Kyler's 1st day of Preschool

I can't beleive that he's actually old enough for this but it was kyler's 1st day of Preschool today. We laid out his clothes last night and i asked him what he wanted for breakfast in the morning. And then he told me how much he missed preschool. Kinda odd having not gone yet at all. Anyway this morning he woke up put all his clothes on and shoes by himself and headed downstairs to see me. had is Peeled egg (boiled) like he asked for and then had to wait an hour before we could head off to school. The only thing i'm not so sure about is that i think he came home more wired than he was when he left. That could be trouble.

Seriously the best pancakes and the most Delicious Syrup

Ok so stemming from some pancakes my parents made me eat when i was like 8 i really don't like pancakes. In short my parents tried a new pancake mix which honestly tasted like cardboard and while they were making pancakes made me eat TWO of them then they both took one bite an threw them in the garbage. Yeah that's how nasty these pancakes were. So... consequently i have not really had any love for pancakes since.

That being said i actually found a homemade recipe for pancakes i like its below. they are so fluffy not huge pancakes but yummy. I can't eat more than 2 and that's on a really hungry day so filling the recipe only makes 8 but well worth it. So here it is:

Fluffy Thick Homestyle Pancakes

1 1/2 C. Flour 1 1/4 C Milk (you can substitute 1/2 water 1/2 buttermilk also)

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 egg

1 tsp. salt 3 Tbsp. Butter, melted

1 Tbsp. sugar a few dashes of cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Make a well and add wet ingredients mix till mostly smooth but still a little lumpy. ( Lumpy batter makes yummy pancakes). Pour about 1/4 C batter for each pancake. Brown and serve. Makes 8.

Now the coup de grace the yummy unbelievable make you want to just drink it buttermilk syrup. Again i don't really like syrup its sticky and thick and tends to coat your mouth and make it all nasty but this is airy and light and buttery just magic. So here it is.

Buttermilk Syrup

for 1 1/2 Cups

1 C Butter

1 C Sugar

1/2 C Buttermilk

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine Butter, Sugar, And Buttermilk in small pan. Heat over med/high heat until sugar dissolves. Stir in soda and vanilla. Serve over everything!!! You can put this in a jar and keep it in your fridge and just warm it up in the microwave when you want it as well. Never buy syrup Again.

Radnar

Ok so most people don't like running. And i'm kinda with you. its not my favorite activity but i do enjoy it. Anyway We finished ragnar last saturday after 197 miles from Logan UT, to Park City UT. And let me Tell you It was Fabulous. So many stories so little sleep. I really wanted to die at one point but overall a wonderful experience. We already signed up for next year which is there 10 yr anniversary so hopefully even more fun. Our team Finished 167th out of almost 700 teams in our category and 200 something overall either way we were in the top 25% overall and top 20 in our categorie. I feel that gives us some bragging rights. Well not really me but our other runners. We finished with a time of 31 hr and 29 min. Kurtis' Dad who is the oldest one on our team ran Ragnar hill which is the toughest part of the course and also how the race got its name. He ran the enitre thing and finished in the top half of the runners in our category.

Kurtis ran a consistant 10 min pace. makes me so mad he can go out and do that without training. Not fair. He had his longest race first 7.6 miles and did just fine. In fact as we were talking after we got home he said that was his favorite leg and it even had a big hill in it. His second was 3 something i think and he didn't like it. But was all joyous after his last i think it was 3 something too. As we were in different vans i didn't get to see him much except at exchange 6, exchange 19 and for a little bit in the tent whe i got to go sleep for a few hrs. Then at the end. But he was willing to do it again next year so thats always a good sign. And were thinking about doing Las Vegas next year too. So we can get the Saints and Sinners Medal too.

My first run was well i think i know how hot hell is. I ran at about 2 in the afternoon and even though it was only 3.4 miles i thought my feet were going to burn off at one point. i also took off way to fast i started at probably a 8 1/2 min pace when i reached a 2.4 i was at about a 9 1/2 pace and then i died my last mile. It also had 2 hills in it i wasn't really expecting and Lucky me as soon as janet came around the corner to give me the slap bracelet i had to pee so i ran the whole thing needing to pee.

My next run was by far my Favorite. it was 7.1 mostly down hill at night. And way up in the hills so you could see the starts. it was wonderful there were a few times that i was out of site of anyone in front of me and icouldn't see the lights from anyone behind me and it was beautiful it kinda reminded me of home in the summer. The only part i didn't like of this run was when i got down my 6 mile hill and had to cross the road at a quarter to midnight the lady taking care of this part told me to hurry up and get across the road. There was nooooo one comeing and i was the one running this so. lol. anyway i didn't even mind the hill at the end although i did have to walk over part of the over pass cuz well i got scared when i should feel and see the cars going under me. Other than that it was amazing.

My last leg was Horrible. Little Sleep was fine being tire was ok, but i had gotten a stitch in my side(side ache) after my last leg and figured it would go away but well it never did. So about a mile into my 5.4 mile run i was having a hard time getting a deep breath. Kevin (kurtis' brother) Gave me some tips on how to make it go away but it only eased slightly. Thanks so much to my Van for all the support. They offered a few times to have someone finish for me but i wanted to know that i did it all myself. If i could have actually run it it would have been nicer cuz it started getting hot out again as i was running at around 10 in the morning. anyway i also had decided to wear shorts this run bad Bad BAD idea. I started to chafe around mile 2 and at around mile 4 i started to get a blister on my foot. Oh and in this race they have these very very deceiving 1 mile to go markers i really think they need to put them at a half a mile in cuz it make one mile seem like FOREVER. anyway at my last one i went about 150 ft and then had to climb a hill. The good thing was my side ache started to ease up bad news i was already mentally and physically dead by this point. i just kept looking at the people in front to me for where the exchange was. Thanks to whoever you are that passed me and gave me a high five you made me pick it up and keep going. At the final exchange i sprinted as best i could and then pretty much collapsed. I ended up hyper ventalating cuz i couldn't breath and that scared me so i tried harder and ended up crying anyway thanks to Janet and my team for calming me down and helping me throught that run.

So here's to getting in better shape for next year so it will all be a breeze. Oh and i still have my side ache. I went to the dr a few days ago and he said i either developed a kidney stone or i pulled the mucsle in my diaphram so it will be a while before it gets better. But Bring it on Ragnar!!!

Baby Shower Gift for Girl

Ok so i like to bring something to a shower that most people don't think of but since i've learned how to sew i've just gone to bringing something unique. So here is what i'm planning on bringing to a shower i'm invited to next saturday.

You can get the shoe pattern and instructions for FREE!!! at http://www.fleetingthing.com/handmade/baby-gifts/the-mila-baby-shoe-tutorial/&2_10_12

You'll have to pay for the dress pattern its called a Lucy Pinafore on etsy and the bloomers also are on etsy called little miss sassy pants.

But all relatively easy to do i made the hole outfit and shoes in one afternoon. and that included cutting everything out.

a little about a whole lot.

Ok So honestly there is a ton i should have been blogging but well i really haven't had the time for so here is the sum up.

Kyler Turned 4 oh my goodness on the 31st of may. We went to the aquarium just he, brooklyn and i for his birthday then got lunch at mc Donalds and came home for quick nap before his party with the family. He got some new books some clothes, swim noodles, a game, squirt guns and nerf guns, a sprinkler ball, little letters lap top(thats not the offical name of it) and a bike. In other words a ton of stuff. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones topped with Sea Turtles and Frogs made out of candy and his main cake was a big fish topped with all the candy i had left. Which i didn't get any pics of cuz i handed the camera to dad to take some and well he didn't. All in all was a great day. And since we decided to get season passes to the aquarium we're going to go again next week when Grandma from MOntana is here before ragnar. Kyler at his dr app. was 40 inches tall and weighed 35 lbs. he's finally reached the middle ground on the size spectrum. I would still guess he has a big noggin but since they don't measure that anymore we don't know

Brooklyn is walking and well being a menace. I know i thought kyler was busy and i know i keep saying but it truely supprises me how busy she really is. And she is a lot more ....whiny? than kyler was. Anyway she's doing good. at her 1 yr appointment she weighed 19lbs 5 oz and was 30inces tall. and her head is in the 93% range. She's tall and skinny with a big head they say.


Kurtis and i have been kinda busy. a few saturday's ago kurtis put his foot through the ceiling upstairs on his way out of the attic. I was outside and i came in the door to see his foot hanging from the ceiling. he's fine but we had a BIG mess to clean up. We happened to have the newspaper insulation and the fan was on so it went EVERYWHERE. We got it all cleaned up and taken care of though. We still need to puddy and paint it though. Kurtis keeps telling me its the new style. And i just laugh.

Mom came and visited us for a day that night she got in well really early the next morning and we got to spend sunday with her. She left that monday but she'll be back next wednesday morning early to watch the kids for ragnar.

Then we got served a law suit from a car accident kurtis was in 4 years ago. needless to say this has been on our minds ever since. She's suing for at least 10,300 for medical expenses. She says she had back pain and numbness. but here's the thing the accident was at 10mph at most and she was 40 at the time. Anyway where working with someone now about this and they say it could take up to a year before we're done. yay for us.

Memorial day was good we ran the woods cross 5k. and then played games at kurtis' parents house. you really need to play chair soccer(football) for my brother in law. unfortunatly unknown to me my dad spent some time in the hospital for amnesia. They don't know what causes it or why it happens (isn't that the same thing) but they have a name for it. Anway he's fine now just a little scary.

Oh by the way i was put in to the primary presidency right before all this happned. I just did my first sharing time last sunday and we have stake visits this wednesday. I was trying to get to the stake temple day tonight but we had to talk with the attorney + kurtis is on call+ i couldn't find anyone to watch the kids so i didn't make it. It might have been a nice break to not think about anything so i'm kinda sorry i missed it. anyway

Thursday we're going camping so i'm trying to get everything done before tomorrow night. The kids and i slept out in the tent last night till midnight that is. I acutally think they'll do fine camping. I was a little worried about brooklyn but she went to sleep fairly well. I ended up taking them inside cuz it was so stinking windy that i wasn't going to get to sleep unless i went outside. So when brooklyn kinda cried and stirred i grabed her and took her in then woke up kyler and put him in bed.

Then next weekend we have ragnar. Kurtis and i ran 5 miles together with the kids on saturday. He did another 2.5 that night i was going to but i'm pretty sure i have a pinched nerve thats making my left side go numb(just the hip and down) and sting/ache all the time so i'm going to the chiropracter hopefully next week before ragnar or i might die.

Oh and sunday kyler dropped my phone in the diaperbag off my inlaws deck about 25ft and it stopped working. I ended up getting a new battery yesterday and for the most part it works now but i still ahve to be really carful with it now. And my great Aunt Berdella lost her battle with Cancer last night.

after next weekend i think i'm just going to hide for a week and relax hopefully nothing else happens in that time.

DIY Camping high chair

OK So we are going camping next week and well brooklyn is kinda a handfull we don't want to take our big bulky highchar but i don't want to have to try to hold her and eat and worry about her getting down and into the fire so i saw the above camp high chair on pintrest and had to go find it out on the net. So anyway it cost 68.00. And well i wouldn't use it enough to make it worth that. So i figured i could make it on my own. I happened to have some duck canvas laying around my house i would guess this take about 1/2 yrd. If i were doing it again and buying fabric for it i would use the outdoor fabric so you don't have to worry about it getting wet and molding. 2nd you need a camp chair with arms and mine had a cup holder but thats up to you.

1. Pin the fabric tightly to the outter side of the arms of the chair, and pin about 1/2inch under on the front. (tip: If you pin the corners first it works better. You may also have to go back and tighten after you first pin.) I left about a 2 1/2 - 3 inch flap for underneath on the arms. Leave a little extra like 5 inches in the corners so you can make a flap to tug snug around the metal of the chair. cut excess

2. Make your marks of where the cup holder and where you want your opening for the kids to sit in to be. When you make the cup mark you want to be about 1/4- 1/2 inch in from the circle so if you take your pencil and put the last bit of wood thats bare from where it has been sharpened at the edge of the up holder that you can feel and make your circle from there you should be about right on. I just eye balled my see hole. I traced along the inside of the arm till i felt it would be a big enough opening and then made a semi-circle around to the other side. (tip: as i'm lazy and don't like to cut more than i have to i cut it back enought that the material touched the seat where your bum goes so you can just cut your leg holes out of that.)

3. cut your marks. Again i didin't cut my semi circle all the way out. I just cut right to where it started to curl in on both sides and left the material to dangle to the seat so i didn't have to cut another piece for the leg holes.

4. ( if you cut your flap completely off you'll need to cut another piece of fabric that goes from your opening (above) to the seat of the chair) Pin the flap to the seat and mark leg holes.

5. cut leg holes.

6. Un-pin from arms but re-pin fold.

7. I used a surger cuz hey i have one and it makes it a whole lot easier but if you don't have one you can use a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine and sew around your edges. Make sure the make the pockets in the front corners to catch in the arms. Then repin back to chair.

8. Now comes the tricky part you'll want to take the material off the chair the best you can. I Wasn't able to take the original material completly off so i made due the best i could.

9. Sew your highchair material to your existing chair and whala your own camp high chair for around $10.

Brooklyn's Turning One

So i saw some cute idea's on how to do some invites for brooklyn's bday and so i decided to make her a little outfit and take some 1yr old pics. So here they are.

 I like this one cuz it looks like she's saying she's 1

 This is her little cheerleader pose that she sits in alllll the time

  And here is her birthday invite i decided to go with.

Summer fun in Spring

This year i've decided to make a list of things i want to do with the kids over the summer and since its so hot right now i thought we would start.  So yesterday Kyler got to play mad scientist with some baking soda and vinegar.  I put a drop of food coloring in the bottom of the jars and coverd them with 1 tsp. of baking soda and then let him squirt vinigar into the jars to see what happened. 

Kyler kept adding more vinegar until it was gone.  Good thing i didn't give him very much.  Then he started to add the colors together to make a "Magic Potion"  First we mixed red and blue and got purple then he just added the green.  It ended up a deep purple color.  He called it his Lightning McQueen Potion. (and yes ninja is peeing in the background)

 Brooklyn enjoyed trying to get more out of the bottle once kyler was done.

 I Decided this morning to make brooklyn a new swimsuit out of the left over material from making myself a new one.  after a few adjustments and additions i think it turned out pretty cute.

forever

ok so it's been forever since i wrote last.  since then i've turned 28 been married for 5 years, had kurtis's brother Kevin get home from a mission, gone to vegas, celebrated easter (brooklyn's 1st) and have become able to run 6 miles 3 days a week. 

Saying that i still haven't lost the weight i want sad fact but true but i'm most definatly healthy.  Brooklyn is almost walking.  She could walk if she wanted but mostly i think just doesn't want to because we want her to. Kyler is eating everything i swear if he eats like this as a teenager i'm going to have to buy a grocery store.  the sun is coming out and i'm loving it.  I think the kids are too.  They go on my run's with me i push them in the stroller.  Brooklyn love is kyler is getting a little sick of it so i have to keep pointing things out and finding different paths that so he's not bored.  But its great.  We keep trying to catch a frog but i swear everytime we bring stuff to catch it with they are never out. 

Kurtis Just started fill week at work.  This is where they turn on all the subsidiary water in the city and generally they have a lot of leaks from the pressure of filling them.  He's been waking up at 4:30 to be to work at 5 and doesn't get off this around 5. But he also has school on tues and thurs so he pretty much hasn't been home this week at all.  The kids are really missing daddy.  and daddy is really tired.  And its not going to get much better next week because he is on call next week.  but other than that he's doing good.  Saturday he ran 6 miles or 5 i can't remember and it only took 60 min.  so thats good.  He doesn't like to run but at least he's doing it to get ready for Ragnar

Kyler like i said is eating everything.  he is in love with his uncle kevin since he got home, i mean seriously the kid never leaves his side. he's testing my patients as well but i think thats the age.  He just upgraded from his cars bed into my old bunk bed. And since then he hasn't slept in our room once. its been great. Plus he love's his BIG bed.  and the layout of his room.

Brooklyn is turning into a little girl she's not my baby anymore.  Let me tell you i always thought kyler was a handfull she is way way way more of one.  She love dogs, infact i think she is part dog and if you could hear her bark you might as well.  She love to torment her brother and take his toys.  and she loves water.  I mean if there is anyone even close to the bathroom she goes and crawls in the tub and wants to play in the water.  She also loves music she dances and sings sometimes but she is just as content as i am with music being on all day long.  Oh she just got in her top two teeth now she has 4 teeth and can offically bit you to hurt you.  Mostly she just tries to bit kyler and Ninja. She loves food and eats EVERYTHING. 

Me:  Well not a lot to tell i've been running and recently fell in love with my crockpot. i love putting stuff in in the morning and then not having to worry about dinner the rest of the day.  Like i said i run 3 days a week and in the last 2 weeks have made it to 5 to 6 miles each on those days.  another mile to go and i'll be at my longest run milage. only problem is i have to do more than that all in 2 days.  anyway i've been selling some more on etsy or having some sales at least which is always nice.  i might acutally have to start making some stuff again soon.  Other than that just house projects and playing with the kids.

Here are some pics of the kids from easter.  I made brooklyn dress and hair bows and kylers BYU Tie

Ragnar yet again.

Ok so i've mentioned it on here before but as a family we're running ragnar on June 15-16th this summer.  So we had an imprompto meeting on sunday and figured out which legs we were going to run.  I was a little dissapointed because i had like a 3m, 5m and another 3m.  that weren't very hard.  But i figured ok i'll be able to do great times i was going shoot for 9 min mile average over them all.  So kurtis and his uncle matt where getting everyone the info on there legs on monday when we found out that last year the race was 10 miles shorter due to snow and construction so this year its not 192.5 miles is 202.5 miles so now i'm running leg 8 and kurtis is running leg 9 i'm running a total of 15 miles i think it is and running a 3m, 7. something mile and a 5 mile i think it is.  So now definatly need to train hard.  i'm still going to try for a 9 min pace cuz i'm running right now at a 10 min but its only a mile and half.  So as the time increases i'm going to keep it where it is and then gradually get quicker.  anyway getting excited. yeah isn't that INSANE getting excited to go basically do a half marathon.  it will be way fun though for those of you who don't know what ragnar is you should totally check out there website they have races all over the country and they are really hard to get into basically you have to know someone who's been in it before to get in.  anyway here is the site.  People do all sorts of crazy things as teams i've seen people running in  inflatable sumo costumes, with surfboards, with cross country ski's, in lord of the rings costumes, all sorts of stuff.  check it out...

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/ i'm running in the Wasatch back race runner 8

My 1st Leg

My 2nd Leg

My 3rd and Final Leg