So Mud Fun!

Adventure I
A few weeks ago, Brian participated (ran?) in the Iowa Mud Run--a 3 mile run through mud pits, crawling through tunnels, and hiking up probably the biggest hill Iowa has,and to top it off, instead of being the warm 70 degree weather it'd been for weeks, that day had a high of 50 degrees. Check it out.

Goofy dressing must have been part of the event , as Brian ran with his brothers, sisters-in-law, and good friends.

I Love those hot legs.

The girls were good sports when the boys ambushed them and dragged them through a giant puddle right before the finish line.

I "sacrificed" my fun by leaving the boys with Grandpa, while I ran and jumped around the mud pits to get some good photos of the event. Maybe next year I'll join in if weather permits, but I wasn't sorry to be bundled up in layers of clothes to stay warm while watching the runners shiver and turn purple.

Adventure II

While running around getting pictures, I remember hearing jingling in my pockets. After the run, we were in a hurry to get to the car so Brian could clean up and warm up. Hmmm. Suddenly, I couldn't find the car keys. Not in my pant pockets. Not in my coat pockets. Not in the stroller. Not in the parking lot. Not in the unlocked car. Hmmm. And we were 45 minutes from Brian's parents house where we were staying for the weekend. And 2 hours away from home, where our spare car key was.

Ahhh, talk about being frustrated with myself! How could I lose our keys (oh yeah, remember the jingling sound in my pocket? Apparently they jiggled out along the way...?) So, Brian (a seething look of frustration in his eyes, but a calm facade otherwise) and I (wanting to cry and just apologizing a lot) retraced ALL my steps around the race. Through the woods, the field of mud a foot deep, the parking lot, and finish line. No luck.

Finally, after an hour of looking, we gave up. Luckily Brian's dad volunteered to drive us back to Ames instead of him going straight to a meeting as was planned. Brian and I were discussing what to do: have the car towed to a dealer and pay the additional $100 for getting a key made --by the way, I hate how these new cars have such expensive keys, or having Brian drive back to Iowa City to get our spare, or have our spare overnighted to us by a friend with access to our house. Hmmm.

I got into Brian's dad's car and with a sigh of giving up, unzipped my coat, took it off, and unconciously stuck my hands in the front pocket of the hoodie I wore under my coat. And.....
There were the keys! I'd totally forgot that I was even wearing the hoodie under my coat, where I had stashed the keys before putting my coat on. AHHH!!! I don't know if my happiness/relief or my shock/feeling of idiocy were stronger. Suffice it to say, I was glad but felt dumb that ALL that time and effort had been wasted since I had the keys all the time. Oh, and the prayer I kept repeating in my mind to be able to find the keys? Answered. Just not in the way I expected.

Law and Order: Vehicle Victim Unit

Family X gets rid of Clunker Junker (Exhibit A)

Exhibit A

Family X buys new car (Exhibit B)

Exhibit B

Trusty Rusty (Exhibit C) gets demoted from primary family transportation to Hubby's commuter car.Exhibit C

2 Months Later:
Wife goes outside, sees new car has been victim of ruthless crime, screams for husband, and presents said husband with new car's graffiti: scratches all across passenger side of car (Exhibit D).

Exhibit D

Investigation begins: fingerprints taken, security tapes reviewed, and witnesses interviewed. No luck. Conclusion: Key evidence found in Exhibit E. Suspect and weapon apprehended. Suspect given house arrest and community service, with possibility of parole at age 18 for good behavior.

Exhibit E

Mystery Solved. Welcome into the Cheney family, Mr. Car.




In all actuality, when I found the scratches all over our new car, I called quickly for Brian to come look. He asked what happened and I told him about how apparently when Ethan was riding his bike next to the car the day before, a metal piece of the handle must have been scratching it! I was upset, but my wonderful husband just took a deep breath, shrugged it off, and said, "Well, these things happen. Good thing we won't be selling this car and needing a good resale value on it in the future." And a new rule of no riding bikes close to cars was implemented. Can I just say how thankful I am to have a husband who doesn't sweat the small stuff? He sees the big picture more often than I do, so I get good reminders like this once in a while that says , 'yeah, that stinks, but what can we do now? Let's prevent it in the future and move on without worrying about it.' Note to self: remember this when 16-year-old Ethan comes home having backed the family car up into a telephone pole.

The laughs that keep me going...

Previous to this photo:
Ethan playing on the couch, possibly intentionally, falls off.
I, as usual, ask, "Are you okay?" A "yes" will mean he goes back to playing and probably will repeat the stunt several times. A "no" usually results in me kissing his "owie" all better, and he still repeats the stunt several times.
"No, I hurt," he replies.
"Do you want me to kiss it all better?" (not knowing where he was hurt)
"No, Gavin kiss it all better. Here Gavin, kiss bum all better."
Poor little baby Gavin suddenly becomes victim to the situation while playing with toys on his tummy nearby.
Ethan promptly gets on his hands and knees, and backs up toward Gavin until his bottom smothers Gavin's face.
"Thanks kiss all better Gavin."


Yes Gavin. Thanks for taking one for the team.

Spring Fever

Winter Has Ice

Spring is Oh-So-Nice

I Can't Wait 'Til Summer!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

For me, this weekend was filled with fun. Gavin and I took a little trip to New Mexico as all my sisters (excluding Lindsey who just had twins, we missed her!) and mom got together for a quality, relaxing weekend. Though we were all together at Christmas, that can hardly be called a vacation because we were all running around trying to rein in 13 kids, and cooking for them and 15 adults.

The trip started quite bumpy as my flights got messed up when my plane had issues and i got rerouted from Chicago to go through Dallas, then on to Albuquerque, eating up a whole half day of the 2 1/2 days reserved for fun. The rest of the weekend was great though.

We ate lots of good food (I always have to try to fill my canteen with good Mexican food while i have a chance), did LOTS of crafting (wouldn't be a Lillywhite event without that), got Kaitlin all spiffied up for her Senior Prom, celebrated Alyssa's 30th birthday, watched a movie, had a couple visits with old friends, and kicked back and relaxed as we all imagined how our husbands were struggling to survive with the kids at home.

Hooray for good hubbies that are willing to take on the mommy-shift each year during a girls weekend!
And Hooray for having a great mom, great sisters, and great sisters-in-law, so we actually like getting together!

ps--coming home was good too. As Brian and Ethan met me and Gavin at the airport, Ethan took one look at me, and with a huge smile on his face, came running toward me at full speed. I was so excited to pick up my toddler in my arms and get a big fat kiss and hug. I was disappointed though, as Ethan was only a few feet away from me, he suddenly realized his little brother was sitting in the stroller I was pushing. I was promptly forgotten and Ethan ran up to Gavin to give HIM the big hug and kiss. Hmmm. At least he missed me the second-most, right after Gavin.

Happy Easter!

Easter celebration started a few weeks ago as Ethan colored some hard boiled eggs. He loved it and was even more excited to find out he got to decorate them more with markers and stickers. But it was quite traumatic a few days later as those beautiful eggs of his were used in a egg race at our ward's Easter celebration. His complete meltdown and tantrum on the stage added a lot to the festivities as I struggled to console him while juggling helping with the competitions and holding Gavin in my other arm. Poor Brian missed all the fun because he went to Boston for a wedding/roommate reunion!


Easter weekend was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Cheney's house. It was great to see them and to watch General Conference together. The predicted yucky weather turned into a slightly breezy beautiful weekend. The boys had a great time playing outside with "Bapa" Cheney.

Ethan took Gavin around for a stroll in the Radio Flyer. Pretty sure Gavin was confused on what was happening...

Hammock time!

Since Grandma's hair is growing back after the chemo, we decided maybe it was time for Gavin to wear Grandma's wig for a while since he's still kinda bald...

If only we could all live life like a two-year-old!

Messmaker making a mess

A Gavin Journal:
Rice cereal hasn't been very pretty. It's too hard to keep cereal in my mouth when my hand also wants to be there. So far, my hand has won the battle and out comes the cereal. It's funny to see Mom wishing for 3 hands as she struggles to hold down both my hands and also hold the bowl and spoon at the same time. Hehe, I'm pretty excited to carry on this stunt as she tries veggies this week. Of course, she has a hard time getting TOO frustrated when I pull such an innocent face.