Runners, Take Your Marks

My husband and I have been training for a 5K race for almost two weeks now. It has been so much fun to be doing a hobby with my husband. Even though we take shifts with running in the morning and the evening, it's so fun to be doing this together. Some nights, we've had to be inventive as to how to fit in our run together. One night we took turns running up and down our street, while the other stayed on the porch to listen for the kids. We ended that workout by running through our own sprinklers at 10:00 at night. It was great! (I wonder what the neighbors thought. "Honey, the Corbridge's are outside running through their sprinklers!")

I've learned that if you can connect anything with technology, it makes it that much more exciting for my husband, and low and behold, my husband discovered the Nike chips that go in your shoes and connect to your Ipod. It really is a fun way to train. You can work on certain physical goals, it will tell you how far, how fast and how long you've run, it will graph it for you on your computer....geeky stuff like that. Right up my husband's alley. Geeky husbands are hot, by the way. So, the training has begun, and the race is on. I will post as to how the results turn out. In the meantime, know that my husband and I are looking good and feeling fine. Get set......

Childhood Passes

Today, I took my son to his swimming lessons, and unlike most times, he joyfully skipped over to his teacher and jumped into the pool. (He loves to swim, but swimming "lessons" have been a little terrifying for him.) So, immediately I was relieved that it would be a good day at swimming.

As I sat there watching my son with his teacher, having fun, splashing, laughing, learning, and then looking down at my little baby and my daughter sitting beside me, I thought, "Where has the time gone?" I couldn't believe that that was MY son, and I was the parent who was observing. Observing with MORE children!!! Then, I had another thought. "He's growing up and next year he'll be in school for most of the day." That thought lead to, "I will miss being the one he laughs with, and plays with, and learns from the entire day. I want to be there still. I want to see his eyes and his smile when he discovers new things. I want to be the one."

I vowed right then that I would slow down and really enjoy my son, and all of my children. They go to school all too quick, and sadly, I think I've probably missed many "mommy moments" because I just had to finish the dishes, or I had to put another load of wash in or I was just plain tired to play. It made me sad. In fact, I was near tears at swimming lessons, and I had to stop thinking because I didn't want to cause a stir with the other parents.

What do we miss out on because we are too busy? Or because we're not listening? Have you ever noticed how small a child's voice is? If you're not careful, you can easily miss what they want to tell you or what they want to ask of you. What have I missed? I pray that I haven't missed too much.

Tonight, I took the time to go in to my children's rooms and kiss them one by one and watch them sleep for a few minutes. I wanted to remember how they looked this young, how they sounded, how they curl up in sleep, how they snore so quietly....It was my way of trying to stop the clock, to try and savor the precious mommy moments I have if only I look for them.

Story Time

I love my daughter for many reasons, but two of them are...1.She has the biggest heart you will ever find and 2. She has the most adorable voice.
Just watch this video and you will see what I mean. And imagine, I get to enjoy these sweet moments throughout everyday. (You can pause the music by scrolling down to the music player.)

Family. Isn't it about....time?

This past week, my family went to our family reunion at Bear Lake. It started out as an adventure. My husband accidentally, (I think), left my suitcase at home. He obviously thought we were going to "Bare Lake." So, I arrived in Utah with nothing. My husband is lucky that 1. I love him and 2. Hate to shop. ha ha Most women would love their husbands to leave their suitcase at home, I suppose. Anyhow, after a miracle of phone calls, we found a family that was traveling to Utah the next day, and my suitcase caught up to us.

The reunion at Bear Lake was so wonderful. I truly married into such a wonderful family, and I am so grateful. It was three days of absolute fun! My children loved it so much that they cried, literally, when they learned we were leaving. I posted some pictures of the fun we had.



To any of my family that may be reading this, thank you for making the reunion wonderful. But more than that, thank you for being a wonderful family 24/7. We love you so much and miss you when we don't see you as often.