Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Lance Armstrong watch out

So the Tour de France started 4 days ago and as you can see our whole family is ready for it. These are Robs biking clothes. The kids all wanted to try them on. Crew has on the bibs. He looks a little more like a wrestler than a biker, but we are hopeful he will grow into them.

Getting ready for summer

Rob took this picture. I thought it was hilarious. With the start of summer also came the start of swimming lessons. Crew is not taking them yet, he obviously has to learn how to open his eyes with his goggles on before he figures out how to do it in the water.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Haircut for Paige


It was time wasn't it. Paige decided at long last that she wanted to cut her hair. So I grabbed the scissors had her stand in the shower and cut away. We sent the cut ponytail off to "Locks for Love" and then took Paige in to a professional stylist to even out my unprofessional job. The results are adorable. She looks so cute, and as a mom with 3 girls it makes my mornings go so much easier.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Tagged...!

OK so apparently it is my turn to be tagged and then tag you. So be warned it will be coming your way. Now don't blame me, because I was tagged before I tagged you from my friend Melissa a.k.a lulu the baker. Cute name Melissa I like it. Here we go rules and all.

#1 Link to the person who tagged you.

#2 Post the rules on your blog

#3 Write six random things about yourself

#4 Tag six people at the end of your post

#5 Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

#6 Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Here are six random things about me:

#1 I am completely obsessed with food. Not just I like it, or I like it a lot, but obsessed. It is mainly related to things of the sugar, sweet, chocolate variety, but I am not biased food in general will do. Now a lot of people think they understand when I say this, but really you can't possibly. It is what I imagine happens to people that are addicted to alcohol or drugs and I don't say that lightly. I can eat a Costco size bag of peanut m&ms without blinking. Yes my stomach hurts after I finish, and yes I don't feel well for a little while either but thats not the point. I can and I often do eat it. I don't have a gage that tells me to stop or that I am full. I kind of have a bottomless pit. I can keep eating when everyone else has long since been done. Its really not funny. I don't know how to stop it, and I wonder if I would if I could. I mean sure its probably bad for my health long term, but I haven't taken the time to figure out how, I guess I haven't wanted to know. I love, love, love junk food. I "really" go many days with only eating junk. Its what I think about when I wake up. I say to myself, "OK" I am not going to eat anything bad for me today. And then 1:00 rolls around and I grab a bag of ghiradelli chocolate chips and polish them off, or bake them, which brings me to #2.

#2 I love, no wait, I LOVE to bake. I love measuring out all the ingredients, I love turning on my 6 qt stainless steel kitchen aid and hearing the whrrrr of the blade against the ingredients. My babies all fell asleep to this sound. I love to knead any dough I have to stick my hands in, I love to go to the grocey store and buy, buy, buy flour, cinnamon, sugar, cream (especially cream). Seriously though it really relates to #1 because I LOVE to eat dough, and batter. I'm not a dough or batter snob either, pretty much any dough or batter will do. Yes I know about raw eggs, but I DON"T CARE. It tastes good. I make brownies and cake not for the end result, but for the middle result. My husband would come home and say, "What is this in the pan?" He couldn't tell they were brownies or a cake because usually they rise more than a cm from the bottom of the pan. Ahhh baking I love the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, bread, cookies, pastries, mmmmm this is making me hungry. There is just something soothing about creating something that looks, tastes, and smells so delicious.

#3 OK so if you don't know me you might be wondering about what I look like. Well along with an eating disorder/obsession I also have one for working out. Maybe I should have put this one first. I think this obsession ultimately wins out because if I am really training for something I will make myself do a sugar/baking fast. The longest has been 4 months. I love to run, I love to bike, hike, climb, lift weights, do the elipticle anything that involves a great workout I love. I love feeling completely exhausted where I can barely move my arms or my legs because they are so worn out they don't function anymore. It feels great. I ran a 10K today. I thought I was going to puke on the mile uphill because I ate 2 donuts yesterday for lunch, but it still felt great. I love to run, and run, and run and run. I am not fast, but I can go forever. It is my stress reliever, my vice, my coping mechanism, and the way I deal with my eating obsession. I don't know if I run to eat, or eat to run, but either way I love them both.

#4 I love babies. If you know me at all you will know this. I can't walk by one without making some ridiculous sound. Alas this is why I have 4 of my own. Being pregnant kills me or I would have 10 at least I am sure. I love them. I love to hold them, kiss them. I am immune to their crying. Trust me. My first had colic for a year screaming often all her waking moments, but I still had more. I love love love love babies. My friend Heather let me watch her 3 week old and I almost cried I was so excited. He would have probably slept the whole time in his car seat but NO WAY, I held him while I played wii with his big brother. My baby is 19 months now and I don't care I will hold him until he is 5 if he lets me, or until my hip breaks. There is just something about their sweet gentle spirits that I can't get enough of.

#5 I am really scared of heights. This is something I try to keep on the down low because I love to rock climb, hike, and mountain climb. So the two don't really mix. Its absurd I know. I didn't really understand until I met my husband Rob. He took me rock climbing for our first date and thats when I knew this is the man I am going to marry, I loved it. Then we started to go all the time outdoors and the first time I had to repell off a 90 foot cliff I swore I was going to die. I am fine once I am off the edge and scaling down, but I can't make myself move off the end very well. I have learned to not look down, and I close my eyes and take deep breaths when I need to. Rob on the other hand is crazy, crazy, he runs off the cliff facing forward (Austrian repelling) and runs down the cliff. He has issues.

#6 I'm a news junky. I love the news. Newspaper, online, TV, however I can get it I will take it. It really interesting to me. I like to know what is going on everywhere with everyone. hmmm I wonder what that means about me....anyways I really love to watch CNN, PBS, Fox News,Katie, Larry King, Anderson Cooper, GMA, whatever. If its news worthy I will take it. I love sportscenter, ESPN I, II, etc. News News News.

Now on to the tagging. Happy times people Happy times.
- Brooke Cottle (love ya)
- Laura Church (miss you)
- Susie (I hope we move closer to you)
- Margaret (my amazing blogger friend and workout buddy)
- Ashley (whats up)
- Lanie (lets get together soon!!!)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Mine

Our little Crew said his first 4 letter word today. MINE. We all laughed really hard. Really it wasn't his first 4 letter word rather his first 4 letter word that we regret him learning at such a young age. It was incredibly clear and very distinct. Mine, as in, "Don't touch, get away, I'm not sharing". Its actually suprising that it wasn't his first word since he is the 4th child, but other things like dog, ball, car, bike all seemed more important for his vocabulary. We are grateful. He is pretty cute and convincing as you can see, however, I am sure at least with all of us the charm will eventually wear off when he is grabbing my sunglasses (I am already on my 3rd pair this summer thanks to Crew), or the wii remotes from the girls.

Stephenie Meyers, "The Host"





So way back in May I skipped school to go with some girlfriends up to Portland to Stephenie Meyer's book signing for her latest release, "The Host". We are all a little bit smitten with her Twilight series (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com). Although I felt a bit guilty going without Margaret, we had a very interesting crew going. Jen with her -had surgery 3 days before including installing several pins into her leg, brought along her mom and really good friend who I can't remember her name. Brooke with baby Ethan, pregnant Kristi and Kristine, and me. Thanks to Jen's pain and suffering we had the entire front row. It was such a great time. Stephenie is a talented individual, entertaining speaker who is passionate about her characters and loves what she is doing. She was a gracious host and asked that those with injuries (JEN) and with babies (BROOKE) get to go through and have their books signed first.