Ragnar Insanity!!!

This all seemed like a really great idea until about 3 am.  When we were still running.  And then we were done and no one else seemed to want to go to sleep.  Ha!  But I'll admit.  Watching this video does kind of make me want to do it again....maybe.

My best leg was definitely the middle of the night one.  When I fell, ironically. And also ran with a girl who forgot her head lamp.  She was fast.  And I didn't want her to die.  So I guess I've finally found my motivation.  Life or death scenarios. And in my defense about the fall we were running on the side of the road with about 5 inches of pavement.  And nameless fast runner girl fell too.  Ragnar is definitely not for the faint of heart!!

Here I am running the last leg.  When I wanted to die.  But it was through the most gorgeous part of Franklin. And it was really fun to run through my old stomping grounds.

Three falls, one cortisone shot, and one sleepless night later but we survived!!!

backseat driver

We are driving home from preschool and after much discussion on what to name his ice/snow breathing lego dragon "Icicle?" (which he will be bringing for show and tell tomorrow), Bentley started to give me a little advice on my driving. The kind of advice that if followed would result in serious injury or a lot of honking.

me: Are you excited to drive when you turn 16?

B: Excited??? boring.

me: Yeah, you're kinda right about that.

me: So...you'd be fine with me driving you around?

B: Yeah

Hey. I'll take what I can get. Because right now I'm only allowed one kiss per day at bedtime. And this is on condition that I won't bombard him with kisses all day. Those cheeks though. I just have a hard time resisting them.

Pretending to sleep in an attempt to get me to carry him inside. It's not going to work though. The kid is a tank!

Right now I'm sitting in the bathroom while he takes a bath. He pulled a toy cup out of the tub and said, "Who wants a drink of water? Raise your hand!" Ummm. no thanks. I think he just wants me in here to watch his feats of strength. The kid can pump out a lot of push ups in the tub.

fort awesom

I got a new job taking pictures of newborns at the hospital! Super cute job! The moms say, "I bet you have so many pictures of your kids!" Which of course is true...but I feel a little guilty about winter. I have like 2 pictures from all winter. I take tons of pictures outside in the pretty weather. Seeing as how outdoor photography is kind of my usual MO. I'm not usually very inspired indoors. But, I have learned some new tricks with my flash lately and high ISO don't seem like the devil anymore. So in honor of new moms making me feel a little guilty....I captured 'fort awesom' today! Chickie is sleeping in there tonight. Oddly enough she is afraid of ceiling fans and art hanging above her bed but is excited about sleeping between the doors of her armoire with a giant couch cushion over head. Interesting. I did not point out the paradox.

She's something else!

Tennesseans don't drive in snow.

Wow. I kind of can't believe this is what is actually getting me blogging again. But here it is.

This morning we woke up to big fluffy snowflakes coating the ground. We get ready for school, eat our cream of wheat. Grab our coats and scarves and head out to take Chickie to school. The road is completely covered in one thin layer of snow. Snow flurries are whipping under my tires. I can't help but have a bit of irrational fear over these conditions. I think it must have been ingrained in me from an early age. We Tennesseans don't drive in snow. It instantly reminded me of my first year at BYU. A lot of my family lives in Utah. I have spent many

winters there. So I have no excuse for the story that I'm about to tell. Except that maybe it had been a long time since I had been to Utah in the winter at this point. I think I had spent mostly summers there for a while.

Freshman year. First snow. I look out the window and there it is: SNOW! And a LOT of it. The road, cars, everything is covered in maybe a foot of snow. I'm screaming to my roommates, "SNOW! SNOW! No church today! Just pj's, hot cocoa and movies!" They come out of there bedrooms probably just to watch me in my fit of insanity and not really caring at all about the snow. They were all from Utah and Idaho. Then I see it. People. Dressed, not in snow suits, but their Sunday best instead. Hysterically laughing I yell out, "They are trying to go to church!" More hysterical laughter. "They are trying to get in their cars!" I remember feeling slightly mystified that they were indeed knocking snow off of their cars and getting in. But still, to actually try and drive in snow that was sheer lunacy! Then they did it. They drove off. I was in total shock. Completely crestfallen that going somewhere, anywhere, on what had to be one of the best snow days I had ever seen was sad. Sad, sad, sad. Luckily for me I had the best roommates in the world (that, or the laziest) and they agreed to stay home with me and have a snow day! I may remember one or two of them sneaking off to church for a few hours but at least Mindy, Lora, and Kayla were in it for the whole day. Right? Ah, memories. That was a crazy, crazy year. Super, super fun. Just thinking of it makes me crave a girls day out. I can't find any of my BYU pictures. They must all be in storage. So I stole this one from facebook. Thanks Mindy! You girls are the best!

i'm so lucky!

I'm feeling so overwhelmed today! I'm so lucky. I have these two gorgeous children that I adore. And such a wonderful husband who gave me such a great day. My own mom amazes me. I'm convinced she is the cutest grown-up on the planet. Missed talking to my Grammy today. So many wonderful women in my life! Happy Mother's day! Chickie took this great picture of Bentley and I. She said she wants her own camera and she wants to learn how to edit pictures on the computer.

57

(franklin highlights)

So. I finished my quilt top! excellent! My friend Jill is going to quilt it with her long arm machine when we get back. So I'm going to have to decide how I want it quilted. And she lent me some great books to help with my decision making. I was seriously drooling over them.

I am trying to tackle a massive, self imposed to do list before we head out of town for spring break. My papaw passed away so we will be headed to his funeral first. He was always good to us and we will sure miss him. He had this great tradition at Christmas, he would give all of us a box of chocolates. I think that's one I'll be more than happy to carry on each year and be reminded of him. That makes 3 grandparents in the past year. It is so horrible. I hope all of my remaining loved ones stay healthy and safe for a good long time.

And, what else. I'm a horrible blogger right now. And don't expect it to get better any time soon. BUT...I'm kind of expecting my mood and general productiveness to explode on May 26th. That's the big day when we are moving home. I announced it on my photo blog. And I'm so excited. Sometimes a little nervous, because I will miss the awesome, amazing friends I've made here. I'm sure I'll have some sad moments missing them. But I really am so excited about going home!!! I think we have finally realized that it's where we belong. And if we try to move away again I'm asking all of you right now to stage an intervention.

all better

This was my view for 8 days.

I was sick and it was not fun. However, I am about a month ahead of schedule on my quilt.

So that's good!