My 4 year old!!

My Superhero, Kaleb, had his 4th birthday this summer!!

He is totally obsessed with superheros! So of course, that was the theme! For about a month before his birthday (at least) he kept telling me he wanted a superhero cake with superhero toys on it. I tricked him and told him I couldn't find any superhero toys at the store, that they were all sold out, so he wouldn't be having any superhero toys on his cake. :( His face when he saw the superhero toys on his cake was priceless! He is such a cute boy!

To celebrate his birthday we spent the day at the pool with cousins, and then had his party that evening. This was the first time I attempted to use fondant on a cake, I even made it my self! However, my recommendation would be, if you've never used fondant before, then work with store bought first, that way you know what the texture should be. Mine was really soft, so it was a little harder to work with and then kind of sunk into the cake, so you could see the lines and everything from the cake through the frosting. If that makes sense. It was a little lumpy :)

So what do I say about Kaleb?? For one, I can't believe he is 4! He is so smart, and thoughtful. Ever since he could talk he has never let s get away with giving him an absent minded response to his questions. One of the quotes that has totally backfired on me is "Mom, because is not an answer!" :)
The other day Blake and I were talking about covenants in the car, and Kaleb pipes in from the back seat, "mom, what's a covenant?" So we explained to him that a covenant is a promise to someone who promises something else in return. We of course used the temple as an example, covenants we have made with Heavenly Father, covenants mommy and daddy made to each other, when we are baptized we make covenants too, etc, etc. So just after a second of thinking about it he said, "so when I promise you that I will make my bed, and you promise me that I will get a sticker, that's a covenant." "Yep, you're exactly right, Kaleb!" "and when I promise to read my scriptures Jesus promises to make me happy, that's a covenant too." "Yes! That's awesome Kaleb, good job!" "but when I promise to be nice, then that's just a promise."
Who is this kid?! He absorbs so much, and comprehends it! He is so smart! Sometime a little too smart for his own good! He is always analyzing and using logic, to get out of trouble. Poor kid just doesn't get that just because he is 4 he can't do everything mom and dad do and have those same rights. I can't tell you how many times we've had discussions on why he thinks he should be able to eat out in the living room, or why he doesn't need to take a nap, or why he can just help himself to food, etc, etc. He always has good points, and doesn't accept the reasoning, because you are only 4, and you still need to listen to mommy and daddy. You still have a lot to learn!
Kaleb loves playing outside, and being with the family. He and Maylee play a lot together, but we are entering the stage of sibling rivalry! Mostly, they get along pretty well, but if Kaleb looks at her wrong, Maylee screams, and Kaleb loves to look at her wrong! Their favorite activity now is Kaleb dresses up as a superhero, and Maylee puts on a princess dress, and Kaleb protects her! So cute!
Kaleb is a great big brother, and helps Maylee with everything. He is such a sweet , kind, little boy. He has great social skills, he can have fun with anyone at any age. Adults love him, kids love him, grandparents love him! I hope that he has a great year being 4, and that it is filled with lots of fun memories!! I love that little dude!

I had to add this! This is his first sidewalk chalk person!

2011 Half MarathonS!!!

So my big goal for this year was to do a half marathon, and I ended up doing two! So I am pretty proud of my self for that! Too bad I totally hammered my feet with the last one, and haven't quite gotten the courage up to go get new shoes and get back out there! I am getting the itch again, so hopefully it won't be too long before I am "chasing pavement" again! ;)
My first race was April 30th at Thanksgiving Point. I absolutely loved this race!! It was SO beautiful to run through the gardens at the height of the season, and so well organized. The only downfall was that it snowed that morning! And the night before it snowed like 6 inches!! It didn't ruin any of the scenery, in some ways, it actually made it prettier. But it definitely was cold!! A couple miles into the race, though, my hat and jacket were off! Apparently all the spectators were freezing, they obviously were not running 13 miles! :) Here are some pics...

I have the cutest fans ever!

Getting a congratulatory hug!

I felt like I was going to cry several times during this race! I would just get overcome with emotion, and have to fight back the tears. I should not have been able to do this race! I was really bad at being consistent with my training, sick the 2 weeks before, and just a crazy, stressful month! I was so nervous to run, I knew I probably wouldn't get hurt, but I just wanted to do well on my time, and I hadn't trained, so I knew it was a long shot! My goal was 10 minute miles, and I ended at 2:11 hours, so just 6 seconds a minute over my goal! The part that stunk was that I was doing really well and staying right around 9 minute miles for the first 8-9 miles. Then I started to get tired. I remember being at mile 10 and really starting to feel it in my legs. Mile 11 had a nice stretch of steep hill and that knocked the wind out of me! I struggled the last two miles, and gained all my time back! Once I hit mile 12 I tried with all my might to go faster, and I swear I could not move any faster! I was so glad to be done! You can tell by my pictures how tired I was!
But of course as soon as the race was over, the fever kicked in!! I was already thinking about what I could do if I trained consistently and really pushed myself. Then I found out that my two sister in laws had signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon in the middle of June. I decided that if I could find someone who was trying to sell their spot I would take it. Just so happens, two weeks before the race, my sister in law's friend ended up needing surgery the week before and had to sell her spot, so I was in! It was a fun race! Definitely not as easy as I thought it was going to be (I thought it would be all down hill), but it was good. My favorite part was running down University Ave, and having crowds of strangers cheer me on, and little boys sticking out their hand to give me high fives! It was really fun having that experience with my sister in laws too. Jolene is moving out of state in a few days, and that was probably our last opportunity to all run together. Hopefully, not, but all probability counts against us! Here are those pics...

Jolene and I before the race

Don't my children look thrilled?!?!

The three of us, this was Stacey's first race ever and it was a half marathon!!

Maylee's 2nd Birthday

Maylee is TWO!! I honestly can't believe it. For her birthday we had a "butterfly" party at the park with family. I just have to say neither Blake or I should be trusted with pictures! We had just gotten a new camera the day of her birthday, and once everyone was in bed I was going through the manual learning how to use it. It talked about formating the memory card, and I asked blake if he had done that, he said no, so I did. And deleted all her pictures from the party!!! Luckily My sister in law had some on her camera, so we do have documentation that we did have a party. I'm just so sad that all those pictures are gone! To add to my case why we shouldn't be trusted with pictures, blake lost all of Kaleb's FIRST YEAR on a zip drive. And I recorded over maylee's first 24 hours on our video camera. We are so lame.

But enough with that, one to the party!!! It was a great party, and I made really yummy cupcakes, lemon with strawberry frosting (made with real fruit), and strawberry-lime cupcakes with a toasted coconut cream cheese frosting. They were both delicious! Here are the pictures I have... If any of you have pictures from this party, send them to me please!!

What can I say about my Maylee girl aka Miss Maylee?? She is such a funny little sweetheart! She loves to cuddle and give loves. There are times during the day where nothing is wrong, she just wants to snuggle. Which I love and totally understand, being a girl too! Sometimes you just need to cuddle! Despite my best efforts, she does not like to dress up in her princess dresses, rather, she always is caring a purse and a baby, usually some sort of essential item like a bottle to feed her baby, and wearing a play necklace. She is such a good mommy. She adores her big brother Kaleb, and must do whatever he is doing! They are truly best friends! They share a room right now, and they both struggle when one has to be on time out and they are separated. More often than not, when Kaleb gets sent to time out for hurting her, just a few minutes later I find them both on his bed playing. When she is not being a mommy, she is Kaleb's princess and he rescues her as whatever superhero he is at that moment.
One of my favorite memories is looking out into the living room and seeing both of them walking around with blankets over their heads as shawls. I asked Kaleb what they were doing and he said they were Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem (this was in March). I asked where baby jesus was, and he said he was still in Mary's tummy. I went on with my day not thinking about it again until I got Maylee ready for bed that evening. In her onsie was a littlest pet shop kitty. I asked what it was doing there, and Kaleb said, "That's baby Jesus!" I still laugh thinking about that! He really was in Mary's tummy! Maylee is also known for storing food down her onsies too. One day we were at the grocery store and I started to smell peanut butter. I got worried thinking that one of the kids pulled something off the shelf and started eating it. But no worries, Maylee showed me her sandwhich that she had put down her shirt at lunch time, saving it for a later snack! I haven't been putting onsies on her as much lately because she is hopefully getting close to potty training, but when I do there is always something being stored down her shirt, whether it's a bottle for her baby, food, or just a little book she'd like to read later!
Maylee is still pretty stranger shy. She loves people and is pretty friendly, but if she is new to a place or there is a lot of attention on her she totally clams up and hides her face in my shoulder or nearest object! Most of the time, though, she warms up and gives very loving good byes to whomever it is! She loves to help clean, and make messes too! My favorite scenes throughout the day are when her and kaleb are laying next to each other watching a movie, reading a book, coloring, etc. They are so cute together! She has added so much to our lives, I don't know what we'd do with out her! She is always good for a laugh and to melt your heart! I love my Maylee girl!