Marathon Man (Huff To Bluff 26.2!!!)

Wow, I am so proud of this man.  He is a 2 time marathon runner.  26.2 miles is such an amazing accomplishment, both mentally and physically.

I wasn't able to join him this time (I did pay the fee and train for it, but was sidelined by shin splints that I'm still babying), so for once I was able to be at the finish line when he came through.  Usually he is there for me because he runs faster than me.  It's so nice to have him there to cheer me on, but it was really, really something to be there when he finished this great race.  I'm so proud of his determination and his drive.  He's a great man. I teared up when I saw him come around that last corner, running strong to the finish. 

It was really great, too, to have the little ones there.  Not only did they help me for several hours at aid station 17, but they waited patiently at the finish line and were able to see their Dad finish strong.  Our aid station had a cowboy theme, and Kate took her bandit role very, very seriously.    

They have grown up so much during the past year.  I was remembering that last year at the finish line,  one of my friends from out of town had asked me where my kids were.  I told her, at the time, that they were home, and that Kate has a really difficult time (with her autism) waiting for things, being in crowds, and doing anything social.  Wow, has this little girl grown up.  She was able to handle the crowds and the waiting.  She was able to watch her Dad finish strong, and to be a part of the celebration.

BOO!

 Ever since Kate was a tiny little "Peanut", she has loved her boo.  There is just something about that soft, flannel blanket of love that Kate finds comforting.  It's good for anything from helping her fall asleep, to comforting sadness, to helping her cope with a stressful situation. 

Kate's "boo" was one of her first nouns as a baby.  She started calling it that after her big sister Morgan played Peek-A-Boo with her using her flannel recieving blanket. 

Kate's boo has been through many stages of her life.  When she was an infant, she was swaddled in it.  Later, it was the perfect size to lay on the floor while she learned to roll over and crawl.  As she grew, she carried it everywhere.  As a toddler she liked to hold it close to her face and smell it.  When she was a preschooler, it became a part of her.  As she tried to cope with her autism and all of the stress she was feeling at the time, her boo served to calm her.  She would find her boo, rock back and forth, and rub the edging.  I can remember when she was terrified of water, and I was trying to help her enjoy the pool.  She would cling to me in terror, but she would let me hold her and walk in the pool as long as she had her boo.  It would be soaking wet, but it still did the trick.  Of course now she's a fish and I can't get her out of the pool! 

Now that she's gotten older, and better at figuring out how to be autistic and navigate in the world succesfully, she doesn't carry it wherever she goes.  But it comes out sometimes in times of stress.  And it always comes out when it's time for bed.  She asked to take it to school with her on the first day of middle school, just to keep in her backpack so she could touch it if she needed to. 

Over the years she has gone through several versions of this beloved object.  We know it's time to replace it when the crocheted edging starts to come off,  the color has turned from pink to something between brown and gray, and it has a bit of a funky smell, even when coming straight out of the washer. 

Lucky for Kate, Grandma Kathy has her very own supply of hemstitched flannel.  Not only that, but she is a talented crocheter.  Kate loves her newest boo that Grandma let her choose a few weeks ago.  Thanks Grandma Kathy!!! 

Easter 2012

The Easter Bunny did find us this year, even though we were missing some of our favorite people on Easter Weekend.  We hope The Easter Bunny found all of our favorite people anyway.  Kate found a pair of awesome boots in her basket, and they've been on her feet ever since. 

New Shoes! 

Bear enjoyed the Easter Hunt at Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Winston's. 

Kate and Little Worthy had a pretty good Easter egg hunt, considering they were the only ones looking for eggs!  Those are pretty good odds, especially with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad giving clues. 

The trees were decorated in blossoms.  The perfect hiding place, but Kate found the egg. 

Happy Birthday Rachel, and We love you Morgan!

Rachel had a birthday, so it was a great opportunity to take photos of a few of  the many people who love and miss you, Morgan.  Thanks to the Barton family, the Perkins family, the Call family and the Glover family for lovely company, cake and ice cream.  Happy Birthday Rachel! 

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!