{My First...}

...and possibly my last 'training' session...

Let me explain.

There are many factors leading up to my desire to be more fit.

• The fact that many of my blogging friends are posting about recent 5K runs or some kind of running achievement (P.S. Congratulations to you all!)
  
• The fact that my dear friend inspired me by one of her very recent posts with a letter from her body :)
• The fact that my administrative assistant (and we've become good friends as well) and her husband are running a 5K this weekend together in honor of a great community member who passed away in a tragic Avalanche/Snowmobile accident and I'm jealous that she's in shape to do it
  
• The fact that I can see the nurse writing down my weight every time I go to donate plasma and it's on a steady rise
• The fact that my little brother is coming home from his mission in less than two months, and I'd like to look nice for a hopeful family picture to take place around that time (did that make any sense???)
  
• The fact that my current weight is just one pound less than what I weighed when I was full-term with Tanner
  
• The fact that my baby is a year and a half old, and I have lost and put back on the weight
  
• The fact that my pants are extremely tight...to the point that I dread getting dressed each morning
• The fact that I'm NOT pregnant, so I have NO excuse to eat the way I am
• The fact that my body deserves to be taken care of, just like the laundry, the dishes, my kids or my husband (and not in that order, but sometimes that IS the order...don't judge me!)

Today I had this fabulous idea to go swimming for Family Home Evening. While looking up local pools and prices and times, well, one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were looking up local parks with walking paths and their distances. That led to finding a routine for learning to run. Seriously. I HATE running. I dislike walking, if I can help it! Since my good ole' workout swim suits no longer fit, I figured I could squeeze into a pair of Ry's Rick College shorts and burn some calories that way. I found a fun little routine, that looked like I could maybe fall into a sensible pattern of getting some MUCH NEEDED exercise.

So, all of you who have inspired me...let it be known that my thighs are burning, much like a Chicken's, my calves are on fire, and it took a full hour for my face to turn from purple to a relatively normal color. My shoulders and neck are stiff, and I wasn't even pushing the stroller...I handed it off to Ryan as soon as my 'brisk 5 minute warm-up walk' was complete.

What routine am I doing??? Glad you should ask. The site is HERE. I am supposed to start out with that warm-up walk, then alternate 60 seconds jogging with 90 seconds walking, for 20 minutes. TWENTY WHOLE MINUTES!!! My body started to protest after about 5. No joke.

Well, Ryan and the kids were troopers, and might I say I made it the entire 20 minutes, and then had to walk for another 30 so my legs wouldn't cramp up and cripple me. This is sure going to be an adventure!

Well, Happy 200th post to ME! And Happy Exercising as well...if any of you have ANY suggestions or would like to take a look at that site (all you runners) and tell me if it's legitimate, if I'm in for it or if you have a better idea (remember I'm going from couch to hopefully enjoying some physical exercise), PLEASE leave me a comment or email me or call me and let me know!!!

I used to get painful shinsplints in high school, the one semester I ran track, so I'm praying I DO NOT get them...any suggestions in THAT department???

Playground Fun

I went into turbo mode last night around midnight and folded AND PUT AWAY laundry. (Can I get a high five? or just a Five?) I also picked up the floor of our room...why is it the catch-all room? EVERYTHING gets dumped into our room! Between camping gear, to miss-matched socks, candy wrappers, piles of clothes...I can't continue waking up to this! I also decided I was tired of digging through drawers in the boys dresser so I turned on the hall light and re-organized them in the dark...I say re-organized, because I do this about every other week.

Because yesterday we got this:
And the baseball game we bought tickets to was canceled, everyone was going nuts today...we needed to get out!

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So, we went to play at a local school's playground that Tanner has been begging to go to...and I've wanted to, as well. Might I say I had just as much fun as the kids? And no, I did not get a snap-shot of myself playing on all of this fun equipment! We had the whole place to ourselves!

...busy...busy...busy...

♥♥♥

Today I woke up to a call (I was 'allowed' to sleep in till 8:30) from a secretary at work reminding me about a pottery class being taught (I got home at 10 pm last night from teaching a class at the BYU-I preparedness fair...such a blast!). She thought I might be interested in bringing Deseret...so in record time (about 30 minutes) we were all (boys included) able to get dressed and eat breakfast...then Desi and I headed off to our pottery class. WE. HAD. A. BLAST!!! I'll have to pick her up next month to come and glaze the mug she made, but that will be just fine! (I'll get a picture of her tomorrow with it.)

We hurried home for lunch, naps (of which I got an hour in) and then headed to the Rexburg Splash Park. While there we rode the historic carousel, had cotton candy, and had time out for splashing the little babies. All in all, we had so much fun up there!

After a quick dinner, we debated: weed garden or go on a bike ride. It was unanimous....BIKE RIDE!!! We did our usual route, around the Green-Belt, over to Freeman Park, then back to the Caboose for sno-cones. You HAVE to get sno-cones after a 2 hour bike ride!
To top off the night, We did a round of parachute jumper fireworks, bathed the kids and put them to bed.

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My house is a disaster; there's dishes to be done in the kitchen, and clothes to be folded...again. Did I mention that I'm pretty sure my laundry breeds on its own? Yeah. I think we'll 'clean' tomorrow. I'm heading to bed...I'm going to need the energy to keep up with everyone when they wake up at the crack of dawn.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....it's the simple things that make life enjoyable. ♥

Randomness and Fun

I am so embarrassed to post this picture, but saw this word art by Bethany, and knew I had a picture to go with it!
As soon as I took the picture, Ryan offered to put away the laundry...that's clean...and folded, well, mostly folded...away. My husband is the best! Hence, no laundry in the picture below:

Because Tanner will pester Taylor if he's asleep in his crib, we put Taylor to sleep in the pack-n-play in our room, then 'transfer' him to his crib when Tanner is asleep. Whether or not it's healthy for his young sleep cycle, it beats an hour nap at bedtime! We frequently find Taylor asleep on the 'floor', after he's pulled up the 'mattress thingie'...thought you'd enjoy that silly picture!

On a side note, my youngest sister, Deseret, is staying with us for the week while Mom, Dad, Clay, Katelyn, and Stephanie are attending Cedar Badge. Every year, for the past five years, we've had her stay with us for about a week...this year was especially hard, for some unknown reason...she cried for three days before coming. I had to chuckle and shake my head when this morning she told me she wanted Mom, and was sad. Hmmmm....a little homesick? Must mean she has a wonderful home! Can't say I know what's wrong with us, though!

Last night we went and purchased some material to make Tanner a pillowcase, and some for Desi to sew her own. I must, say, she did a pretty darn good job!

Because of the Air Show we went to in Rexburg, Tanner has been calling this his Airplane Air Show pillow...And truthfully, those types of planes were flown that day! I love my little guy! I asked him if I could take a picture of him with his pillow, and he ran to his room and said, "Kay, mom, Come take my picture!"


In order to take Desi's mind off of being with her 'alien' big sister (She was 3 when I graduated and moved out...so she doesn't know me as well as our other siblings...but that's okay...I LOVE this time I get to spend with her!) we're going to Rexburg tonight to play on Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen's tramp and in their back yard, we'll go see the Titanic Exhibit at the Museum of Idaho Tomorrow, Disney's "Up", and go to the Idaho Falls Chuckar's Baseball game on Friday...plus a ton of other things. (She even offered to iron for me, since she doesn't 'get to' at home...Katelyn does it at home...we'll see how many shirts she does before she decides she'll let Katelyn continue to do it! LOL!) Looking forward to some fun in the sun, going to the Rexburg Splash park, and riding bikes. Oh, it's gonna be a blast!

♥ Happy Father's Day! ♥

I seriously must have been doing something right in the Spring of 2003. I had no clue when this handsome guy walked into Porter's that he would be all mine, and be such a wonderful friend, husband, and father.





There are a million reasons why I love my sweetheart. I could spend hours listing all the wonderful things about him... Most of you know that we decided that for him to finish his masters degree, it would be easier for him to focus on the work that needed to get done if he wasn't working...then 'this job' fell in our laps.

As I'm at work each day, Ryan is tirelessly being a fabulous father and husband and student. He practices writing letters with Tanner, is helping Taylor learn to count, takes the boys to the park to play almost daily. He changes diapers, cleans up potty accidents, does dishes, helps with laundry, washes the kitchen floor, and makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner when I cannot or am too tired. He will bike to the library with the boys to check out books, take them on walks, let them get dirty and then clean them up again. This is merely skimming the surface and all without me having to ask for it to be done. He has our boys on a schedule and sticks to it like glue! He is a fabulous father. However, I somehow knew he would be. He was raised by wonderful parents.

♥ So, Happy Father's Day, Ryan. I LOVE YOU! ♥

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Next is the FIRST man of my life, my darling Daddy. He is the most wonderful father a child could ask for! I don't think I have enough words to express how much I love my father. He has been there for me through EVERYTHING...good and bad, happy and sad. I LOVE these two recent pictures of my dad. He is humble, optimistic, classy, hard-working, an outdoors-man, a spiritual giant, caring, courteous, thoughtful, and on and on. He is an amazing father, and an amazing grandfather to my boys. They adore their Grampa. Even if he does take their binki's out of their mouths! LOL!


I think Stephanie snapped this shot...I have SO many fond memories of my dad in the early morning hours contemplating, meditating, reading and listening...I love you daddy! Happy Father's Day!

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And lastly, my Father-in-law, Ken. He is such a neat father, as well! Although I've only known Ken for a little over six years, I've come to love this man my husband calls father. Ken is quiet, but also loves to play with the boys. He never passes up a moment with his children or grandchildren. He, too, is a hard worker, never taking a day off for the 30+ years he delivered mail as a postal worker in Rexburg. He loves to watch the birds in their yard, read, and enjoy the outdoors.

What a Week!

The last few weeks are a blur...this is going to take a few minutes!

From Wednesday through Friday (June 17-19), I attended the 4-H Alpine Camp (in Alpine, Wyoming) for work. The best part, was that Ryan, Tanner, and Taylor got to come along! This particular 'event' consisted of 100-ish kids (ages 8 - 12), 24 camp counselors (ages 13-17) and some fearless leaders (adults). I shouldn't forget to mention there were a handful of little kids, like mine, and a few others under the age of 8 who had a blast! Just a little background; I grew up camping in a 4-wall tent or under the stars, on the ground, wearing the same clothes all week...we probably changed our underwear and socks and maybe a shirt, but if we were wet, we were cold, so we knew to stay as clean and dry as possible while still having fun. This 'camp' had kids bringing whole duffle bags of clothes, pillows, blankets, coats, multiple shoes, candy, towels, blowdryers, ets....We were 'lucky' to get to sleep on bunk beds in cabins, and really, it wasn't even that bad. I even took a nice HOT shower one night, and just made sure I had ample deoderant and hair spray to hold my hair in place. Too much information? Oh, I'm sorry!

We pretty much got rained/misted on for the first two days, and by Friday, the sun was shining. However, I think I was only in the sun for about an hour, but I am FRIED! My face STILL hurts! When I wasn't teaching all 100 kids how to make charcoal cookers, I was alternating Tanner and Taylor between pants and socks...drying the wet ones by the fireplace in the 'lodge' while they got their dry pair wet. Oh, to be a pioneer! I don't know how those mothers did it!

Taylor spent a good amout of time in the backpack carrier thingie...Scroll down for a picture of him in it...is there a technical name for those contraptions???

Tanner really enjoyed the mud. He couldn't get enough of it!
Ryan was a HUGE help to me, in teaching the charcoal cooker making/class and lighting the briquettes. I used 18 matches on one measly little pile when he had to drive to Thane to buy more can openers, because all 8 of the ones I bought and purchassed broke within the first two classes (I still had 80 kids to come through, and I wasn't going to use my teeth to cut the lids off the cans! He's a trooper.) Ryan even confessed, yes, confessed, that he was having fun!
What made this week possible was my parents' willingness to let us borrow their Excursion...I managed to pack clothing and such for Ryan and Tanner in one bag and Taylor and myself in another, but we had the pack-n-play, sleeping bags, the backpack carrier thingie, and a huge sound system we took up from the office for the dance (which rocked, by the way!). After all was said and done, we had that vehicle PACKED! Thank you, mom and dad!

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As we were pulling out, my mom, dad, and sisters Stephanie and Deseret pulled up...we had a great visit for about 30 minutes...they were scouting out South-Eastern Idaho (literally, they drove all over the place!) for their upcomming Cedar Badge Adventures.

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On the way home our friends the Waites & Crofts, called us up and invited us to go up Wolverine Canyon to cook tinfoil dinners and roast marshmallows. Because we're suckers for a good time and didn't get enough of being wet, cold, and enjoying the burn of smoke in our eyes, we decided to be social and go... Check out Stevie's blog for more pictures (click on the link).

Tanner, Adelaide and Landon had a good time building a 'fire' in a hole in the ground...putting rocks and sticks and mud in the hole made for quite the camping experience for our little campers!


We were right next to a stream, but a shallow part. As luck would have it, just as my kids' feet were starting to return to normal from being wet for three days, they both had to go and stand in 4 inches of water...I'm just glad the water wasn't quick-moving or deeper! To be a kid again!

We had a blast roasting hotdogs (I was not about to make tinfoil dinners for us all in the hour I had to get unpacked and geared up for another adventure) and playing and laughing...boy, did we have fun!

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Saturday (June 20) we had another full day of fun, while attending the Legacy Air Show in Rexburg. We've had a blast in years past, and although we enjoyed it (mostly seeing Taylor's face when he saw an airplane) I think we'll take a break for a year or two...They had the entire golf course blocked off, so we couldn't really see anything unless we were at the runway, which was crowded with smokers and interestingly-dressed people, plus it lacked a playground. :) Where we sat at the park, the kids got to play for a while.

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So, we've been busy, life has been busy, and we hope all is well with you this Summer! :)

need...

I need to update...

Maybe that's a sign...a good sign. Tomorrow is "Pick Your Poison Day", and blogging is definitely the poison in our relationship...it KILLS everything romantic.

Anybody else have a spouse that loathes you blogging? Even occasionally? Okay, Ryan is pretty good about it, but there have been days and weeks where I can't be pulled away...it's an addiction... I. Need. To. Blog.

Well, the need is now fulfilled. Toodles!

P.S. - the next two weeks are Ca-Razy, so I won't post until I'm DONE...Maybe you'll see updates in August? I don't know. If so, hope you all have a GREAT summer!

i ♥ you.

My little sister, Katelyn, took the picture below on Memorial Day, and I just had to post it. Tanner is sporting lickerlips. No, I didn't misspell that, it's a word. At least in our family.

It's in Tanner's genes to lick his lips. His mommy did it as well as all of his aunts and uncles on the Crandall side. We licked our lips till they bled, growing up. I don't know if it's because we rarely used chapstick, we were always in the 'elements' having adventures outside, or because we just liked the taste of sweat on our upper lips...I can't tell you, because I don't do it anymore. I disliked lickerlips. They hurt. Especially when Grandma Crandall would lovingly hold us down and smother our faces with baby lotion...exactly what I do to my kids.

i ♥ u, Tanner. You are so silly. In many ways you remind me of myself, yet I'm sure some of your antics come from your father's side. You're the most rambunctious, yet most forgiving little boy a mama could ever ask for. i ♥ your lickerlips. i ♥ your smile. i ♥ your hugs. i ♥ you.