Happy Birthday Bailee!

This post is almost 2 weeks late, but it takes me a while to get pictures downloaded to my computer, and I didn't do it until today. So here's pics of Bailee's 6th b-day on February 13!! I can't believe she's growing so fast!

She loves to help make her cake. We made a pink cake with pink frosting, and lots of heart candies!


Trin got a nice soft cuddly robe for Christmas, and Bailee always wanted to wear it. So she asked for her own robe for her birthday. Her wish came true!

We let Bailee pick a fun place she wanted to go on her birthday, so after opening presents, we went to Jumpin' Jacks near Jordan Landing. We played there for about an hour, then came home for cake!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEE, WE LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!!

12 down......8 to go!!

As many of you already know, I've been training for the SLC marathon since December. I'm doing the 20 week training, and I only have 8 weeks to go...yipee! I'm so excited for April! My goal is to beat my 2006 marathon time of 4:36. So far, I've been able to finish 13.1 miles in under 2 hours (barely), so I'm on track to beat that time for sure. March is almost here, and it is going to be the toughest month. I have a 20 and a 22 mile run in March, and those are SO tough for me mentally. I get nervous about long runs about a week before, and have a hard time sleeping the night before. But the night after, I sleep like a rock!! I trained for the marathon last year, but injured my IT band about 3 weeks before the marathon, and did the bike tour instead. I hadn't registered for the marathon yet, so I didn't lose my money. I was SO disappointed to see all those people cross the finish line and know I was so close to being able to complete another one. It was the worst feeling. But this year, I DID register and pay for the marathon back in December with my brother, Shane. This is his first marathon, and he's been doing most of his training on a treadmill. He lives in Jackson Hole, WY, and he hates running in the cold. He'll start running outside in March. I'm so excited for him!
Anyway, I decided since my body will be marathon-ready in April, why not run another one in May?? So I registered for Ogden on May 16. The marathon isn't the hard part, (well, it's hard, but a lot more fun when you have all that adrenaline on the REAL course, with thousands of people around you), it's the training that's tough! I'm always struggling with myself to get out the door and go train, but once I get going, it feels great, (except for the really long runs), and after I'm done, I always feel SO much better! So if I'm going to do all this training, I'm going to make the most of it!
If any of you ever want to run a marathon or half marathon, I've got training plans and all kind of great info and tips from the first one I did in 2006, and I'd love to share it with you! It's an experience like nothing else, and you'd be amazed what you can do when you set your mind to it!
Happy running!

Messes

I don't know what it is about my kids and their messes. First of all, the girls sometimes change their clothes 2 or 3 times a day. I'm having the HARDEST time trying to get them to keep their clothes on, and PUT THEIR CLOTHES AWAY / IN THE HAMPER the minute they take them off! They are getting pretty good at hanging up their coats when they come in the door though. Well, I'd say they do it about 50% of the time. The other 50%, they drop it wherever it falls off of them, which is usually right in the doorway of the laundry room. And their room.....oh boy. They'll haul the stool into their room so they can reach the shirts or dresses hung in their closet, then pull them each down until they find what they want to wear. I feel like I've been GRILLING it into their heads to NOT pull down clothes from the closet. They do the same thing with the clothes in their drawers. When I tell them to take the stool back in the kitchen where it belongs, they say it's too heavy, they can't take it that far. Good one. And Bailee with paper: Bailee LOVES to write and draw. She writes stories all the time. She has SO many stacks of paper around this house. I throw away (well, in the recycle bin) SO much paper EVERY day! Where did it all come from? I make her use both sides of the paper, and she's not allowed to use the blank paper in the printer/copier. But there's still so much paper everywhere, all the time. Not to mention the stacks of paper she brings home from school every day. Also, she and Trin like to cut their artwork into little pieces, and somehow they get spread throughout the house. I try to keep some of Bailee's schoolwork and stories, but I can't keep them all. Sometimes I get tired of trying to decide what to keep and what to toss. I can't keep up with the paper!!
And then there's Ryker. I'm always finding toothbrushes in kitchen drawers, toys in every nook and cranny, pens everywhere, and my stuff being lost and misplaced. Anything the girls are playing with, he'll take and scatter all over the place. I've put child locks on all the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, but he can still get into some drawers. His favorite thing to go and find was the toilet scrubber. Eeeww! I'd take it away from him every time and he'd FREAK out! But Kev finally got locks on the bathroom cabinet this past weekend, so thanks, Kev!
I spent half the day on Monday cleaning the playroom downstairs. I lock away half the toys so they can't make a mess. I'm going to get rid of a lot of them...soon. But it feels so good to go downstairs now and walk through the hall and into the playroom without stepping on, over, or around anything!
It feels so good when the house picked up and clean. It brings me happiness! I immediately feel stress when there's messes. But how come it only takes a few minutes to get back to this??

The other day, after I finished cleaning the girls room, Trin came in and said, (with a gasp), "Mommy, the room looks bald! It looks so beautiful!" I said, "I know, let's keep it bald, shall we?"

Food Storage

I don't know about you, but I often feel overwhelmed when I try to update my food storage and 72 hour kit. I try to buy "extra" of certain things every now and then. I like case-lot sales too. I buy beef in bulk, and cook and freeze it. I just seem to run out of things so quickly! I've come to the conclusion that food storage is a never-ending project I constantly have to be working on. And it will never end. I feel like I do just a "fair" job of keeping my shelves stocked. I often think to myself, "okay, if a disaster happened today, and I wouldn't be able to go to the grocery store, or the grocery store was just OUT of food & supplies, how long would we be able to survive on what I have right here in the good ol' storage room?" I think we would do pretty well for....maybe a month or two, at the most. I have LOTS of rice! We could survive on rice, cereals, canned foods, pasta, and powdered milk. I don't know that we would have enough water to last us very long. And we NEED water to survive, and to prepare a lot of these foods! Otherwise we're chewing on hard spaghetti noodles. eeww.
Anywhoo, I'm just thinking out loud. The real reason I started this post was to share this blog with all of you:
http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com
My aunt referred it to our family, and it's a good place look for tips! Enjoy!

Hadlee Luann Morrison

As I mentioned in a previous post, Kevin's sister Heidi and her husband James, were chosen to adopt this precious little girl born on Tuesday, Feb. 10. They signed the final paperwork today, and brought her home! We got to meet her tonight, and here are some better pictures of her. She's such an adorable little baby! We couldn't be happier for Heidi & James!!

Facebook tag

I was tagged on Facebook to answer these questions about myself. So I thought if I copy and paste it, it would make an easy, quick blog post! So here it is:
(I tag anyone who is reading this that wants to do it!)

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My parents got the name off of the Disney movie "Escape to Witch Mountain"

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Probably a couple of weeks ago. And I can't remember why. But I get a lump in my throat and tears well up any time I watch a good show, like Biggest Loser. I got emotional when they voted the contestant off, but didn't all out CRY.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It's okay, but I wish it was better.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Turkey, or tuna

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yep, 3.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I hope so. I try to be likeable.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Yeah.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes, and I get strep throat every dang year.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Already have, and would do it again.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Cascadian Farms granola w/ oats & honey, Post Selects Great Grains w/ Crunchy Pecans, and Grape Nuts. Sometimes I mix them together. Yum!!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
I don't need to because they were never tied when I put them on!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Cold Stone Cake Batter w/ cookie dough added. Or mint chocolate chip.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their face

15. RED OR PINK?
Either one.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I'm not patient enough

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My grandparents who have passed on.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Only if they feel like it.

19. WHAT COLOR OF PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue stretchy pants, dirty tennis shoes

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Elmo singing on Sesame Street

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?
Why would I be a crayon?

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Payless Shoe Store, scotch tape, horses, the mountains, clean kids w/ baby magic baby lotion on!

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
The daycare at the fitness center

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Yes!! Thanks Lindsay!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Triathlon, volleyball, horse racing, extreme mountain climbing. I don't like watching basketball or football. Sorry Kev!

27. HAIR COLOR?
Light brown

28. EYE COLOR?
Hazel

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Too many to name. Probably garden tomatoes.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Scary movies are lame, and do no good for you. I like happy endings.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Paul Blart: Mall Cop, pretty funny!

33. WHAT COLOR OF SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
White

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
SUMMER!!!

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both!

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate cream pie

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
?

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
?

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
The Book of Mormon

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
the mouse

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
LOST!!

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S)?
The mountains, horses running, my heart beat, my kids sleeping.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Probably the Beatles

44. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Hawaii

Two New Nieces!!

It's been a wonderful couple of days for our family! My brother Kody and his wife, Brianna, had their baby girl yesterday on February 9, 2009 at 6:40pm. She was 6 lbs 9 1/2 oz, and 21" long. They named her Jovi Jade Henderson. (Kody's middle name is also Jade). We're so happy for them! It's their 1st baby.








And Kevin's sister Heidi, and her husband James, have been chosen by a birth mother to adopt this little baby girl, born today, Feb. 10 at 1:40pm. She was 8lbs 13oz, and 21" long. They are naming her Hadlee. They have a middle name picked out, but I don't know what it is yet! And I'll get better pictures of her soon, but this is the one they sent to our cell phone today, and it's all I have so far. Congratulations Heidi & James!!!

Missing tooth

I should have blogged about this a LONG time ago, but I didn't download the picture to my computer until tonight. Bailee lost her 1st tooth on January 4, 2009, when she was just about 6 years old. Kevin & I were in Hawaii at the time. It was so loose before we left, and we figured it would fall out while we were gone. So we told Bailee to hold onto it until we got home, so we could see the tooth before the tooth fairy took it away!

Guitar Hero

All I can say is, Are You Kidding Me??!!

Bailee's DIBELS test

Wow, I haven't posted anything in SO long! I've been meaning to post things here and there, but I don't have a lot of extra time.
Anyway, Bailee took her mid-year DIBELS test recently, and she scored SO high!! I don't know if you can even read the scores, but they are way above the class average, and her teacher put a note at the bottom saying she is already at level for the end of the year! Bailee has always been a smart girl. She started talking early (from what people told me). I didn't really know, since she was my first child, what age they're supposed to start talking, so I didn't think much of it. She's always reading and sounding letters and words out. Last night she read the entire "Green Eggs and Ham" book all by herself! She's in the all day kindergarten class, which she and I both love. I was worried at first that it would be too much for her, but she loves it, and is doing so well! I'm so proud! I just have to brag for a second. That, and I wanted to get her scores on my blog for journaling purposes, because I'll probably lose it eventually! Thanks for letting me brag...