Getting Ready

Lacey is getting baptized in 11 days.  I have been trying to think of things we can do leading up to this day to prepare her as best we can for this important event.  I want her to understand what she is doing.  I want her to know that she is making a covenant with her Heavenly Father that she will follow Him, keep His commandments and stay true.  And to realize the blessing it will be in her life to have the Holy Ghost as her companion.  To help her be more aware of choices and consequences.  She is my first child, so this is my first time doing this and I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. That we don't just "show up", but that we come ready and prepared.  One thing I read on another blog was that they always had their child meet with the missionaries for a formal discussion on baptism.  I thought that was a great idea!  So, last night, we had the missionaries over for dinner and a discussion.

Here is Elder Saunders showing the kids an object lesson using water, pepper and dish soap about how baptism and repentance can wash away our sins.

Here's hoping we're ready!  Now, we just have to wait for Hammie and Papa Mitchell to arrive next week for the big day :)

It Happened

The kid finally lost his top front tooth.

I guess I should be grateful that I got 6 years, 9 months and 11 days with that adorable baby tooth grin.  Now for the big adult teeth.... BOO!

Tanner knows I have been dreading this day, so every time he wants something, he gives me his big baby-toothed grin.  It melts me.  

So, last night when he came home from being with Dave at Grandpa and Grandma's hot tub and showed me his toothless grin, I almost cried.  And then I told him, that he wasn't going to get away with as much anymore because his baby-toothed grin was gone.  Without missing a beat, he got right in my face, batted his eyelashes and responded, "But I still have my puppy dog eyes!"  My near tears turned into a burst of laughter.  Where does he come up with this stuff?  That is a term I have never used and one I have never used him hear before.  Kid cracks me up.... with or without his baby teeth.

So, turns out, we think T swallowed his tooth.  Once T realized it came out, he and Dave looked all over for it and couldn't find it anywhere.  T was concerned about the Tooth Fairy, so this is the note that he left for her.  Luckily, she left him $1 even without the tooth.

What We've Been Up To

Tanner's been holding snakes at Port Discovery

Dave has been surprising kids at school at lunch time

With Chick Fil-A in hand

Riley has been having Easter parties and egg hunts at pre-school

And I've been busy on my,  urrr I mean my kids science project.  Seriously, let's be honest.... has there ever been a first grader in the history of the world that has actually done their own science project?  The science fair was optional, but I thought it was important to do, so I insisted both kids do it.  When we finally got "into it", I realized it was going to be a ton of work for ME, so I finally gave in and let Tanner get out of it.  So, we just did one for Lacey, but had Tanner help.  Tanner and I went to the Science Fair last night to represent Lacey since she was at lacrosse practice.

But I got a quick pic of the girl with her project after she got home.

So, that's us in a nutshell this week!

Luck O' the Irish

Lacey and Tanner spent all Monday evening creating leprechaun  traps.  They said that they had to make them super shiny because leprechauns are attracted to shiny objects.  And then they each made a hole somewhere in their trap in hopes they would trap one.  They told me that if they trapped one, he would be able to lead them to a pot of gold.

Tanner opted to leave his in the kitchen

And Lacey left hers in the sunroom

This morning, we raced down to see if we had caught a leprechaun, but this is the only little green thing we saw!

And, true to form, this was the first one awake and downstairs!

And even though there weren't any leprechauns inside our traps, inside each trap was a small note on a 4-leaf clover stating "you almost got me!"  The kids were very excited about that!  And thankfully the leprechauns left them all some shiny treats in addition to getting very mischievous around the house, dying the milk and toilets green.

Gotta love Riley's bed-head!  Just realizing I didn't get a picture of them once they were all in their green outfits and hair was brushed.  Oh well.... both Dave and I had to work today AND three of the four kids had school, so it was a bit chaotic around here this morning; I'm lucky I got the pictures I did :)

Singin' in the Rain....for 13.1 Miles

I signed up for the DC half marathon on a whim less than 3 weeks ago.  Immediately after signing up, we had day after day of FRIGID temps and tons of snow, making training outside impossible.  I own a treadmill, but the only working part of the treadmill is the tread.  The display board does not work -- you have no idea how fast you are going, how far you have gone, calories burned, etc, etc.  And between 4 kids, two of which are still home FT and my job, the only time I could find to run was during Ella's nap on M/W/F.  So, I would get Ella down for a nap, then turn on some cartoons for Riley and run.  So, in a nutshell, I did all my training for this in the space of 3 weeks on a treadmill with no data display in my basement watching Bubble Guppies and Sofia the First.  Not ideal, but hey, you do what you gotta do.

These pictures are terrible because it was POURING rain, so my phone was inside a plastic bag.  And even then I was scared to take it out, so I only got a couple pics.  

In the past, I've usually run races with friends/family.  This one I ran entirely on my own.  I got up at 5am, drove myself to the Metro, took the Metro into the city, found my way to the start line, gear check, etc and ran the entire thing without seeing another soul that I knew.  BUT, I did know that our good friend Pete (in town from Korea on business) was running it as well, so I was able to see this friendly face at the end.  

Chafing is common during long distance runs..... but I have never had/heard of neck chafing.  I had to wear a jacket the whole time because it was so cold and pouring rain, literally the entire time.  I think the top part of my jacket started rubbing against my neck and rubbed it raw.  Ouch.

Thoughts from the experience:  I've run all kinds of races of all different lengths, but if memory serves correctly, this was my 4th half-marathon (one in Southern CA in 2000 or 2001, one in Baltimore in 2008 4 months after having T - I was still nursing him, one in Napa Valley in 2011 and this one).  I really liked the course.... we got to run by the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial and there was only one significant hill, between Miles 6 and 7 (oh how I despise those hills when they come at Mile 10 or 11!).  And during that hill, the entire path was lined with Fallen Heroes.... from all branches of the Military.  Their ages were listed under their pictures and nearly every single one was younger than I am.  Several were posted with pictures of them holding their babies or toddlers.  I couldn't hold back the tears.  It was so touching, so moving, so motivating and inspiring to get you up that tough hill.  And then, after the pictures stopped, dozens and dozens of people were lined up, each holding a full size American Flag as they cheered you on.  God Bless the USA.  

The hardest part of running in the pouring rain were all the puddles.  With every puddle, the water gushed into my shoes and by mile 2 or 3, my feet were SOAKING wet.  But despite the temperature being in the 40's on top of the pouring rain and no sunshine, I didn't feel cold while running because, well, I was running. BUT, as soon as I crossed that finish line, the cold set in.  And quickly. Oh, I was so cold.  And unfortunately, there was a big snafu at the bag pick up, so I waited in a completely chaotic, unorganized, painfully long line and thought I was going to freeze to death.  I seriously could not move my fingers.  I had no way of getting dry or getting warm.  I eventually got my bag and started the long, cold, wet walk to the Metro.  Probably a 20 minute walk or so, only to find another equally long and slow line to get on to the metro.  Probably waited there another 30 minutes or so just to get in the Metro station.  Oh, I was so happy to finally get to my car!  But still had another 30 minute drive home.  I blasted the heat in my car and made it home.  I seriously think hypothermia was setting in.  Dave said my lips were blue and I couldn't stop shivering and shaking and teeth chattering.  Oh, that hot shower never felt so good!  

Results (just for my records):

Time:  2:14:07 

7327 out of 15, 216 overall

516 out of 1422 in my Division

3758 out of 9462 in my Gender

Split times:

5K:  30:22

10K:  1:03:53

10 Mile:  1:41:40

Pace: 10:14

And a special thanks to my hubby who surprised me the night before my race with a brand new running/rain jacket, running socks and shot blocks, all of which I used during my race.  And for "holding down the fort" at home while I was gone all morning.  Mucho Appreciato!

And one last thing:  My thought as I crossed the Finish Line (aside from Halle freaking lujah!):  I'm 38 years old.  I have 4 kids.  My colon has issues, I have no gallbladder and my post-4 kid bladder is shot.  I'm 10# heavier than when I got pregnant with my last kid - over 2 years ago and 15# heavier than I should be.  But by golly, I can still get this arse across the finish line of a marathon after running the entire thing without stopping in the pouring rain.  So, at this moment, I'm pretty grateful for and proud of this imperfect body!

Sushi

This kid seriously cracks me up.  I can count the number of times on one hand that he has been exposed to seafood due to neither of his parents ever acquiring a taste for it.  BUT, he has been asking for sushi for weeks.  I have absolutely no idea where he got that from, but he has brought it up over and over again saying he wants it for dinner.  I kept putting it off thinking he'd forget about it.  Not only has he not forgotten about it, but he even went on our weekly menu board and erased what I had written for a meal on Tuesday night and wrote in "Seafood."  And when I was leaving work on Tuesday, I got a text from Dave saying that Tanner was fully planning on having sushi for dinner when I got home.  So, sushi on Tuesday it was!

And.... as a side note.  Also, this week, Tanner informed me that his teeth hurt while he was eating an apple.  I panicked and asked him if he had a loose front tooth, my worse night mare (I know.... totally dramatic and ridiculous, but the way I feel nevertheless).  He said yes and wiggled his top front tooth.  AHHHHH.  I gave him strict instructions to not wiggle it and to not eat anything hard.  He just giggled and has been eating as much crunchy food as possible this week.  And I have paid more attention to his friends noticing that ALL of them have already lost their two front teeth, many of them with their adult teeth already fully grown in.  So, I am lucky that I have had this baby-tooth grin as long as I have.  But I seriously can't stand it when they lose those top teeth.  They immediately look so old..... overnight.  And this boy has the cutest little baby-tooth grin on the planet, so I can't stand the fact of my one and only little boy losing that baby smile.  Ugh.  So, I've been taking lots of pictures trying to preserve that precious smile and hoping those cute little teeth stay in place just a while longer

With Malice Toward None

It's a bit hidden under all that scaffolding, but that is the US Capitol in the background.

Library of Congress

Abraham Lincoln created and gave one of the greatest speeches in American History 150 years ago on March 4, 1865.  To commemorate this, the Library of Congress mounted Lincoln's "reading copy" of the speech and the four-page handwritten version and put it on display for the first time in over 50 years (last displayed together in 1959).  But because the documents are so fragile, the display only lasted 4 days, ending today.  So, I wanted to make sure we made it down there to see it, since they say this is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I was shocked they let us take pictures.  Your flash had to be off, but otherwise it was okay.  But here it is.... the handwritten 4-page copy.  It was so neat to see his handwriting and the words he crossed out, added, etc.  You could see all the edits, all the thought he was putting into this speech he was about to give a healing nation at the trail end of a terrible civil war.

I am not sure why the fourth page is so much darker and so much more worn than the first three.  But my guess is because it contains the most famous part of his speech... With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.  

And here is the copy, with handwritten corrections/last minute changes, that he actually read from on March 4, 1865, Inauguration Day.

Because this was our first time in the Library of Congress, we checked out some of the other exhibits as long as we were there, such as Thomas Jefferson's Library.

And then we headed over to Lincoln's Memorial (per Tanner's request).  We came upon this set up there and so I asked the National Park Service employees what was going on and they said they were re-enacting the Inauguration.  But it was at the tail end when we got there. Rats!!  Man, if I would have known that, I would have high-tailed it out of the L of C instead of meandering around the building.  So, anyway, sadly we missed Lincoln's speech but we were able to listen to some patriotic musical performances.

And we got to see Abraham Lincoln (as well as Chuck Todd, Moderator on NBC's Meet The Press who you can also see here - he gave the Keynote Address following the Inaugural Recreation).

Hands down, one of the greatest views in all of DC.

Wait.... an even better view ;)

On the right side of the Memorial, the second inaugural address is engraved.

And on the other side is the Gettysburg Address.

And we even got to meet Mary Todd.

Perfect way to spend the morning and mark the occasion.  Here's hoping these kids soak in these events and learn about, remember and appreciate some of the great leaders of this nation.