Coleman is 9!

Coleman over the years. He's so grown up!

My firstborn babe turns 9 today and I'm finding myself oddly emotional over it all. Where has the time gone?!  My sweet little baby is now my sweet not-so-little kiddo. I keep asking him to stop growing but he says he can't help it. :(  So, I guess all I can do is learn to appreciate right now. With that in mind, here are my top 10 favorite things about Coleman.

 

1. Coleman cares SO much about doing what's right.  He is determined to be the type of boy that his Heavenly Father wants him to be. He is always reminding us to pray and read our scriptures and is such a good example to us all.
2. Coleman will do anything for his little brother. From the time Cooper was a baby Coleman has shared everything with him. We remind Cooper often how lucky he is to have such a loving big brother.
3. Coleman is really creative and loves to write. He is constantly brewing up new ideas for scripts for movies, shows, etc.  And he is a very smart, witty writer. He loves when his stories make me laugh. And they do. Often.
4. Coleman is so affectionate. He gives me (and Dad and Cooper) several hugs and kisses throughout the day. This morning he told me that he doesn't care what he gets for his birthday as long as he has Mom, Dad and Cooper. This boy has his priorities straight! :)
5. Coleman has an amazing mind. I would just love to step inside his brain for just a moment to see how it all works.  He never forgets anything! And some subjects (ie. tv and movie ratings) he knows all the way down to the tiniest detail. It's fascinating.
6. I don't even remember the last time Coleman got in trouble. He seriously does everything I ask, when I ask.  He doesn't lollygag or second guess me.  Such an obedient lad. :)
7. This boy will eat ANYTHING. There is nothing that he won't try. He loves sushi, smoked salmon, and his grandmother's HOT Thai food. He is the easiest kid to cook for. I can make anything I want without a second thought as to if he'll eat it or not.
8. Coleman is always putting others needs ahead of his own and this quality makes him a great friend.  
9. Coleman is never afraid to be himself. He is who he is, he likes what he likes. And he doesn't try and change himself for anyone. I love this about him!
10. Coleman is a kind, sweet and an amazing boy! I'm so blessed to be his mom and there's not a day that goes by that I don't remind myself of that.

Happy birthday to my sweet boy! I love you, Coleman!

Love, Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year! It's 2011, y'all!

I posted to this blog a total of 3 times this past year. 3! Did I have more than 3 great family memories this year? Absolutely! Did I drop the ball when it came to documenting all these great memories? Well, not exactly. I post pictures on Facebook all the time with notes about what we've been up to BUT I need to get blogging again. So, New Year's resolution #1 is to blog at least 2-3 times a month on the family blog.

Before going any further into my goals for 2011, let's see how I did on last year's goals. Here are the goals I wrote out last Dec.31st. (and how I did on each goal in parentheses).

• Running goals: first marathon (1/9/10!), 5k in less than 24 min, 10k in less than 50 min, and a half-marathon in less than 1hr55min.  All will require some work but all are totally attainable. (I'm really proud of how I did on this one. I finished my first marathon on Jan. 9th of this year. Check! I PRed at the Pony Express 5k in June with a time of 23:23! Check! And also PRed at the Halloween Half with a time of 1:50:46! Check! The only 10k I ran was an obstacle course in the mud so no PRs there but I think under 50 is totally doable.)
• Be at church on time at least 90% of the time. This one will be difficult since church starts at 9:00am this year and I made it to church on time, oh, about 5% of the time when church started at 1:00pm.  Now's a great time to figure out a new Sunday morning regimen that will help us to be more prompt. (I did really pitifully on this one and it really needs to change. We only made it to church on time about a handful of times in 2010. I just can't seem to get it together!)
  
•  Read my scriptures everyday. My reading has been inconsistent and I need to make sure that I read, even if just a little, everyday. (I did pretty well on this one. Even when I didn't have time to read a chapter, I read a verse or two. I can definitely do better, though.)
•  Do something nice for someone everyday. Make cookies, write a letter, pay a compliment- be creative and be personal.  Surprise people with a nice gesture. Love this one and I'm thinking I'll get the whole family involved. (Check! Well, I didn't really keep track but it seems that there are always opportunities to do something nice for someone, especially at home. Always a great goal, though.)
• Play in a mixed doubles tennis tournament with hubster.  This year, I'm not letting this one beat me. There is a local tournament every year in June and this year I'll be the first to sign up! (Oh!!! I let it beat me again! In fact, I think I only picked up a racquet maybe 3-4 times this year. Just been running so much and tennis has taken a back seat. I really miss it, though!)
  
• Lastly, I wasn't even sure that I'd add this one this year, but I do need to lose a few pounds. To be totally honest, marathon training has led me down a path of, well, over-carbing and I'd like to be back to feeling like myself by spring. So, my last goal is to lose, hmm, let's say 10 pounds and get back to weight-training and feeling light and spry again. (Ugh. I should have trusted my instincts on this one. I did not lose 10 pounds but I have lost and gained and all-in-all pretty much stayed the same. Not such a bad thing. My health goals will be different this year.)

So,  what do I want to do this year?  Time to set some new goals!

My 2011 Goals

• Running goals: 5k in less than 23 minutes, half-marathon in less than 1:50 and two more full marathons.  Also, at least 1000 miles for the year. Hmm, yep, that'll do.
• Volunteer goals: Work on getting the Utah County Chapter of Train4Autism up and running. Get at least a team of 20 together for the Utah Valley Marathon (full, half, or 5k.) Excited to see where this goal takes me this year.  I should get lots of opportunities to have booths at different venues. Will be fun.
• Health goals: Focus on eating more "clean." Make meal plans every week focusing on healthy ingredients. I actually do pretty well at this most the time. Lately, we've been eating out a little more, though,  and I want to make sure that doesn't become a habit, even when things get busy.
• Personal goals: Will and I are teaching in primary at church this year and the theme for the year is "I Know the Scriptures are True." My goal is to strengthen my own testimony of the scriptures by reading everyday, personally and with my family. I know that this goal will not only enrich my life but also my children and the kids in my class at church. Gotta love that!
• Blogging goals: It's obvious that I need to be better about documenting our family adventures. So, as I mentioned already, my goal is to update this blog at least 2-3 times a month. 
• Parenting goals: Plan an activity with each boy once a week.  I want more one-on-one time with the boys, especially Coleman, so I'm going to make it a priority to plan special activities so that they both get individual time with Mommy.

I'm thinking those are some good starter goals. I'll add more if I think of any later. Happy New Year! And good luck with your goals this year!

Friends in Need...are friends indeed!

Friday afternoon, Will came home and told me that we were going to spend Saturday morning volunteering. He had called United Way and found a place that we could take the boys and do some much needed work.  My first thought- "What about my long run?" (Selfish, but true.) He told me to go on my run and not to worry about volunteering.  He would take the boys.  Uh. Yeah right.  I can't bear when my family does anything without me and to do service without me?!  Absolutely no way I could deal with the guilt. After all, I guess I could run later in the day. So, I tapped into his enthusiasm and we headed out Saturday morning to Friends in Need Animal Rescue.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Karen, who founded the place along with her husband.  She gave us brushes and let us get in with the pygmy goats and brush them.  The boys and I were really excited to bond with the little goats but Will asked if he could just brush them from outside the gate. Too funny. After everyone laughed at him, he realized that maybe that was a silly notion and he, quite uncomfortably, came in with us. Here we are letting the goats get used to us being in there with them.

Coleman loved the goats.  There was one little goat, Annie, that loved being brushed.   Many of the animals at this animal rescue had been neglected and mistreated in the past so it was so great to be able to spend some time with them and show them a little attention.

After our time with the goats, Karen put us to work painting a couple of their new animal enclosures.  The boys worked hard and without complaining. I was really proud of them. The geese were honking away at us while we worked and Coleman said they were saying "Thank You" because we were painting their houses. I like to think so, too.

 This first one was going to be used in the goat enclosure.

This one was built for the doves.

Cooper took his work very seriously. And no complaining! That's a first for him. :)

  

So, am I glad I skipped my run to go and volunteer at Friends in Need? Absolutely! A wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning. We were blessed to see the wonderful work they do there and already have plans to go back this Thursday!

Our 2nd annual Disneyland trip!

Now that we've gone twice- it's considered a tradition, right? Well, I love this new tradition! Once again, we had such a blast soaking up the sun in Southern California. And once again, we took advantage of every second of this week long trip. Here is a Disneyland 2010 Top 10!

1. The most memorable moment of the whole trip, for us and the boys alike, was the Jedi Training Academy. Cooper had talked about nothing else the entire time leading up to the trip.  He knew that he was destined to be a Jedi. And we were going to have to make it happen. He would need to be picked out of the crowd to participate so we figured our best bet would be to go to the first show of the day. So, we did. And guess what? He wasn't picked.  So we came back an hour later for the second show. This time, the Jedi must have felt the force was strong in our family because both boys got picked!  They were so excited.  Here's little Cooper getting suited up. He was all business.

 And Coleman ready for training.

After being properly trained, the boys got a chance to fight Darth Vader himself!

We've now been home from this trip for 4 weeks and Cooper is still totally obsessed with everything Star Wars. Anything he can turn into a lightsaber, he does. Yesterday, it was a dowel rod from my cake decorating bin. The day before that, a mailing tube.  Before Disneyland, he had Jedi tendencies.  After, he is a Jedi master second only to Yoda.

2. This year, Grandma and Grandpa Verburg accompanied us to SoCal.  It was so fun to have them there with us!  Not to mention, really nice to actually be able to go on a couple "grown-up" rides while they watched the boys. God bless grandparents!  Here are some cute shots with Grandma and Grandpa. Love them! I am blessed with amazing in-laws!

3. One of the first things Coleman said after getting to Disneyland- "I love my life!"  And he said it so emphatically!  He really meant it.  Makes a mom and dad feel really great!  We got treated to this fun mantra a couple more times on this trip, too.

4. You may know that Will is training for his first MMA amateur fight but you wouldn't guess it to see how much of a wimp he is on rides.  Case in point-

 scared on Tower of Terror

scared on Space Mountain

really scared on Splash Mountain (this one may be a bit of a stretch)

missing from this photo because he was too scared to get on the Ferris Wheel

But don't worry, he eventually found something that was more his speed...

5. What in the world did we eat to fuel all this fun while we were at Disneyland, you ask?  Well, we ate our weight in turkey legs, of course!  The turkey legs are amazing and we convinced ourselves they were health food and provided us plenty of protein to fuel our muscles so we ate plenty!  At $8 each they were not cheap but what is at Disneyland?!

Notice the grease smudge in the middle of our "sharing" pic?  Oh yeah! Health food! Ha ha!

6.  Speaking of food, this year we took a mental health day while in SoCal and ventured away from the park and out into the real world.  We spent a leisurely day at the Asian mall in Little Saigon and at the LA Farmers Market.  I think both of these places are going to part of our yearly itinerary from now on.  Just look at all the yummy food we bought that day!  Asian, Cajun and French food + treats from the bakery and chocolate shop. Oh man!  It's a wonder I didn't gain more weight than I did that week!

7. Coleman has turned into our very own Forrest Gump as of lately.  From being in a magazine to having his name used in a book by his favorite author, this kid just always seems to be in the spotlight without ever really trying to be (or caring to be).  It cracks me up how apathetic he is about it all. That being said, it was no surprise that, on this trip to Disney, Coleman won the Screamer of the Day Contest at the Monster's Inc. ride that allowed us to be first on the ride and first to ride anytime we wanted to the rest of the day.  Go Coleman!  This kid is a stud!

8.  Last year, we decided to hit the beach for one day and we were thrilled to have beautiful, warm weather.  We frolicked at the beach and soaked up the sun.  This year? Well, yes we still frolicked but it was tepid frolicking.  A little too cool to spend much time in the water but we walked along the boardwalk and went to lunch at The Crab Cooker so still a fantastic day!

9. Will and I ran in a half-marathon in Vegas on the way back to Utah- check that report out HERE!

10. To see any other pics that you didn't see here, check out my photo album.

There you go! At long last, the Disneyland blog post!  I'm apparently running about a month behind but it's Spring Break so I'm hoping to catch up.  Hope everyone is having a fantastic Easter!