it that much more exciting! The rain was coming down in sheets, but that didn't dampen our spirits. This trip was incredible! I can't thank the Watkins' enough for opening their home to our family. The boys already miss their cousins terribly and are already planning their return trip! You won't get any complaints from me. It was so fun strolling down memory lane and remembering all the fun times we had while going to BYU-H and sharing those with our boys.  We feel blessed to have had such an incredible opportunity to visit and can't wait to go back! We'll give them a little time to recoup..but not much!

97: for the love of paddle boarding

It was an early Saturday morning! Cindi came to do the kid switch around 6:15, after picking up her sister and husband and niece from the airport. We made the most of our last beach day! I have always wanted to try paddle boarding so today was my day. It was a lot of fun, but hard work..especially when your paddling over 200 pounds. Skyler didn't want his own..he was a little nervous, so he hitched a ride on mine. It was a bit tricky balancing our weight, but we got it! The thing with Waikiki is that the reef is so shallow. I had to stay on my knees till we got to deeper water because if I had fallen, it would have been ugly and painful! We saw sea turtles out there and I think Skyler's piercing scream scared them away. All the while, as we are frolicking in the ocean, Ryder and Jayden were in the hotel room watching movies! I wasn't going to fight it..we all got what we wanted that day! We had a gorgeous sunset..a perfect way to end an amazing trip!