A Day at the Pool

We had tons of fun at the Rec Center over Memorial Day weekend. Miley is so brave in the water--just like her dad! She is a little daredevil who likes to stay under for as long as she can and pull stunts like this...

Ike is more like me, clutching on to the side of the pool (or dad, as this case may be!).

He worked up enough bravery to slip down the kiddie slide. But it seemed like he wasn't having much fun--what do you think?

Even during snack time he kept his wary-concerned face on. Ohhhh, my sweetie. I love that face, even when it's pouty!



Ike--still clinging.


I didn't think it was possible to live in St. George and be so white!

Fab-U-lous!

"Fabulous" has been the theme for this Mother's Day. My mother-in-law, my grandmas, and my own sweet momma are all about FAB! And I guess it runs in the family, because I am now fabulous too!
It is all thanks to Don and his unrivaled ability to take a hint. I love my Mother's Day present from Don. Check it!
Oh yes! It is the most funky-awesome thing I own. So, as my mothers before me, I am now coming in to my fabulousness!

Star light, star bright...

I love St. George at night. Especially right now, the weather is perfect!
One of our favorite things to do as a family is watch the stars come out. We snuggle under a blanket and tell stories or sing songs. Baby Ava joined us for the first time the other night.
She had a ball. You can tell she adores her big sis.
But who doesn't adore Miley?

"Ooooh, mysterious!" --Cowboy Curtis

So... it snowed today. Hmmm, weird--I know! But I think I know why...

This morning, as I was feeding Ava her oatmeal, I heard an all-too familiar song coming from the upstairs TV. I could just make out the tune, and I recognized it enough that I could hum along. It took me a minute to realize exactly what I was humming along with.

My kids rooted to the back of the videos and found this gem of a movie.

Please don't judge me.

Click Here

Snow in April. I think my kids jinxed us....
"It's snowing! It's snowing! It's Sno-o-o-owing!" --PW

Runnin' Buddy

I woke up early this morning- to a beautiful morning- excited to hit the trail. I try to run 4-5 times a week, and that has been part of my routine for a long time. I kiss hubby goodbye (or grumble under my breath- depending on my mood), and yell up at the kids who are, most-assuredly, watching cartoons in their pj's. And unlike when daddy leaves, my kids are excited for me to go. They know that I am always happy after I run or "esserzise."

Well, today was different. Instead of Miley saying the usual, "Run fast!," she said "Can I come with you? I'm a super-fast runner!" So I ran to her dresser drawers and found her jogging suit that I bought hoping for such an occasion.

I couldn't help but smile the entire time.
Miley is a fast runner! And she jabbered the whole time. She mostly talked about her incredible speed, and how she was beating me to the finish line. We ran over 3/4 of a mile without stopping. But when we did stop, we sat on a trail park bench that overlooks the entire St. George valley. We spotted the Temple and McDonald's-- both very exciting. We only rested for a minute or two, just enough time to swing our feet and see a hippity-hop bunny. The run home was a lot more stop and go. Miley kept checking her pretend watch and saying it was time to stretch.

I tried to memorize everything about that run; her spring green jogging suit, her pony tail with bangs pulled back like mine, how she showed off in front of her friend Scotty, how she wanted us to hold hands and scream victoriously as we ran into our driveway.

Such a silly thing, but it will always be precious to me.

Punked!

Today was just too much fun! At breakfast I put drops of food coloring in everyone's cereal bowls. So when they poured the milk, it turned blue! The kids' milk is usually blue from Lucky Charms anyway, but Miley loved the joke regardless.


And for dinner we had...

and for dessert...

But since it was a special day, we ate the cupcakes first. Miley was excited, as cupcakes are her favorite food.

The twist: the cupcakes were made of meatloaf with mashed potato frosting. Oh, the disappointment...

The fish sticks were cream wafers coated in PB and cornflakes with strawberry jam ketchup, the mashed potatoes were just ice cream and caramel, the peas & carrots with butter were Starbursts and green Sixlets.

I really had to encourage Miley to eat her disappointing cupcake. I told her that if she ate her cupcake, then she could have fish sticks and mashed potatoes... That's when the tears came. Without words, her face expressed it all, "How does that make up for garlic-mashed potato frosting, Mother?!" My snickering only made it worse.

Isaac, throughout this drama, gorged himself on two cupcakes (which were quite filling), all the time saying, "Yum-mmmy."

So between Miley's tears, and Ike's frosting mustache, I had a great laugh at the expense of my kids!

Being Whisked

As a wife and mother I need to be organized. I have my goals and ideas, my lists and plans. I love having a plan, and following through. For example; the Richards family planned a surprise birthday party for Aunt Heather in California.

And good for Tim Burke for doing everything! He must be a meticulous planner. I can see how he's a yin to Heather's yang.

Anyway, back to our planned vacation... We planned dinners, brunches, rounds of golf, airport rides, and more golf. We had all this planning going on, but we didn't calculate the Heather Factor! Which reads: There shall be no making of plans, and all previously made plans are subject to immediate change when deemed necessary (or unnecessary). Of course, I'm teasing Heather. I love her spontaneity. The best part of the whole weekend was when she whisked Miley and me and great-grandma Kay off to the beach (as much as you can whisk an 80+ year-old). I'll have to admit to having a quiet panic attack during the rush to leave. It definitely was not a planned outing. Therefore, I definitely forgot my camera. So no pictures of Miley in her cute beach dress :<

I am trying to be more spontaneous. And it's fun! I went for a run at a weird time of day-- didn't bring my music or my watch (love to make sure I'm doing my 8 min/mile pace). So I just beat out my steps to the tune that had been stuck in my head all day. It was a surprisingly fun run that took me off the beaten path.

And this post is me trying to be spontaneous. You see, I usually worry and fret about my posts. Reading and rereading, and ultimately editing out most of what I've written. A lot of what I write is probably useless, or strays too far off the subject... what was I writing about? Oh yah, spontaneity! I need to find another word for spontaneous. I've typed it too many times. I'll have to do some editing... :)
So we had a great weekend at Georgia's house. Thank you for everything Tim and Georgia! We love you!