Wedded Bliss

If you must know, my nephew Bryson just got married yesterday.

When Bryson was born I was 9 and, being the youngest, I was SO excited to have a baby around.  Plus I felt ridiculously cool being an "aunt" at age 9.  I totally bragged about it at recess.

I don't think I let Bryson out of my sight until he was about 4.  I LOVED him so much!

I remember worrying that he might try drugs some day (I had strong mothering instincts in me from a very young age) and I just wanted to protect him from all the bad things in the world.

As it turns out, I didn't need to worry.  Bryson turned out fabulous and made many great choices, like just saying no to drugs.  But yesterday he made the best choice yet.  He married Tierra Jean and she is so freaking cool.

See what I mean?  She's just so fun.

A few years ago Bryson and I were talking and he was thinking about his future and said to me, "I'm so afraid that I might just 'settle' for someone when I get married and I really don't want to do that."

"Then you won't," I assured him.

And he most definitely didn't.

Congratulations to a beautiful couple. :)

Oh Justice...

On Saturday I took the kids to the mall.

Olivia had $20 burning a hole in her pocket and she wanted some new earrings and an outfit. (but for mall prices that means new earrings and a shirt).

So after getting the earrings she saw the store Justice for Girls which she LOVES and had to go in there.  After MUCH perusing, trying on, and perusing some more she finally decided on a shirt.

She bought the shirt which was $3 more than she had and I told her she'd owe me $3 when we got home.

As we were walking out of the store she decided she wanted to return the shirt and get a cheaper one instead.

So back we went.

There is no such thing as a quick return anymore.

The girl needed my driver's license and a background check to return the shirt we just bought with cash.

Geez.

So as she goes to hand me the difference in change, which was $1.96, I said, "Oh, can I just give you 4 pennies so you can just give me $2 instead?"

She looked at me like I was asking her to give me free $100 bills.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't," she stammered, "I've already run the transaction."

"Um, okay.  It's just cash right?  So this should be fine.  You know 96 cents plus 4 cents equals a dollar, soooo...."

"Oh, yeah, I just don't think we're allowed to do that."

"What do you mean 'allowed to do that'?  I just want a dollar instead of 96 cents and here is the 4 cents so that it is all good."

"Ummm, yeah, I just, I'm not sure how they count the drawers at night and I don't want to get in trouble and I just don't think we're allowed.  Let me just check."

Oh. My. Gosh.  This was now like a 5 minute ordeal and when I was telling Shane the story later I realized I should have taken the 96 cents from her, added my 4 cents and said, "Hey, can you give me a dollar for all this change?"  But I was just so baffled by the whole thing I didn't know what to do.  She was acting like they wanted an exact count of every quarter dime and nickel people pay with.  And the whole "allowed to" thing was really throwing me off.

I assured her I had done drawers before and that all that matters is the amount needs to add up and that this would add up just fine.

She wouldn't take it.

So she asked the girl next to her, "Um, Kaitlyn, are we allowed to do this [explains story]?"

Kaitlyn, while looking up and thinking really hard: "Um, I don't know.  I mean, it makes sense, I think, but I'm just not sure if like that is something we are allowed to do."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALLOWED TO DO?!?!?!?!?!?  You can't give somebody a dollar bill for a dollar's worth of change?  Somebody just shoot me now.

Finally they called the manager over.

"Um, Cami (aka: the manager) can we...[explains story]?"

Cami looks at her and says, "Yeah. Of course."

Thank you Cami, I was really starting to wonder if I had gone crazy.

Let this be a lesson to all you young girls out there--Pay attention in 3rd grade math class.

You'll need it someday.

Disgusting!

Last night we had shish-kabobs for dinner.

They were pretty tasty but some of the meat was a little too big for me to eat.  I kind of want to barf at large pieces of meat that take longer than 10 seconds to chew.  So after about 15 seconds of chewing a certain piece of meat I took it out of my mouth and placed it on the side of my plate.

Can you see where this is going?

A little while later Owen came picking around on my plate.  I shooed him off and turned to talk to Shane for a second.  Moments later Shane said, "Owen just stole more food off your plate."

I looked back and to my horror you know what he had eaten.

Ugh, my stomach turned but I just started laughing and said, "You don't even want to know what just happened."

Well, then of course everyone wanted to know.

So I looked at Owen and said, "That meat you just ate off my plate was meat I had chewed up and spit out."

He just looked at me, smiled real big and said, "Well that's okay, I still really liked it!"

It's hard to phase a boy that is this awesome. :)

Halloween 2011

Have I said this before?  I hate Halloween.

It's such a bother.

But I have to say, this year, and this neighborhood, may be changing my mind just a bit.

Our neighborhood is Cuh-RAY-zee about Halloween!  People decorate more than I do for Christmas.  There are some people that spend all month decking out their yards.  One man has robots that move and another man does a different theme every year.  This year his whole front yard was a graveyard.  I should have taken pictures because I'm certain you aren't appreciating what he does.  They have smoke machines and black lights and all kinds of stuff.  Another family does a big spook alley for everyone to go through (I must admit, I screamed.  They totally scared me).  

I guess my neighborhood is really good at being creepy.  Is that a good thing? :)

Anyway, the kids really enjoyed it and this was the first year Owen and Livy went off with older friends to trick-or-treat by themselves.  I had to take some deep breaths and Shane told me it's time to let them do that and they will be okay.  And he was right and they were...fine that is.

So here was our Halloween....

Stephanie from Lazy Town (we realize this is sooo 4 years ago, but the cool thing is there were no other Stephanie's so there!  And she looks adorable.  She kept telling us, "I don't really look that good in pink hair."  But I tend to disagree.  She pulls it off.)

Harry Potter.  Which, as you can imagine, there were plenty of.  But that just made Owen think it was even cooler.  He has this serious look in just about every picture I took of him.  He was really trying to cast a spell.

And last but not least, Bloody Mary.  You would think Olivia would like to be something pretty, but no, the last 2 Halloween's she has really wanted to be something scary, and the more creepy she looks the more she likes it.  I like that she keeps me guessing like that.  (Thanks to my sis-in-law Jody for the awesome wig.  It made the costume for sure.  Everyone loved it.  Also thanks to my mom for all the help making Olivia's and Owen's costumes.  Couldn't have done it without her.) 

Annual Shumway/Dayton kid Halloween picture.  So cute.

And here we have my kids with 3 of the Brienholt kids and 2 of the Shumway kids doing candy trading.

This handsome guy even dressed "festively", as Livy put it, for his classes today.  He's a teacher, what can you expect?  If he starts buying cardigans with pumpkins on them I will start to worry, but an orange shirt and tie I can live with. :) 

Until next year....

BOO! 

TRI Catching Cupid

Olivia is on the AZ Desert Dolpins Synchronized swim team and I am also the land conditioning and swim coach for her team.  I have to say, I love it.

Synchro is an interesting sport that I am still learning a lot about, but the more I learn the more I like it.  It takes a lot of time, work, and effort on the part of the coaches and the girls, but there are so many great things being learned it is worth it.

One of the hardest things about synchro is once you get into national meets it is EXPENSIVE!  I think they told me it was about $5000-$7000 per girl that went to nationals last year.  Crazy.  

So as a team we try to do a lot of fundraisers to help with these costs.  BUT, what I love about this team's fundraisers is that they aren't typical.  They don't just put their hand out and ask you for money, they try to do things that you get something out of.  So our fundraiser this year is a TRIATHLON! 

Ambitious, yes indeed.

I stepped up to be Race Director for this because nobody else was and I thought I was up for the challenge.  A challenge it most certainly is.  I have a whole new appreciation for these kinds of events.  There is so much work and money poured into putting this on.  But hopefully it will all be worth it.

My goal is to get 300+ participants out to this race.  That means YOU should do it and get your neighbors, friends, family members, kids, etc. to do it too.  It's Valentine's themed and it's gonna be fun.

Sometimes people will say things like, "Why would I want to pay money to do something like that?"  So I have written a little ditty below to help people realize what it is about triathlons that makes people come out and why they should probably "tri" too.   

For your reading enjoyment....

Why TRI?

Several years ago, after my last baby was born I needed something to motivate me to get my buns in gear and get back in shape.  I had heard people talking about triathlons.  It sounded exciting but out of reach.  I thought, That’s something that “other people” can do, not me.  But the more I thought about it the more I wanted to TRI.  If other people could swim, bike, and run then so could I!

What I didn’t realize at the time I registered for my first triathlon is that triathlons are such an amazing experience from beginning to end.  From the day you register to the moment you cross that finish line, your experience is in full swing.  When you pay that registration fee (and you feel butterflies in your stomach) you aren’t just paying for the race day, you are paying for every day leading up to the race as well.  What you receive with that entrance fee isn’t just a t-shirt and a slot on the bike rack, it’s also increased motivation, physical & emotional growth, endurance, excitement for life, the realization that you can do things you didn’t think you could do, a clear-cut goal, and more.  If you are training with a friend, spouse, or child you are paying for invaluable time growing together. 

When you register for a triathlon you get so much more than a day…you get an experience that lasts several months and memories that last a lifetime.

So why TRI?  I think the real question is why not?

Here's the link: http://www.active.com/triathlon/mesa-az/tri-catching-cupid-reverse-sprint-and-youth-triathlon-2012?cmp=1745&fb_ref=event_details&fb_source=profile_multiline 

Right now you can use coupon code: LOVE 2012 and get $10 off registration!  

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TRI Catching Cupid is the perfect triathlon for first timers or seasoned athletes.  It will be a very fun event for the whole family.  Also, following the triathlon, before the awards ceremony, the AZ Desert Dolphins Synchronized Swim team will entertain us.  How often does that happen at a triathlon?  This is one triathlon you don’t want to miss!  Register today!

Learning To Do The Little Things...

The other day Olivia (8 almost 9 years old) came home from a play date with a friend where they painted their nails and apparently they also trimmed their nails.

She told me, "Sydney was really surprised that I didn't know how to trim my nails."

"She was?" I asked, a little surprised.  Then I said, "Did you tell her that your mom still does too many things for you that she probably shouldn't?"

We laughed and then I told her to bring me the clippers because she had missed several of her nails and they were driving me crazy and I just trimmed them up for her real quick. :)

I told Shane, "I started trimming their nails when they were babies, how am I supposed to know when to stop?"

I know I am not the only mom that would rather do things for her kids to avoid certain messes, save time, get it done the way I want it, make sure they don't get hurt, etc. but the more I think about it the more I realize I NEED to let those things happen for their sake.  I have figured this out in certain areas (swim skills, aka: learning to do hard things), but I have to be willing to have my life "inconvenienced" so they can learn regular, every day life skills.

I'm working on it....

I did let them pour their own cereal & milk this morning.

Baby steps.

Speed? I Am Speed.

Being fast can be a really good thing.  Especially in things like running or swimming, etc.  But there are other times it can just be annoying.

Shane has a loving little nickname he calls me:

"Reaction Time".

It's usually used like this:

Shane is cleaning up the kitchen, he turns around to do something and while he does that Dixie puts away five things he was just about to get to and he'll say, "Thanks Reaction Time."

Or, one of the kids will ask him to help them with something and I just walk over and do it before he even has the chance to stand up. "Okay, Reaction Time."

Or, he will be doing laundry and I will hear the washer finish and go put them in the dryer as he rounds the corner to do the same. "I was going to do that Reaction Time."

You get the idea.  I'm just one step ahead of him most of the time, which, as you might imagine, could get annoying.  Especially for Shane because he is actually Reaction Time Jr.  Before me in his life he had always been Reaction Time Sr.  But he tells me all the time that I even out pace him.

But I can't help it!

I like to do things fast...I always have. (for instance, I just typed that really fast just to prove a point...to myself.)

When I was at BYU I had a class where they tested our reaction time.  As you may have guessed :) , I had the fastest reaction time in the whole class!  I was quite proud of this, until I started realizing how annoying it is to have really fast reaction time when the rest of the world around you doesn't.

Any time I am at a stoplight I swear I see it turn green about 30 seconds before the car in front of me.

Frustrating.

When I am at the grocery store in the check out line the people in front of me all move like they are 95 even though I can clearly see they are probably closer to 35.

Irritating.

When I am walking pretty much anywhere I am again surrounded by 95 year olds and I have to figure out routes around them.

That one is kind of fun because it's a challenge for me, but if I have to stay behind them for some reason...lame.

So here's the thing...  I HATE this about myself.

My reaction time is crazy fast and it makes me crazy crazy.

I am trying to learn how to slow down.

It's hard.