Halloween

Chuck carved this pumpkin

We were in Berea, KY (see post below) for Halloween. It wasn't quite the cold Midwest Halloween we were expecting, but it wasn't as warm as it would have been in Tempe, AZ. The kids aren't the best trick-or-treaters, but they did keep their comstumes on. We didn't make it to many houses before they were tired out. As they got the candy, they wanted to eat it, which really slowed us down. Hannah would eat a bite of something and then would want to try something new. So, I, of course, ended up eating what was left. We didn't get too much candy since we didn't get to many houses and they ate it along the way. So, no complaining there.

carving the pumpkin (with a couple great helpers)

C helping scoop out the seeds , sometimes he'd get 4 at a time


the ghost and the M&M

the poster child for M&M's

Berea, Kentucky

We recently had the opportunity to visit Chuck's parents (and some other family) in Berea Kentucky. Here is a run down of our trip:

10/30 - Thurs.
We left the house at 5am, which is when the kids usually like to get up so it wasn't too early. We parked the car and took a bus to the terminal. C says he likes to ride on buses. We boarded a plane headed to Atlanta, a three hour flight. When we got on the plane, I asked C if he needed to go to the bathroom and he said, "No. Airplanes don't have bathrooms." When I told them, yes, they do, he said "I have to go the bathroom!" He was pretty excited about it. I had packed coloring books, books, DVD player, toys etc. C played with his cars and trucks for a few minutes and watched about 10 minutes of a movie. I don't know why I bother to pack so much. They never want to play with anything. They are the same way on road trips and at church. But they were very good on the flight. C fell asleep just as we were landing. We had a short layover in Atlanta and then boarded a smaller plane to Louisville. H took a nap on this short flight. We then had to rent a car and drive to Berea, about an hour and a half drive. C took a nap on the drive to Berea. When we got to Berea, Chuck's mom, Judy, had a nice dinner ready for us.

10/31 - Fri.
Chuck's parents watched the kids and we went for a run. The weather was perfect the whole weekend. In fact, too perfect. Coming from the Valley of the Sun, we wanted some cold weather and clouds. But no, it had to be 70's and sunny. Chuck's brother Tim drove down from Cincinnati with his two boys, Preston and Emmett. The kids played outside in the leaves, we had a nice lunch and then the boys played with cars and trucks and play dough. We went trick-or-treating later that evening, but I'll save those stories for another post.

11/1 - Sat.
We started out the day with a visit to the firestation, where the fireman (only 2 on duty, one called in sick) were very very nice. They let C get in the truck and turn on the lights. They even pulled the truck out and brought the ladder down so C could get in the platform. He also got a tour of the training tower and a lesson on how they pull people in and out of windows, go through walls, drop floors etc. Each firestation we go to seems to outdo the others! Then Chuck's dad, Rich, watched the kids while the rest of us lifted weights. After which, I ran and Chuck rode the stationary bike at the college workout facility. Then Chuck's Aunt Kathy, Uncle Dan, Cousins David and Daniel and Aunt Linda came for a visit. We once again had a good dinner and a pleasant visit. With the perfect weather, we were able to sit out on the porch and talk.

11/2 - Sun.
We went to church, took naps, played at the park.

11/3 - Mon.

We just played this morning, workout and got ready to head home. We left Berea about 2:30 and drove to Louisville. We got there with plenty of time. We flew back to Atlanta. H was a little bit of a pain on this flight, but not too bad. She just did not want to sit, which is encouraged for take off and landing. We had a couple hour layover in Atlanta, so we grabbed a bite to eat and waited. The kids were getting a little fussy. My favorite part about being in the Atlanta airport is when C would run thru the airport holding onto his pants because they were about to fall off. We boarded the plane to Phx about 9:15pm (7:15 AZ time). H fell asleep pretty quickly, but couldn't comfortable, so she ended up sleeping on the floor. It took C a while to fall asleep, but he finally did. However, I was so uncomfortable with him partly on me, that I went to sit in an empty seat so he could have more room. When we landed at 11pm both of them woke up and were in great moods. You would have never known it was the middle of the night for them. We caught the bus to take us to our car and drove home. Both kids were wide awake when we got home and insisted on baths and stories. H went down well after that, but C put up a fight. By then it was about 12:30pm. C paid me a visit about 3:30am and H decided it was time to get up at 4am. We were hoping she go back to sleep, but at 5am, we decided it was pointless. C was not far behind her. But I did get some good naps out of them on Tuesday.

We had a great time and were pleasantly surprised at how well the kids traveled. Thanks Rich and Judy for all your hospitality!

Cameron's Prayer

I love to hear kids pray, especially with no prompting. Last night Chuck asked whose night it was to pray and Cameron said, "I think it's my night." Here was his prayer:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for blessings. Thank you for mom, dad, Cameron, Hannah, 'Mera, Lily and Emma. Bless our night. Jesus Christ, Amen."

The Carrots First Game

Cameron had his first game last Saturday. Their team name is the Carrots, unfortunately, they got green uniforms not orange. While we were getting ready to go, C refused to put on his uniform and said he didn't want to play, he just wanted to watch. I said I was not going to have one of "those" kids and he was going to put on his uniform and go play. And he did. They play 6 on 6, 2 10 minute halfs with a 3 minute half time. C played most of the 1st half making frequently "snack" breaks on our blanket. The second half he did more watching the playing, but I did manage to keep him off the playground. The Carrots were able to keep 3-4 kids on the field at most times, and although they don't keep score, if they did, the Carrots would have lost.

Rebekah

Okay, so I have decided to post about what I have been up to lately.

• First, you might notice that I finally had the time to figure out how to change the background of my blog!
  
• I am currently training to became a master level yoga instructor. This requires 500 hours of study. I completed 200 last year, and am now working on the next 300. I began in April and it will likely take over a year to complete all the requirements. We meet about every other weekend for 6-12 hours.
  

Sirsasana (aka headstand)
Benefits:
Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
Stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands
Strengthens the arms, legs, and spine
Strengthens the lungs
Tones the abdominal organs
Improves digestion
Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
Therapeutic for asthma, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis

• I am officially training for the P.F. Chang Rock n Roll Marathon. This wasn't my first choice of marathons since it is wildly popular and not very scenic. But I am excited about it for several reasons; it is flat, low elevation, in January, so the weather for training will be perfect and it's convenient. The last marathon I ran was in May of 2004. I have done several marathons that have all been over 5,000 ft in elevation and in the early Fall when I've had to train in the summer heat. So, I am hoping that I will feel better while training for this race as well as be able to obtain my goal time with the lower elevation and flat course. And I have never been as flexible as I am now (and it's still not much) with all the yoga training I've been doing the last couple years, and I think that will really help with my training and racing. So far I feel great!
  
• I actually asked Chuck to take a picture of me, seeing as how I had just had my hair cut and dried. I don't like to have my picture taken because not only am I not beautiful and as skinny as I want to be but I am not photogenic either, however, I know I am going to regret not having any pictures of me with the kids. But I might also add that I am usually the one taking the pictures. And I don't very often see Chuck running to get the camera. He would say it's because I don't want my picture taken, which is in part true, but he could also pick better times to take pictures other than, for example, first thing in the morning.

• This is the view from my world. As I have mentioned before, I have two kids attached to my hip/lower leg/feet etc. This was taken while I was trying to fix dinner. Chuck was home at this point, but neither one cared. Cameron was fussing at me to pick him up until I got out the camera, then he decided to smile. So this is not a truly accurate picture.

What's been going on?

It's been a couple weeks since I have posted. That's because not much has been going on. But here are some cute pictures and stories from the last couple weeks.

Hannah still loves shoes and is always putting everyone else's on. She also loves to try to get herself dressed.

She has also become obsessed with lollipops (dumdums). This is her throwing a fit when I wouldn't give her one. C is checking on her. When she eats them, she will occasionally get tired of it and just put it down wherever she happens to be.

Hannah refuses to sit during dinner. This is what most of our dinners look like. We strip her down because she gets food everywhere. I asked her at lunch the other day why she was standing and C said "Maybe she thinks she is a super hero."

Cameron has been asking to have friends over. The last time he had a friend over, they took all of our alphabetized CD's out of the rack with a crane, put them in a dump truck, drove it over the water and dumped them on the other side. After that, they did the magazines. At least they had fun!

When I vacuum the floor, I put the kids in the "crusher". That's a game C invented.

C is sleeping better at night. I still get up with him too many nights, but it is getting to be less.

I am trying to train C to play by himself. I will set a timer and tell him he has to play by himself for 15 minutes then I will come play with him. It's not working so well. He might play 3-4 minutes and then he will just sit there and ask me if the timer has gone off yet until it does.

I am trying to train H to not stand on my feet while I am fixing dinner. So, I put her in the playpen. She does okay for a couple minutes and then she just cries until I am able to get her.

H is not saying any words yet, but she will oink like a pig and moo like a cow. A lot of animal sounds at this point are moo.

Soccer Practice

We signed C up for soccer. I guess I'm officially a "soccer mom". He had his first practice on Wed. He was great! He was obedient, waited for his turn and practiced the whole time. He didn't even throw much of a fit when I had to tell him I forgot his gatorade. His coach said in soccer you have to "be like a carrot", because carrots don't have any hands and you can't use your hands in soccer. C pointed out that bunnies don't have hands either. The mantra of practice was "Like a Carrot." I suggested that for the team name. We aren't sure when the first game will be, but definitely check the blog for pics!