Run Like A Mother...

Today was the Seattle 1/2 Marathon. The morning dawned rain-free and a bit freakishly warm. I sort of decided to run this race on a whim not too long ago. I sort of decided to really taper the past two weeks. I sort of should train a little harder. But I finished. I finished with what I think might be my worst time yet, but I finished. AND I ran like a mother. AND I am sore like a grandmother. Scratch that...I might be sore like a great grandmother (but obviously not like the great grandmother that passed me...darn her and her speedy old ways)!

It was sweet rounding the corner and spotting my little cheering section of three. I knew then that the end was near.My girlfriend Christy and I had these fabulous shirts made up (shout-out Mara) and running with her for 11 of the 13 miles (she streaked off at the end...go, Christy, go) made the time "fly" by. Thanks Christy...it was fun!
I think 2010 shall be Jason's year for the running events. He is planning to do a marathon (you have to do it now, Jason...all the bloggy fans are waiting with baited breath) and I am already planning the fabulous "Run, Daddy, Run" sign we shall hold. It may involve glitter!!!!

Thanky Thanky Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving went off with a bang...without a hitch...a good time had by all...oh you get the picture. It was swell. We celebrated again this year with Mat and Laura, Ava and Jack. Fun Fun!

Posin' by the "Countdown to Christmas" (formally known as an Advent Calendar) that the girls helped make...
Takin' a break before the feasting...

Jason and his grilled to perfection bird. Yeah, you read that right...grilled, like on a BBQ. He is officially in charge of the turkey from here on out...

Would you like one lump or two with your mashed potatoes?

At this point the kids were one step away from pounding their forks on the table and chanting..."we want food, we want food"...

Apparently meat cutting is more captivating than TV. Who knew?

Annika was sooo looking forward to eating a turkey leg. When I told her turkey legs were pretty big, she responded, "That's OK. I'm an eater!"

The following day before the Martinsons hit the road we did a quick stroll on the beach. It was chilly...

Yet pretty...

Good friends are hard to come by and we are so glad they came by...

Thanks for another fun time Martinsons. We look forward to our next adventure with you. Speaking of adventure...we head to Seattle today because tomorrow I am going to run, er, jog, er, shuffle the Seattle 1/2 marathon. I made myself a t-shirt and I'm wearing a running skirt. At least I'll look fancy as I flail across the finish line!!!

Make Yourself Right At Home...

This morning Lulu took every shoe out of the "Croc basket", drug the basket 5 feet into the living room, tipped it on its side, and snuggled down for a long winters nap. I thought I was done with the toddler stage of child rearing...
Uh oh...I just realized that I am one more cat post away from being that crazy cat lady who posts more about her cats than her kids. I better back this train up before it is too late. Speaking of trains. Did I tell ya that the girls and I are going to be heading to Montana via Amtrak in December...an 18 hour trip. Only 18 hours. ONLY!!! Stay tuned...

The Shot Heard 'Round the World...

Yesterday after trotting with the turkeys (a local 5K fun run), Jason trotted on over to the flu vaccine clinic because he had heard that he might be allowed the H1N1 vaccine. After his inoculation he learned that children ages 4-24 were allowed the shot as well. Yippee for Lena and Annika...they are going to be spared the swine flu. They did not share in our excitement. The following is what happened in the next 15 minutes.


First: We couldn't get them out of the car. "We don't want a shot! It will hurt! (cry cry cry)" Introduce parent speech about how shots keep you healthy, will keep you out of the hospital, and Mommy/Daddy now what's best for you.


Second: Children need to be carried into the office building while crying loudly. Mommy is heard saying, "You can cry all you want outside, but the minute we enter those doors that crying better turn to silent whimpers!"


Third: Children are slightly distracted by filling out of paperwork, but still inject every minute their feelings toward the shot.


Fourth: As we line up children are starting to ramp up the protests and crying. Other children come over to explain that it didn't really hurt. This does nothing to curb their "insanity".


Fifth: As we enter the shot room the crying escalates. Mommy and Daddy are able to sit with the children for a couple of minutes (while the child before them screams in "pain" in the exam room) and calm the children with deep breathing exercises and more explaining (and a bit of ice cream bargaining).


Sixth: Apparently that was the calm before the storm. Mommy and Daddy split up and the following is a first hand account of Mommy and Lena's 5 minutes in h*ll. There was screaming, crying, whining, thrashing (all while the nurse patiently waits). In order to calm Lena down I asked the nurse to give us a minute. I was able to get her to lessen her crying, but the minute the nurse came back she ramped it up. She chose to have the shot in her arm, but as I tried to take her sleeve off she resisted and don't let her bony frame fool you...she is strong. Finally, after much more kicking, flailing, out of control (and I stress out of control) screaming and crying the nurse said, "I have no problem doing this by force, ma'am!" Oh good lord! Has it really come to force? I was finally able to wrap my arms around her, grab her hands (essentially physically restraining her) all the while singing a song. In one swift motion the shot was in and she immediately stopped screaming and wriggling and said, "That was it? That didn't hurt! Huh." Huh is right little lady!!!!! (Meanwhile in the neighboring room, Jason and Annika were headed down a similar path, but the nurse was able to reason/explain to Annika all about the process and she bravely, albeit shakily, accepted her fate).


Seventh: As we tra-la-la out of the clinic the children compare battle wounds giggling about how silly it was to get all worked up and how the shot just felt a mosquito bite. Hahahahhahaha. At this point, Mommy bursts into tears...oh happy days it was not! However, the upside of all the drama is that the children will hopefully not come down with H1N1 and next year they will remember this experience and not be afraid of the dreaded needle. They will remember it won't they? Please say they will!!!


The following pictures are a reenactment of yesterday's events. No children were harmed in this reenactment...

Does This Make Me a Loser...

And if the answer to that question is a resounding, "YES" I'm cool with you lying to me. What is the question you ask? Hey, I'm asking the questions around here! The question is: Annika is riding home on the bus tomorrow from school with a little friend. She is doing this because I can't pick her up on time. I can't pick her up on time because I am going to the movies with my girl friends. We are going on opening day to the very first showing of the new Twilight movie. The Twilight movie that is basically for teenagers. I have already went and bought our tickets just in case they sell out. Does this make me a loser? Well if it does make me a loser, then I will just have to comfort myself with 130 minutes of popcorn, bad acting, and teen girl squeal inducing ab shots. Maybe the more important question is: Am I Team Edward or Team Jacob?

If You Build It, They Will Come...

It being THE IRON GYM!!! They being ROCK HARD MUSCLES!!! Jason went to Walmart today with a list and came home with a bag of items off the list. He got sucked into the As Seen On TV display. When I asked how much The Iron Gym cost, Lena piped in, "$19.99! Everything on TV is $19.99." The girls have seen The Iron Gym commercial multiple times and our friend Lew actually owns one. I used to mock Lew's Iron Gym. Oh how easily the mocker becomes the mockee. The Iron Gym commercial guy yells, "You are gonna get RIPPED!" only the funny part is the girls call it ribbed. So now I guess Jason is going to get ribbed?

Oooo...maybe I will stop mocking The Iron Gym...I think I like ribbed!

The Iron Gym is also good for entertaining little monkeys...

DISCLAIMER: The Iron Gym does nothing to enhance the decor of your home. It also can be a source of fighting amongst siblings. If you are a mother of two with limited upper body strength it may not be a good idea to hang from The Iron Gym. Hanging from The Iron Gym (and attempting to pull oneself at least a millimeter up in the air) may result in a pulled rib. Use at your own risk!!!

Celebrity Sighting...

If you know me at all, people, you know I love my celebrities. I love reading about them. I love watching them on TV. I love discussing them. I love Fridays because that means that my US Magazine arrives in the mail and I get to sit on the couch and peruse the comings and goings of my favorite stars. Even the ones I don't like, I'll educate myself on them because you never know when that useless knowledge might come in handy. I blame this character trait (trait, not flaw, mind you) on my grandmother. She, too, loves celebrities and as a young girl I remember flipping through her National Enquirer much to the chagrin of my father. Oh the life of Hollywood...so exciting. And when Hollywood crosses over into Seattle it is even more exciting.

Case in point: this afternoon as we were waiting in line at a Bellevue (basically a Seattle suburb...shhhh...don't tell anyone from Bellevue I just said that) eatery I thought I recognized the man in front of us waiting for a table. I was pretty sure it was Rob Estes. You know...Rob Estes of (the old) Melrose Place fame. You know...Rob Estes of (the new) 90210 fame. And, yes, he is just as foxy in real life...if not more. **side note** Jason just read the last line and said, "Foxy? The dad on 90210 is foxy? It used to be the Dillon on 90210 was foxy and now it is the dad that is foxy?" Jealous much?
I didn't even bother alerting Jason to my finding since he is the same person when alerted on the ferry that Grey's Anatomy was filming didn't bother getting up from his seat (but did bother to tell me later that they were filming and of course had NO details of the event). Instead I called my equally (if not more, and I say that lovingly) celebrity obsessed friend Megan to see if she knew where he lived. She said I would need to confirm this sighting with either a photo or by asking. So, after a supposed bathroom cruise-by I decided to ask the waitress. The 20-something waitress who said, "Who?" I told her that he was famous and she should go card him to find out for sure. She laughed, but in the end one of the other waitresses went and asked and the confirmation was had. Now...I didn't want to go up to him myself because A) I didn't want to bother him, B) I didn't want to admit that I was old enough to remember Melrose Place, and C) I didn't want to admit that I was as old as I am and watching the new 90210 which is basically a teenager show. In the end I did snap this paparazzi-esque photo of my celebrity. I am thinking I shouldn't quit my day job!
Now on to the real celebrities in my life. This year we are going to teach the girls to ski so we headed over to Seattle to the ski swap. I learned a few of things about ski swapping. 1) They make me sweaty. 2) If there isn't pink everything you might have crying girls on your hands. 3) The prices of the now-a-days ski swaps aren't the prices of the ski swaps in the early '80s. 4) Using poles when not in the snow just might poke someone's eye out. 5) It better snow soon or my floors are going to marred up from all the preemptive indoor boot wearing. I just hope the novelty doesn't wear off!!!

Can I Get a What What...

WARNING!! Shameless Bragging Ahead!! Proceed With Caution!!!

Last week when I asked Lena if anything exciting happened at school she told me that the principal came into her class and awarded her a Dolphin Award (which consists of a certificate and a pencil)!!! Apparently she was caught "following ALL the rules and doing her BEST!" I am a little fuzzy on how many of these awards are handed out. At one point Lena said that they only hand them out every 12 weeks, but then a couple of minutes later she said that a girl in her class got one the week before. Whatever the timeline is, we are just glowing that the principal knows her name for good instead of evil. That's our gal!!!

On a separate, but similar note. Well sort of similar...it does contain fighting, but the words sweet and nice are in there. The other morning both girls came up the stairs crying (Lena because she was upset, Annika because the cat had bitten her head. I keep trying to tell her that if you shove a cat in your own face it is probably going to bite you.). Lena's complaint was this, "It makes me upset when Annika plays with and is nice to Lulu (the cat). It makes me think that she doesn't love me anymore. And when she talks to her in a sweet voice it is soooo annoying!" Really? Are we really upset that Annika is being nice? We have experienced great periods of time where Annika wasn't very nice and now that she is nice that is annoying? Let the record show that I very wisely said, "That's just weird. Why don't you just ignore her?!" Because we all know ignoring our problems is the most healthy way to go. Bottle it up, sister, bottle it up!

Sewing Helper...

And I use the term "helper" loosely...