Taylor Swift Has Left The Building

Here she is, folks.  Taylor Swift!!  Now appearing at an elementary school Wax Museum near you!

Side note; When I arrived to the wax museum, Morgan was sitting there with no wig on.  Now, you may not know this story, but I searched high and low for that stupid wig and then found it and paid $15 for it when I swore I was spending nothing on this project.  So I casually strolled up to her and said "hihoneywhereisyourwig?!" to which she replied "It was all tangly" to which I replied through clenched teeth "please put on your $15 wig that makes you look like Taylor Swift that I spent all day searching for please...here let me help you!" 

The first thing I noticed (after I saved Taylor Swift from an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction) was the quality of other childrens' posters and how they dwarfed Morgan's poster in both size and amount of extra props on them.  Seriously...I wasn't aware I needed to provide a multimedia display for my child's project.  I guess when Emma does this project in 2nd grade, I'll be better prepared.  I'll make sure I have a fog machine and strobe lights and maybe a confetti cannon.

There were 56* Taylor Swifts, 49* Abraham Lincolns, 25* Neil Armstrongs and about 5 Hannah Montanas.  Um....Hannah Montana?  She's not even a real person.  She's a character on a TV show.  Shouldn't that maybe have been taken into consideration?  When Emma's in second grade, maybe I'll send her as Vanessa Huxtable.


*note: numbers not based on official count, margin of error is +/-50 

Should I or shouldn't I?

So, I've been toying with the idea of attempting a sprint triathlon in July.  I've thought triathlons sounded like something my attention span could handle (since a 26 mile marathon sounds like 5 to 6 hours of mind numbing, boring nothingness to me)  In case you don't know (I didn't!) triathlon races vary in distance. Sprint distance is a 1/4 mile swim, 12 1/2 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run, then there is the Olympic which is a 1 mile swim, 25 mile ride, 6.2 mile run, next is the Long Course at 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, followed by a 13.1 mile run and lastly there is the Ironman which is an insane 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon: 26 mile run. (I think it should be called Iron Screws-are-lose-in-your-head Man but that's just me.

I am fairly certain that I could do the 1/4 mile swim....at least at one point in my life.  Funny story actually....I was a goody-goody when I was young.  Really.  Never disobeyed my parents.  Always followed the rules.  Never smoked, never drank, never had sex.  I didn't realize anyone at my high school did any of those things either because none of my closest friends did.  It wasn't until a class in college one time that I took with a high school friend where we were discussing our hometowns and I started talking about how mine wasn't the stereotypical high school because people at our school didn't do any of that kind of thing when my friend chimed in with "Uh....Molly?"  He said it kind of in the same tone as my parents when they told me that our beloved dog Smokey didn't actually go to live with Farmer Smith and his 3 adorable children out in the country with a big open yard where he could frolic and play but instead got smashed by a semi.

Don't worry, that wasn't the funny part.

So, when I was 16 and at Senior High Church Camp at Epworth Forest in North Webster, one of the big fat rules was no swimming outside of the designated swimming area and absolutely no swimming to the island that was waaaay off shore.  I don't know exactly how far it was, but it was FAR.  You know what, here's a picture from Google Earth to better illustrate my point...

The yellow line would be the line that I swam ILLEGALLY with some of my church camp friends.  That's right, folks.  I swam about a half of a mile in the forbidden, unforgiving, open waters of Lake Webster!  There are all manner of trout and bass and seaweed in that lake...but I braved it.  Now sure, I was at church camp and, ok, we did take life vests with us to pass back and forth, and yes, we did ask one of the younger, more fun-loving counselors to sit on the pier and watch out for us to make sure none of us drowned.  So what? We were responsible rebels, but we were rebels nonetheless!

Why, yes, I do have a point, thanks for asking.

I am pretty sure that given that shining example of my bravery from almost 20 years ago, I could replicate it with a little bit of training.  So that takes care of the swimming part (in my fantasy world...dream with me, people.)

As for the running part, I completed the Couch to 5K training program last year with my good friend, Shantell (ironically also from my high school....dang, grow up, Molly!) So I know I can run that distance even though my fastest time ever at the 5K level took me quite a bit longer than what the snobby training plan told me it should, but I think that plan had it out for me from the beginning.

The cycling part is the newest addition to my ever expanding skill set.  I have never been a biker.  Ever.  In college, when all of my roommates would ride their bikes to class and back, I either had to drive and park almost as far away as I lived to get to my classes, or I'd just hoof it.  I could not handle the intricacies of cycling.  I would be OK as long as I was on, say, a 2 lane road with no one behind me or coming towards me, but put me on the tiny paved path reserved for cyclists and force me to pass anyone and all of a sudden I was that unsteady 4 year old with the training wheels freshly removed....all wobbly and out of control.  It was like a comedy routine.  Since then, however, I have started cycling in cycling class.  The benefit there is that the bikes are actually bolted to the floor.  I look like a normal person.  The little readout on the cycle at the end of a 1 hour session several months ago, told me that I had ridden exactly 22 miles.  I would like to think that I'm even faster now, and I'd further like to think that given my new found confidence on the bikes, that I'd be able to ride a real bike, outside, with people around me and be able to do only 12 miles in a reasonable amount of time!

So, the sprint triathlon in question that I'm possibly thinking about considering is on July 10 here in Muncie.  If I follow an 11 week training plan, that will get me to the date fairly easily, if not in much better shape!

Why am I posting this here for the world (and by world I mean the people who read this blog (and by the people who read this blog I mean the same people I talk to on a daily basis)) to see?

Yeah, I don't know either.

More than I ever wanted to know about Taylor Swift

The 2nd grade class at Morgan's school has a "Wax Museum" project that they do every year.  I'm told that kids with older siblings plan out who they want to be years in advance!  The basic idea is that each 2nd grader chooses a famous person, alive or dead, researches them, makes a poster about them, and then also dresses up like them to give a presentation.  The presentations are done three times and are open to the public (read: parents and grandparents who will sit through it) Therefore, sort of like a Wax Museum.  Except that the people talk.  And move.  And tell you about themselves.

So, kind of like the Wax Museum that resides in your nightmares.  But I digress....

Morgan chose Taylor Swift (as did 14 other little girls in 2nd grade) We researched Taylor online and found books.  We made a poster and we found an outfit that would work and also not cost us a fortune.

Here is the finished poster.....

Did I mention that I thought we had until Friday to complete the poster but  Morgan informed me while getting ready for swimming lessons at 5:30 on Tuesday night that the ENTIRE PROJECT was actually due on WEDNESDAY?  She said it all nonchalant too.  She was like "oh Mom, did you remember that my Wax Museum project is due tomorrow?" and I'm like "uh...NO, I most certainly did NOT"

She felt bad the rest of the night and even said a few times that it was her fault we were rushing around God's green earth to buy poster board and begging all of our friends for a long blonde wig!  I told her that it would have been nice if she'd remembered to tell me that earlier, but that I had also seen the information sheet last week and had just mis-read it.

So the next challenge was the outfit.  Even Daddy got in on the action and stopped on his way home from work to find a super cute cowboy hat.  Morgan really wanted to wear an old black prom dress of mine but it was going to require a lot of sewing and I didn't want to ruin the dress.  Finally, I came up with this (horrible picture quality, I know...but it paints a picture, doesn't it?) 

The sparkly top is part of a (butt ugly) dance costume my mother had inexplicably saved from a part of my life that I never want to relive. Then we had the jeans, the jean jacket & the guitar and we borrowed the boots from my mom.  This was before the addition of the cowboy hat, make up and anything being done to her hair since we never did find a long blonde wig.

Needless to say, we skipped swimming lessons because Chris was gone out of town for a work meeting and I had all 3 kids and a HUGE project to help Morgan finish.  We rushed through dinner and out to Meijer to pick up the poster board and other things we needed.  We came home and worked through Mommy's Type-A personality trait issues while Morgan sloooooooowly tyyyyyped eeeeeeach leeetttter oooooooonn heeeeeerrrrrr reeeeeeeeeepooooooooooort.

I really really really tried hard to let her do it how she wanted.  But had I let her do it all on her own, we would have had a poster that said TaylorSwi diagonally down the poster and then "ft" underneath that with such gems as "Taylor Swift is a signer" (Now, I don't know if she meant she MADE signs or if she was really good at sign language) and further proof of her unending quest for overachievement with "Taylor had a mom and a dad"  *sigh*

In the end, we had Mommy carefully suggesting some additional ideas to Morgan in a way to make it seem like it was still her idea so she wouldn't immediately shoot the idea down.  It wasn't until 10pm when I was exhausted and high on glue fumes and Morgan wanted to hand draw music notes all around her poster herself that I put my foot down and told her that if she wanted it on there, I'd need to do it for her.  I was not going to let this child deface the somewhat neat and tidy poster we had assembled with her big black blobs that may or may not resemble music notes.

She lost it.  She cried. She really wanted to put the notes on.

I really wanted to go to bed.

Chris even joined in and said "Morgan, we aren't trying to be mean, we're just saying that you are only 7 and you don't know how to make music notes as well as Mommy does" to which Morgan replied through tears "well it sure sounds like you're being mean!"  Like.....It's not what you said, it's how you said it!

Seriously?  Is she starting her period?

Anyway, the compromise was she did ONE NOTE and I did the rest.  I sent her up to put on jammies and brush teeth.  I came up to tuck her in completely exhausted and wondering what in the world the poor kids who don't have literate parents were going to do.  I was frazzled and just wanted to change my clothes, lay down, and try to extract the mind-numbing permanent marker smell from my nose.  And it was then that something happened that changed me from frazzled to near tears.

In a small voice Morgan said "Thank you, Mommy.  I love you!"

*melts*

I love that kid.

Easter 2010

Easter gets more fun every year around here!  Carter got into it this year too.  He's been rehiding and finding Easter Eggs every day since!  We had a lot of fun coloring eggs, looking for eggs, getting Easter Baskets (even Winston!), and then getting dressed up and going to church and over to Grandma's to grill out!  It was a beautiful day and one that we tried to reflect on the meaning of all day.  We talked about how Jesus died for us a few times and got into some deep conversations that hopefully didn't warp my childrens' minds for the rest of their lives! (HA!)

Onto the pictures....

Picture Time!!

I love getting my kids' pictures taken!  These were officially meant to be for Emma's 5 year pictures, but also served as Easter pictures and professional of all 3 kids with Grandma!  We had family pictures taken back in November, but unfortunately didn't get any of all 3 kids together.  Carter was being very ornery and didn't want to smile, but of course, would try to stifle a smile as long as possible...hence, a couple of funny faces we got.  The one of the 3 kids standing makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Emma's official 5 year picture

Looking very old!!

...and speaking of looking old! Here is Morgan, age 7 and 3/4

Make her stop!

My baby! Almost 2 1/2!!

I love barefoot piggies in pictures!!! (and look at that ornery boy!)

Words cannot express how much I love these 3 crazies!!!

All 3 of Grandma's babies! (and Carter totally failing at holding in that smile!!!)

Playing with Hannah

We got to have our niece, Hannah, come stay with us twice in a week!  Once was during Spring Break and then the next time was the next week on Good Friday.  We had so much fun.  We made cookie bars, played on the trampoline, drew on the sidewalk with chalk, went for a walk, played with Winston, played at the YMCA gym, got Happy Meals for lunch, colored Easter Eggs, piled up on Daddy/Uncle Chris, went to a cookout, rode a Go-Cart, and had all kinds of fun!  It is so fun to have her around to get to know her little personality better!  The girls are all so close in age and it will be such a blessing for them to have each other growing up!

A List

• Allergies suck
• Beautiful weather rocks!
• Cycling Class is fun!
• I love crispy turkey bacon
• Lost is the best show ever!!!
• I don't care about American Idol this year.
• School is almost out for the summer.
• Kindergarten round up is in 3 weeks
• Emma is thrilled about Kindergarten round up!
• Other than peeing in his cage at night, Winston is the best dog ever!
• Chris owes me for letting him take a "boy's night away"
• I like it when I'm the one who is owed something! 
• I am working out like a crazy person, however not losing a pound. When I eat perfectly for a week, I lose like 0.6 of a pound, but when I have one bad meal, I gain 4 pounds overnight.  How is that possible?
• Gotta run, turkey bacon is ready! (Thanks for the tip, Tia!)

molly