Parental Advisory

The other day Emma was climbing down the stairs using the banister overlooking the dining room. As her little feet went between each baluster her little head bobbed up and down above and under the handrail. At one point she propped her chin on the handrail and with huge excited eyes called to me to take in the 'dangerous' stunt she was pulling. I replied with the motherly, "Wow look at you!"  and "Be careful because that's pretty scary." 

When she reached the bottom she ran over to me and with a very serious know-it-all look told me, "Now mom, don't ever try that at home....it's only for little kids to do."

Run Away

Today I was supposed to run the 7 mile leg of a marathon length relay, but I didn't. Our team was short a member, which was just as well since I have a cough that has decided that my chest cavity is the ideal place to take up residence. If I would have ran this morning there is a good chance my lungs would have caught on fire and I would have been FORD (Found On Road Dead). This is not such a splendid outcome for a race. So instead, I sent all my good running vibes to my friend, Rachel, who is doing her part in a triathlon today, packed up my laptop, and hit the road with my new fave song blaring. Almost 3 hours later I arrived at my destination...

My sister-in-law Linda has connections with someone that has connections to a hotel in Cedar City, so about once a year we ditch our families and we take over the hotel conference room with electronics and snacks and we scrapbook (or in my case, blog) to our little hearts' content.

Connections are a great thing.

But don't worry about my munchkins, I've left them in the capable hands of leftover Panda Express, Little Caesar, and of course, their favorite person in the whole world, daddy. I'm positive they'll survive to make a mess of the house and run him ragged until I get home tomorrow afternoon. Until then I have three goals for the next 24 hours-
1. To catch up my blog on things that I missed over the summer,
2. To catch up with my girlfriend, LaRae, over dinner,
3. And to not gain 5 pounds in the process.

What Sexy Is

I don't know about you,

but this...

 ...is what I find incredibly sexy. 

A Late Night Education

Last night we had our annual sleep outside movie party. With having just finished packing away all the camping stuff away last week, we weren't too keen on dragging out the tent again, so we slept on the lawn under the stars. And it just so happens that with the Perseid Meteor Shower winding down, a tent ceiling would have just obstructed a most magnificent view. We also didn't actually watch a movie last night. Instead we read and told stories including the kids' favorite "The Vindow Viper". The only movies that played were the ones that our imaginations created for us in our minds- the very best kind, after all.

One of my favorite parts of the whole night included the sweet kisses bestowed all over my face by a brown eyed, feet-y jammie clad angel with her little arm thrown around my neck pulling me close . The other was when Dallin told us we had everything except a "pot to go to the bathroom in". We informed him, we did. It was 20 feet away in the house and it is called a toilet. I love that crazy nut of a kid.

As I lay awake at 2:30 in the morning gazing up into the star speckled night, I thought about how enjoyable movie party had been. There was no bickering about what movie to watch or who got to sit by dad on the couch. Everyone listened and laughed as others told stories and there was a tangible warmth as we laid on the cool grass together that was not created by the piles of blankets and quilts covering us. It was comfortable. It was enjoyable. It was memorable; just like being with family should be.

So last night I learned that maybe movie party each week might be a little more special with a little less movie all the time and a little more effort at really just being together. As these thoughts concluded my sleep deprived and extremely exhausted brain also gained knowledge of these 10 important or not so important things. I learned that...

1....apparently there was a train passing through with an engineer who must have been peeved he wasn't asleep at 2:30 in the morning like the majority of Provo. Because I'll tell you, he did his darnedest laying on that horn of his to wake up not only Provo, but the state of Utah.

2....Dallin talks in his sleep after he exclaimed, "Mom, guess what?" followed by a sentence of nothing but absolute nonsense.

3....the high pitched whine emanating from something electrical in our neighborhood had begun to alternate. This was more mind numbing annoying than its previous constancy.

4....the smell of dew dampened ground renewed memories of sleeping out as a kid...and an almost overwhelming urge to go toilet papering.

5....train #1's engineer must have a twin who was at the helm of train #2.

6....you can hear the backup warning beeps from the construction trucks working on the freeway all the way in my backyard.

7....meteor showers are incredibly captivating. I only wish they didn't get really started so late at night (or should I say early in the morning).  If only I could have propped my eyelids open to continue to catch all of those little lights streaking across the sky while I slept...

8....there was no way in that place low below that I was going to feel like running 6 miles at 7:00.

9.....in all of my 33 years and birthing of 4 children I still have not accumulated enough "batting" to combat the hardness of sleeping on the ground.

10....a Saturday nap was already sounding like an excellent idea.