Introducing...

Introducing King Henry II. So Jamison got a new fish and she is just as enamored with him as she was with Henry. She wanted to name him Henry too, so I suggested King Henry II, cause quite frankly I am sure we will have a King Henry III, IV, V, VI....and so on. She just calls him Henry though. Jamison sobbed when I told her, almost to the point of not being able to breathe. I just hugged her. I asked her if she wanted to flush him or bury him. She wanted a burial. We took pictures and she put him in the flower garden so when the flowers bloom she can think of him. I asked her if she wanted to go pick a new fish, she told me no. I had her call Grant to console her and after she came to me saying Dad told her she could go pick a new fish (did I not offer the same....then again I killed the first!) On Monday Grant took her out all by herself and they found King Henry. Grant walked back in house after and said she is officially a girl. To which I asked, "well why????" He said he took her to petco where there was a WHOLE wall of beta fish and the one she immediately picked was the most expensive in the store. There was no dissuading her, and Henry has now taken up residence in the Allred family bowl. (He should be safe in there, it is just when in the cup mingled with dirty dished that he should fear.) All peace and happiness has been restored. A few tears were shed in this process, but many more laughs were shared (including my own.) Oh the life of the Allreds!!!

Beware...killer on board

So, I feel terrible. I killed Jamison's beloved fish Henry. Apparently when I get overloaded I do not pay attention well enough and others suffer. I have had Perry and Christi's kids for a week, and we leave out of town tonight. I am trying to get the laudry done and folded, all people packed, the Webb's repacked and all theiristuff gathered, wrap Asher's presents, pick up the house, do the dishes, feed the kids and clean it up, clean the fish bowl and feed it, and have all the stuff loaded in the car in two and a half hours. I was on a roll, got the fish bowl cleaned out and was waiting for the water purifyer to finish it's think before I put the fish back in the bowl and feed him. While I waited I figured I would do the dishes...and totally threw Henry down the drain. Caleb looked at me when the dishes were done and asked where Henry was. My heart sank. Thank goodness I did not do the disposal, and after digging around found him in tact...but dead. I killed him with hot water. James is going to be devastated. I feel so bad. When she gets home from dance we will do a flushing ceremony. Caleb promised to help console her. I killed my daughter's pet....I hope she is only mad at me for a bit!

Soccer Days

So, I am officially a mom of two soccer players. Caleb is doing fantastic and loves it (More bragging on him to come!) Asher....well Asher is having a blast. He does not really know what he is doing, but he tries to be engaged. He is happy as a kid could be out on the field. He has the biggest grin on his face, and it never leaves. He runs with a little skip every few steps. He does not care who scores a goal, as long as it is his team he does a fist pump. He is mostly excited for his team party at the end of the season. He had a game today, and as he was walking back with Grant he said, "You know dad, everything I did today was pretty much awesome." I am seriously laughing as I type this. Yes Asher, YOU ARE AWESOME!

There is a reason

There is a reason this girl came to us so cute. The other week Isaac needed a diaper change. I told Isaac to go get me a diaper (he is so good to help me a little). He disappeared in the other room and then I hear one of the kids say Isaac's diaper is off. This is not good since it was one of the very smelly nature and I was not involved with the removal. I went to inspect and found that Mique was so kind to take it off. I know she was trying to help but seriously, the carpet suffered...BADLY! I was not sure if I was even going to be able to get it out. It involved a lot of scrubbing and carpet cleaning solution, but I finally got it out. But, then the next day I told her to go clean her room. I went down to inspect and found that this 2 almost 3 year had made her bed all by herself. It is a queen bed with lot of pillows, and though it was not smooth and perfect she pulled all the covers up and all the pillows were in their right spot. It made the previous day melt away. And that is why she is so cute. When she is a holy terror I just stop for a minute when she is smiling at me and talking with her cute little lisp and we are good again.

Lead Guitar

Jamison is doing Dance again this year. She has been very excited and I am thrilled she is doing something active. Miquelyn kept talking about how she does ballet (which I did not sign her up and was not ready to take that on with her quite yet.) On Friday Jamison asked me when her dance started. I told her Thursday. Miquelyn then looked at me and asked when her dance started. I told her she did not do dance. She then crumpled to the floor and began to sob. I caved and signed her up that day. She was THRILLED! I went to the store to get them both leotards, and this is what they picked: It is funny how what they picked is so......THEM! The best part is Mique calls it her Leegatar...so now Grant calls it her Lead Guitar. She wears it every day. Today was her first day and she got to wear it to class. And this adventure begins!!

Love Hate Relationship

There was this commercial on television a couple of years ago. I believe it was a Nike commercial and it was all about the love hate relationship people have with running. At the time Britney and I were running together in the mornings and both totally identified with that commercial. I have a love hate relationship with running. I hate waking up early to run. I hate that feeling when I am tying the laces on my shoes and I am still talking myself into running. I hate how my body feels when I start. But.....I love how I feel when it is done (usually.) I love that I am being active. I love accomplishing a goal. I love how I feel when I am kicking my shoes off and know I did it. I love finishing a race, and love knowing I put in the hard work for it! In March I ran my 3rd Moab Half Marathon. Just weeks before my world crashed down on me and effected my body's ability to run. I ran my slowest time ever...and was frustrated! I kept telling myself I should be proud that I even ran (and I did run every last step with my body screaming at me and shutting down.) But, it was hard, I was upset and even shed a few tears. That race was not on the love list.

So, I decided to pick myself back up and prove to myself that I could overcome it and do better. I signed up for a race in American Fork in July. I trained and was really hoping (feeling like I needed a lot of hope) to beat my best time and pr. It was the most beautiful run ever! I felt great. I pushed myself, and I beat my best time by nine minutes. I DID IT! I admit I was very proud of myself. I was alone (probably a good thing because I was holding back a few tears-and anyone that knows me I am big on crying!) This is why I love running. It is something I do for myself. It gives me a goal, and most definitely a reward.

But now that I am starting up again after a two weeks respite, I am reevaluating this love hate thing we have going!

Our Unique Family Home Evening

Grant had the day off today (I love it when he does!) One the items on the schedule for days off is yard work, today was no exception. We had this out of control bush that needed to be removed, so we went to work. Grant decided that once it was done we should keep a little spot there for a pit to use our dutch oven for dessert. I thought it was a great idea. As we were cleaning the area we decided to use our left over retaining bricks and built a nice little fire pit into the ground in our back yard. When the kids realized what it was they insisted on foil dinners tonight. So after our fun day together we have dinner on the coals, survival bracelets being made for each of the kids (in colors that they picked for themselves) a dutch oven dessert on the menu and father's blessings to follow. A really good day!

p.s mind you we have a campfire in our backyard in 93 degree weather, I bet our neighbors are wondering what in the world!!!