Changing weather

So, I am sure that none of you follow the weather here in ND, so let me fill you in....It hailed last night along with a thunder/lightening storm about 3:45am. CRAZY...needless to say we were stuck to the car today for transportation. When we got up it was raining and Payton said to me "Mom we aren't riding our bikes to school today are we?" I couldn't resist and said "Sure, why wouldn't we?" To which he informed me it was raining and even had hailed last night (I guess he thinks I am not too observant) I said that a little rain wasn't going to hurt and Kevin piped in that he could just wear his helmet in case it started to hail again. He wasn't too excited about that prospect, although he did think I was serious. So although some of you may think I am a diehard...I am not crazy so I drove the car today. I am, however, hoping tomorrow will be rainless. With the Fargo Marathon coming up (I am only doing the 5K) I need to get some more outside running in...the treadmil is OLD. Well have some great days and check back later.

Kirsten

Spring is Here!!

I just wanted to share a few pictures of spring. I am so amazed at how quickly it got here. Last week was in the mid to high 60's and we were loving it!! The wind is still a bit cool but as soon as it's in the 90's it will be a welcomed addition to our day!

Gavin and Olivia taking a little nap in the cart!

My grapevine and clear garden...I can't wait to get my starters out.

Some of my new shoots...I don't know what they are but that will be exciting!

Rain is in the forcast for this week, which is not so bad...this morning it smelled like rain and it was awesome. Gavin keeps on getting after me to put up the pool. Yesterday I told him to go sit on the hammock in his underwear and tell me if it was "So HOT" then. He did and kept insisting that he needed the pool up. I, however, did not cave. Even being from AK where 50 is a heat wave I held strong and told him it had to be at least 75 before the pool got filled. "That will be like in forever" was his response. Luckily it will probably be in the next few weeks. I am so thankful for the nice weather...my kids are now outside constantly and I can find a bit of peace each day, even if only for a few minutes alone in the bathroom. You moms know what I mean....

One more thing...I keep forgetting to give credit for my layout and all things cute on my blog to my sister, Karla. She does all the upkeep and I just fill in the blanks. She's awesome and I love her tons!!! Thanks Karla.

Love, Kirsten

I am LAZY!!! That is all.

So the only excuse I have for not blogging in 2 weeks is that I am computer lazy. I really can't stand to be on it when the kids are home or awake which leaves me like 2 nano seconds a day....not long enough to blog. Plus I was lazy and didn't want to the download of pictures from the camera because our computer is ancient (7 yrs old) and it takes me forever sometimes....needless to say I am LAZY!! But with much coaxing from my sister to get some new pictures up here they are. I cannot promise that they are completely appropriate not that some may find them offensive (my children still are young) but they are pretty funny!!

First we have Payton, who took second in his weight class, at his first and only wrestling tournament. There were about 8 kids in his class and he did very well. He got pinned the first round then won with pins the other two. He ended up liking wrestling (much to his chagrin...he didn't want to like anyting I suggested) and hopefully will wrestle again next year.



So here is Olivia using a "band-aid" for her not scraped leg. She found them herself when I was busy with something. My children have been blessed with a lack of patience (like their mom and DAD) and tend to be self sufficient. Not always a bad thing and many times something to make me laugh.



For those of you who don't know, Gavin will one day be in theatre (or a chef he can't decide). He LOVES (I can't emphasise that enough) wearing costumes. So Kevin found him this all too fitting one on the UPSers website and we had to have it. We made a delivery of chocolate covered pretzles (the letter envelope is made of material and is really useable) to Kevin's office. All the ladies thought he was so cute.



Then here is Olivia again being self sufficient. She decided to wear makeup one afternoon. I decided to take a picture rather than get too worked up. It worked out well and now I am trying to adopt that way of thinking to many things. Be warned you may see some rather interesting pictures in the future!!!



Here is our "one and only" hill in ND!!! (I am NOT Joking) Payton went sledding here with his class on a Monday and wanted us to all go so badly. We went the following Saturday and as you can see there was a lack of snow. That, however, did not deter them from sledding down and climbing up this pitiful snowburm. It was a great time had by all but made me miss the hill out at the Wasilla park!!!



See I have lots to catch up on. Here are all the (78) Easter eggs I hid for the hunt in the yard. It sounded like a good idea at the time but I must admit that 6 eggs would have been easier for me to remember where all of them were. We only had one at the end that Payton had to go hunt for. He was successful in finding it and eating way too much candy!



Other than all that, the weather is becoming beautiful. It was in the 50's today and sunny (with wind of course, I do live in ND). I got my bike out this week and am now peddling all around. Including my workout this morning I've already logged 20 miles today. The people here will begin referring to me as the crazy bike lady. I put Olivia and Gavin in the cart and away we go. I've started riding Payton to school in the morning and then picking him up in the afternoon. Unless it's raining (crazy raining) we will be on the bike all summer!!! I do have to admit I love that about this little town. So I will try to keep my blog updated so you can see the crazy I live with!

Love Kirsten

The Saga Continues

So here I am trying to get in a run (haha, a walk) with my kids. They have been going pretty well with me running almost 1/4 of the walk. Anything more would be too much to ask for with 3 children in tow. So tonight after wrestling practice, I bundled them up (it's still in the 20's) and away we went. I was only dressed for a walk just hoping to get in the short 2 miler we've come to like. Partially because it's only 1 hour (about the length of my tolerance of "I want in the cart", "I want out of the cart" over and over) and partially because it's half on the bike path. Payton rides his bike and dislikes very much riding on gravel. Well tonight I took pity on the dog and decided to take her along. She is generally very good (I still keep her on a leash) and she's got the hang of the stroller and leash thing. So here we are kids out of the cart, stopped to let all the traffic for the whole year on our road pass, and I am wondering if we are going to make it (by we I mean ME) then the kids decide to get back in (after all the traffic passes of course) and we set off. We make it about 1/10 of a mile and have to stop (across from our friends house) so I can regroup because there are 2 labs outside barking crazy at Dolly. Now picture me with the double stroller one child in and one half way out, Payton on his bike and a truck passing, all while these 2 dogs are going crazy. (It was a sight to say the least) All of a sudden I loose the leash and Dolly goes running over to the dogs (which I did know were somewhat nice) and that is when the true chaos ensued. I chase Dolly across the yard to catch her, Gavin decides to follow to say Hi to the neighbors and I catch Dolly. Just as I get her (Dolly) I hear a splah and a cry. You see Olivia felt left out and had to come say Hi also, and proceeded to come down the small embankment into the pooled (slightly Iced over) water landing in all fours. So I have a dog and a child that I am trying to control (I have to control Gavin) and then Olivia is in the pool of water (to her knees and cold) trying to climb out onto the ice that isn't holding her, all the while Payton is trying to carefully put his kick stand up so his bike won't fall before he runs (Not across the snowbank right next to the puddle) right down into the water as well. I guess his intentions to help Olivia are honorable but the thought process lacked a little. So here we are somewhere like .2 miles from home and we turn right around and head for home. So much for that tonight. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as eventful. (It's okay to laugh, if I heard this story I'd be laughing on the floor.)

Love ya- Kirsten

We are still here!!

I know it's been over a week since my last post but last week wasn't so great. So here we are almost through another and I need to fill you in. Not too much out of the normal (squabbles, disagreements, Olivia into my makeup...etc.) but a few funnies. So the boys (much to my horror and disliking (mainly Gavin)) have taken to calling me a "meanie" whenever they don't get their way. Gavin will get sent to his room and scream on his way "meanie" or "fine, meanie" to which I remind him, to no avail, it's not nice or acceptable to call names. I am sure you all can picture this exactly as it happens. So the other day I was putting Olivia down for a nap (which she isn't very excited about anymore) and she was trying to get out of bed. I firmly told her that she was to stay in her bed and not get up, to which she replied "fine meanie" as she threw herself face first onto her bed. I almost broke out into laughter. It was just too funny to hear this little girl trying to scold me. I did, however, contain myself and she did finally take a nap. Back to the whole "monkey see, monkey do".

So I am planning on running (finishing) the Mayor's Marathon this summer so I realized in order to accomplish this I need to get back outside and running seriously. So Yesterday was my first day at attempting a run with children. Kevin was in Winnipeg and wasn't going to be home until after 9pm and I didn't want to run that late. He told me to drop the kids at daycare but as you can imagine I have a hard time doing that (especially at $12 minimum for 2 kids). SO I thought, I can do this (run with the kids in the stroller). It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had, nor was it even a bad EXPERIENCE, but the workout lacked. You see, while most of the snow around here is melted (except in the shade and partial fields) the bike path is not completely cleared. There is about a 1/2 mile stretch between our house and town that is completely covered in snow. Not so great for a stroller. So I decided to just stick to the back roads (in all we saw 2 cars) and get my run in. First of all, it is quite difficult to run with a stroller. Mine has some pretty good rear tires, but the front one is little and not forgiving with rocks. The stroller is the one from Costco and it is great, especially for walks, but not entirely designed for running. So even those factors aside it is still difficult to run with the stroller. So I would run as far as I could, then walk over the really rocky parts. Run, walk, run, walk. Not so bad until Olivia proved true to form and decided she didn't want to ride. Now I don't know about you but I only wish someone would push me around in a stroller. So she had to get out which slowed the pace considerably. We made our 2.75 mile walk in about an hour (so slow) which isn't going to do me any good for that run in June. Hopefully things will get better or at least Kevin will get home sooner at night.

Payton is still wrestling and had finally been bribed enough to compete in a tournament. It is on March 29th and I will take some pictures to document the occasion.


Love Kirsten