::new tiger & max takes the bus::

We have a lot of fun toys at the office, but some of the funnest have got to be the big lion and tiger that live in the back operatories. They're gigantic. One of our little four years even asked recently if the lion was real or not. It was awesome.
So when I found a new and different great big tiger online of course I had to add him to our menagerie.
He came in the mail today, in a gigantic box, and Sandy and I got to check him out since we were working at the time.
This really isn't that newsworthy, but the baby is so so darn cute. And the tiger almost looks real...



Sandy wasn't sure about riding the tiger, but after a bit he felt pretty darn cool.


I didn't realize quite how realistic looking the tiger was until I saw these picture. He's almost a bit scary!
So that's all our tiger news.

In other news, Max took the bus home from school for the first time today. It was rather heavenly and he seemed to really enjoy it.
I didn't realize that the bus would stop as close to our house as it does--it's just a few houses away at the intersection. Once I realized that, and that a couple of boys from the ward ride home often, I thought we should give it a try.
It was so nice today that I could leave the baby snoozing and go up in the driveway and watch out for Max's bus to arrive. So much nicer than waking poor Sand right in the middle of his afternoon nap (which is what has happened every other school day of his life) and dragging him to the school.

The only goofy part was when Max started walking in the opposite direction from our house--I think the way the bus came got him turned around. But finally he saw me waving and calling and headed the right direction.


(The car behind him belongs to our friends from the ward.)

Here he is, once again caught in a moment with no feet touching the ground. Maybe he floats in real life and I just don't realize it?


Gooooooooooooooooofy.
I think we'll be doing bus rides any days we don't have lessons or karate right after school. It takes a little pressure off of my day's schedule, which is awesome, and it gives Max a small measure of independence, which he desperately craves. It's nice because he can feel independent in such a controlled safe way.
So anyway, it was a great thing to have happen today and I'm so glad it went well.
That's all for now, good night!

::::

Fall is coming. It's coming quickly and I'm afraid I'm going to blink and it'll be gone.
And, as you can see, we do have lovely trees to enjoy. Hooray!

::morning buddies::

Kris and I have been trying to train ourselves into runners. It's not that easy. We're training for DisneyWorld's marathon weekend in early Jan. I'm going to do the half marathon and Kris will do the full. We're hoping that next Sept we'll get to do the Berlin Marathon with Kris's Uncle Richard, if all goes well. (I'm still not committing to ever really running a marathon, but I can at least train for it!)

So this entails running (or run/walking in my case) at least three times a week. Most times Kris and I end up switching off days and going out first thing in the morning--about 6:15 is when we have to go in order to get kids to school and people to work on time.

The other morning Max happened to be awake when Kris was getting ready to go. This is so very unusual, most of the time we're dragging him kicking and screaming (figuratively--usually) out of bed at seven or later.

But he was awake, and he begged Kris to let him ride along on his bike. Kris is already a good dad and has been taking Sultan along. Poor Sultan is just dying for exercise and fun and loves to go. It makes things way too complicated for me, but Kris is sweet and takes him along.
So there he was, with a boy on a bike and a dog on a leash, both ready for fun and adventure. And he was supposed to be actually getting a workout in.

It went alright, so I hear. It's happened three times since I think. Today Max had a rough time getting up, but he still did it. And Kris took some documentary style pictures as they trundled along.

(It's cold and dark in the morning!!)

(Fabulous cactus flowers.)

I think they make look a bit speedier than they truly are in this photo. They look like they're just zooming along the trails.

Kris says he's not really getting too good of a work out, but the guys are way too excited and enthused about it and he would feel terrible just sneaking out without them.
Isn't he a sweet dad?
I love that Max is excited to go with him and work hard, and I love that he's seeing how we're working and trying hard to be fit and have fun. Hopefully it'll all rub off well on him and he'll be able to see that anything (well, almost anything) is possible if you work hard enough!

::::

Babies just love to explore and do fun stuff. They love to play with toys and get tickled. They love to reach for things that they shouldn't touch.

They love these things and beg to do them all day long. They insist that they're not tired and it's not bedtime. Ever.
BUT.
They give themselves away.

This morning at about 8AM I was thinking that our Sandy looked a little sleepy. But he was convinced that he needed to be playing and having fun.

But then he spied his pacifier across the room.

Once he had that he saw his blanket.


The rest is pretty-much history. He tried to tell me he really didn't need a nap, but luckily I know better.

He went right to sleep, the cute little stinker.

::max swims::

Max has always loved to swim. He's been basically a fish for a long time. I had him take a couple of rounds of swimming lessons at the Y when we lived in Providence. Those were basically a joke. They started with about 100 floaties on, and then if the kids were wimpy the teachers would let them put even more floaties on. I think all they did in those classes that was worth anything was blow bubbles into the water and kick.
Anyway, it turned me off swimming lessons.

But when Sandy was born I realized that I was going to need Max to be a solid swimmer if we were going to go swimming in the summertime with just Max Sand and I. So I got him into some private swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer, and it's been amazing. The teacher is the nicest old retired guy. He's jolly and kind, but not afraid to push and ask a lot.

Max went from refusing to even try to roll on his back to floating on his back quite well. He's also doing the backstroke along with freestyle strokes, the butterfly and all sorts of other things that I haven't a clue what they're called.

I just have these pictures because the other day Kris asked me to bring my camera and take some video so that he could see how Max is doing, since the lessons are always during work hours. I felt like a dope, dragging my huge camera to document every little thing my kid was doing, but as always the photos made up for it. They're just so fun to have!
And my mother would be interested to know, these are straight out of the camera. I really should probably have lightened them up a bit, but I think they're pretty great.


Hopefully Max can continue to improve, and most importantly continue to love swimming and it can be something he can enjoy doing for a long long time. We're proud of our little fish!

::fun run::

(Max is on the very far right in this photo.)
Today was Max's school's biggest fund raiser, the "Fun Run."
They have a 5k race at 8AM then a 1 mile run at 9AM.
Last year we sponsored the race and it was really fun to do, so we did it again.

Last year we came in dead last in the 1 mile run. Cammon & Lorri were visiting us, which was awesome. But we were late in getting there and as we were running up there the main field took off, way too far away for us to have a hope of catching up. So we walked and Max wimped out and we were the very last. Well, except little Scooter who decided to run the whole way. But the rest of us were pretty slow. No big deal.

But this year, we wanted to be faster.

I've been running a bunch, working towards doing a half marathon in January 2012. This is amazing for me because I've always hated to run. I've always been the slowest worst runner. So working on this is hugely tough and challenging for me. But as of today I've run (and when I say run I mean a combo of running and walking) 70 miles! That's in about the last month and a half to two months. So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Though I'm slow slow slow, I'm at least getting some miles in and I have to be getting better, however slightly.

So I did the 5K. It was my first official race and it was tough. Some fat ladies passed me and stayed ahead and I couldn't keep up with some kids--BUT I finished and I wasn't last. There were slower people than me, somehow. And I didn't wimp out. It got kind of warm and I got tired on the hills, but I made it.

Now for Max.

(There he goes, tongue out of his mouth as usual and feet not even touching the ground! This picture was taken by my friend Mandy, thanks Mandy!!)
We've been trying to get Max into getting more active and having more fun with it. Running and biking have been the things we've been encouraging. So we've been talking up the Fun Run here. He was ready to try hard because one of the prizes was a toy store gift certificate.

He took off pretty quickly and Kris says he definitely walked a bunch, but he did it. He didn't wimp out and he was running when he started and running when they came up to the finish! I'm really pleased with the progress since last year. We're both quite improved. And our attitudes are better.

Max didn't win anything of course, but I did take him to the store and get him a prize. As far as I'm concerned he was awesome.

Judy from the office came and joined us and did super well. It was fun to have her there! I was excited when I saw her at the finish line cheering me on when I was done.

IT's pretty fun that we have a great event like this we can sponsor and get involved in right down the street from our house!
And we're pretty proud of ourselves--and tired tonight.

::fixer of the gate::

I love it when my parents come to visit. It's so nice to spend some time with them and my dad always fixes as much of my broken stuff as he can fit in to his trip.
I had been saving our front gate for his expertise for quite a while.
I guess it's been rotting a bit on the inside, so it's been sagging and rubbing on the ground. The sagging effected the latch too, so it was really tough to open and close. And if it got left open because it was too tough to close, the wind would smash it into the gatepost and then it was impossible to open because the latch was buried in the wood. Anyway, you get the picture. I had friends standing outside and honking because they couldn't get in. My own brother thought I had locked him out when he came to visit and injured himself trying to climb the adobe wall.

It was about time for a repair!

So of course dad fixed it. And I took a few pictures of him because I couldn't resist. And it was just a good opportunity to document how he always takes good care of me.
And you're going to get to see all the photos because I like pretty much all the ones I took.



What do you think? Are these photos posed or candid?

And of course, wherever my family is to be found there is a surplus of cameras and camera-poeple. Look for the counterpart of this photo to show up here some time soon I'm sure!
(Mom was on her way to pick up Max from school for me so that I could take a little nap. Best nicest thing ever!!)


We lifted the gate back up and reinstalled it. The dang thing was so heavy.
Then while dad was on an adventure club bike ride with Max I located all the painting stuff and the right color of paint and painted/repainted the whole thing.
A finished project--amazing!! And now my life is seriously easier than it was before. I can go in and out of my front gate while carrying babyseats and such and actually close and open that gate. YAY!
So thanks dad, you're the best fixer dad ever.

These are pretty much the only pictures I took while my parents were here. We were busy running places and working a little and taking care of kids. Oh yeah and a little yummy eating out and some fun shopping. I didn't have much time for photos. So you'll have to go here if you want to see more. I like to see my house and kids through my mom's perspective, it's pretty fun. And she takes such great portraits!

So there you go. Happy green gate and happy me.

::adventures::

My Max likes adventures.

For the first week of school his new teacher sent home a brown paper lunch sack and asked the kids to bring it back the next day containing five things that they felt defined them as people. They were supposed to share and explain these things to the class.
When I saw this assignment I started to brainstorm of course, so I could give Max some good ideas. I started to talk about it and he told me he already knew what he was going to put in there.
"I love adventures," he said "so I'm going to put my geodes in there and a Matchbox Land Rover. I'm also going to put a little yellow bike that looks like my Scott Bike and my stick that I found in the desert that looks like a gun."

I thought it was very very interesting that he defined himself that way. I hadn't realized that about him up to that point--in fact I don't think it was true up to very recently.

I'm happy to have a boy that defines himself as an adventurous outdoors guy. There are so much worse and more boring things to want to be at this age.

And what it really comes down to is that I thought it was awfully cute.
I suggested he include a family picture in his bag and off he went to school. I think it went well for him.

(No, I don't know why Max is wearing a bike jersey backwards.)
When my parents were here last week Max invited my dad into his special club--the club I didn't know existed. It's called the "Explorers Bike Club" they had a secret handshake, a secret meeting location and they went on all sorts of cool bike rides. Adventurous and fun. And active.
Pretty cool, right?

::UT trip in phone pictures::

At the beginning of Sept the boys and I headed out to UT for my youngest brother Murphy's wedding. It was a fun trip. We went out a few days early, then Kris joined us just for Saturday and some of Sunday. Then the boys and I stayed for a couple more days.
It was a little nerve wracking flying with two kids, but since Max is so big and Sand is still pretty easy--not moving around much--I think it could've been much worse.
The best thing ever was that the flight was really empty. So after all the stress of driving to ABQ, parking, taking the shuttle with all our luggage, checking in, going through security (always awful, but a million times worse with baby and baby stuff) and finally getting to the gate, we had a whole row to ourselves!
Like this:

He didn't sit like that the whole time, but even a bit of rest was nice for my arms. It was lovely.

Max had a cold, of course, so instead of going straight to my parents house where the incipient bridegroom was going to sleep, we crashed at Kathy's house. She wasn't there because Kelly & Lechelle had just had their second baby and she was out helping them.
It was weird to be in the house alone an we missed her, but we were cozy there.
Here's Max reading his favorite Hendricks house book--"Chicken Soup with Rice."


He recovered and the next morning we went to my parents to spend time.
I was lucky enough to get to be there when my sister Charlotte went through the temple to receive her endowments. If you'd like to learn a bit more about that go here. It was lovely, and I was so happy to be there. Thanks to Kari for watching Max and Meridee for taking care of my little Sandy.
Afterwards the rest of my family had to head out to some wedding festivities, but Sandy and I got to take Charlotte out to dinner at our old standby favorite, Los Hermanos in Provo.

Char and I don't get to spend a ton of time alone together and so it was really fun to get to hang out.

Next was the wedding.
It was great. We were so happy to get to be there. It was a beautiful day and everything turned out so well. Murphy looked happier than any person has a right to be and Laura looked gorgeous. Big congrats to the two of them, we're so proud and happy for them!!

Look at that Murphy's face!!
It was nice to know that somebody was there taking good pictures and I could just take a couple on my phone and call it good.


Here's Sandy enjoying himself in my parent's big play room. This little scooter was calling his name and he wouldn't rest until he got to sit on it. After that he didn't know what to do except fall off.

He's gonna be a bike guy, it's very possible.

And last but not least, even more happiness on the way home. They told me right away it was going to be an empty flight and asked if I wanted to take the carseat on. I was like, YES!!!. So Sand spent the whole flight in his seat and I actually got to read a magazine and closed my eyes for one or two seconds.

It was amazing. A taste of the good life.

There was lots more fun stuff that happened in between the few phone photos that I took, but they'll have to remain in memory. It was just so fun to spend time with everybody and be there for such happy occasions. Yay.

::september sandy::

Kris is out of town this weekend, and Sandy just starting CRAWLING(!) this week, so he requested some cute Sandy crawling movies. So if you want to watch, here it is. It's long because he's darling and I'm enjoying the new camera I just got. It takes awesome video.



I don't think this little embedded player is showing the HD, so just change the little option down on the lower left to 720. I like it better that way.

:sssssssssurprise::

Can you see it?

How about now?
(Rachel R. you may just want to stop reading now.)

This is a special friend that Max spied this afternoon. He was just looking out the window I guess, randomly and he spied this little snake. It amazes me really because the snake is brown just like everything else outside. Max was pretty delighted to find him, and I was delighted that my dad was here to tell us that he's a harmless gopher snake. Phew.

It was really pretty nifty that he had climbed all the way up the fountain grill work. (The "fountain" that we've never actually run water in yet. We inherited it with the house.)

Also cool was to watch his little muscular body as he crawled up the wall.


Gopher snakes can come around here whenever they want as long as the eat mice and stuff. And I hope that they tell all the scary snakes to stay away. We'll see.
This one is pretty cute--for a snake.