I actually won something!

I always feel really unlucky when it comes to winning prizes. But around Mother's Day, Tom entered me into a drawing for some Mother's Day raffle prizes at a store. And I won! My prize was 12 freshly baked cream cheese cinnamon rolls (delivered to our home) from Montana Wheat Bakery and Deli! We finally got around to picking up the certificate and redeeming it. So, this morning at 7:30 our cinnamon rolls were delivered. Much to our dismay, THEY WERE ENORMOUS! I don't know if you can really tell how huge they are from the photo. And there are 12 of them! Tom and I both ate one whole cinnamon roll for breakfast.....if you ever get these cinnamon rolls, do NOT attempt to eat a whole one by yourself. We were feeling very sick afterwards! But they were SO good! We knew we couldn't finish 12 of them by ourselves so Tom took a bunch of them to work today. What a great breakfast... even if we did feel a little sick from all the sugar!

Preschool Grad

Jordyn graduated from preschool yesterday! They had a cute program for the families. The photo below is Jordyn and her friend, Wayne, singing Old McDonald Had a Farm. Jordyn started to get mad if her aide tried to sit her in the chair... so she sang her song standing up! It was cute.

Jordyn receiving her "diploma".

Her class had caterpillars and watched them turned into butterflies. They got to release the butterflies yesterday while we were there.

Jordyn watching the butterflies being set free.

Jordyn helped me make these cute cards for her teachers and for her bus drivers. I think I got the hand print idea from my sister Jenny. We did something similar for Jordyn's teachers in Spokane when we moved. The front is Jordyn's hand print and then you just turn it over and the picture of Jordyn is on the back. (I wish I could have printed Jordyn's photo in color but I ran out of color ink!) Then I laminated the cards. I like to do the hand prints because then they know that Jordyn really did help me with it and it's a little more meaningful!

Farmer's Market

Today was a great day to check out the Farmer's Market in downtown Boise. The weather was perfect! We decided that this was the best Farmer's Market we have been to so far. They had a TON of booths and most of it was really neat stuff. For the rest of the day we were trying to think of something WE could sell at the market... still can't think of anything! Carter and Evan have both been sick with colds the past few days. We actually had to take Carter to the ER on Thurs. night because he was wheezing really bad. They gave him a breathing treatment at the hospital and some meds. for home. He is doing much better now! Evan was not feeling too great today either. But, we decided to get out of the house anyway. He just rode around in the stroller and didn't really do too much. I think he still had fun! Click on the photo below to see our day.

Just a quick update on Jordyn's reflux problem. I can't really remember where I left off. She had an upper GI and they found out she has Eosinophilic Esophagitis. You can click on the link and read about it if you want. It is most commonly caused by a food allergy. So, now we are going to see an allergist. If they find that she is allergic to something, then she can be totally cured of throwing up! We can't get into anyone until the end of June...so MORE waiting. It's SO frustrating having to wait so long to find a solution. We've been referred to a few different doctors for her throwing up and then you have to wait a month or more to get in to see any of them! I think we have been seeking a solution to her throwing up since January or early February! If they find she isn't allergic to anything... then she has to be on a certain medication for a really long time and we'll just have to deal with the throwing up until the meds help her. So, we are actually hoping they just find something she is allergic to. I can't say enough how TIRED we are of Jordyn throwing up. We know it's not Jordyn's fault but, you can probably imagine how annoying it gets. We have to take extra clothes everywhere we go (and I do a ton of laundry!) and she wears a bib at home and in the car almost all of the time. She's also lost 2 lbs in the past month or two... so we also have to try a few tricks the doctor told us about to get her to gain weight back. I can't wait for this problem to be fixed!

Farmer's Market

Race Photos

Here's a link to the photos taken during the race. I think every race photo I have EVER seen of myself, I look like I'm power walking! I must not pick my feet up very high when I run. And of course I always think I look like a nerd too.... but who actually likes those photos anyway?!

http://www.backprint.com/view_user_event.asp?PID=bp%18%7ED&EVENTID=38117&PWD=&BIB=285

Weekend Update With The Bybee's

We had a busy and fun weekend! Friday night Tom and Evan went to our ward's father/son camp out at a hot springs nearby. They ate good food, swam a lot, and drove home late Friday night. Tom said that Evan was a little afraid of the water and would only stay near the stairs and splash around!

The Famous Idaho Potato Marathon started on Saturday at 8:00. I was pretty worried about getting too hot because the high was supposed to be 93! (it did reach 93... a RECORD high!) But, I just dumped water on my neck the whole time to try and keep cool. I felt like the first 7 miles went really well. I kept a good pace, felt really good, and the time flew by. Then after that, it got much harder as you can guess. It felt hotter, I was getting really tired, and the time felt like it was going slower! But, all in all it went really well and I'm so glad I did it! I really do love the whole race atmosphere... hearing everyone talk "running" talk, checking out everyone's gear and clothing, and being able to run with so many people around you. I don't have my "official" race time yet, but I think my Garmin is pretty accurate... or at least within a few seconds. My time was 2 hrs. 15 min. and 48 second. Yes, I missed my goal time by 9 seconds! I really started to speed up the last few minutes because I could tell that the time would be close. Then I could see the finish clock and was pretty much all out sprinting trying to make it across the line in time! Even though I missed it, I didn't really care too much. I can confidently say that I was running as fast as I could the whole time! One part of the race was near a golf course and a golf ball flew right in between me and a runner in front of me! It had to have been about one foot away from hitting me.... close call! At the end of the race they gave away bags of potatoes to the winners in each age group (I bet they were so proud) and even had baked potatoes to eat (I passed on those thank you very much!). They even had a person dressed up in a funny potato mascot costume. Evan was totally scared of it. Sadly, I don't have many photos of our weekend. Tom was hurrying out the door to get to the race on time and forgot to grab the camera. I'll post a link to the race photos when they post them online. Just for fun... here are the stats from my Garmin on each mile of the race:
Mile 1- 10:01
Mile 2- 9:55
Mile 3- 9:54
Mile 4- 9:48
Mile 5- 10:07
Mile 6- 10:11
Mile 7-10:09
Mile 8- 10:27
Mile 9- 10:26
Mile 10- 10:46
Mile 11- 11:06
Mile 12- 10:52
Mile 13- 10:24

Saturday afternoon we went to our Stake Cultural Arts Show. People from the stake could display their hobbies/talents for everyone to look at. They had some really cool stuff. Some people were professionals (photography, woodworking, art, etc.) and others were amateur, but still pretty impressive! It made me start thinking that I need to have cooler hobbies! They had live performances throughout the event and we watched a group that played somewhat of a bluegrass sounding music. They were actually really good!

Saturday night Jordyn went to her first birthday party! I was so excited when she got the invitation and had been wondering when she would get invited to her first party. It was a boy who's in her class at school and her class at church. You could tell he was SO excited to invite Jordyn. Most of the kids at the party were his relatives so we were flattered that he chose Jordyn to come too. His dad told me that he talks about Jordyn all the time and once said that when he grows up Jordyn is going to be his wife! Haha too cute! Jordyn had fun watching the kids, playing games, and eating cake and ice cream.

Next American Idol?

Evan has a funny habit. Every week when American Idol comes on, he has to take all the couch cushions off and dance on the couch. I don't know if he thinks it's his "stage" or what he's doing! Or it could be because it's really fun and "springy" to jump on the couch with no cushions. And now he loves to sing... esp. in church & always during American Idol. He doesn't sing actual words, just some random tune. Last night, while watching American Idol, he picked up from one of the singers that you should close your eyes when you're singing and really into it. So, check out the video below to see the next American Idol!



Jordyn had her last field trip of the year to Settler's Park. (She only has 2 more weeks of school for the year! Well, she is going to a month of summer school too.) We met her class their and joined the fun. It was really windy, which I hate, but we survived. I think this might be the 100th photo we have of Jordyn in these swings! Oh well... she loves them!

Can't get enough pictures of cute little Carter! He's started blowing raspberries and babbling a lot this week. Below: Evan "body surfing" Carter... again!

Running Update

Well, I reached a milestone today. I ran 12 miles... the farthest I have ever run! Before I had Carter I had worked my way up to 11 miles and then stopped. So, I was pretty happy today. My half marathon is exactly one week away! I'm pretty excited! I've decided to set a goal time for race day. I went back and forth on this decision, but I've finally decided to bite the bullet and post my goal time. (which means I REALLY have to meet my goal) I want to run faster than 2 hours 15 min. 39 sec. You're probably thinking,"Wow that is a really specific goal!" Well, it just happens to be Chris' best half marathon time! RAhhahahaha (evil laugh)! Yes, I will beat Chris. It's actually a great goal time and very close to my avg. pace. So, check back to see if I can do it!

I was checking out my Garmin Forerunner software and looking at all of my running stats for the past 4 months. It was pretty interesting. When I started running 4 miles during the week (I always run 4 miles a few times during the week and then farther on Saturdays), back in early March, my time was 45:48. Just last week my best time was 39:09! Talk about improvement!

The trail along the river where I run sometimes. I don't think it's quite that green right now.

My cool new hydration pack. After obsessively researching hydration options, I just went out and bought one! It actually seemed like a really great choice (It's an Amphipod in case you runner's out there are wondering) and I like it so far. It's kind of funny because when I get ready to go running, I feel like I spend about 10 min. getting all of my "gear" on!

Need something to do?

Check out these blogs from my family and friends for something fun to do:

1. My brother-in-law Chris has been nominated for the Best of Sports Blog Award! You can go to the website and check out the different categories and their nominees too. And be sure to vote for Chris' blog under the sports category!

2. My sister Jenny is raising money and participating in "Take Steps for Chrohn's and Colitis" in June. Check out her blog...you only have to donate $5 to help her reach her goal. Wouldn't it be awesome if she raised a whole bunch of money. And don't you feel great when you donate for a great cause? (Now that I've plugged both of their blogs, I'm expecting a really awesome birthday present this year. Ha!)

3. If you can believe it....Tom has a new blog post!!! It's a miracle. So, check it out because it may be the last one for awhile!

4. One of our friend's posted a typing test on their blog the other day. Tom and I are addicted. We've been trying over and over to get better scores. So, take the test and see how you do. Another fun thing to do is have someone cover up the bottom part of the screen so you can't see the words you are typing...then see how well you do and tell us your score. Oh, and try to beat the Haslam's score of 106 wpm.... amazing!!! (the link for the test is down below)

74 words

Speed test

Haircut

This weekend we took Evan to get his first "real" haircut. He did great and just sat there the whole time! We've buzzed his hair off a few times ourselves, but I wasn't liking that look anymore. So, we decided to have someone who knew what they were doing cut it. The photo above is before and the photo below is after. Doesn't it look SO much better!? I think his "before & after" photos look like those makoever photos you see all the time. In the first photo they are frowning, have no makeup on, and have messy hair. In the second photo they are smiling and are all done up like a model. Of course they're going to look better in the second photo even if they hadn't gotten a makover. I think Evan looks way cute though!

I don't know if I can say it enough... Carter is so cute! I literally say that about 10 times a day... just ask Tom. I think he has the most beautiful eyes and the longest eye lashes. (sigh) You just want to squeeze his cheeks and kiss him to death!

We were having a little photo shoot the other night and got a pretty good photo of the kids together. It is so hard to get them all to cooperate! But we had fun taking pictures! I think Jordyn looks so proud to be a big sister!