Summer's coming!!!

This is the last week the kids will be in school so I'm trying to catch up on blogging before summer hits us!

Taken yesterday before church.

The boys have finally figured out soccer and spend more time running, dribbling and scoring than they do rolling on the ground, playing in the dirt and getting caught in the net.

Brooklyn turned 3!  I made the classic Barbie princess cake, she donned her new tutu from Oma all day in public and private and Dave's parents got to be here to help her celebrate.

AAO in Washington DC

Dave had a conference in DC at the beginning of May.  We, that is the kids and I, decided to tag along.  We took a small detour to visit our good friends from dental school in PA on the way out there.  It was fun to see how the kids have grown and their cute house.  Everyone used to think Nichole and I were twins in Portland or would mistake us for one another, which we thought was funny but now I look at  Brooklyn and Kumorah and figure they could pass as sisters too.

One of the best parts was that my mom decided to meet us out there as well!  The kids didn't really get how amazing it was that Grandma (from Portland) just ended up in the lobby of our hotel in DC as we tried to surprise them.  For them we went far away and Grandma lives far away so I guess it all kind of made sense.   Dave and I did appreciate the efforts it took her to make it out though.  It allowed me to see the sites with some adult company and sanity in tact and Dave and I even got a little date night.  

The next cool part was Daisha driving up for the day to visit.  So fun to see her and the kids and finally meet Claire out of the womb.  It was hot at the zoo and the kids were sort of slow to remember and warm up to each other, but it was so good to see the Super Mama again and remember how much we miss everyone.

The kids got to ride the train quite a bit,  We made some quick stops for photos at Arlington National Cemetary, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, etc.

Trenton lost his first tooth with the help of Grandma.  Too bad his permanent teeth have already been hanging out behind the baby teeth in back for a while, are huge and horribly crooked.  

Kids will be kids and I had to laugh that one of their favorite parts was sitting outside of Washington Mall and getting absolutely filthy playing in the dirt.   The trip was rushed and fun and I'm glad we did it!

Running Running Running

So, I started the year off running . .literally.  Decided to train for a half marathon (the Kentucky Derby mini marathon) and do the Louisville Triple Crown Races as part of it  (5k, 10k and 10 mile) races.  Although I certainly love working out, I've never really been too much of a runner . . .and while I did get quite bored with it over the past months . .. I find myself still wanting to do it a few times a week as it became sort of habit.  Anyway, training works, assuming you are actually doing it and I was . .I still remember the morning I was running with temps in the single digits and I thought I was tough/stupid/freezing until I saw some old woman sitting on her front porch wearing a robe in the same weather and realized she was much tougher, colder and maybe even dumber than me.  I started off with a certain goal time in January and found myself constantly adjusting my goal as I found my speed improving.  I was planning on running with my cousin's husband, Nick, but injury left him on the sidelines come race day and me running solo . . .really could have used him with my pacing and to push me in the end as my inexperience led me to going way too fast over the first 5 miles (including all the hills) and feeling burned out and crappy the rest of the race.  Nonetheless, I clocked in right where I wanted to be at 1:38:18 . .just wish I would have felt better doing it.  Now, I'm left with trying to figure out how to  make my overly muscled legs return to something a little more normal looking.  My cousin Lachelle came up and ran this and the 10 miler with me too . . .I'm hoping she'll see this and provide me with some better pictures since Dave was on Daddy duty that day taking the boys to soccer.  It was a cool race though . .sold out (over 15,000 participants) although I think the rain scared some away so there weren't as many finishers.  Part of the course included running on the inside of Churchill Downs.  We went and visited afterwards to watch a few races  . . . . I took pictures of Lachelle with her family and she took pictures of me alone. .  . .Actually not a horrible feeling when it's so rare, although I can't wait to take the kids back to the track.

Thunder

So I think it's safe to say that The Kentucky Derby is the big thing here.  The Derby Festival lasts a couple of weeks with several different events.  Last weekend was Thunder Over Louisville that kicks off the festival which includes an air show that goes all afternoon and evening right up until the official largest annual fireworks display in North America where the fireworks are set off from 8 different barges and one of the bridges spanning the Ohio River.  We got to enjoy the festivities (and avoid the massive number of drunk people) from one of the other resident's apartments as it was right on the waterfront by the show.  It was cool.  It was loud.  I think the kids are still recovering from the super late night. 

We've survived 5 Years with Dallas

That's right.  There have been good times, bad times, dirty times and many comical times and he's still going strong.  How time flies.  He requested a Lego cake (pictured below).  He wanted to go out to eat with our whole family and Grandpa (who couldn't make it as it was a bit of a trip on such short notice) at Red Robin.  It was the first time we've been out to eat with just our family since we moved here and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience for all.  We headed to the park for a bit afterward and called it a happy number 5!

"I think I'm allergic to playgrounds"

DAY #1 at the PARK

The first photo here is Lexi at the park yesterday.  A closer look at the background unveils Dallas and Trenton on the merry-go-round(or whatever those things are called that spin around and around).  Well the boys played on it for quite a while before Dallas came over to me and said "I don't feel good."  (Like mother like son as I have thrown up after more than one carnival ride).  We sat there for a few minutes before he asked if we could go home.  Knowing how horrible it is to feel like that, I rounded the other kids up and forced Dallas to actually sit in his chair and buckle rather than continue to lay on the floor.  Moments after getting home he spent quite a while heaving over the toilet and emptying his stomach of his picnic lunch.

DAY #2 at the PARK

The kids are playing happily.  Brooklyn is chasing Dallas and Dallas turns to look at her and then turns back around just in time to run his forehead smack into a  bridge just his height.  I run over to comfort him only to discover a lovely gaping gash.  I talk Trenton through calling Daddy on my phone as I'm holding the wound together and after Dave doesn't answer, I have to get Trenton to toughen up and hold the sides of the cut together as I call the pediatrician who of course is on Spring Break himself.  I call the urgent care center the receptionist refers me to as I stare at our car probably 200 yards away and start thinking about how I'm going to get the kids all over there (we are the only people at this particular playground).  Then the urgent care center tells me I''ll have to go to the ER.  No thanks I'm thinking.  Luckily an older couple shows up to play tennis about this time and they kindly offered me their help . .each one carrying a child and giving Dallas a bandanna to hold on his cut. 

My solution was to clean it up and smack a butterfly bandage on it since it was only 1/2" long.  I called Dave a million times over the next hour and half but he was officially unreachable. Then when it started bleeding again (apparently I suck at using a butterfly bandage) I finally called the school, explained the situation and they got Dave on the phone.  He shuffled some of his patients and came home to suture.  Dallas ended up with four stitches and Dave got to play doctor.  Dallas informs me, "I think I'm allergic to playgrounds."

On a lighter note . .. .or really now that enough time has passed and I'm not just mortified by his behavior, here are a few more stories as of late.  I don't really know how to make these sort of stories appropriate so take it at face value in my "lack of a filter" words.

Dallas is chewing gum one evening and I tell him he needs to spit it out as it's time to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.  Well, he gets all ready for bed and the only thing left to do is for one of us to put a diaper on him . . .(yes we were still doing that, but he seems to be on a dry streak for now).  Dallas pulls his pants down and lays on the floor and as Dave goes to put the diaper on he confusedly asks Dallas how he got gum on his his leg.  Then as he sees even more gum on his nuts and asks Dallas why he has gum all over. ????  Standing nearby I immediately start cracking up as my mother's intuition quickly clued me into what had happened  Remember I laugh when I am really embarrassed . .  Dave is thoroughly confused as to why his son has gum all over his little man parts and on his inner thigh.  I then fill Dave into how Dallas had been chewing gum before bedtime and obviously had decided that rather than throw it away when asked to by me he had decided to "save it".  What better hiding place than one's very own private parts?  Dave was really disturbed by this and never did laugh about it that night as he really thought, maybe still thinks, that there was seriously something wrong with the kid.  Let's be honest we've all thought that at some point.  Did you read that. . . MY KID HID GUM ON HIS OWN BALL SACK!!!  Wow.  I can totally laugh about it now, but still wow.            What should we do, start performing cavity checks as a part of our bedtime routine?

Next one, not quite as funny, really just embarrassing once again . .and making us wonder. . . what is this kid thinking???  He comes home from school in a different shirt than he left in and here is why. . .We get a weekly progress report on Dallas' behavior at preschool.  Ratings are a happy face, a straight face, a sad face.  He brings one home a few weeks ago with  a sad face for Monday, smiley on T/Wed and on Thursday a happy face that is crossed out with a sad face beside it and a note informing me that Dallas stuck his head in the toilet.  They wrote, "We explained to him that it was 'durty' (apparently that's a word in KY) and could make him sick and washed his hair in the sink."  Again, WOW.  What seemingly normal kid full on sticks his head in a toilet without being the victim of a swirly?  Let me answer that for you ..  .Dallas. This is the same kid who used to eat gum out of trash cans and steal peoples' drinks and french fries right off their tables at Burger King so  maybe I shouldn't be too surprized, but come on!!!

His teacher is trying to make me feel better by telling me it is because he is gifted and the kid is book smart, but I have my doubts as far as common sense goes.

Spring Break

Spring has sprung.  The boys are out of school for spring break. We started the weekend off with an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard with friends, neighbors and special guests: Nick Lachelle and Co.

Saturday morning Lachelle and I did a ten mile race (for our picture imagine really muscular legs and cold sweat as it rained and got really windy toward the end of the race).  The boys looked much cuter after their races (50 yards for Keyton and Dallas and 100 yards for Trenton)

Nick jumped at the idea of building me a garden box and a few hours later it was done!  

Brooklyn and Lexi are kind of like this:

Tenton like this 

And Dallas of course gets his very own blog entry to come