Bring on Boston!!

This is my first blog entry, but since I know Darc would never put anything about herself on here, I felt the need to inform her loyal followers of the level of awesomeness she displayed yesterday at the Newport Marathon.

Darcee finished her first Marathon in 3 hours and 31 minutes, earning her a qualifying spot at the Boston Marathon in 2011. To put that in perspective, she ran 26.2 miles and averaged about 8 minutes per mile. I have been running a little bit too. I average 10 minutes per mile when I go on my long runs of about 3 miles. Darc ran 26.2 miles at an 8 minute clip. This should clear up any questions about why I don't run with her.

Her time of 3:31 was good enough to place 4th in her division and 11th overall out of about 300+ women in the race. I haven't done the official math yet, but I believe her time puts her in the top 40 of all 800+ runners in the race, men included. Did I mention this was her first marathon? Did I also mention that she had a baby 8 months ago and has trained relentlessly through the cold and rainy Portland winter, despite averaging 5-6 hours a night of sporadic sleep?

For those that care, I'll give you the play by play. Thanks to Emily and Grandpa and Grandma Burnett for staying with the kids, Darc and I were able to go over to Newport on Friday evening so that Darc could relax a little bit before the race started the next morning.

The race started at 7am in Yaquina Bay State Park on a beautiful crystal clear morning on the Oregon coast.

Darc was pretty nervous throughout the week, but by the time the race started, she had her game face on and was ready to take it to the streets of Newport.

Darc ran hard and fast from start to finish, undoubtedly being inspired by the "Marathon Mix" iPod playlist that I created for her the night before. Michael Jackson's "Beat It" was the lead off song. I knew there was a risk of her starting too fast with a lead off song with that much power, but it was a risk I was willing to take. She managed to control the fury and keep her pace over the entire race.

This guy, like many others, was wishing she'd controlled the fury a little more, since she passed him at mile 17 like he was standing still. I heckled him as she went past, "hey, 833, that's my wife that just passed you!" "This is her first marathon!" "She has 3 kids at home, including an 8 month old!" "What's your excuse?"

I'm kidding, there was no verbal heckling, the look of shame on his face said enough. I'll send him this picture though and tell him not to be ashamed since Darc beat most of the other men in the race too and that making Darcee's highlight reel should be considered an honor. Seriously though, can you believe this girl had run 17 miles at this point?

Darc kicked it into high gear after mile 17 and made up ground on a lot of the weaker runners in the race. She proudly told me after the race that nobody passed her after mile 15, but that between miles 15-26, she passed a lot of the women (and men) who had started out ahead of her.

I knew she had to get in before 3:40 to qualify for Boston, so as the clock crossed 3:30 I started to get really nervous. I hadn't seen her since mile 17 and was worried that she may have suffered a setback at the tail end of the race. Much to my relief, she came across the finish line at 3:31 to the raucous cheers of her fan club (Me, Cole, Keith, Ally, Grandpa and Grandma Burnett, Clint, Julie, Wee Man, and Buck and Emily). It was so great to have them down to cheer her on. Not only did it mean a lot to Darcee, but they were all so much help with the kids so that I could focus on being Darcee's coach, mentor and inspiration (I'm sure Darc would use those same words to describe me).

Anyway, after crossing the finish the line, Darcee still had the energy to snap photos with me and the kids.

Darc will undoubtedly be embarassed by my shameless bragging, but I honestly could not have been prouder of her today and can't wait to watch her run in the historic Boston Marathon next April.

What happened to May?

I truly don't know where the month of May went. You would think time would drag considering the entire Pacific Northwest has been encompassed in an eternal, bucket-pouring rain cloud, but yet another month has zipped by us.

Brent took Keith and Cole on their first Father and Son campout with our ward. They had a blast and actually slept. It must have been the magic of the Woody and Buzz sleeping bags.

Ally has mastered berry-eating, stair-climbing and cruising. I often find her peering at me triumphantly from the top of the stairs...

Aunt Syd came for a much, much needed visit. We chatted, ate and shopped as only Smart girls know how to do. I miss you, Syd! Come back!!!

And for Memorial Day Weekend, we fit in some R and R in between eating and more eating. Katie and Jenny even made an Ally Sandwich, which of course she loved. :)

Here's Ally with her favorite babysitters. Emily (far right) will be Ally's aunt this August. We are so lucky. Emily is just as beautiful inside as out--seriously, I'm not just saying that. We can't wait for her to be part of the family! Maybe then we'll let her re-negotiate her babysitting fee. :)

The rest of the weekend was fun, too. Cousin Caden and the boys couldn't get enough bubbles.






There is some evidence that Caden preferred K and C's chocolate milk to the bubbles. I caught him red handed with not one, but both stolen sippies. I think he just couldn't decide. Good choice, buddy. :)

Here we go, June...Ready or not.

It's Not Mother's Day Anymore

There are several reasons why I am acutely aware that it is NOT Mother's Day anymore. Let me highlight a few...

1. Keith and Cole got up an hour earlier than usual.

2. I changed 7 diapers (5 of which were poopy) before morning snack time. (Unless I'm running a daycare, that seems like an unfair statistic.)

3. I found my toothbrush buried in a pile of whiskers dumped out of Brent's electric razor.

4. I later found my toothbrush being used to "clean" our office chair.

5. I cleaned up a mountain of spilled rice and a broken bowl off the kitchen floor.

6. I cleaned half a tube of trial-size toothpaste out of the carpet and off Ally's face.

7. I didn't get a run in this morning. (That is never a good start to my day.)

8. Ally refused to take a morning nap.

9. I have innumerable loads of laundry calling my name. I'm obviously still ignoring them.

10. My bedroom floor currently looks like this. The fact that I have been avoiding the task of crawling into the attic to return the Easter stuff caught up with me today when Cole discovered it so neatly tucked away in a corner of my room. He did ask before getting all of it out and I didn't have the strength to say 'no'. I guess now I just need the strength to clean it up...

(That's Keith in the picture.)

11. It's 1:16 in the afternoon and I haven't showered or brushed my teeth. (For obvious reasons, I might be forgoing the brushing teeth thing until I can round up a clean toothbrush or get to the store. The boys' latest obsession with "brushing" their teeth has depleted my once well-stocked toothbrush supply.)

I am in mourning. Perhaps because yesterday was such a perfect day, the typical chaos of today seems out of place when in fact, the chaos is exactly where it should be and always is: right here. Since the kids are too small to really recognize Mother's Day, the onus was upon Brent to make it special and he delivered on all accounts. I slept in, took my time getting ready for church (which meant my hair was washed and I did get to brush my teeth), ate a delicious breakfast, got a 2 1/2 hour nap (I know, pure indulgence), ate a mouth-watering BBQ meal, watched a movie and snuggled with the boys while Brent cleaned up and then I sat and read a pile of magazines: Competitor, Crate and Barrel, and Real Simple. The day could not have been more perfect.
If only every day was Mother's Day. Well, I'm just holding out for another 364 more days. Let the countdown begin.

The world as we know it

Yesterday while digging for worms in the backyard, Keith mentioned that the worms probably needed to eat. I told him that worms ate the dirt. He laughed at me and said, "No...worms don't eat dirt! They eat chocolate milk." How did I not know that?






















While watching General Conference last Sunday (for more information, go to http://www.lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html ) Cole said, "I don't want to watch the Church movie. The Church movie is boring." Awesome. We're already instilling such strong religious respect in our young children.



























Ally's latest news is that she has some sort of allergy to gluten, wheat or grains in general--we're not quite sure. Since we've cut all grains from her diet, her cheeks, chin and neck have cleared up significantly. Poor girl. How will any girl survive life without carbs? Hopefully she will grow out of it.

















G and G Smart visited last week for Spring Break. They spoiled everyone as usual. We had a blast at the Zoo (including a ride on the choo-choo train) and just plain hanging out.






BTW: Several people in public mention how much Ally looks like her Grandma. Seriously, when the 3 of us are anywhere, someone ALWAYS comments on how much Ally looks like my mom. I'm beginning to agree with them.