Mark is 39!...day 2

Since Mark missed the last half of his ACTUAL birthday, we though we should stretch it out into a two day spread. We had so so so much scheduled today, but we managed to hang up his car balloons and do a pick up of the main floor before we ran off to a ward baptism. 

As soon as he and Mat came home from camping today, we made homemade pizza and no salad. 

He introduced Laney to the "ridin in a buggy" hand hold... he makes me do it all the time in the car. Just to see how long I'll last before I get too embarrassed. 

And no daddy birthday would be the same without his favorite cake: Chocolate Lover's!

The boys led out the singing with joy!

And intensity!

Mark joined in with his very own "Happy Birthday, to me!!"

Expertly blowing out all candles, as expected.

Realizing that there's a good chance there will be some trick candles in the mix...

He watches closely and extinguishes the rogue flames quickly. The kids scream in delight!

And he conquers! (I love that face.)

We called a few friends and they came over to munch on foods that are bad for you and watch the Ohio game. The game never started due to a rain delay, but we still had a great time hanging out with the Flynns and the Clarkes.

It was a super busy day and I'm pretty sure I didn't sit down once. I am totally completely exhausted and I'm so happy that Mark had a fun birthday. I do love him so.

Ah....now to bed.

Oh dangit! I forgot to prepare my singing time again!

Mark's 39th...a two day spread

He's 39!

He's also super dad, computer genius, captian crossfitter and happy camper.

Which means he doesn't have time to spend an ENTIRE DAY celebrating his birthday. He has WODS and meetings and previously scheduled campouts. So we filled in the gaps with Birthdayness.

A 4 am balloon surprise!

He woke up (as usual) and went to On track to workout with his early morning buddies. They did a special birthday WOD in his honor.

15 minute AMRAP
3 legless rope climbs
9 atlas stone 115#

15 minute AMRAP 
30 double unders
20 Am. KB swing 55#
10  GHD sit-ups

Now, just so are clear on how "Birthday WODs" work. It's exactly the same as a regular WOD...only this time it's designed specifically so that you are doing things that you love (box jumps!) and things that make you hate crossfit forever (kettle bells...boo!). Also, all the rest of the people in the class get to curse your name as you all sweat it out together.  Happy birthday!

Ethan has been getting up early to go with him, so he takes him to seminary and then goes back for more muscle building. (wait, is it MY birthday?)

Soon, he was wondering why people were honking at him so much.

After I completed my school drop off duties, Mark and I headed back over to the gym for my class. This time we did another workout designed just for him:

I love that he wants to go with me and he always chooses me to be on his team. A lot of the other husbands will ditch their wives and choose to pair up with someone that can match them in strength and speed.

Not Mark! He's my person.

We headed back home for a yummy birthday breakfast:  real bacon! mmmm....and toast made from fresh homemade bread.

Soon it was time to head back to work. Meetings wait for no man.

And then it was off to a scout campout with Mathew. Mark DOES NOT enjoy camping. But he goes. Because he loves his kids.

And I love him. The birthday adventures will continue tomorrow!

Run before the sun

I started off the day with an early morning run with my friend, Courtney. We've been running together for a couple months now. Our goal was to be able to do a 5k in the fall. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to increase the difficulty of our runs much because the real reason we are doing it is because we need someone to talk to. We need a sympathetic ear and the undivided attention of someone who fully appreciates how hard it is to parent a teenager. (And FUN! Did you hear that, kids? It's really fun too....but seriously hard. Don't worry. You'll find out.)

So I'm not too worried about the whole 5k thing. It'll happen. Or it won't. Doesn't matter that much. 

So we had a good run/talk and then it was straight back home to get the kids ready to go to Old Settler's Parade. 

This year, Ethan is in the Falcon Regiment. Olathe South High School marching band!

I know this is weird, but I got tears in my eyes when I saw him march by. I can't tell you how great it is to see him working hard and having fun at something. I love it. (He's the one just to the right of the center of the picture)

Next came Megan! She snagged the honor of helping to hold the banner for the CST marching band.

It pays to have a big brother in the band!

And this is Mat's last year marching with CST.

Tears! I don't know what is wrong with me! Who cries at a parade?

I'd say the parade was a success and there was a little bit of something for everyone...

After the parade, we grilled up some burgers for lunch and then the boys headed over to a ward member's home to mow their lawn. Mark was busy fighting with the shower....it needed a new cartridge and wasn't cooperating. But! As always, he persevered and came out successful. I never doubted it for a second. Also, if he hadn't figured it out, we would have had to begin a life of taking showers simultaneously, as ours wouldn't actually stop spraying water. 

5 hours without running water reminded me that I absolutely take it for granted that water WILL come out of the faucet when I turn it on. And every time I stared at the little drippy drops and exclaimed, "Oh! duh! Why do I keep coming over here?"

Mark finished with the shower and we finished the mowing just in time to make it over to the Flynn's for Kylie's birthday fajitas!

Isn't she cute? She's seventeen and she got to celebrate with the Huffords, the missionaries and some pretty fantastic apple crisp. 

And off to bed! Except.....I forgot to prepare my singing time.

oy.

Crazy hair day...fair warning

Our past efforts with "Crazy Hair Day" have been hit and miss. Putting cups on top of your head and trying to cover it in hair is tricky business. I can't imagine trying to wear that all day long and concentrate on school. Which is why I'm never surprised to see my girls come home with their crazy do's all undone. 

Yesterday (miraculously) Laney reminded me that Crazy hair day was on Friday. So we did what we do when we need a quick idea. Pinterest. My goal was to find something fun, easy, and hopefully free. The more comfortable, the better. 

Anna decided on a mermaid and Laney chose a dog. The only thing I had to buy was the green hair spray and some hair clips to attach the eyes and ears to her hair. Not bad!

I'll admit, the morning was a tiny bit stressful, trying to add this to our normal "get-out-the-door" madness, but it was worth it to see them hop out of the car, excited to show their friends.

School days. Rockin the jeggings. Nailing the snacks.

Preschool is well underway. Everly is so happy to be a "big girl" at last and I won't lie....I do a fist pump every time I drop her off and I realize I have 2 hours of free time. It's a little intoxicating. It's been a long time coming, my friends. 

Of course, now it's time for me to do the teaching. Time to pay the piper. Preschool is at our house for 2 weeks! And we are learning about food (I got this.)

Everly and Aaron all ready for circle time. We let the kids put their picture up on the board and we do the calandar, we say the Pledge of Allegiance and look at the weather. The best part....singing the "Days of the Week" to the Adams Family theme song. 

There's a good amount of play time... (Eden Giles, Aaron Guenther, Everly, Shelton Braithwaite)

But they are willing to do a craft here and there...

And they are more than happy to assist with snack time.

They are cute kids and I really enjoy teaching them. It fills up my "good mother bucket" when we are all sitting around reading a story and they are hanging on every word.

Next week....Pets! Tootsie and Daphne are about to earn their keep.

Running buddy

Today was our second Sunrunners practice. I still haven't figured out where in the heck we are supposed to meet and what time and huh?

So far, we are mainly wandering through the halls with a lost look on our faces and then randomly joining in on a sea of running kids. Ah well, we can't do everything perfectly, can we?

The thing about it, though, is that Anna is new and she wants to run with her sister. Laney is not new and she does not want to run with her sister. She prefers to run hand in hand with her bestie, Cassidy. 

This leaves Anna to figure it out on her own, which she will most certainly do, because she is plucky and brave and....Anna. 

But today, a sweet boy named Grant, offered to be her running partner and even though he was only up for one lap (it's still super hot and humid), that was all she needed to get her running legs going.

It was perfect. 

And I officially love Grant. (in the orange)

Give them something to cheer about

Today we "played a game" in Crossfit. Which means that we do all the things we do normally, only now there are complex, confusing rules and I will lose at the end. 

Never you mind, losing has never stopped me from walking back through those doors. 

And on the bright side, I get to take a break and breathe while my teammates take their turns. Yes!

I sneakily took photos today because I like so many of the people that showed up....

Ruth and Doug listening to the rules of the game. (Ruth is Brian's mom, so she's up front and being supportive. 

Dana the superlady that lost 30 lbs, Mary the chiropractor, and Jen who I just found out is really Jennifer because nobody actually calls her Jen in her real life.

Carol in blue with Kelly in grey...they are both nice ladies and substantially stronger than me but never rub it in. Jessica in the crazy tights. She's a griper. Which I secretly love because it gives me something else to think about than how bad I want to be anywhere else doing anything else.

The final component of the game was a rope climb. If you don't want to do that, you can lie down at the base of the rope and pull yourself to standing position, 3 times.

My entire team went for the second option and even though I really don't mind doing rope climbs, I considered switching just to speed things up.

But as I ran up to the rope, my little girls started yelling "Go Mama! Go Mama!" and clapping.

So I did those rope climbs!

Anything for the next generation! You can do it, girls!