Monday, October 24, 2011

What does this mean?

I am not exactly sure what to do.  or think.  Today after I got the kids off to school I did dishes and laundry and straightening. I then sat around and watched movies and ate bonbons because that is what Dave thinks I do every day.  (By the way you will be happy to hear they now sell bonbons at Costco.) 

Then I showered, brushed my teeth, did my hair and very carefully applied some makeup. I got dressed in somewhat fashionable clothes.  I did this not only because it is important for hygiene and my mental health but I had a meeting with at the Jr. High with the counselor. 
 Today was a very important day for Aaron because today at the ripe old age of 13 we proceeded to plan out his entire life including high school, college and future career.  I didn't want you to be in suspense for the next 15 years so I thought I would just announce it now.  He is going to be a Dentist,   Or a Sports Trainer. Or an Investigator. Maybe.   
I would like to tell you that I went into this interview having discussed with him before all of his desires, talents and interests thoroughly.  But I didn't.  I just tried to get there on time, be in the right place and be presentable.  I just needed them to know that I am a "concerned, loving and stable" parent.  I thought that was sufficient even for this very important occasion.  

When I got home I was shocked to see that I failed to even meet those simple goals. 
This was what I had on.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  
Don't even ask about the next 3 THREE places I went.  I am not ready to talk about it.    

So I must ask.
Does this mean that my next step is to go out with curlers in my hair and wearing a house dress.
Do they even make house dresses anymore?
What is a house dress?
Do I wear a kerchief over the curlers or just go?
Should I just prearrange that my skirt is tucked up in my pantyhose?
Blouse inside out or right side in?

These are the fashion decisions that I must ponder.

PS I think I will blame my counselor in 8th grade.  She should have seen this coming. She should have prepared me better.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Dirty Dash!

A few weeks ago Dave, Josh and most of my siblings and my mom had a unique Saturday morning.  They participated in the Dirty Dash.  The Dirty Dash is a 10K race.  Now it is not your typical race because this race is all about the dirt.  Wet dirt to be exact.  MUD.   
The course is mud, slides, water, marshes, snow, and other obstacles all wrapped into 6.2 miles of fun!  The race took place in beautiful Soldier Hollow where some of the Olympic events took place 9 years ago. 
  
Mitch and Haley were voted most creative for their costumes.  Of course I was the only one voting.  
 Here is Mitch as Superman!  Notice the cute curl!
Here is the clean crew at the beginning of the race.   The t-shirts say We're Great but No One Knows It.  It was our family theme about 30 years ago.  It came from a Girl's Camp song.   Please notice Jacob's short shorts.  Very 1980's Jacob. 
 You start the race by hiking up a huge mud hill which was very slippery.  Apparently Josh was tackled in the first few minutes by Andrew.  At the top of the hill they sprayed all the racers with a fire hose.  So you were cold from the very beginning.  
Not too dirty yet.  The middle kids.  B. Rad, Alli and Andrew.  (Tricia doesn't count as a middle because she thought she was my twin from the very beginning)
 Tricia is doing some kind of Dirty Dash strut here.  They were hiking through one of the muddy rivers.  
 A big mud hole in the road.  Part of the fun was you never knew how deep the puddle was at any given point.  You could be walking next to someone and they disappear up to their neck.  See how muddy Andrew is compared to Brandon.   
 Alli with some stylin glasses.  She was the brave one who took a camera in several ziploc baggies so we could have some pictures of the actual race.  Thanks Alli.  
 Here is one of the least favorite obstacles.  You had to climb through the mud filled tube.  That wasn't the bad part.  
The bad part was that on the other end they were spraying out snow from their snow maker machine. They were freezing cold at this point.  
 They look happy here.  You will see that in the background there is a woman running.  Some people took this race very seriously.

 Here you had to either climb over or under these walls.  This is Alli going under but trying to keep as clean as possible. 
 Here are the boys.  You can see that even when it is not an obstacle it is still a big mud slop of a road. 
 This was their least favorite part of the course.  These are sewer pipes that they are crawling over.  Thye determined this by the horrible smell all around them!  Of course this is the place that Alli slipped into a hole and went in over her head!   NAAAASSSTTTYY!
 Here is the snack station.  Yum!  Muddy jello.  
One of the last obstacles is the giant slide.  Only Dave flew down this thing.  Everyone else had to inch their way down.  (This isn't actually Dave flying.  People can't fly.)
 The kids waited at the big mud pond at the finish line. 
 They collected water balloons to throw at their parents.  They were so excited! 
The racers all waited for each other at the slide so they could finish together.  The first ones in were Josh and Jacob.  (Of course)
 Jenn, B. Rad, Tricia, Andrew, Brandon and Dave were next.  I love how Tricia seems to be trying to be careful going in.  She didn't want to get dirty I suppose...
 The last ones in were Haley, Alli, Mom and Mitch.  

 Wow.  Mom.  You really do not fit in with this crowd!  They are all smiles though except Dave.  
 You see Dave couldn't see.  He was completely blind.  He didn't even know which way to go to get out.  
 B. Rad, Brandon (Who lost a contact)
 Jenn, Mitch,
 Josh,  my baby,
 Mom and Tricia
 Dave still blind.  Mom.
Mitch, Alli, Tricia

 Jenn, Andrew.
 Mitch and Haley
Here is the after photo.

What a fun day for us all!  Thanks Sara and B.Rad!   

Now I am going to post the full video (3 minutes) on youtube for the family to see how lovely they look.  It is too big for blogger.  But I need to preface by telling you that I was holding 2 cameras.  One took all of the pictures that you see above.  The other was my attempt to film but it was really more of a chest cam.  The video camera just rested on my chest and whatever it captures is what you get.  I edited out my running because it would have just made you motion sick.