Our Little Sunbeam

Daniel gave his first talk in primary today. The topic was families, but the mic was too tempting for a three year old. Let's just say no words were uttered into the mic...just a bunch of noises that sounded really fun when they were projected thru a room of giggling primary children. Thank goodness Christian was the one helping him, because I was not able to control my laughter. He did manage to say "amen".

Hitting the Pavement

I am in the thick of my marathon training...19 miles yesterday and I'm looking at a 20 mile run this Saturday. Yesterday around mile 8 I heard tire screeching and turned around just in time to witness a three car accident. 10 feet slower and I would have been road kill.

It was awful. My heart goes out to those people. Somewhere between witnessing the accident, pulling my phone out to call 911, and helping people out of the cars I lost my gloves. Then I tried to help out by directing traffic, but I was fired by the cop over his intercom. That's ok, I wasn't doing a good job...I basically just stopped traffic in all directions. Be careful on the roads my fellow runners...and drivers.

Don't you think the shoes I posted are interesting? They are for barefoot running. When I ran the Deseret News marathon, there were actually two guys who ran it bare foot...without those nifty looking shoes. I can't imagine.

After the Cupcake

A Surprise Visit

Sister Pratt brought a ray of sunshine when she showed up at my door on Tuesday. Ok, she is no longer Sister Pratt. She now goes by Lisa or mom (depending on who is calling her), and is married, so her last name is even different, but she is still the same sweet lady who trained me in all my missionary ways eight years ago. But it didn't feel like it had been eight years since I'd last seen her.

I had such a wonderful time catching up and reminiscing. The mission was such a whirlwind experience...but so wonderful. It was so nice to remember. It did my soul good. I only wish I had taken a picture.

Loosing Our Senses: Correction

Dear Christian,

This is what I whispered in your ear...

Not "Hook 'em Horns!"

love,

Tara

Loosing Our Senses

Christian is now deaf. He has fluid build up behind his ear drum. The fluid should drain and his hearing return, but until then, we are getting a taste of what it is going to be like 40 years from now. I am yelling across the dinner table, prayers don't sound so reverent anymore, and texting Christian during the day is more efficient than calling.

This is what I whispered last night before drifting off to sleep. I'm sure you didn't hear me, but I wanted you to know...

It's Cold Again

It was cold today, so we played inside and learned about ants. Ants are amazing little critters. We made our own ant house (aka fort) and ate our ant lunch in it (lettuce and peaches).

Truffle Recipe

Two of my dearest friend asked for the truffle recipe. So here it is. It is very simple. I thought I better get it up before Valentines, but of coarse any day is a good day for truffles.


Ingredients

1/4 c heavy cream
2 T butter
1 c chocolate morsels
Yummy rolling toppings (almonds, sprinkles, crushed pretzels, etc.)

Directions

Place cream and butter in a saucepan. Heat over medium high heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat. Add chocolate morsels to hot cream and butter mixture. Stir until melted. Let truffle mixture sit until cool. Roll into balls and then roll through a topping.

We Heart Warm Weather

Oh blessed warm weather. The past two days have been in the 500s and we have been out enjoying it. Last night we were out until it was too dark to play outside anymore...just like you do in the summer. If we still didn't have a foot of snow in our yard, I would have set out a blanket and had a picnic.

We've spent most of our time riding bikes. We went down to the park parking lot where Daniel could have free reign. He drove through every puddle. Some of the puddles were so deep his feet fully immersed as he peddled through them. But, the deeper the puddle, the bigger the challenge. I didn't even try to stop him. At one point he was sitting in the puddle...I'm very grateful for the "Heavy Duty" washing cycle on my washing machine.

We finally dug out our snow cave, built one more snowman, and went sledding. Both kids were so tired today they fell asleep before 7pm. I however have no pictures. I'm so sad. The scuba picture is from a couple days ago, but I feel obligated to put up at least one photo with each post.

Prepping for Valentines

James on frosting clean up duty.
We had our neighbors over to decorate Valentine cookies.

My friend taught me how to make truffles. They were delicious and did not make it to Valentines day. I may just have to whip up another batch.

My Morning Routine

Every morning I open all the window shades and check the temperature. I have a "natural" thermometer right outside my front window that is always accurate. It is a rhododendron tree. When it was warmer, the rhododendron tree was home to a family of sparrows. I hope they come back from their Florida winter home in the spring.

Anyways, my tree is my running thermometer. I don't check the actual number temperature on the computer until after I go running because if the number is low (which it is a lot here) it makes it psychologically difficult to go outside and run. So, if I see this when I open the shades...

I wear my long underwear under my running clothes. If I see this...

I don't wear my long underwear. It is a foolproof recipe for running dress. When my tree is blooming, I will wear shorts.

After a little jog, I come home, check the number temperature, and then help myself to a big bowl of warm oatmeal with craisins, blueberries, and walnuts. I look forward to it every morning.

You Are My Sunshine

Today we ventured to the Children's Museum. We catch a bus that takes us to the "T" (Boston subway system) and then take the "T" downtown. It would be much quicker to drive in, but the bus and subway are all part of the experience and Daniel loves riding them.

Well, the bus broke down today. Talk about a three year old's dream...mechanics on the scene, a tow truck, another bus! We had to wait an hour before being rescued, but we were in no hurry and had the whole day ahead of us. As we sat on the cold bus playing "I Spy", talking about tow trucks, and doing a little neck tickling, a man sitting behind us looked up from his laptop and said

"Do you mind ma'm! We are trying to be annoyed here, but your kids' comments and giggles are too cute!"

Those little sunshines!

Cleaning Up

Yesterday as I was vacuuming, I noticed my blood sucker of a vacuum (it's only been a blood sucking vacuum since Christian had a word with it while I was away) was not picking any of the myriad of food particles left on the floor after any meal at our house. So I took it apart and found two "Hot wheels" cars and a plastic policeman toy...told you my vacuum was a blood sucker!

Just Some Cute Pictures

The middle ball of this snowman was SO heavy.
I did not want to disappoint Daniel but I nearly broke my back lifting it up.

I Love My Life

Today was a snowy day. As I sat on the rug with my two kids playing with our Little People farm, I wanted the moment to last forever. Time is passing too quickly. I feel like I can't soak enough of my family in. I love the age my kids are at. Mom and Dad are their one and onlys. They want to be cuddled, squezzed, and kissed and I can't get enough of them. I hope there are plenty more snowy, cuddly days.