Letting out our inner lumberjacks

Last night we took our kids to Kiss My Axe in American Fork. I was going to use the name of the place for my post title, but considering all the giggles my kids had saying it, it's best to not give it more attention. I've seen a few friends post about ax throwing places and thought this would be a great family date idea before Mike deploys. It was only ~7/person for an hour and in addition to throwing axes we got the upgraded weapons package and threw ninja stars, metal playing cards, knives and batarangs. I would be lying if I said I didn't have a little anxiety the entire time we were there, but we all had fun. It's definitely worth doing once. Everyone managed to land at least one ax, but they were definitely the hardest to throw and have stick. The smaller items were easy and made us all feel like ninjas. ;)

After we got done throwing Axes we had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe, which meant it was the perfect night for our kids. Not a bad way to send off Mike. (Now if the time can just pass quickly)

Mike's Spring Piano recital

Last week Mike had his spring recital. He showed all those little kids how it's done!  He has played these songs over and over (and over) again. I'm really impressed by his dedication to learning how to play. He's also taught himself to play some church songs he knows I love, like "Come thou Font" and "I know that my Redeemer lives". I'm a lucky lady for sure!

Here he is playing, "Ode to Joy"

Playing "Battle hymn of the Republic"

Looking incredibly handsome as he tickles the ivories.

Eat more Chikin!

At around 10 PM on the 5th my next door neighbor Jamie texted me to ask if I was planning on trying to be one of the first 100 in line at the new Chick Fil A opening a couple miles away. They didn't allow sleeping over, but instead would allow people to arrive at 4:30 AM and start lining up at 5 AM. If there were more than 100 ppl, they'd do a raffle and draw out names. We decided to arrive at 4:15. When we got there, there were about 30 ppl. Then 50. Then 70. By the time 5 rolled around and they started collecting names, there were 377 people. Our chances had gone down considerably. ;) The Sorenson girls arrived before us and Kenzie Green arrived a little while after us. They lined us up in rows of 25, gave us all a raffle ticket, and started calling out numbers. My number got called as the 95th person. Barely made it. We still had to wait a bit for them to let us in, collect the cards and a chicken biscuit sandwich. Jamie didn't get called, but we split my card since she stayed with me the entire time. (She tried to refuse, but it seemed fair to me) Now I get to go eat more chicken 26 times this year. Mike and Sarah almost immediately put it to use. Now I just need to go back and use it some more.

Visiting Erik

Since Mike would be taking off soon, we wanted to visit Erik. Sarah was in charge of dressing Audrey, and put her in an outfit she was glad she finally fit into. We started out the day by taking Audrey to her first movie, How to Train your Dragons 3. The theater by Erik is all luxury so I reclined the seat and Audrey slept for part of it.

We visited Erik and hung out for a bit. I hope others don't think it's creepy, but I compared Audrey's hand size to Erik's, since the little ovals on his grave marker are his actual feet/hand size.

We look forward to Audrey being able to see Erik again. It will be a sweet reunion all around.

Audrey is FOUR months old!

Four months have already passed. Time with our little sweetie is really flying by. We all still love her and enjoy watching her find new things. She loves her hands and has gotten good at grabbing things. She can now roll back to front in addition of front to back. Steven got to see her go both ways a few times but now when she's on her back she goes straight to her stomach and then gets angry. It's cute! She has started sleeping better, which is fabulous. She wakes each night around 2, but Mike just puts her binky back in, gives her a kiss and she goes back to sleep. This mom really appreciates some sleep. Here are some pictures that show what she's been up to. 

Steven thought Audrey would look good with some hair. Now if she could just grow some eyebrows so Mike would stop teasing her. ;)

We went downtown to see Elder Eyring's art display at the church history museum. We were all impressed by his talent. 

Sarah saw this dress and decided Audrey HAD to wear it ASAP even though it was big on her. 

Apparently these are the only two pictures I took on Valentine's Day. I made the kids heart shaped pancakes but only got a picture of Sarah in the morning. No idea why. (She wakes up first, so maybe the boys hadn't come down yet. We took Dinner to Steve and Lynette in the evening. We're fancy!

Audrey has gotten good at grabbing things in front of her face. 

I love waking her up from a nap and seeing this. I feel very fortunate that I get to be a stay at home mom. 

Audrey hanging out at the library with her dad

Sarah felt Audrey needed to wear this outfit again. We were going to take more pictures, but Audrey wasn't in the mood. (or we had to leave. I don't remember.)

Here are her official four month pictures taken on the 26th. I was actually on my game. ;)

A few days after her 4 month birthday she had to go to the Dr for immunizations. I made sure to blame the shots on the nurse so she wasn't mad at me. ;) Her stats were: Head- 16.2" (54%), Height 25" (74% but I think they measured a little long), Weight 11 lbs 3 oz (7%). Her pediatrician was a little worried about her weight because she started out so puffy and has slimmed down. This % isn't abnormal for our kids, but the Dr. wants me to bring her in two weeks after her appt for a weight check. He'd like to see her curve even out a little. I used to worry about Sarah being too skinny, but her Dr always assured me it was more due to genetics. We'll see. I'd love to plump her up if possible. Since appt we've been giving her a bottle right before bed. At first we were doing formula, but I've found that if I feed her at 6:30 I don't have much for her at 8, but I now pump around 9 and save those ounces for the next nights 8 PM feeding. It's worked well so far and has been helping her sleep.

Don't try this at home kids!

Have you ever sucked helium to change your voice? I'm pretty sure most people have. A few weeks ago Sarah was cleaning out her closet in a way that would make Marie Kondo (and her mom) proud. She found a large Mylar balloon left over from her birthday and said she was going to change her voice. Next thing, I heard a large thud. I said, "What the heck kid?!" and Sarah responded, "I think I fell down." I went to the bathroom and she was lying on the floor unsure of how she got from the sewing area to the bathroom. She laid down in my bed and her short term memory got progressively worse. She had come home and told me all about her day and a paper she wrote for a class and did well in. I asked her about it and she couldn't remember anything from school that day. Mike came home and told her to remember and repeat three numbers. She couldn't. He took her to the ER to have her checked out. They basically gave her a field sobriety test and she passed that portion.  They kept her there for a few hours and her memory got progressively better. Thankfully. Sarah stayed home from school for a couple days and turned down babysitting jobs for a couple weeks because she couldn't handle noises and had a constant headache. She still has headaches every day, but they're getting better.

Moral of this story-Don't suck helium! (I should probably confess that as a teen I sucked helium at a grocery store from the tank and woke up on the floor. I learned my lesson, but I guess didn't pass on that wisdom to my kids. Maybe my grand kids will learn.)

Salt Lake Track Winter Series

Last year I ran the 5k and 10k races of the SL Track Winter Series that's held at Saltair in Magna. I got a PR for the 5k and about matched my 10k PR. I skipped the 15k because I got pregnant and chose to be really conservative with my exercising. I signed up this year as a means to motivate me to start running again. It worked. Kind of. ;)

I'd run enough for the 5k and although I was tired, managed a 27:48 which is an 8:52 mile average.  Mike and the kids came to support me. (The kids actually didn't have a choice. Adam had a Jr Jazz game before and we didn't have time to drop them off)

Mike and Audrey were really tired from the exertion, so they took a nap. ;)

Two weeks later was the 10k. I hadn't ran more than four miles, but it's not terribly difficult to add a couple extra miles. I went in with zero expectations. I finished with a time of 58:40 which is a 9:25 pace. It was really cold! My knee problems kicked in around mile 5. I'd been doing my PT, but not all the exercises, and not as frequently as I'm supposed to. We let the big kids stay home from this one.

Two weeks after the 10k I had the dreaded 15k. I hadn't come close to this distance, so I knew I couldn't run the whole thing. I planned on doing a run/walk method. I ran a mile and then walked 30-60 seconds. This worked until about mile 6 and then I was just really tired. We'd had an earthquake we could feel in the morning and I didn't get much sleep. That's probably just an excuse for me not being prepared. My time was 1:33 for a pace of 9:57. I was just glad to have it over. This was the first 15k I've ever raced, so this is technically a PR. I plan on doing this again next year, so I'll have some definite goals. :)