Elyana is Too Smart!

If you have read my previous posting about our Roomba vacuum, you would recall that Elyana gets upset when it's not in use (recharging at it's base). Tonight she was pointing to it saying, "please, please." I told her, "No, mommy already used robot vacuum today." I continue doing the dishes when I hear her say, "uh oh!" I turn around and see her shaking our back door rug all over the kitchen floor. Dirt was flying everywhere. Then she again points to the vacuum and says, "Please?" Very clever, of course the clean freak I am, I had to use it to get the floor clean. She was very proud of herself!

Potty Training Continues

Attempts at potty training continue. Here's a cute picture of Mikayla showing her little sister how it's done. It's also a great blackmail picture when they start dating!



Mikayla got her hair cut short for the first time today. Had to take a picture and share it with you all.

Mikayla's Comment

It was pouring rain today and I decided we'd all hop in the van and pick up Nate from work so he wouldn't have to wait for the bus in the rain. I'm trying to hurry the kids along in the car and as usual, Kayla's taking her time. I'm fastening Elyana into her carseat and I go back in the house to find Mikayla. I get impatient and start to yell, "Mikayla, get out here now! I swear, we'll leave without you! Where are you?!" I hear a distant, "Mom! I'm already in the car!" I trot out to the van and chuckle to myself and say, "That was funny." Mikayla's response was, "Funny for me, not for you!"

Washing Machine Treasures

Okay, this is a discussion question to all my fellow mom friends...

What "treasures" have you found in your washing machine or dryer that have fallen out of the pants pockets of your children's clothes?

Here's my list starting with yesterday's discovery:

• Several pieces of now clean tree bark
• Loose change
• The occasional shredded Kleenex
• Rocks
• Miniature Barbie Babies (Just found these lodged in our Roomba vacuum last week. Guess they could use a good cleaning after that adventure)
• Stickers that have now become pretty goopy and are now stuck to all the clothes

Here's how I know it came from the kids pockets...if you find yourself saying out loud, "What in the world?" and you hesitate as you lean in to see what it is--then it's from the kids pockets.

If it's shredded Kleenex, then it's probably from my pockets and it's a reminder of my role as mom. Chasing after little runny noses on a regular basis.

If it's loose change, it's probably from my husband's pockets and then I declare, "Finder's Keepers!" I consider it a tip for all my hard work and put it in my own wallet!

irobot Roomba Vacuum

Our roomba vacuum has been on the fritz lately. Elyana thinks it is human or something because when it does stop or is recharging, she gets upset. "Uh, oh baby!" she says. She points to it and says, "please, please." When it's on, she follows it from room to room. So, I wanted to get it fixed quickly, especially because I'm tired of vacuuming all the dirt and rocks the kids have been dragging in. I had to go online to customer service and see what they suggest for what to do when your vacuum goes in the same circle over and over until the battery dies out. This cracked me up so much I had to share it with you. I've copied and pasted it from the internet:
This sounds "dirty." I looked up what my roomba vacuum was doing and this is what they suggest...

Circling Behavior 2: Roomba backs up briefly and spins in circles until the battery runs out.

How To Fix: Roomba’s bumper sensor is likely obstructed or dirty; hold the Roomba in the air by the handle and _*slap the bumper briskly*_ several times to dislodge any debris in the bumper sensor.

So, I spanked our robot vacuum and to my surprise, it's working again.

Duathlon

Well, Yesterday I successfully completed my first Duathlon. I did the "short" distance course which was 2 mile run, 13 mile bike, and a final 2 mile run. The first leg of the race went fine with a total time of 23.05 minutes (an 11:33 mile/min. pace). Then I hopped upon my bike and did the next 13 miles. This was tough as there were a lot of hills and the wind seemed unbearable at times. Since winter has lasted so long, I've had to do pretty much all of my training on a stationary bike. It's hard to train for hills and wind! My time for the bike portion was 1 hour and 1 minute. My friend Sue did the funniest thing when I was on my last few miles of the bike portion. She surprised me by driving next to me for awhile cheering me on. Then they slowed down their car and shouted, "Hey, look, you're so fast you just passed our car!" That had me smiling for the rest of the bike ride back. When I got off my bike and my quadriceps felt like dead weights. I managed to begin running the last 2 miles. I did walk a good portion of the last 2 with a time of 29.18 minutes. Never in my training have I done more than a 12 mile bike and a 2 mile run. So, I'm pretty thrilled just to finish it AND have a decent overall time of 1:56:50. The amusing thing is the only part of me that's sore today is my neck. Weird!

I can't thank my family enough for their support in my training and on race day. Knowing that you were there at the race, believing in me and cheering me on meant the world to me. One runner passed me by, but commented, "You've got quite the crowd back there today!" I'm taking off a few days and will recommence training for the triathlon on Wednesday.

Here are a bunch of photos that our good friend, Scott Elder took (if you recall, Scott is the same incredible photographer who took our Christmas photos).

This is my awesome friend/training partner-Jen Elder before the race began.


Here I am returning from my first 2 miles:


Here I am returning from my biking:


Nate with Elyana watching me go!


I'm taking off for my final run, explaining to Nate that my legs feel funny, and giving Mikayla a kiss!


Here's Mikayla cheering me on with a cow bell!


Coming in for the final finish!

Potty Training Again?

Elyana really enjoys bathtime and has noticed that Mikayla always pottys before climbing into the tub. So she's started placing the potty seat on the toilet and saying, "pee pee." It blew me away that she was the instigator of potty training. I put her on the seat and she points to the bathtub and says, "bath?" I wish I had the time right now to go hard core with the potty training and I hope I'm not blowing an opportunity by not. The Duathlon is 2 weeks away now. I figured it's the same total distance as the Triathlon I'm also doing. So, if I can complete this one, I can definitely do the Triathlon in July. Speaking of Triathlons--My triathlon article is coming out on May 1st! I'm so excited about this one. I had to cut 1,700 words out to get it down to the word count limit I was asked to do--which says a lot about how much I had to say. Here's a picture of Elyana on the potty and an old favorite picture of Nate starting to potty train Mikayla at Ely's age: