The conversation I had last night with d in the car.

d: Mom, I want to say a bad word.

me: What bad word do you want to say?

d: The F word.

me (after slight hesitation as to what I *should* say in this situation & deciding to take away the power of the word): O.K. Go ahead and say it.

d: No.

me: What? Why not?

d:… giggle… I don’t know. You’re going to get mad at me.

me: No, I told you I wouldn’t. Go ahead and say it if you really want to.

d: No, I can’t.

me: No, really, I told you you could.

d: No, you’re going to tell Dad.

me: Yep, I’m definitely telling Daddy about this conversation….

And we were both giggling at that point.

The kid cracks me up. I don’t get his obsession with “bad” words and the such, but it is what it is. And I’m pretty glad that the urge to say bad words left as quickly as it came.

With all of the drama in the media regarding stay at home moms lately, I often ponder my role in the world. I definitely think that I can have an opinion on politics and the world, even if I don’t bring in a paycheck.

And sometimes I do think that it’s the hardest job in the world. Other times, I think I’m downright spoiled.

But, no matter what kind of day it is, I know that the next day will hold something entirely new.

Yesterday, Bean and I were at Costco (she was my adorable helper as we figured out the self-scanner) when I got a phone call. The reporter who interviewed us for the last piece wanted to know if he could come by again. We loved the segment he did last time so we were happy to participate again. However, that meant a change in plans. In the morning, I’d been pulling out drawers and sorting through them and making all sorts of messes. It seemed that now I had to reverse gears and clean. Nothing helps me crisis clean like a deadline and a television camera headed to my house. I succeeded in cleaning the entire middle floor and most of the downstairs before the kids even made it home from school.

The kids were all well-behaved for the reporter and we are looking forward to seeing the piece–I will, of course, share when it airs.. But, it should be a couple weeks.

And as a reward we took them out for dinner & dessert!

And then we crashed.. for a couple hours. V woke up in the middle of the night though. He had a pretty high temp (103.5) so B and I went to work getting it lowered and trying to get him comfortable. And then a couple hours later Maggie decided that it was time for her to be up.

So, that’s where my mind is. Everyday is something new, but it’s all in a day’s work as a parent. Never a dull moment.

V is feeling better this morning and we’ll be off to the pediatrician as soon as he can fit us in. But, we’ll be able to nap in a nice clean house in the meantime

With B losing all of that weight, he’s now running like me. And our kids, obviously, have tons of energy. So, a month or so ago I was looking at races that I wanted to try and I came across a new one in Phoenix. It’s the Firefly Run. I showed D the photos and asked if he’d like to try to run a 5k with me. He said he was interested, but then nothing more really happened. And I *always* hesitate when it comes to actually registering for a run. So, I sort of wrote it off thinking that D didn’t really care so I’d just save the money and not run it.

But, I was pleasantly surprised a week ago when he brought it up again out of the blue. So, I registered D and B and me to run in our first night 5k and D’s first 5k

Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the rest of the kids on Saturday night and we went down to the run. It was pretty chilly by Phoenix standards (65) so D was shivering, but we layered him with one of the race shirts and he did fine. The theme to this run is “chasing the night” so they encourage costumes and anything that lights up or glows. So, we made sure that we dressed the part.

I knew that the biggest challenge would be pacing. I am *much* slower than B. And D doesn’t really “get” jogging… he only knows how to run full out and there’s no way that he can keep it up for 3 miles. So, we ended up starting somewhere between my pace and B’s pace. D had a hard time going that slow–sometimes he was power walking, and when he’d go to run, he’d push ahead. And after a mile or so, he was ready to be done. He also needed a bathroom (whoops!). We stopped and walked a bit at the halfway point where there was a water station. And then he was ready to keep moving. Just before the 2 mile mark, D & B slowed down to try to look for a place to go and I went on ahead. I started off going slower so they could catch me and then after a quarter mile or so I just got into my comfortable pace.

Later B told me that D kept asking him how much longer (time wise) the run was and he told him that it depended on how fast they went. So, D ended up powering through.

I finished with a sprint and walked back to find them, but I was only a minute or so ahead of them.. and I finished for a second time with them

Our chip times were:

Me 32:48

B 33:37

D 33:36

As soon as we were done, D admitted that it was a bit of a challenge. And he looked at me like I was nuts when I asked him if he could do another 10 miles, like my half marathons.. But, by the time we reached the car, he was over that & said that it was easy Gotta love the youthful enthusiasm.

I loved running with my guys and am so happy that they’re willing to go along with old Mom and do that sort of crazy stuff!

I started this post *months* ago, but it still applies

So, I alluded to the huge life change that B has done over the weekend.

For those of you who don’t see us/him on a regular basis I wanted to share his huge accomplishment. B has lost over 80 pounds in the last six months. He did a very calorie restrictive diet to drop the pounds so quickly. Now he’s slowly transitioning to a low calorie balanced diet with exercise to maintain. He would still like to lose a little bit of weight, but he’s working on maintaining for a little while before he drops the last few. What I love the most is seeing the new man he is. He has more energy and life. For Valentine’s we did our first 5k together. And in a couple weeks we’ll be doing another local run (4.2 this time–see you all at the Tillman run!).

I asked his permission and he says I can, so I’m bragging and showing him off!

This is the fall of 2010

One more "before"

Last month

And a shot of all of him on Christmas

Aren’t I a lucky girl?!? For our 9th Anniversary, I got to be married to a whole new man!

I’m so proud of you, Baby-baby!!

Man, I used to be a better blogger.

Things are going here.

Busy as always. Crazy as always. And, I, am in the midst of more sinus issues–as always! These really knocked me out for a couple days this week though.

But, having to be “down” made me think of all of the things that I need to get done and blogging is on that list.

I don’t truly have much time today.. there are eggs to prepare, goodies to bake and cleaning that needs to be done. But, I will pop on and share a few photos Those are the best thing about this anyhow!

Bean and V getting ready for an Easter egg hunt

V in B's googles--the pool is the perfect swimming temp already!

Handsome boys! All dressed up to celebrate Grandma's birthday a couple weeks ago.

The new pup, Maggie, with her "Cone of Shame"

Again, I have been away too long…

We are wrapping up Spring Break. We didn’t go anywhere. Instead, we had as much fun as possible here. We went to the zoo, the movies, the park, the pool, the museum, Chuck E. Cheese, Amazing Jake’s, the bounce place…

It has been quite a break.

V lost his first tooth. And the puppy was spayed. Oh, and B has been working 7 days a week.

I, for one, am ready for school

I have a bunch of blog post ideas, but they will wait for another day.