The Olson Family

Tree at Rockefeller Center and other things

2012-01-18T13:07:00.002-05:00

One day I said to Nate... I'm taking the evening off and am going to have some alone time. I don't do this often, so he didn't complain. It actually ended up not being an evening of being alone, really, but it started out that way. I had some errands to run down in Rockefeller Square, so I took the opportunity to see the tree, and walk up 5th Ave to see some of the window displays. I also popped into GAP to buy myself a few things, something else I never do :) I had a lovely walk up 5th Ave, and across central park south back to the subway, where I headed back uptown to meet Nate and his sister Kierstin, who had just gotten into town, for dinner at one of our favorite places. They took a long time to get there, so I got to sit at the bar and read my book, which was awesome! After a delicious dinner, I said goodbye and headed over to Starbucks for a birthday get together. We didn't last too long at Starbucks because so many people came, so a friend offered her place. I wish I had pics because it was a little comical. But regardless of the space constraints, we had a wonderful time chatting away, as usual.

Christmas outings...

2012-01-18T10:56:00.002-05:00

We had a few fun Christmas outings with friends. We went to Grand Central Terminal where we got to see the train displays at the NYC Transit Museum Store and poke around some other shops as well.

Another day we went to Bryant Park to see the tree, watch ice skaters and of course, ride the carousel. And then we topped the day off with a delicious stop at Dillon's Candy Bar. Yum!

Winter's Eve

2012-01-18T10:40:00.002-05:00

Sayer and I went on a date to Winter's Eve. I felt bad that the whole fam couldn't go, but Asher had school early the next day, and I couldn't justify letting him stay up late for it. :( But Sayer sure had a blast having some one on one time with mom... getting to see the Christmas tree light up in the Lincoln Square area, having some yummy dinner with friends, watching street performers, having hot chocolate while watching an ice sculptor in front of the church, and just enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Origami Tree and Parade floats

2012-01-18T10:30:00.005-05:00

The day before Thanksgiving, Nate and I took the kids to the Museum of Natural History to see the Origami Tree and then to see the parade floats, which get blown up right outside the museum. This has been a fun tradition since we have been in the city. It was a really nice family outing, which of course included a few moments of mild annoyance, but for the most part, we had a fun time. We ended the night with dinner at McDonalds. Classy, classy.

Lookin' foxy in front of the origami tree babe!!

The boys were being really silly

This was the best we could manage

Nate had better luck...

Ice skating in Bryant Park

2012-01-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

Back in November our old neighbors, Debbie and Peter, came into the city for a visit. We LOVED playing with them again. We headed down to Bryant Park and caught the end of a story time, and then took the boys ice skating. We were kind of cheap though, I rented one pair of skates for my boys to switch off with, and then Debbie and I traded off skates as well. It was awesome. The boys had an absolute blast. I thought for sure Asher would try and start falling down and then say he didn't like it, but man was he determined to get it right. Sayer was more inclined to throw in the towel after one round. :) So while Peter, Asher and Debbie kept at it, I took Sayer and Bart to ride the carousel. Fun times were had by all!!

Story time

This guy was awesome!

Excited to get out on the ice!

Debbie and I got an arm workout, holding those boys up. They got better and better each time around though. It was pretty amazing.

Fun on the carousel!

All by himself!

Radio City Rockettes

2012-01-18T09:23:00.001-05:00

My mom and I went to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular when they were in town. My brother in law Duffy, and his wife Tessa, also came in town for a few days, so they joined me and my mom. It was a fun show, and the whole time all I could think was how much my boys would have loved it. Oh well. Another time I guess.

This Christmas tree shaped chandelier was amazing!!

;

Duffy and Tessa

Intrepid

2012-01-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

Back in November when my parents were here for the marathon, we took the boys to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum. It was actually a lot of fun. They have some things in the lower deck that you can play in and they loved that. They also loved the gift shop, but what little kid doesn't. :)

Startin' the season off right

2011-12-07T12:26:00.001-05:00

I've got the tree up, the window trimmed with boughs of (fake) evergreen, my 2 nativities are in place, the stockings are hung, and I've got little Christmas nick-nacks here and there around the house. It looks beautiful!

...Unless, you happen to look anywhere that isn't a Christmas decoration. My house is a mess. All day, everyday, and there is nothing I can do about it. Sure, I could clean it up, and I do.... occasionally, but for what? For it to just get messed up again? And again. And again. And again. You get the picture. Then I just get all upset and annoyed. Plus, I am always tired. Who has the energy to clean up 4 times a day? Not me. I try to get it cleaned at the end of the day, but I'm not gonna lie, it doesn't always happen. It sounds so easy: Clean up the house once a day, after the kids go to sleep. But actually doing that takes so much more energy than I am willing to exert at that particular time of day. Most days.

Any-hoo, I actually managed to get my act together last night... I straightened up, did the dishes, wiped the kitchen table off for the first time in a couple days (don't judge), made a delicious AND healthy dinner for the fam, did some more dishes and put the kids down. Having a clean kitchen inspired me, so I turned on a Christmas movie and got started on some english toffee.

Yummy! (said in a high-pitched sing-songy voice) Both batches turned out scrumptious, if I do say so myself. I think I am going to for-go the peppermint bark this year because, well, have you been reading this post?? I just don't think I have it in me. But I am going to try this delicious looking recipe this weekend, so that's something, right?

All joking aside, I absolutely LOVE this time of year, and am trying not to waste a minute of it. We are talking a lot about Christ in our home this season, and focusing more on the true meaning of Christmas. Which should be easy to do, since I am already done (DONE!) with my Christmas shopping, so I don't have to think about that anymore. Today we are making these when Asher gets home from school. I'm sure it's not going to go as smoothly as I invision it in my mind, but I am fine with that. The kids will have fun, we will be able to talk about the baby Jesus, and eat candy. Doesn't get much better than that!

NYC Marathon wrap-up

2011-11-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

**Warning, this is a long post as I wanted to write everything down for my own benefit. Feel free to just skim it if you don't care about all this stuff. :)

I don't even know how to begin to sum up the NYC Marathon that went down on Sunday. It was an incredible journey with a lot of amazing personal experiences, both before and during the race.

Kate and I met the buses down at 45th between 7th and 8th at 5:30 am. From there we had a nice long drive to Staten Island, got off at Fort Wadsworth and headed to the Robin Hood tent. Kate ran for charity and they had a heated tent that she was able to get me into. It was so wonderful not to have to shiver in the cold for hours before we started running.

Thankfully it was an absolutely perfect day for running. Cool and sunny but not too cold. When the gun went off at 10:40 (I was in the 3rd of 3 waves), some guy sent us off with a live rendition of New York, New York. I thought it was quite fitting. It was pretty slow going at first because there were so many people, but it soon thinned out enough for us to be able to keep a steady pace. I was surprised though, the streets were pretty tight throughout the entire race. I felt like I was dodging other runners the entire time. But I much prefer that to a sparse running field that kind of makes you feel like you are at it alone. Anyway, we stayed with the 4 hour pacer for the first 13 miles or so, but we really should have gone slower than that. I don't know if it was my chest cold, or what, but I never really felt great from pretty much the beginning. I had a cramp that would come and go throughout the race, and by about mile 10 my legs were already feeling really tired. I knew at that point that I wasn't going to be able to sustain that pace for the whole race. Somewhere around mile 13 or so, Kate had to stop to go to the bathroom. I was going to stop but didn't really need to, so I used that time to slow down and go at whatever pace was comfortable for me. It was at this point that I decided that I had to just run my own race, and do whatever I needed to do to be able to finish, even if that meant slowing down. It made me think about trials in life, and how sometimes in order to get through them, we have to let something go, and just be ok with the best we can do. I never thought that I would be ok with less than the goal time that I wanted for myself, but at this point, I honestly was. From that point on, I didn't look at my watch once. I didn't care what pace I was going, and I didn't want to know what mile I was on. Sometimes I couldn't even see the mile markers, which was really nice. It's harder for me mentally to keep such close track of my miles.

By the time I got to the Queensboro Bridge, I had slowed down a lot, just in time for the hill. I kept a steady pace up the hill and was so thankful when the downgrade came. There is a point on the bridge where you can see down into the course in Manhattan and the streets were just packed with people. I got really choked up at that point because I had been looking forward to getting into Manhattan since the beginning of the race, and it meant that I had finished the hurdle of the hill on the bridge. I had to stop the crying shenanigans pretty fast though because I literally could not breathe. It was so amazing though, to come into Manhattan and feel that I was that much closer to finishing. The crowds were amazing. I hugged the west side of the road because I knew friends were waiting on that side, and it was so great to hear people shouting my name, which was way more energizing than I thought it would be.

A little past mile 18 our friend Marilee and Kate's husband Jed were waiting for us. I stopped there for a minute to stretch and chat, and seconds later Kate came up behind me, and I was so happy to see her. My stomach was not feeling great so Marilee gave me part of a bagel to settle it and it helped a little. Jed jumped in at this point, and I was really struggling. Going up 1st avenue is pretty much continuous rolling hills. The good thing is that whenever there was an uphill, it meant there was a downhill on the other side. When we got to mile 20, I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to go any further. My legs were so fatigued and hurt so bad, and my stomach was just not great. I decided that I had to utilize the water stations to walk for a bit. Right before I would stop at each mile, I felt like I was going to barf, so it was perfect to stop and walk and get something to drink, and then I could start back up again and be good for about another mile.

I knew that Nate and my boys, my parents and sister, and some other friends were waiting for us at 111th and 5th Ave, and I told myself I couldn't stop until I got to them. I first saw our friends from the ward and then a couple blocks later I saw my dad standing up on a lamp post and then I saw everyone else. It was seriously amazing to get to see them and hug and kiss them. Asher and Sayer were so smiley and happy to see me, and I was SO happy to see them and Nate, and everyone! The thought that I was going to get to see them again after I finished really helped motivate me to the end.

Coming up to the fam. My face is so funny in this pic. I was squinting cuz we were running into the sun.

Saying hi to the boys. They were so happy to see me, I loved it.

Giving hugs and kisses

And one for Nate too!!

Heading back down 5th Ave

After we said goodbye, we headed off to the horrible hill up 5th Ave. This was seriously the point that I was dreading the whole race, I was so afraid of the pain I knew it was going to inflict. About halfway up the hill, all of the sudden I heard Nate's voice in my earphones. It caught me completely off-guard, but it could not have come at a more perfect time. He said "surprise! it's me, Nate...." and then went on to tell me how proud of me he was and how much it meant to him that I was doing this, and so many other wonderful things that I needed to hear at that exact moment. I wanted to cry, but knew I wouldn't be able to breathe, so tried to hold back. But that definitely pumped me up a lot and put a smile of my face for the rest of the race. The hill was brutal, but we kept on trucking and it was a glorious moment when we turned west into Central Park. Central Park is a lot of rolling hills, but I knew we had a nice stretch of flat before we hit them so that was a life saver. I felt the strongest over those last few miles (well, strong is a relative term, lets just say I felt stronger than I had since about mile 17) and I'm not sure where my bursts of energy came from, but I am so glad they came. We were actually keeping pretty good pace in the park, but we did stop to walk at the water stations, so that slowed our split times quite a bit. I saw a friend from Asher's preschool on the west side of the road and that was a fantastic little surprise and boost of energy, and then about a mile later I saw a good friend from the ward on the east side which was a wonderful surprise as well. I actually can't believe that I saw her, as I was hugging the west side and she was on the east, but the stars aligned, and it made me so happy to see a familiar face.

When I hit the 25 mile marker, I stopped for my fluids, walked for a minute, and then told myself that I couldn't stop again until I crossed that finish line. I also happened to notice the clock right around this point, and right then is when I wanted to be crossing the finish line to get my 4 hour time. I felt totally ok about it though. I was actually surprised that I wasn't further behind. Right after mile 25, we came out of the south end of the park and turned west onto central park south. It was still totally packed, and such a wonderful sight. I hugged the north side of the street where there weren't as many spectators, but there were still plenty of people shouting my name which was wonderful. About half way down CPS, I came up behind Jennie Finch who was running for Timex... she is a two time Olympic medalist for women's softball, and was the very last person to cross the starting line and Timex was donating $1 to Team for Kids for every person she passed along the way to the finish. She and her team had Timex shirts on and I heard someone call her Jennie. I was running right beside her and asked her if she was Jennie and she nodded yes. She looked like she was barely hanging on as well which made me feel a little better. Is that bad? ;) She is truly amazing though, she just had a baby 4 months ago and was out there kicking that race's trash. I passed her just as her team was enthusiastically saying they were going to be at Columbus circle in 45 seconds. Maybe a little too enthusiastically for me. ;)

It was also at this point that the inside of my quad on my right leg felt like it was going to give out. I've kind of already forgotten how miserable I was feeling at this point, but I know that I thought I was going to throw up and completely collapse. But I kept going as I turned north back into the park. The crowds were still totally packed and amazing, with people shouting my name at pretty much every step. I couldn't believe that I could actually still smile and wave a little to them. As soon as I came up that last hill and saw the finish line about 50 feet away, I just about lost it. I was SO incredibly happy that I had made it, and that I had pushed myself as hard as I did, when I honestly felt like I had nothing left to give, all the way back at mile 20. I thought Kate was right behind me and looked back to make sure, but she wasn't there. I was hoping she wasn't far behind, and she wasn't. :) Honestly, I couldn't have done it without Kate. There were so many times that I just wanted to keep walking between miles 20 and 24, but wanting to stay with her kept my legs moving.

About 2 steps before I crossed the finish line, Jennie Finch came up on my left and passed me. I was probably the last $1 that she earned for Team For Kids. :) I crossed the finish line and was euphoric. It was very similar to how I felt after Bart was born... I was almost giddy with happiness that the whole ordeal was over, and that I had accomplished what I set out to, and that I had pushed myself harder than I thought I could. I have to say, that I wasn't expecting it to be this hard. I thought for sure the first 20 miles would fly by and then maybe by mile 21 or 22 I would have to start fighting. But that was not so. Not by a long shot.

I am completely thrilled that I reached my first goal which was to finish under 4:20. I am a little sad that I didn't reach my ambitious goal of getting a sub-4 hour time, but not nearly as sad as I thought I would be. I am pretty darn proud of myself and I know that I gave it my absolute all. It just wasn't the day for that time, but I know it will be someday. :) My official finish time, which was printed in the New York Times on Monday, was 4:12:25. That is a PR by about 53 minutes people!!! Way to go me!! It really was an incredible experience to run in the city that I live in, having friends come out to see us on the course, to be familiar with the streets. I know I will think about it every time I am in the neighborhoods that I ran through, and every time I run through Central Park. I love that. I don't know if I will ever run NY again, hopefully someday, but I am just so happy that I got to experience this crazy huge race at least once, and while I was living here. That's really all I wanted. :)

Post race was a whirlwind of back and leg pain mixed with bouts of severe nausea. We walked for a while to find a place to eat, and then decided to take the subway to a restaurant a little more north. While we were waiting for the train, I asked if they would mind going to celebrate without me, as I wasn't feeling so hot. So they all went out to dinner while I made my way home, collapsed on my bed, only resurfacing to finally barf up all my insides. I felt a little better after that. 5 hours later, I re-emerged from my room and felt like I could eat something.

The week of the marathon, the subway station at 59th (Columbus Circle) was decked out in all things Marathon. There was a wall of names of all the runners which made me feel like a rockstar. 47,000 runners!

The Friday before the race, Kate and I went to the Expo to get our bibs, etc, and we happened to be there just in time to see Apolo Ohno who was also running, and Jared the subway guy who ran it last year.

On Saturday I went with the fam to the finish line. It's crazy to see how much time and work go into the making of this race.

The back view of the finish line

The front view

View from the finish line of the final stretch

Thank you to everyone for all the love and support and prayers. And thank you ING and NYRR for an amazing race!!!

A few more pics from the official photographers...

last few miles in central park

finished!

last stretch into the finish line

crossing the finish line! just pretend that clock says 4:12 (i started an hour after the first runners started)

half marathon point

Verezano bridge from staten island (the start)

Let the countdown begin!!!

2011-11-03T10:51:00.000-04:00

Well folks, we are here. The NYC marathon is in 3 days! I am both excited and nervous, but mostly excited. NYC is a pretty tough course {it's got some good hills} so I am trying to mentally prepare myself so I am not too disappointed if I don't reach my goal time. I know in my heart that it doesn't matter how fast I run the race, it is about finishing and giving it all that I've got along the way, and I know that I will do that. And I know that I will be completely thrilled to just be running the course, enjoying cheers from the many, many crowds, and crossing that finish line in Central Park, no matter what the clock says.

Whether I reach my goal, or whether the clock is 5 minutes or even 30 minutes later than my goal time, it won't have been a wasted journey. Running has become an important part of my life. I love that my kids know that I run. They ask me if I'm going running and when I come home they ask my if I'm "all fweaty". {Cute side story: Yesterday I was looking over the course map, and Asher was looking over my shoulder, and so I told him that this was the map of my marathon and that I was running it on Sunday! He got all excited, then counted the miles and told me it was 26 miles, and then told me, "ok mom, if you are the first person that crosses the finish line, then you will be the winner, and you will get a gold medal..." he then went on to describe what that gold medal will look like. Well, I will most definitely not be the first person to cross the finish line, but I will get a gold-ish medal! I'm so glad that Asher will think that that means I won!} I'm happier after I run. Energized. I feel strong when I run, and that definitely carries over into daily life with my kids. I feel like I've become a whole new, better version of me since this time last year. Last year I was about 25lbs overweight, I didn't like the way I felt in my body or in my clothes. I felt lazy and just gross. Running has made me fit, healthier, and more disciplined. It's hard to measure success when raising kids, it's hard to know if anything I'm doing even makes a difference. I know it does {even if it doesn't always seem like it}, and that's why I do it, but sometimes it's nice to go running, and to be able to see results right then, for the hard work I put in the week before. It's nice to have that in at least one aspect of my life. :) Anyway, enough of all that. I just finished my last training run {3 miles!}, and am hoping and praying that I get over this very untimely cold by Sunday. I can definitely use all the prayers and positive thoughts I can get!

Which, I know it might sound silly to some people, because really, it is just a race, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not that important. But a few weeks ago my friend Breanne bore her testimony about how Heavenly Father cares about the things that we care about... if something is important to us, it is important to Him. I believe that. Running this race through the streets of NY has been something that I've been dreaming of doing for several years. It is important to me... to make it to the starting line and to run well to the finish line, and Heavenly Father knows that. I honestly feel like I've got Him on my side, rooting for me, just as much as {if not more than} all my friends and family that are cheering me on and that have supported me SO much throughout this process. It feels good. Really good! It makes me feel empowered and unstoppable. I feel ready... I've trained well, I've listened to my body and taken time off when I needed to, and I know that I've put the time and miles in that I needed to, and now I'm excited to get out there and see what I can do!

So wish me luck and we'll see you back here in a few days for the race report!

Pumpkin carvin' time!

2011-10-26T20:44:00.000-04:00

This was Bart during the carving

This is Bart when I took his binky away.

Bart climbed up onto the table by himself to play with the pumpkins. He kept trying to eat and lick them. Gross.

He was very good at taking the top off then putting it on again. Oh, and don't worry that he wore those PJs all day today.

Is it obvious that Asher drew one of the eyes on the pumpkin on the right? :)

The kids were SO excited to carve pumpkins and were so pleased with the outcomes. It is amazing how easy it is to bring joy into their little lives. I love it. And I love them.

Bronx Zoo

2011-10-23T10:20:00.000-04:00

We went on a family outing to the Bronx Zoo on Friday since Asher had school off. Aside from it being way colder than I anticipated, it was a great day. Of course, there were a few annoying moments that were to be expected, but the kids had a blast. We went on the monorail, saw the lions, watched the Dora 4-D movie (of course), ate lunch while looking at the flamingos, rode the bug carousel twice, went through the mouse house, saw the birds and penguins (Apparently those exhibits are not people's faves... totally empty. Lucky us!) then took a nice long scenic walk back to the zoo entrance, where Asher talked Nate into letting him ride the camel (which was the only money we spent the entire day!!). On the way back to the subway we stopped at a playground and let the kids run wild, then headed home. Asher and Sayer were both sound asleep by 6pm. Bart of course fell asleep on the subway ride home so he didn't go to bed until much later.

I loved being with just our little family all day!

Bart is already channeling the Christmas spirit!! On the subway ride there.

Waiting in line for the monorail

View from the monorail platform, overlooking the Bronx river

Our little fam on the monorail

Bart and I hung out while dad and the boys watched Dora

Lunch with the flamingos in the background

Cheese? Bart kept saying cheese during lunch. Didn't know he knew that word.

1st time around

Bart looked like he was going to fall asleep, but apparently he won the battle and managed to stay awake the entire day.

2nd time around

Dad and Asher on the camel!

Sayer's camel ride! Of course, Sayer insisted the he did NOT want to ride the camel. But as soon as he saw Asher and dad doing it, he wanted to do it. Sayer takes awhile to warm up to new ideas.

Lately...

2011-10-23T09:24:00.002-04:00

We've been spending a lot of time in our "library" (aka, the corner that where I put big pillows and a cushy chair and a basket for the library books) and getting as much park time in before the cold weather hits

Central Park after church...

I love this picture. Such a sweet sweet face!

Handsome Sayer!

Asher and I were having a very in-depth conversation about something. Wish I could remember what.

Bart has become an expert climber. He is constantly going up and down, up and down. He's crazy. And crazy cute! Just look at this face.

These last 12 pictures are from our old camera that Bart dropped in the bathtub so it no longer works. Thankfully the memory card was still totally intact. It's amazing how dull they are compared to our new one.

Museum of Natural History

2011-10-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

We've made a couple of trips to the MONH in the last couple of weeks. This last time we met up with my cousin Christian who is now living in Brooklyn. It was so great to get together and catch up while Sayer and Bart enjoyed the splendors the museum has to offer. We of course spent sometime in the whale room which is one of our faves, then we checked out the deer and moose and antelope and other animals of that sort. From there we headed to the dinosaurs. Bart is proving to be an independent minded little stinker. He loves to be able to run free, but when he has to be detained or re-routed for any reason, he. gets. ticked. He likes to do the whole "go-limp-throw-head-back-and-thrash-and-kick-legs-and-arms-all-over-the-place" thing. It's really fantastic. But, he is still super cute and cuddly, so we forgive him.

Another successful trip to the museum, and a wonderful chat with my cuz. It was a good day!

My friend runs fast!!

2011-10-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

One of my good friends ran her first marathon this last weekend!! For a normal person, that would mean that their main goal would be to just finish the race. Breanne however, was not only running her first marathon, but was also shooting to qualify for the Olympic trials. Yeah, she's amazing. Did I mention that her baby is 1? Well she is. Some friends and I wanted to be there to watch her cross the finish line, so we borrowed a car and drove up early {EARLY} in order to be there before they closed the roads. We had a lovely breakfast at a little mom n' pop place called Ashley's. It was good. It was also $6! Not too shabby. From there we headed over to the 1.5 mile mark, that was also the 5 mile mark and not far from the 8 mile mark. We got to see Breanne 3 times before she headed into the finish line. In order to qualify, she needed to get under 2:46 {that's a 6:19 minute mile pace people!}. Unfortunately, she woke up with severe stomach pain, and somehow made it to the starting line, and was able to run 26.2 with this pain. She crossed the finish line at 2:54 (5th place overall!!), and immediately passed out. Poor thing had to go to the hospital right after her marathon debut. She is fine now, lounging on the beaches of Hawaii, with her cute little fam, as we speak. She was definitely bummed that she didn't reach her goal, but rest assured, she will get out there again, and when she does, she is going to ROCK it!

Hartford was beautiful! This is the capitol building.

Kate, Mel, and me holding up our totally awesome signage!

I had so much fun with these ladies!

Adorable Kenna. Who, by the way, pretty much looked like this the entire day... including the hours spent in the hospital ER. Not a peep from her the whole time. Angel.

Breanne at mile 5

Again at mile 8

Congrats on an amazing first marathon Breanne!!

**A few of these pictures are taken from Breanne's blog

This morning...

2011-09-23T07:49:00.000-04:00

~ Helped Asher with homework for 45 minutes. That's on top of the 45+ minutes that we spent last night on it. Ridiculous. After the first 40 with him, I had to tag-team out with Nate. He finished the rest in 2 minutes. That right there tells you how unproductive kids will be when you start losing your patience.

~ While wiping Sayer's bum (I know, such a glamorous life), he says: "Mom! I did a huge poopy..." he then proceeds to raise his right arm and point behind him to the toilet and says "TA-DAAAAA!!!!" in a sing-songy voice no less. That kid is so awesome.

~ Bribed Asher with an oreo cookie to get him to answer some questions about his weekly poem for school... at 7:00 am. Yes, I have become that mother. Please don't judge me. It was not a proud moment.

~ Asher, after saying family prayer this morning: "Now I have 3 blessings in my body!" Yes you do, sweet boy. And more. **A sidenote on this for my own documentation... last week, Asher was in a phase where he would not say prayers... "I have enough blessings in my body!" he would say... Then Nate and I had a very nice talk with him about how Heavenly Father wants us to talk to Him, and how He wants to hear all about our day, and how it makes Him so happy, plus a few other things, and ever since then, he has been saying the prayer all by himself.

Real time pictures

2011-09-20T10:21:00.001-04:00

So clearly I have been busy. I am pretty much caught up on the blog which I am super happy about. I still have to gather some pictures from Nate's camera, but we are pretty much there. I just got the blogging bug last night and then this morning kept going. Sorry for the over load on your google readers. The boys were looking at the blogs this morning (so yes, these pictures are actually from TODAY) and Sayer thought the one of them swaddled was so funny and he wanted to do it again. So we did.

Asher didn't have school yesterday or today, so he wanted in on the fun too.

Then I thought it would be fun to add Barty in the mix too... he was not happy about it.

He lasted about 10 seconds before he made his way out of the swaddle

Looking at the blanket in disgust.

Broadway Presbyterian Street Fair

2011-09-20T09:29:00.004-04:00

Asher's preschool does a street every Spring. I was on the fundraising committee, so I did the bake sale table decor. It was pretty last minute but I wanted it to look at least semi-cute. The whole fair was a success and lots of fun for the kids.

Trip to CA

2011-09-20T09:24:00.003-04:00

Back in May I went to CA to visit my new niece Pepper. That is where I took the plunge and chopped my hair off. :)

Little baby Pepper does not look like this anymore. She is now an adorable chubby little thing. I can't wait to see her in... 3 months? :(

Also while in CA, I got to see my parents house that they have been building for-e-ver. It was pretty much finished, but they were still waiting for approval to officially move in. This house has been my mom's baby for years. She derives great pleasure from talking to anyone who will listen about the minute details of this house... from the light fixtures to the crown molding to the tile designs she used in each bathroom. Oh mother. We love you for it! :) Seriously though, my parents (mom especially) did such an amazing job designing this house. It is going to be a fantastic place to visit with the kids now that there is so much more space. We are having the inaugural Christmas this year, and it promises to be an absolute blast!! Can't wait.

The living room.

Entry way looking into the family room

The beautiful staircase

The emblem. This actually cracks me up. It is so fancy, it looks like it belongs in the lobby of a ritzy hotel. But no, it's in our entry way. Ha! Love it.

The kids closet. My mom is going to put a light and books in here for a little play place for the kids. They will love it.

My mom finally got her dream kitchen.

They re-finished our table, chairs and hutch. They look like different pieces of furniture all together!

Lexy sitting in the spacious family room

The second floor landing. Fancy iron work.

More of the kitchen

The butlers pantry that leads into the dining room. I think this is one of the coolest rooms. So great for entertaining!

and of course the doggy door

My proud mother standing in the doorway of their office.

Nice job mom! Can't wait to visit in December!!!!

More silly boys

2011-09-20T08:54:00.002-04:00

And this is our awesome pleather couch... of course it has a seam right down the front and center. It started as just a tiny little hole, but with these crazies, it wasn't long before it looked like this. We'll probably have to get a slipcover or something.

Cookies and music with friends

2011-09-20T08:50:00.000-04:00

This was the weekend of Hurricane Irene, so we were all pretty much stuck inside. But thankfully we live in the same building with good friends and our other good friends (who have since moved away :( ) lived just a couple blocks away, so we got together for cookies and visiting. Nate's brother Andy and his wife were in town (I know, terrible time to visit NY) so they played a little for us. It was a great night, and kind of our last hurrah with the Becks (our friends who moved). Thanks for hosting Palmers and we miss you Becks!!!

Chase, James, Sayer and Jackson. Asher was already in bed. It made it a much less hectic evening. ;)

Saturday in Central Park

2011-09-20T08:38:00.001-04:00

This was a few weeks ago, and I think, is at the top of my list of favorite NYC days. We started out at the Central Park Zoo, which to be honest is just ok. But the Children's Zoo is really cute and fun for the kids. After the zoo we headed to that same park with the huge long slide. After prying the kids away from the slide, we started walking home and stopped and sat on a bench while the boys climbed rocks and Barty charmed everyone who walked by. It was a perfectly beautiful day, the park was beautiful (as always) and everybody in our little family just had a great time. You can't beat that.

Victoria Gardens.... a little amusement park that is open in the summers at the south east end of the park. It's expensive.

Popsicles

Oops. He got his foot stuck.

Barty had so much fun running around and climbing everything he possibly could

I love this picture!

I love this picture of Bart mid-run

Brother time in the egg

Seal show at the zoo

Random Elmo sighting.

A boy's heaven... huge rocks to climb

Barty loves pushing around the scooter. He is starting to actually ride it and it's pretty awesome.

I love Central Park. It really is an amazing place. Sometimes I still can't believe that we live in this amazing city.

Labor day

2011-09-20T08:23:00.001-04:00

On Labor Day we headed to Central Park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and we ended up having a wonderful family outing.

This was our picnic area. It was the perfect place for the boys... huge rocks to climb on and a perfect tree for climbing.

Of course Barty was wherever the food was. "Want some?!"

That little spot under his eye is a mosquito bite. He gets really bad reactions to them. It's sad.

I love this picture.

A bagpiper graced us with his presence and music. He was pretty good. Asher couldn't get enough of him. Thankfully, he never stopped playing long enough for Asher to 1. ask him endless questions and 2. ask him if he could play it.

He was mad because I took the water bottle away.

Still watching him

still watching

Someone is supposed to be sleeping. This seems to be a recurring picture.

At the playground after we had our fill of rocks and trees and bagpipe music.

This little boy took great care of Bart. :)

Granny Ostegar

2011-09-20T08:09:00.001-04:00

My Aunt sent out this picture of us with our Granny Ostegar. I think it's such a darling picture. From left to right: My brother Joel, my cousin Chad sitting next to Granny, Whitney is up front on the floor, cousin Christian is on the other side of Granny, cousin Kari then me in the pigtails. Isn't our 70s couch rad?! Thanks for sending this along Aunt LJ!

Horse cake

2011-09-20T08:05:00.002-04:00

I made this cake for Asher's friend's birthday party. She loves horses. They are definitely not my specialty, but I did my best. I have decided that I don't love making characters out of fondant... it's not really what I want to specialize in. I am more about making things really pretty and classy, but it's fun to do these for my kids birthdays. My friend asked me to do this pretty last minute, and it was my first paid cake. It's not amazing, but her daughter was SO pleased with it. When she saw it, she said to Asher: "I am SO glad that your mommy made me that cake!" It was pretty sweet. The cake was also really yummy. I used the better homes and gardens yellow cake recipe (my favorite) and it was so moist. I frosted it with chocolate ganache, which got lots of compliments. I tell ya, you just can't go wrong with ganache!

Bart turned ONE!

2011-09-20T07:58:00.001-04:00

Bart turned one back on April 27th. We didn't do a big party or anything, but I made some cakes so that we could sing to him and he could have his first bite of cake. We didn't even get him any gifts or anything. Poor third children. I promise, when he gets old enough to remember his birthdays, I'll be better. Well, really it can only go up from here. Just scroll down to get a look at his "cake". It completely fell apart when I flipped one of the layers over to put it on top of the other layer. I then proceeded to frost it, hoping that the frosting would help it hold together. It was pretty tragic looking. I am ashamed to even put it up here. But honestly, so much of baking and cake decorating is trial and error. This one turned out to be a big error. It was good though. :)

Bart on the other hand, looks absolutely adorable, as usual. He is now almost 17 months and is such a delight to have in our home. Both Nate and I are completely in love with him. It's pretty impossible not to love such an adorable kid. He is so energetic and charismatic and HAPPY. He loves his big brothers so much and wants so much to be just like them. He is a crazy climber. He is starting to take an interest in books, but still won't really let me read him an entire book. But he likes to look through them on his own. He also has a bit of an attitude... he definitely knows how to let us know that he is not happy. It's in the phase where it's still pretty comical, but I have a feeling, it's not going to be long before it starts trying my nerves. He has been experimenting with hitting which is just wonderful. I told you, he can be a little stinker. He has started jabbering non-stop and it is pretty stinkin' cute. He loves to dance and clap to music, and has the cutest walk/run. He kind of sticks out his stomach and lifts his feet and legs straight up in front of him. Hard to describe but so funny. I will have to get a video. Despite him being a little bit of a stinker, he is such a sweet, cuddly little boy. He loves to come up and hug people's legs and rest his head on our legs or shoulders if we're holding him. He absolutely loves my friend Emilee. We were at the park yesterday and she sat on the ground and he basically came running and jumped in her arms. He is a total charmer and steals many heart while we are out and about.

Here are some pics from his FIRST birthday...

Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast

the cake

at least Barty's little cake turned out fine

He wasn't quite sure of his cake, but I think he warmed up to it after a while.

Want some??

Tribeca Film Festival

2011-09-20T07:37:00.001-04:00

This was back in March or April. We went to the Tribeca Film Festival. It was pretty fun. Basically though, anything free in NYC is just completely crowded, which often translates to it being not that fun. There were some fun things for the kids to do, and a really cool park that the kids loved playing at after the festivities, and we met up with friends which helped it turn into a pretty successful outing.

Clearly, Nate was having a fabulous time. ;) He doesn't like crowds.

Bumps and bruises

2011-09-20T07:29:00.000-04:00

I never posted a picture of Asher's stitches.

A couple days after Asher's stitches, Sayer got this shiner from playing on a toy at the playground. This was a couple days later so it was looking a little better. Also that same week, but not pictured, Bart fell and hit a light socket (they are boxes, not flush with the wall) right between his eyes. Thankfully it wasn't deep at all, but it bled plenty. My poor little guys. If only they would listen to their mother and not rough house.! ;)

More Chelsea Splash Park pics

2011-09-20T07:25:00.002-04:00

I found these on my desktop. There aren't any pictures of the actual park, but this is all of us on the way home. I thought it was pretty representative of getting around in NYC. Breanne also took a video of us down in the subway getting all the strollers down the stairs... it was quite the sight, but I couldn't get it to upload.

Goodbye curls

2011-09-19T22:34:00.005-04:00

I cut Sayer's hair. Nate made me. He still looks super cute though. And quite grown up.

Asher likes to take pictures!

2011-09-19T22:31:00.001-04:00

He really has quite the eye, don't you think?!

Random playtimes

2011-09-19T21:33:00.001-04:00

A visit with the Carsons!

2011-09-19T21:29:00.001-04:00

While Nate was at a conference in Mexico, the kids and I headed to Connecticut to visit with our friends the Carsons that used to live below us. We had a great few days filled with playing in the backyard, riding bikes, slip and sliding, swimming, playing at the park, making s'mores over a backyard fire pit after the kids went to bed, and just hanging around the house. A real, absolutely adorable house, with a garage and backyard and everything. I'm not jealous at all. Eric was so nice to drive into the city to pick us up, and take us home. It was kind of funny actually, the whole fam came back to the city with us, and I kept Peter in our apt while Debbie and Eric took Owen with them to get something to eat. The boys did so great in CT... no fighting at all, but they were in our apt for all of an hour and a half before things started to go south. It's amazing how much of an affect a small space will have on kids.

Asher

Sayer

Peter

Their house from the backyard. Loved their house!

They found a toad in the backyard

Putting the toad in the water and watching it... swim? Drown? One of those.

Owen

Thank you Carsons for a wonderful weekend!!

Chelsea water park

2011-09-19T21:18:00.001-04:00

This was one of 2 water parks that we went to in Chelsea. I don't think I have pictures of the other one, but they were both fun outings with great friends.

Cute Jayden.

Big boys spinning round and round.

These two are adorable! Barty was super happy walking around with his plum. He is usually pretty content as long as he has food. ;)

Breanne and adorable little Kenna. She is mine and Asher's favorite little girl. She is seriously adorable!

Saying goodbye!

2011-09-19T21:08:00.004-04:00

Our neighbors and dear friends, the Wassermans, moved to Texas this summer. Clare was one of my first friends when we moved to NYC, and her girls are pretty much the same age as our boys. They have become the best little friends, and have had so many wonderful experiences together. We are already missing them and hope that we never fall out of touch with them. We always joke that we will get our kids together when they are 16, when they are all awkward, and show them all the pictures of them together during our 3 wonderful years of living in the same building.

Just a random picture of Barty during our last movie party with the girls.

This was the best picture I could get. They don't look very happy, but I promise they were having fun. It was early in the morning. We love these cute little girls!

One last hug goodbye right before they headed to the airport.

So cute!

Banjo Jim's

2011-09-19T20:59:00.002-04:00

Nate played a gig with the Sabre Rattlers, at Banjo Jim's down on the lower east side, about a month ago. It was a total hole in the wall bar that was closing down for renovations or something. Not surprising. They had a great set and quite a few people came out to show their support, not deterred by the torrential downpour that occurred on our way down there. I don't think my jeans or shoes ever dried. My friend Clare came with us because she had never really heard Nate play before. We had a great time together... one last outing before they moved! :( After the gig, we went with some friends to find some dessert. I can't remember the name of the place we ended up at, but we had some pretty scrumptious crepes and good company. It was very fun night!

Kyle, Mark, Nate

Me and Clare!

Basketball

2011-09-19T20:51:00.002-04:00

We made it to a free basketball camp in Riverside park, once this summer. They offered them every week or something, but that is just our reality... go once or twice, and that's it. We don't have enough organization in our house to take full advantage of all the free stuff in the city. But we did go once, and the boys had fun. It was super unorganized, so they basically just shot hoops for an hour, which was fine with them. It was pretty funny watching the coaches try to get the kids together for some organized drills. It was not happening. At least not for my kids. I don't know why I don't have any pictures of Asher. He was there too. All over the place, as usual. :) On this day, we went to a fun new park afterward for a picnic. No pictures, but we had a nice time. And then we took the bus home, which never fails to excite my boys.

Music and dance in the parks

2011-09-19T20:45:00.001-04:00

We went to a couple of these this summer. They were pretty fun, but my boys only stay engaged for so long. Sayer is much more musically inclined than Asher, so he enjoyed it a little more, but in general, it was just too hot to be sitting there for so long. Don't they all just look so hot and sweaty in the last picture??!?

Jackson, Asher, Chase, Sayer, Lillian

Chase, Sayer, Lillian

I think this picture is so great. Jackson, Chase, Asher and Sayer.

Rainbow City at the Highline in Chelsea

2011-09-19T20:34:00.001-04:00

This was sometime earlier in the summer... like July I think. It was a very hot day, I know that. It was the last day of the exhibit and no one was there, so that was pretty awesome. The kids had a blast jumping in the bounce house thingy-s. We went with some friends who ended up having to take a cab home after one of the twins touched a pretzel cart and burnt her finger. :( So sad.

After we had our fill of Rainbow City, we headed up to Highline Park, which is a raised park built on an old railroad line. It's pretty cool, but not the funnest thing for kids. Apparently they have some pretty fun activities for kids on Saturday mornings, but we never made it to those. They still managed to have a pretty good time. However, the Highline is not a great place to visit on a scorching hot day with not a cloud in the sky. Blah. We didn't last too long up there.

Imagination Playground

2011-09-19T20:26:00.004-04:00

My kids love this place! It's down at the South Seaport, right by Pier 17, I believe. We went several times throughout the summer and were never disappointed. They could play uninterrupted for hours and did such creative things with the foam blocks in the water. At one point, Asher had made some sort of spaceship that he was riding on. I was pretty impressed myself. After playing around for hours, we would head over to the pier and watch all the boats go by and look at the Brooklyn Bridge. Of course we would stop and get ice cream on the way home. It's not a summer day without ice cream or some other form of cold treat.

The subway ride home...

At first it's all fun and games...

And then it gets ugly...

nothing daddy's iphone can't fix...

Friends again!

The most recent trip...

Sayer still had his adorable curls. This was a couple of weeks ago.

We rode the solar powered Carousel sponsored by GE. It was pretty cool, but went so fast that it actually made me really sick to my stomach. I must be getting old.

Sayer wanted nothing to do with the horses the first time around.

Breanne trying to pretend she doesn't feel like she is going to throw up! :) and darling Kenna.

Truman and Sayer the second time around. He had a blast!

This was one of my first days with just 2 kids since Asher is gone all day. I have to say, it is SO much easier getting around with just 2. I'll try not to get too used to it. ;)

Swaddling

2011-09-19T20:05:00.002-04:00

Please dis-regard Asher's disgusting blanket.

I still got it!

Anything Goes

2011-09-06T19:09:00.002-04:00

Louise, Heidi, Hailey, Sharon, Lane, Me

Back in July I saw Anything Goes. This is another must see. Just all around funny and entertaining. Sutton Foster was brilliant. The costumes were fabulous. Great music. This show also had one of THE best group tap numbers that I have ever seen in my life. It's worth seeing it just for that. I would also suggest going with a group of girlfriends to make the night extra memorable. Thanks for a lovely evening ladies.

After the show, we walked a ways to get some ice cream. As we were walking out of Times Square we saw the enormous "I'm a Mormon" add. It has been really cool to see this ad, as well as the ones on top of taxis that are being driven all over town. Love it.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

2011-09-04T07:38:00.000-04:00

Wow. This is a big deal for me.... I am actually blogging about something right after it happened. You should all savor this moment. Jill came in town and last night we went and saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and I had to blog about it right away because it was that good. I had a smile on my face from ear to ear the entire time. It is such a fun, fast moving, witty show, and Daniel Radcliffe just stole the show. Seriously, Jill and I both agree that he was made for this role. He sings and dances, and while his singing voice isn't "broadway amazing", it is very good, and on top of that, he just gives every moment of the show his absolute all. I can't even describe it. He was most definitely having the time of his life up there. The big company dance numbers were so, SO fun. All of the characters, particularly Bud Frump, were delightfully funny. I don't often feel like I need to see a Broadway show more than one time, I would usually prefer to see a new show, but I would happily watch this over and over, it was so entertaining. I am already hoping to take Nate to see it, and then my parents when they come in town in November, and anyone else who comes into town and wants to see it. Daniel will only be in it until December, so I've got to squeeze as many viewings in as possible. Thanks to our rush tickets (for $30) we were in like the 7th row, which just made it even better to be so close and see how much energy they were putting into everything. I. loved it. A must see. Hopefully I am not talking it up too much, but I just had to say how much I loved this show. 5 stars!!!!

Asher is in kindergarten!

2011-09-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

Isn't his little uniform so cute?! Just wait til you see the sweater for when it gets colder. The older boys wear orange neckties. SO adorable!

Hugging Sayer before his first day. Look at these 3 sweet boys!

His backpack is so ginormous

Cute Sayer. He wanted to be starting his preschool so badly. Soon little buddy.

My handsome little dude. He is such an awesome little kid. I love him!

I don't really know where to begin with this post. I'm warning you now that this will be a long one. I have been thinking about this stuff for months now, and now it's all gonna come pouring out. :)

Asher started kindergarten 2 and a half weeks ago, and since then, I feel like I have gone through a million different emotions. Ok, so even before he came close to starting, I was having lots of emotions. :)

I actually have pretty strong opinions when it comes to kindergarten, especially for boys, so it is pretty shocking to me that we are doing pretty much the opposite of what I was hoping to do for Asher... I initially wanted to wait until he was 6 to put him in, because he has a later birthday and I have read a lot about boys struggling with the accelerated curriculum in kindergarten, which in turn can lead to them having a negative school experience. I read a book called Nurture Shock that talks a lot about this one program called Tools of the Mind that is a very successful play-based preschool and kindergarten curriculum, and I became a little obsessed with this idea. I think because it seemed like Asher would fit into it a lot better. He is a very active, curious little boy, and I just couldn't imagine him in a more traditional school setting, learning to read and write, etc. He has never been interested in that until this last summer. Every time I would try to sit with him and sound out letters or learn to write letters, he didn't want to do it, so I didn't want to force it.

So there are a few reasons why we are not doing what I wanted to do. First of all, in New York, they do not let you hold your kids back, unless there is a serious delay. The cut-off date is December 31st, so you have a lot of younger kids in the classes. The only way to get around this is private schools. Not an option. So not only are you not allowed to hold the kids back, but kindergarten in NYC is all day. As in 9-3 or something similar to that. This has always been a huge issue for me, and really, still is.

Secondly, as we got closer to the end of his preschool, and the beginning of kindergarten, I started to feel like he was ready. His little mind is like a sponge right now. I swear, he remembers everything he hears and is constantly asking questions and wanting to understand things better. He was also starting to show an interest in learning to read and write. I just felt like it would be best to start him in kindergarten while he is passionate about learning, and hopefully, he will have a good experience that will allow him to keep his passion and curiosity going. Him and I also seemed to be at a point where we were constantly against each other. He was fighting me on everything, and I really felt like it would be a good thing for us to have some separation. On top of that, I feel like it is Sayer's turn to get some more mommy attention. I feel like I don't know Sayer as well, and part of that is because he hasn't really figured himself out because he always just follows Asher. It will be so good for him to become his own person without Asher.

So all that was left to do was pick a school for Asher. Sounds simple, right? Ha! So. many. choices. The school system in Manhattan is ridiculous. Aside from all the choices, you have all the parents telling you what to do and what not to do. People get pretty snobby about where you send your kids to school, and it is very easy to get caught up in it all. For some reason, unless it's a gifted and talented program, people have huge issues with just the regular old public schools here. Well gifted and talented was not an option for us, and we didn't want to do a school that was far away, so we just went with our neighborhood schools which we were pretty ok with. He got into both of them and I was all prepared to send him to one of them, when we decided last minute to enter the lottery for the Harlem Success Academy, which is a nationally ranked charter school. If you have seen Waiting for Superman or The Lottery, it is talked about in those films. I had very mixed feelings about this as it is very intense, and goes against everything I believed kids should experience in kindergarten. I wanted it to be relaxed and fun, mostly play, not a lot of homework. But this program is very intense. First of all, it goes from 7:45 am to 4:00 pm. Ahhh! Crazy, right?! For a 5 year old! Homework every night. Huge parental expectations. Very rigorous academically... they are supposed to be reading by January and then reading at a level 5 (whatever that means) by the end of the school year. Very strict discipline system, lots of structure. It was very intimidating for me, let a lone a 5 year old. But on the other hand, they do a science experiment in kindergarten everyday. Asher loves science! The teachers are supposedly amazing. Some part of me felt like the structure would be good for Asher. It is also supposed to be a fun learning environment. So it wasn't all bad. We were put on the wait list, and watched throughout the summer as it seemed more and more likely that he would get in. And then he got in. Both Nate and I went back and forth about whether or not this would be the right choice for Asher, but we eventually felt like it would be a good thing to at least try, and if it didn't work out, we could just pull him and figure something else out.

Well, the first week and a half were half days, which was really nice. He was all smiles after the few days. Then one day he had a bad day. I think he got a lot of check marks (part of their discipline system) and it seemed like he was discouraged and felt sad about it. He seemed defeated. He told me on the walk home that he missed his preschool teacher Kathryn because she didn't have a lot of rules. Gah! It was pretty heart wrenching. Nate and I talked a lot that night about how maybe it was too much for him. But we definitely felt like we needed to give it a little more time. I mean, he has to learn how to be in a classroom setting no matter what school he goes to. They are going to have rules everywhere, so he might as well get used to it. The next day he clung to my leg at the entrance to the school (SO not like Asher). He cried and said he wanted to stay with me. It took about 15 minutes before he finally let go and walked in. I watched him walk up the stairs (we are not allowed to go with them) with his huge backpack on, and as soon as he was around the corner, I walked away fighting to hold the tears back. I wanted to pull him out right then and there. I thought about him and worried about him all day. Nate even took part of the day off to take Sayer and Bart so that I could go pick him up alone and spend some special time with him. I was all prepared for the worst. When I went to pick him up, he was happy as can be. He had had a great day and couldn't stop talking about science and how he had stayed on green (another part of the discipline system) all day. My heart was light again. It was amazing. I realized that I needed to give him more credit. Kids are so resilient and I think can handle so much more than we think they can. It has only gone up from there.

Since then, he has started full days, and aside from me feeling like we don't have nearly enough time for everything in the evenings, he has been doing so great. Thriving actually. I realize that it is only 2 and a half weeks in, but I cannot believe what a difference I've seen in him already. It feels like he understands that he is now a big FIVE year old, and in KINDERGARTEN, and he is stepping it up. He comes home and tells me and Nate all about his day, and sings songs that he has learned, and tells me what Mrs. Kyle and Ms. Reid say, and how he "got only one check mark, but fixed it straightaway" and beams when he tells me he "was on green ALL day!". He is so proud of himself and his accomplishments so far, and not once has he complained about doing homework. He actually likes it. I have been completely amazed. I realize that this can all change at any point, especially once the novelty of it all wears off, but I just keep hoping and praying that he continues to love it and excel. I do still feel bad that his days are so long, and he doesn't seem to have near enough down time, but he is being a champ about it all. It is such a weird thing to have him gone all day... he is off being his own person. I know he absolutely loves that aspect of it, but that is what is hard for me. He just seems too little to be on his own without me for such a long time. I should probably feel bad that he doesn't seem to "need" me, but it makes me feel so much better knowing that he is having fun in school, instead of pining away for his mama.

Anyway... thanks to all of you that have made it to the end of this post. I really just needed to get all of my thoughts down before I forgot them all. I will have to get some pictures of his teachers soon. They are both so cute and amazing with the kids. I cannot imagine a harder job than being a kindergarten teacher and having to be "on" for such a long day. Major props to them.

NYC Tri

2011-08-15T21:39:00.003-04:00

Well, it's over folks. We did it. My tri team and I did the NYC triathlon a week ago yesterday, and it. was. cool. I for sure have to come back to NYC one of these years just to do this triathlon again, and next time, you can bet I'll be doing the whole thing. It was such an exciting event to be a part of. Thousands of people gathered together to do this crazy thing, starting off in the wee hours of the morning, not to mention the pouring rain. Elite and professional athletes compete in this race, and it was so cool to watch them go through the transition area after each leg (the one cool thing about not doing the entire thing), seriously just bookin' it. Crazy.

My leg of the race, the swim, was so fun. There was so much excitement in the air once the elite/pro group started things off. They did this different kind of start, called a time trial start. They would have 20 athletes sit on the edge of the barge and send them into the water with a whistle blow, wait 10 seconds, then send the next 20 athletes in. I couldn't believe how quickly it moved along. This method was very helpful in reducing the beginning of the race chaos that I experienced in the only other open water swim I've done, and there were probably only about 50 women in my age group in that one. It was also kind of nice, because you literally didn't have a chance to be nervous about jumping in. You seriously just had to jump in and go. Quick side note about being on the barge... for those of you Biggest Loser fans out there, runner up Hannah was lined up right in front of me, so she jumped in 10 seconds before me. Kinda cool. I, of course, finished before her, but that's not important. ;) Her sister Olivia did the bike.

Anyway, moving on...

Ok, so right when I jumped in, I just got goin', and was immediately caught off guard by how rough the water was, not to mention the honest to goodness waves... one right after the next. I consider myself a very strong and capable swimmer, but I remember at one point thinking "I am not going to be able to keep this up for a mile". I felt like I could barely get a breath in without getting slammed in the face by a wave. And on top of all this, the water is seriously nasty and salty, and that's the other thing I am thinking is "gross, this water is actually going in my mouth". But thankfully, after a few minutes, the waves were fewer and further between, and I got into a groove, and just swam. It felt very good to be passing lots of different color caps (I was in the last wave of women) as I kept going. I was really enjoying myself, actually, and loved the feeling of swimming along-side so many other people. I had absolutely no concept of time once in the water, so the end-barge caught me a little off-guard, but it was nice to be done. They had a ramp running into the water, and volunteers helping to pull us out, and from there, we had a 700 meter barefoot run back to transition. All I remember about this, was that it was a lot longer than I imagined, and that my calves were killing me for some reason. And that was it! I ran into transition and passed our timing chip to Clare, and she was off.

When Clare came back from her bike, her sister Amy took off for the run, and we both headed over to Central Park to be there when Amy finished. We ran a little of the way up 72nd with the runners, and the crowd was awesome. They had the whole road blocked off from Riverside to Central Park West, and there were tons of people cheering. I felt a little like a poser, accepting their cheers of congratulations, when I knew full well that all I did was the swim. Oh well. :) After Amy finished, we got some pictures, got our times and then got massages! It was wonderful, even if my lady wasn't very good. It just felt good to be laying down relaxing. In order to head home, I had to walk all the way back to transition to get my wetsuit, then all the way back to the subway. I don't know why I didn't notice the free pedi-cabs transporting athletes until the very end... that would have been really nice. Anyway, when I got home, I had a nice, long shower and crawled into bed for a couple of hours, then I got up, and got right back to being a mom. :)

My final swim time was 19 minutes and 40 something seconds. I can't remember exactly. But I do remember that I was the second girl out of the women's relay teams to finish the swim. Woot woot! ;) It was a great day, and I can't wait to do it again someday.

Clare and her husband Nick in the morning. Nick did the whole thing and did awesome!

Me and Clare right before I headed off for the swim. I was seriously worried about getting my wetsuit on in the rain, so I made sure I had plenty of time to coax it on. :)

Our team, Amy, Clare, Me

Coming into transition from the swim. This is seriously the worst picture ever. I even had dirt from the river on my face, which makes me look like I have a mustache.

Clare, right in the middle, heading out for the bike

Amy getting prepped for the run

A cool picture of transition with all the bikes gone

Hannah from biggest loser, and Olivia's husband is on the left. The bald one. Don't ask my why she is still wearing her wetsuit. She wore it all day. Those things are seriously uncomfortable, so I can't imagine why she wanted to keep it on.

Clare coming in from the bike. Horrible picture. Sorry Clare.

Amy after the run


The three of us with our medals. Notice our awesome MDA team jerseys! It was such an amazing experience to race for a charity. I had Timmy on my mind throughout the morning and my swim. It's such a cool thing when a race and raising money for a charity go hand in hand, which they do so beautifully. They both require a belief that what you're doing is representative of something bigger... hard work, determination, sacrifice, getting out of your comfort zone, being a part of something that is not all about you, fighting for something. I love it. Thanks again to everyone who donated and honored Timmy's memory.

It was great doing this with you ladies!!

Is it Fall yet?

2011-08-15T15:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday and today have been rainy and cold-ish out here on the east coast. So this morning when I woke up to darkness and clouds and rain, what came to mind was fall, and with that, pumpkin bread. So yes, today, August 15th, I made pumpkin bread, and it was delicious. Although when I was looking in my cookbook for the recipe, there was a recipe for lemon bread on the page across from it. I probably should have made that instead... more season appropriate. Oh well. Next week perhaps.

Asher and I were going to do it together, but it ended up being me making it while Asher made a mess of the family room. He still looks super cute though.

This does bring up the question: "am I ready for Fall?", and you know, I think I just might be. Summer has been great and fun, relaxed, and... HOT, but I think I am ready for cooler temps, warm comfort food, jeans and long sleeves, and a little more structure. Almost, anyway. Give me a few more weeks. But Asher does start school this week (more on that later), so maybe that's why I feel like I'm in the Fall mindset. I do, however, have to be very careful about wishing for the start of cooler weather, because it will only mean the beginning of a long, cold winter indoors. Blah. Got to appreciate the warm weather while I can.

So yeah. Anyway... pumpkin bread in August. Try it! :)

Tomorrow: Race Day!

2011-08-06T14:10:00.001-04:00

Well folks, tomorrow is the day! Nautica NYC Triathlon, here I come. I am ready and excited for my swim portion of the race. I have my wetsuit, bright pink swim cap, and I got sufficiently pumped up at the race briefing with my team yesterday. It's gonna be a good day... starting bright and early at 3:30am! As we were at the race briefing and expo yesterday, I found myself wishing that I could be doing the whole race. Oh well. Another year. :)

I would just like to thank so many of you who have helped me be able to even do this race by donating to MDA in memory of Timothy Fegan. Let's just say that it is clear from the donors, that Timmy is much more loved than I am, because it was through the generosity of his loving family and friends that we were able to raise and contribute so much money to MDA/SMA division. It's ok, I've come to terms with this knowledge. To be honest, it warms my heart to know that Timmy was such a special part of so many people's lives. I received many emails from his family members, sharing memories, and thanking me for sharing a bit of his life. I am absolutely honored to be able to swim in his name, and even more than that, I feel lucky to have been able to get to know more about him and share a bit of his life with you. Thank you to Tricia and Craig for being so willing to be involved.

Think of me tomorrow morning around 6 am EST. I will be jumping in the Hudson around that time, with my wetsuit and goggles, just praying that I don't get stung by any of the jellyfish that have recently been brought to my attention. Awesome. Jellyfish in the river? I guess so.

Amount needed to participate in the triathlon for charity= $1000

Amount raised= $3605.00!!!

Thank you so much, again, to everyone who contributed!

Today...

2011-07-19T10:10:00.002-04:00

Today I want to give up.
Today I want to cry.
Today it seems like nothing I do or say to my kids ever makes any difference.
Today I sound like my mom... I find myself saying the exact same phrases, using the exact same tone that she did when we were kids.
Today I wish we didn't live in NYC, but anywhere else in the world where we could have a backyard and a room away from me where they can play and fight all they want, and I don't have to hear any of it.

The sad thing is, this has pretty much been my life everyday for a while now. My kids have decided that they would now like to begin their days at 5:30 am. 5:30 AM!!!!!!! That is with their window completely blacked out with cardboard and foil. And I can't just make them stay in there because Bart is still asleep and they apparently don't understand what the words "be quiet so you don't wake up Bart" mean. It is absolutely ridiculous. Especially when they are both still so tired and all they do is whine and cry and fight until it's 7:00am, which is the designated TV time. Some days are better than others, and they will sit quietly and read or play with their toys. But many many days, it is only 9:30 am and I done.

But then, it's usually time to head outside, and things usually go up from there. So that's something, right?

It makes me sad, because I love being a mom, and I love my kids so much, and I truly love it here, but man, life right now is hard. Pretty much everyday I find myself thinking "I have absolutely no idea what I am doing." and "I don't think I can do this anymore." I am just hoping and praying that I don't completely screw my kids up from yelling at them or grabbing their arms a little more firmly than I probably should be.

And just so I don't end this post on a completely horrible note....

I am grateful that the bad is broken up with amazing bits of good and pure joy.
I am grateful that I don't have to do it alone. I have an amazing husband, wonderful friends who are a daily support and example for me, and a loving Heavenly Father who is just waiting for me, all day, every day, to reach out and ask for help. And when I do, it's usually still really hard, but I feel His love, and it helps.
I am grateful for running, because I get to be by myself... among other things :)
I am grateful that my kids go to bed at 6:00 pm.

Sometime in the next couple days I'll do a post about how amazing my kids are to make myself feel better. ;)

29 years

2011-07-16T14:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to me!

(yesterday)

I had an absolutely fantastic day yesterday. Nate let me sleep in as long as I wanted, which was 9:30, by the way. The best part was that I didn't even feel guilty about it. I woke up to donuts, chocolate milk, juice and a card from a friend. Lovely. I'm such a sucker for donuts. I gave myself permission to take the day off of working out, mostly due to the fact that my body was wasted, more than the fact that it was my birthday. I headed off to Macy's to get some shoes. Shopped around a bit. Then headed up to 73rd and Columbus to the cutest little cafe that I have always wanted to eat at, but is not really kid friendly. I sat outside, read my book, ate lunch, sipped an ice cold beverage. It was wonderful. When I got home, my neighbor called and offered to take my boys for me, so I sent them to her house and then spent the rest of the afternoon baking a cake and cupcakes for Asher's friend's birthday party that was this morning. In the evening, Nate took me out to Oliva, a spanish restaurant on Houston St. It was good. After dinner we stopped at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop for some treats. They were playing a bluegrass cd and Nate wanted to see what it was, so he asked the girl behind the counter what the cd was, and she looked at him like he was stupid and said "bluegrass". Nate just nodded his head and said "oooohhh" like he had never heard of it before. When I got home, I had to make some frosting and frost the cake so it could set up overnight. Just as I finished up, my parents called. It was nice to chat.

It was a great day. I felt loved and remembered. That was nice, and made turning 29 that much sweeter.

If you forgot my birthday, don't fret. You can just pop right over here and leave me a "birthday present" in the name of charity. $1. $5. $10. $20. $50. Whatever you can give. :)

A great day in the city

2011-07-10T21:22:00.003-04:00

The week before we left for Cape Cod, the boys and I headed out on an adventure with some friends. First stop was the Taste of Parks. They had all of the vendors from around Central Park giving out free samples right outside the Central Park Zoo. It was pretty delicious.

From there we went straight to the zoo and watched the seals, the penguins, and then watched the polar bear swim back and forth about a hundred times. It was great fun. From there, we went over to the Children's Zoo and the kids had a blast running around on the spider web and feeding the goats.

Finally, after prying them away, we headed out and walked north along the east side of the park for a bit, until we came to one of the most awesome parks we've been to in NYC. Well, really it was just a really cool slide. We were probably there for about 2 hours, and I kid you not, the kids did not stop going down that slide the entire time.

Barty slept in the stroller. Eventually, I dragged them away and we caught the cross-town bus and then the subway home. It was one of my favorite NY days with the kids.

Let's keep going!!

2011-07-08T21:19:00.002-04:00

Wow. I am completely overwhelmed by the generosity of those who have donated to the cause of Muscular Dystrophy so far. I have already surpassed my goal, but more importantly, a large donation has been made to this worthy cause. I am so incredibly grateful to those of you who have already donated. Just because my goal for the triathlon has been reached, doesn't mean that anyone has to miss out on the opportunity to give to this wonderful cause. I know there are many of you who would still love to honor Timmy's memory, help fight against SMA and support those struggling with SMA, so don't let the fact that my goal has been reached stop you. Lets keep going and see how much we can do!! Remember, every little bit helps. People giving $10 helped me to reach my goal-- no amount is too small, and no amount goes un-noticed.

Thank you all so much for your love and support!!

Click here to help!

An opportunity...

2011-07-07T13:33:00.000-04:00

On August 7th, I will be jumpin' in the Hudson River off the 98th street pier, along with some three thousand other people, for the mile long swim that is the first leg of the New York City Triathlon.

"Slather your body with vaseline"

is the advice that I have received thus far, in response to me swimming in the disgusting water that is the Hudson River. I figure if thousands of people do it every year, it can't be that harmful, right? Let's hope so. In the meantime, if you hear of something particularly nasty about the Hudson river, kindly keep it to yourself until after the race. Or forever. Thanks.

I actually have the incredible opportunity to race for a charity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). I have known a few people with MD throughout my life, one of which is someone that I remember with great fondness and affection, who had an impact on me during his short life.

I am doing this Triathlon in memory of Timothy Fegan.

Timmy was born on February 27 1985, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy at the age of one, and was my neighbor. I have very distinct memories of going over to Timmy's house to play or babysit. Most of those memories usually involve him at some point, wheezing or coughing and me freaking out and asking him if he was ok, to which he would reply, in a rather annoyed and impatient voice "I'm fine!!" It makes me laugh just thinking about it. I always thought of Timmy as having a rather dry sense of humor, as well as having a pretty accepting attitude about his illness. I had the opportunity to talk to his mom, Tricia, a couple weeks ago to find out a little more of what life was like living with this disease, for both her and Timothy.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) basically means that the nerve impulses that your brain sends to your muscles to grow and strengthen never actually make it to the muscles. So Timothy really had no muscle tone and couldn't do much of anything for himself, including holding his head up, sitting up, rolling over, and he had a hard time moving his arms and legs around. Tricia said that it was like taking care of a newborn, all the time. She even had to wake up in the middle of the night to change his position to a more comfortable one. SMA affects all muscle groups, so it also meant lots of respiratory problems, especially when he was sick with a cold, it was very hard for him to cough and clear out his lungs making it difficult for him to breathe. He was in and out of hospitals quite often, which contributed to his not doing that great in school as his education was disrupted so much.

Despite his shortcomings in school, Tricia says he was a bright kid with a great sense of humor. She related a story that her father often tells about when he was babysitting Timmy.

Timothy says: "Grandpa, I need a red crayon"

"Ok," grandpa says, "just a minute." Still no crayon. Timothy asks for the crayon again and grandpa again asks him to wait just a minute.

Finally, Timmy says: "Hey, grandpa, does your head hurt?"

Grandpa says: "no".

Then Timmy says while holding his fist in the air: "Well, it's gonna hurt if you don't get me that red crayon!!"

She also told me a story about Timothy looking out for his younger brother Sam, who was 6 years younger than him. Sam was getting picked on by some older kids at a playground, so Timmy called him over and said:

"Sam, I'm gonna teach you karate"

Sam was all ears as he awaited his big brother's advice.

Timmy goes on: "You gotta kick your feet and go hai-YA!"

So apparently, he was also an expert in karate and taming bullies. ;) Whether his advice was useful or not, it's clear that he loved his little brother, and wanted to do what he could to take care of him.

Timothy also enjoyed drawing and watching movies. Some of his favorites included Free Willy (his headstone actually has the free willy whale on it), The Rocketeer, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park. He loved to have visitors. Tricia said that he wasn't always the most charming or gracious of hosts, but he did love it when people came over--his grandparents in-particular. His bedroom overlooked the front porch and his bed was right by the window, so he could always see when people were coming and going.

He was enrolled in a special ed program at one of the local public elementary schools. Tricia remembers going to visit and helping out in the classroom every once in a while, and it struck her that there were many kids that couldn't speak or communicate in anyway. She got very emotional when she expressed how blessed she felt that at least Timmy had that--the ability to talk and express himself.

Tricia said that doctors told her that most kids with SMA don't live for very long, and my research showed that the majority die before the age of 2. Timothy lived to be 9 and 1/2 years old. He passed away on October 1, 1994, when his lungs collapsed due to an obstructed airway.

When I asked Tricia what the hardest thing about being a mom to a boy with Muscular Dystrophy was, she said that it was feeling like no matter what you did, it would never be good enough. She would never be able to change anything. She wondered how it would be to be able to give part of herself and actually have it change the outcome of his life. Even now, she says, she still thinks back and wonders if she could have or should have done something differently, or better.

I for one, greatly admire Tricia for the time and energy and love that she devoted to Timmy. I can't imagine the emotional and physical stress that she experienced on a daily basis, although it was not anything that I ever noticed. I remember Tricia being very together and generally laid back about Timmy, letting kids play with him and push his wheelchair around at fast paces in the cultural hall at church. The only thing I remember her being uptight about was when I would ride my bike over to their house and drop it on the walk-way, causing cracks in the cement. :) Sorry Tricia and Craig!! I saw for myself that despite being so limited physically, Timmy was a happy, fun boy, who had a mind and personality of his own, and family and friends that loved and adored him. I'm grateful that I was able to know him and spend time with him. I think his little voice, proclaiming, "I'm fine!!" will forever be ingrained in my mind. To this day, it still makes me smile, as it is a great representation of how I remember his personality.

I am so happy to be able to share a little bit of Timmy's life with you and to have the opportunity to race in his memory. I was very nervous about doing this, but it has ended up being a wonderful experience, to reach outside of myself and my family, to be a part of something a little bigger than me. All of the money I raise will go to MDA, specifically for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It will go towards research for treatments and cures, supplying families with needed equipment and support, or helping to send kids to a camp specifically designed with their needs in mind. I need to raise $1000, and have $900 left to reach my goal. Please take this opportunity to be a part of this cause, to make a difference in the lives of those who live with Muscular Dystrophy everyday. Any amount that you feel you can give will make a difference.

Click here to donate!!

Thank you so much for reading this post and for your support! And thank you to Tricia and Craig for sharing more of Timothy's life with me and allowing me to share it with others!!

4th of July

2011-07-06T21:17:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July. It started out with a picnic breakfast in Morningside Park with some families from the ward. After some delicious fruit and crepes, we headed up a few blocks to 115th and Morningside, where a fire truck and ambulance parked and let the kids climb and sit inside. My boys were in little boy heaven. Asher probably took about 20 turns sitting in the fire truck. The firemen were so nice and they even let Asher put on their fire hat. It looked like it weighed about 20 lbs, so I can't believe he could actually lift it, but it made him so happy. Sayer was scared to get in at first, (that is so him, always the cautious one until he feels comfortable, then he is good to go) but he eventually took a few turns as well. But he made me take him back and forth between the 2 vehicles a bunch of times so he could get his fill until he was ready to jump in. Eventually, the firetruck started it's engine, the kids grabbed their scooters and we all walked up a few blocks and back, for a little 4th of July parade. When we got back to 115th, the fire truck hooked up to the hydrant and sprayed water for the kids to play in. It was such a great morning, and such a great neighborhood experience.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with some friends at the 70th street pier on Hudson to stake out some spots for our families. We got there around 4:30 and got a great spot. Our family came around 6:45, and the fireworks started about 9:30. It was a long time to be sitting on that pier. Thankfully we had great company, beautiful weather, and awesome views. The kids stayed entertained by watching the boats and airplanes and playing with each other... for 3 hours! I thought they all did pretty well.

It didn't take long for Bart to find the food

Someone was supposed to be going to sleep. He never did by the way. He sat in his stroller pretty much the entire time, and barely made a sound. I think he was tired and zoning.

Gorgeous light when the sun was setting

Some kind of water show that was going on before the fireworks

The sun setting behind NJ

Asher and his friends playing "baby wolf" or something like that

The moms... proof that we were there :)

Boats and the GW bridge in the distance

I thought all their little heads together were so cute

The fireworks were very impressive and we had a fantastic view. The kids loved them at first, Asher was even heard shouting "this is the best. night. ever!" All the adults got a kick out of it. But towards the end they got scared. When the show was over, it took us about an hour and a half to get home. From the crowded Riverside park exits, to the ridiculously packed subways, there really wasn't much we could do about it. Our kids were so tired. Asher fell asleep on the seat on the subway. I had started out standing next to him, but ended up getting pushed to the other side of the car from him. When we got on, there wasn't enough room for Nate and Bart to squeeze in, so they caught the next train. When it was time for me to get off, I had to ask someone to hand Asher to me because there was no way I could get to him. Thankfully, everyone was really nice and helpful. We made it home in one piece and the kids put themselves to bed at 11:45 or so. Poor things. But I will say that it was all worth it. We had a very fun night, and it was worth all the effort.

All the little kids look so cute!

Barty was pretty into the fireworks. According to Nate he was wow-ing and yay-ing the whole time.

Waiting for the subway at the 72nd st station. He was so tired he just couldn't stand. ;)

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!!!

A summer Saturday

2011-07-06T20:51:00.000-04:00

Summer so far has been so wonderful. I honestly love this city. There is always so much to do. I don't pretend to even come close to doing it all... way too exhausting, but I am doing my best to get us out there to experience as much as possible. The best thing about the city though, is even low key days are awesome. On Saturday I had big plans to make it out to the Highline an Rainbow City down in Chelsea, but I just wasn't feelin' it. So we stayed local and had a wonderful day.

Later in the day, the kids and I headed down to the gardens and playground at St. John the Divine. We saw the peacocks, climbed, played a little basketball (Asher got extremely excited every time he made it into the hoop), ran, and just enjoyed being outside in such a beautiful place.

Later that evening, Nate and I went to see the play, The Normal Heart.

It closes in a week or so and wanted to make sure I saw it. The cast was absolutely amazing, and it was so exciting to see many of them live. I'm not gonna lie, I was most excited to see Lee Pace, of Pushing Daisies. Let me tell you ladies, he is just as tall, dark and handsome as you would imagine. He wasn't a bad actor either. ;) The play itself was actually a little much for me. It started out light-hearted and funny. Towards the end of the first half and basically all of the second half, it just got very angry. So. Much. Yelling. I'm not sure if it's the actual events that were frustrating or the way the story was told, but it was very victim-y, and it felt very much like they were trying to make every person in the audience have a very specific response, which I didn't like. By the end, everyone around us was so somber and quiet, with many actually in tears. It was a little much for me. Like I said, it might be because I had certain opinions about the subject matter that made it hard for me to have that kind of response, but either way, I left feeling like it wasn't my favorite and I don't ever need to see that again, nor would I necessarily recommend seeing it. It was, however, very interesting to learn about the outbreak of the AIDS "plague" as they called it in the play. A lot of the facts were new to me and very interesting. Anyway... I don't really want to get too into this because I have no desire to get into a debate about gay politics, so that is all I have to say about it. No matter what, it was fun to have a night out with the hubs, and I always enjoy going to see a show.

Summering at the Cape

2011-07-06T17:09:00.000-04:00

We had a marvelous time in Cape Cod with our little family (and Jillian ;). It was all really last minute. I was looking around on Craigslist and there was a last minute house rental special for the rest of June since no one had rented it yet. It was the perfect size, price and location for us, and after I contacted the owners, it all fell perfectly into place. Of course, I completely forgot to take a picture of the cute house, as well as our totally awesome gangsta' rental car. It was one of these babies:

That's right, we were riding in style!

We left on Thursday afternoon with every spare inch of the car packed with clothes, food, carseats, kids, and whatever else we thought we could possibly need during our week away. I can't describe how big of a pain it is to get out of the city when you don't own a car. First Nate had to take the train and bus to Teaneck, NJ (over a hundred dollars cheaper than getting a car in the city) to get the car, then he had to drive it back. Then we packed the car. We don't have any carseats out here, so we piled in the car with Bart on my lap. Thank goodness the back windows were seriously tinted. Driving the 10 minutes to my friends apt to pick up the carseat felt like a lifetime with the kids crawling all over the place and touching everything. Finally, with the kids strapped in their carseats, we were on our way. We got in around midnight and went straight to bed to gear up for a week of beach fun.

Here is our trip in pictures...

First up, mini golf. The kids were SO excited to do this. It was super expensive, but I think it was worth it for the fun they had.

Sayer's golfing was awesome. He would basically put the ball right next to the hole, and then proceed to take about 4 or 5 shots to get it in. Eventually he would just push the ball in with his club.

Waiting patiently for the people in front of us to finish

The obligatory picture of me, to prove I was actually there

The obligatory picture of Bart. He seemed pretty bored in the stroller, but he was so good. Not a peep from him the entire time.

I can't remember what this place was called, but it was sure pretty.

We were going to go to the beach there, but it was pretty un-impressive, so after we had our fill of scenery, we headed to Seagull Beach.

Seagull Beach. This beach was about a mile away from the house, but it cost money, so it was a little bigger. The kids loved it. Asher made tons of friends that day. He probably talked to the lifeguards for a total of an hour. Asking them all kinds of questions I'm sure. I wasn't over there with him, but they were really nice and talked to him and answered his questions and showed him stuff. I made sure to thank them for being so nice to him. I said he likes to talk, and they said, yeah, he likes to talk a lot!

Bart was completely fearless at the beach. He would just walk straight out to the water and walk in. The water was a little cold, but not too unbearable. There weren't really any waves, which I was sad about at first, but then I was really glad because it made it so much easier for the boys to swim. And swim they did, whether it was warm or cold outside, they didn't care.

Bart also loved to stand on the beach chairs. Don't ask me why, but he spent a good portion of his times on the beach scaling the chairs and lounge. Isn't he just a doll?! He had lots of admirers at the beach.

Private Beach. This was the private beach down the road from the house that we had access too. It was actually really nice. Very small, but really calm and shallow waters. Not to mention beautiful homes to look at!

Bart loved the water. He would just sit there and splash and throw rocks for 20 minutes at a time.

The boys made lots of friends on this day as well. I was so impressed with how brave Sayer was. I expected him to be too scared to swim, but he would just head on out there.

On this particular day, Asher was standing on a fence by the beach houses and couldn't get down so he started calling for me. Right before I reached him, he slipped backwards and hit his forehead right on the corner of a rock. I was so worried that he was going to need another round of stitches, but it barely broke the skin, although it bled plenty. Poor thing. I was able to remain calm this time though, so that's progress. :)

Jillian arrived on this day and met us at the beach. The boys were so excited to have her there, and she was so great to play with them.

The view from the beach

Look at those beautiful houses. Not too shabby!

Dennis. This was my favorite place in Cape Cod. It was this cute little town with beautiful homes and parks and fun restaurants. If we ever go back, that is where I want to stay. This beach was a great beach too. Nice and big.

We discovered boogy boards in the garage of our house and brought them to the beach and the kids were in heaven. They had been trying to steal other kids boards the previous days.

Sayer said: "mom, I's like yours babing suit!" and then gave me the thumbs up. Such a cute kid! I actually bought a new swimsuit for this trip. The process of buying it was made even sweeter due to the fact that I was able to buy it in the size I wanted to be wearing!! Happiness.

I loved this rock jetty, or whatever it's called. I wish I could've stood on it and gotten a picture of the ocean. This was one of the few beaches that wasn't a cove, but a huge span of ocean.

Barty had no problems entertaining himself. On this day, he did get super cranky. He was so tired, not to mention covered in sand. It made for one sad baby boy.

Playing in the mud. Doesn't get much better than that for little boys.

I don't know what he was doing on the boogie board-- some sort of yoga/plank poses.

This was a really cool area. It was like a sandbar or tide pool area. The water had gone out and there were lots of little crabs and fishes that the kids could pick up. They loved it of course. I love this picture of Sayer in his hat. It reminds me of my dad and how he sometimes wears his hats just barely touching the top of his head. He looks like a little truck driver.

Bart-- wet, sandy, licorice faced... it wasn't long after this picture that he started to lose it and Nate too him to get showered and change. He was done. I love his belly in this picture.

We had seen this really cool playground on the way to the beach, so we decided to go there after the beach. It was in such a pretty area and had really cool things to play on. The kids had a blast. Right after this we walked down to the ice cream parlor and had some of the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. I think it was called french raspberry truffle. mmmmmm... it was SO good!

Provincetown. Otherwise known as P-town. We drove about an hour to get there, and despite Jillian having to hold Asher on her lap the entire time (again, thank goodness for those tinted windows) we were not sorry that we did.

First stop was the Lobster Pot. It was delicious. An older couple on their way out stopped to admire our adorable children and to say how well behaved they were. Ha! I had to tell them that our secret was that they were actually watching Kipper on Nate's iphone. But, happy and well behaved they were. And they ate all their food, which is always a bonus. Bart stayed happy with crackers and bread before I fed him his lunch and left to put him to sleep in the stroller. On my walk to put him down, I was able to pop into some stores and get some christmas ornaments to remember our trip by.

I am not a huge lobster girl, so I played it safe with the lobster ravioli, but Jill and Nate went all out, bibs and all!

After lunch we decided to hit up another playground, which the kids loved. To be honest, we were waiting for it to get a little later so that we wouldn't have to pay to go to the beach. How cheap are we?!

After the playground, we went to the National Sea Shore visitor's center which was actually really cool. Beautiful views, a cool movie and lots of fun books for the kids to peruse. We finished up there around 5pm and headed straight to the beach.

This was one of my favorite beach times. There was practically no one there, the sun was setting, it wasn't too hot, the boys were having a blast,

It was beautiful,

and I got this adorable picture...

Bart in his diaper, sitting next to his dad, playing with rocks and water. I think they sat like that for about 30 minutes. It was such a precious sight.

and then he made his way back up to me and Jill, saggy diaper and all.

Taking a little break for some Trader Joe's cereal bars. Love those! I think we went through about 5 boxes during the week.

Again, the token picture of me.

I think we would have stayed here a lot longer, but the kids were getting really hungry so we had to head out. It was so beautiful and peaceful though. We went to the grocery store, got some dinner, took it back to the playground for a picnic, then piled in the car to head back home. We got back really late and the kids went right to sleep. It was the perfect last day.

The next morning we packed up and left around 10am. It was a long drive home, and it took the kids a couple of days to get over their sleep deprivation, but it was all worth it. A week full of beach days and absolutely perfect weather was just what our family needed.

Adventures that were not pictured include Nate taking the boys to Cars 2, which he was disappointed with, but the boys had fun seeing their first movie in the theaters. Nate says he thinks their favorite part was the popcorn and lemonade. Not surprising. I think he took them on Sunday. I stayed home with Bart that day and read an entire book from start to finish. It was nice!

Also not pictured are our fun-filled evenings, which consisted of a lot of reading (I read 3 books),

Ok, so I guess we have this one picture of me reading.

movies, brownies and ice cream, and my personal favorite, Tosh.0. A tad on the crude and inappropriate side, but man, I laugh so hard at that show.

Oh Happy Day!

2011-06-20T19:44:00.002-04:00

Wanna win a trip to Paris?!?

Yeah, you and me both. Go here for details. Ends tonight!!

Sayer the 3 year old!

2011-06-19T20:14:00.000-04:00

This boy is 3!

He has been for 3 and a half months now, and I have neglected to do his birthday post. Mainly because I knew it would be a long one, and I'm just lazy like that. Sayer decided he wanted a train party, and we picked out what his cake would look like and had been talking about it for months before the big day. I was planning a really big, fun party with fun food and games. Well, just when I was getting ready to start all the preparations the week of the party, I got sick. I felt so bad that it went from a really fun party to basically a playgroup with cake. And not even a very cute cake at that. I was really bummed. Oh well. Sayer loved it and loved his cake, even though I count it as a failure. The colors were terrible and I decided to use melted chocolate instead of chocolate plastic because I thought it would be faster and easier to work with... I was wrong. VERY wrong. It did taste very good though, so there's that.

Anyway, I honestly cannot believe that Sayer is 3. He is a very big talker and is in that stage where he stutters a lot because he wants to say so much, and can't quite get it all out as fast as he wants to say it. He is very articulate though and I am always amazed at his understanding of things as well as his sentence structure. He is a total charmer and flirt. He likes to pretend that he is shy, but he so not. He has made friends with several of our security guards and likes to go behind their desk and talk to them and tell them small details about his day. It's pretty sweet, and they love it. When people come over to visit, he and Asher are both all over them. They turn into crazy little show-offs and treat our guests like human jungle gyms... they seriously LOVE having company. Thankfully, most people don't mind too much.

Sayer is still figuring out how to play with friends. He does really well with Asher, and when he is one on one with friends, but when we are at the park or in a big group, he is pretty independent and content playing by himself.

I think he has a little OCD in him. Or maybe it's just him being 3 and trying to control little things in his life. But all things must be done in order for him... if I start singing twinkle twinkle little star before I get next to his bed, he will make me stop, then start again when I am in the right place, and he has his blanky in hand. He has to flush the toilet and gets really mad when I do it. I can't think of the other things he does right now, but he does things like that a lot. It is very different from how Asher was... Asher is just go go go, don't waste time on the small, unimportant stuff, and Sayer is much more methodical. We get apple cider donuts from the farmer's market every thursday, and Sayer will hold his for like 10 minutes before he finally eats it. It's like he is savoring it or something.

Sayer is our musical child. He loves to sing and actually sings on key. He has started singing twinkle twinkle (which is his song of choice every night for bedtime) with me every night. Then he says "mom, I sing twinkle twinkle little star with you!" We still hear him singing to himself in bed at nap and bedtime. Sayer usually goes to bed after Asher since he takes a nap still, so he sometimes gets to watch a show with daddy (much to my disapproval). He loves tv. He calls everything that is not a kids show "Friends", because Nate was watching Friends once and talked about the name of the show, and so now he thinks all adult tv is Friends. Pretty awesome. Or sad. One of those.

Sayer is also very expressive in his face. He has huge brown eyes that light up when he is happy, and he can give the most amazing sad and frowny faces. His emotion is all in his face and he is very animated. I think he is such a beautiful little boy. I know I am totally biased, but I do have lots of people tell me the same thing, so it must be true. ;) He is very dramatic. If he hurts himself, or Asher someone takes something from him, or he gets his feelings hurt, watch out. It is the most grating, annoying sound. This has been a major source of recent frustration, and mental and emotional exhaustion for me. The kid drives me insane. But... I love him to pieces. He cracks me up every day. He is so sweet and thoughtful, loves his brothers and his daddy. He is obedient (for the most part) and just a happy kid, and we absolutely love having him in our family!

Pictures from his birthday party...

A little of this, a little of that

2011-06-19T19:16:00.000-04:00

Wow. As usual, I am totally sucking it up in the blogging department. Oh well. A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting down at my computer, writing a blog post that was full of frustration and exhaustion, but I never got to finish it. Fortunately, this time around, I find myself in a much happier place. The fam and I have been thoroughly enjoying city life these past few weeks. We've been doing a ton of this

twice a day, most days.

Saying goodbye to Asher's school and friends, and getting ready for "summer fun days".

Nate has been doing a lot of reading, writing, researching, interviewing, pilot studies. You know, boring stuff.

I've been doing a lot of running, yoga, a little bit of swimming, psyching myself up for some fundraising...

filling up my calendar with these

and a lot of taking this

and turning it into this

over and over and over and over and over again.

Yep. Life has been pretty good. We are excited for more summer adventures. First up, a trip to the "Cape". That's right folks, we'll be summering east coast style. I feel so posh and New York-y. Except it's not really posh. But it will be super awesome and I can't tell you how excited I am for a week on the beach with my little family. Aunt Jillian will be joining in on the fun for part of it, too! And not to worry, the obligatory bucket of red vines that is present at every Busath family vacation, has already been purchased. Good times guaranteed!

Look what I did...

2011-05-11T11:50:00.000-04:00

Before... feeling a little nervous.

I think this is the longest my hair has ever been in my life.

After. And this is without blow drying or styling or anything! I love it!


This is today. No I am not wearing the same outfit, I swear. I am still learning how to style it, but Ashley gave me a step by step lesson (I am retarded when it comes to doing hair. Heaven help any girls that I might have!) so hopefully I will figure out the best way to do it in no time.

My sister Ashley cut it this weekend while I was in CA visiting my new NIECE!!! The first Busath granddaughter. Pictures of her to come later. I have been wanting to try this style for years, and with the humid NY summer looming before me, I figured, what better time?! So, she put it in a ponytail, and chopped it off. And then, kept going. Both Ash and I were really happy with the way it turned out. Nate says it's like having a whole new wife! :)

The family wagon...

2011-05-04T17:16:00.000-04:00

I love Bart's head peeking out here, with his little eyes covered.

See, who needs a car when you've got a Phil & Ted's?!

Run for the penguins

2011-05-02T13:13:00.001-04:00

Some friends and I ran a 5k for the penguins at the Bronx zoo Saturday morning. I loved traveling to and from the race with these ladies and just chatting away. It's always so nice to have time away from the kids, not to mention doing something I love to do. For those of you who have never been, the Bronx zoo is big and beautiful. We ran the whole thing on the zoo grounds, and the weather was just perfect. Unfortunately, it wasn't an official race, so we don't get official times, but I would just like the record to show that I totally made my time goal of 24 minutes (ok, 24:16 ;). Which actually sounds pretty pathetic next to all the girls in my ward who are runners.... most of them are busting out 7 minute miles... for their marathons! One of my friends, who is also a new mom, is training for the olympic trials! Crazy, awesome girls!! I think I'll stick with my pace for now. :)

We have some pictures, but I will post them when my friend emails them to me.

Memphis

2011-04-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

I saw Memphis last night and I loved it! It won a Tony for best musical last year, and now I know why... It was fun and upbeat, funny, emotional, had absolutely amazing dancing and singing... everything you could possibly want in a musical. The main character, Huey Calhoun, is really quirky but lovable. Apparently the show is loosely based on a true story. Loved it. Want to see it again. Definitely recommend!!

Today...

2011-04-25T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've had a rockstar day so far today...

*Went running first thing

*Came home and made my children a hot breakfast

*Stretched and did some dishes

*Folded about 6 loads of laundry (and put it away, thank you very much)

*De-junked/cleaned the boys room and rotated all of their clothes (this may be a bit premature. Oh well, they can wear a sweatshirt :)

*Ate my breakfast... at about 11:30 (better late than never)

*Fed the kids lunch and put Bart and Sayer down

*Straightened up the house and did more dishes

*Took a shower and got dressed

*Had scripture study while Asher watched Madeline (I am so ready for his spring break to be over!)

*Got organized, made some lists, thought about dinner (gasp!)

*Ate my lunch

*Started reading a new book (my treat for being so awesome today)

*Did some posting on facebook and my blog (clearly the most important accomplishments of the day)

It may not sound like much, but that's a lot to accomplish {for me} before 2:00 pm, I'd say! I feel completely justified in posting about my awesome-ness today, because this kind of day never happens for me, seriously. Sad, huh? So I'm not bragging really, but rather, just documenting for my own benefit, that days like this are possible, despite what I may think. ;)

And now, it's only 2:45, the kids are all up, and I am completely wasted. Hmmm... not sure how I will make it to the end of the day, but pretty sure heading out to the park will help... always does :)

Just one more little nugget...

My friend Clare posted this picture...

on facebook, and I think it is pretty much the cutest thing in the world. This is Addi, one of Asher's very best friends. They have known each other for almost 3 years, which is practically forever to them. I love how his arm is around her and her hand is on his chest/side. They look like a little couple. Clare and I always talk about how we will get together when they are 16 and they will probable have little crushes on each other. :) They will actually be moving to Dallas at the end of the summer :( and I know that Asher will miss his little friend a lot!!