Writers of Rohan

On the Run

2012-02-05T18:00:00.001-07:00

Marydalene and Timothy signed up for the Thanksgiving “Earn Your Turkey” Run held on Thanksgiving morning. This was going to be Marydalene’s last race until after she had the baby, but, due to some complications, she was given doctor’s orders the night before to stay in bed, so she was not able to run it. I debated whether to take Timothy or stay home with Marydalene. Timothy was really looking forward to running it so . . .

. . . we got up early the next morning and went down to the race.

He was extra careful to make sure that the shoe with the timing chip hit the blue mat at the finish line. If you look at a bigger size of the image you’ll see him looking down at his foot.

Then I captured an expression that we see on Timothy’s face all of the time as he tried to puzzle out what was expected of him next. I’ve come to love this expression because it’s an outward sign of his mind working hard.

He finished his mile run in 8:36.4, which placed him 9^th in his division. I’m not sure how accurate that is though; the timing seemed a bit loose to me.

Timothy got a long sleeve t-shirt for participating in the race. I still haven’t figured out how they managed to mess it up so badly. It is too wide in the shoulders and yet the sleeves are too short. Oh well.

Timothy thoroughly enjoyed himself and already has a few upcoming races planned.

A huge thank you to Tawnie who came down later that morning to take the kids up to their grandparents house to celebrate Thanksgiving. It allowed them to still have a fun Thanksgiving and helped us to deal with the complications Marydalene was having without having to worry about taking care of the kids.

Where Have You Been?

2012-01-29T17:40:00.004-07:00

It's been three months since my last post, and while you may have thought we fell off the planet, life just has a way of being complicated. And busy.

I trained through the beautiful fall months (and totally enjoyed the views) so that I could be ready for my last half-marathon of the year in October.

It wasn't my best race, but I knew going in that I would be slow. I ran it in 2:40:34, which was my slowest race to date. Why did I know I was going to be slow? Because I found out about three weeks before the race that I'd be running with a partner, and I knew I couldn't push myself beyond what he could handle.

Here is the bottom of his foot, visible in the middle-left area.

And here is a more profile shot of him, with his spine visible and torso part of the main picture.

Yes, this is a surprise (with all the struggles we had to have Sarah, we didn't think we'd be having any more kids) but we are super happy and excited to welcome another boy to our family in late May.

He has made my life a little more interesting than I would like. I was sick all the time in the early weeks (part of how I figured out I was pregnant), but right before Thanksgiving we had a bit of a scare, and it made me very sick for about four weeks. I was on doctor's orders to take it easy and rest as much as possible (no exercise either) for the month of December. No worries, all, the baby is just fine. But have you ever tried to take it easy through the busiest time of the year? Yeah, it was interesting, and Jared has done a lot to help out around the house while I was sick.

I wasn't the only one who spent some time sick during the Christmas break. If you know Sarah, this is an occasion that only happens while she is not feeling well. She is a very active little girl and I knew she wasn't feeling well when she was content to sit on the couch and play with her train. She fell asleep on her own. So sad.

But we had a nice, mellow Christmas with family (and my in-laws were able to come up from Texas to spend time with us as well).

Oh, and I cut my hair.

But we've had plenty of silliness and fun around here as well.

Observe: Timothy wearing Sarah's sun glasses and Sarah wearing his. Silly kids.

Combine all of this with my laptop dying on me (no!) and our main computer being rather fritzy (Jared just recently was able to fix it) and I didn't really have a way (or motivation) to write. But I'm felling a bit better these days, and hopefully I can share some of these stories and more in more detail in the weeks to come.

Bones and Supergirls

2011-11-13T22:13:00.001-07:00

Oh, and crazy basketball guys, too.

This was our little Supergirl’s first time trick or treating. She never did get it above a whisper at the door, I’m told. But she seemed to have fun, and certainly has enjoyed the feast of her labors.

But what about me, you ask? Well, I was kind of a curmudgeon and didn’t actually dress up on Halloween. But I did dress up for the ward Trunk or Treat. Here’s proof.

Happy Halloween!

Crazy Times

2011-10-27T20:00:00.000-06:00

One thing that has become a tradition of sorts for our family is that Jared is responsible for Timothy’s hair on Crazy Hair Day for school. This year was a collaborative effort, I’m told, between Timothy and Jared. It certainly was crazy. Hair gel, hairspray and a blow dryer were involved. Certainly not something you’d see on a normal day.

Trike Times

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Jared took Sarah out to ride her tricycle the other month or so, and he snagged a few cute pictures of her while they were out. But I may be biased. Judge for yourself.

Good Friends

2011-10-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes Sarah and our cat Thomas get along. Sometimes their interactions end in tears (on Sarah’s end). But she really loves our kitty, and sometimes he’ll let her love him too.

Funny Things Kids Do, Part 6

2011-10-23T22:32:00.001-06:00

I’m not really sure where Sarah developed this fetish, almost an OCD really, but whenever there is wrapping paper of any kind, it really must go immediately into a garbage bag. Here are some examples from this summer. Notice, she isn’t going for the presents, but the paper that is surrounding them.

Here she is at my parent’s house, at her birthday party. She has a bag to put her wrapping paper in. Alrighty then.

My brother deliberately went to go get the bag at this event so that Sarah would be happy. And she was so happy to get the paper and put it into the bag.

This is her thing. Don’t get in the way. “This is mines,” as Sarah would say.

Whatever, cutie. You’re still silly.

Doctor’s Prognosis

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Remember Sarah’s little trip into our table in March? It resulted in this, and seven stitches.

Well, I’m pleased to report it now looks like this:

It is a fairly light scar, and it is fading more with every passing month. If you touch it, you can feel the scar tissue still healing underneath, but with how deep it went, that is to be expected. Also, it would help if Sarah would stop falling and hitting her head in the same spot (two and counting, one with a mighty goose egg that left a lovely bruise on her head for a week or two).

So, thanks again, Dr. Jill, for your good prognosis. She warned us there would be a scar, but she was fairly confident that it would be minimal because the wound was straight and clean. And she was right.

And Sarah’s still my beautiful girl.

Love you, my little klutz.

Laboring at the Zoo

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

On Labor Day, as is a now-becoming family tradition, we went to the zoo. We went early enough that it wasn’t super busy when we got there, which I liked a lot. The animals were awake and active, and there weren’t a lot of crowds to make it hard to get around. The other bonus? We actually got to park in the zoo parking lot. Near the entrance. A much better experience overall.

Also adding to the greatness of the visit: the cloud cover. It kept temperatures reasonable and it made for a good zoo experience.

We saw just about all the animals they had, with the exception of the Reptile House — no strollers allowed? Pass. A vast majority of the zoo is under reconstruction right now to create a new habitat for the bears, penguins, large cats (cougars and jaguars) and more. It is expected to be completed by next summer, so hopefully there will be more to see the next time we go.

Even so, we enjoyed seeing the elephants, giraffes and tigers, to name a few. And our kids — and all their cousins — had fun being together and playing around.

The impromptu grandchild portrait. If you look carefully, you can see at least the eyes of all the grandkids who were there.

So we tried again.

And again.

And, well, you get the idea. This one was probably the best of the bunch that I took. It’s hard when you have that many people together. And poor little Emma refused to be in the picture without being held, so my sister was the willing aide to help make her happy.

Sarah thoroughly enjoyed the carousel ride on her zebra. Timothy enjoyed his poison dart frog.

And the only animal shot I took: the tigers. I’m not really one for taking pictures of the animals anymore when I go to the zoo. I’d much rather take pictures of the people I went with. But Jared insisted because he was posing for us. So, I give you the tiger.

Because we went early enough, we had time for the kids to play in Discovery Land, which I think was their favorite part, of course. Play lands win every time.

I have many favorite pictures of Sarah from this trip, but this may be my most favorite. I just love the expression on her face as she went down the slide the first time. She loved it and went down many times after. There are many more photos, if you are interested, in the slideshow below (you can watch in full screen if you click on the title).

We followed up our zoo adventure with a barbecue at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, followed by homemade ice cream. It was fun to get together and spend time together with family.

Happy Labor Day.

At the Zoo Again

Waiting for Mom

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

Jared took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of Timothy and Sarah while waiting for me to cross the finish line at the Spanish Fork Half Marathon. I love these pictures and I’m glad he took them. This one is fairly typical of Timothy. He’s off in his own little world, thinking of whatever and looking around.

And then he realized that the camera was pointed in his direction.

And then the resignation set in.

Silly son.

Meanwhile, Sarah was looking a lot like a mini movie star.

This one is my favorite, I think.

I say that a lot about pictures of my kids, but I really could look at pictures of them all day. Love, love, love. So blessed they are part of my life. And I’m so glad they were able to come see me finish my race.

The Circle is Now Complete

2011-10-11T08:30:00.000-06:00

I’ve been enjoying my summer of running. In April, I completed my first half-marathon. I ran my second in June.

In August, I completed the Hobble Creek Half.

I was pretty happy with my performance, although I did have to walk some of this race. I had a few injuries in July and so wasn’t as ready to run it as I wanted to be. Plus I started out too fast (hazard of running down a canyon), and so was a little wiped at the end of the race. But I finished in 2:27:45 (a little shy of 5 minutes away from my best time). I was 156 out of 184 in my age group, and 946 out of 1074 overall. I ran an 11:26 split.

I don’t feel bad about my placing, since this race seems to draw a lot of professional runners. I think you had to go down 150 places or so before you got out of runners that had greater than 7 minute miles. It was an interesting race, and very beautiful to run down the canyon.

I also ran the Spanish Fork Half at the beginning of September. I did much better on that race. I was surprised at how relatively flat the course was. For some reason, I expected more hills, but it was a fun, if smaller (in the number of competitors), half marathon.

I came very close to beating my best time (2:23:00) with a time of 2:24:53. I wonder if I’d known how close I was if I could have kicked it in a notch? Ah well. I finished 26 out of 32 in my age group and 177 out of 221 overall. I ran an 11:04 split.

One thing that kind of surprised me about this race was how often I was “alone” while on the trail. There were people 100 yards or 200 yards in front or behind me, but I often wasn’t running with people that close to me. Upon reflection, it makes sense because there were only 221 half runners. But it was a unique race because I didn’t have that experience in any of my other races. My favorite part of this race was when we ran along the Spanish Fork river trail. I wish we could have run more of it, but as I understand, it is still under construction. It reminded me of my runs up the canyon near my home.

With this fourth half marathon, I completed my Run the Slam.

So, you could say, the circle is now complete. I ran 52.8 miles for these races this summer, and I’m an official Slammer. I haven’t decided if I will run any or all of them next year (but I am leaning toward at least the Thanksgiving Point and the Utah Valley because they were my favorites), but I am so happy I set a goal to run them and achieved it. Now the next step? Improve my time so I can run one in less than 2 hours. After that, I think I may tackle my first full marathon, which is a long-term goal.

Yes, I may be crazy. But in the little more than a year since I began running, I have found a peace that comes from the steady rhythm of hearing my feet hit the ground. The challenge of enduring 13.1 miles of continual running. How much better I feel after knocking out a run in the morning. It’s safe to say that I’m a runner. And I love it.

I Like to Run

Hat Trick

2011-10-09T21:54:00.001-06:00

Remember this hat?

Well, it apparently isn’t my daughter’s only fetish. She apparently loves hats. Like her bike helmet.

And her summer hat (I want my “Hello to Kitty” hat!). I can’t remember why she had it at the dinner table. I think she was wearing it when we called her to dinner, and she was in terribly cute form, so we grabbed the camera. She wasn’t allowed to wear it during the meal, much to her chagrin though.

And now, her winter hat. (Can you sense a theme here? My daughter loves being a girl. And loves all things pink.)

Well, Sarah. My hat (ahem) is off to you. You certainly are cute in them.

The Fourth-Grader

2011-10-09T21:42:00.001-06:00

Yes, it is October. School started at the end of August. And I realize that I’m way behind in posting this, but I wanted to remember the occasion, regardless. (Be prepared for several types of these posts in the coming days. Better late than never.)

Here’s my fourth-grader on his first day of school. He’s in the accelerated learning lab program again this year (also known as ALL) and is loving his teacher, Mrs. Judd. Yay for school!

Special Student

2011-10-02T21:15:00.001-06:00

As part of having a birthday, Timothy was asked to bring a poster to school that told some things about himself. We went through and printed out some pictures that he wanted and he organized the layout. I did help him with the letters for his name, but he chose the color and the design. Behold the finished product.

The things on his poster reflect his interests and about him. The square on the top is a piece of origami that he folded himself. He also has books (Percy Jackson, one of his favorite series), an Xbox controller to represent his love of games, and the little white papers are programs he’s written with the help of a book Jared received for his birthday. (He loves computer programming.) The other pictures are pictures of him, our family, and our cat, Thomas. He wanted the pictures in a shape of a T with the accents on the side. A fun collection of memories.

Aren’t You Full of Surprises

2011-10-02T21:01:00.001-06:00

Well, my oldest son (and only son, really) just had a birthday. And he’s now in the last year of his life as a single digit age. Sometimes I have a hard time accepting the fact that I have a 9-year-old. Who is in fourth grade to boot. It doesn’t seem that he should be that old. But as we’ve lived in our house for eight of those nine years … well, I’ll just stop being maudlin for now.

To celebrate the momentous occasion, we had a party and cake. And presents. Can’t forget the presents. On to the pictures.

My sister wasn’t so sure Timothy would be interested in this piano book. I love the intense look on his face. (It means he’s reading and is deep in thought.) He loves it and has enjoyed playing from it.

This present was a surprise reaction to me, but it makes me laugh. I gave Timothy a new set of fingernail clippers partly because he needed a new set, but I mostly thought I’d get a good eye-roll from him. Instead, he was excited to get them. Boy: 1, Mom: 0.

But he was very excited for this present. He laughed quite hard and gave a very willing smile for the camera. Boy: 1, Mom: 1.

I can handle a tie.

This was the other surprise for me. When I asked what kind of cake Timothy wanted for his birthday, he told me carrot cake. Really? He reaffirmed his decision. And loved every bite of it. If you don’t know why I was surprised, here’s a link to a reminder.

Happy birthday, kiddo. Love you.

Turning 9

Mini-Monk

2011-09-11T16:40:00.001-06:00

I’ve been watching the TV show Monk on Netflix. If you’re not familiar with the show, one of the main plot elements is the OCD tendencies of the titular character. I’m not like Monk, but I can sympathize. Marydalene is not like Monk either, but she has her own little compulsions. I guess it’s no surprise that our children have their own OCD tendencies. This is a story about Sarah.

Last night we were all downstairs when Sarah noticed that something was not right.

She stopped everything and repeatedly told us about how this was just not right and something must be done. So I finally gave up trying to get her to continue on with our activity and fixed it for her.

You would think that would be end of it, but you don’t understand. For the next several minutes Sarah expounded on how much better it was now that it was fixed. Aren’t we glad that it was fixed? See how much better it is? Don’t you just feel better now that it’s fixed?

So, I guess I can consider all of the episodes of Monk that I’ve been watching to be research in how to cope with OCD.

Has it Been Three Years?

2011-09-04T14:13:00.001-06:00

… and three months, apparently. Which is probably a good time to make note of my baby’s birthday in July. Three years ago (and three months) she decided to rather abruptly join our family — on her own schedule of course.

And as I think about that day, it is more and more fitting, because Sarah is anything but docile. She loves being independent (and yet still loves to hold my hand). And while she can be a pill (with high drama), she can also be the cutest, sweetest little girl.

We had a little birthday party for her, complete with presents

and cake

of the ice cream variety, because it is her favorite.

We also went out and played with a bubble maker she got for her birthday. She had a blast.

I love the sheer amount of joy written on her face in this picture. She just had fun running around and being … Sarah.

We also had a birthday party with my extended family, where she was so happy open more presents and have ice cream with M&Ms on top (probably her most-favorite thing in the world).

I love this picture because Sarah was supposed to unwrap the present right next to Grandpa instead of taking it and retreating to her favorite aunt.

Much better.

This one makes me laugh because Sarah is clearly enjoying herself (and the attention of my parents and my sister) and Timothy is clearly bored in the background. Makes me laugh every time.

Some things about Sarah:

She is very particular about certain things. Trash (especially wrapping paper) must go in the trash right away. But yet her toys can be scattered from here to kingdom come and she’s OK with that.

She loves characters from Winnie the Pooh. Her favorite movie right now is “The Tigger Movie.” The other night she couldn’t find all of her stuffed friends in her crib and she cried until we came to make it right. (She sleeps with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Roo and Eeyore, as well as her cow and Buster the kitty. And occasionally her doggie as well.)

She loves her mommy. Sarah is seriously a Mommy’s girl and sometimes I’m not sure how to take it. She is very possessive of me at times and insistent that I help her — especially singing songs at night.

She loves songs — she will sing to herself on occasion, but mostly loves to be sung to. She just recently learned to dance and will dance when music is played.

She loves to have her own purse and be a girl. She loves to wear pink and skirts and hold baby dolls and stuffed animals. But yet she also likes little cars to carry around in her purse.

She loves her brother — to his distraction sometimes. Sarah is more than willing to play silly simple games endlessly with her brother, much longer than Timothy has patience for at times.

She loves to get into EVERYTHING. If you leave it out, she will try and look at it and hold it and play with it, if she can. (I have a password lock on my phone and all of our computers because of her.)

She loves to read — but mostly with her daddy. (I sing, Daddy reads. OK then.) Even though she has most of her books memorized, she loves to be read to at any opportunity.

This isn’t such a positive thing, but it is her: she screams. Like, screaming using her entire vocal range at times. Not for a long time, usually just for a few words, but I’ve never had to deal with ear-piercing screams before just because she is trying to make a point or something. We’re working on it. (Irony? When she screams, “Stop screaming!” at me. Nice.)

She loves her sleep, but doesn’t like to go to sleep. She still takes a two-hour nap nearly every day (and you can tell when she hasn’t), and sleeps 10-11 hours at night. But getting her to take a nap is full of protests — right up until she falls asleep, naturally.

Turning 3

Oh, and I’m not sure I’ve ever blogged about this, but Sarah graduated from Kids on the Move (the program to help her catch up since she was behind developmentally). She is now on her age level on skills and development. Yay! At her well-child check up, she was 34 pounds (84th percentile) and 39 inches (90th percentile).

Happy birthday, Sarah-barah. We love you!

Two Cats

2011-09-04T13:09:00.001-06:00

Sometimes our cat does odd things. And sometimes we take pictures of said odd things. Such as this:

However, this Tigger cat only rocks (with help) and plays songs when you push his ears. But I guess that’s the kind of friend Thomas wanted right then.

What a weird cat.

Let Freedom Run!

2011-08-31T16:00:00.000-06:00

So you may or may not have heard that I like to run. Well, part of that is that my kids see me train often and race on occasion. Timothy participated in a 3K fun run fundraiser at his school and was excited at the opportunity to be in a race again. We found a race that had a division for both of us and signed up. Timothy ran the 1 mile; I ran the 10K Freedom Run, part of the Freedom Festival for the Fourth of July. (It was on Monday, July 5 this year.)

The original idea was that I would run the 10K and then run with Timothy on his race, but our races were too close together. His started about 10 minutes after mine (sorry, I can’t run a 10K in 10 minutes). But Timothy was excited even though he ran solo, and Jared watched him run his race while I was running mine.

Timothy did great. He finished with a time of 9:56, which put him 17 out of 36 in his age group, and 103 out of 428 overall.

Meanwhile, I was running. I must admit, I didn’t do as well as I wanted to (partly because I gave blood less than a week before — I didn’t realize how much it would impact my performance). But I know when I enter these things I’m not going to win. My personal best is around a 9:30 mile and I was shooting for a 10-minute mile average for my 6.2-mile race. I was doing well until mile 5 when the aide station didn’t have any more cups for water — not good since it was a very muggy day. (That had never happened to me before on a previous race, but this race seemed to be more casual. Lesson learned. I’ll bring my own race water if I run this one again.)

I finished with a time of 1:09:49, which put me at 1,059 out of 1,273 runners. I finished 115 out of 147 in my age group. I’ve had better personal records for six miles on my casual runs up the canyon, but I ran it and it was fun (if muggy and crowded), and I got an awesome T-shirt from it. (It fits well, which I can’t say of all the running shirts I’ve gotten this year.)

Jared sort of missed me coming up to the finish line. It’s all good.

And if you’re wondering where my finisher medal is, my daughter claimed possession of it — at least while we were taking pictures. It was what made her happy, so it was fine with me.

Ah, you say, but it is here now. Why is that? Because I tempted my daughter with my sunglasses instead. She was stylin’ and that’s all that matters.

In all seriousness, I am grateful that I live in a country with such tremendous freedoms. And that I can help celebrate those by doing something I love — running — and spending time with friends and family is just awesome. I am one very blessed girl.

Up, Up and Away!

2011-08-30T16:00:00.000-06:00

As is our annual tradition, we went to see the hot air balloon festival that is put on as part of the Freedom Festival. Normally we decide to go on the Fourth of July holiday, but we decided to go the Saturday before so that Timothy and I could participate in the Freedom Run on Monday. (The Fourth was on a Sunday this year. And this being Utah, there were no scheduled events on the actual holiday. We made up for it by partying on Friday with fireworks at our neighborhood block party, Saturday with hot air balloons and swimming, and Monday with a fun run and a family barbecue.) But I digress. It’s balloons we’re focusing on here! More than 20 of them filled the sky.

It was a lot of fun, if a bit early. We even got to see a special visitor that came all the way from a galaxy far, far, away (well, Germany really, but where’s the fun in that?).

But with getting up that early comes a price. My little girl was tired, and told us that she wanted to sleep (if you know Sarah, this is a rare occurrence). So she laid down and got her little dog and cow from her diaper bag and used her jacket as a blanket. Poor thing. She didn’t actually sleep, but she did look cute trying. And she was there for a good 10 minutes. Signs of a tired girl.

And then she “woke up” and was extra cute. Observe.

And then she had fun playing a silly game with her brother. He would pull up the cup holders and she would push them back down. It’s amazing what they find so entertaining and hilarious.

And if you’re so inclined, more pictures are below in a handy-dandy little slideshow for your enjoyment.

Freedom Festival Hot Air Balloons 2011

From the Archives

2011-08-29T16:00:00.000-06:00

As I was sorting through the piles of pictures that I had to do to actually get current on my blog, I ran across several that are really just outtakes. I don’t have particular blog-worthy stories to go with them, so I just thought I’d put them here as a group, simply because I want to remember them. They make me smile. And hopefully they will make you smile too.

As with her helmet before her, she didn’t want to let these out of her sight once we’d picked them out. She loves her sunglasses.

These are from when I was trying to get a photo of Timothy to talk about his braces. I tried to get a decent photo of the two of them, but all I got was silliness, and a cute smile. The one photo I got of Sarah looking at the camera with Timothy in it and he is making a face. What a silly boy.

And speaking of silly things, I don’t remember this at all, but Sarah apparently thought it was very cute. I, apparently, was very cold.

And it is stuff like this that make me glad I can be at home with my girl during the day while I work. Because I get to see her do silly things like wear her old Halloween costume and sit in a box. And then have our cat join her. (She didn’t really like him being in the box with her. Thomas LOVES boxes.)

She was so ready for bed, and so tired, in this photo. And one of the last times I caught her pulling on her ear. (She stopped playing with ears when we took her pacifiers away. I miss this look.)

And who needs a table when you can make your own?

Sometimes you just have to chill, dude. With a cat.

And sometimes waking up is hard, and you really need two friends to help you. That you can barely carry all by yourself.

And last, but not least, some pictures of Timothy’s Crazy Hair Day from last fall. (As a disclaimer, Jared did his hair and was supposed to blog about it, but he never did. I don’t know the reasoning behind their stylistic choice, but they are definitely crazy photos.)

Summer Memories

2011-08-28T16:18:00.001-06:00

Growing up, summer meant a lot of different things to me. Hours spent outside playing — water games, friends, bike rides, going to the park — and so I try to give my kids at least some of the same opportunities. I admit we didn’t go to the park as much as I would have liked to this summer (I do have a full-time job alas), but I did manage to get them there at least once before summer hit us in full force.

(And a note on that … why on earth did it wait to get really hot until the END of August? I’m not complaining, just think that it is odd. Usually we hit our peak in July. Whatever. Back to the park.)

This was the first time we’d gone in a while and it was very fun to see Sarah be more confident in just about everything she did. She was willing to climb up and down stairs, through tunnels and more all by herself. (A year ago, someone had to hold her hand just about all of the time.)

I think this is Timothy’s favorite slide. He first wanted to go down it when he was Sarah’s age, I think. (She wanted to try too.) I can’t remember when he was first able to do it by himself, but he is pretty fearless now, at least with this particular slide.

Me? I had a good time following Sarah around on the ground and taking pictures of my kids. You know, to prove that we actually did something this summer.

Fun at the Park

Funny Things Kids Do, Part 5

2011-07-24T22:50:00.000-06:00

On a recent trip to Walmart, we stopped by the bikes to look at getting Timothy a new bike (and an early birthday present) and maybe get Sarah one for her birthday. While we ultimately decided to wait on the bike for Sarah, she saw the bike helmets and declared her need for one. (With Sarah, everything is a need, not a want. Ah, the perceptions of a 3-year-old.)

We don’t usually indulge her whims, but we found a pink girly one and decided that it wouldn’t hurt for her to have one, even though the fastest she gets on her tricycle is 1-2 mph. What I didn’t count on was her attachment to said helmet. She barely let us take it from her to buy it. Once we got to the parking lot, she was very insistent that she wear it home as well. Observe.

After we got home, she continued to want to wear it. Since it wasn’t a battle I was willing to fight, she got her way. She was so cute and smiley about it as well. She loves her helmet.

I mean, how can you say no to this smile?

Helmet Runner

On the Road Again

2011-07-24T21:26:00.001-06:00

This summer has been the summer of bikes for our house. Specifically, getting Timothy comfortable on his bike. He is 8, and we felt bad that he hadn’t really learned how yet. We discovered this year that he had outgrown his training wheels as well, so he just had to learn the hard way.

Lets just say that he has a few scars and scabs that are still healing on his knees and elbows. But, he knows how to ride a bike now. Yay!

Riding Along

We’ve actually since bought him a bigger bike because that one was getting just a little small for him (if you notice, his knees aren’t supposed to come up at such a high angle). Timothy enjoys riding his bike now, especially with company.

Also getting in on the action was our little Sarah. For a while I was essentially pulling her along while she half-heartedly pedaled.

I decided enough was enough and we sat in the shade for awhile while she figured out if she wanted to move, she would have to pedal and push it herself. She’s slow, but she has gotten better since I took this video at the beginning of July.

Little Rider

Yay for summer and bike rides!

Getting Closer

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

We’ve moved on to the next phase of Timothy’s orthodontia. He’s had a jaw-widener installed since January, and now the effort is to pull his front teeth together.

A week after school, on June 9, he had his braces put on. They are only braces on the top, and their sole purpose is to reposition his teeth so the teeth that aren’t in yet will have room to come in. (If you want to know more, you can read more here.)

This photo was taken the day he had them put on, and I was amazed at how quickly his braces pulled his front teeth together. By Saturday (June 11), the gap between his front teeth was gone. Hopefully this is a good sign and we’ll see his missing teeth soon.

Timothy seems to be coping with his braces well. I’m glad he had them put on after school got out, and not because I’m afraid he’ll get teased (it is likely he will still have them when school starts in August). I am glad because the first week or so he couldn’t stop playing with his mouth, moving his lips around and making funny sounds as he was feeling his braces. He’s gotten used to them now (they’re old hat now that he’s had them a month), and has adjusted to them quite well. Timothy did tell us that his front teeth were a bit tender, but otherwise has no complaints. Whew.

(As a side note, on Saturday Timothy told us he has a loose tooth. Where? One of his four remaining molars on his upper jaw. It fell out on Sunday, leaving him with only 7 teeth on his upper jaw [normal is 12, plus or minus one if he has recently lost one]. Poor kid. At this rate, he’ll have to eat a soft diet while he waits for his teeth to come back in. And certainly no corn on the cob for him this summer.)