Triathlon and dares...plus, you're invited.

River was the only one who wasn't surprised to see our family in the base newspaper this week. Our fam is in the middle of the picture below with the stroller.

Last Saturday Joe participated in the Base sprint (mini) Triathlon.
Here we are before it started getting instructions from the guy with the megaphone.

The race started early in the morning. I mean early, before 7 o'clock. I was a real trooper to go down there with all of the kids;). The race started so early I was half asleep when we left the house and forgot to bring the camera. My friend took some pictures for me, but she didn't get any pictures of the swimming or biking.
This was the first triathlon Joe has ever participated in. What made Joe do a triathlon? Good question. His very athletic boss told him that some of the guys from the squadron were going to do the triathlon and Joe should really think about signing up for it, you know, if he didn't want to be a sissie.
Joe worked really hard to be able to compete with the rest of the guys.
We were definitely excited to see Joe compete and to cheer him on.
Here are Joe and the boys before the race.
The swim was the first event. Check out the goggles.When the race was about to start I asked Joe if he was going to be able to do it. He told me, I guess we're about to find out.
Since this was Joe's first triathlon and he was using a friend's bike he was considered the underdog/first-timer.
This is Joe starting the run. It was the last event.

Here is Joe crossing the finish line.

Joe did a lot better than anyone thought, even himself. He finished the race before most of his friends. One of the guys from work thought that Joe must have skipped the run because he didn't think that Joe could have finished before he did. It was pretty cool. I was very proud of him and he was proud of himself for accomplishing something that he never thought he could do. He really enjoyed the triathlon and hopes that this was the first of many.

Speaking of Joe, have I ever mentioned that Ezra is a lot like Joe? Joe cannot resist a dare, and he is always thinking of dares for other people. I don't care about dares. Seriously, if you dare me to do something I'm not going to do it and I'm not going to feel bad for not doing it. This fact is frustrating to Joe and I, because I think dares are stupid and Joe thinks that dares are awesome. Joe also likes to see how much money it would take for me to do something, another form of a dare. My price is always much higher than Joe's price. Our conversation will usually go something like this.
Joe: How much money would you give me if I ran outside and rolled around in the snow in just my underwear?
Joan: Zero dollars and zero cents.
Joe: How much money would it take for you to roll around in the snow in just your underwear?
Joan: A million dollars.
Joe: A million your crazy! I would do it for ten dollars.(or some other low number)
We have probably had this conversation a million times since we've been married.
There is good news for Joe and bad news for me.....

What is this picture of you ask?

Is it Ezra about to drink a jar of pickle juice?

Yes, that is Ezra about to drink a jar of pickle juice for $5. Joe told him that if he drank it all in five minutes he would give him $10. I said ten was too much, so Joe told him $10 but he has to give $5 to River. I did not think it was a good idea and not just because I was the one who actually had $10 cash on hand.
Here is where River was chanting: Chug, chug, chug.

Here is Ezra with the empty jar of pickle juice. Joe said he didn't think Ezra would really do it and that's why he dared him.

Here is Joe and Ezra high-fiving. I know it looks like Cora is in on it too, but she thought that the dare was not a very smart idea.

After Ezra was done with the dare Joe told him to finish eating his hamburger. Ezra told him that he was too drunk on pickle juice to eat anymore food.
I failed to get a picture of Ezra holding his stomach and moaning about five minutes later.

Come to my Party...
Saturday, June 20th
7:00PM until whenever
We will be in AZ from June 15th to July 1st.
We are having a party for anyone who wants to come and hang out.
It will be at my brother Joe's house, his wife Becca said it was okay to have the party there, she's cool. Feel free to bring your kids and some food to share like a side, some chips or a dessert. If you don't want to bring anything that's cool too.
If you need directions to Joe and Becca's email me at jbaby1547atyahoodotcom.
I think it would be so fun to see AZ friends. If you can't come to the party email me and hopefully we can hang out another time.

Listen to this......

#1
We went to Armed Forces Day at the mall. Did you know there was an Armed Forces Day? It was on the 16th. A photographer from the newspaper took River's picture and this is what we saw in the paper the next day. He was so excited! Joe asked him for his autograph and he was more than happy to help out a fan.

The next day a different newspaper was on the table. River started to look through it. He searched the first page and said, "Nothing about me." Then when he looked through the rest of the paper it went something like this:
Look over the page and then say,
"Nothing about me."
turn to the next page look it over and say
"Nothing about me."
turn the page look it over and say
"Nothing about me."
He did this until he looked through the whole paper.

#2
Last week we had warm weather. Two days in the 80's!(Yes, I am still blogging about the weather here in Cheyenne.) You should have seen the neighborhood. Everyone, I mean everyone, was out grilling. People were out riding bikes, going for walks, doing yard work. It was crazy! Joe and I are thinking, Yay! At last warm weather, summer is finally here. I mean it is the end of May. It wasn't until later that we found out that it was some sort of freak heat wave.

We had record high temps. 85 degrees in May is a record high! Can you believe that? It is now back to being in the 50's and 60's. Which I guess is better than 40's and 50's. Do you want to know what the average high temperature for the month of May is in Cheyenne? 64 degrees! Crazy, I know. It was fun while it lasted.

#3
Did I ever tell you that when we moved in to our house on base the playroom in the basement was painted a disgusting yellow color? I've been meaning to show these before and afters. It was gross! River would not go down there by himself, and I really couldn't blame him. He is 5 and it was pretty creepy.

So here are the before pictures. The paint was peeling off and there was water stains.
There is always some sort of paper work involved if you want to alter anything in your base house.

When I called the housing office to ask about it, they weren't sure if I should paint in the basement. I told them it was really ugly and they basically told me that, that was my own opinion.

We painted it anyway. I didn't even fill out the paperwork. I'm a rebel, I know. We tried to use a roller at first, but ended up buying a paint spray gun instead. It took way more kilz than we thought.

I would just like to say, "You're welcome." To the next family who moves into this house. Trust me, they will be glad for the fresh coat of white.

#4
Have you seen this cute girl? She is pulling herself up to standing now.

Sometimes she pulls herself up and then loses her balance and falls down and then falls back and hits her head on the wood floor. That happened the other day while I was getting lunch ready in the kitchen. I heard her fall, she started screaming, so I started running. You know to make sure there was no blood. Guess what was in between the kitchen and the living room?
This lovely baby gate.

I saw the baby gate, but since I was running I didn't quite make it over the baby gate quick enough to clear it.
Joan running + trying to clear the baby gate = Joan flat on her face.
You may or may not know that when I fall, I think it is fun to dislocate my shoulder. Luckily there was no shoulder dislocating this time(It would have been the 6th time). My shoulder was sore and I have a giant bruise on my shin. Guess what? Two days before I fell I was at the doctors getting a referral to have my shoulder operated on. I am hoping to have my surgery in July when we get back from AZ. I mean it's only been 10 years since this problem started.

#5
Meet the new Joan Martin!!
My brother John and his wife Jocelyn just had a baby girl.
Guess what they named her?
That's right, Joan.
Joan Temple Martin.
Isn't it so exciting?

I didn't believe John when he told me what they named her. I said, "Nooo. What did you really name her?" about four times, before I believed him. It was so sweet. John told me that she has a good example to look up to. I cried, seriously.

Friday Funny?

If you were ever lucky enough to come over to our house and we were really bored we might have got out our answering machine and played you the saved messages.
We haved moved a lot and had a new phone number with each move, but kept the same answering machine. We get a lot of wrong number calls. If we are not home to answer the phone people leave messages for the people they think they are calling.
Please to enjoy three of my favorites.
Transcribed by me Joan.

#1 Christy, Jenny, her sister and Brian too.

"Hi Christy, this is Jenny. I was just calling to see if you were going to that mass tomorrow. I know a lot of the student counsel members are going and stuff and then if

(talking to someone else)

Yeah were supposed to be going or something

And then if there’s a way that maybe after school is over that day your mom could take my sister and I home that would be great

(some else says something to her)

Ok, yeah and Brian too

Ok so call me back when you get a chance

Thanks."

I love that one because the girl is probably 14 or 15 years old. I wonder if Christy and Jenny ever went to that mass.

#2 Dave's Valentines day

"Hi mom’s it Dave

Happy Valentines Day!

Anyway I thought valentines day was on Wednesday, so when I called on Monday for flowers there was like no way your going to gettem’ so I thought eh why do it?

Any way you know the number.

Anyway happy Valentines Day

Hopefully everything going well

Bye bye

Love you"

I just feel so sorry for Dave. I mean I guess he had good intentions trying to buy his mom flowers on Valentines day, but he didn't know which day of the week it was on and then the flowers were too expensive or all gone by the time he called to order them. On top of that he dialed the wrong number and his mom never got the message that her son wanted to wish her a happy Valentines day. It sounds like they have a pretty good relationship, so I like to think that it all worked out i the end.

#3. Louise calls Melanie. (You should know that the French Quarter she is talking about is a bar in Tucson.)

"Hi Melanie this is Louise from healthstaff I don’t know if you remember me. Uh we had talked about getting together to go to the French quarter sometime and its fat Tuesday tonight and I didn’t know if you were going. Um I have a tai chi class till 8 so I was going to go over there after that. My number it 755-44** if your interested in going. Talk to you later, bye"

I love this one. I mean what more can I say? I don't know if you remember me, fat tuesday and tai chi class. This one is priceless.

Maybe they don't translate into funny once they are written down. Don't worry we won't delete them if you want to hear them next time you're in Cheyennne. :p

A day in the life

Their father's sons.
The other night the boys were getting in trouble for causing a ruckus, after bedtime. River had gotten up on the top bunk with Ezra, and the end result was River "accidentally" kicking Ezra in the nose. So back to the punishment. They were both standing in front of us and Joe was giving them the lecture about doing what they are supposed to and he is sick of telling them over and over again, when River cracks a smile. Joe tries to bust him and tells him that it's not funny. But guess what? It was funny and all of us ended up cracking up.
We have been talking to Ezra about his behavior in Church. Specifically in primary. He is not very reverent. He makes funny comments to make everyone laugh. I know because, I teach the class just younger than his. He does stuff that isn't appropriate church behavior to make the girls sitting by him laugh.
It's hard for Joe to get mad at the boys when he was exactly the same way growing up.

Joe turned another year older. We had a little party. We were low on frosting so all he got was "HBD" -Happy Birthday, Dad. He didn't seem to mind.

Making a birthday wish.

Joe caught Ezra, who is in second grade, walking home from the bus stop with his arm around some fourth grade girl.
The girl told Joe, "This is my little man."
Joe was pretty proud.

We went to Ezra's music recital at school, it was very interesting. The xylophone was performance was fun, but the best part was the artwork on the walls.

I saw this gem and had to take a picture for Jodi and her cousin. It's a picture of Carol Johnston, the one-armed gymnast.

I guess some girl did a book report on her and made this poster.

River is still good for some laughs he hopped up on the table after dinner last night, unzipped the front of his feety pajamas and said “Oh yeah, who's attracted to me?” I guess it is a line from Madagascar 2 the movie, but try explaining that to company.

The other day when River was in his Superman costume he said to me, "Mom can you flap my cape while I do this?" He put his fists on his hips and stuck out his chest. We had to get a picture of it.

Cora is getting cuter with each new day :).
Here are some videos of Cora, mostly for the grandparents. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't watch them(unless you are the grandparents, then you have to watch them, you're the whole reason I put them on here).
This one is her showing me that she is done eating.

This second one is her crawling she is super cute.

one long post....

3 out of 4 aint bad.

Cora got this new bib and River wanted to know what it said.
I told him,
Smart, Cute, Adorable, Sweet and All of the above is checked.

What does all of the above mean? He asked me. I told him it meant she was all of the things that were listed on her bib.
She's not smart! He told me.
She doesn't even know 1+1.

Mustache March is long gone by now.
Here are pictures of us being goofy the day before Joe shaved it off.
Riv with the frostee stache.

Ez with the fry mustache.

Cora with the fry mustache.

Joe with the frystache.

Taking a manly sip with the stache.

Trying not to laugh because of how funny he looks with a mustache.

This year Joe shaved his mustache early because he went to his cousin's wedding in Pittsburgh. He hadn't seen that side of his family for about 6 years and he didn't want to show up with the mustache.
Which by the way won an award.
The Amber Alert Award.
You know, because the stache makes him look like some one who might take your child.
I couldn't be prouder.
I'm glad I didn't have to shave it off of him while he was sleeping.

For AZ spring break, my parents came to visit and brought two of my nephews with them, Kyle's boys. It was a fun surprise for Ezra and River.
I love this picture of all of them playing on the computer.

We had a nice visit and we hardly saw our boys the whole weekend, because most of their time was spent in the playroom with their cousins.

During spring break in Cheyenne we went to my aunt's funeral in southern Colorado.
When we left Joe had to get all of this snow off of the van.

It was scary when we left, some of the highways were closed, but luckily the ones we needed were open. On the way off base the gate guard stopped us to see where we were going because travel was restricted to mandatory travel only.
We drove through the Rocky Mountains.
I instantly turned into my mother while Joe was driving.

Saying things like;

Don't you think you should slow down?
That sign said only 25 miles per hour.
Be careful, you should slowdown a little bit.
Bridge may be icy, you might want to slow down over this bridge.
He was glad when I fell asleep.

My Aunt Bobbie was a fun lady. She liked to have parties and have people stay at her house to visit. It was very fitting that most of my cousins were able to make it to her funeral and we all enjoyed seeing each other and catching up.
She would have been glad that some of us were able to get together later and have a party.
Her family made home-made ice cream for everyone.
It was so delicious.
When we arrived at the farmhouse. We were greeted by a cow, that was where it wasn't supposed to be. Then we were greeted by my cousin Joe who said, "Cows are loose." It was very farmish.

Here is a picture of Ezra and my cousin Joe on the 4wheeler, going to chase the cows back to where they belong.

Ezra had a fun time and we are hoping to go back this summer for more farm-like fun.

Our drive home was much nicer. We really got to enjoy the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. That John Denver wasn't kidding.

Joe actually spotted this sign on our way, but I wouldn't let him stop in the snow to take pictures.

It was a "gated community" in the middle of nowhere. I think it might have been a trailer park, and I'm not sure if there really was a gate.

Okay, I know this needs to be about 3 or 4 separate posts, but too bad.
Ezra got a "Shooting Star" Award at school. He got it for "Cooperative Behavior (works politely in groups)"
Here he is shaking the principal's hand.

We were very proud of him.

Okay so I know you are dying to hear more about the weather here.
We were so excited to have a few days with temperatures in the mid 60's last week.
Joe put the swing set together and River was swinging every spare second he had.

Then two days later we got a late snow storm and the swing set looked like this.

It was okay, because two days after that the temperature climbed up to high 50's. It was perfect snow for making real snow cones. We also made slushes too, yum!

I love how River is in his feety pajamas and snow boots in this picture.

We had a blast, playing in the warm snow. It was perfect for this AZ girl.
Here we are with our short sleeves and snow boots.

This whole week we have had temps in the high 60's and even some 70's. I wore capris and flip flops yesterday. It was awesome! The boys played outside every spare minute and only came in when it was time for dinner. I'm getting very excited for warm weather.
The forecast for the next 4 days is rain with temps in 50's and 40's, but it could be worse right? My friend who was here last winter keeps reminding me that last year it snowed a few times in May, so I'm trying not to get too excited.

So if you are still reading this, your probably related to me and might enjoy this picture of Cora and her Grandpa. He came so he could go with Joe the the wedding in Pittsburg.
Cora is wearing her shirt that says-
My Grandpa Rides a Harley
And her Grandpa is holding her!
How cute is that?

Sweet!

I guess it's only right that I let you know it is 53 degrees at 7:30pm(that is warm). If I am going to complain about the cold weather, I should tell you it has been really nice for the past two days. It has been in the 60's. River was getting excited. When we were outside he looked around and with a huge smile on his face said,

"I'm not wearing my jacket.
All the snow is melted.
And it's not windy."
I told him not to get to excited because it would probably snow again.
I asked Ezra how recess was and he told me that it was too hot. He said that he had just gotten use to being cold and he didn't like being hot.(That is when I roll my eyes as he leaves the room)
I know everyone in AZ is hating the hot weather and having to turn on the AC in March, but that's just the way it goes when you don't even turn on the heater until December.

Guess

what

time

it

is?

If you guessed mustache March then you are correct.
I will say that Joe's mustache has significantly improved from last year and it is only the third day of March. He keeps threatening me that he is going to keep it after March is over. I just tell him that I'll shave it while he is sleeping.

If you don't know what mustache March is then you are lucky. Mustache March is a
tradition in some squadrons in the Air Force, I think it is mostly the one with flyers. Lucky for me the new squadron that Joe is in participates. Basically all the guys at work grow a mustache. Then at the end of the month they give out mustache awards. If you choose not to participate you have to pay $2 a day for the whole month. That equals $62.00. Plus everyone gives you a hard time if you don't do it, there is a lot peer pressure involved.

In other Lasura news.

Have you met River?
He is our little thumb sucker. It has been going on for a while now.

He started real early.

No matter where he went he always had his thumb with him.

Notice the thumb in the mouth.

Even while enjoying a meal, he had his thumb in his mouth.

Relaxing in Grandma's bed watching a show, thumb in the mouth.

Taking a nap on the couch, last month. Thumb in the mouth.

So what do you think happened when Joe and I put this stuff that was recommended by our dentist on both of River's thumb nails?

First we heard a lot of spitting and mad grunts, followed by a lot of mad grunts and spitting because this stuff tastes really, really, really bad.

So at night when he would usually suck his thumb he started doing crazy stuff. Things like taking his safety scissors to bed with him and cutting his own hair.

This is the after picture. We had to buzz it all off.
He also thought it would be a good idea to take a pen to bed with him. He took his pillow case off and wrote all over his pillow. Then he took the pen and wrote all over himself, all over his legs, all over his arms, all over his belly.
It was tough for Ezra too. Since River didn't have his thumb in his mouth to go to sleep he was more than ready for conversation. Poor Ezra would come into our bedroom so frustrated, "River will not stop talking to me and I can't go to sleep."

I guess he really missed it. He was a bit of a crazy child for a while.

It has been about 3 weeks and thing are pretty much back to normal.
River is thumb-free and happy and so are we.

The kids have been mostly healthy this winter. Ezra had a bit of a sore throat, but that was about it. Cora decided it was time to change things up. She got sick on the Friday of Joe's 4 day weekend. How rude is that? It was pretty sad. She was miserable and not herself.

It took her a while to get back to her cute self. She was good for about a week. The she got the cutest little cough. Then she started wheezing, it wasn't as cute.

Now she is getting breathing treatments every 4 hours. We've got a good system. She sits in her high chair and watches Baby Einsteins on the portable dvd player, while I sit at the table holding the breathing tube up to her face and read a magazine. I hope she starts feeling better soon.

Okay, do you remember how I wanted to have a party at my parents house next time we were in AZ and everyone was invited? I asked my mom if I could have a party at her house and invite all of my friends. She said that I could have the biggest party that I wanted. Then she added because she knew I didn't have any friends. =( I told her that I have lots of friends now because of blogging and facebook.
Anyway we are going to be in AZ in June. I was thinking of having the party the last week in June. I wasn't sure what day. Should we do it on a weeknight or a weekend night? Jodi do you think you can come in June? Any of my other AZ friends that live in other places, it would be so fun if you could make it. Alex and Amy, if you tell me someone is getting married the last week in June I will start to think that you don't want to be my friend anymore. I just think it would be so fun to see everyone again. Let me know what you guys think, and seriously prove to my mom that I do have friends =).