Dancing King

Okay, one day, Kyle is going to kill me for posting this. We were having family movie night, and watching something on the Disney Channel. There was some singing in it, and Kyle started grooving. He is HILARIOUS when he's dancing. He is not shy, and is happy to do it, but boy does the kid have NO rhythm. I think this is hilarious! He is just so tall and skinny...poor kid...I really do hope he always is happy to dance, and that no one ever tells him he has no rhythm (JASON)...

"I don't know"

Here's a video of Haley. Lately when I ask her questions, she tells me, "I don't know". It sounds so sweet. It's my favorite thing ever right now...here she is...

All About Mom...

I liked this one. It's always a wake-up call as to what is going on in your kids minds...for better or worse...I called them all in seperately to answer...so as not to be persuaded...

1. What does mom always say to you?
Kyle: Be Nice.
Jake: Clean up.
Kristin: i love you

2. What makes mom happy?
Kyle: When I'm not mean to Jake and Kristin
Jake: Love
Kristin: giving you hugs and kisses

3. What makes mom sad?
Kyle: When I disobey you.
Jake: When I be naughty.(Yes, I corrected his grammar)
Kristin: not giving you hugs and kisses

4. How does mom make you laugh?
Kyle: There aren't very many ways.
Jake: When you say funny stuff...like.................................................................(apparently I don't do this enough)
Kristin: Saying funny words

5. How old is mom?
Kyle: 30 years old
Jake: 14
Kristin: I don't know

6. How tall is mom?
Kyle: 30 inches
Jake: 40 feet tall
Kristin: I think "this" tall. Holding up her hand...

7. What does mom like to do?
Kyle: shopping and work on the computer
Jake: go to sleep
Kristin: work

8. What is mom's job?
Kyle: working on Making Memories
Jake: to send stuff
Kristin: doing work...writing stuff down on the computer

9. What is mom's favorite food?
Kyle: I have no idea
Jake: Rumbi (HE IS SO RIGHT!)
Kristin: macaroni and cheese (gross...I hate the stuff...don't remember the last time I've eaten it)

10. How do you know your mom loves you?
Kyle: because you're always telling us how to be good and you're not doing that just to be mean, you're doing it so that we can do good and so we can grow up and be good adults (wow. he really gets all that? it may have something to do with his bishop's interview for getting baptised this week...got some sense talked into him!)
Jake: You give me kisses and hugs
Kristin: cause you give me hugs and kisses

Okay, things I've learned from this...
I need to have "NO COMPUTER" time...laugh and play with my kids more...we'll see how this next week goes...

I should be in bed...

I am running in the morning - EARLY. Tomorrow also happens to be the first day of school for Kyle. They do kindergarten a week later, so Jake won't start until next week. I can't believe Kyle is a third grader. Crazy! I have been editing photos today. I try not to do things on Sunday, but I get so anxious to see my photos. My cousin was married on Friday, and I was lucky enough to be the photographer. Here are a few shots that I really liked...I'm only about halfway done editing, so I'm sure there will be more...Brian and Kara are in Cancun on their honeymoon, then they head down to Phoenix where Brian is attending law school. I wish them the best of luck!

This photo was taken while we were waiting for other couples to be finished on the steps. This was a 'real' moment, which is why I think I like it so much!

Memories...

Okay, I'm finally doing it. Although - remember as you post memories, my FAMILY reads this! ;)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.EVERYBODY PLAY! I want to see what memories are out there!

Kyle is ALMOST EIGHT!

Kyle turns 8 on Wednesday - the 23rd of July. I can't believe he is almost 8. I am making some invitations to his baptism on August 2nd, and decided to take his photos in his suit for the occasion. I thought since I would have him prepped and ready, I would just do his 8 year old birthday shoot as well! Kyle has a hard time when I won't buy his school pictures, but he's always so busy and so uncooperative, I don't normally take his pictures. Okay, I'll be honest, he's just not as cute as Haley is right now!

I love Kyle! Poor kid is in the stage where you have adult teeth in a little body. He's a good boy. It's tough being the oldest. I speak from experience. You're expected to do so much and so much is expected of you. I try to remember that he's still just a kid, but with 3 younger siblings, he really helps so much! I love his freckles. I love his bright blue eyes. I love how sensitive is, and yes, I love his temper. He is always begging to have "family movie nights" and do anything with the family. Kyle is a smart smart kid. He has always had a huge vocabulary, and miraculously he knows in what context to use that vocabulary. People ask us all the time how we teach our kids big words. I don't know. The only thing I think may have helped, is we never speak "baby talk" to our kids. If our kids say something incorrectly, we correct them. I HATE bad grammar, and am constantly correcting that as well. It's definitely my pet peeve, and I don't think there is any excuse for it. The best time to correct grammar is now, when they're NOT applying for jobs later in life. (okay, off my high horse - I think I get it from my Grandparents/Parents. I come from a background of many many teachers)

Just a little example of Kyle's...hmmmm...what to call it? Observations?
Jake and Kristin were arguing in the car. Okay, let's be honest, Jake was pestering, Kristin was screaming. Kyle told them to stop. He said, "you need to settle it like Obama and McCain." At this point I have my ears on "listening as hard as I can" mode - trying not to giggle. He explains to them, that if one thinks differently than the other, then they discuss it, or let their "people" tell them what to think. That was the jist of it, but he seriously talked to Jake and Kristin for 5 minutes on his McCain/Obama logic. It got them to be quiet at the very least. Seriously, I don't think we've ever sit down and discussed the candidacy with the kids. I'm sure he heard an earful over the Fourth of July. David - you missed a good discussion/Michael taking on the Peterson fam.

So, our plans got changed the other night, so the whole family headed out to do Kyle's 8 year old photos. I decided to do them at the Jordan River Temple. All my kids think they're photographers now. Telling me how we have to get flowers behind, or a bit of the fountain, etc...I had to tell them that I knew what I was doing...So, here is what I got. I've been figuring out some awesome new tricks in photoshop. So, a few of these are texturized, I was just messing around, but you'll have to let me know what you think...I tried to get Kyle as Kyle. Not too posed. He got a little sunbearn on his upper cheeks yesterday, so in some photos I tried to photoshop them out, but I didn't want it to look too plasticy. Troy kept pretending to put gum in my hair to get Kyle to giggle. AND saying Kyle's favorite line from the Pink Panther: Can I see your big brass bowls. (Said in an english accent - you see why an 8 year old would find it funny)

I love you Kyle! I'm excited for you to start THIRD *gasp* grade! I love you!

Behind (uh oh - probably just got dinged on my rating again)

I feel like I'm behind. I'll just do little by little until I'm caught up. So much has been happening. Mike and Maria in town, the Fourth of July, Bear Lake, Scout Camp...So, I'll start with Scout Camp!

Kyle's Birthday is July 23rd and he will turn 8. We had asked awhile ago if Kyle would be able to attend Scout Camp - even though he would be 2 weeks from turning 8. The scout leader told us no. I thought that sounded odd, but didn't want to push the subject. A day before camp, the scout leader called and told me Kyle could go. Nothing like last minute. I really wanted to be able to go to camp with him for one day, but with late notice, I didn't have a place for my other kids to go. Kyle was so nervous to go. I promised him he would have fun. That he did. When he got home, I made him go take a shower. I told Troy he was a big ball of dirt. Maybe it's a good thing I couldn't go to camp. It would have driven me crazy. After the first day, Kyle told me he could buy things up there, so he took $5 to camp the next day. He came home with a whip and a pocket knife. Seriously, what other dangerous things can they sell to 8 year olds without their parents permission? Here he is in all his dirty glory with his Scout Day Camp goods...

Uh oh...

Created by OnePlusYou

I clicked on this and the reason my blog is rated "R" is for the following words and the frequency of those words in my blog during the past 2 1/2 years.

crappy (7x)
shoot (6x) (uh...hello...photo "shoots")
crap (4x)
hell (1x) (you know, that place nobody wants to end up)

Come on! I think this is a little strict...but reader beware!

Manic Monday

Okay. It's been 48 hours, and I've officially recovered from Monday, so I guess I better document it.

I went running Monday morning, I got home at 6:30 am and showered, and got my house ready to be cleaned. (It's a lot more work than it sounds.) I had to leave the house at 7:30 to drop off my kids to various friends to make it to the dentist by 8:00am. (I only found out last Thursday that I had an appointment, because they had a cancellation and fit me in - so I was a bit stressed out trying to find people to watch the kids) So, I tell the kids to go get in the car. Usually it takes me telling them 20 times before they actually do it, but that's just a part of getting out of the house in the morning. Jake, Kyle, and Kristin were going to Heidi's to play, and Haley was going to Cherice's. So, I had 2 stops before I could head to the dentist. After I told the kids to go get in the car, Kyle ran in and told me that Jake was going to be in trouble. Uh oh. I went outside, and Jake had gone and played in the mud. He had mud up to his elbows, ankles, and then had conveniently fallen on his butt in the mud. It was nothing a wet wipe could take care of, and I had to strip him down in the driveway, and carry him up to the shower. I was so mad! So, thanks to the delay I was about 5-10 minutes late for my appointment. I now also had Jake in tow. It was his punishment. No playing with friends - he had to sit through my dentist appointment. He was amazingly perfect.

On the way to my dentist appointment, I was trying to figure out when my appointment was with my trainer that day, because with all I had going on, I didn't know how I was going to fit it in. I checked online that morning , but I called to verify since I didn't get a reminder call, and they said they didn't have it in their computer...blah...blah...blah...so, I didn't get to meet with my trainer.

Okay, so I'm at the dentist. I have to say, I really like our dentist (Brandon Robison of Robison Family Dental)! I LOVE our hygenist! I have never had a hygenist who has been so gentle. Anyways, I had to get cavities filled, so I saw the dentist. (I'm typing this full on knowing his wife, Carly, is a reader of my blog...still humiliated at this point...)

They gave me shots to numb up my mouth, and then started on the top filling. All was going well. When he started on the bottom, I jumped. Apparently the drugs didn't work on the bottom, so they gave me another shot down there. I'm telling you, these aren't little shots...they're pretty painful...it still wasn't working, and I think I got another shot. At this point, I was shaking. I'm chalking it up to whatever drug they had been putting in me. I was shaking, and I told them that I was going to cry. My mouth wasn't hurting, my body just felt wierd, and I couldn't really control my emotions. I shed a few tears, and they went on with business. As they were finishing up with the top tooth, waiting for the bottom to numb, I lost it. Seriously, I was bawling. I don't know why. I couldn't control it, and it was the ugly cry. I think I even snorted (there was this huge plastic thing in my mouth and everything else - definitely didn't mean to). They had to remove everything from my mouth, just so I could TRY to stop crying and wipe my eyes. I seriously, don't even know why I was crying. I couldn't quit. Troy told me I probably embarrassed myself so bad I should find another dentist. I asked him if he really wanted to change dentists, and he said, "I don't have to, you just might!" Thanks. So, my mouth finally got numb and they finished up. I left the office at 10. Just short of 2 hours in the chair. Troy called as I was leaving, and I started bawling again. I seriously couldn't stop. I went into the bathroom for a bit, and thought I had calmed down enough, but didn't. I got in my car - called Erin - still bawling (she's my safe person). She calmed me down a little bit, but then I got lost trying to get out of the parking lot. It's all under construction - so that got me started again, and I just pulled into a spot and cried some more. A construction worked walked up to me, and told me how to get out. Lucky me, an extra person who gets to witness the ugly cry.

I headed home and got a little bit of work done, then it was off to the Cardiologist. I dropped the kids off with Allisun this time. Since I had such an emotional morning, I didn't think it would be a good idea to go to the cardiologist by myself. Cherice met me there. It was an interesting experience. I was at least 50 years younger than anyone else in the waiting room. Filling out their paperwork took me all of 2 minutes. They had one whole 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper designated for medications I was currently taking. Lucky for me, I'm not taking anything! They called us back into the room, and the nurse asked a million questions. All of which were no. I think the only thing I told her was that I had 2 c-sections. I kept saying, the only thing I've had is babies! The nurse kept thinking she had forgotton to go over things because I answered no to everything! Me and Cherice just kept giggling. The doctor came in. He was awesome. An older man who smelled like my Grandpa Peterson used to. Old Spice - I think. He listened to my concerns. It was good Cherice was there, because she vouched for my on my running. Cherice and I ran TEN MILES Saturday morning and it took us about 2 hours. My heart rate was pretty much in the 180's the whole time. The doc didn't think it was possible that I could run that long with my heart rate so high. Cherice assured him that I did, and told him I talked the whole time! He examined me and said he MAY hear a faint something in my left coradid artery that he wants to ultrasound to make sure there is not plaque build up. He didn't think it was anything, but is going to do it. He also scheduled me for a stress test on a treadmill for Monday. He told me to bring my heart rate monitor so we can see how accurate it is. That's GREAT! I was happy I went and made the appointment. He didn't make me feel stupid I was there. I had Cherice as my support, and it was great!

As soon as I finished up with the cardiologist, I headed downtown for a Bridal Shoot at Red Butte Gardens. I stopped at Pictureline and rented a fish eye lens. I thought it was cool, but I don't think I would buy one for awhile. The bridal shoot was awesome. I was really nervous, because this was with another person who I had never met before - and with my last experience - I was worried. She was great! She was fun. I think the photos turned out great. Here are a few from that night:

The one below is with the fish eye lens. See the curviture around the edges?

Here is my favorite one.
And a few others...
I came home and went straight to bed. I was so happy Tuesday morning when Heidi called and said she was too sick to run. Not that she was sick, but that I could go back to bed.

Okay, now that I've put everyone to sleep with my long tale, I have to finish it off with how nice my dentist is. He called to check on me last night. I think I'm still a bit too embarrassed to call him back. Carly, you'll have to let him know I'm good - embarrassed - but good!

What to think?

Okay, many of you know I have been running. I think I started running in February, although I have been walking since last September...anyhow...I got a new watch. Previously mentioned...it is the Garmin Forerunner 305. It has a heart rate monitor that I wear around my chest, and my heart rate is displayed on my watch. Well, I know nothing about heart rates, or anything about the heart really. So, Heidi - my running partner - is a nurse. I decided to wear my monitor one morning, and I would look down, and I told Heidi what my heart rate was. While running, it varies from the 170-188 range depending on terrain, but typically stays in the high 180's during running. Now, this means nothing to me. Heidi thought that was WAY high. My trainer told me that in order to have my body in fat loss mode, I shouldn't have my heart rate more than 130-140. If I keep my heart rate at 130, I don't feel like I'm getting any exercise. My trainer SWEARS most people push their bodies too hard, and don't get results, and that by doing exercise, just taking it easier, will make all the difference in the world(in losing fat).

My problem, is that I'm training for the half marathon. I have worked so hard, and I want to accomplish this goal, but I also don't want to die in a race because I was clueless about my heart. So, I decided it was time for a physical. I got blood drawn, cholesterol checked, and talked to the Dr. about my heart. He told me my heart rate should NEVER be above 190. NEVER. At the highest work out point for me (which is 85% of maximum) is 161. So, really it shouldn't ever be above that point. For me, walking straight up a hill we frequent, my heart rate is about 167. I really expected to go to the doctor, him tell me that running is good for my body, suck it up and continue it. Instead, I had an EKG done. A lay on the table do nothing EKG. All was normal. They referred me to a cardiologist, and I am hoping they'll do an EKG while I'm running on a treadmill - you would think that would tell them more since that is my reason for going in. My appointment is on Monday.

The thing is, I am wondering if this is all a huge waste of time. I really wouldn't know my heart rate was that high unless I had my watch (which I tested by manually taking my heart rate and the watch was accurate). I would just keep running. Not knowing anything was wrong. My cholesterol is good, my blood pressure is good, I have no chest pains. I would assume 5 months ago, my heart rate would have been a lot higher, doesn't your heart get stronger through exercise? I am still breathing(currently).

The doctor told me to take it easy and keep my heart rate under 170 until I got in to see the cardiologist. I need to find a big 9 mile hill to run down on Saturday morning if that's the case. I am now a month away from the half marathon. What do I do? I don't want to slow down Cherice (my training partner), and I also don't want to push myself too hard.

Oh, on the humerous side, I also learned a VERY interesting fact. I am 4 foot 11 3/4 inches. I am not shrinking. Everyone else who has measured me has just rounded up. I think that legally makes me a 'little person'.

Bear Lake

We went to Bear Lake this past weekend. It was crazy. It was fun. It was hot. It was exhausting. It was great.

Our friends, the Braithewaite's, went up with us. Me and the kids went up with Troy's dad on Thursday night. Troy had a calculus class on Friday, and couldn't leave until it was over. Troy's mom and Cherice and her kids came up on Friday night. We had a great time riding the four-wheeler, waverunners, and the kids had an absolute BLAST having a wet-sand war.

Naturally, I didn't get any pictures. Why? I didn't want my camera filled with sand.

BUT, the property has all these flowers on it. The funny thing is, they only open in the morning. They were really pretty yellow and purple flowers. I brought some clothes for the kids and I wanted to take their pictures. Since I had to do it in the morning, I thought the perfect timing would be Sunday morning on our way home. Friday night, I decided to dress Haley up and get one picture of her. She was definitely not in the mood, and this is the only one I got.
Color

Vintage

Friday after we had been at the water for 5 hours, Krisin would not stop whining, she was burning up and felt crappy. I tried to get her to drink water, and she wouldn't stop. She finally fell asleep, but would keep waking up with a fever, not feeling good. When Cherice got there, I gave her some motrin, and then she slept through the night. On Saturday, Kristin said her throat hurt (she didn't mention that the day before). I looked in her throat and her tonsils were swollen with white patches. I packed the girls up, and drove straight to the instacare. I thought for sure it was strep. It wasn't. Just a virus. Kristin has the hugest tonsils in the world, and I'm sure we'll be getting them taken out by winter. So, I missed the chance to take pictures with the pretty flowers...next time, right? The crappiest part was that Troy didn't even get to Bear Lake until late Friday night. I left Saturday morning, and Troy came home with the boys on Sunday. We both had seperate vacations. Crappy.

It was a good time. I drove a 4-wheeler for the first time! It's not my thing. I took the 2 girls out on a wave-runner. They loved it. We are headed there in 2 weeks for a family reunion. Fun times!
Oh, in case you were wondering, I still hate camping!