Kinect Dorkiness

This post is dedicated to dorky body movements and facial expressions caused by the X-box Kinnect.  We got the Kinect out after neglecting it for quite awhile, and spent several days bowling, dancing, and contorting ourselves into odd positions.  We were all quite proud of our bowling abilities, considering our bowling Pro, Morgan, was no threat this time around.  And we have some serious dancing moves.  Not to brag or anything. 

Thanksgiving!!!!

Oh, no!  It's another catch up blog!  But I've been careful to take photos during the past month for this purpose, so here you go, Moog! 

We spent Thanksgiving surrounded by family.  We are so spoiled to live near our extended families.  Not only do we get to spend time with both families, but we get to eat twice!  And we are so fortunate to be able to stay home and expect everyone to come to us. 

We missed our Morgan, but we are comforted knowing that she is taken care of and making memories that will change the course of her life.  We're so proud of her!  I will survive missing her during the holidays knowing that she is having the experience of a lifetime.

Gramma Gail has Harry Potter Legos! 

This one's for you, Morgan.  I missed having you ooh and aaah and steal dough this year! 

Family is what it's all about.   We love ours!  Thanks for sharing yourselves with us. 

Races And Pumpkins and Glovers

So I don't usually worry about "catch up" blogs, but since this is mostly for Morgan I'm going to do just that.

Since I last blogged, Big Worthy and I ran the Newspapers Rock! 10k in canyonlands.  It was beautiful, cold and fun.  Worthy and I both ran faster than we have before for sweet course PRs.

 

The next weekend Big Worthy, Jen and I ran The Other Half in Moab.  It was a gorgeous race.  Big Worthy ROCKED it, Jen did way better than she thought she would, and I had the worst race of my life so far.  It was horrible.  I cramped, got nauseated, felt like my legs were refrigerators, got light headed, cried, and still managed to beat my course PR from last year by a few minutes.  I realized, after I got home, that I had been experiencing the beginnings of a nasty bug that zapped all of my energy and personality for a few days.  So that explains it!  Still, I felt good for finishing even though it was horrible. 

Our next race will be the Vegas Rock And Roll 1/2 in early December, on the Vegas strip at night.  I'm really excited about that one.  Jen will be joining us for it as well. 

Next came Halloween.  The kids were excited, of course.  Kate was a warewolf (a scary one, I might add).  Worthy was a vampire.  They wanted nothing to do with my ideas for a group costume, so there was no repeat of last year's family theme.  Last year we were Scooby Doo and the Gang, which was fun.  But this year Kate made up for it by scaring the costumes off of all of the little kids at our ward Trunk Or Treat!

 We visited Gramma Gail and Grandpa Worthy, who of course spoiled us silly.  Even I came away with yummy local apples and caramel dip.  Yum!  Then we visited our favorite friend Ryan, who was dressed as Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch (I think) and was hilarious.  He even had treats for the big people--nutrition chews for running. 

We spent most of the night hanging out at Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Winston's house.  They get A LOT of Trick Or Treaters.  The kids had fun manning the door, and Kate added to her already substantial haul by heading out and Trick Or Treating.  I made pumpkin bread and we had an enjoyable time.

Kate has been ROCKING middle school.  I'm so proud of that girl!  She reminds me all the time that she is not a child any more, but a YOUNG WOMAN.  And she is right.  She is becoming so responsible and capable.  She is really enjoying Young Women's on Wednesday nights.  When she gets upset or aggitated, she will get into the fetal position and rock.  This doesn't happen anymore nearly as much as it used to, but last Wednesday she was rocking like crazy.  I said, "Kate, what's the matter?  Are you feeling sick or stressed?"  She looked at me seriously and said, "I just can't wait for Young Women's." 

Little Worthy has had some rocky times at school.  We have been getting reports from his teacher that he isn't doing his best, and is even flat out refusing to work at times.  So we have come up with a system where his teacher will e-mail me every day after school.  If he has done his best, he can have screen time.  If he hasn't he is grounded from screens.  And we all know how Worthy feels about his screen time!  I've been proud of the way he has turned it around and worked at doing his best.  Most days he is really, really trying.  We had a setback when he had a sub this week, but he turned it right back around when his teacher returned. 

He also made us proud during the Primary Program.  It wasn't easy for him, and he even told his Dad, "I have stage fright!"  But he mustered up the courage and rocked it.  YAY Little Worthy!  It's nice when my kids learn they can do HARD THINGS (That was for you, Miss Morgan). 

Morgan is making us proud every day, too.  If you haven't checked out her Belgium blog, and you would like to, here is the link: http://morgan-shae.blogspot.com/.  She is smart, brave, articulate, and beautiful on the inside and out.  And her experiences this year will change who she is, broadening her horizons and changing her perspective forever.  We miss her, and our family is definitely missing some of her lively personality (it's so weird to be void of the blaring music coming from her bedroom when she isn't even home but has already gone to work), but we are happy for her.  Love you Moog!  Plus she's a nag and she makes me blog.  :)

Big Worthy has been traveling quite a bit the past few weeks, so the kids and I have done some bonding.  We have a tradition that when Dad's gone the kids sleep in my room.  It's a fun way to get through the times we are missing our Dad. 

And me?  I have quit drinking Diet Coke.  Morgan, do not faint.  It's true, and I don't even miss it.  Okay, I missed it terribly for the first week or so (and I think my family missed it, too).  But I feel better now.  I'm sleeping better at night and I have more sustained energy during the day.

SO,  pumpkins.  Let's just say we have had our share of them this year!  Grandma Kathy was nice enough to bring us some GORGEOUS ones from Green River, and I bought some from Bountiful Baskets (2 jack-o-lantern sized, 1 medium sized and 2 pie sized).  Then Worthy's teacher sent him home with one. 

I decided, since pumpkin is yummy and extremely healthy, that I wasn't going to let all of these things go to waste this year.  So this week we have been in production at the Glover house!  I have been baking, pureeing and freezing pumpkin like mad.  I made pumpkin soup that was YUMMY yesterday.  I'm still not finished processing all of these babies but I'm getting close.  We'll have a freezer full before I'm done.

And that brings us to today.  It's one of those days that makes you want to do this: 

Or this:

Or this. 

Or curl up with a book and some hot tea. 

But Big Worthy and I were determined to go out into the cold slush and run 11 miles.  I'm chalking that up to missing brain cells.  We bundled up and went for it.

7 miles later, we were back.  I felt pretty good about our 7 miles, even thought is wasn't 11, because my hands were frozen solid and my sweat (and probably some snot) was frozen to my face by the time we got home.  I'm SOOOOO glad Big Worthy is crazy (and lacking brain cells) too, so we have each other in our craziness.  That would have been an impossible 7 miles without my own personal cheerleader. 

And now we are home, warm and cozy. 

So there is Glover Life in a nutshell.  Moog, I'll try to do better!

Little Worthy Turns Ten!

Unbelievable that this Little Man is ten. I can't believe it. He will always be my baby, and watching him grow up is definitely bitter sweet.

Some of Worthy's favorite things right now are Spongebob, Star Wars Legos on the x-box, Goosebump books, his sisters, macaroni and cheese, and anything with sugar in it.

Worthy has some special gifts. He is tender-hearted, and will do almost anything to make sure everyone else is happy. I worry about this a lot, since he is constantly compromising for his sister, but what a sweet little guy. He has gift for Brittish accents, and he loves to make people laugh. He tells me he loves me EVERY DAY, sometimes several times a day, which I count among my favorite things. Our animals love him. He is learning responsibility by taking care of them. I have caught Tuxi licking his bald head while he sleeps several times. Salty? I don't know. But creepy and cute at the same time.

We celebrated the special day by skyping with Morgan before school started. Morgan and Kate had hatched a plan, and Kate knew just where to find the hidden gift that the two of them had purchased before Morgan left. Worthy loves Morgan soooooo much, so that was a nice way to start the day.

During the school day I took cupcakes to Worthy's class, and he got to pass them out and pick which kids would lead the group in "Happy Birthday". Of course that was a thrill! I'm always amazed at what will make a ten-year-old happy! It was fun to hang out in his class for a minute. I don't often get to do that.

Worthy got a new bike for his birthday! I don't have any photos of it, but it's shnazzy.

That evening we went out to eat at Old Tymer with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Winston to celebrate. The staff there brought Little Worthy his own birthday cake and we sang to him, but before he could finish it he had snuggled into Grandma Kathy and fallen fast asleep. Too much birthday, apparently!

Happy birthday, Little Worthy!

The Giant-Peak-From-Design-Hell Is History!

Most of you know I have a love/hate relationship with our home.

I love it because it is where my family is. I love it because it is where my two youngest were babies, and I love it because I watched my eldest grow into a young lady within its walls. I love it because it is ours. I love it because we have worked hard on it over the years, our love sweat and tears evident in a finished basement and paint on the walls. I love it because we have great plans for it, and if I close my eyes I can envision it the way it will be when we have tweaked it just so.

And I hate it. I hate that it has one bathroom. I hate that the landlord who owned it before we bought it treated it like a slummy rental. We have spent our years here complaining about (and fixing) faulty wiring, paper-thin walls, and all-around crappy workmanship. There are so many things we would like to fix about this place, we have often been paralyzed, not quite knowing how or where to start.


But the thing I hate the most? The Giant-Peak-From-Design-Hell! How in the world someone once thought this peak at the top of our house was a good idea is beyond all comprehension. But they did, and we have lived with the horrible thing for years.

Worthy says he thinks it has power and it sucks all of the negative energy out of the surrounding neighborhood and town, depositing it in a black cloud above our house. But we all know he reads too many comic books.

Well . . . THE PEAK IS GONE!!!!!! Worthy and a crew of capable, hard-working friends and family members (and the much appreciated expertise of Clayton) have spent the past week replacing the The Giant-Peak-From-Design-Hell with a respectable, gorgeous new gable. And the old, sad gray roofing has been replaced with a lovely new roof!!!

We have a busy week ahead of us (The Homestead and then the Red Rock Relay—I’ll be posting about those events later), so we are not yet able to finish. But I am posting progress pictures for Morgan and all of you, anyway.

Next we will be adding the trim and the siding to the front of the new gable (it will be white and vertical) and adding a new covered porch to the left and front of the new gable. And . . . A NEW, GORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL DOOR! I can’t wait to post pictures of the final product, because then it will be finished. But I am thrilled with the progress so far.




The kids were quite sure their Dads and Grandpas were on the roof for the sole purpose of letting them have a good time outside, playing and laughing into the night.

Thanks Worthy! And thanks Clay, Tim, Dad, Dad, James, and Britt. We could not have dreamed of doing this without you, and we are at your beck and call whenever you need extra hands for a project of your own.

Here You Go, Moog!

We spent a few hours at the dam the other day after school. It's beginning to feel like fall, so we are feeling desperate to enjoy summer while we can! Kate, Worthy and Bear had fun collecting sticks, rocks and other treasures. They never even got in the water but they had a fabulous time.

There you, go, Moog!

Yes, it's been over a year since I posted. I've been a big, giant slacker.

Morgan is in Belgium, and she has brought it to my attention that I need to update our lives for her. My problem is that I'm always trying to find fabulous things to write about, so I never get around to writing. Having her so far away has made me realize that it's the little things that matter. I want to know the mundane details about her life over there. She wants to know about the little details of home.

SO. I committed to update our blog weekly. So Morgan, here you go. This is the first of many. We look forward to learning about your life as well.