I cannot believe it!

Yep, there I am. Finished the 1/2 marathon last Saturday. Got a new camera though, and need to install a program to upload pics, haven't done it yet...so this is stolen off the marathon foto website...hence the fantastic quality!
It was actually super hard. I trained to 9.5 miles, and I hit a serious wall at about mile 11ish, just after Liberty park, actually just after this picture... I felt like I was run walking, ya know, where you're really walking, but pretending you're running! And my Ipod only worked for about 5 minutes of the whole race...didn't have it when I really needed it...super frustrating, and it is in serious trouble right now...perma time out for the shuffle...HA! But my ankles and knees held up pretty well, which I was super stoked about, although they were slightly sore most of the race... I finished it way faster than I thought I would, I guess I'm a little more competitive than I thought, though my time really isn't brag worthy. But it was good for me, and I DID IT! Couldn't really walk after, but I did finish, and that is pretty awesome for little ole me! Now on to training for the triathlon in May... then I think no more races for a while! :)

RaNdoM fUn :)

This is a post of randomness. Better ones to follow, I promise. My new goal is going to be once a week, so there aren't anymore marathon posts. Cause after today, I don't like marathons. He he he. Yup, ran the half today. Don't think I'll ever do a full, the half was hard enough!!! Pics to come of that SUPER fun race! Ha!
This first pic I just had to take, it seems random, like lots of these pics, it is of when one day, I was feeding Josh, and Kaylie was in the kitchen, not unusual, I heard the silverware, also, not unusual, she gets to run rampant while I nurse...and then I just clean it up when I'm done... But to my surprise, I came out, and NO mess, actually, she had finished putting all the silverware away out of the dishwasher. Not kiddin. What a sweetheart, huh!!!!!! (and so well trained, huh!) No, I didn't train her to do this, she does help me sometimes to empty the dishwasher, but this was monumental, not making messes, no, cleaning!!! I couldn't stop hugging and kissing her, oh, she is such a great little girl!!!
Dying Easter Eggs, enough said: Lil J's mouth was totally blue after... he he he!
Just one day at Gateway, in one of the classes "Little Scientist: Bubbles" It was freakin awesome and the kids all had so much fun, I even enjoyed the experiments with baking soda and vinegar, and coke and mentos...try those at home!
Me, loving strawberry season: freezer jam, strawberry shortcake, and of course, chocolate covered...and it's only begun! Wahoo!Bowling with the Young Women and Young Men in the ward. Kaylie and Rachel, I think they both bowled better scores than me!!!! Ha! Please don't miss their fun shoes, that really made my day that they had small enough ones for the K bear!
One day at Jungle Jims, it was actually quite the party, but I don't have pics of all the friends that were there... Kaylie and Jackson rode this rollercoaster I think 4 times in a row. She's gonna be a blast at Lagoon this year, can't wait!!!
Cause I'm a fun mom, and they play so well together...Oh, how did I get to be such a lucky mom? I can't get enough of these kiddos...these pics really show their fun personalities...

Lotsa stuff: J's bday, Friday 13th, Sunny Fun, St. Patty's Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY JAMESY!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!! Sorry, this post is so long in coming...I know your birthday was oh, say, 20 days ago... We had so much fun just us 2 for a night on the town...it's okay that we got the call during dinner, Joshy needed a mommy, so our night got cut a little short, but not by much, we still had a blast together!!! I love going on dates with you, and I'm so stinkin glad you were born! xoxo!
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Draper Temple:
We actually went to the open house on James' birthday. It was gorgeous, and actually kinda cute, I loved the woodwork and the cute rug in the brides' room! Kaylie loved the baptistry, and thanked Heavenly Father for being able to see the stairs and the water, in her little prayers that night! What a fun experience, and what a beautiful, holy, peaceful place. Our family is so thankful for temples!!!

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FrIDaY thE 13tH:
Took our black car in. It's been smoking. It needs $800 worth of work.
My boss's friend, who was on his way to his mother-in-law's funeral, died too.
The canner we rented from the cannery on the fritz, had to get it back by 4pm, but it kept getting the cans stuck in it, food had to be canned that day, here's exhibit 1:
Last, but oh, definitely not least: our car, after my little sis borrowed it. Luckily, it is the one of our 3 cars that has full coverage insurance, the rest all have only liability. The one lucky thing on this really not great Friday the 13th. I didn't use to be superstitious, but now I have to be...This pic doesn't do the damage justice. The bumper is actually wired on, with nothing underneath it, and the side lights are all taped on with duct tape. Yep. Nice huh. :)
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On a MUCH brighter note, We have been having some serious fun in the sun...can't wait for it to come back again!!!
Unexpected. Joshy was the fussy one when I started running, I looked inside the jogger to see the EXACT opposite of what I thought I would see!!! Oh, they are so fun!
Don't worry, what I thought would happen did, like 2 seconds later!!! Ha ha ha!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Patty's Day. I'm a very festive person. But this one was a little over the top, even for me!

Real Irish dinner for ya. Corned beef and cabbage. And yep, that's totally green bread!

Yeah, she looks happy in the picture, but she actually was pretty mad at that sneaky Leprechaun for turning her mac and cheese green. She said "let's go to his house and tell him to turn my mac and cheese yellow again." Ha! Kids! The poor girl was probably just so sick of everything being green. Yeah, I got a little carried away...Green: mac n cheese, jello, applesauce, grapes, and yeah, the milk too... he he he!

Joshy is already 9 whole months! And all of them have been a blast. Love you little man!

Thoughts on Running

So, I finally got an IPod, yeah, I know, finally. And actually, I got it for Christmas, and just finally put music on it like 2 or 3 days ago. My question is, does anyone else sing along with the songs while running, or working out? And I don't mean when you're outside, I mean like at the gym, do you find yourself mouthing the lyrics, like me. Or should I seriously try to control myself? Does that make me a weirdo?
But seriously, I am lovin it, I am such a music fanatic, and I have always run without music, it's been my time to think, but it is so much more fun with music, especially when I hear some of my favorite songs...they make me run faster!
And I have been running a lot lately, trying to train for the half marathon. Yep. Never done one of those before, but here goes nothin! (And I'm also wondering if anyone has a spot on their team for the Wasatch Back...I would love to do it...)

I heart: Valentines Day, Grandma Simmons, and Tender Moments...

So, once again, marathon post for me. The problem is, I hate uploading pictures. It is such a pain, and Kaylie always tries to push buttons while I do it, unless I do it late at night, and then I decide I'm too tired, and I'll do it tomorrow...so the saga continues. But tonight was a good night, Kaylie was beat, and is sound asleep, at a decent time, so I'm not too tired...yet.
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VALENTINES DAY
was an absolute blast!!! James got home early from Scout Camp, and we had a fun day just being together, (he's gone a lot, so it's like a vacation just to have him home!), and he got me some BEAUTIFUL roses...I LOVE PINK ROSES, and these are the PERFECT PINK!!! And he also got me my favorite chocolates, Rum Victorias from Cummings...they are to die for! He seriously surprised me, and it was super romantic... Then we headed out for some rockin fondue with the Steadmans. It's now become a tradition. And it's so fun to watch the kiddos (slate for marriage one day, little do they know!) exchange valentines presents!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grandma Simmons (James' mom's mom)
just turned 95!!!!!!!!!! She is still doin rockin awesome...can't believe her. She still knows all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren's names, offers to babysit all the time, and does aerobics 3 times a week. Yeah, no kiddin. She's amazing, and so loving, and we loved honoring her for a night!!!
Below: James and his bro Matt juggling in the program...I will never get over how fun it is that he can juggle, and I can't wait for him to teach our kiddos... it's just such a FUN talent! :)
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Tender Moment. I need to document these for all those not so tender moment times.
This was today as I was running. I didn't know Joshy had fallen asleep, and I thought Kaylie was buggin him, so I stopped to see what she was doing. Mean mom, jumping to the worst conclusions, she was totally helping him out, shielding his eyes from the bright sun. What a gal.
And yes, that is Kaylie's sweatshirt he's wearing...don't tell his daddy!!!

Growing Up!!!

So, my little ones are growing fast. As they should, right! Here are some fun milestones, okay, not really milestones, but just fun things I've been getting to watch them do!!!
Joshy loves to drink out of his "big boy" cup. He really doesn't like being "the baby." He really doesn't, how do I know this, you might wonder, well, because a) he likes only big people food. Won't eat baby food. He used to, kind of, but now he just grabs at our plates and stares longingly as we eat. So I bought him those "graduates" foods, he tolerates those, he's onto my tricks!
b) He insists on being the same size as his sister who is 2 years older than him. Just to confuse people...now which one is older? Ha! J/K!!!
This is Kaylie putting her own buckles on. Yep, she can fasten all of them, even the tricky bottom ones, that Grandma has a hard time buckling! And yes, she does INSIST on doing this EVERY time we get into the car. It's fine if you don't need to be somewhere for a while...
Joshy's first swimming pool experience! He LOVED it! He loved to splash, but then would look at me like I was the one who just catapulted water all over his face! Ha! Funny little guy! I even put a life jacket on him for a while, and he let me just pull him around while I was letting Kaylie swim and hold on too, he just stared at the ceiling. So mellow, and oh so stinkin cute...don't ya think?!And yep. Joshy's 1st tooth. Just another affirmation that he is my "textbook child." Seriously. He is doing everything by the book. Roll over, 4 mons. Sit up, 6 mons. 1st tooth, (textbook 6-7 mons), 7 mons. Right on the button. Fits perfectly into his clothes when he is supposed to, outgrows them at just the right age. Wow. Love him!
*(Not that I didn't love Kaylie too...she is my rock n roll chick. She was always, still is, very advanced, and needs to be interacted with...Fun in a different way, love her just as much. And actually, for the 1st kid it was PERFECT, and Josh is the PERFECT 2nd child, so content to be pushed to the back burner, like he seems to always be...I am a very lucky mom!!! :) )
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We LOVE KZ (It must be called that now, because if we say Kangaroo Zoo, we had better be going there...)
Man. What a blast! We love Kangaroo Zoo. (They owe me for the advertisement!) The boys sat it out most of the time, while Kaylie and I ran as fast as we could, and climbed as fast as we could, and slid to our hearts content!!! It was such a fun night, we've already been back again, and we're going again tomorrow!!! I love being able to play with just Kaylie, she doesn't like having to share me all the time, so she was on cloud 9!

25 Things you might not know about Tiffer

So I put this on my facebook, but in case some of you aren't on there, I thought I'd put it here...plus it's a new post, I know I need one of those! Ha! P.S. The reason there haven't been any lately is because we no longer let Kaylie take naps...so no free time during the day anymore...enough said.

1. I think there really is something to those horoscope profiles...I truly am a Leo, and the descriptions always fit.
2. I always like to be the center of attention. I think anyone who knows me, knows that. :)
3. I hate videos of people getting hurt, that people always think are funny...I just ache for that poor person, and I usually don't laugh...
4. I like to use the ...'s a lot, in everything I write...
5. I wish I saw my friends more.
6. I LOVE to dance. I dance with my kids, in our kitchen, quite often!
7. I love learning new things, especially good, easy recipes.
8. I really enjoy scrapbooking a whole lot more now that I know how to do it digitally. And my kid's scrapbooks are almost caught up.
9. I wish I had lots more time to scrapbook, and blog, and facebook, journal, read, etc, etc, etc...
10. I really love teeth (like Jen!), and really do find satisfaction in my job, even though I don't love having to go to work...if that makes sense...
11. I don't know why I can't make myself go to bed earlier, both my kids are asleep, and I always find something I need to do.
12. I love to go on dates with my husband, I still get giddy to be alone with him!
13. I like hanging out with the teenagers in my ward, it really is a fun calling (assignment)!
14. Food storage and emergency preparedness are always on my mind, I'm always looking for good deals to stock up on.
15. I watch re-runs of The Office daily, sometimes more than one, usually while I'm nursing.
16. I donate my extra breastmilk. I did when I was nursing Kaylie too.
17. I really like it when my muscles are sore after a hard workout, then I know I did a good job.
18. I like to learn new technology, I don't wanna be like our parents who need help typing and printing documents, I wanna stay up to speed on stuff...
19. I miss cheering, especially stunting...it was really fun.
20. I graduated "Magna cum laude" from college (BS Dental Hygiene), and got 100% on my clinical boards, but failed the stupid Local Anesthesia boards twice. Yep, twice. And secretly I don't care, and am actually happy about it, because I HATE poking people, and had no desire to be legal to do it!!! Ha!
21. I love that my kids got the opposite combinations of hair and eyes as James and I. Kaylie has blonde hair and brown eyes, and Josh so far has hazel eyes and brown hair. Just what I wanted...
22. I wish I was a better housekeeper.
23. I love new running shoes, and workout clothes.
24. I crave sunshine. I am so happy on bright sunny days, and I love it at work when the sun shines so bright that I have to open the cupboard so it doesn't blind my patient.
25. I love productive days, and am so proud of myself for running like 10 errands with 2 kids. That is some serious skills I tell ya, balancing feeding, and carrying, and chasing, and list checking, and driving, and nap schedules, and yeah, I just always feel like supermom when I get home!
But I also really love the days when we just stay home and do nothing but play and read stories and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...Life is good.