a birthday girl...

Today is a big day.

It is somebody's birthday! And she's extra special. :)

Special enough to inspire me to come out of my blogless world and step back in to webwide sharing time.

Anyone know who it is?

She's not a kid, though she's a kid at heart, to be sure...

You won't find a single person on this planet who doesn't love her.

And you'll probably run into a few people who have a secret crush on her/want to be like her.

I know I've run into lots of those people.

She is kind, she is fun, she is gorgeous, she is optimistic, she is bright, she is brilliant, she is humble, she is generous, she is a friend to all, she is a fabulous cook, homemaker, mother, wife, grandmother, daughter, sister, teacher, leader, and cheerleader. She is the ultimate cheerleader. :) Just having her in your life will make your life drastically better.

To know her, is to love her...

Are you guessing Betty White? Well its not... her bday was in January.

It's Tammy Runia of course!

Nobody would believe that she's older than 32... and I won't say which milestone bday this is for her, but it rhymes with shmifty. :)

She is a woman to celebrate, and today, we celebrate her!!!

(she skipped town this week, which was pretty smart of her- since I was trying to figure out how to pull off a surprise party... I guess she dodged that bullet... She's full of humility and brains, that one!)

So since she's gone, and since her phone isn't working, and since my kids have been asking when we're going to take balloons to Gammy's house and sing to her....

I thought I'd bring our love to her.

So here's some little love notes that Jaac wanted to write "withOUT any help, mm-kay mom?"

And a few spontaneous couch pictures of the kiddles...

(gracie was very decisive about her 'party dress' for the party picture, and wanted to wear her pink glittery {tacky} frilly dressups) (and her hair... wow.)

And Piper is suddenly growing out of cute outfits that gracie used to wear, but i'm still trying to strrrreeetch them out as long as i can. I miss tiny outfits when they grow out of them. Silly cari. So basically, i'm just saying that the kids weren't primped- and the lighting wasn't great- but i know that Gammy loves her grandkiddles in any kind of condition... even when they've just peed their pants all over her clean bathroom. ;)

So I hope that somehow, Gammy can feel how much we love her, from so far away.

I hope she knows how much she means to us.

How much brighter our lives are, because of her.

I am so thankful for her, for being Ryan's mom, for raising him to be the most amazing person. And for blessing our children with wonderful genetic traits and gifts.

I look at my husband, and my kids,

and feel so fortunate that they have so much of her goodness inside of them.

And that I can look to her example as a guide... and bask in her glowing Christlike radiance.

What a remarkable woman. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

WE REALLY REALLY LOVE YOU!

(Jaac says I should type: "I love you 50 dollars!")

and she knows exactly what that means.

:)

we're not in november anymore...

Is it really the end of January?

Really? Wow.

In all the NewYearsResolutionMaking, I was thinking of maybe

trying to do a blogpost every day for the new year...

*uh, that hasn't happened.

I was going to organize all our closets and declutter the basement...

*nope, didn't happen. and the clutter is making its way upstairs. ahhh!

I was going to workout harder, better, more, and maybe get training

for a marathon, or another 50/20...

*ha! (the phrase LOL comes to mind)

so, since I'm feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt for blogging right now, instead of cleaning or organizing, or running, or writing thank you's and birthday cards, or taking loads to D.I., or teaching my kids something, or helping someone, or planning some upcoming events... I'm going to try to quickly post about our: November.

Then when (i originally typed 'if') I get some stuff checked off my lists, and I can actually feel better about the condition of my family/home/life, I will write about the rest of our 2009, and have some fun going through all our pictures from Christmas in Hawaii and all that good stuff. (bytheway hawaii, i miss you)

Sound good? Good.

Soooo... november. The first week we have almost a dozen birthdays in the family. On the 6th is cousin emmett's, (and we wish we coulda been close by to celebrate with him, but luckily we got to have fun together on our hawaiian holiday) and also Gabrielle's- My "dearest, darlingest" sister... I was about her age when she was born. which is crazy. she is a truly beautiful girl, inside and out. someday I hope I figure out how to be more like her.

We got to hang out with my family for her bday, and have some "its a tradition Pink Cake",

and she let J & G 'help' her blow out her candles... they love their auntie gabby!

We tried to get a picture of her and gracie- since it was both of their bdays, and the Sunday we got together for gabby happened to be on the 8th, gracie's birthday. It was funny trying to get a picture where they were both opening their eyes/looking normal, and it was comical....

ATTEMPT #1:

ATTEMPT #7:

ATTEMPT #19:

WE HAVE A WINNER!

The cute birthday girls, G & G...

Gracie's birthday was just a relaxing Sunday, and we basically let her do whatever she wanted. Which for her, is a really good day! :) When she woke up, she opened her presents and was deliriously happy. The best $6 I've ever spent. Thank you dollar store! Tutu: $1, candy purse: $1, pack of wands: $1, stick pony: $1, bag of animal cookies: $1, cute wrapping paper: $1.

Birthday bedhead/pajama pictures: priceless.

Honestly, what's not to love about this girl? She's been driving me crazy/keeping me on my toes lately, and has some sort of sixth sense for finding trouble & making horrific messes. It's scary. But that's for another day, another post...

Thanksgiving was lovely... we are blessed to have most of our families so super close. There's always a bit of juggling with time and schedules, but we got to see a lot of family, and enjoy catching up with them all. It was nice that a lot of them traveled here to Utah, from Texas, Oregon, California, NY, etc so that we could see them! And the kids are surrounded by amazing loved ones- I'm grateful they have such great examples and friends among their relatives. We are very blessed.

Well that's November. 2009. Feels like it was yesterday. Time is whooshing by, that's for sure.

mine...

There are so many cliche phrases running through my mind today...

"I can't believe my baby is two years old..."

"It seems like just yesterday that she was born..."

"Why do they grow up so quickly?"

"I feel so undeserving to have such a joy of a daughter."

Yes today is Gracie's birthday... and she is truly someone to celebrate.

My brother Austin was recently talking about how she basically has two temperaments:

number one: super chill, and number two: super fun

I know I'm biased, but she is just the spunkiest, sweetest, brightest, prettiest, funniest, cuddliest, snuggliest, most playful and most delightful little girl. She is a firecracker, and keeps me on my feet, but I love it. I love how she adores her brother, and how she calls him "yak"... I love how she squeals with excitement when daddy comes home... I love how attached she is to her blanky, and makes sure that her dolly always has her tiny blanket too... I love how teensy-tiny she is, and how huge her smile is... I love how she seems bulletproof, and that even though she is such a daredevil, she's also tough and doesn't notice that she's hurt... I love that she's not into all the princessy stuff yet, and isn't prissy, but still quite a bit sassy... I love how much she reads, and her tiny little voice when she's reading to herself out loud... I love how I can't leave her alone for more than three minutes because she will create such enormous messes... I love how she can brush her teeth for hours on the stool at the sink, while I try to do her hair, and I love that even though she has a mullet, it is wavy and curly and is nothing like my hair... I love how she says "hi!!" to everyone we see, whether we are at the grocery store or the park, and how she makes people smile so easily... I love that she has such a huge appetite for life, and goes full speed, but then loves to stop and have peaceful snuggle time... I love that when I hug her, she squeezes SO tightly, and says "mine!"

Happy Birthday baby girl! I guess you're not such a baby, but we'll keep calling you 'baby' and keep you our tiny little girl forever and ever! We love you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side note, that isn't really related, but I thought I'd share:

I've been waiting for LiaMolly to come out with a new kids line, and its finally happened.

Four years ago when I was pregnant with Jaac, Ry and I were shopping and stumbled on THE cutest little kids' hat on clearance at anthropologie. If I could ever design kids clothes, this look and quality would be what I would attempt to create. Ever since that purchase, I've been scouring the internet for other ridiculously affordable treasures by this amazing designer... I've been lucky to find a few little dresses for the same price as a dress at walmart!

Now I have to be patient and wait for these gorgeous dresses and coats and skirts and hats and scarves and gloves to go on sale, and just hope that gracie stays tiny so that by the time they're a deal, she can wear them for a long time!!!

can i just say...

that i love these little people.

so much.

i realize that my posts are very wordy.

i've always been a chatterbox...

i remember nearly every teacher since kindergarten,

saying in parent/teacher conferences,

that 'cari has the potential, but she sure is chatty!'

so i'm going to try to keep it shorter and sweeter...

and just say that i really love our pandaboy and our little ladyloohoo...

and I'm really happy going through these pictures which captured this time in their life-

they are best friends, but they know just how to drive the other one crazy...

and we all feel a little bit of the craziness, most days...

but that particular day, there was a moment where they had clean faces and kept their shoes on, and smiled and played together in the orchard...

in the very last week of the warm summer, right before mister frost rolled into town...

what a great summer it was.

i love these little people.

so absolutely much.

dinner in a pumpkin...

Oh, the sweet crispness of fall, how I love this time of year!

A common question we've all been asked: What is your favorite season?

Mine?

I have so much love for every season.

I enjoy running through rainstorms, and the blossoms of spring...

I love the pure freedom of summer, the beach, the lakes, the farmer's markets, and the trips...

I love fall, but am always surprised by its actual arrival, since the anticipation feels so long. Then there are the few glorious weeks of sweaters and boots and autumn-colored mountains and soup, and then...

Snow! Oh how I love me some snow. I pray for it... I can sense when its coming... The whole world changes when it snows- its softened in a way- so clean and beautiful. It ALWAYS snows on my birthday. In fact, it has always snowed on significant days- baptism (huge storm, making family members' traveling difficult, {sorry}) , wedding (huge blizzard, again sorry folks), birthdates of both my kids in February and November... It really is magical and I love it.

But back to fall.... isn't it lovely?

The motivating feeling of a fresh new school year, even though we're not in school {sigh of relief!} that makes me want to re-organize and re-prioritize! and General Conference! and halloween costumes and decorations! and dinners outside, up the canyon- basically a lot of family togetherness!

There is one thing about this time of year that I always DREADED.

Dinner in a pumpkin.

Ever since mrs. Martha showed this recipe for stew in a pumpkin, it has become more and more popular. she has made it seem glamorous and desirable. dare I say, trendy.

Back in the days of just Cari and Austin, and then Brady too... we knew that on halloween night, amongst all the festivities and candy collecting, we would be required to partake of the most disgusting meal on the planet. I'm gagging right now thinking about it.

I googled "dinner in a pumpkin" and the image results were too disturbing, but this is pretty similar, with grey ground beef and chunks of celery. I'm dry heaving again, must stop describing...

We weren't allowed to participate in any of the trickortreatering until we had finished up our entire ration of the slop. Oh it was bad. both of my parents won't say whether or not they ever ate it... and it probably is worse in my memory than in actuality, but you can ask austin- it was awful.

SIDENOTE: for a comical take on Halloween, please find Jerry Seinfeld's book, or even better watch his standup about it! ("what did you say? someone's giving out candy? who's giving out candy? everyone we know is just giving out candy? where? when? I gotta be a part of this! I'll do anything... ... I can wear that.") :)

In spite of the tragic meal tradition, my halloween memories are great ones... My parents were SO creative with our costumes, and went all out. They were amazing!

I'm Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese,

I really think so.

with the nickname care bear,

this costume was a no-brainer...

(and yes, I still answer to 'bear')

(wizard of oz theme with dad as scarecrow and mom as witch)

Little Miss Muffet and the Spider: (and mom rockin the 80's fashion)

I had to put this picture in - Austin's spider face makes me laugh out loud:

The tooth fairy and tube of toothpaste- always a crowd pleaser:

Austin's head was naturally perfect for the role of frankenstein.

and my temperament was obviously fitting for my wicked witch get-up...

Such good times! Such good memories! It's fun to go through the old photos and think back to 20 years ago...

and this one I don't think was a halloween costume, but I have so many pictures of me as a cowboy or cowgirl (depending on hairstyle/length!) My mom's Texas pride runs deep...

Speaking of my mom, and the reason why I was thinking about Dinner in a Pumpkin today...

It's my mom's birthday!

September 24th!

Last year we did a big ol' shebang with lots of family and friends, and even her parents who flew up from Houston to surprise her... and this year will probably be a lot more low-key

{I'm kind of relieved since last year I was a basket-case trying to keep all the plans a secret, and doing invites, and rsvps, and super-spy work, and making food and her giant cake... yes very relieved!} BUT, we will be celebrating her fabulousness... and Jaac is demanding that we make her a cake WITH a candle :)

She is an amazing woman...

She has an enormous heart, and a gift of empathy greater than anyone I've ever met...

She loves traditions and decorations and hostessing and quotes, and dishes and cakeplates...

:)

We love her. She always gave us our vitamins, encouraged us, and taught us the gospel.

She puts up with my headstrongness, and chaotic approach to life, austin's sarcasm and raptor impersonations, brady's 'bardy' moments, gabby's desire to act 18 when she's really 13, and Natalie's decision to stay 12 forever. She is the perfect mom for our family, and we are lucky to have her.

She looks for the miracles in life, and like Albert Einstein said: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

(she probably has that quote in vinyl lettering somewhere and I haven't noticed it yet... !)

Mom, I hope this year brings you many miracles, and that you enjoy it!

I love you.... Happy Birthday!

And to everyone else, happy fall!

Mostly good times...

most of our wedding pictures are the cheesiest poses of us looking into the distance!

At our wedding reception almost 5 years ago, we were blessed to have many people come to celebrate our happy day... surrounded by family and friends, we felt so much love and support, and amounts of generosity that compelled us to feel undeserving and yet thankful.

Once we got home from the honeymoon of bliss, and we began to open presents and create our first home/apartment... I had a darling box that I started putting the wedding cards in...

{okay, I should probably mention a personality flaw of mine. I have a problem with boxes. and bags. and cards. I keep them. if they are cute, I cannot get rid of them. and even if they aren't so cute, I usually try to stash them away too... BUT, in my defense, I reuse them! Poor ryan is puzzled by my compulsion to hoard the so-called 'garbage' and organize them in closets and drawers. I've even caught him trying to throw some away, but I remind him that he too collects things- computers, record albums, rockets, airplanes, and all things Sony... :) and then he usually makes some comment about all the sentimental "old" things that I'm holding onto such as my great-grandma's yellow table, and my grandma's sewing table, and my daybed from childhood, and so I give in and let him throw away the cute FAO Schwartz bags from our trip to NYC a year ago... he's right- I do have a problem!}

anyway, in the box of wedding cards, among all the bright and cheery wishes of congratulations, and promises of wedded happiness forever and ever and ever, there was one note that stuck out from the rest. It was just that- a note. Written on a kitchen memo note, with a border of vegetables and raised flowers. With the words,

To the Runias,

May you have a life of mostly good times.

Love, (ryan's neighbors who shall remain nameless)

The note immediately took a prime spot on our refrigerator. All by itself.

"... a life of mostly good times..." :)

ha! such wisdom in those words! My amazing mother-in-law {who deserves an entire blog about her amazingness, and who coincidentally is also a bag-keeper} was the one to really help us realize the humor, and the truth in the wish we'd been granted.

For marriage isn't meant to be perfectly-perfect times, all the time. Sure, it was the best time we had ever experienced, but after awhile you have to step out of the selfish 'us' phase and begin serving others. When you add in all of the real life complications, and when other things are added to the lists of priorities, sometimes the spouse {husband} is the one who suffers.

Like when you have 2 kids under 3...

and your wife who needs her sleep doesn't get her sleep, and spends more time and money on the kids clothes than hers, and the laundry is stacked on top of the furniture that you once painted together, and the car you once loved is stuffed to the brim with carseats, strollers, crackers, and juiceboxes. In fact, Everything is stuffed with crackers and crumbs and trinkets from the toddlers. Nothing is clean... nothing is sacred. Where is a husband's sanctuary?!?

Well, for a few hours this week, Ryan and Cari found it... on the golf course...

9 holes of fun (okay, actually we only made it through 6 holes because we wanted to go to dinner and get back in time for the cute little babysitter to get home on a school night) good quality us time. I know that a lot of people do the 1 date-night a week rule, but we haven't been great at that. We usually do something with the kids, which is wonderful, but also slightly hectic. Okay, really hectic! Sushi night with us and the kids isn't a date! Even if those kids love edamame! So now we have learned a great lesson. Plan a date, and don't cancel it for ANYthing.

{also, it was so great to squeeze in some time with my brothers, before Brady went up to school at BYU-I and Austin continues to travel the globe.}

I can't tell you how much I love my brothers.

I'm a lucky girl to have them... and it was fun to see them marvel at Ryan's golfing skills. Even if he was just showing off cuz I was there, he was still impressive. 3 birdies, and most of the time his drive would land straight onto the green. and yet, he was patient enough to go along with me while I hit my ball 5, 6, or 7 times to make it onto the green, and even had to use my sand-wedge, and 'hand-wedge'!!!

So Ryan, I want to thank you for the mostly good times...

I'm so thankful for you and all you do for our little family...

You keep me laughing, and you keep me on my toes...

You put up with my quirks and faults, and even love me for them...

and I promise to get better about having date nights...

I can't wait to go to new york with you this fall, and spend a bunch of time with JUST you {and a million tourists}, and go the the old mission sites, and hold your hand while we walk along in the crispy magical autumn air, and go to the temple {obviously the truest of sanctuaries}, and stay at the Waldorf, and find that little jewish deli with my favorite matzoball soup and your turkey sandwich, and go shopping, and perhaps I won't try to keep all the cute shopping bags this time...

perrrrrrhaps.

midnight multitasking...

I'm having one of those overwhelming moments.

It's late at night, and I had a delightfully simple day.

I'm up waiting for the washing machine to end, because I have to re-wash the shirt that Ryan needs for his golf tournament early tomorrow, since gracie squirted her juicebox all over his favorite shirt and the other clean clothes in the laundry basket.

{I love that he has a favorite shirt.}

I'm trying to stay busy so I don't fall asleep, so I can take it out and hang it to dry overnight.

Then I hear the doorknob to the kid's room turning---

usually it is a sound that I don't entirely enjoy, because it means that the babes have awakened, and break-time {and productivity} is over.

But tonight, my heart skipped with excited concern.

Did my pandabear boy have a bad dream?

Does he need to go to the bathroom?

Does he need a new pullup?

Does he want me to rub{wub} his legs{weggies} because his "bones hurt"?

Is he planning on climbing into bed with mom & dad, so we feel like we're sleeping with a helicopter?

I rush toward the room, and he is frozen in the doorway, with his hands shielding his eyes.

"Hi jaac-jaac, whats the matter?" I ask as I turn off the hallway light that seems to have blinded him.

"Hi mama....... I just miss you."

i melt. suddenly I'm a complete pool of melty mushy goo.

"Well lets turn you around and get back in the bed, eh?"

"okay mama, you nuggle {snuggle} me pweeeease?"

"Sure bud, okay, climb in..."

I crawl onto his little toddler bed, crowded with his blankies, books, and pandas, and I'm scratching his little back, watching his slowly blinking eyes. While I'm thinking how much I love this little boy, and that I can't believe how much he's grown from the first time I held him, I was fighting back tears, when suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by his raspy voice...

"uh, mom, can you scwratch my back bettah?"

I realize that being deep in thought had made my fingernails lazy, and they were not doing their job correctly. It was such a little moment, and probably only means something to me, and I probably won't even post this long late-night narrative, but it reminded me of when I was little enough to get my back scratched, and I would get annoyed if my mom would just scratch one little spot...

You see, we mamas have hands which are always moving, working, lifting, cleaning, wiping, waving, brushing, writing, rubbing, cooking, scrubbing, washing, decorating, typing, building, baking, or sometimes, scratching a little one's back...

But our minds are even busier!

Our thoughts are all over the place as we are busily going throughout the day (and nights)...

We are always multi-tasking, and lately, my extra "task" has been to really be in the moment.

To pause, and REALLY B E with my kids.

No drastic changes... our days are still the same, with train sets, spilled juice, dancing to Dean Martin, walks to the park, and wardrobe changes (gracie is always putting on new, funny clothes)... but I have changed. I'm desperately trying to pause the most random moments, when they give me a funny look that I don't want to forget, or when they say something hilarious, and we have a good laugh together.

I can't tell you how many mental pictures I've tried to capture this week. And I'm even getting better at bringing out the camera, so maybe I'll get organized enough to go through the pictures and document my dazzling children and their simple, yet enchanted life.

But maybe not, because I might just be too busy building forts.

random, sentimental picture of Jaac's first picture,

in all my labor-and-delivery glory...