UNO

Santa brought board games for each of our boys this year for Christmas. He said it was to help them learn to "get along." Isn't he so smart? For some reason when our boys play games they don't fight as much. I love it when they play Monopoly in Jacobs room because for over an hour (no joke) I forget that I have boys and my house is unusually quiet. Ben got an extra game in his stocking and it's been a surprising hit for our family. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's probably been played close to 100 times already. I love that everyone, even Lauren, can play.... although playing with her always takes much longer because she refuses to fan our her cards and has to "hunt" through her stack to find a matching color or number. She also takes personal offense when someone plays a "skip a turn" card on her. It's all we can do to keep her from crying and saying "You're mean!" whenever she gets a Draw 4.

Ben wants to play it all the time and will ask me several times a day, "Can you play uno with me?" The games are so quick you don't feel bad stopping what you're doing for a 5 minute break. Who knew that the smallest gift (and probably the cheapest) would end up providing so many hours of fun for our family. Good job Santa!

Crash Derby

I'm proud of the fact that my boys don't play video games. It's a tough stand to take especially when you have 3 sons that are right in the thick of the video game age. But it's a decision both my husband and I feel very strongly about. Our boys have always been very supportive of our position, and for that I'm very grateful.

My picture this week is of Jacob and the two cars he built for the "Crash Derby" he had with his brothers and 2 other friends that came over on Wednesday to play. Our house was full of boys and among the other boyish activities they engaged in this was by far my favorite.

I heard them upstairs in the playroom working on something. When I came up to see what they were doing each boy was building a car out of Kinex to participate in what they called a "crash derby." Once they were done building, 2 boys would take their best car and sit at either end of the hall and crash them into each other. Whichever car held up the best after multiple rams won that round and went on to challenge at the next competitor. The boy that lost went back into the playroom to "redesign" his car and try it again.

They played at this for over an hour. I wish I'd gotten a picture of all the boys on that day but by the end of the Derby most of their cars were all crashed up and I couldn't find my camera. Here's a picture of Jacob that I took later on posing with his two winning car designs.

I love the things my boys come up with to play. They constantly impress me with their ingenuity, physicality and resourcefulness. It makes me so happy to see them making up some fun little game involving ordinary household objects or digging tunnels down at the sandpit for hours on end. I love seeing them play football or soccer in the front yard, or basketball in the living room complete with hand drawn brackets for double elimination rounds. I love it when they build forts outside in the drizzling rain, "hunt" coyotes in the woods with their slingshots, or have "target practice" with their bb gun and a hand drawn target nailed to a tree. They come back inside wet and covered in mud but smiling from ear to ear. It puts a smile on my face every time as I think to myself, 'this is boyhood at it's best'.

Sometimes I wonder if we had gone down that path of letting them do video games if they'd still play in the same way they do now. I may never know and I'm certainly not saying that playing video games is bad. I'm just saying that so far I'm not regretting our decision at all. If anything I'm more convinced that we made the right choice. These years of boyhood are loud and crazy but wonderful in their own way.

If you have sons I would highly recommend you read the book "Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epedimic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men" by Leanord Sax. It's a must read for anyone raising sons.

See you next week.

A New Year

You know you haven't blogged in a while when it takes you more than 3 tries to remember your account login and password. I was actually starting to panic by my fourth attempt.

I've been feeling guilty for a while now over the neglect of my blog. Guilty because I know that one day I may regret the loss of memories that I might have otherwise preserved. I want my children to be able to look back on their childhood with fond memories and feel secure in the knowledge that they were loved. I feel terrible missing a birthday post or not blogging about an important family memory, mostly because I don't want them to think that I don't care.

In 2010 I was asked to be the YW President in my ward. I felt the Lord preparing me for this assignment and I know that serving in this capacity is where He wants me to be. It's been difficult for me to make time in my life for the other things I once did-like blogging. I try really hard to prioritize the use of my time giving greatest priority to my service to the Lord. I know that I am doing the things that He wants me to do but sometimes its hard to see areas of my life that were important to me be put on the back burner simply because I lack the time to do it all. My faith is my anchor and will always be the guiding force in my life. I love my Heavenly Father so much and my heart is so full with gratitude for my Savior and all that He has done for me and continues to do for me. There is no way that I could ever feel good about neglecting my duty to Him just so I can do the things that I want to do. I do however frequently feel frustrated over my inability to do everything I want to do-like blogging.

This year I am striving for more balance in my life. I'm trying to simplify my life in areas that are not important so that I can leave time for those things that are. I have not given up on my blog. I am hoping that instead of beating myself up over it's neglect that this new year will give me another chance to preserve memories in a simpler way. A friend of mine posts a picture a week with a short narration, sometimes just a caption. This is one of my new years resolutions.

1. To blog a Picture a Week

My other resolution is.....

2. No sweets or treats in 2012.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I don't eat chocolate. Not because I don't love it but because it's my crack. I am not joking when I say that I have no self control when it comes to my chocolate consumption. So that's why I don't eat it- at all. It may seem a little extreme to some (my husband included) but I don't plan on eating chocolate for the rest of my life. That's how serious I am about my addiction. I wish that I had the discipline and self control to eat it in moderation but I don't. It stinks.

In recent years I've noticed that my lack of self control isn't just about chocolate. It's also about sweets. I'm not a soda drinker or a chip eater but I do love to bake desserts and even more than baking them I love eating them. If I felt that I could eat these things in moderation or with some self discipline then I wouldn't have this as my resolution but the older I get the more I realize the connection between my body and spirit. I can't binge on an over-sized piece of cake and feel good spiritually. If I had more moderation in my portion control then maybe I could, but I'm not there yet. This resolution is meant to help me gain more discipline over my appetites and passions. I feel energized when I eat healthy and I feel the influence of the spirit stronger in my life and that is more important to me then the momentary pleasure that eating sweets brings.

So those are my resolutions. I put them on here so I won't forget them and to keep me committed to my goals.

Here's to making 2012 a great year of change for me.

Happy New Year.

See you in a week.

The Big Black Bear at Big Log...

I was a little bent out of shape recently when MY niece and nephew (from my older sister) 'friend requested' my husband on Facebook and there was NO friend request for me. I didn't even know they were on facebook! Anyway, I started thinking about it and realized that at all our family get togethers he's out there playing football with all the kids or playing some other crazy fun game and I'm in the kitchen helping/visiting with my sister. I'm so lame. Now I know why they want to be his friend and not mine. Because he's super fun and I'm super lame. Last year my other niece (6 years old) couldn't remember Aaron's name at a family get together. Aaron saw her struggling after she was trying to remember the part after "Uncle." He didn't miss a beat and responded with, "that's Uncle Awesome." Now that's what they all call him.

Sooooooo, this summer I'm going to be better about spending more time with them instead of being that boring grown up who misses out on all the fun. So watch out Aaron because Aunt Awesome is stepping out!

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the bear but it was just on my mind and my thoughts are often random. Soooooo, Aaron, (being the awesome man that he is), see, that's where the 'awesome' tangent came from....took all 4 of my children backpacking this last weekend while I stayed at home and had a girls night with 2 friends who were visiting from out of state. I felt kind of lame missing a family backpacking trip but not bad enough to miss out on seeing my sweet friends who I've missed seeing so much.

Anyway, I can't believe this but he took them backpacking to Big Log which is a 5.2 mile hike-one way. My four little kids backpacked over 10 miles! I was seriously so impressed. They all had backpacks, even Lauren although hers was just a mini Hello Kitty backpack that held everyone's trail mix. (Well, she is the youngest, and a girl). The boys all carried their sleeping bags, pillows, pads and clothes in their own packs. What little studs. It seriously makes me so proud that they are such tough little troopers.




So ,the next day on their way back down they encountered a big black bear. They were very excited to tell me about it when they got home. I was not so excited to hear about it. Before they left I had offered Aaron my pepper spray (he makes me take it when I go running), to bring with him backpacking. "Just in case you see a bear," I said.
He, being the optimist, said they'd be fine and wouldn't need it.

Ironically there was a bear up there in the woods....imagine that. Lucky for them this bear was in a good mood....They encountered him as they were coming down the trail on the way back the next day. They were walking along leisurely when off in the distance down the trail Aaron spotted him. He stopped the kids and put them behind him. The bear didn't even know they were there because he was taking a little hike down the same trail. He waited for him to leave the trail but he didn't. So, from a safe distance they continued their hike and followed him down the trail being sure to make plenty of noise so that he wouldn't be startled by their presence. They sang primary songs loudly and banged on their mess kits trying to scare him off the trail but he was in no hurry to leave the path. So they ended up following him (from a safe distance of course) for over a mile. Crazy. But thankfully they were fine. Next time they are taking my pepper spray.

Buttercup Love

Fields in bloom with buttercups, the blossoms are running wild.

A windowsill of sweet bouquets, gathered by the hand of a child.


No sweeter sight could meet my eyes than to see their eager delight
revealing a bouquet from behind their backs, so beautiful in my sight.


A thoughtful note that warmed my heart after returning from a run.
The luckiest mother I feel I am to have such sweet, loving sons.


Dear Mom,
We all made
this crown to tell
you that we love you
and that you are the
Queen of our family!
Love,
Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin and Lauren

Observations from a younger brother...

I found the following observations written in pencil on the wall next to Joseph's bed last night...

(Jacob was not happy Sunday evening. His baseball team had played in a game earlier that day and had lost. They were supposed to win but for whatever reason they had lost to this "easy" team and now they were out of the championships and the season was over. Jacob had chosen not to play in the game because it was held on Sunday. His younger brother Joseph found his tirade quite amusing. I found his observations quite humorous.)

1. Jacob hates his baseball team.
2. Screams at himself.
3. Said, "I don't know why I'm alive."
4. Breaths very fast.
5. Smacks himself.
6. Asks... "is there anything to destroy around here?"
7. Gets punished.

Tough like his Mama...

Most of you know we give our boys push-ups for punishment in our home. We've been doing this for several years. Currently the standing rule is 50 push ups for each and every instance of intentional provoking, teasing, rudeness or contention. It's probably comes as no surprise but with 3 boys there are a lot of push-ups being done around here. Just last week Joseph had to do 250 before he went to school. Lately they've been doing a lot better though. It seems that the more rigid I am on handing out push ups for these behaviors the more peace there seems to be in our home. Holding them accountable for their actions is leading them to exercise more self control in the way they act and react to each other.

Well, last week Jacob did something that made me very proud.....

He'd been given 50 push ups one morning after breakfast for something he'd done. His response to this was an enthusiastic, "it will be good practice for my cub-scout pack meeting!" This month's pack meeting was going to be a fitness challenge with one of the events being a push-up station. Usually I make the boys do their 50 push-ups in 2 sets of 25. But this morning, because he was "in training," he told me he wanted to do 50 in a row. I make them count them off as they do them. This is how it went....

1,2,3,4....all the way to 35 without any problems.

At 35 his pace slowed down. I could see that he was getting tired.

By the time he got to 40 he was struggling and I was worried that he might not make it to 50.

Amazingly he did.

When he reached 50 I expected him to drop to his knees. But instead of stopping I heard him breathlessly say:

"I'm going to do 55."
He made it to 55. Then he said:

"I think I can do 60."

He got to 60 and grunting under his breath I heard him say:

"I'm gonna do 65."

At this point his arms were shaking but he wouldn't stop. I waited to see what would happen next....

"My goal is 70.....I'm going for 70....(grunt),....I know I can do it... (more grunting)," he said.

When he reached 70 he dropped to the floor and smiled.

I love this kid. I love how tough he is. Not just physically but mentally too. Watching him through this ordeal I felt a close connection to him as I saw the strength of his spirit pushing past his pain to reach his goal. It made me feel so proud.

I've experienced this same struggle many times with the races I run. There are times in a marathon when I hit a wall and I feel my body tell me to surrender. But if I push past that pain I find an inner strength that helps me keep going. It's a very empowering feeling to know that your mind can conquer your body. Physically there's nothing that makes me feel more alive than to experience this kind of personal victory. I know that sounds incredibly dramatic but there's no other way that I can describe it.


When I'm in those moments during a race and I'm fighting that struggle to keep running or to stop and walk what keeps me going is to relate my physical pain to the spiritual & emotional struggles I've had in my life. In a race I often tell myself in my head, "dig in deep girl.... don't give up.... weather this storm.....endure to the end." When I refuse to surrender to the pain and do the very best I can without giving up (which may mean a dreadfully slow pace at times) I find an inner strength to keep going and not give up. I relate this to my challenges in life both past and present. Doing this empowers me to be strong and not to give up in the other parts of my life, not just during a race. My goal in every marathon I do is to run the entire 26.2 miles without stopping, and I've done it many times.

For me, there's nothing better than crossing that finish line at the end of a marathon and feeling that complete and utter sense of peace and relief knowing that it's over. It's done. It leaves me with an incredible feeling of peace and accomplishment. I imagine that's what it will be like at the end of my life if I've worked hard and done my best- regardless of the pain and struggles I've faced.

Seeing this same strength of spirit in my son when he wouldn't quit with his push-ups literally made my heart swell with pride. It gives me great confidence to know that when faced with challenges in his life he'll have the inner strength and stamina to push past the hard parts to reach his goals.

I wish that all of us could see how strong we really are. Running has taught me a lot about the potential each of us has. When I did my first 10K over 10 years ago I never thought that I would one day be running marathons. Doing a 10K was REALLY hard for me back then. But as I pushed myself to go farther I found that I was capable of so much more than even I realized. It's the same with our lives and who we are. 10 years ago you may have never guessed that you would be able to handle the trials and stresses you now face but you can and you are. When life throws you trials or challenges refuse to surrender. Your pace may slow dreadfully as you climb up that "hill" but as long as you don't stop it's okay. Just keep going and don't give up.

In my life, the inner strength to carry on amidst the trials I've faced has come from God. When I determine that I'm going to do my best and be my best no matter how meager of an offering that may be, I'm endowed with great power (an inner strength) to carry my burden with greater ease. Through His divine help I know that we can all find the strength we need to keep going and victoriously cross the finish line in our own life story.

*Jacob won the push-up competition at the pack meeting that night. He did 105 push-ups with no breaks. Needless to say I was one proud mama.