A New Do

Yesterday Taylor and I were looking at a scrapbook and she was reminded of her shorter haircut from a year ago. She decided she wanted chin-length hair again and I didn't trust myself to do it. So today we walked down the street to get a haircut. I told the woman to cut it just below the chin. I wonder if she spoke English. What we got was a much shorter do but fortunately Taylor didn't seem to mind, in fact, she seems very happy with it.

The Bed

Back in July or August, my dad said he'd build us a bed patterned after the one he built for himself and my mom. It's a great design with storage underneath and in the headboard. The bed is mostly done now and it was a lot of work! I helped my dad for three straight days on this project. I mostly held boards, handed tools, double checked his calculations and deciphered his vague directions like, "Hand me that." Mom worked just as hard by watching the kids, doing dishes, cooking, mending my clothes, and taking Taylor to preschool. My parents came down here for a vacation of sorts and now I think being home will feel like a vacation (except that my mom is subbing Friday and all next week--sorry Mom). Thanks for all the hard work. We love the bed.



The bed is a bit high but we wanted to make room for Peter's guitars.
We ran out of time and didn't make the headboard but Dad will make that later and bring it down on their next visit. That's the plan anyway.

Not So Green

We cut down one of our three Camellia trees last weekend. The plan is to plant a white nectarine in its place. I told Peter I didn't have a good feeling about it; there's just something wrong about cutting down a healthy tree right? Well, the tree got back at us. It was growing on top of an old rusty water pipe which we of course broke at three in the afternoon. Fortunately a guy from our ward was able to come help us fix the problem. He and Peter were out "playing" in the mud in the dark but by the girl's bedtime the pipe was cut and capped.

Going Green

I've often fantasized about riding my bike to the grocery store with kids in tow and I finally did it today. First we went to the park and on the way home we stopped by Safeway to do a little shopping. I had to lock my bike and stroller to a table in front of the store since they didn't have any other place for bikes. Pulling the kids and groceries (including two gallons of milk) wasn't that difficult except for getting going again after stopping at the red lights. I'm sure I supplied some comic relief to the onlookers in their cars.

Signs of Spring

We had an unusual week of frosty mornings a few weeks ago and now it's in the 70s every day. It feels like spring. The flowers think so too.

Peter's Projects

We had such a beautiful weekend and spent a lot of time outside. We let the chickens out one at a time to roam the yard. They're getting more and more friendly--although this one seems rather uncomfortable in my hands.

We got a Teak Patio furniture set off of Craigslist a few weeks ago and have cleaned it and oiled it so it looks like new--Peter did most of the work. The middle leaf folds in so it won't always be this big.

Peter got some scion wood from our local nursery and has tried his hand at grafting; we'll be interested to see if any of his grafts take.

A Cold Day at the Zoo

We went to the Oakland Zoo today with our friends Lisa and Mia. We thought the fog would clear up and that it would be sunny like yesterday but it was cloudy and cold. That didn't slow down the kids. They had a great time even though their little hands were freezing.

So Sweet

While we had company, Lauryn slept in our bed to make room for everyone. We're happy to have our space back but apparently Lauryn's not too excited about it. We just found her up in Taylor's bed. Before they went to sleep I could hear Taylor singing to Lauryn. I wonder at what point Lauryn climbed up to the top bunk to join her sister.

Grumpy

Taylor pouts like her mom.

Crazy Hair

It's cold in our house in the morning. The girls like to sit in front of the vent in the dining room. Doug took some really cute pictures of Lauryn.

An Amazing Toy

Have you seen these? Doug and Heidi got this for Taylor for Christmas. We have no idea how it works, but it does. It's amazing!

Speed Belt

I'm training for an 18-mile trail run and ultimately I'd like to run a marathon in the spring. Yesterday I went on my longest run so far, 16 miles. See, this is why I had to get a fuel belt. When the lady at the running store found out that I had done a 14-miler without water or other food she was shocked. I admitted that I tend to run out of energy after an hour or so. My first run with the belt was two weeks ago, 14 miles. This was my experience:

About 25 minutes into the run I realized my leg was wet. I discovered that the cap on my water bottle was loose and I had lost about 4 oz of water to the back of my shorts. I hadn't noticed because it was freezing outside; I think my legs were numb.

Eating was very awkward. I had brought these chewy things made by powerbar. They sounded more appetizing than gu; however, I couldn't chew, swallow, run, and breath at the same time. That will take some practice and getting used to. My body felt weird after refueling but once the crampiness was gone (after I drank lots of water) I did have more energy and felt good.

Yesterday's run was better because I didn't lose any water. I brought a gu pack to try instead of the chewy things. The gu was much easier to ingest but my body felt terrible for about 5 minutes afterward, even with all the water I drank. I should have brought something else along because about 2 or 3 miles from home I was out of energy again. On both runs I put an unsweetened electrolyte drink in one of my bottles. Yuck. It tastes just like the paste we used to use in kindergarten. I need a high-energy inexpensive snack that's easy to eat and won't cause me to cramp. Any ideas?