Am I alone on this one?

Did you have a friend come over this afternoon just because she "missed you"?

Did this friend insist on bringing the ingredients to cook your family dinner because you haven't been feeling well?

And when you told her no, did she say she didn't ask permission and maybe she wasn't doing service, but maybe she was showing off how great of a cook she is and to move out of the way?

And did you love just being around her?

And did she almost cut off the tip of her finger, just to prove how much she cares?

And when you took a picture of it, did you think it would be funny to do it in front of the meat, but it just looked gross instead?

And did you eat orange beef and egg rolls for dinner last night and feel so grateful and happy?

Really? Huh. Weird. I guess I'm just blessed that way.

Concentration

Scissors + small boy = "You did what?"

When one of your kids walks up beside you and sets down a pair of scissors on the desk you are working at, and you didn't know he had them, it is not a good thing. And when you ask him, "Umm, is there a reason you had the scissors?" and he looks at you with fear and like you have some kind of psychic powers for guessing he might have done something wrong, your mind starts racing with the options. Apparently his pajama shorts needed three or four small holes in them. Granted the holes are absolutely tiny, but seriously, who is this child's mother?

As flabbergasted as I am that he would give his pajama shorts a makeover, I also need to count my blessings. In all ten years of motherhood, we have only had three scissor situations that I can think of. The one today, one that involved a pillowcase and a very tiny hole and another one that was as minor, but I can't think of it right now. No hair cuts (at least by the children, remind me to tell you a little 'once upon a time' that involves yours truly), no important documents, no sibling appendages.

So does anyone else think that because I just typed that I am in for it? Yeah, same thought crossed my mind. I have this feeling Ben is going to give me a run for my money. Although, after today, I might put a little money on the five-year old too.

And now I ask, what are your greatest child-with-scissors-in-hand stories? You know, just to get them off your chest. Or to make me feel better. Because I could definitely use a laugh. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be at your expense.

I like to call him "Brilliant" for short

I adore Jacob for a lot of reasons. At the top of the list is the kind of dad he is to our kids and the insane amount of information he puts in his brain. He spends a crazy amount of time being with them, playing with them, talking with them, teaching them--you name it, he does it. And one of my favorite things he does on a regular basis is using dinnertime to discuss and teach ideas.

He will bring situations from work home and spend dinner talking to the kids about them. He gives them some background on a problem and then asks them to solve it. And not just one question and answer, but many questions with different scenarios and situations to make them think and figure it out.

A couple of nights ago, he told them about this article that he had read. But rather than telling them all of the details of what happened and solutions that were reached, he told them what the young man wanted to do and asked them how they would solve it. And then he would move to the next step until they each had time to list what they thought would work. It happens often at our house, but I still find it awesome to watch. And just so you know, I watch because I don't really have to participate. I already know all of the answers of course, so being a good mom, I just let the kids increase their brain power.

Anyway, if the kids grow up to be even half as brilliant as Jacob, I will be elated. I'm going for half here for the sake of their spouses. Because then these conversations might not happen at their house.

Jacob: "I was reading an article today about how the country of Arethemoniavumu* is at war."

Linn: "Huh. I wasn't really aware that such a country existed, but I'm really sorry for them and their warringness."


* Name of country changed because a certain someone can't remember the real one. But he/she has it on good authority that it is a real country--which might or might not end with the sound vumu.

**Oh, and before you even ask, of course that is our own dinner table. I set the table that fancy every night. I just figure it is the least I can do. You know.

I think...

So I think everyone should spend two and a half hours waiting for three kids with three different time slots assigned, to have their soccer photos taken. Because it is super fun. Have mercy, that was a long evening. But incredibly entertaining when the dad of a little girl that was on Annie's team last year (are you following, because I think I just confused myself?) saw me for the first time in a year and announced to everyone within many feet of him, "I know you! You are THE MORMON GIRL [said like one would announce a superhero of sorts]! Don't swear around her folks, give her the respect she deserves!" I bowed and waved, because what else would a self-respecting "Mormon girl" do? No really, I did.

I also think that everyone should have the pleasure of hosting a missionary zone conference luncheon. Seventy-seven young missionaries, their mission president and a visiting General Authority (or is it an Area Authority?) need to be served lunch by our Relief Society this coming Friday. At least they are not young men that have hollow stomachs or anything. That would be overwhelming. Yeah for the wonderful women in the ward and all the food they are providing. And yeah for missionaries. Because even though my body already feels tired from all of the arrangements, and I haven't even started serving yet, it is my pleasure. Absolutely and completely.

I also think that everyone should have looked out their front window this morning to see another excavator sitting on their front lawn. But calm down people, this time it only lasted one day. Thank goodness because I started having a panic attack just seeing it out there again. (For what it is worth, I am kidding about the panic attacks, just going for drama as always, but not about the excavator. Apparently, the gas meter prefers to reside outside of the house, rather than inside. Sounds like me on days when a certain little guy I know boycotts naptime).

I also think that everyone should write a rambling post when they are exhausted and don't feel well. Just because it is so enthralling and riveting. Or maybe not. Either way.

I also think that everyone should go to bed. I think I'll do just that. Good night.

And for the record, I just heard your sigh of relief.

Chubby

Who is that masked man?

Wait, actually I think that line refers to Zorro. Or Spiderman. Or the Lone Ranger.
This is more along the lines of Nacho Libre. Which I have never seen (and quite
frankly do not have an ounce of desire to see--I know, shocking for those that love it).
So while I don't ever plan on viewing that movie, these photos of Ben made me laugh hard.
I thought it would be difficult to capture him looking at the camera because of his great
excitement in wearing the mask. But he stood as still as a statue. Blue eyes shining bright.
Until I was done. Then he took off running like some crazy Mexican wrestler. Weird.

Fire that flies

How much do I love this video? I am a little late in joining the
I love Owl City party, but I finally got here. Phew.

I happen to love running to the above song and so I ask all you
Owl City experts, what songs do they sing that I want to add
to my running playlist? I don't mean which of their songs are
your favorites, but I am specifically looking for those that have
an upbeat tempo to aid me in my lofty running goals.

You know, I guess I could go to iTunes and figure it out myself,
but that would take time. And effort. And I have great friends
that wouldn't want me to expend that much energy. Thanks for
saving me from having to do anything hard. I appreciate you.

And just to truly show my appreciation, I'll refrain from
cleaning the house today. In your honor, of course.

Our Campbell

 Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you so very, very much!

A ridiculous number of soccer photos

Our three oldest started soccer this morning. It was the big opening day, a jamboree of sorts, complete with excited kids dressed in a variety of colors, unhealthy food at the concession stand, parents and their portable chairs, yours truly and her camera and a boat load of rain. It was ridiculous. But luckily, we only had six games to sit through (two for each of the kids), so we didn't get soaked or anything.

But apparently rain doesn't keep me from taking 400 or 500 hundred photos. Once again, please give me a break, I kept so few of them. What's that? Of course I'll share them all with you. I'm that kind of nice. You're welcome.

This particular picture might cause you to be sympathetic
to those of us sitting through hours of this wet stuff.

Let's start with Cam the man. I tell you, this boy has really improved
since last year. He has always been pretty good at soccer, but he was
awesome yesterday. Even scored his first goal of the season.

If you look at pretty much every soccer picture of Cam, you will see a trait
he inherited from his Granddad. When he concentrates hard enough,
his tongue can always be found in the corner of his mouth. I love it!

I bet you'll never guess who belongs to these cleats.

Seriously, could she be any cuter? I didn't think so.

Annie is one tough cookie. She runs hard, plays hard, laughs hard. This child is so
 incredibly sweet. But don't be fooled. She will take you down if you get in her way.

And our Matt's first season. I spent both of his games
laughing almost constantly at Mr. Joyful.

Don't get me wrong, he had his five-year-old moments, but mostly his
excitement and intensity came out every part of his body. The kid could
not quit moving and grooving. Plus, he is really good at soccer. Crazy good.

Take for instance my favorite shot of the day. Pure joy. Pure Matt.
What, there is a soccer game going on? But I was busy dancing.

And now, my favorite coach of the 2009 season.

Um, could someone control the coach's son? Yikes.

Tying shoes...

Giving fives...

Being incredibly handsome.

And Ben boy showing off his "big smile." Or trying to keep
the rain out of his face. Either one works for us.

Remembering

When I think about what occurred eight year ago, I still have a hard time believing it happened. I've thought about it a lot this morning. And about that fact that while it was beyond devastating and heartbreaking, after a few weeks, I essentially went back to my regular life. But for those that were directly affected, that was not even possible. I need to be better about remembering.

I loved this video that the church put together. The filming is beautiful and the message made me teary. It really is worth the eight minutes it takes to view it. I am so grateful for the reminder to remember. And for the Savior who makes all that seems unfair and wrong and beyond understanding, just fine in the end. More than just fine. Glorious.

Linn + a professional photographer =

and

Yup, that is how composed and professional I am.

Even with my dorkiness, this particular photographer was good.
And obviously quite patient with someone who is old enough not to be a goof.

But has never let that stop her.

Coming from my heart

Yesterday was our Matt man's first day of Kindergarten. He was calm and confident, with a touch of nervousness he tried not to show. His teacher is darling and we are so grateful he was chosen to be in her class. He gave Jacob and I a hug (sweet Jacob who worked from home to be with his boy as he walked into the school), smiled shyly at his teacher and followed her into the building.

We've done this three times already and I thought I would be more used to it. My mind loves these milestones and the independence and goodness and growth they bring. But deep inside me, the time has come too quickly and I feel a little out of breath today. I don't think it is my lungs that are having a problem though. Because it sure feels like it is coming from my heart.

First day of school

Celebration

Tonight we had our Allen Family Back-to-School Celebration where we ate an
amazingly fancy meal (or not really, but it was made with love) and then had cake
and ice cream. Because you can't make a back-to-school wish without cake and
candles, now can you? I'm betting their wishes come true this school year.
Because they are so stinkin' cute and completely deserve it.

The longest post ever

I’m telling you people, I warned you about being let down. I really did. No complaining do you hear me? Okay, as long as we are clear.

On with a quick little (well, really an incredibly long and painfully boring) story. Let’s start at the beginning.

So two hundred twenty-five days ago I decided I wanted to do something significant. Something different. Something hard. At least to me. I decided upon my goal, wrote an annoying blog post, made many people think I was expecting a baby and moved forward.

For the next four months, I did okay. I worked hard at times, slacked off at times, felt incredibly motivated at times and felt incredibly lazy at times. I made progress, but slowly and sporadically.

But the end of May, I knew it was time to really get going and surprisingly, I finally kicked it in gear. I trained, I worked hard, and while I still had times of not feeling well or not being perfect in my training, I was consistent. And as we all know (and I try hard not to accept) consistency is the key. And it does pay off.

Two days ago, I ran my first road race. To so very many of you, you could run it in your sleep (which would be strange if you really think about it), but to me, it was a big deal. It was a 5K (3.1 miles for all of you reaching for your metric conversion calculators) and while that may seem simple, it wasn’t to me.

I will tell you that the first time I ran 3.1 miles, I was as slow as tar, or whatever is slower than that. It took me 45 minutes to get through those miles. Painful to admit, but hey, it is true so what do you do about it? I’m not a runner, I’ve never been a runner, I don’t think I’ve ever even wanted to be a runner. I played many sports in junior high and high school and while I was an okay player, running was just not my thing. And I definitely didn’t run distances. I was trying to remember back and I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever run more than a couple of miles at a time. To top it off, I’m a little older than I was in high school, I’ve had about four more kids than I did back then, I have a pound or two (or many) on me that I didn’t used to carry around and I have a little less time to train than I did at the ripe old age of sixteen. So don’t all of these scream ‘Run a 5K old lady!’?

Even though I had a slow start, the workouts the last three months really helped me to increase my speed and I brought my time down quite a bit. Anyone that runs, and I still don’t feel like I deserve to put myself in this category…yet, knows it is hard to bring down your running times. Luckily, when you start so painfully slow, you are bound to get better. And I did. I’ll tell you that I decided I would be thrilled if I could ever (and I mean in my whole life) run a 5K in under 35 minutes. So I was very happy that even before the race, I was getting a couple of minutes under that time.

Race day came, and lucky for us (Did I mention Jacob was running it too? Plenty more on that later...) a hurricane was headed to our area. Which was doubly fun because we were running the race in a little town on the coast of Massachusetts called Scituate. And it was going to be good friends with Hurricane Danny. It was raining a lot.

And it didn’t get any better. In fact, except for a few seconds after we arrived of very light rain, it was wet. Extremely wet. For the most part, it didn’t bother me, as I prefer wet to hot, but at the end, when every step felt sloshy and puddle-like, it was just gross. But rain or not, I did it. And I didn’t even finish last. In fact, I got a huge personal best and I was beyond thrilled. I was praying for under 35 minutes, would have been thrilled beyond belief to get close to 32 minutes and ended up getting 30:51. Not a big deal to true runners, but a huge deal to me. It was a wet, happy day for sure.

Two hundred twenty-five days ago, I set a goal. And while I was not the fastest or the coolest or the best, I did it. I finished the race. I did not stop running even for a second. I got a new record. And I have to admit, it feels pretty awesome.

But before I post a bunch of pictures, can I just tell you that my amazing husband is the best?! He really is. He is that cool and that amazing and that wonderful. He is one of those that could run a 5K with very little effort. But Jacob always wants to challenge himself and do better. So he decided to run the race with me. And he trained like a crazy person. When you are already running three miles in what I consider a very fast time, cutting time off is beyond difficult. But Jacob trained and trained and ran and ran and ended up getting not only a personal record, but shaving one minute and thirty-four seconds off his previous 5K. He finished within seconds of twenty minutes. He is one of the most motivating people I have ever been around and I loved training with him and running this race with him. He is amazing to me!

Okay, on to the photos. They are not fancy or pretty, but they tell a story that is super happy to me. I loved doing something that was hard for me. I loved knowing that even when I got off track, I had to keep trying. I loved finishing something I started. And believe me, I love that tomorrow I start on a new twelve-week training program. Because come Thanksgiving morning, I have another 5K to run. And my goal is to get below 30 minutes on my time.

Yikes, I’d better get hauling.

A little bit of rain on the drive there. But isn't MA beautiful and green?

A quick picture right after getting out of the car. I'm not sure what look I was going for here.
I'm freezing, no I'm cool, no I'm scared out of my mind. Um actually, can we just get out of this rain?

Um hello? Does anyone happen to know my number in sports?
How did you guess? I took this as a very good sign.

Mr. Handsome. He looked as good starting the race as finishing.
Kind of annoying. In a loving sort of way.

Once again, what is this pose? I heard once that if you lean toward the camera you
look more confident in your pre-race photos and like you are not about to fail a 5K.
Okay, not really, I was trying to justify whatever I was doing here.

This I like to call, 'Holy frijoles is that the finish line I see? It better be because I am about to die.
I look like I am just intense and focused? Not so much. I'm seriously about to die! And my feet
 feel like mobile puddles.' I sure wish I had a photo of Jacob at the finish line, but that would mean I
would have had to finish before he did. And very few people did that. Did I mention he is awesome?

But here he is after the race. Yeah, a little nicer than my post-race photo, but I'm not bitter
or anything. Just impressed. And all full of love again for this amazing person I married.

Life.is.good.

Oh and PS. the other posts were just running times, or miles run or something to do with
my training. I really can't even remember them now. Sorry to torture. At least I didn't
just make you read the longest post ever. That would just be ridiculous.