No pants, pink helmet, yet adorable as ever.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Little Laughs
Eli Jameson Wheeler: caught snoozing in the bike trailer yesterday afternoon.
No pants, pink helmet, yet adorable as ever.
No pants, pink helmet, yet adorable as ever.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Marathon Man
St. George Marathon
October 1st, 2011
26.2 Miles
3 hours, 15 minutes, 32 secs = sub 7:30 minute miles = Stinkin' Fast
Way to Go, Jason!
On Saturday Jason ran the St. George marathon. Despite the fatigue that inevitably follows two solid weeks of travel, he did AWESOME!
When Jason sprinted by at mile 21, he looked positively radiant. While some runners' faces were already contorted with pain, Jason seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his Saturday morning jaunt.
Here he is pausing to give the girls a hug at a spot just a couple blocks away from our home.
In fact, our only complaint was that Jason was a little too fast. We simply couldn't keep up with him, literally. Here's Brooklyn cheering at the finish line.
By the time she arrived with her encouraging words of "You're almost there", Jason had already made it to the finish.
At least Jason was thoughtful enough to save a popsicle.
In all honesty, I really don't know what to write about the race. I know that it was hard and it was long and it hurt, but Jason made it look so easy! Jason experienced more of a runner's high than he ever has in the past, and it showed. We were all praying that he could simply finish the race without injury, and instead he shattered his previous personal record by a full seventeen minutes. While he may be hobbling around on sore legs at the moment, judging by the elation on his face in the aftermath of this race, my suspicion is that you'll find him at the finish line again--and soon.
Congratulations, Jason!
P.S. Congrats are equally due to Jason's younger brother Justin who ran the Top of Utah Marathon just a few weeks ago. Read all about his skin-drenching, band-aid-sporting, trophy-awarding fun right here. Three cheers for the Wheeler Marathon Machines!
October 1st, 2011
26.2 Miles
3 hours, 15 minutes, 32 secs = sub 7:30 minute miles = Stinkin' Fast
Way to Go, Jason!
On Saturday Jason ran the St. George marathon. Despite the fatigue that inevitably follows two solid weeks of travel, he did AWESOME!
When Jason sprinted by at mile 21, he looked positively radiant. While some runners' faces were already contorted with pain, Jason seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his Saturday morning jaunt.
Here he is pausing to give the girls a hug at a spot just a couple blocks away from our home.
In fact, our only complaint was that Jason was a little too fast. We simply couldn't keep up with him, literally. Here's Brooklyn cheering at the finish line.
By the time she arrived with her encouraging words of "You're almost there", Jason had already made it to the finish.
At least Jason was thoughtful enough to save a popsicle.
In all honesty, I really don't know what to write about the race. I know that it was hard and it was long and it hurt, but Jason made it look so easy! Jason experienced more of a runner's high than he ever has in the past, and it showed. We were all praying that he could simply finish the race without injury, and instead he shattered his previous personal record by a full seventeen minutes. While he may be hobbling around on sore legs at the moment, judging by the elation on his face in the aftermath of this race, my suspicion is that you'll find him at the finish line again--and soon.
Congratulations, Jason!
P.S. Congrats are equally due to Jason's younger brother Justin who ran the Top of Utah Marathon just a few weeks ago. Read all about his skin-drenching, band-aid-sporting, trophy-awarding fun right here. Three cheers for the Wheeler Marathon Machines!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Especially for the Wheeler Munchkins
Guess where we are? (Or at least were... At the moment we're actually aboard a Greyhound bus headed to DC.)
Are you getting warmer?
Yep, that's right--the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City.
I flew out to New York on Saturday to visit family on Long Island before meeting up with Jason in the city for the very tail end of his business trip. I've had a wonderful time catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, sisters- and brothers-in-law. Stay tuned for a fun post chronicling our many adventures. In the meantime, however, I can't help but think about these tiny folks.
Missing our little ones reminded me of these photos we recently took at the St. George Temple, a symbol of our commitment to family.
Brooklyn, Talia, and Eli, this message is just to tell you how much Mom and Dad miss you and are thinking about you. We're so glad you're having a fantastic time with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles. Even more, we're grateful that despite being many miles apart at the moment, our family can eventually be together forever.
Vacations may be terrific, but life is always more exciting when we can share it with you. Can't wait to see you soon!
Love, Mom and Dad
Are you getting warmer?
Yep, that's right--the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City.
I flew out to New York on Saturday to visit family on Long Island before meeting up with Jason in the city for the very tail end of his business trip. I've had a wonderful time catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, sisters- and brothers-in-law. Stay tuned for a fun post chronicling our many adventures. In the meantime, however, I can't help but think about these tiny folks.
Missing our little ones reminded me of these photos we recently took at the St. George Temple, a symbol of our commitment to family.
Brooklyn, Talia, and Eli, this message is just to tell you how much Mom and Dad miss you and are thinking about you. We're so glad you're having a fantastic time with Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles. Even more, we're grateful that despite being many miles apart at the moment, our family can eventually be together forever.
Vacations may be terrific, but life is always more exciting when we can share it with you. Can't wait to see you soon!
Love, Mom and Dad
Thursday, September 22, 2011
To Peanut Butter, From Jelly
This is a special moment. Brooklyn's at school, Talia's at preschool, and Eli's napping. I have 45 minutes all to myself before I have to wake up the baby, pick up from preschool, pick up from school, return library materials, buy cookies for the PTA bake sale, and head back to the school to volunteer at the International Dance Festival for the rest of the evening. I could be washing the floor, folding laundry, scrubbing the toilets, cleaning out the car, or even making cookies from scratch for the aforementioned bake sale.
I'd much prefer, however, to spend my free moment bragging about this guy.
Isn't he dapper? You see, I miss this fellow. He happens to be in Boston right now reuniting with the other Rose Fellows, all of whom are great architects-in-training, but none of whom are nearly as charming.
So how do I know this fellow loves me? Well, he builds me planter boxes for one thing. Isn't this terrific?
He also changes stinky diapers, takes out the trash, and regularly waters the fruit trees. Most of all, Jason does a fantastic job of showing how much he cares by sharing of his time. Recently we've started playing racquetball once a week at the recreation center. Drop the kids off at childcare, and voila, a free date night. :) I am absolutely terrible, but it doesn't matter because it's time spent together. It took eight years of marriage before I finally dared to reveal my astounding lack of coordination. But through eight years of marriage, Jason's proven again and again how he'll love me anyway.
Jason's had a lot of exciting things going on lately. In addition to work, he recently took the first of seven architectural licensing exams and has another scheduled for October. And, despite the heat and some shin troubles, he's training for the St. George marathon on October 1st. No matter how the race goes, anyone who trains through a St. George summer is already a winner!
Jason arrives back in Utah on September 29th, but that seems awfully long to be missing my better half. Plus, it's been an awfully long time since I've seen the East coast. Whaddaya say Peanut Butter? Rumor has it that the only thing Jelly wants for her birthday is a hug. :)
I'd much prefer, however, to spend my free moment bragging about this guy.
Isn't he dapper? You see, I miss this fellow. He happens to be in Boston right now reuniting with the other Rose Fellows, all of whom are great architects-in-training, but none of whom are nearly as charming.
So how do I know this fellow loves me? Well, he builds me planter boxes for one thing. Isn't this terrific?
He also changes stinky diapers, takes out the trash, and regularly waters the fruit trees. Most of all, Jason does a fantastic job of showing how much he cares by sharing of his time. Recently we've started playing racquetball once a week at the recreation center. Drop the kids off at childcare, and voila, a free date night. :) I am absolutely terrible, but it doesn't matter because it's time spent together. It took eight years of marriage before I finally dared to reveal my astounding lack of coordination. But through eight years of marriage, Jason's proven again and again how he'll love me anyway.
Jason's had a lot of exciting things going on lately. In addition to work, he recently took the first of seven architectural licensing exams and has another scheduled for October. And, despite the heat and some shin troubles, he's training for the St. George marathon on October 1st. No matter how the race goes, anyone who trains through a St. George summer is already a winner!
Jason arrives back in Utah on September 29th, but that seems awfully long to be missing my better half. Plus, it's been an awfully long time since I've seen the East coast. Whaddaya say Peanut Butter? Rumor has it that the only thing Jelly wants for her birthday is a hug. :)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Mom, See? I'm Two!
Guess who's growing up?
Our little baby Eli isn't such a babe anymore. On Friday he officially celebrated his second birthday.
We ate train cupcakes in honor of Eli's fascination with "choo choos." They were actually surprisingly easy to make--just some starbursts, skittles, and good-n-plenty cargo.
Blowing out the candles is a family event. The girls tried to teach Eli, but he just blew raspberries instead.
As for the eating, Eli can handle that all out by himself. This time, however, he preferred to play with his food.
Mama's Boy.
Our friends, the Bassos joined us at Cottonwood Park to celebrate Eli's special day. This park is fantastic fun for kids and adults alike, right Jason?
Seven kids six and under always makes for a party. :)
Brooklyn's friend Anna blends right into the family with her white blond hair.
Anna's little sister Sara may have a touch of brunette, but she's so cute we'd claim her anyway.
Anyone want a Talia rag-a-muffin? Just kidding, she's not for sale... usually.
While we saved most of the presents to open on Saturday, we did let Eli open a big package to go along with the train theme. Thanks Nomi-Ann and Papa Kay! As you can see it was a chug-a-chug hit.
Eli's new favorite pastime is pushing his sisters all over. I love how they've turned this individual toy into a team effort.
Eli, it's a bitter-sweet moment for a Mom as she watches her baby-baby grow up. Over the last few months you've started to change so rapidly, developing into your own little man. You've swapped your babyish innocence for a devilish desire to tease your sisters and intentionally turn over every water glass. Much to my horror, you've recently started to initiate conversations with kids at the playground with a push instead of a hello. The world is a giant science experiment for you, full of new opportunities to press limits and discover exactly what will happen if you try X, Y, or don't-you-dare--I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that!-Z.
And yet, you still love to snuggle and nestle your head into my shoulder. When I fetch you from your crib each morning, you smile and pant like a puppy. You love to color, picking up a crayon at every opportunity, then doodling with surprising meticulousness for a two year-old. You crave affirmation and will toddle around the house patting my legs and saying, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, see, see, see, see?" until I praise your picture, even if I have already commented on each of the fourteen circles you drew already. Your speech is taking off like rapid fire as you now mimic everything and have many new words of your own. Even so, all parents remain "Mom" and all siblings are called "Talia."
Ever your grandfathers' son, you love books and will bring over piles and piles of them to be read at bedtime. Most of the time, however, you try to carry too many and cry in frustration because you can't carry them all at once. And, despite your sisters' best attempts to convert you to pink baby dolls, you are absolutely enthralled with everything boy, breaking out into high-pitched squeals and exclamations at the sight of cars, buses, and trucks. "Mom, mom, mom, mom, see, see, see, see?"
Yes, sweet Eli, I see. I see that you are becoming your own little person with dreams and desires all of your own. I see that even though you are still cute as ever with a smile that will melt every heart, you no longer want to be just a baby anymore. It's time to let you grow.
And so, little man, may we all wish you once more, a delightful 2nd birthday.
Our little baby Eli isn't such a babe anymore. On Friday he officially celebrated his second birthday.
We ate train cupcakes in honor of Eli's fascination with "choo choos." They were actually surprisingly easy to make--just some starbursts, skittles, and good-n-plenty cargo.
Blowing out the candles is a family event. The girls tried to teach Eli, but he just blew raspberries instead.
As for the eating, Eli can handle that all out by himself. This time, however, he preferred to play with his food.
Mama's Boy.
Our friends, the Bassos joined us at Cottonwood Park to celebrate Eli's special day. This park is fantastic fun for kids and adults alike, right Jason?
Seven kids six and under always makes for a party. :)
Brooklyn's friend Anna blends right into the family with her white blond hair.
Anna's little sister Sara may have a touch of brunette, but she's so cute we'd claim her anyway.
Anyone want a Talia rag-a-muffin? Just kidding, she's not for sale... usually.
While we saved most of the presents to open on Saturday, we did let Eli open a big package to go along with the train theme. Thanks Nomi-Ann and Papa Kay! As you can see it was a chug-a-chug hit.
Eli's new favorite pastime is pushing his sisters all over. I love how they've turned this individual toy into a team effort.
Eli, it's a bitter-sweet moment for a Mom as she watches her baby-baby grow up. Over the last few months you've started to change so rapidly, developing into your own little man. You've swapped your babyish innocence for a devilish desire to tease your sisters and intentionally turn over every water glass. Much to my horror, you've recently started to initiate conversations with kids at the playground with a push instead of a hello. The world is a giant science experiment for you, full of new opportunities to press limits and discover exactly what will happen if you try X, Y, or don't-you-dare--I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that!-Z.
And yet, you still love to snuggle and nestle your head into my shoulder. When I fetch you from your crib each morning, you smile and pant like a puppy. You love to color, picking up a crayon at every opportunity, then doodling with surprising meticulousness for a two year-old. You crave affirmation and will toddle around the house patting my legs and saying, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, see, see, see, see?" until I praise your picture, even if I have already commented on each of the fourteen circles you drew already. Your speech is taking off like rapid fire as you now mimic everything and have many new words of your own. Even so, all parents remain "Mom" and all siblings are called "Talia."
Ever your grandfathers' son, you love books and will bring over piles and piles of them to be read at bedtime. Most of the time, however, you try to carry too many and cry in frustration because you can't carry them all at once. And, despite your sisters' best attempts to convert you to pink baby dolls, you are absolutely enthralled with everything boy, breaking out into high-pitched squeals and exclamations at the sight of cars, buses, and trucks. "Mom, mom, mom, mom, see, see, see, see?"
Yes, sweet Eli, I see. I see that you are becoming your own little person with dreams and desires all of your own. I see that even though you are still cute as ever with a smile that will melt every heart, you no longer want to be just a baby anymore. It's time to let you grow.
And so, little man, may we all wish you once more, a delightful 2nd birthday.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Small Successes with Spanglish
Just a quick progress report on the "Spanglish" course. Classes began last week and seem to be off to a strong start. We had about sixteen parents for the first class, and it's grown steadily since. There's a good mix of English and Spanish language learners, allowing us to learn from each other. The nicest feedback has come through a few comments from students about how much they enjoy the interaction with each other. It made my heart happy to notice a group of women from both language communities hang out for another fifteen minutes after class today to practice and chat.
I'm grateful for these motivational moments since the transition to "teacher mode" is requiring some adjustment. I've discovered that switching back and forth between both languages as I teach is mentally exhausting. I finish each class feeling like I've just endured an entire hour of linguistic acrobatics. Lesson planning is also taking a lot of time since I'm essentially creating all of my materials from scratch. Everything has to be tailored for this unique teaching situation and translated into both languages. While I'm generally able to construct grammatically-correct sentences in Spanish, there are so many times when I wish I had a native speaker's intuition about how to phrase something. Still, the language practice is helping me improve along with everyone else. It feels good to be engaged and utilizing my degree, even if I am working for free. Mostly, it is rewarding to see the community come together, albeit in a small way.
As for the kids, they've noticed a difference too. As I walked out the door to class, Talia said: "Mom, why are you wearing earrings? It's not even Sunday."
Hopefully a dolled-up Mom can make up for the messy house.
I'm grateful for these motivational moments since the transition to "teacher mode" is requiring some adjustment. I've discovered that switching back and forth between both languages as I teach is mentally exhausting. I finish each class feeling like I've just endured an entire hour of linguistic acrobatics. Lesson planning is also taking a lot of time since I'm essentially creating all of my materials from scratch. Everything has to be tailored for this unique teaching situation and translated into both languages. While I'm generally able to construct grammatically-correct sentences in Spanish, there are so many times when I wish I had a native speaker's intuition about how to phrase something. Still, the language practice is helping me improve along with everyone else. It feels good to be engaged and utilizing my degree, even if I am working for free. Mostly, it is rewarding to see the community come together, albeit in a small way.
As for the kids, they've noticed a difference too. As I walked out the door to class, Talia said: "Mom, why are you wearing earrings? It's not even Sunday."
Hopefully a dolled-up Mom can make up for the messy house.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Cannibal
I don't know why I'm on such a Talia-ism kick lately, except that 4 year-olds are hilarious.
Lest you be fooled into thinking that Talia is gentle and restrained after yesterday's Tchaikovsky post, let me share tonight's dinner commentary.
Talia (viciously ripping off the end of a hot dog): "Let's pretend we're eating human legs... Real ones!"Glad to know I've raised a cannibal.
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