Be back soon

This is where we will be until July 7th- Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

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Where the "Heck" is Matt? video

I've never posted a video on this blog that was not made with our own video camera, but for some reason, this one I wanted to share. I didn't know what to think of it at first- some guy, dancing goofy in different countries. As the video progressed, however, I started to really enjoy what I was watching. It was interesting to see how people related to Matt. I love how music and dancing can be so magical that it can bring people from all different cultures and various walks of life together... and be happy! Basically, it made me happy. If you've seen it (it's pretty popular), maybe it made you happy too.

Press play to start the download then pause it quickly. Wait a minute, press play again, then move the cursor off the screen so you can see the locations.
(For those of you that might need instructions- you know who you  are:)


Where the "Heck" is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Contest at ML Photo

I'm having a photo cards give-away over at my photo blog.
Go ahead, and try your luck!

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Out of our mouths

From Hannah...
M: "Hannah, what would I do without you?"
H: "... sleep."

***
On our walk Hannah saw her friend's house.
H: "Are we going to Tessa's house?"
M: "No, we are going to Trader Joe's."
Hannah yells with arms straight over head: "TRADER JOOOOOOOOES!!! WOOHOOOOO!!!"
(Just a little embarrassing)

From Jane...
"Daddy... Mama... Annah... uvS... ME!"
(I didn't even coach her on this one. I'm glad she knows it.)

From Dan...
"Sno Cones have got nothin' on shaved ice."
(Random, yes, but I thought it was funny)

Things I learned today

*Sometimes, rather than Mom, sisters are best at consoling each other.

*If I notice Jane has a messy diaper, I need to change it right away, or she will!

*It's OK to play and laugh with my kids as long as "necessary", even if it means I'm not getting a lick of anything done.

*Hannah is just concerned about my health and well-being when she demands that I exercise (I guess that's more of "things I'd like to believe" rather than "things I learned"). I have to say, it worked!

I'm sure there is more to learn. The day is only half over.

Here we come!

This is how excited we are to go to Cannon Beach next week. Yes, we are looking forward to the same vacation we take every year. It is one of those vacations mixed with the right amount of play and relaxation. We never get tired of it. Also, the girls are older now and Jane won't be eating the sand every five seconds... we hope.

(photo from last year's beach trip)

In a mood

Despite what some may think, Hannah is not always a ball of sunshine. In fact, lately she has been quite stubborn with a little added sass. It seems my cogency is having less and less affect on her.
Today we started off the day with a walk. It was beautiful out and we had no set schedule so I thought we would have an enjoyable time together. Well, this is how Hannah looked for the first part of our outing.

Whatever, Mom! (She never actually said that, it's just that kind of look.)

I let her be for a while. Eventually, I made the mistake of encouraging her to move along the sidewalk.
She sat on the nearest steps, pouted, turned away and gave me the silent treatment.


Jane started to get impatient since we weren't moving, as did I, so I prodded Hannah a bit more. I should have known that would not help. Luckily, both girls got distracted by some birds and a dog so we were on our way again, but the clouds still hung over Hannah's head.

Finally, after a handful of Smarties and a game of peek-a-boo through the bushes, the sun shone again in Hannah's world.

She's so much like her dad- all they both need is some sugar and the right kind of fun and life is grand!

Jane these days

It has been four whole days without posting. We are not out of town. We are not in any sort of dire circumstances. It just so happens that there isn't much going on this week.
Let me take this opportunity to talk about my favorite little near-two-year old.
Lately, Jane has been speaking real words with greater ease. She tries to put words together to form sentences and puts a long pause between each word. It's unbearably cute! Her improved communication has made life easier for everyone.

Jane likes... no she loves to say she's sorry. Yesterday, she lightly slapped my face three times. After each time, she would smile big and say, "Sahwee!" and give me a hug and kiss. I endured two more slaps just so she would apologize in her loving way. Once she even responded for me saying, "owww!" in a high-pitched voice. After all the "fun", I chastised her and told her not to hit.
This morning she kicked me while I was changing her diaper. I told her not to kick, and she immediately grabbed my neck and said, "Sahwee!" I don't know how much more abuse I can take, but I need to be more proactive about it. At least she knows what to do when she has inflicted pain on someone.

Something that gives me a good laugh about Jane lately is how she mimics me talking and walking. She gets behind the stroller to push with one hand (we have a second, lower seat behind the front so it's just her height) and she holds up her other hand making gestures while she starts babbling and making serious facial expressions. It's hard to describe (I wish I had video). Just imagine me talking with my hands the way I do, but in Jane form. Anyway, she did it today on the big kid play set. I was walking with her down the narrow corridor/bridge and she just started a conversation with me, while using her hands, like we were friends discussing the current events at the public school. I laugh every time but she just keeps talking... like an adult.

The last new thing Jane is doing is calling me Minna, although it sounds more like "Mlala"- definitely distinct from "mama". I remember thinking how cute it was when Hannah did it, but after a while, I had to enforce Mama again. We'll give Jane another week or two.

Jane, you are a monkey but you're my monkey and I'm completely nuts over you!

Hannah's dance recital

Hannah had her first dance recital last night. There wasn't a whole lot of dancing going on, at least from Hannah, but it sure was fun to watch the girls.
You can see more photos...

here.

The beach at Ft. Tilden, Part II

After the wonderful day we had at the beach Thursday, I decided to take Dan for his Friday off. It was quiet, relaxing and beautiful.

















Dan took some great photos using his Kite Aerial Photography kit (happy father's day to him!).
You can see some here and here.

To see two days of the beach at Ft. Tilden, go here.

Hannah today

Hannah was waiting patiently for our friends to join us.
Find out what Hannah did today.

Princesses come in all forms

Yesterday, while we were shopping with my friend Ginger, Hannah saw Ginger put lip gloss on her daughter at the make-up counter. After that, she wanted me to put make-up on her so today I let her put lip gloss on. I left her in my room and when I came back, I found her with some of my old eye shadow,

but she didn't apply it anywhere near her eyes. She has often been interested in my every-so-often ritual of make-up application, but I don't know where she got the idea to apply anything besides moisturizer to her upper lip and the surrounding areas. Maybe she knew what she was doing and wanted to create the perfect Fu Manchu mustache.
I continued to watch her for a while, as she concentrated her efforts on every brush stroke. She was happy with the results.

Afterwards, she dressed up in her fancy princess garb and pranced around. I laughed every time she turned to show her face. I've never seen a princess with a Fu Manchu.
(Sorry for the lack of photo)

Cool-down tactics

photo by -sel

We've been practicing and experimenting with different cool-down techniques in this NYC heat wave. Today, we used all of them, as temperatures reached up to 98˚- maybe higher.
Tactic #1 is to be somewhere, anywhere with air conditioning- we stayed at home for half the day. Tactic #2 is to eat something very cold (and preferably delicious)- we had fruit sorbet after lunch and root beer floats after dinner. Tactic #3 is to go to the water- we, even I, played in the water at the nearby park and later, the girls went into the tub with their bathing suits on.

This evening's cool-down, tactic #4, was introduced by Hannah. We were walking down our hill to go home around 7pm at a temp of 94˚, and Hannah started running fast and got far ahead. I called out,
"Hannah, wait for us, please!"
Hannah stopped, turned around and said,
"Mom, I'm just trying to get colder".
With that, she turned down the hill and started running again. Then, Jane started running after her, so we decided to give running as a cool-down a try. To our surprise, we did feel a bit cooler as the slightest of breezes whirred by. Let it be known, however, that this tactic only works before one has exerted the amount of energy to cause a rise in body temperature.

We will be exploring more methods and techniques of cooling down until the days themselves have done so.

Hannah's first scripture

There we were- two proud parents, beaming at our oldest daughter, our three-year-old from the back of the Primary room. She caught our eyes and gave us a slightly embarrassed smile and laugh. She couldn't stay still up in front and I'm glad her turn came quickly. I crouched down next to her to whisper the scripture in her ear, reminding her to speak loudly. I wasn't sure she would actually do it. I thought she might get stage fright since she is often shy around others and in big groups.
She read the scripture from D&C 97:15, broken up, of course, as I recited each phrase in her ear. She says glory, "galoooree" - so cute! When she finished, I could tell she was proud of herself, and I was of her. Dan and I said good-bye and I gave her a big kiss on the cheek. It was a fun moment.

I never thought of that first moment our first child would give a talk or something of the like in church. It was a "first" though, and like all firsts, it was enjoyable to witness.

Big Apple on fire

These are the kind of clothes our children wore yesterday.


And this is (something like) how they were dressed today.


It was the kind of day in NY where you just learn how to sweat. We knew it would be a hot and humid one, but rather than go to the beach, we decided to take Dan's dad, who had just gotten in from a 9 hour plane ride from Germany mind you, to the Big Apple BBQ at Madison Square Park. Supposedly, all the best BBQ pits from around the country come here for this particular weekend. We thought it was worth checking out.


As soon as we got off the train and up to ground level, we needed some refreshment. I still can't believe I did this, but I bought a sno-cone from Mr. Frostee, and I was excited about it. That was a mistake. It came pre-packaged and it tasted like it had been in that truck since the vehicle's date of manufacture. Never again.
Once we were at the park, we decided to just pick a place to eat from right away, without doing much research. We were just hot. The line I waited in paid off. I'm not usually one to eat, or think about eating, meat off the bone, but the brisket line was too long so I thought I'd give Blue Smoke's ribs a try. Oh man, were they delicious! I devoured mine like a wild woman. I really wasn't that hungry. They were just that good.

Hannah had a blast playing in the water there. You can see Jane below just to the left and then Dan enjoying some ribs next to his dad.



Jane was playing a little too safe so Dan decided to get her feet wet,

and everything else on her body. Poor Jane.
Just feeling the spray helped cool me down so the heat was bearable. The crowds were not, however, so we headed for home fat, happy, tired and wet.

Here are some details of the Big Apple BBQ.

Janes and trains

"Choo choo. Choo choo."


Oh my, here it comes! How exciting!


OK, it's getting really close. Am I ready for this?


And there it goes, right under my feet- amazing!

It never ceases to amaze me how much our girls love the trains. We see them, hear them all day, all night, and yet when they pass, it's as if they are having a first encounter. I'm glad we have something so close to entertain them.

Wise beyond her years

It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally, and politely, put parents in their place.
-Colette


Hannah has been schooling me in parenting lately. It cracks me up! She'll say things like, "Mom, just give Jane some water and put her down for a nap because she just tired." Her motherly intuition at work early, I suppose.
Last weekend, on our drive home from our family camping trip, I was trying to reach around to give Jane a snack from the passenger seat with my right hand, as there was something in my left. I was obviously struggling and Hannah said, "Mom, use your other hand." I was a little amazed that she understood how to rectify the "problem". Dan and I had a good laugh.
Every day she's telling it like it is. She seems so much older when she speaks confidently with such knowledge.

The 10k+

I didn't think I was going to stop running up that hill before I encountered it. I thought, "As long as I just keep moving and keep a steady, albeit slow, pace, then I'll be alright." Well, I never stopped, but I didn't keep running either. I fully intended on doing some recon of the hill before running it, but I'm glad I didn't- I might have chickened out. Let me refresh your memory on the trail profile:

That elevation graph has an entirely new meaning to me now. The hill gained 500 feet in elevation in about 3/5 of a mile- crazy for a run, if you ask me. I didn't feel too bad hiking, though, because the swarm of people around me were doing the same thing.

Once I reached the top, I could finally pick up my stride and enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful trail, and I'm sure I would've enjoyed hiking it any other day. It was a bit treacherous in places, especially since there had been a downpour of rain in the wee hours of the morning. I slipped many times on rocks and roots and got a bit muddy, but I never fell.

Up and down, along a river and around a lake we trotted, watching every step. Running through the woods added a new element of excitement to the race, in my opinion. Finally, what comes up, must come down and we had to run down the steep grade we hiked up. Even though it went relatively quickly, I thought I might lose my knees after pounding on them so consistently and forcefully. We leveled out for the home stretch (always the best part!). I could feel everything was OK and working properly so I gave it all I had. I finished the 7 miles (hence the 10k+ in the title) at 1:12:44, which is hard to relate to anything considering the variance of the trail, but the time doesn't mean much to me anyway. I'm just glad I did it. I had so much fun, all things considered.


Dan took this photo after I came out of the meadow mile loop. That part was quite serene, and at the very beginning, which is why I am smiling.
I ran with my friend Ami (we camped with her and her family), and that might be her right behind but I'm not sure. We lost each other right around here so I didn't get to run with her, but I know she had a great time. She has already asked me, what's next?
I'm not sure, but I might try sleeping in my own bed the night before the next race, for a change.

On the weekend

Oh yes, we've been gone... again.
Thursday, we left for Ithaca, NY to do some good ol' family camping and for me to participate in a 10k trail run.
Here are a few from our outing.









This is the gorge that runs through Cornell University.



More on my race later.

View more pics of Ithaca here.