Recital Time

Many of you know that I have been doing a variety of "musical" things with Hunter for the past couple of years. First we did "Let's Play Music" which is AMAZING, WONDERFUL, and I can't say enough good things about it. This past year, we transitioned to regular piano lessons. He was doing fine with me - but at the same time, it was really tough to be the mommy, the encourager, and the critic. We managed till February and I decided to send him to a neighbor for lessons. My role changed dramatically. I became the helper and the motivator - which is what I really want to do. I still sit down with him every day to help him with his lesson and I really love that time. It's so fun to watch/help him progress. He's so bright and talented. (I'm the mommy, I can be prejudice!) One of my favorite things is hearing him run to the piano and do something over and over and over again - just because he loves playing it. I'm so proud of his hard work! Tonight he had a little recital - check out the clips! And yes, Cole decided to be a part of the duet.

Cole is 4!

My little Cole is 4 YEARS OLD!! We had a little Mother's Day dinner at our place on Sunday with Shayne's sisters (and families), my brother (and his wife), and my parents. After dinner we fulfilled the only request Cole had for this birthday -- a Spiderman pinata. I think he was inspired by his little cousin's pinata at her birthday - but it had to be Spiderman. Luckily, mommy found one! And yes, Cole got a costume for his birthday. He is constantly dressing up to be a super-hero. I'm not sure how he really feels about being a "bad" Spiderman - but he did put on the costume and ran to his room to put the "good" one right on top of the black one. I know that I'm really going to look back at these years and miss the things that Cole says and does - he is a one-man show!

I had to throw this one in - just love to see the "laugh" even in a picture. I should have video taped it!

5K with 18,000

I'm not even kidding about the 18,000 participants! I did my 2nd official race with my workout buddies in SLC's "Race for the Cure." It was surreal. The people, the MASSES, the sponsors (and all the free stuff ROCKED!), and the whole experience was really unforgettable. Everyone had the same number, "2009" and on our backs we could pin a sign to honor or celebrate someone we knew with breast cancer. I ran thinking of Deidre (my cousin who passed away last year). She was an AMAZING person and inspiration to all who knew her.
When they did the "shot gun" to start the race, we just stood there! We couldn't move because there were so many people! When we started moving - there was no room to move. We had to walk and sort of pretend we would start running/jogging soon. It was funny. It was just shoulder to shoulder people and more people. After a couple blocks, we started to jog a little on the side of the mass of people. I could see ahead and it looked like 10 blocks of people - and the race had just started! And there were still blocks of people behind me. There were great outfits all around us - men in pink sports bras, shirts stating "bookin' for boobies" and all sorts of untraditional attire around us. I loved seeing the men with comments such as "in celebration of my hot wife" on their backs. I wish I had just carried my camera with me for the event. We took a few pics before the race started and they do not do justice to the experience! Thank you C and K for keeping me running! (I'm never sure if I should type peoples names in my blog).

A few more...

"look at my kavention" (invention) and he says this A LOT!

"I'm thirstied"

"I have a stitch" (itch!)

Honestly, he says all three of these A LOT! So cute!

The things he says...

There are so many cute things that Cole keeps saying and I'll think to myself, I have got to write this down! So, here are a few that I can remember at the moment!

"I'm sugaring" (instead of 'shivering')

"Look mommy, I'm all sprinkled!" (instead of 'wrinkled')

"I can't know" (instead of 'I don't know how')

the classic, "Mommy, I have more bless you's"

Easter

I seem to be prone to computer issues lately! I have tried to do this post for an HOUR now... that's way too long for my attention. Everytime I try to cut and paste a photo (I wanted to go in order) the pictures completely disappear! ARGH! So, Here are some highlights from our Easter. I hope yours was wonderful with family as well. We spent the evening prior to Easter with my parents - dyeing LOTS of eggs and enjoying a movie together. Then Sunday, we were with Shayne's family. I think I only took 150+ pictures - and managed to get a few KEEPERS!

Danny's favorite pasttime - eating whatever he can reach.

I love this picture of Cole looking through his eggs and Danny sneaking one from him! Each child was assigned a color to keep our numbers even and I think the kids got more than spoiled - considering 3 aunts put together lots of eggs for everyone!

Oh my! It's an egg and it has candy!

The gang - they are all getting soooo big!

I love this picture. James, my nephew, broke his arm and his wrist! So, his dad walked around and picked up the eggs as James pointed to them!

Check out my new haircut - and even done straight! And that Danny is a smiler!

That "AMAZING" photo...

33:03 or 33:50??

I did my very first 5K last Saturday! WOO-HOO!!! I wouldn't have done it without my neighbor and work-out buddy, Chari, - she ROCKS! (well, she runs, but you already got the point) I really didn't know what to expect and I was feeling very akward and very naive about every little detail (ie there are four safety pins given to you to pin your number on your shirt). My BIG goal of the morning was to finish. And honestly, I just didn't want to be very last. I thought it would be ok if I was last - but I didn't want to be that person! As I started the run, I couldn't help to think that it was weird to just be out running with a group of random people around my little town. Why do people do this?!?

I kept on running and even though my good friend did her best to stay next to me, she couldn't help but to leave me to my turtle pace (she's an experienced runner). It was probably 2 miles into the run and I thought I should stop and walk for a bit, but I kept saying to myself "Just go to the next corner!" and I'd push to the next one and so forth. I am so happy to not only have done a 5K - but to do it without stopping was beyond my hopes for my very first. That adrenaline definitely kicked in and it was emotional! I felt good all day and when 9:30 PM rolled around - I couldn't keep my eyes opened if someone had paid me. I was EXHAUSTED.

I wanted to post a picture of me and Chari - but I'm having computer woes. So, I'll describe the picture - It's a picture of the two of us. I have a BRIGHT RED CHERRY FACE - and I have fuzzy hair. And I'm holding an AMAZING purple ribbon that says "participant." It's quite the big deal. I forgot to mention, when I ran through the finish line, Chari noted the time as 33:50 (minutes!) - but on the posted results, they said I came in at 33:03.... I like look of that 33:03 time. And now I have a new goal for the next 5K - beat my old time!