Mom, Witches Don't Read!

Every morning before Andrea goes to school we read, do math facts, and go over spelling words. Yesterday was costume day at school. Andrea decided she wanted to be a witch. We borrowed a witch costume from my mom that Grandma Anderson made for Marlyse when she was a little girl and she looked darling.
When it came reading time, Andrea turned to me and said, "Mom, witches don't read." Of course they do! I replied. They have to read the recipes for witches brew and goblin mix. Then it came time to do math facts. Andrea turned to me and said, " Mom, witches don't do math." Of course they do! I replied. They have to know how to count so they will know how much to put in. Then Andrea turned to me and said, "Mom. witches don't spell." Of course they do! I replied again. If they can't spell, they can't read. Finally, I turned to Andrea and said, "Andrea, what do witches do?" "They fly" she said.

A New PR - - Top of Utah Marathon

A few weeks ago, I ran the Top of Utah Marathon. It was great! Last year, it was my first marathon, so I really wanted to see how I would do running it a second time. The picture above is at mile 14 where you come out of the canyon. It was the first place I saw my family. Greg, Chalisse, and Liz were right there and Josh and Kaleena were about mile 16. This is my favorite part of the course because it is pretty much gently rolling down hills.
This is at mile 23. I think almost everyone agrees that mile 21-22 are the hardest on the course weaving in and out of neighborhoods. It's really a mental thing. Coming down this hill at the end of mile 23 was a relief to me because I saw my family again. (Apparently Josh and Kaleena were trying to get my attention at mile 22, but I was in my happy little place in my head and completely didn't see them.) Greg, Chalisse, Liz, Jake, Josh, Kaleena, and Grayce were there, cheering me on. I saw my Dad and mom at mile 25 and Marlyse and her kids about mile 25 1/2 Grayce paced me the last couple of miles until the finish line. This year after I finished, I felt a lot stronger. Even Greg said he noticed a big difference. The people in the picture above from left to right are Chris (my brother- in -law), me, Andy (Chris's brother), and Jeremy (Chris and Andy's Uncle). I was pretty excited to see that I was beating my record. At the Top of Utah last year, I ran it in 4:05:34. This years time was 3:53:11. I had two goals. The first was to beat the 4 hour mark and the second goal was to not stop. Well, I made the first goal, but not the second. I drank Gatorade at every aid station and took GU at mile 7, 13, and 19. Everywhere on the course there were oranges, I took an orange. And of course chocolate milk 1 hour before I ran and chocolate milk after I finished. It's my favorite!