James' Testimony, Dr. Sophie, & January Beach Days

This last week......

We spent two days the Beach and it was fabulous. I can never say enough about how much I love love Florida. It's the first week in January and we spent most of it outdoors & the rest of the time in our jammies being bums at home. It was a fabulous Christmas vacation.

Now onto this week....

Monday, New Years Eve. First half of the day in jammies, read a good book, went for a run & eventually showered and went to a friends party. We had such a great time. It was outside, we had a fire, made smores and the kids ran around and played with their friends. It was great...until James came to me freezing and shaking (it was only 60 degrees outsides). I told him to go sit in the car while I got the other kids. By the time we got back to the car the poor kid had a good old fever and chills goin on. So we went on home. I felt so bad leaving, it was only 8 pm and Sophie had really wanted to watch fireworks...but she fell asleep before we even made it home. So it turned out to be a very quiet New Years with just Ben Harrison and I. When it finally turned midnight we said Happy New Year and Harrison said "What's a New Year?". Funny boy.

James woke up feeling just fine & no one else ever got sick so I have no clue what that fever was all about. So we decided to have a little adventure that day and go to Gatorland. We had never been there, it is pretty expensive but we had gotten free tickets so we went.  It was cool. There were gators everywhere, ginormous ones, tiny baby ones and everything in between. Some were so freakin huge I'm pretty sure I would crap my pants if I saw one in the wild. Glad there was a fence between me and them.

Wednesday I went for a good morning run, it was so warm and nice outside when I came home I decided we were going to the beach for the day. So we did. It was the best! It was perfectly warm, no wind. Ben made an awesome sand castle, the boys wore themselves out playing in the waves and throwing sand at each other and Sophie helped Ben get buckets of sand. And I finished another book. It was an awesome day.

That night I had a YW sleepover. It was wild. We planned out the years activities, ate lots of caramel popcorn, did hair & make-up, played just dance and stayed up until 5:30 am or later. Then got up at 7 am to make breakfast. Oh man. I was one tired mama by the time I got home. But it was really fun to goof off with the girls and get to know them better. I think I came home and slept half the day on Thursday.

It rained Friday, so we stayed in jammies, played games, & Sophie and I played Dr. She had me lay on the couch where she got her blankie, covered me and gave me her special corner. Then she got her Dr kit she got for Christmas. She was adorable. She took my temp, blood pressure, gave me a shot. Loved it. When she was getting her stethoscope  I said "you are a good Dr, Sophie". She turned around, laughed and said "I not a Doctor. I just a kid!" So funny.

Friday I ran 10 miles, then Saturday morning I had another 19 miles to run. I was so glad and grateful for a couple friends to keep me going through all those miles. One of the girls had already done her long run but ended up running another 8.5 miles with me. And she was so great she wouldn't let me drop my pace, I was impressed. Thank you Tracy. And thank you Carmen for telling me many great stories to keep me entertained & pushing the pace for me. you ladies are great and I am glad I have you around to keep me running. It was a good run, but man, my legs were dead by the end. I have never done that many miles so close together and I thought my hamstring was going to snap. Glad I only have 3 more 30 mile weekends. I can do this.

After the run, I decided to ditch the pile of laundry in my room and we all went to the beach again. It was fabulous fun. And little cooler than the day before but we still had a wonderful time. I went for a long walk looking for a bright pink seashell. Harrison wanted one to give to Sophie. And I was just amazed at how beautiful the ocean is and once again, grateful that I actually get to live in this paradise. Love it so much. Ben made an even cooler sand castle that included a dragon head. I was very impressed.

After we got home, I decided to cut the boys hair, they were looking shabby. While I was cutting James hair I brought up a little conversation. I am planning on talking to him about the facts of life pretty soon here, but wanted to bring it up slowly and test the waters a bit. So I asked him "So James, do you ever wonder how mom's have babies?" J: "Um, NOPE!" E: "Really, well do you even wonder how the baby gets in the mom's belly?" J: "No. (rolling his eyes) because I already know. Heavenly Father puts them there...duh mom." I love that kid. And I love that he is completely clueless about sex. But yes, I still need to tell him. This should be awesome.

Anyways, that was this week. The kids start school tomorrow and it's time. I need to get back into a routine of things and James and Harrison need to get their bums back in school. I'm trying to think of things kids said this week.....

Sophie: Mom you know we should always be nice. We shouldn't be mean, I am being nice right now....you are being mean.

Punk daughter.

Speaking of punk daughter, she started Primary today. No more Nursery. She was so excited. She has been asking for the last year when she gets to go to primary, and today she finally got to go. She loved it. She loved singing the songs, she has a fabulous teacher who just loves her and is super sweet. I am excited.

Oh YEAH, and James bore his testimony today. It was great. He got a nook for Christmas and he loves the thing. So last week he told me he wanted to bare his testimony. He wrote it all out on his nook and then very first thing today he went up and gave it. It was great. It went something like this....  Today I want to bare my testimony about my life. The subject is feeling the spirit. When I read the book of mormon it helps me learn more about Jesus Christ"

And then he sat on down. It was awesome. I was very proud of him for going up there and doing it all by himself. Good job James,

Okay now that I have bored you all to tears I am off to bed....no more sleeping in. Good night!