Preschool Mylie

The first Wednesday after Labor Day, Mylie Jo started preschool. She just goes once a week to a preschool taught by myself and a group of my friends. We all have kids the same age, so we rotate who teaches. I've done this with Connor for the past three years, and FINALLY this year it's Mylie's turn. She is so excited and loves it! Every year, we just get together and decide what we want to do for a curriculum. We have bought a curriculum before, and made up our own as well. This year, I'm super excited about what we're doing. When it's my turn to teach, I'll do our basic intro stuff (weather, song, letter introduction, etc.) and then read a children's book of my choice. Then I do activities (crafts, games, etc.) that go along with the book. SO FUN! Anyway, this month, the mom that taught chose four awesome books! If you have young kids, you may be familiar with Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom; How I Became a Pirate; If You Give a Moose a Muffin; and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I don't teach until January, but if you have any awesome children's book that would make a great preschool lesson, let me know! I love teaching my kids preschool and look forward to my turn.

That Falling Feeling

Today Connor brought home a book about earthquakes. He prefers non-fiction, and likes books that tell us something "important." So earthquakes was the choice this week at library. As we were reading this "bedtime story?" it taught about earthquakes of different magnitudes. It also had a map of the US showing where small, moderate, and major earthquakes occur. We discovered that we live right on the border of the small and moderate zones. We also learned that some earthquakes can barely be felt, and as we read about that, Connor interrupted me with a great theory. "Mom, you know when you're having a dream and you feel like you're falling?!? I bet that's actually a small earthquake, but we just don't know it because we're sleeping!" Possibly . . . possibly. Not a bad theory for a 6 year old.

Weird . . .

So, at 4am Mylie was standing at the side of my bed whispering, "Mom, mom." I rolled over, thinking, please don't be doing this (she wakes me up often in the night). I was expecting her to tell me she had to go potty or ask me to lay by her. Instead, she says, "What day is it?" I had to think for a second, it being the middle of the night and all, and said, "Monday." She said, "Oh," and turned and walked back to bed. Weird . . .

Pocatello Half / ME Weekend

This past weekend, I spent two days doing what I called "ME Weekend." Sounds pretty selfish, I know, but it was just two days! Anyway, I love to have a purpose to my running, and training for a race always motivates me. It just so happened this year that I was able to find a race that was on a weekend that my team wasn't playing, and my sister's team WAS. Even better, they were playing in the same town as the race! I couldn' have asked for a more perfect situation. So I was able to take in a ton of watching volleyball, which I LOVE, a ton of watching Olivia play volleyball (even better!), two days spent with my family (minus anybody younger than 15), and a half marathon.

The race went really well. My goal was to PR, and I needed a 1:48 to do that. Secondly, I really wanted to run an 8 minute mile pace, since that's the pace I've been trying to train at for about the past 6 months or so. I said I'd be thrilled with a 1:45, but just a PR would be okay with me. Well, the weather conditions were perfect, the course was mainly flat, and I felt good. I surprised myself, beating 8 minutes at every single mile, and finishing in 1:41:24, which is a 7:44 pace. I was even more stoked today to learn that I took 3rd out of 57 runners in my age group, 8th out of 197 women, and 31st overall out of 303 runners, males included! It was a very rewarding experience, and a great way to top off my ME weekend!

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Do you ever have those moments where you finally "get it"? Well, the other day, I was listening to Mary Poppins, which Mylie LOVES, as I cleaned the kitchen. I also loved this show as a kid, but had no idea what the spoonful of sugar thing was all about. I figured it was really about giving them their medicine more easily. She's the babysitter, right? She probably has to do that.

This time, however, I got it. It says, "In every task that's to be done, there is an element of fun." I'm not sure I completely agree with that. There are many tasks that, as a mother, I find little or NO fun in. However, there are some "spoonfuls of sugar" that I use to "help the medicine go down." One is Oprah. Although I don't get to do this very often, if I'm home at 4pm-5pm, I will listen to Oprah while I prepare dinner or dust, or even clean bathrooms--I just turn it up a little louder. But still, I need some more ideas. Do you have any magic "spoonsful of sugar" that help the medicine of being a maid go down a little more smoothly? I love being a mom--hate being a maid. But maybe I'm just missing something? Please share!!

Chocolate Cake and Kindergarten

Like millions of other moms out there, my little boy started school today. I didn't cry. Not today, anyway. But I can't believe all the different emotions I have felt recently as this day has approached all too quickly. As I tried to sort through it all today (in between wondering constantly what Connor is doing RIGHT NOW), I came up with an analogy.

Have you ever had that cake that started out as a chocolate cake, but then somebody poked all over the top with a toothpick and filled it up with caramel, cream, fudge sauce, butterscotch, or some other liquid? It still tastes like a chocolate cake, but not truly. Well, overall, I'm excited about Connor going to kindergarten. He's excited to go, and there are many reasons that I'm excited for this step as well. I can't wait to see the world change for him as he learns to read. I'm excited for him to learn how school works. I can't wait to hear about recess, music, lunch, centers, and PE. I'm also excited about only managing two kids each day instead of three. And that's where the "excited cake" starts to change.

As I think through all the reasons I'm excited, suddenly my excitement starts being infiltrated with an assorment of negative emotions! First of all, there's the guilt I have for being excited. Shouldn't I be crying my eyes out, not wanting my baby to leave me? Then there's the concern--concern about how he might be treated by others, and the type of friends he will choose. I feel worried about what he's going to see and hear out there in the "real world" he's entering. There's regret too. Regret over time misspent or missed opportunities. Inadequacy is there as well. Have I done a good enough job with him? Is he ready for this? Only time will tell.

But even though it's been bombarded with this plethora of emotions, the excitement is still there. It just tastes a little different that the excitement I've always known--a little more interesting, perhaps even richer. And even though it's new and different, tonight, as I listened to Connor tell me the details of his first day, I learned that I like it. I think I want another piece.

Surprise! Indy Visit

Last Thursday, my sister, Tami, and I headed out with our babies to surprise my other sister, Violet, who has been in Indianapolis all summer. Her husband was on board and ready to blindfold her and bring her to the airport to meet us. Our drive to Denver--yes, Denver! (the flight was much cheaper from there)--was fun as we just visited and also drove through Laramie, reminiscing about our fun college days there. We made it to the airport and out to shuttle parking. Then, just as we were unloading our stuff AND BABIES, it started POURING rain! It was so windy and coming down so hard that we were absolutely drenched in no time, and so were the babies, strollers, carseats, and our bags. Luckily, somebody saw us and ran out of the little bus stop shelter to help us. What a saint! We were able to get the babies changed in the airport, but Tami and I were cold the rest of the night as we continued to wear our wet clothing. It was crazy at check-in and security, but eventually, we made it through and even had a little time to grab a bite to eat before we caught our flight. Perfect timing, right? Not quite. As we were eating, we heard the announcement that our flight was delayed by 45 minutes. No big deal. I called Austin, Vi's husband, to let him know that we'd be getting there a little after midnight now, instead of 11:20. We pushed the babies around in their strollers and checked out the terminal, then came back to find that the flight was delayed even further! And then even further! Anyway, we didn't leave the airport until about 40 minutes AFTER we should have been in Indianapolis! Pretty frustrating. So, I called Austin again, and he decided he would have to tell her. He didn't want to scare her by blindfolding her and throwing her into the car at 2am!!! Once we got to their apartment, Mariah decided she didn't want to go to sleep, which was baffling since she didn't sleep a single minute on the flight. Finally, she gave it up at 4:45am. But then she was up bright and early at 7:30. A great start to our vacation, right?

After the rough start, everything else went VERY well, and we had such a fun visit. We slept in every day (after the first one, and excluding the last one, when we had to wake up at 3:30am to go to the airport), visited a TON, went running at low elevation on a beautiful trail lined with trees, and enjoyed only managing one child for 5 days. And that would be vacation enough for me, but there was MORE!! We went sightseeing, of course. Here are the pics:

This War Memorial statue was dedicated to the soldiers from Indiana who fought in various wars and was really cool, located right downtown.

We visited Conseco Fieldhouse, where the Pacers. For those of you who know about my Reggie Miller obsession (back in middle and high school--not now!), you'll appreciate this photo.

We also visited Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Colts play. Do I look like a big Colts fan? Well, I'm not really. Just a big fan of their coach, Tony Dungy. I've read his biography, and will read his second book, which I bought there for my husband, Tony, as soon as he's finished with it. But REALLY, the gift was for him!

We were there during the Indiana state fair, so we went and checked it out. It was HUGE, and Vi and I enjoyed a corndog. Haha!

I LOVED the acrobat show at the fair. These "bendable girls," as Mylie calls them, were incredible! Great entertainment!

The three of us haven't spent that much time together in who knows how long! Probably not since we all lived at home. Here we are standing in front of a beautiful fountain next to a canal downtown. We went on a nice, leisurely walk by the canal on Sunday afternoon.

We took advantage of the pool at Violet's apartment complex. The babies loved the water.

Of course, we had to check out the Indianapolis motor speedway and museum. It was really interesting. And no, I don't normally drive with a baby on my lap. Only in a racecar!

I'll end the post with a video that was one of my favorite things there--seeing Mariah's excitement at the pig races at the fair. Of course, you won't enjoy this as much as I do since you're not her mom, but it's stinkin' cute!