Monday, July 9, 2007

2007-06-14 Melanie's update

It has been way too long since I have written an update. I am feeling guilty because the kids are reading their baby books and journal entries and the entries have gotten shorter and shorter the last few years. We are so much busier and life is happier and more complicated and wonderful and I have no excuses.

So here goes. I ran the Salt Lake half marathon in April and got 1:39, for which I was so proud despite the entire run from mile 1 on being completely miserable. I did yoga 2 days later at the gym I work at and was standing in a simple tree pose when I felt my right foot snap. I had to limp out and limped for the next week before seeing an orthopedist. I fractured my os perineum, a bone which only 15 percent of the population even has. I had to wear a boot for a little over 3 weeks and now my foot is healed and I am running again. One benefit to the fracture was that Jeff and I both bought road bikes, which we are thoroughly enjoying. Jeff has been riding to work a couple of times a week--it takes him 30 minutes to drive or an hour to bike. He is still working out the kinks of showering, packing clean clothes and walking into work in tight bike clothing. Jeff started a new job at the Flying J about 3 weeks ago in their IT department. He is excited for the change and the best part, he tells me, is that he gets to grow a beard.

The kids are doing great. We had everyone's preschool graduations and then went to Park City for a weekend with some friends over Memorial Day. The following week we went to Lake Tahoe with my mom and dad, which was beautiful and fun. Now we are looking forward to Michelle coming, Elizabeth's birthday and our week at Bear Lake with all of our cousins at the end of June.

The kids are growing and learning. They are very busy and keep me moving. By the end of the day I feel exhausted most of the time. Andrew is almost done with T-ball, which Jeff has coached. When I ask him if he is ready for T-ball, he says "No way." He gets bored when he is in the field, but he really likes hitting the ball and running around the bases. Every time Andrew bats, he chooses the pink bat, much to Jeff's dismay. Andrew graduated from Suzuki Book 1 and we are almost done with Book 2. He learns a couple of hymns from the simplified hymn book a week and he loves playing them. I love listening to him playing and singing the hymns. I am always impressed with his sight-reading and word-reading abilities. I heard him play a really high note and then in his falsetto sing, "Love" at the top of his lungs. I need to get it on video camera. A couple of months ago he came home from preschool and told me that he needed to teach me a new song, so he sat at the craft table and wrote me the music--he drew the staff and notes. I played the song and it was the Clean up, Clean up, song. He had the music right on. Andrew still lives for caterpillar season in the fall. He collects bugs and leaves and keeps them in a shoebox for when he can catch a caterpillar. He takes very good care of his pet dog Droozy and would very much like an animal.

Elizabeth turns 4 next week! I can't believe it. She is still a socialite and it isn't uncommon for her to play with friends for 6 or more hours a day. I prefer it in smaller doses, but she is lucky to have 4 year old girls next door and across the street from us. They ride their bikes around the neighborhood in their princess dresses and can play house for hours. My biggest job is keeping her fed. She is very hungry and particular. Her favorite food as of late is snap peas, which makes me feel like an excellent mother. We went to a friend's house yesterday to run through the sprinklers and she told me she was hungry and our friend offered her some animal crackers, and she said, "no, I want snap peas." I had to smile. Elizabeth is brave at Cherry Hill this year and will go down the water slides by herself. She likes to swim around the lazy river without any floaties and tubes and I spend my time chasing after Andrew and Elizabeth making sure they don't drown. Elizabeth has no fear in the water.

Anna has grown up so much. She is talking all the time. She answers all of my questions. We switched her to a big bed and she loves it. She comes running into my room in the morning and gives me a big hug. I ask her how she slept and she always says, "good." She is very attached to her black lab stuffed puppy, Ally and carries her everywhere. When we need to go somewhere, she says, "Ally come, okay?" She used to say "fanks" for thank you every time I did something for her, but now she says, "hank you." We went to see some baby kittens today, and the whole time Anna was holding one, she said, "He likes me!" with a big grin on her face. She greets Jeff at the door with a jumping dance and a big hug. She loves Dora and she loves singing. She brings lots of smiles to our house.

I will send pictures later.
Hope you are well,
Melanie

No comments: