Camping!

Our summer "vacation" or maybe I should say "stay-cation" will include a lot of camping this year! We getting ready for our first camping trip. Following my Dad's suggestion, we thought maybe we'd try out camping in the backyard first. When I told Garrett the news, he had other ideas. "But Mom, I want to camp in a FOREST, not in our backyard!" So much for the backyard camping - I guess we're hitting the lake!

15 Miles

I have to brag a little - not that I like to brag, but I'm proud of myself. This is my 3rd week of running on a regular basis. I ran 15 miles in 5 days (4 days of running, 1 day off). I've had many great running partners this week to keep me motivated including Julie, Audrey, Alex, and my beloved furry friend, Casey! I finally joined the modern era and got an MP3 player so I can zone out to music while I run. I tried it for the first time last night and went from my usual 11-12 minute mile to a 9 minute mile. I guess that upbeat music really puts an extra bounce in your step!

A little more about Julie - she helped me accomplish a milestone last Saturday - together we ran 6.5 miles without stopping (including many loooong hills!). She was a great conversation partner and a good motivator! Thanks Julie! We'll be running together again in about a week in my first 10K!

More Potty Talk!

We recently watched the movie, Madagascar: Escape to Africa. If you haven't seen it - it's cute. It has a catchy tune:
We like to move it, move it.
We like to move it, move it.
We like to move it, move it.
We like to... MOVE IT!
I'm sure you'd recognize the tune.
Garrett was singing it last week and added a new twist to the lyrics:
We like to move it, move it.
We like to move it, move it.
We like to move it, move it.
We like to...POOP IT!
Now his little sidekick, Avery, is also singing this, but she just sings:
We like to poop it, poop it... and so on...
Where do they think of these things?

A New Discipline Tool

Garrett has always been a child that likes to test our parenting skills. I think we will spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out how to parent him because he is always bringing us new challenges! We recently took the advice of Lynette, our daycare lady, and are taking a "3 strikes and you're out approach." We chose 3 rules that should not be broken. This we easy - Greg and I immediately agreed on: no hitting, no screaming at mom & dad, and you cannot say "no" to mon & dad. With Garrett's help, I drew picures to represent each rule on a piece of paper. This paper is now on the fridge with 3 magnets on it. As he breaks a rule (no 2nd chances or warnings), a magnet is removed and he goes to time-out in his room. If he looses all 3 magnets, he spends the last hour before bedtime alone in his room. This might sound like fun, but trust me, the one time this happened, he was begging to come out after 20 minutes! If he does something nice or remarkable, he can earn a magnet back. If he keeps all 3 magnets all day long, he gets a special treat before bed (he has already chosen candy necklaces!). So far this plan is working nicely! He is still breaking rules at times, but the consequences are very clear.

Today on the way home from daycare, Avery was bugging Garrett. He says, "Mom, I think we need to get Avery some magnets soon!" I agreed that, yes, we will probably need them for her pretty soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend! On Saturday we visited the nearby drive-thru safari and got up close and personal with some African animals. We also took a beautiful 2-mile hike down into a canyon, around a lake, and back out. Garrett and Avery hiked the entire way - even up the steep steps built into the wall as we climbed back out. I've never heard a 2-year old huffing and puffing before! It was a good workout for them! On Sunday we lounged around the house. Garrett & I had a little mishap - he and Casey accompanied me to return a movie to Blockbuster. I parked to hop out and drop the movie in the dropbox and then realized that Garrett was locked in the van with the van still running! I'm sure I didn't lock the door, but maybe I bumped it somehow? My cell phone was also locked inside. Unfortunately, Garrett cannot undo his own seatbelt on his carseat yet - the button is too hard for him to push. From outside the van, I explained that I needed to run inside and call Dad to bring us a key. Garrett just smiled and said, "okay!" He hung in there patiently until Greg arrived and opened the door. Garrett just gave me a big grin and really didn't have anything to say about the matter. Good thing his dog was with him - I think that helped! We'll have to keep practicing on that seatbelt!

Annie's Biggest Fan

My sis, Annie, completed a 1/2 marathon last weekend! Congrats on your accomplishment Sis! I had to share this picture of her biggest fan. Garrett was so excited to cheer her on. He proudly wore her medal after the race!