Perfection is over-rated

Hearts For Honduras

2009-09-11T12:12:00.001-07:00

I ran the Hearts for Honduras race in Santa Fe on Labor Day and it was a lot of fun. It was a really hilly run and really hard, needless to say I didn't beat my last time (didn't even get close) but I had a good time and am looking forward to trying it again next year.

Before the race...wow I am roughin' it. I am down 21 lbs and counting though!

Reese stretching before the race.

They had a jump house set up for the kiddos to jump in while they waited for the racers to start coming in.

Next race: The Great Pumpkin Chase 5k

First 5k

2009-08-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I ran my first 5k. I am still 2 weeks away from finishing my Couch-to-5k training program, but I did pretty good. I finished in 30 minutes which isn't fast by any means, but it's not slow either. I am pretty proud of myself considering I couldn't even run 90 seconds 7 weeks ago.

On Labor Day there is another 5k I want to participate in. It is in Santa Fe. I think I am going to haul the whole family to that one. I want to see if I can beat my 30 minute time.

Birthdays

2009-08-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Dev and Ash have both had birthdays! Asher turned 1 on July 28th and Dev turned 6 on August 5th. I can't believe my babies are getting so big! Reese will turn 3 on Sept. 12th.

New Hobby?

2009-07-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

4 weeks ago I started the Couch-to-5k Running Plan. For someone who thought she hated running, I am really enjoying it. About a week in I started having shin pain on my right leg and knee pain on my left. It would get to the point that when I got home from running I would be limping. Last week I realized the pain came immediately after I put my shoes on. Yesterday I went to ABQ Running Shop and was fitted for some running shoes by a very helpful sales person. I went running last night and guess what?! No pain! It was a great workout that left me feeling really good. I find myself getting excited to go running again.

Even though I won't quite be done with the program yet, I am thinking of entering this race. Then at the beginning of September when I am done with the program, I am going to enter this race. I am interested to see how different my finish times will be.

And, as a side note: While I was at ABQ Running Shop I mentioned to the sales person that it is disappointing that most of the races are held on Sundays, because we don't participate in activities on Sundays. He was quiet for a moment then told me about a running group I can join that holds "mostly handicap races" on Saturdays. I walked out of there laughing, thinking he was telling me I should join the special olympics or something. I am new to running, but come on! That was just mean! Then I actually looked up the site he gave me and saw that no, he was not trying to insult me, it is indeed an actual race, just a little different. Here is a link to read about it. I learned an important lesson from this--For some reason I think it is funny when people insult me (or when I ignorantly think they are trying to). =)

Mariela the Photog

2009-07-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

My sister in law, Mariela, took some great pics of Dev and Reese this week. I borrowed a few from her blog. She did a great job. Thanks, Mariela! xoxo

And here is one I snapped with my phone of Asher:

2009-06-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

Wow, I'm on a roll with the posting. Go me.

My Grandpa has been staying with my mom. I absolutely LOVE having him here so close. He lives in Utah and hasn't been able to come visit us in NM in a really long time. He is the neatest man; so fun and smart. While he has been here I have put him to work (sorry, Grandpa!). He

has fixed my phone jacks, given me a tutorial on how to efficiently and correctly use Round Up without killing the plants I actually like (as well as explaining to me how to secretly kill the Russian Sage plants I don't like- but don't tell Brad that!), and he helped me to plant a tomato plant in my new Topsy Turvy. I think I better get him to teach me about caring for tomato plants though because it's on it's way to the plant Spirit World after only 2.5 weeks. I am

hoping to revive it with some TLC and fertilizer.

My kids love Grandpa too. Reesie, who is normally very shy around men she doesn't know took to him immediately and will tease him. She calls him "Bumpa". I love the way she says it. It's so cute. Devin loves to tease and play with him too. It's been so fun to see them get to know each other.

Isn't this the cutest picture? I am going to treasure it forever.

Dear (or not so dear) Joseph Graham,

2009-06-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Will you please stop giving out my phone number to all your debt collectors? I am sorry that every 6 months you seem to have yet another quarter (?), mid (?), life crisis and all the collectors come chasing after you but REALLY- you have been handing out my number as your own for 3 years now.

Also, please tell your wife that her nail lady no longer cares for her business.

Oh yeah, and Eduardo has been looking for you. Please call him back so the man will stop harassing me. He seems to think I have you "stashed" and doesn't believe me when I tell him he has the wrong number.

And don't forget to call American Express. They have "matters" they would like to discuss with you.

Thank you,

The REAL resident of (505) 771-XXXX

mini update

2009-06-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

I just tried to take a pic of Dev to add to this post, but I can't locate the camera. Dev will have to have his own little post to show off his handsomeness.

Reese thoroughly enjoys apples. I was hesitant to give her a whole apple at first because I thought there was no way she would actually finish it. Guess what? She did! She loves apples and I like giving them to her because they keep her occupied for a good hour and a half.

Not the greatest picture of my Asher but it does show what an angel face he has. He is the sweetest baby. He hates noise and loudness which is unfortunate, since he was born into the noisiest family ever, but I think he might be getting used to us. He is going to be 11 months old and his method of transportation is still rolling. I LOVE that he is taking his time on everything. I want him to stay a baby as long as possible.

Dev is such a SMART little boy. His vocabulary amazes me daily. He is reading like none other and even reads the scriptures for us at night. The other day I was trying to censor a word I was using out of frustration by spelling it and Devin totally sounded it out and said it! UGH!!! I need to just install a V-Chip in myself. Devin is going to be going to Montessori school next year. The school district is opening one within the Elementary School he attended last year, so we filled out an application and Dev got accepted! We are excited to try it out and see how it goes.

Summer has been busy. We are trying to take field trips and do new things so we don't get bored. All I can say is that a new level of "being a mom is hard" has been introduced to me this summer. It is hard to plan around everyone's schedules and keep the whole crew happy. I am getting better at it though. So, there's the short update. Sorry I suck as a blogger. I am debating just deleting this blog--it's just another source of my feelings of inadequacy. We'll see.

Selling My Baby

2009-05-21T14:21:00.001-07:00

No, not sweet Asher. My other baby; SayItOnTheWall.com. It has been such a blessing to my family and I, and so much fun to build and grow. I am constantly amazed at what it has become and how successful it is. That being said, it has done it's job and now I feel like I need to focus all my energy on my #1 job--being a good mom and wife.

If you know anyone who is looking for an opportunity to make {good} money from home (with not too many hours required) and/or needs a creative outlet--send them my way. You know the saying "Scrapbooking is cheaper than therapy"? Well in this case it's "SayItOnTheWall is cheaper than therapy". It has been wonderful for me. It is perfect for any stay at home mom. I would love to give more details to whomever might be interested.

My contact info is mckay (at) sayitonthewall (dot) com -- no spaces.

Thanks!

Vote for Me!

2009-02-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

SayItOnTheWall's tile clock was nominated for 'Best Home Decor Idea' on Tip Junkie! Click the link and vote for me!

The Ridiculousness that is Me Part TWO

2009-02-06T21:21:00.001-08:00

Seriously? The other day Reese, Ash, and I dropped Dev off at school and I decided we had better run to the store for a few things. I had some sweats on and wanted to change into jeans first, so we came home and I ran inside and yanked on the first pair I could grab. We get to the store and as Reese and I are wandering around I can't help but realize that something just isn't right with my jeans. It felt like I had something in my pant leg. So I reach down and try to pull my pant leg up as inconspicuously as possible (which isn't very possible in the milk/egg isle, keep that in mind...there is no cover to hide!). I pull the pant leg up and reach into it only to pull out...................................

A PAIR OF SOCKS!!!! What the heck? And now what do I do with this pair of socks in my hand?! I almost shoved them back in, but decided to put them in my purse instead. Oh brother. Sigh.

The Ridiculousness that is Me

2009-01-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share this funny {ridiculous} story with you in hopes that it gives you a laugh and brightens your day:

This year our ward went back to 9:00 am church. For the most part, I love having church at this time. It does kinda stink that we have to wake up really early in order to get our little circus ready and to church on time, but we love having the entire afternoon to spend together.

So two Sundays ago we were really scrambling to get ready and out the door. It was the usual; looking for lost scriptures (Devin), trying to get the beloved Wall-E pj's off (Reese), trying to get Primary stuff together (Mckay & Brad), you know, the usual. Well finally everyone was dressed and ready so we grabbed all our things put the kids in the car and made our way to church. Sacrament meeting was going well. The kids were not being too rowdy and we were able to enjoy the meeting. I was getting a little uncomfortable so I crossed my legs. I casually noticed my shoe and thought, "hey, that's not the pair of shoes I put on today..." I looked at my other foot and thought, "hey, that IS the pair of shoes I put on today..." I looked at both my feet at the same time and guess what? I had on MISMATCHED shoes! UGH! And don't worry, I had to conduct in primary that day with teachers sitting right in front of me to notice! I was horrified for about 15 minutes after realizing I had on two different shoes, then I thought it was pretty funny. Only I would do something like that. When I put on my shoes I just grabbed the two that were together, put them on, and since it was a right and a left just figured it was the same pair...didn't even bother looking at them.

After church a nice man came up to me and was telling me how impressed he was that my family was always early to church. He commented that it must be hard having 3 little ones. I told him I would let him in on my secret and pointed down to my feet. He saw my mismatched shoes and we all had a good laugh.

Lack of Posts

2009-01-24T20:23:00.001-08:00

I am boring lately. I guess I am too wrapped up and busy in my life to blog about it. I need to slow down. First, the obligatory pics of my cute kids:

Asher is getting so big. He will be 6 months old in a few days. Where has time gone? Right now he is loving hearing himself talk. He will talk and squeal and make the most un-manly noises. He has found his feet and he loves to try and get them in his mouth. He is also a thumb sucker. Reesie and Dev were never thumb suckers so I think this is an adorable habit. I probably won't be thinking that in a few months though. He rolled over a few weeks ago, twice in the same day, but apparently it's not all it's cracked up to be because he hasn't done it since. I tried feeding him rice cereal but it makes him gag and look at me like he is pleading with me to stop, so I haven't tried it again in awhile. He also loves the jumperoo. He goes buck wild in that thing. I will have to get a video of it on here.

Reese is such a joy to us. She is constantly making us laugh and coming up with amusing things to do. She loves to climb into the jumperoo and bottom out. She loves to ride her "hee-haw," she loves to play with her Wall-e game and pretend she is Wall-e. She especially loves chasing Devin around and doing/playing what ever he is doing. Lately she has been calling me a "bad girl" every time she doesn't get her way. Reesie wakes up asking for "nummy nummy nummies" and goes to bed doing the same thing. She will bring me a cup and a can of Diet Dr. Pepper and fully expect and believe that I will actually fill her cup up with it. We finally moved her into a big girl bed and she has done so well with it. She is such a fun girl.

Devin is doing so well in school (minus the fight he got into last month!). I am amazed at all he knows. He is reading and spelling his sight words, doing basic addition and subtraction on his own, making patterns, writing stories, reciting his ABC's, you get the picture. He is the sweetest big brother to both Reese and Asher. He is always trying to help them and make them happy (that is when he is not making Reese scream). He can make Asher give the biggest smile and a great big laugh. He loves playing Lego Starwars and Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii and he is really good! He has beaten Lego Starwars already and is working on Indiana Jones. He loves to play outside and his favorite outside toys are sticks and rocks. Lucky me, I don't have to buy anything. Devin is such a daddy's boy and loves to just be with Brad.

Brad and I are good. Not much to report on us. We bit the bullet and bought a new vehicle because I was sick and tired of my van breaking down. It's a 2008 Honda Pilot. I love it, it's a cute car and not a mini-van!

There's the boring update.

PS-Kristin in TX, if you are reading this, what happened to your blog?

Affiliates

2009-01-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband finished my affiliates program today! Here's how it works: Go to my site and sign up to become an affiliate, add my button to your webpage or blog, and as people go to my site from yours and make purchases you earn money! You will get 10% of every purchase made from your button. Once your account reaches $20.00 I will make a deposit to your PayPal account. Easy as that and free money! Go to www.sayitonthewall.com/affiliates now to become an affiliate and start earning money.

Mommy Woes

2008-12-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Devin got into a fight at school yesterday. This fact in it's self is hard for me to believe. To make things worse, he lied about the whole thing. I don't know what to be more mad about: the lying or the fighting (he was sticking up for a friend being bullied) and I don't know how to punish him. Wait, I changed my mind. I am most mad about the lying. So what punishment do I give him that will make him realize how serious and wrong lying is? Ugh. Being a mom is hard. I especially feel bad for Devin because I am learning on him. He will forever be my Guinea pig.

I HATE THAT MY KIDS ARE GROWING UP!!!!!!

Easter

2007-04-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Growing up I have always liked Easter. When I was really little I woke up to a breakfast of candy. Okay, so I know it was not intended to be my breakfast, but it always ended up being that way. It was great. Then I got a little older, and learned the true meaning and importance of Easter. Then I had kids, and got to experience Easter as a mom. Easter as a mom is 100x better than Easter as a child, or a young adult. This year I had so many opportunities to teach Devin about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and their love for us. It was an amazing experience to see my little boy try and wrap his head around it all, and to understand what I was telling him. He had so many questions and comments for me that I never imagined any three year old comprehending. It is the most wonderful feeling to have that sure knowledge of Christ, and to share that with the most important people I have in my life. It is even more wonderful to see that my little boy is gaining an understanding and a testimony of his own. I have a special boy on my hands, I realize this more every day.

My New Creations

2007-04-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

YAY for VINYL!!!! Or as Brad would say, Vinyl FTW!

Okay, here are some pictures of my latest vinyl creations. I will not lie: I held my mother hostage in my sweatshop-like environment to help me get them done before my first home vinyl party (more on that in a minute). I think they turned out pretty cute. Want one? Go to www.sayitonthewall.com

As for the vinyl party...it went okay. I am a blubbering fool in public, but anyone who knows me knows that. Good thing it was a bunch of wonderfully forgiving women listening to me blubber! good people to practice on. I keep getting business, so that's a definite good thing.

Some picures

2007-04-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Just thought it was time to put some more pictures of the kids on here. Some of you have probably seen them already, but I love these pictures and I know that most of my blog-lookers (is that even a term?!) haven't seen them.

Reese is in all her glory loving the camera, and Devin is posing in his PJ's. Whatever would I do without my sweet, precious kiddos?

Sleepy Baby

2007-05-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

I know that no one can possibly enjoy these pictures as much as I do, let's face it, there is nothing really exciting going on. She is just laying there sleeping, unaware of anything around her, but I just look at these pictures and my heart melts. She is so sweet and innocent. I love this baby girl so much. Oh, and have I mentioned yet I especially like dressing her in all the adorable girl clothes? She's like my little cabbage patch doll!

High Chair Fun

2007-05-08T11:02:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I dug out the high chair and cleaned it all off for Reesie to use. She LOVES it! She hasn't figured out that you are supposed to EAT in the high chair, she just likes to sit in it. She still doesn't want to eat solids aside from sucking on Ritz crackers. As far as baby food goes, she wants nothing to do with it. She is a mommy lover and just wants to nurse. I am fine with this, but her doctor is really wanting her on solids. He thinks it will help her "thin out." I love the chunk!

And then the pictures of Dev are of him enjoying his cheeseburger and his Kool-aid bottle. He has discovered in the past 2 months he might like to eat. And eat he does. This kid eats like a horse. Every morning he has 3 different breakfasts, then he has at least 2 lunches, and a big dinner. Not to mention snacks. I am feeling like a short order cook around here and it drives me crazy, but at least my little guy is finally interested in food. Hopefully Reese won't take this long because I find nursing a baby past 18 months to be a little gross. Heck, I hope to be done around 12 months! Anyway, there's the latest!

Dev's Mural Has Been Started!

2007-05-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I updated the picture I posted this morning. Kathy came back early today and worked really hard to get this done. It is turning out so good! It is so neat to see this mural come to life! I will keep posting progress pictures.

You see, this is the beginning of Devin's huge, two wall Spiderman mural. What you are looking at is the beginning of a building that is going to be part of a skyline. Devin is so excited to be able to have Spiderman in his room on his wall to "look at all night" he thinks he will stay up all night to see what Spiderman does. He is a cutie. Last weekend Brad and Dev went to Spiderman 3 and Dev dressed up as Spiderman. No joke, he wore the full suit to the movie. Unfortunately we couldn't find the mask, but it was so cute all the same. I believe Brad is going to post pictures of that on his blog, so check it out!

SPIDEY UPDATE FOR MIMI

2007-05-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Mom, here is a picture from after Kathy left today. I hope you are having fun without me! We miss you!

5 Years

2007-05-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

5 years. This is all we have with our kids. The rest of their lives, past their 5th birthday we have to share them with the world. 5 short years. Devin is turning 4 in August. What have I done with the last 4 years, and will it be enough to send him out into the world? Will he be prepared to make righteous choices? Was it enough to ground him in the gospel? Was it enough to help him choose righteous friends? Was it enough to give him the confidence he needs to make it? Does he know how much his mom and dad love him and how badly we want him to succeed? I only have one more year to instill all these things into my baby, and then he will be in kindergarten and the world will get to spend more time with him than me. I so wish that I could go back. Back to when he was a baby. I want to appreciate it all over again. I want to do so many things differently. I want to be a better teacher, a better mother. I want to have been more patient. I want to have enjoyed the trying times more fully. I want a second chance. Now that I am so close to losing my alone time with my baby I am scared. 5 years is not nearly enough time. I am not ready to share him yet. I am not ready for him to leave his little bubble. I realize I have one more year with my baby all to myself. I am bound and determined to do a better job in this one year than I did in the last 4, but will it be enough?

5 years. What are you doing with your 5 short years?

My Latest Creations

2007-06-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post pics of my latest vinyl creations and give a shout out to Aubri who I mostly copied. Thanks, Aubri, for "showing me the ropes!" I am loving the vinyl!!!!

An Example of My Days with Devin

2007-06-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

This particular day started at the park. Fun right? Only mostly. We were very excited to play at the park, but when I pulled up, Devin began to whine and cry that we were at the wrong park. Apparently the park we were at didn't have enough toys. I quickly got him to stop crying and complaining by telling him we were going to play at this park, or we were going to go home. He decided the park we were at was okay after all. So there we were. I was socializing with other moms when I noticed Devin in the play sand in the middle of the park, circling. Kind of like a dog when he is about to sit down. I wonder to myself, 'what is Devin doing?' And then he answered my unspoken question, right there in front of everyone: he yanks down his pants and begins to pee. I ran to him. He looks at me and tells me nonchalantly "I gotta go pee. There is no bathroom" he says this as he is trying to run away, pants around his ankles. I get him put back together and he runs off to play. I do the walk of both embarrassment and amusement back to the other moms who are laughing. One of them asks me why his underwear is on backwards. I told her the truth. Devin's truth: Because he doesn't have eyes in the back of his bum, and can't see Batman with them on the right way. Makes perfect sense.

Now, the above scenerio is funny, right? You can see the humor in it? Well so could I. The first time. The kicker is that he did it again. The same day. At Brad's work party in his co-workers backyard. There he is playing with his new pal Rowan when all of a sudden he stops what he is doing, drops his drawers right where he is, and let's the fire hose go. When he is finished he pulls his pants up, and continues playing with his pal just like nothing ever happened leaving all the adults both stunned and disgusted, probably. I hope the tree survives. Man, it must be nice to be a boy.

After all this occured, I was watching him like a hawk to make sure he didn't decided to pee-n-go for a third time, when I noticed he was running like he had been riding a horse all day. Weird, I thought. Then, I notice him constantly picking a melvin out of his rear end. I guess if I wore my undies the wrong way I'd have some problems too. I left it up to Brad to explain the chaffing business and it seems to have gone over well. Eyes in the back of his bum or not, Batman is staying close to home.

Ahh, my Devin.