Hair Bow or Neck Tie?

Melanie got down all her hair bows... and Noelle put them to good use.

So, the question: Are they hair bows? or Neck Ties?

I counted 16 when I took them off of her. :o)

A Day for Love

Monday was Valentine's Day. And we did a lot of fun things to celebrate...

Melanie and Noelle woke up to a heart attacked house, inside and out. She came into my room and said "Mom, are the hearts are here, it's Valentine's Day". :o) And she was right!

Melanie had a fun Valentine's Day party at school, while Noelle and I heart attacked a few houses in the ward and also the bed room to a single friend who was discouraged that it was Valentine's Day. When we picked up Melanie, she gave me this beautiful Valentine. I decided to hang it up just like all the other hearts.

After nap, we headed to the "airplane park" for a Valentine's Day Cookie Party! The kids played, decorated cookies, and ate. I think it was a lot of fun.

Noelle really enjoys her independence at the park.

When we got home from the park, we were surprised by a special dinner prepared by Dad! He is a wonderful cook, and I was definitely spoiled. :o)

Then we had a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa Smithson. They stopped by to give us some Valentine Donuts. (complete with some cute hats!)

The girls gave dad some Valentines and then opened their own.

(Both of them got a book)

Finally, we headed over to the Fairchild's house. Jeff had received his mission call and we were honored to join their family as he opened the call. He will be serving in the Charlotte, North Carolina Mission. Brandon served in the Raleigh, North Carolina Mission, so that's kinda neat. We are excited for him and his family.

Once home, the kids went to bed, and the adults ate some yummy dessert and then followed suite. It was definitely a day to love.

More Marathon Pictures

Okay, Here are a few more pictures. If you want to see all the other pictures or read the race report, you can do so here

This is a picture of Me and Bethany with our littlest ones prior to the race. Noelle and Gavin are about 2 weeks apart.

This is a picture of me right after mile marker 26. I ran up this hill to where Bethany was standing, took a right, and then sprinted to the finish.
And this is a picture of me and Melanie with one of the signs the girls (and Brandon) made to cheer me on.

26.2: Sedona Marathon

I have officially crossed from being a long distance runner to being a marathon runner, and it feels GREAT!
Friday afternoon, our family packed up and headed to Sedona, Arizona. We picked up the race packet and then headed to Cottonwood, Arizona (were rooms are much more reasonable). Melanie was super excited to go on a trip and stay in a hotel. Or, in her words, a hoTEL (silly girl). We ate a really yummy, carb-filled pasta dinner at a local restaurant and then headed back to the hoTEL. After putting Noelle to bed, and tucking Melanie in with a movie, Brandon and I spent about an hour putting my name on the back of my running shirt (stupid hotel iron didn't want to work). I had decided last minute that I wanted to do this in the case that someone was cheering on the runners. I knew hearing "Go Camille" would get me going.
Saturday morning, we got up before the sun, ate a yummy hotel breakfast, and headed back to Sedona! I got there just in time to cut in the front of the port-a-potty line, and meet up with Bethany (my running friend that was also running the marathon). We got into the starting coral just minutes before the race began. Then it was time, and we were off. Bethany and I ran together for the first 6 miles, and then I put on my music and let her loose. She is an animal and was ready to take on the course at a much faster speed.
Here is the course:

The course was 60% pavement, 40% dirt road, which pretty much amounted to this: Miles 1-about 8 were all on the pavement, then from about 8-18 it was all dirt road, and then we were back in action on the pavement at about mile 18. I have never been so happy to see pavement before.

Being Sedona, there were only a few hills:

That elevation chart doesn't show the steep climb up to the turnaround point for the marathoners. It was steep, and it was then that my left knee decided to scream. Up until then, I hadn't walk except at the water stations. I know it had to do with the dirt road and all the big rocks. I was still happy though. I really enjoyed miles 9-16 because I liked passing the other marathon runners that were going in the other direction. I love saying "good job" to each of them and hearing it in return. Runners are truly the nicest athletes out there. Seriously! Miles 16-18 were the hardest for me. My knee was hurting, I didn't have anyone really around me (there were only a few hundred runners in the entire course, I could see maybe 2 people), and I was still on that dirt road. I was super excited when at the water station at about mile 18, when I was feeling the lowest, a volunteer yelled out "Way to go Camille, you are awesome!". Seriously, that was such an amazing turning point for me... Once I hit the pavement, my spirits were really up again.

They didn't allow onlookers along the portion that was dirt, so it wasn't until about mile 19 that I started seeing the best support/cheer team ever! They showed up about every other mile with posters and smiles. I love my family! I was also blessed to have another random cheerleader. There was a man on a bike that was aiding two runners. One of them must have been in front of me, and the other was behind me. He rode back and forth between them and EVERYTIME he passed me, he yelled something like "Go Camille", "You are Awesome", or "You are rocking this Camille, you can do this". He was much appreciated!

The following picture was taken about mile 20/21

At mile 22 I was still holding strong and happy as a clam (seriously, I was so excited and happy... I don't know how many aid station volunteers commented to me that they were surprised to see someone that had gone X amount of miles still smiling, but I was. )

I SPRINTED to the finish. Yep, some how I still had the energy. Brandon didn't get pictures of me crossing the finish because they just barely got there in time. Apparently he was also running to the finish line when he heard the announcer say "Here comes number 798 making a sprinting finish. Somehow she still saved enough energy to make a strong finish". He said he didn't have to look, he knew it was me and though "oh great, I didn't get the picture". ha ha! But Bethany took pictures, so hopefully I'll get those posted soon. I didn't look at the clock as I ran past, so I had to wait for the website to post the times. I finished it in 5 hours 21 minutes 58 seconds!

Here I am with the best cheerleaders ever.
Me and my runner partner in crime, Bethany. Bethany did amazing too. I convinced her to do this marathon with me, and I think she was probably cursing me after running all those hills. Hopefully she will forgive me. :o)
And here I am with the best husband in the world. He is awesome, and I'm so spoiled. I couldn't have done this without him.
Did I mention, I ran a MARATHON!?!

"Snow Days"

It may not have been a real snow day, but there were a few days last week that were so cold that mom declared it a snow day at the Smithson house. Now what to do on a snow day???

We started by building a tent!

The tent was a huge hit! And of course, we had to have a picnic in our tent, so we got out all Melanie's food toys and went to town.

Then the girls decided some good 'ole fashion jumping on the bed was a necessary fun for the snow day. I caught them in the action. (and then gave them strict guidelines, I know, no fun, right?)

Once daddy got home, it was Puzzle Time! Melanie is the puzzle master, so she helped daddy and I put together the 100 piece solar system puzzle. Noelle played the adversary and had the role of taking it apart as fast as we were making it. It made for an extra challenge.

It was a fun couple of snow days, but I have to admit, I'm happy that it was warm enough to play outside today. :o)

A Tuesday Afternoon

A good friend of mine posted the question "what does your Tuesday morning look like" on her blog. Well... Tuesday morning went too fast... but I really enjoyed Tuesday afternoon.

We spent a lot of time in the backyard. Noelle loves the backyard. She can play out back for hours. You will typically see her holding a flag or a ball, sometimes even both.

I did a lot of thinking out back today. I'm so happy that I live somewhere where I can still have a garden in the winter. Right now there are people shoveling snow to get there cars out to go to work while their kids are stuck at home because it's a snow day, and here I am playing out back with my kids and admiring my garden. I am certainly looking forward to eating this broccoli (which I planted as a seed. I still am fascinated about how that works).
I have more bell peppers than I know what to do with. I have started cutting them into strips and freezing them if I don't have something planned for them right away.

My favorite thing to do with the girls during our out door play time is to pick a carrot as a snack. We all go out to the garden and choose one. I think we choose a good one today.

Yesterday it rained. I asked Melanie if she knew what the rain would bring. She said "Spring". Well, I think she was right. I found flowers in my tree today. I think spring is on it's way.

We pretended to be bugs today. I was a Lady Bug, Melanie was a butterfly, and Noelle was a bumble bee. It was a lot of fun. We decided we should make some bugs for the garden.

Here is one of the two lady bugs we made. I think they are cute!

So, it might not look too exciting, but my Tuesday afternoon was definitely fun. What did yours look like?

Another Helper in the Kitchen

6 hands in the kitchen are better than 4. At least that's what I thought when I got an extra helper making cookies on Sunday. Noelle is finally big enough to help.

Both girls got turns putting all the ingredients into the pot.
(I love the following picture, too cute!)

And both girls got a turn mixing.

Even mom got a turn.

Thank you girls, you were both great helpers.

(Just in case anyone is concerned that I have them at the stove, the stove wasn't actually on yet. I did let them see what it looked like while it was boiling, but in a way that ensured they didn't get burnt. Then they both helped with the oatmeal, peanut butter, and vanilla part... along with the scooping, freezing, and eating part.) yum!