Ragnar

Ragnar, Ragnar, Ragnar.  What a crazy experience this was.  I have heard about others doing Ragnar for years and was always a little jealous.  Not sure I'll be doing it again anytime soon, but I'm glad I got to try it out.  

I think it would have been a little different if I had known some of my fellow teammates before the event.  I happened upon our team by chance.  I was at the Deer Valley soccer team's end of year banquet when I was approached by one of the players' moms.  She asked me if I ran, I told her yes.  She was desperate to find a replacement for her because she needed to be in Utah the same weekend as Ragnar was scheduled.  She let me know that none of my 3 running legs would be more than 6 miles.  I was excited!  Perfect distances and I had always wanted to do it!  

Ragnar was only a few weeks away.  I met with some of the team a week later to learn some of the rules and what I would need to bring with me.  It was an all women's team and all of them were so nice!  A few days before the meeting, I found out I was pregnant.  I was a little nervous about running, but Jason and I both decided it was fine.  I could run those distances easily and I just felt good about it.  I knew it wouldn't be a problem.  So.....I packed my bags and got ready to get my Ragnar on....Phoenix style.  

We started the race early at 6:00 am in Wickenburg, AZ.  I was the 6th runner in my van of 6 women.  There are two vans per team, so our van ran, then I passed the baton on to the other van.  We would go rest a while and then their 12th runner would pass to our 1st runner.  Does that make sense?

This is me right before my last leg.  I had run one the afternoon before, one at 1:00 in the morning and then this one around 10:00 am.  Jason actually came and ran the night run with me.  As the evening was setting in, I realized that much of that run was in the "wilderness" and I was a little freaked out.  We got a babysitter and he met us in North Phoenix at the switch spot.  I was so glad he was there.  I was honestly pretty sick with my pregnancy and was having a hard time.  I hadn't been so nauseous with my other kids, so this came as a surprise.  The combination of being without sleep and running while wanting to puke was no fun at all.  We hadn't had a chance to talk about our big move to Italy yet, so we had an hour to visit and dream a little bit about the upcoming adventure.  I dry heaved a couple times, but him being there made it so I could think about something else for a while.  

After my night run, we went and crashed at Bree's house for a couple hours.  I showered very quickly and tried to get some rest, but was only able to sleep like 45 minutes. 

The pass off from Lynell.  We were the Sole Sisters.  

There I go!

The ladies in my van were so nice!  They always asked how I felt and tried to help me any way they could.  

We all met up at the end to run through the finish line together in our matchy shirts.  

 The whole Sole Sisters team

Ragnar may have been a once in a lifetime experience for me.  A team full of my close family and friends could possibly make me do it again.  I'll need a little more time to forget, though.  

Graham Jason

Oh, how I love my sweet boy, Graham.  This kid keeps me smiling (even if sometimes I have to hide it so he doesn't see).  There are so many things I want to remember about him at this age.  

• Favorite foods:  I just asked him and he said, "CHICKEN!"  We bought a rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club for dinner and he chowed down.  He just came to the computer and told me to make sure I say chicken WINGS.  He loves "pizza from the store".  He has to be specify because we make a lot of homemade pizza around here.  He loves brownies and our oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  
• Favorite shows:  Sonic, Super Mario Bros. and Super Hero Squad.  I love Netflix!
• What he wants to be when he grows up:  Ninja (He has told me this many times the last few months.  
• Graham is still as emotional as he's always been.  It seems like I say something like that with every update.  He's all up or all down.  It's still pretty easy to pull him out of a "down", though.   

• Graham LOVES the park.  He asks every single day if we can go.  If it's not going to happen, he's VERY sad and frustrated.  It's the park that is in our little neighborhood.  The reason he loves it so much is because it means he gets to play with his best friend, Junior.  We have Junior over to our house and Graham plays at his house, too, but he likes it best when they get to start their time together with an hour or two at the park.  They usually play Sonic or Ninjas.  They love to race around the circle on their bikes. 

Junior and Graham

• Every Thursday in his kindergarten class, they have what they call "centers".  His teacher, Mrs. Estrada, loves it when parents come to help and I try to go when I can.  My favorite thing about volunteering in Graham's class is that one or two times during centers, he'll call out to me and when he gets my attention, he'll smile and say, "I love you."  It's the sweetest thing and I love that he does it out loud in front of his class.  I can tell he's happy I'm there and that makes me happy.  I know that won't last forever.   
• In January Graham started wrestling.  He's not a fan.  He claims, "It hurts" and never wants to go.  Jason has been helping coach a little bit.  So, now we have the dilemma of deciding if we let him stop going or keep at it.  Wrestling is tough, because at his age there's not really a seasonthat ends anytime soon.  We'll see.  
• Graham continues to be quite the showman when he gets a crowd laughing.  We were eating dinner at a friend's house one evening and all the kids in the other room were laughing.  We asked them about it later and it turns out that Graham was showing off his skills by burping "I love you" over and over again.  That's my boy!
• Graham is very social and out going.  With that, he's also pretty blunt and tell things like it is.  He has no problem letting anyone know if they are bothering him or if he disagrees with something that was said or went down.  We struggle with knowing how to ride the line between respecting adults and sticking up for yourself.  This little man is teaching me to not worry so much about what others think and not to take his misbehavior or acting out moments personally.  
• Graham gave a talk in primary a couple weeks ago.  He told me he wanted to do the "testimony part" at the end by himself.  I backed away from him and he said the sweetest words.  I told him later that day how proud I was of him and he said, "Well, I just really think those words I said."  
• One of his favorite things to do right now is ride his bike to school.  I follow him in the van.  I LOVE seeing him look back at me and speed up to show me how quick he is.  When I go to the "pick-up" spot after school, he always has his helmet on and he rides up next to the car and always asks, "Can we go to the park?"  
• Something I hear at least 5 times a day, "YOU'RE SO MEAN!"  
• We're going through a fibbing phase right now.  It feels like I'm constantly getting on this kid and I have to make a real effort to back off and choose my battles.  The great part is that he's a terrible fibber and he puts on a little annoyed face when I catch him in it, but he also seems a bit relieved.  It's never about anything big......usually just whether or not he washed his hands after going to the bathroom or if he actually really did brush his teeth.  
• I love listening to him sound words out and read signs as we are driving in the car.  It makes my heart happy.  
• This boy thrives when we make special effort to give him one-on-one time.  I know that would be true with all kids, but it seems to especially help my sweet boy.  Whenever we are having a rough few days (lots of arguing), if Jason and I will just set aside a little outing with just him and carve out a few more minutes at bedtime for just him....it turns him around.  I love our time together, too.  A sweeter side of both of us comes out.  I hope that it's during those times that he realizes I'm not just around to nag him and correct his every move, but that I truly enjoy his company and think he's a great kid.  

Graham-bo keeps me questioning my parenting skills and I find myself looking for moments to fine-tune my Love and Logic arsenal, but I am up for the challenge.  I have a special soft spot in my heart for my "not-so-little-anymore" Graham.  He's so sweet, so fun and I feel so blessed to be his mom.  

Benjamin Matthew

Time for a little update on our Benny boy.  He's 3 1/2 years old this month.  He's growing too fast!  I love hearing him talk and talk.  I love his little voice.  The world through his eyes is so funny and so simple.  

I love this picture.  He got invited to Jonah's birthday party and he was so excited to be going alone.  It was a super hero theme.  He LOVES all things superhero.  Here's some more things I want to remember about 3 year old Ben-O.  

• He doesn't quite understand how to use the phrase, "I promise".  He'll say something like, "Mom, can I have another string cheese?"  I'll tell him no and then he'll say, "Pleeeeeaaaaaase!  I promise!"  
• Benny is still our early riser.  He has been since he was tiny.  He's usually up by 6:00-6:30.  I'll hear his door open, followed by his little footsteps coming down the hall.  He walks over to the bed and says in his tired voice, "Can I watch sometheen?" or "Can I have breakduss?"  I've gotten into the bad habit of letting him watch a show on Netflix before I get up and face the day.  
• Speaking of shows.  Some of his favorites:  Sonic, Super Hero Squad, Power Rangers, Super Mario Bros.  During the day he talks about them and shows me their moves.  
• Just now he came up to me with one of his Ninja toys and said, "I'm just a Ninja."  I asked what a ninja does and he said, "They do backfwips in the yair and acshuawy (actually) they do backfwips in the sky."  Benny is always doing jumps and somersaults complete with sound effects and arm moves.  
• Benny loves the color green.  He points it out everywhere we go.  I love that he points out all of our favorite colors, too.  Trees, cars, store signs.  
• Whenever Jason tells Ben no to something, Ben will say, "Mom says no?"  If it's me that told him no, he'll say, "Daddy says no?"  It's nice because he automatically give you an out :) 
• Benny has to have a couple little "guys" in his hands everywhere we go.  They are usually a Power Ranger and one of his Imaginext people.  Sometimes it's one of his Lego Super Mario guys.  He most especially has to have them when we go to the gym or store.  
• We go to the gym most mornings and without fail, every time I pick him up from the childcare center, he says, "Can I have a granola bar when I get home?"  It's just part of the routine.  I recently started a new system where the kids have to have a fruit or veggie before a treat (granola bar, goldfish, PB crackers).  Benny was not a happy camper when I started telling him he had to have a cutie or some carrots before his granola bar.  He has adjusted, though.  
• Instead of asking, "What did you say?"  when he doesn't hear me, he says, "What you said?"  It makes me laugh every time.  
• Instead of "there" or "here", he says, "theren" or "heren".  I wasn't sure how to spell it.  They sound like he's saying it the right way, just with an N sound at the end.  
• Naps ended about 6 months ago for Ben.  He still gets super tired, but if he takes a nap, he has a really hard time going to bed at a reasonable hour.  So, on the days that he has crashed in the car at 4:30 pm or sat still on the couch for too long in the late afternoon, bedtime is a little hairy.  He comes out of his room multiple times and says, "Will you sweep wiff me?" Even when I'm super tired from a long day and I'm done with being mom for a while, those words always make me smile.  I usually tell him no, and he says, "Will you sing me a song?"  So, we go sing a couple songs and hope for the best.  (Sometimes I say yes and lay down with him for a while.  I get to hear more of his sound effects as he lays next to me playing with his little Batman or Power Ranger.)

We love our sweet Ben-O.