Girls' Camp 2010

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Girls' Camp again with our ward. I always loved camp as a teenager, and I kinda wonder if it is more fun as a "leader"! We had such a great time.

This year's theme was Superheros. Basically about developing the talents and abilities and skills we need to fight off any "bad" influences. Each ward made up a superhero. We chose to be the G.I. Gems. So we blinged out a lot of our stuff with "gems".

One of the highlights for us was our leader skit. One of our leaders made up different words to Beyonce's All the Single Ladies. We changed it to All the Super Ladies. It was pretty dang funny. In case you are wondering - we were trying to look ridiculous, that wasn't by accident. ;) I have been trying to upload the video clip of our song/dance and it won't load! Don't know why. Ugh.

Another highlight was the hike. It was a fairly difficult hike - especially if you are not used to much physical activity. I loved the part where we had to climb up some rocks and you had to use a chain to pull yourself up because it is just too steep. Some of the girls were up the rocks in no time, while others were truly afraid to do it. Every single one of them made it, and felt such a great sense of accomplishment for doing it. I love when people try something they think they can't do, and they make it and prove they can. We told them many things in life are scary, but we have to tackle them and work hard, and when you accomplish it, you realize it was very worth it.

It is amazing the amount of work that goes into these 4 days at camp to impact these girls. I love being a part of such a great program to empower these girls to know they are daughters of God and are beautiful and special in their own ways.

P.S. - Being away from the other 3 kids is an added bonus too! :)

A few more Addi-isms . . . so I don't forget them!

You know how your mom or dad yelled your full name at you when they were mad? I do the same now. Just one of those lovely things you pass on! :) Well, Addi has it figured out now too . . . almost.

The other day she was mad at me for something (don't know what) and started yelling, "MOMMY KATE COOK!!" (Kate is HER middle name - not mine). Today she was trying to get Sandy our dog to go outside, she yelled, "SANDY KATE COOK! go outside!" Too cute.

These are the things I try to remember when I'm trying not to kill her for other things she does, like this:

What is that, you ask? That would be the concoction Addi was making in the pantry while we were out front trimming trees, bushes, etc. I came in and found her in the pantry with the door closed. You know you are in trouble when the first thing they do is say, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry mom!" Wow. Here's the culprit here. Guilty??



I didn't taste the mix, but it was a layer of maple syrup, followed by a couple packets of hot cocoa mix, with a side of Finish dishwasher gel.

On the bright side, the pantry smells like a really clean chocolate maple donut!

My new ride - and a poll

My last car was getting up in miles, and Lane doesn't like to have cars with high miles, so we sold it, and finally found me a new SUV to drive around! We got the Ford Expedition EL. I was thinking it was just as long as the Yukon XL or Suburban, but we discovered this last weekend as we went to the cabin that it is a little shorter! Dangit! Oh well, it is longer than the regular Expedition, and it is loaded to the hilt, so I am happy.

So here's the question - what is the first thing you think when you see my license plate? Just curious - do you figure it out right off?

Now all I need are my shiny new rims and I'm good to go! :)

I wanna go to school!

The last 3 weeks of school, this is the battle I had every morning. "I wanna go to school! I wanna go with Conner and Savannah!"

The morning of the photos above was the 2nd to last day of school. I was so tired of hearing about her wanting to go to school. But this morning she really got up and got herself dressed, and put on her "pack-pack". Seriously, I may not be the best mom in the world, but I certainly wouldn't let her go like this!:) She is rather hilarious.

I keep telling her when she is 3 she can go to pre-school. The other day in the car she said, "Mom I wanna be 3." Why? I asked. "Cause when I 3 (free) I can go to preschool!" Dang she is so cute. She starts in August! Happy happy child and happy happy mom! :)

Happy 6th Birthday Conner!

(This is on Conner's 1st birthday. I really don't think we had a digital camera when he was born! No digital shots - you'll have to come look at our old-fashioned scrapbook! :)

May 4, 2004 was a very happy day. It was the day I finally got my boy. Don't get me wrong - I love my girls, but I had 2 of them, and was sooooo excited to get a boy - hoping maybe some testosterone would even out all the estrogen flowing in our house? :) (Actually I should probably say Lane was hoping for that!)

Conner was my smallest baby - weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. (I think). We induced him one day before he was due - which I kinda regret now, because it would have been really fun to have a Cinco de Mayo baby. Oh well, I was sooooo ready to get him out!

So here is a note for our family history about my sweet Conner and what he loves/does at age 6.

He LOVES to ride his bike. He just learned to ride without training wheels about 2 months ago, after I finally put my foot down and said "You are going to ride your bike!" The funny thing is - his best friend Cooper told me this: Um, you need to teach Conner to ride his bike! He says you keep forgetting! Yeah right, more like my kid is scared to death and I have tried and tried and he wouldn't do it. I guess the peer pressure from his friend finally got him going. What a happy day it was that he learned to ride - and he hasn't gotten off ever since! :) Now he and Savannah ride their bikes to school every day. If I say we have to drive because they are too late he freaks out. He loves riding his bike.

He makes sound effects like you wouldn't believe. If we ever wonder where Conner is, if I listen real close I will hear little plastic figures fighting, rockets blasting off, cars zooming, you name it! He can entertain himself for quite a while with one or two action figures and his sound effects. That is OK, except in church when I have to quiet him from his blast off sounds!

He also loves to whistle. Kinda weird I think, but he does it a lot He has become a great reader. He was the first kid I sent to school not reading. (I know, take away my mother of the year award!) He just wasn't super interested, but he has taken off on his reading, and does sooo good now!

His best friend is our neighbor Cooper. They are 4 months apart in age, and have so much fun together. I love that they run back and forth between our houses and have a blast. They are the cutest boys ever!

He swims like a fish - even though I haven't gotten in the pool yet! It is too cold! Not for him! He is a great swimmer. He is going to do swim team this year for the first time.

He is very afraid of unknown things. I know I have to prepare him and talk to him about stuff and let him get a glimpse before he'll try anything. He takes time to warm up to anything new, but then he's fine. First day of soccer he sat at the side and pouted and wouldn't do it. His first game of baseball he sat at the side and wouldn't play. Yet once he figured out it wasn't bad, he was a great player and loved the sports! He better love them because his dad can't have a boy who isn't an athlete! :)

He writes with his right hand, but does everything else left. Throws a ball, bats, kicks, etc. Kinda weird huh?

He really doesn't like church - which has us a little nervous - ha! He told my friend the other day, "Church is 3 hours of boring!" Funny kid.

Most of all, he is the sweetest loving, pretty easy-going kid. My favorite thing was one night I was tucking him in and he said, "Mom you know what I think when I hear the word love?" I said, "No, what do you think of?" He said, "You, because I just love you so much." Seriously. He has my heart. :)

For his party all he wanted was to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Well, that was easy! So, we invited 12 kids and they had a great time.

Wacky Hair Day

Whose hair was on purpose for "Wacky Hair Day", and whose was just au natural?? I'll give you 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count! :)

Needing some pretty thick skin!

OK Wow. I haven't blogged for a long time. Probably because I really don't have all that much to talk about or any news for friends and family. Life is pretty boring I guess?

Anyone want to hear that Addi pooped in her panties 3 times yesterday afternoon? Or escaped the house 2 times the day before - NAKED! Or hid in the closet with the dog while I was looking all over for her, calling neighbors, going up and down the street, and then finally found her back in the closet?

Nah, you really don't want to hear about that. I'm sure all of your kids have done the same thing! :)

So today I will post about my need to have thick skin. Let me tell you, I already do have pretty thick skin, and a healthy sense of humor about myself. Let's face it, I am soooo far from perfect that I really don't even try to be. It can be said I do not strive for perfection, thus I can't let myself down when I don't achieve it! :)

BUT, I do try to be good at what I do, and look/feel/act the best I can. So here are a couple of examples that have come up in just the last 2 days that make me just shake my head and say hmm.... good thing I have thick skin! :)

A few weeks ago I did the sprint triathlon, you saw my pictures in a previous blog. Well, the triathlon people hired their own photographer. "Michael Jordan Photography" to be exact. I'm pretty sure it isn't the ex-basketball player.

Anyway, they sent us a link to look at the pictures of the event. There were 150 people who participated, and there were about 300 pictures. I happily scrolled through the pictures looking at people and seeing if there were any of me. Sure enough, I found one, then two, then more and more . . . 22 pictures to be exact! What the heck???? My friend said maybe the photographer had a thing for me - ha! Well, I might think that if any of the pictures of me were good! There are like 5 pictures of me standing by the side of the pool, then getting in the pool. Those were fine. This is where it gets bad. First of all, I hate swimming, second of all you are wearing goggles - who looks good in goggles? No one! Third, did I mention I am not the greatest swimmer? Well, apparently the photographer wanted to show me just how bad I am! I swear these pictures of me in the water are so bad they are hilarious! I make the scariest faces and contortions while I am breathing! Plus I have my bangs all over my face, etc. As my one friend put it - "Those are so bad they don't even look like you!" Well, that's good to know!

Now I am going to have a total complex every time I do a triathlon that someone might be taking a picture of me swimming! I'll be sure to smile every time I turn to take a breath!

Fortunately, the bike and run pictures were OK. Nothing too weird. Anyway, thank heaven I can laugh about that, because I am sooooo embarrassed that people are seeing those pictures! Yea, there were a few people I knew doing the race. In fact a girl from my class this morning did the race, and said she hadn't looked at the pictures yet, but her sister did, and said there were a ton of pictures of me! UGH!!!

So, I got a good laugh out of that.

Friday mornings I teach 3 aerobic classes. Yup, 3 - all cardio and sculpting. At 5:45 a.m. I teach a 45 minute step class. I just took it over about 1 month ago. I love it because it is advanced step, and the people are so fun, and doing advanced step is so fun! The sad thing is that the class doesn't have a ton of people. There are usually only 5 or 6 people. Well, this morning, there were 2. Yup, 2. Teaching a class for only 2 people really kinda stinks! It is hard to make it fun and keep the energy level up when there are so few of you! Oh well, most of the "regulars" weren't there, so I am not going to take it personal - thick skin.

Then I go back to the gym at 8:30 to teach step, cycle and sculpt. I love, love, love this class. Today it was totally full. The gym only has 16 bikes, and we had every one of them used. The aerobics room is kinda small, so the place was packed. It is so fun! I love this group of people - they are all ages and sizes, and so fun. This morning we talked about the scary triathlon pictures. Anyway, my aerobic instructor ego loves to have full classes, and have people tell you how much they love your class, arrange their schedule for it, get excited for it, etc.

Then, at 9:30 I just took over a Back to Basics class out in the big gym. I have subbed this class before, and the people are so nice and tell me how much they love me and wish I could teach them. So, one of our instructors left and they asked me to take it over. This class is hard to teach because I have to do things slower, lower impact, etc. Plus, you can't interact with the people as well because it is so big and loud out there.

Anyway, I guess today I was "too hard" because a lady came up to me at the front desk of the center and told me and the lady working there that I was just too hard. I was "jumping, moving all over and NOT doing basic aerobics". Wow. I seriously make a very serious conscious effort to keep the moves simpler without being boring. I always show them options for low impact or high impact. I say you can jump or march, you can hop or march, you can shuffle, or just tap. Seriously, I know I tone it down. Here's the funny thing: if you aren't doing the low impact move with them, they can't do it! They copy you no matter what. So if I am doing bigger arms or jumping a little to try to make myself get some sort of workout, they jump too! Even if I tell them to stay nice and low. Ugh ugh ugh!!!!! So, I know it is just one person's opinion, but it makes you feel bad when they totally get a little worked up and tell you! I mean she was going off about how this is supposed to be a basic class, and that was NOT a basic class and it is just too hard. Wow. So, I need thick skin. I can't please everyone. The funny thing is there are people in there who love me and beg me to keep it "harder" because the other teachers are too easy! Oh well, I will try to not let it bother me. I just want everyone to like me, dangit! I like people to like me! I seriously get this sick feeling in my stomach when I feel like someone doesn't like me or I have done something to make them mad. People pleaser - that's what I am.

So, I will keep my thick skin on and go on with my day. I need chocolate.