The Story of Kristi, Joe, Daegan and Logan

Logan's Turn

2010-03-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

fun in the water...

2010-03-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

FSOT: CARRIERS

2010-03-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

First, a hideous ring sling. May get sold. May get donated. May get cut up and rings salvaged. I really don't expect to sell it, but heck, you never know who is on FSOT! :p Who knows? $15, postage paid.

And this is a brand new, worn once, minkee and espresso reversible pouch, Lucky Baby.

$35 postage paid, OBO, PPD

27-27.5" bottom rail, 25-26.5" top rail, again a little stretch, so I want to allot for that.

And a Bara Barn... yummy, super thin, great for slip knots... brand new, never used

(sorry sis! never strayed this time around)...

$50, OBO, PPD

and here is a ringsling made out of a girasol, pretty cream color with a subtle olive striping running through it. Copper rings. Has a great stretch to it, just enough to cuddle a baby, but enough hold to be supportive.

$45, OBO, PPD

And the piece de resistance... the 4.6 espresso cotton indio, super thin.

The first pic shows the thinness and the color the most accurately.

$135, PPD *HOLD, temp loan!*

Ministry

2010-02-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine sent me this poem. I am interested to know what you think of it- how it makes you feel.

****
Help me to express myself,
find words to heal my soul.
Bits and pieces given away,
till no longer am I whole.
Writing used to be a tool
I used most every day.
I'd write and write the painful things
I simply couldn't say.
Its time to find myself again,
regain some me for me.
Hopefully words come back once more
so I can write, express, and be free

Lord I don't know who I am.
Don't recognize myself.
I feel all fuzzy and confused.
Like I'm in some personal Hell.
Once I had dreams like everyone else
I had talents and goals to pursue.
Somewhere along the way I lost them
they vanished into the blue.
I know You have a plan for me,
some purpose in Your will.
I really need You to use me Lord,
my heart You need to fill.
Show me who I am in You,
Lord why you've put me here.
I cling to the hope that I'm good for something,
You alone can silence my fear.
I have no clue who I've become
but You know who I can be.
Jesus I surrender myself to You,
shape my life to show Your beauty.

***

I loved it. I think that it really illuminates some common struggles faced by Christian women today, to give and give, and eventually lose oneself in the roles of home and family. I feel like I could have written this poem, almost word for word, as could have many other mothers I have talked to. Please, she is looking for feedback, so let me know what you think!! :)

Free stuff for nothing...

2010-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

that you are not already doing!! :)

Check out this website. Earn points for silly stuff, like searching the internet for something or commenting on a blog. Then, redeem it for little things.

Personally, I am saving up to 1900 points to get a free subscription to Cooking Light. I would LOVE to have a subscription to that mag.

No, it won't pay your mortgage, but personally I like getting something for being on the computer. Why not? Check it out.

Don't forget to set it as your home page, so that you can earn swag each time you do a simple search.

collective

2010-02-24T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few odds and ends.

Odds.

The other day, I saw a gaggle of women in workout attire walking down the street. I thought it was a social exercise group... until I saw them sweeping the sidewalk. Odd.

You know you have spent too much time behind the camera when this happens:

I was opening the garage door. Blinded by the mid-day light, my first thought was, "Man, that is overexposed!!" Yeah.

And a note on parenting a threenager...

Scene: I am laying down nursing Logan. Daegan spies some diapers outside the window (*sigh* no idea why those were out there...).

"Mommy. Daegan see diapers outside. Daegan going to clean up diapers."
"Not right now, sweetie. Don't worry about them, mommy will get them."
"Right. I forgot. Daegan needs shoes."
leaves, returns with shoes on.
"Daegan, you are STILL not going outside. Mommy said no."
"Oops! Silly Daegan! I need pants! It is too cold outside for my bare butt. I freezing."
leaves, returns with pant and shoes on.
"Daegan. Look in my eyes. Mommy said NO. You are NOT going outside to clean up the diapers."
"No. Daegan need help mommy. Daegan do it."
"Once Logan is asleep, I will open the door for you and you can play outside. AFTER he falls asleep. Not before. Now please be quiet."
"Mommy, YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO ME. You are busy. You nurse Logan. Daegan is a helper. Daegan clean up diapers. Now be quiet. I be right back."
"Daegan Loki, you are NOT going outside right now. Go watch Sprout."
"OK."
he leaves, presumably, to the living room. five minutes later, I hear his shoes crunching on the rock outside. Diapers come flying in the window. A second later, he is back in the room with me.
"See, Mommy? No big deal. You make EVERYTHING so HARD."

lol.

NO NAP!

2010-02-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

I'm coming to get you!

2010-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

practice shots from the Farm

2010-02-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

Peek a Boo!

This one should have been better. However, the leaves did not come out as focused as I wanted.

I am not sure I like this one. My eye seems disinterested. What do you think?

Blurry, but shows the action. She was running to mommy, home base. I am not sure a clear picture would have been appropriate here. Starting to really love motion blur in pictures. It adds so much to the story.

This is the result of the kids cornering a chicken. The blur you see in the top of the frame is the chicken's last desperate jump towards freedom. He made it.

Daegan's 3rd Birthday Celebration

2010-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

was held on the 20th. His real birthday is on Wednesday, but he is too young to tell the difference. We went to the AZ Science Center, which had a Robots! exhibit.

is that a total stranger? yup. hm.

Many things I am... cake decorator is NOT one of them.

sure. that looks safe.

Why is my camera box in the fridge? Because he is three.

Totally forgot cake candles. Bad mommy.

bike

2010-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

just 'cause it was pretty

2010-02-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Funny and Angry

2010-02-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

Funny

It is first thing in the morning. The birds are chirping, and although I am sitting at the table in the kitchen, I still have one foot in the bed and my eyes are not open. Nursing a Monster Energy Drink, I lazily flip through the camera instruction manual. After about ten minutes of reading, I realize that it should not be that hard to read a manual. So I toss it aside... to see that I was reading the Spanish version! :P At least I know I retained a bit of my language courses...

Angry

At the grocery store, Logan is on my back and Daegan is sitting in a very full and heavy grocery basket. We cross to the baking section, which happens to cross in front of the service doors. The doors blast open, and a guy walks very quickly pushing a gigantic tower of plastic tubs in front of him. They are at least four feet above his head, obscuring his vision completely- he cannot see me. I run in front of him, literally running and screaming for him to stop, trying to keep the kids safe. I get out of his way after about four seconds... only to see that the reason he did not hear me screaming at the top of my lungs for him to stop was because he had his IPOD in his ears. Yes, I spoke very sternly to the manager. Saw him leaving immediately after the manager spoke to him. I rarely say this, but I hope he got some disciplinary action. That was not a misunderstanding- he put my children in danger. I am still livid about it.

more from yesterday

2010-02-20T17:01:00.001-08:00

a small sample...

2010-02-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

from this morning.

my new toy

2010-02-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

this is an orchid, from an orchid tree. my fav. flower.

so, peacocks are always photo'd for their color, but I think a b/w is counterintuitive and beautiful!

more tomorrow. it is late, and I am done editing for the night.

are you F*'ing kidding me?!?

2010-02-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

The day started like this:

http://tritostart.blogspot.com/2010/02/training-fail.html

This is the rest of the story.

So far.

And I am not sure I can take much more.

I got momentarily distracted on KatieHolmes.com (SQUIRREL!), only to be called back into reality with the echos of a little boy, screaming at the top of his lungs:

"POOP, WOGAN! POOP NOW! POOP ON MY GARDEN!"

I didn't want to look. I really didn't. I decided he must be playing pretend again, since we just got done discussing how fertilizer is poop, and how it is used to help grow veggies.

"WOGAN! YOU POOP NOW! MOMMMMMMMMYYY! WOGAN WON'T POOP ON MY GARDEN!"

Reluctantly, I get up, guarding my imagination from what it was about to see...

The living room was COVERED in sprouts. I had TWO boxes in the fridge (they are amazing on hummus sandwiches). Apparently, the boys had gotten into them. Daegan had spread them evenly over the carpet, and was standing over them triumphantly peeing.

"Mommy! Yeah!! See, I water my garden!"

"Your garden?"

"Yeah, Mommy, I grow sprouts! Wogan won't poop, though."

My eyes adjust to notice that Logan is diaperless.

"What happened to his diaper?"

"I take it off. Wogan need to poop on sprouts."

How freaking long was I on the computer? Quick check. Three minutes. Tops.

Logan giggles and grins, revealing a mouth stuffed with semi-masticated greens.

"Oops. I missed. I pee on couch."

*sigh*

Anyone know how to clean up sprouts out of carpet? They don't seem to want to sweep, and I am not sure they are vacuum-legal.

Joe had better bring home some wine today. Seriously.

decisions...

2010-02-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so right now I am absolutely having to make one of my most dreaded decisions ever: "What do I want more?"

For years, I have been dreaming of owning a DSLR camera. You have heard me on here, lusting over them, drooling over them, petting them in stores with only a slight shiver. I want one so badly. Photography is a hobby of mine, and I have invested a lot of time in making my photos better. Right now, my point-and-shoot just isn't cutting it anymore. I feel like an artist stuck working only with crayons.

However, as I get more and more committed to this triathlon training, which is another MAJOR life-goal and interest of mine, I am going to need to advance from my sister's borrowed mountain bike to a bike which is made and fitted for me. So, the time has come to buy one within the next few months- so that I have time to train on it before the September Oly distance.

A camera, complete with camera bag, various lenses and kit has become available to me for $500. A freaking once-in-a-lifetime steal.

A bike is going to cost about the same.

I cannot afford both.

This is a crappy decision to have to make!!! :(

irony

2010-02-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

I have been working so hard these last few weeks to avoid injury, since I have become so much more intense and regular with my training workouts. This week in particular, I was hypersensitive to injury since I was trying to see where my maximums were- basically, how fast, how hard and how long can I really, physically go before my body maxes out?

So, this week, along with the intense workouts, I have instituted a regular regimen of stretching, massage, and lots of T.L.C. on those injury-prone areas.

Until today. A rest day.

Dinnertime. I was straining hot pasta out into the sink, and a whole large pot full of boiling water splashed out of the sink and onto my stomach. The boiling water soaked through my shirt and pants.

I sustained an injury on a rest day.

Painfully ironic.

Happy VDay!

2010-02-09T14:43:00.001-08:00

triathlon geekery

2010-02-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

My training blog is here: http://tritostart.blogspot.com/. I wanted to keep it seperate from my normal, daily stuff because it will no doubt bore those who are not interested in tri's. <3

catching up...

2010-02-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

So... maybe you have noticed my silence lately. Maybe you haven't. If not, then this post is not likely going to interest you too much, so may I recommend some alternative reading? Maybe you can plant a garden? Go do something productive.

For those of you who will be interested, I have come to explain myself. I have been silent because I am in a period of transition in my life, and it is a wild ride.

My last class ends next week. I have thirteen more days of considering myself a student, and that is a trip. I have been a student all my life. It will be really interesting trying to lose that as an identity marker. No, I didn't finish the degree. Joe's work benefits changed and we can no longer afford for me to pursue a degree I actually have to pay for... so that's that. I am done. I can't say I am that sad... lately it has started feeling more rote than intriguing, and I have been bothered by the need to balance my life with writing papers. I am ready to be done. But not ready to be done. I am so scared that no one will have anything interesting to say if they don't have to, if they are not motivated by a grade. People, generally speaking, don't like to think too much and thus leave me with a desperate need for intellectual intercourse which can never be filled. It is a sick, sad world we live in. I guess I will just have to become interested in the trend topics- the thou-shalt-nots of parenting, politics and religion (tedious, boring topics of which people are generally uninformed, misinformed or just too stupid to consider the many layers of complexity that they are trying to simplify into catch phrases or funny comments.)So, please, if you have an opinion, ANY opinion, on anything I post either here or on Facebook, I BEG YOU. Comment. Talk. Think. Please. Or I may just die a slow, slow death.

On the flip side, as one door closes, a few more open. I have been training for my first triathlon. Yup. You read that right. I, the slowest, least athletic person you know, am going to do a triathlon. Why? Because I can. Because if I can, you can. There is nothing special about me. I possess no special talent, no abundance of time, money, or resources. I am just a normal person. I want to do it, because I have seen my body do things which I thought were physically impossible. I know I can do it. I want to stop thinking about the somedays and the what-if's and start just making it happen.

It has helped, of course, that my amazing older sister and brother in law have paved the way by getting into the sport before me, so I can learn from their experience and expertise... and, if you are interested, I am willing to pass it all on.

Many people have said that our generation should be called Gen-Me, because we all feel like superstars, like we are entitled, like we deserve to be special. Well, it isn't true. It may be true that you can be anything you want to be, but you have to be willing to work for it. Not work hard for a week, month or year and then quit, but really work for it. Integrate effort and conscientiousness into your life.

So, to that end, it is my goal to complete a half Ironman. At this moment, I don't have any desire to do a full Ironman, because honestly I have seen the training and the sacrifice it takes and it just isn't that important to me right now. Maybe later on in life, but not now. A half, though, would be an amazing accomplishment.

I am doing a mini-tri in April, the Tri for the Cure. Then, in May, I am doing SheRox, presuming of course that I can gather the funds for the gear and the entrance fees (that disclaimer applies to all the races I have planned.) In June, an Olympic distance is on the schedule, a half marathon in December, the SheRox sprint distance again next May, Nathan's Olympic distance again next June, and then the Dueces Wild and Soma half distances next December.

See how that works? It is a slow, gradual build up in fitness and endurance. It is an easy training plan- no crash courses here! I work out for an hour a day- biking two, swimming two, running two. I do resistance training twice a week, pilates twice to three times a week, yoga three times a week, belly dancing and other fun stuff whenever I feel antsy.

So, the time I was spending in school is now spent working. It feels good. It relieves stress, anxiety, and gives me time alone. Time to think. Time to be in the moment. I am quickly falling in love with this sport.

Additionally, my sweet Daegan has started school in the 3 year old class! That means that on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, I have four hours all to myself. No, wait... all to Logan. :P It feels weird, being with only one child. I forgot how easy it is to only have one.

So... if I don't write much, that is why. I am busy, but don't really presume that you are interested in reading about every footstep or lap that I take. I will, however, keep you updated on the general process when/if I have the coincidence of something to say and the time in which to say it.

If you have not heard from me, be warned: you may need to call me. Don't wait for me to call you, because right now, I am just trying to get into a routine so that the chaos settles down a bit.

Baby Dinos

2010-01-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

While playing dinos with Daegan today, I noted that we have four triceratops- a baby trike, a big boy trike, and two parent trikes.

To Daegan: "Look baby! Their family looks just like ours!"

I line them up, according to size.

To me, while balancing the baby on top of the mom.: "No, silly mama! That's not where the baby goes! Baby triceratops has to go on mommy's back! Don't you know that babies ride on their mommy's backs?!?"

more pics

2010-01-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

smile

2010-01-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

smile!!

please smile?

come on, kiddo! smile!

I give up.