Ragnar

I love this picture because it shows two things I did this year: bore a child and completed the Ragnar.

Of course, I couldn't have done either without Nate. We realized pretty early on in our Ragnar training that only one of us could do this. It's a big time commitment to train, and unfortunately, 24 Hour Fitness does not offer 24 hour childcare. Nate took the kids lots of mornings, evenings, weekends, and vacations so I could train (though there were plenty of days when I didn't want to).

Judy was also a huge help. If a kid (or kids) were sick and couldn't go to the gym, Judy would take them while I ran.

And, then, Judy and Nate did a massive push, watching the kids in Las Vegas for a full 30 hours. (Did I mention that Nate was our nighttime driver, too?)

They did a lot of this:
In fact, I'm not sure who got more of a workout in Vegas.

I'm also really grateful to Dave and Jessica who convinced me that I could do this race. I found a new workout option that I like, and this is the first time in my life that I've physically pushed myself to reach a goal. It feels pretty awesome.

We had a great team--full of expert runners who were nice enough to let me tag along.Some day, I'll stop bragging about it...really!

Anyone want to do the Del Sol Ragnar in February?

Staying on Top of Your Elementary-Age Games

Asher: Evan, do you want to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Axe, Copper?"
Me: I've only ever heard of "Rock, Paper, Scissors," Asher. What does the axe do?
Asher: The axe gets rock, paper, and scissors, but not copper.
Me: Well what does copper do?
Asher: Copper gets EVERYTHING.

Ok, good to know!

The Best Birth Control Post Ever

This is my side of the conversation that Luke and I had today while I was in the bathroom, trying to shave my legs and he decided to come in and go poop.

“Luke, don’t forget to wipe your bottom.”

“Eeew, Luke, not with your hand!”

“Yeah, just use the babywipe.”

“Wait! Don’t throw the babywipe in the toilet! That will break the toilet!”

“Luke, there’s still lots of poop on the babywipe. That means your bottom still isn’t clean.”

“NO!! Don’t throw the other babywipe in the toilet!”

“Ok, now, wash your hands.”

“Luke, that wasn’t long enough. If your hands still smell like poop, they aren’t clean.”

“Yeah, I know they still smell like poop. I don’t need to check. Wash them with soap this time.”

Crazy Kids...

Asher was thrilled about our church's General Conference last weekend. He's been asking every Sunday since April if we could "just watch Church on tv like we did that one Sunday."

Luke informed me today that "the green ones are going to destroy our world." I can't get him to be anymore specific than that. Sorry for the bad news...

Emma is learning a few words: mama, dada, up, woof, and uh-oh.
Of course, if you ask her what a doggy says, she says, "Uh, oh."

(In these pictures, Emma really hopes someone will rescue her after a Monday evening of fun, but no, we just kept taking pictures of her.)