Family Fun Night

Tonight for family night we drank chocolate milk and carved pumpkins. Riley wanted absolutely nothing to do with the pumpkin guts while Tanner on the other hand was completely enamored with them. He even tasted them at one point! Don't let the picture fool you...about 5-minutes after this picture was taken there were pumpkind seeds EVERYWHERE. He was loving it. Todd did a really awesome carving of a pirate ship. (If you look really closely at the bottom picture, you may be able to see the pumpkin he carved.)

After pumpkin carving, we went to our Ward's trunk-or-treat party. The kids had a lot of fun running around and I was loving the 55 degree weather. It was awesome.

 

 

 

 

Tanner-Boy

I have absolutely no reason for posting this picture other than the fact that I am completely in love with this child and think he is absolutely the cutest 2-year old around!

 

Primary Program

Yesterday was Riley's first Primary Program. We were a little nervous...for obvious reasons...about how Riley would do. Even though Riley has been doing really well in Primary for at least the past 2-months, he doesn't have the greatest track record. We waited anxiously for the other 20 Sunbeams to stand up and say their parts into the microphone, and then it was Riley's turn. Well, he got up there like he owned that podium and said his part as clear as day with absolutely no help from his teacher..."My name is Riley. I am a child of God". Then he stepped back down and stood with his class. Todd and I started to tear up because he has come so far. Afterward I told him that he did a great job and that we were proud of him, and he stopped, gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "Oh, thanks mom!"

I wish we would have had our camera though because during the song while the sunbeams were still up there (none of them actually singing!), Riley started to puff up his cheeks and then take his hands and push the air out with a big pop. The other children were also making faces, waving hello to people in the congregation, sleeping...the typical 4-year old fare. It was really funny.

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhAOkAwoSnJTLtgjHQoKDPR-5NqBDB4m_XCW-I4sFJvD86CsDtBoSFaAyk8Qr_CNyMei7qWed-SiIDDuYxchEgxlyRBWf3t8I2rtzujpdWrUUZlFqs0JIYjRw9l6ti1U3AlhS0EA/s1600-h/P1010362.JPG">

Our Big Preschooler

Riley finally started preschool! Hooray! He really loves it and is so excited every morning when he gets to go see Miss Meagan and his friends. He started a bit later than the rest of the children...actually, he started one day before picture day, which meant that I didn't know about the pictures. So these pictures feature Riley as he is every day instead of the primped up Riley he would have been if I had known. I'm just happy he sat and smiled for the pictures at all...a small miracle as anyone who knows him can attest to!

 

 

 

 

Kansas City Marathon/Half Marathon

Well, after much training and anxiousness, I finally ran my first half marathon. It was awesome. Over 7000 people ran the race with lots of bystanders cheering us on. The race started at 7:00am and was freezing cold (40 degrees with a nasty wind). The worst part was waiting for the race to start (the portapotties were a close second). Once we got going it was much better.  I ran most of the race with my friend Rob. We both ended up pushing each other into going a lot faster than we trained at. I thought he was pushing me, and he thought I was pushing him, so it worked out. Around mile 11 my foot started really hurting (something I injured in training). There wasn't much to do except keep going and miraculously it went away after a mile or so. I finished strong with a sprint to the end with a time of 1:52:52. Over 13.1 miles that is an average of 8:41 per mile. I thought I'd do more like 9:30 per mile so I was really pleased. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do another one. Actually my legs are telling me I should wait just a little while!

Night Time Visit

Last night Riley crawled into bed with us sometime in the wee hours of the morning. This morning over breakfast, Todd asked him why he did that...thinking he would tell us it was because he had a bad dream. Oh no. He said, "Because I just wanted to see how you all were doing."

Our Little Talker

May of you have not heard Tanner talking. He is quite the chatterbox with an extensive vocabulary. Now, if any of you understand what he is saying, could you please fill us in?

My Big Helper

Riley's latest is "helping" mommy. Whenever I am sweeping, or moping, or scrubbing Riley wants to help. But, he has to do it on his own...I can't help him. It may take a lot longer for me to get anything done, but I'm not complaining!