Open House at Folsom Hills

I cannot believe there are only 8 weeks left of this school year.  Time just flies!  I love, love, love summer and not having a busy schedule, but I really get sad as the year winds down and I start thinking about how the kids are growing up so fast.  Noah has had a great year with the lovely Mrs. Hedgpeth.  She is the warm and fuzzy kind of teacher every first grader should have. Noah has taken school very seriously this year and has taught himself how to write in cursive and is working on his times tables.  His reading has just taken off and Mrs. Hedgpeth told us that Noah has better handwriting than she does.

Noah standing in front of his diorama of the Brazilian Free-tailed Bat, native to the Folsom Lake area.  Like Emma, he did most of the work himself.  He molded the bat out of some light weight clay and then drew the features on after it dried.

Emma and Ms. Chicca. The most shy teacher we have ever had has worked our great for Emma.  We were worried at the beginning of the year that fourth grade with the strict silent type might be tough, but she has proven us wrong.  Emma might be the only kid in the class who has not had her card pulled for anything. She is a letter of the law kind of girl, just like her teacher so it works for her.  Academically, Emma has stepped it up working harder than ever and her Spanish fluency is amazing.  I really love our kids teachers and appreciate the outstanding education they provide.  We are so lucky to live right next to the greatest school in town.

Mission Accomplished

A few cleaver words to describe Emma in fourth grade might be ~ busy beaver over achiever. She has spent more time at the homework this year than ever!  She is doing great and we couldn't be more proud of her perfect report card and the glowing compliments.  She works really hard and does not take the easy route when it comes to completing her assignments. When it came time to build her the Carmel Mission she literally built everything from scratch.  Not the kit from Michael's and not just the church like the other kids, but the whole dang mission!  Between writing, typing and editing her own report to building the structure she spent 3 months and countless hours.  It was sometimes tough to sit by and watch as she'd collect the rocks, wash them, lay out her landscaping, hot glue, paper mache the domes, write on the tombstones, texture the walls, etc..  We helped now and then, but really this is right up her ally and so we just let her go with it.

She also had a science report and project to do at the same time, and somehow, many Saturdays later it is all done!  I am so thankful for a playroom with a big art table that can take a beating and store all the junk for this kind of stuff.

Death by Dog

Our cute puppy seems to be challenged in the cooler weather months, when she doesn't always get a good walk or run.  On a quiet weekday afternoon I found her in our playroom innocently chomping down on not one, but four Barbie dolls!  Fortunately the dolls are on their way out of our house and Emma wasn't a bit disappointed.  I'm not sure why Suri chose the dolls that were stashed away in a cabinet and not one of the other million toys at her reach.  I wish I could get inside her head so I could prevent some of her nonsensical destruction.

Little Yogi's

I was going through my pictures trying to figure out where I left off in posting and I came across this fun photo.  I really didn't plan this and I can't figure out how all 3 kids are in stripes and coordinated to their mats.   They don't do a lot of yoga, but every now and then when it's been a crazy night, I'll put on a kids yoga video and they chillax really fast.  It appears that Daegan has picked up my love for the practice and was demonstrating full wheel for his Sunday school class last week.  His teacher was very impressed at his depth of yoga knowledge.  He really has a knack for anything physical and I can't wait to see what he chooses to put all his energy into as he gets older.

25 Random Things About Me

I was tagged on Facebook a few times to participate in posting 25 miscellaneous things about myself.  I wasn't going to do it, but then I thought it might be a good self reflection activity.  Something I don't do much as a mom.  I am always thinking about and putting energy into other stuff that its hard to articulate things about myself.  The funny thing is that once I got started it was hard to stop.  Kind of a theraputic thing if you ask me. So even if your not on Facebook, I challenge you to make a list.  You might find out more about yourself than you knew.  

Here is some random facts and information about me in no particular order.

1. I come from a long winded family so this won't be brief.
2. I talk too much. I don't think so, but my husband and kids tell me I do. I'd like to say it's a genetic thing. My Dad could talk to anyone for hours. 
3. I am full of contradictions. Read the next few items.
4. I drink a spinach shake everyday. Seriously. It's an afternoon ritual that started a few years ago when I got tired of making and eating a salad everyday. I just blend it in my Vitamix blender with whatever fruit or vegetables I feel like, and drink 30-40 ounces. People who know this about me often assume I am a health freak who doesn't eat junk food. This is far from the truth. I have some major weaknesses that include dark chocolate, ice cream and gummy bears. I indulge in at least one of these almost everyday.
5. I went to college in the most opposite cities in the country. San Francisco and Provo, Utah. I loved both experiences and would not trade them for anything.
6. I would never consider myself good at math or a numbers person, but I can easily recall phone numbers, birthdays, addresses and even social security numbers. I still remember the first two phone numbers I memorized at age 3. My friend Rachel Kattan (828-3990) and my Dad's office (829-1539). I am pretty good at trivia questions related to dates in 20th century history as well. I'm pretty sure my brain catalogs things with a dates and numbers.
7. I love to sleep, but I don't get very much.
8. I met my husband at age 12 in Mrs. Wilson's 7th grade English Class. We were seated next to one another and both reading the book Pet Cemetery. It was a birthday present and I never finished it, but it started a conversation. We were just friends and even went to a few formal dances together but didn't actually date until I was 19. 
9. I don't collect anything, but if I did I would collect maps and old keys. The map thing may have to do with the fact that growing up we had a large drawer full of them in our garage. For a period of time my dad had traveled a lot selling pharmaceuticals and he must have picked one up everywhere he went. We also had a large world atlas that I loved to look at. I have decided that I owe my good sense of direction to my childhood study of these maps. I am not sure why the keys. I just like them.
10. I spent too much time in the sun or in tanning beds as a teenager. I worry that I may end up with too many wrinkles or skin cancer.
11. I don't like to be called Sue.
10. I don't have a favorite color.
12. I love Folsom and think I live in a little piece of heaven on earth. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such beauty everyday. I don't ever plan to move from this place or my house. Even if I won a lottery, which won't likely happen because I don't play, I would stay right here. 
13. My favorite food is almost anything Indian and spicy. We usually have something Indian at least once a week. Todd is very proficient at Indian cooking and if he has the hours of time it takes to prepare it, he is happy to make it. My kids love it too, which makes me very happy. I decided if I had to choose to be something other than a white girl, I'd be Indian for sure.
14. I do about 20 loads of laundry a week. I probably over sort, but never do less than a full load. It usually takes me from Monday to Wednesday to get it all done. If it's a busy week it can take until Friday to finish putting it away.
15. My eyes are green and blue. I actually can't be sure what color they are, it depends on what I am wearing and who you ask.
16. I exercise purely for sanity and everyday choose a workout based on what I feel my body needs. I have never counted calories or dieted. It's all about how I feel. I know I am lucky that health is not one of my trials in life and am thankful for my good health everyday.
17. I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers. There is a 14 year spread in our ages and it was pretty crazy growing up. My mom barely survived having teenagers and toddlers at the same time. I feel so blessed to have all these siblings in my life. I love all of our commonalities and enjoy our differences too.
18. My ideal day would include an hour run, a yoga class, playing games with my kids, a pedicure and a dinner date with Todd at The Maguro, our favorite sushi place.
19. I never drive my kids to school. We live a block away.
20. My motto is "Trust first. Doubt second." I came up with this after realizing that I was different from a lot of people because I truly believe that most people have good intentions. We are a society so quick to judge based entirely on appearances and miss out on opportunities to have a richer life by knowing and trusting people who are different from ourselves. So, unless my gut tells me differently I go with my motto. 
21. I love to just be home with my kids and to have nothing urgent to get done, but at the same time I am the type of person who has a hard time saying no. So I am over committed and this doesn't happen very often.
22. I love music and have been to a variety of great concerts in my life, but think it's funny that I can't decide which I liked most. Front row at U2 with Bono's sweat on me or taking Emma to her first concert to see Miley Cyrus.
23. I've given birth 3 times without medication but I don't judge people who use it. It takes a heck of a lot of preparation to get through it the natural way.
24. I don't consider myself a goal setter, but I have run a marathon, 2 half marathons and competed in a triathlon.
25. I am an idea girl. We have 5 different businesses to our name, 4 of which were my big idea. It's crazy that Todd still listens to me because I think I have him in over his head. In college I majored in marketing and product development. At graduation I won an award for entreprenuership and so can't shake myself from the disease of inventing something new. 

Bonus Random Things:
26. I love to teach! I have no problem getting up in front of large groups of people to speak about something. It does need to be a subject I am confident about though. I taught childbirth education for 6 years and I am now ready to move on to something new. My next plan is to get certified to teach yoga.

27. I am allergic to shellfish. 

28. When I pick up a magazine I read from back to front. Not a conscious choice. 

29. I am left handed.

It's Double Digits for Emma!

Emma at 1 Day Old

Yes, it really has been an entire decade since Emma's debut in our lives. I was going through some old photo albums from her first few years of life and it all just seems like yesterday even though it's hard to remember life without a digital camera as I had to scan these photos in. She is so excited about her big day and entering the double digit phase of her life and I think I am a little sad at the realization that my baby girl is not so little anymore.  

1 Week Old

2 Months Old

2 Years Old

I could easily have thousands of pictures of Emma, she has always been a poser for the camera and quite photogenic. I can't imagine the time I will spend someday to scan all of the early years into the computer.

Emma with her American Girl Dolls in dresses she designed for them on Christmas Day.

Totally Tween 2009

You really get what you see with Emma. She is a loving, thoughtful, kind and giving daughter and sister. I feel so blessed to have this sweet girl in our family.

Happy New Year!

Our New Years Eve was mostly kid oriented this year.  I did find the gingerbread house eating photos, but you can hardly see the houses. I am usually much better at taking all the important pictures, but I must have been more preoccupied this year because I feel like I missed quite a few things. 

The Poggemanns and Oma Enoo joined us for what is usually a Christmas Eve tradition of walking our neighborhood to look at luminaries and Christmas lights.  I just love this tradition. Someone organized this years ago and I have never seen anything like it in any other place we've lived. The paper bags with candles stretch and wind for several miles with 2 neighborhoods now participating.  I would love to see what it looks like from above.  Maybe some year Google Earth will be live.  We actually had rain on Christmas Eve, so that is why it was postponed to New Years Eve this year.

Just before bed, Emma, Noah & Daegan Pose for a New Year's Eve Toast in their matching Christmas pajamas. They went to bed around 8:30, but they asked us to wake them at midnight. Emma was the only one who would wake up to join us for a few minutes with Ryan Seacrest before going right back to bed. Todd and I are kind of wimps when it comes to staying up late, so we went right to bed as soon as that ball dropped.

I have never been much of a resolution maker, so my only plan for 2009 is to get more sleep. I tend to get things done late at night when the kids are in bed and I think so many years of lack of sleep is starting to age me! 

2008 Holiday Highlights

The holiday season always seems to come and go so fast.  It can be a bit hectic sometimes, but it is so worth all the memory making in the end.  We have a handful of traditions that the kids love to do and this year we added ice skating at the new outdoor ice rink here in town.  We made our first visit there with Todd's cute teenage cousins from southern California.  I really thought Noah might last 15 minutes and that Daegan would never even get on the ice.  I was so wrong.  Noah got on the ice like he was born to skate and Daegan got on the ice and didn't want to get off. Daegan's skating required hand holding, but by the 2nd trip to the rink a week later, he was at it on his own, moving 4-6 feet at a time and letting go of the wall. 

A very excited boy just before stepping on the ice.

Showing off by lifting one foot.

Some fun cousins to skate with.

The tree decorating photo shoot came out blurry, but it was the fun that counts.  This was the first year that I really did not completely rearrange the entire tree after they decorated it.  I think I was too busy and subconsciously knew that the dog would be doing some redecorating of her own.  There were a lot of ornaments that never made it on the tree and many plastic ones at the bottom that were eaten.  It felt like I had a toddler in the house again and I had to keep a lot of things up this year.  Our life sized singing santa stayed in the attic as did some of the other at risk decor.  Hopefully Suri will be out of her crazy chewing stage by next year.

Cooking decorating, toffee making and gingerbread house building are the candy eating events of the season.  For some reason I cannot find one picture of any of the 3 gingerbread houses that they ended up building this year.  Usually the kids build a gingerbread house and eat it on Christmas Eve after the Nativity performance with the Poggeman kids.  This year the Poggemans were out of town, so the eating happened on New Years Eve, but I must have not taken one photo or they are on a memory card somewhere that was never uploaded onto the computer.

Noah loves to cook and help out in the kitchen.  

He was very involved in making all 10 pounds of toffee we produced this year.  

Our annual Nativity Play was on hiatus this year becuase more than half of the cast was out of town.  We spent a quieter Christmas Eve with my mom and siblings that was just as memorable.  My sister Anne and I were able to scan about 300 family slides and put them in an album for my mom for Christmas.  It was fun to go through them all and exciting to see how much it meant to her to have new prints made of these old photos.  My dad took most of our family photos on slide film until sometime in the early 1980's.  As a kid I thought it was kind of strange that we'd watch slides instead of flipping through albums.  I am so thankful now that he did that.  It has made it so easy to preserve all of these photos for years to come.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad in the late 1970's that we found in the slides.  I had never seen it before, but I just love their expressions and the outfits!  

A Very Merry Christmas Video

Post Turkey Trot Post - Warning it's long!

It's been a few weeks since the race and things have finally settled back into as normal as it can get for this time of year.  I am feeling in blog "catch up mode" again, and I finally realized the importance of writing as I go.  The make up writing is less motivating and the details can get lost when it is not fresh.  Those little details are the things that I like to have written down, so hopefully I remember them and  I apologize if this is a bore.  Just scroll through to see photos. So, here is what I can remember from that very blurry day/week of no sleep and a little stress. 

 The Turkey Trot has now proven itself to be a Folsom Thanksgiving Day tradition as we added an additional 1,300 participants to the rosters this year, bringing our total turnout to close to 3,200 participants and over 100 volunteers.  What was I thinking when I dreamed this up and then told Todd he should do it?  It is a lot of people to manage!  Fortunately Todd and his right hand man, aka Felix Poggemann, were prepared for the crowd.  Having 4 times the volunteers and a very skilled expensive chip timing company proved to be the formula for success.  I was in charge of mail in registration and was given the title and responsibility of "Hospitality Specialist".  So my job functions included some serious data entry for a few days and then the buying and distribution of refreshments for over 3,000 people.   Food planning is not an area of strength for me.  Just ask Todd or any of my former roommates.  I would eat like a squirrel if I wasn't feeding others everyday, but I was happy to help and glad Todd trusted me to drive his truck with all the food again.  (Last year I had a tiny accident when the car was full of the food.)

So we never know how it all will go, but the day before the race we had an all day registration and packet pick-up which kept Todd completely busy.    Thankfully Sam's Club had a click and pull service where you order online and then they pull the order for you.  Easy as pie, right? Well, when I went to pick it up on the eve of the race and they couldn't find my order I was a bit nervous.  Not having food or drink after a six mile run might make people grumpy and that would really stress Todd out.  Luckily, the order was finally located in the receiving area on 2 huge pallets that would have been 4 truckloads if it were not for Todd's dad who showed up and helped save the day.  It was a serious workout to unload it all, but Noah even pulled through and was a huge help with the loading and unloading of it in some drizzly cold conditions.

This is just the water and some of the juice.

After the big order was in place we covered it and then I headed to Costco for the rest of the miscellaneous items that were needed.  Emma really helped out with some babysitting after the real sitter went home.  She actually took charge of Daegan and put him to bed for me while I was out with Noah getting this all done.  One of the bonuses of having an almost 10 year old. She was great!  Eventually I did get home and finished preparing the food and cutting muffins somewhere around 2am just in time to snap this photo of Todd and his very loyal friend Greg, who arrived home to fill the water containers for the aid stations.  

The concrete in the front yard that drives me crazy is actually 

proving itself useful with all the events going on around here.  

I finally got to sleep around 3am with Todd still not back from setting up the course and dropping off water.  At about 5am, Daegan crawled into bed with me and he was fevering.  Not such a happy boy either.  I looked over and noticed Todd had never unmade his side of the bed and the shower was running.  He never slept!  Not good, but I guess his non regular use of caffeine paid off and he was ready to go with the aid of some Red Bull.  Daegan was temporarily cured with some Tylenol and we were up for the day.

Todd went right back out to get ready for race day registration and I got the kids ready.  They were excited for the day to finally come when they could run this thing again.  I am glad they are able to have fun in all of this.  I feel so bad about their holiday week from school being so busy, that there is not much time for the regular holiday festivities.  I feel like the older two are starting to get it. They see that there is a much bigger picture going on here than just Dad and Mom working.  By seeing first hand how doing this for our community helps a lot of people they are learning some valuable lessons.

The race itself went very smooth.  One of our sponsors made a video that kind of sums it up. The weather cleared up a bit and people seemed to have a great time.  Daegan hung out with(on) me while Emma & Noah ran off with their friends. We were very grateful to have many of our friends and family help out and it made a huge difference.   Every last bit of food ordered was eaten and every juice gone.  We did have a bit of leftover water, but I over ordered on Todd's advice.  

The race area cleanup was the only thing we need to plan extra help for to speed it up next year. (Our disaster zone in our yard is almost crazier, but can wait. It takes nearly a week to clear.)   I made it home around noon and Todd made it back sometime after 2:00pm. (The race was just a few blocks away, so no drive time involved.)  Our plan was to have dinner at Todd's aunt's house who lives about 20 minutes away, but by 3:30 we deliriously tired and felt unsafe to drive.  I somehow made it to the store and bought some really bad food and picked up a new Wii game for the kids as a payoff for tolerating the busy holiday.  They had such great attitudes, I was really proud of them. Missing out on a real dinner didn't bother anyone.  It was really was nice to just be home and go to bed really early.  I am not sure if I have ever seen Todd so tired or sleep so soundly.

Checks to the Food Bank and the City of Folsom Youth Scholarship Fund will be be cut soon.  Todd has to finalize all the expenses before this happens.  It appears that the payout will be over $20,000.  It is a ton of work, but it is so worthwhile. Todd has a talent for making this work, and although he takes a lot of time away from his practice and gets very behind on his paperwork,  I hope he realizes that what he has created for our community is a great family centered holiday tradition that serves everyone.

Our side yard as a staging area for thousands of 

shirts and whatever else was being delivered.

Noah and Sadie passing out shirts at packet pick up.

Oma & Opa were a huge help all over the race.  

Couldn't have done it without them!

The End!

We had some great weather for November today and took the dog on a walk down by the lake so the kids could look for bamboo and licorice plants.   The sun was just perfect and the water so peaceful under the bridge.  I love to be with my kids out in nature.  It really is the only place where they can all be entertained at once and we usually have no fighting or arguing.  A great way to spend an afternoon before the crazy week begins.  Thursday we host 3,000+ people for the 2nd annual Folsom Turkey Trot.  We're praying it doesn't rain.

It has been a very busy fall and even thought there has been a lot to post about, it is not getting done.  So I am not going to try to pick up where I left off and go on and on, but I wanted to add some pictures so I feel complete about it.  

Emma made this cute little sign that hangs from the chandelier in the dining room.  She is our spontaneous decorator, usually bringing in all sorts of things from nature to create nice centerpieces for the table all year long.

A family outing to the Folsom Renaissance Fair was a lot of fun.  It was unbelievable how they turned the city park into an old village.  The wild chickens, peacocks and other animals that live there next to the zoo made for an authentic experience. Noah and Daegan had a blast firing a cannon in a reenactment.

Halloween was felt over by the time it arrived this year.  Lots of parties and dress up days beforehand and Noah decided he didn't want to trick or treat, but stay inside and pass out candy.  He only missed some raindrops and Daegan getting burned out after about 20 minutes.

Emma and her BFF's

Noah was obsessed with the fog machine, spending countless hours turning his room, the bathroom and the playroom into a haunted house.  I could totally see him as a special effects guy when he grows up.

Todd and I got a much needed weekend away in Tahoe with our good friends the Petersen's.  We climbed this amazing rock above Glenbrook, the town where we stayed. You can barely see the houses below.  There were amazing panoramic views from there and we had perfect weather that was so unusual for this time of year.