Crazy?

Yes, I am a little bit crazy. I have marked my calendar for four 5K runs and a sprint tiathalon that the city is doing throughout the year. I have NEVER been a runner. The 1 1/2 mile cross country run in middle school used to kill me. I would rather bike 20 miles than run one mile any day! But, I have set my mind that I am going to do at least one of the 5K's and definitely the sprint triathalon. I am starting to "train" right now. That sounds really silly to say I am training for a 3 mile run. A lot of people could do that in their sleep! But it will take some training for me. Who knows, maybe next year I can do a 10K? I don't think I will ever run a marathon or even a half marathon. That doesn't even appeal to me at all. The swim part of the triathalon is going to be a challenge too. I don't like to swim at all. I don't like how much my body soaks up the chlorine and makes me smell like chlorine for days afterward. I can do the breast stroke just fine, but laps are another story. I don't think I have ever done a full lap of the pool. The biking will be a piece of cake! I really, really like to ride my bike. Last summer I did several 15-20 mile rides with friends. I have cunningly convinced Jason to do it with me and possibly my sister and niece. So I have 7 months to be able to swim 1/4 mile, bike 12.5 miles, and run 3 miles!! Wish me luck!!!

If.......

If you could be any age for one week what age would you be?


My friend on facebook keeps posting these hypothetical, thought provoking questions. I thought it would be fun to put them on my blog and put a little more of "ME" into my posts.


So, if I could be any age I would probably choose to be 18- but not married. No offense sweetie! At 18 you are an adult and can make your own decisions without answering to parents. I never got to live the carefree days of being a single adult. I went right from the confines of my parents' house to running my own household. While all my friends were going to clubs, ballgames, hanging out, etc. I was cleaning house, doing laundry, and making dinner for my hardworking husband. Now, don't take this wrong. I would NOT change the fact that I married Jason when I did. I think about it and wonder if I hadn't he probably would have gone his own way and I would not get to spend the rest of my life and eternity with my perfect soul mate. Everything happens the way it does for a reason. But if some genie popped out of a lamp and asked me that question I would quickly take him up on one week of being 18 and living up the single life!

New Year, New Beginnings

Year 2010 started off with a bunch of new events.... Kacey had her third baby boy Teagen (Dec. 28th), Kenzi got married (Dec. 31), and Katera graduated to Sunbeams! Kacey's baby was a scheduled delivery and everything went well. We were able to go down to St. George the day after and see our new nephew and spend some much needed time with Great Grandma Carol. I think Grandma very much enjoyed our visit even if she just didn't understand my two girls misbehavior. She cried when we left and Sekoya was really concerned. We came home to an impromptu wedding for Kenzi and Matt. It was short notice, but it all pulled together nicely. After the wedding we came back to our house and played cards. We actually even made it to midnight to welcome the new year. The next day we went to another wedding of a good friend of mine. That Sunday Katera moved from nursery to Sunbeams. They had made them cute little caps and performed a graduation ceremony for them complete with diplomas! I can't remember what she was so sad about in the first picture, but it's amazing how fast she can change moods! After two + weeks at home Jason finally had to go back to work- duck hunting! He spent four days in northern California taking a client duck hunting on a private duck club. What a play boy! School started back up and I finally got to clean my house and have it stay clean for more than one day! The Rappleye house is officially retired from hosting any and all parties, dinners, game nights, etc.- for at least a couple months anyway!

More snow!

We had a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Christmas Eve started out early in the day making home made sugar cookies for Santa. The girls love to bake, but usually by the time the ingredients are all measured and cookies cut out they are at the end of their rope. They didn't last long enough to frost them with the two kinds of yummy home made icing I made. They did decorate enough to leave on a plate for the big guy. We put them away for later and went to the early movie - Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakual. It was a fun movie that kept Katera's interest the whole time.

After the movie we came to our house for a yummy mexican dinner of tacos, enchiladas, mexican rice, and seven layer dip. After we were all stuffed I got out the cookies and let everyone decorate them. Mark got quite artistic with his snowman. Katera just had attitude like always. It's hard to catch on camera but that is her little diva head shake. After cookies we opened gifts with Grandma Sindy and Grandpa Mike. The girls were so excited and wanted to have a sleepover with all of us in our king size bed. How could I say no to that on Christmas Eve? We let them sleep in our bed and I ended up in the spare bed halfway through the night. I just don't sleep well with kids. They were awake at about 6:30 Christmas morning. Sekoya was so patient waiting on us to let her out in the living room. I had said all along that Christmas was going to be smaller for us this year, but it didn't happen. The girls both got spoiled! So much that it is now the middle of January and they have only played with their new toys a couple of times. They each got a giant coloring book, two outfits, socks, undies, play food, perfume, bracelet, watch, and a pink 22 that Jason won at the NRA banquet. Sekoya's biggest reaction came from the BFC Inc. doll that she had asked for. Sekoya also got a make up kit and EZ bake oven. Katera got Chixo's and magnetic dress up dolls. As soon as our gifts were opened Grandma Maridon and Grandpa Kirk came by with more. Then we got dressed and went to G & G Rappleye's for a big breakfast spread.

Sledding

The day before Christmas Eve mother nature decided to dump snow on us! I wasn't complaining because all the snow from our previous storms had all but melted. I really didn't want Christmas to be all brown and muddy! Well, we got our wish! Total I think we got about 7-10 inches depending on which side of the house you were standing on. Jason spent most of the day blowing driveways with our wonderful snow blower. Later in the day we loaded up the kids with our neighbors and went sledding. The snow was so deep and fresh it was hard to get a good run on the hill, but the kids had fun playing in it anyway. I don't think our neighbor was too pleased with getting stuck though! I didn't even get a picture of it! Katera would NOT go down on a sled. She just wanted to ride the four wheeler with Dad. She kept hollering- Look out below! as they came down the hill. But it comes out sounding more like- 'Yook out beyow!' I will be so sad when she learns how to say her L's correctly.

More fun with Joyschool!

I got to have Joyschool at our house the week of Christmas. It was really easy to find material for this lesson! One thing that the kids loved was drawing letters in shaving cream. I gave them each a cookie sheet and filled it up with cheap shaving cream. I tried to get them to practice our letter of the day-Q, but I think they just liked squishing the cream in their hands. We have played with the shaving cream several more times since joyschool and my girls LOVE it!

Handmade with Love

The girls with our finished products.

This year with the Rappleye cousins we decided to draw names, but the gifts had to be hand made. We had a lot of fun searching the internet and deciding the perfect gift to make for our two littlest girls in the family- Aubrei and Preslie. We ended up making cute felt purses and dolls made from cotton work gloves. I admit I had to do a lot of the work, but the girls helped and could not wait to give the gifts once we were done. We decided last minute to have a family party at our house with a yummy ham dinner, presents, and delivering sub-for-Santa. Katera got a big bowl of GAK from Preslie and Sekoya got some cute necklaces with charms from Aubrei. It was a great experience and one I think we might continue. As we were wrapping the sub-for-Santa we explained what we were doing and why. The kids were so excited as we placed the gifts on the doorstep and ran! In fact, Sekoya cried on the way home because she wanted to do more. I think she really liked the fun of delivering, but I am hoping she also got the spirit of giving.

What's my passion?

I watched the movie Julie and Julia on my birthday. It was quite a slow mover, but still good. The girl- Julie decides she wants to take on a challenge and make all of Julia Child's recipes in her cook book in one year. She viewed herself as a nobody who hadn't achieved her dreams and goals. She felt like this was something she could accomplish to fulfill herself. She was a good cook to begin with, but she really became passionate about it. She definitely had some difficulties along the way, but she did it!

So as I thought about this movie I wondered... What's my passion? I mean besides my girls and my husband. I don't mean to downplay their importance in my life because they are the reason I do almost everything I do! But there has to be something that I do for just ME. I have a few hobbies that I like to do occasionally- reading, photography (of my family), blogging (of my family's life), exercise, .... and that's about it. Most of my hobbies still revolve around my family. I got thinking that I really need to find something that I can throw myself into and be passionate about. Set a goal and achieve it. I have lots of ideas, but nothing I can really jump into.

30? Who's 30?

I just had my birthday for the year 2009..... so if you count years from 1979 I guess that makes me 30. Holy crap! I don't feel old, but I remember growing up how OLD 30 sounded! And you know it really stinks that when you're "old" and the mom you don't get anything big and spectacular for your birthday! It's just another day that I have to get up, get kids ready and to school, fix dinner, and get them bathed and ready for bed. Sekoya was so concerned with making my day special. She told Jason she wanted to make me a poster like I always do for their birthdays. I can't believe she even thought of that! So Grandma Maridon borrowed them the night before my birthday and they made these awesome posters! I have the best girls ever!! Sekoya also woke up really early and gave me a birthday book she had made. I went to lunch with my mom, Cortney, Kelsey, and Maridon. Other than that it was just a normal day.

Sisters and Friends

This was when we got home from St. George. We had a week of negative temperatures right after a couple good snow storms so we had a good amount of snow. The girls were anxious to get their snow clothes on to play, but I was too busy getting unpacked and getting things put away from the weekend. So... Sekoya got Katera and herself bundled up all on her own! It was so cute. Then they played outside for a good half hour or more before they called us outside to see their snow castle they had built- complete with sea shells from our beach trip to California. I love it when my girls love each other!

Cheer Compeition in St. George

The first weekend in December we headed to St. George for Sekoya's first cheer competition. We went down Friday night and went to the Dicken's Festival where we got to see the REAL Santa. He is so cute and had some cute things to say to the girls. Saturday morning we got up early to get ready and be to the Desert Hills high school by 9 AM. Sekoya's team was the second to perform. They did really good if you don't count one of the girls getting kicked in the head and sitting out almost the whole routine so Sekoya's stunt group didn't have a stunter! Oh well, they still got first out of the two teams in her division. They were so excited to get a trophy that the entire team ran up when their name was called. We have one more compeition in February in Salt Lake then they are going to nationals in Anaheim, CA.