In order to appreciate what you’re about to see, you should know a few things about me.

I am not a fan of heights. Or water. And I hate getting my clothes wet – it feels almost claustrophobic to me.

This weekend,  I stepped jumped out of my comfort zone more than I ever have.

I ran a 5k, which isn’t too exciting. I’ve run many 5ks.

This 5k, however, included an obstacle course with quite a few mud pits.

Kiss Me Dirty is a female-only obstacle course and mud run where the participants are encouraged to wear costumes, ball gowns, and even wedding dresses.

My friend Breanne and I decided that we would be the Hustlin’ Honey B’s :)

I learned quite a few things while running the Kiss Me Dirty…

{sticking a collage here instead of at the end of my list because I know you all will scroll down to see photos before you read my list…}

1. It’s a little difficult to run it tutus. They creep in between your legs, which pulls the front of them down. Breanne and I had to stay on top of that, because who wants to trip over a fallen down tutu? My dear friend Colleen made our tutus, by the way!

2. Mud is heavy. Trying to run with mud caked onto your feet and legs is kind of like running in ankle weights that you can’t take off.

3. Mud run courses and nice running trails usually aren’t one in the same. Something’s got to give, and this weekend it was the nice running course. We dodged cacti (yes, the plural of cactus), small boulders, and many little ditches along our 5k route.

4. Don’t wear loose cotton capri pants during a mud run. Did you see our pants in that first picture? The mud weighed them down (Breanne’s got the worst of it) and they were thisclose to being full length pants. Thankfully, Breanne tied her pants a little tighter up top and was able to keep from mooning anyone (it was close, though…). My suggestion is to wear capris or shorts in tight legging material.

5.  From Michael: Going to see someone run in the mud is a lot of work. The course is really big, so you have to run everywhere with all the runners if you want to see anything. But watching your Mom run around like an animal rolling in the mud is fun. What? Animal? What the heck?

6. To run a 5k with an obstacle course, train for a 10k. I ran 5k a few days before the mud run without incident, but within a few minutes of beginning the obstacles, it was really difficult for me to run. Breanne and I ended up walking about half of the course, even though we were both ready to run the entire 5k. Maybe it was the stop and go of the course? The obstacles? The extra energy we used pulling our legs out of the mud pits? I don’t know, but I definitely didn’t anticipate it impacting my running the way it did.

7. Wear knee socks, longer (tight fitting – see #4) pants, or some other kind of leg protection. The mud pits were full of big rocks, and I have gashes to prove it. I’m glad I had socks and pants on to soften the blows a little, and I hate to think of what my legs would look like had I had worn shorts.

8. Bring lots of towels and garbage bags for the ride home. We put our wings, tutus, socks, and shoes in garbage bags and covered the seats of my car with towels for the ride home. We only had to drive about 15 minutes, but when you’re covered with mud, that’s a long time!

9. After the race is finished, there is a divide between people who ran and those who didn’t. Apparently, the people who didn’t run don’t like being hugged, touched, or chased by those who ran the race. This observation is clearly evidenced by the picture I took of Michael when he wasn’t talking to me:

 heehee :)

10. Do not attempt to wash your muddy clothes without first taking them outside and hosing them off. I almost did, and after seeing the dirt that came out of my dryer (after we hosed the clothes off), I am so glad I didn’t skip that vital step. Steve says it was just a coincidence that my washing machine broke on the same day as the mud run.

And just for Grandma Teetsie fun, a few more pictures:

I’m not quite sure what we’re laughing at here, but Breanne is fist pumping, so it’s a good sign.

Helping each other through the mud – I don’t suggest doing a mud run alone!

This would be where I fell. The first time.

And this is where Breanne fell. The only time.

Crossing the {bubble} finish line! I need to work on my runner stance, it seems… Breanne looks so graceful!

Finished! I can honestly say that I have never been so dirty!

 So, tell me… have you ever participated in one of these crazy races? If yes, what did you learn? If no… would you?

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Linking up with Kristi, Amanda, Julie, Lolli, and Dagmar for Wordful/Wordless Wednesday, and Julie for What I Learned This Week. You should go say hi!

A few weeks ago, I was able to spend a couple of days with Kristi from Live and Love Out Loud.

Forming new friendships is something I never expected from blogging. I expected readers, brand relationships, and acquaintances, but never did I expect to form friendships like I have. Kristi flew in and we spent the weekend together like we were old {but not old} college roommates.

I do believe Tiffany said it first and said it best… #BlogFriendsAreReal

Linking to Kristi’s Wordless/Wordful Wednesday

If you’re here from The Miss Elaine-ous Life, welcome! Thank you for stopping by. I’d love to tell you more about myself and direct you to my favorite posts {over there on the right}. Please don’t forget to leave me a comment so I can come visit you! 

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One of the very best thing about having a blog is all of the friends that come with the blogging community. My dear bloggy friend, Elaine, was kind enough to feature a post I wrote about living gluten free. Lots has changed around here since I found out about my food allergies, and actually… lots has stayed the same, too.

I was fortunate enough to meet Elaine {in real life!} last year at a conference, and I can tell you that she is just as “real” as she comes across in her blog.

I’d love for you to visit me over at The Miss Elaine-ous Life today. And don’t forget to poke around a bit… she’s got some amazing posts and breathtaking photos to look at!

Next week, I have a very special visitor flying into town for a day…

Kristi from Live and Love Out Loud will be in Tucson and we get to spend some fun girl time together.

She’s never been to Tucson (or the desert) before, and there are a few things I’m excited to share with her.

La Encantada

Click for Photo Credit

La Encantada is an upscale mall in North Tucson. It’s the home of Blanco, my favorite Mexican restaurant in the world. Kristi and I will be window shopping at Tiffany’s and Louis Vuitton (well, maybe Kristi won’t be window shopping, but I will be), looking at the amazing Tucson mountains, and enjoying the sunshine before heading to Blanco for some white peach and hibiscus margaritas.

Gadabout

Ahhhhh…. Gadabout. Gadabout is an amazing day spa in Tucson. One of those places where everything on the spa menu looks amazing, so it’s really difficult to not just say “I’ll take one of those… and one of those… and one of those…” Kristi and I will begin with pedicures, but can’t be held responsible for any additions we make to our schedule.

Ben’s Bells

Click for photo credit 

A favorite Tucson spot for me is Ben’s Bells. I can’t begin to explain what Ben’s Bells is, so you’ll have to go read it to hear the story straight from Ben’s Mom. It’s calm and quiet, but most of all you’re able to connect with other people who are there for the same reason you are – to give something back and reflect on all that you’re thankful for. I think Kristi would enjoy stopping by, taking some photos, and painting a little :)

If you were entertaining someone who were never in your hometown before, where would you take them?

Tucson folks… I especially want to hear from you!

I had a great afternoon.

I hung out with some great bloggers (and an awesome photographer), and was able to shop for some fun Blissdom outfits at a local boutique!

DownEast Basics is a national chain of boutiques (boutique clothing, definitely not boutique prices) as well as an online store.

DownEast Basics is also my Blissdom clothing sponsor :)

Karen, Nicole, and I were met at the store by some amazing employees that asked us a few questions about our preferences, walked through the store asking us to “yay” or “nay” pieces, and then sticking us in a fitting room with a wonderfully overwhelming amount of clothing.

Some photos?

Of course I have photos for you!

No, we didn’t get swimsuits for Blissdom, but I’m definitely heading to DownEast to get my swimsuit this year. They just launched their collection, and I love the colors and prints!

Another thing I love?

Their swimsuits have fabric! They’re not teeny tiny!

It was pretty hard to walk past the swimsuits and focus on conference outfits…

They have a huge clearance section right now where I found a million great pieces… FYI :)

Nicole found some great jeans and comfy cardigan. I *almost* got the same one in pink.

I may have to go back…

I love the colors they have right now…

The most fun about today was that we tried on some things that we never would have picked up. The ladies who helped us were so helpful and great about grabbing accessories for us to try with our outfits.

Karen stepped out of her comfort zone a little and got a pair of skinny jeans!

After about 2 hours (we had so much fun!), we had all that we needed for our Blissdom conference sessions! Everyone was so helpful with matching up outfits and accessories, the store was spotless and spacious, and the selection was awesome. Do you know that if you “like” DownEast Basics on facebook, you can get word of a deal every Tuesday?

I know Mom is you’re dying to see what we picked out for Blissdom… but you’ll have to wait. We’ll be taking photos of our outfits while we’re in Nashville, so watch for them! We leave in 2 weeks!

Thank you, ladies of DownEast! We will be back soon!

Every once in a while, it’s necessary to take a break.

For your sanity, for your family, for yourself.

I didn’t plan on taking a break, but it turns out that it was a necessary thing. I’m trying to keep the computer closed between the hours of 3-8 p.m. which, I have found out, is my most productive time of the day.

Hence, no blog posts going up.

I thought I’d let you know what we have been up to.

My dear friend Nicole brought her family back to Tucson for a few days, and we were able to get some girl time in.

Ignore that messy counter. We’re making memories. 

Jack decided that life around the house was a little boring, so while he was feeding Billy, he threw a mealworm up.

Yes, up.

Onto the ceiling fan. Where it stuck.

Until it fell.

Yup. I can’t even make that up.

I went out on a rare lunch date with some of my best and oldest friends (they’re not old, our friendships are). It was the best birthday gift ever!

Our amazing server wasn’t an amazing photographer, so please pardon the crazy colors. Tucson doesn’t normally have lime green trees :)

Well, maybe my new iPhone4S was the best.

No… they’re tied.

We have been eating artichokes like crazy. With the amazing recipe from The Killer Griller, we have grown to love artichokes during the past few months. Yes, right in time for them to go out of season. But next year, we are ordering a case of them from Ocean Mist Farms right at the beginning of the artichoke season – They seem to have the absolute best artichokes.

Jack and his mini-artichoke. We thought he would love it, and he did. Can can easily eat an entire huge artichoke by himself!

In other news, Michael declared that he wanted a megaphone for Christmas.

Shortly after, Jack decided he wanted one, as well.

Anyone who thinks it’s funny and buys my kids a megaphone for Christmas will be getting nightly midnight visits from me and the megaphone – in person or by telephone.

Also on the Christmas list?

An ATV, an airsoft grenade launcher, and a new iPod touch.

Hmmm…. The list gets smaller as they get older, but it gets more expensive.

And a little crazier.

Oh… Grandma Teetsie came to visit!!!

We got some girl time in while the boys were at school, and Grandma got some much needed spoiling in.

And Jack. He was hamming it up for her.

Michael even got to take a half day off of school and go to lunch with us :)

In other fun news, Jack called our neighbor a vampire.

To her face.

In her defense, she doesn’t look like a vampire. And she doesn’t act like a vampire.

Jack will just do anything for a laugh. Apparently, we are still needing to discuss appropriate and inappropriate things to say to adults.

I know I’ve said it before, but just to be clear.

Michael? NEVER called an adult a vampire.

Or threw mealworms onto the ceiling fan.

Or threw a football really hard in the garage, breaking 7 of Steve’s 30ish Hard Rock shot glasses that he has been collecting for 18 years.

It’s been a crazy few weeks, friends.

The boys have been playing with the Grinch Cam app. Have you seen it? It’s totally worth .99 while the kids are waiting at a restaurant.

The boys have been asking me to lie down with them at night when they go to bed, and knowing that these times are coming to an end before I know it, I’m not saying no.

I’m spending as much time with them as I can, and thinking a lot about where the blog will be when they get to an age where they don’t want me blogging about them anymore.

I realized this fall that I have been missing a lot of time with the boys while I have been blogging about them, and that’s not what any Mom wants. There has to be a balance somewhere, and I’m looking for it.

So, please be patient with me while I over-post one month and under-post the next. I have an almost finished story about the auto show last month and how fun that was for me – a Mom who blogs about her boys. You’ll see that soon. I’m also over here at Dinner Tool a few times a month, and find that sharing facebook status updates are sometimes easier than full blog posts.

Don’t worry – The blog is sticking around, and will still be family-focused, but I’m thinking about adding a little more about the entire family. More recipes that we love and fitness, maybe? I was just accepted as a FitFluential Ambassador and am getting lots of post ideas from other ambassadors. Our life has changed a lot since Our Crazy Boys began in 2009, and I want to make sure to represent that as well as share all of the fun things that are going on out here in the desert.

All bloggers evaluate their blogs every few years, and I guess it’s just my turn!

In addition to the funny stories about the boys and the crazy things they do, what would you like to see more of? Less of? I’m sure we can all come to a compromise ;)

Can I thank you all enough for the kind comments on my last post? You have made me smile :)

Jack has been playing with HEXBUG Robotic Creatures for a few months now – he actually received his first set as a birthday gift in August. When he saw a HexBug Halloween box at our front door, he got a little excited.

We invited seven of Jack’s best friends and they all had a blast!

Have you heard of a HEXBUG? They’re little robotic toys that look like… bugs. But cute bugs, if you can believe it.

HEXBUG toys behave like bugs. They avoid obstacles, right themselves if they get flipped over, and run about as fast as a real scorpion (that’s a little bit of fun desert knowledge for you). If you’re the inquisitive type, you can read about how HEXBUG creatures are desgined on their website – it’s pretty cool.

Here’s the habitat that we set up the night before the party. We decided to set it up and let the kids redo it if they wanted to… which they did!

…which I think had something to do with the little boy heads that we found on the kitchen counter. Gross.

The kids loved following the HEXBUG toys around the habitat. We invited kids ages 3-9 to our party, and every one of them loved playing with the bugs! The black pieces of the track glow in the dark, as do some of the HEXBUG creatures!

Here’s a short video of the kids taking the track apart and rearranging it:

 We played a fun game with the box that the party supplies came in. We cut four small “doors” in the bottom of the box – just big enough for a HEXBUG to run through. Each child put a sticky note with their name on top of their bug and on the count of three, they set the bugs down in the box. The first child’s bug to get through the door won a prize!

 After some more play time and cupcake eating, we played one last game to end the party. On one end of a long piece of yarn was a party bag, and on the other end was a name tag. There was one piece of yarn for each of the little zombies that came to the party.

The kids had to follow their piece of yarn under the coffee table and around the couches to find their party bags. It was a hit!

Pardon the blurry photo – they were moving a little fast!

In their party bags, the kids got some fun Halloween toys and some Hexbugs! The favorite, though, was the HEXBUG zombie!

It’s super cool because it has a removable exoskeleton and comes in a coffin! HEXBUG zombie bugs glow in the dark and is on sale for Halloween. I also saw a Christmas ornament HEXBUG on the HEXBUG website. It has antlers!! Hurry and order before they sell out!

Disclosure: Thanks to MomSelect, MommyParties, and HEXBUG for providing the HEXBUG products for our #HEXBUGHalloween party. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Last month, our local Chick-fil-A held parties for their “best guests” and one of my favorite managers (I say one of because they’re all amazing) Diane chose me! Chick-fil-A threw a party for me and 20ish of my closest friends!

Eileen and I in our firefighter cow hats, because we are all. about. fun.

The kids LOVED the cow.

My dear friend Eileen and I started meeting there with our little ones every 2 weeks or so about a year ago. We both work part time and wanted to get together and chat while the kids played. If you know me at all, you know that I’m not a big fan of fast food. Chick-fil-A is one place that I’ll happily take the boys. They have several healthy options on the menu and the best sweet tea in Tucson (in my opinion :)

Except for Shyla. Her and her Mom were stuck in the play area until the cow went home.

I invited several friends and their kids, and we had a blast. You might even be able to spy Chelsea and Karen if you look hard enough :) It was great to sit and chat and watch the kids play. The staff acted as waitstaff and wouldn’t let us get in line or pay for anything. One of the managers, Dave, came out and payed a few games with the kids and even the kid cow made an appearance. It was quite a day, and the only thing missing was our favorite employee, Robert.

Thank you Diane! You made our day!!

Do you have a local Chick-fil-A that’s as great as ours?

This post is linked to Amanda’s and Wordful Wednesday carnival. Have you linked up yet?

You know what this is, right?

It’s the Spinning Circle Of Doom.

If you’re on a first name basis, you can call it SCOD.

I do.

I  unknowingly welcomed it when I downloaded Lion on my pretty little computer last week, and I don’t want it here anymore.

I think Apple should warn those who need to be protected from themselves people like me when they attempt to install a really, really big operating system onto a computer without a lot of memory. But since they didn’t, it seems that I have single-handedly rendered my computer almost inoperable.

I can’t upload photos.

I can’t access a web page in less than 1 minute.

Per page.

I can’t play with Picnik. That makes me sad.

So be patient with me, while my beloved UPS man brings more RAM to my house.

While we wait for the Man In Brown, I’d love for you to go visit the blogs I am reading right now :)

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I have been feeling pretty awful for the past few months and as an experiment, I stopped eating gluten to see what would happen. Within a few days I felt almost 100% better, and I’m not planning on changing my eating habits back any time soon. Here are some helpful blogs I have found:

The Gluten Free Diet has been a great resource for all things gluten.

I found Mom Off Track because of her awesome gluten free post yesterday, and have been having fun poking around her blog.

I have made Jesse’s Stuffed Zucchini twice in the past week, and plan on making it again soon. Her blog, The Happy Go Lucky Vegan is full of great recipes. And even if you’re not vegan, go check it out. I add chicken to a lot of her recipes.

Udi’s Gluten Free foods is a great resource. They’re active on social networking sites and love to interact with their customers. My friend Jo-Lynne of Musings Of A Housewife, who has been a great resource to me, is also working with Udi’s to help people learn more about going Gluten-Free.

Life hasn’t been all about food here, though…

My friend Karen has started a new blog (in addition to her “old” blog, Desert Deals Diva) – it’s fun and lighthearted – take a look at Chica Ramblings.

My friend Val has been a blogger (at heart) for a while… she just didn’t have her blog started yet. Now she does! Go welcome her at Mom Gone Mad, please!

You have two days left to enter Vicarious Chelsea‘s Ice.com giveaway… Today is her birthday, too – so wish her a happy day when you enter.

I have been reading Jen’s blog, Our Daily Big Top, for almost as long as I have been blogging. Her oldest boy is Michael’s age, and we became instant blog friends. Though she lives right where the earthquake hit yesterday, her and her cuties didn’t feel a thing. You should go read about what they were doing when the earthquake hit.

That’s what I have for now. I promise to be much more talkative after the UPS man comes to visit me.

I have a short bucket list.

There are several things that I really want to do before I die, and they aren’t really little things. They require planning, time, and a few plane tickets.

One of the things on my bucket list?

Participate in a flash mob.

One would think that since I can’t dance, a flash mob would be out of the question.

But I figured that there are all types of flash mobs. Did you ever see the one in Grand Central Station where the people stood still?

I probably couldn’t do that, either, though. I would get the giggles.

People also sing in flash mobs. But you *really* don’t want me to sing.

Trust me.

A few weeks ago, I got a direct message on Twitter from Mary.

“I have a super secret mission. It involves dancing. You in?”

I replied “Of Course!” even though I knew I couldn’t dance. But I figured that for a “super secret mission” I could fake my way through anything.

I was invited to join a private facebook page dedicated to the BlogHer11 FlashMob.

There were videos of Mary and Theresa dancing in their living rooms, showing us the steps.

There were words of encouragement, persuading everyone – no matter their dancing ability – to join in the fun.

And there were some hilarious posts about the excitement that came with being in the flash mob – car dancing and all.

We practiced in our living rooms.

In our offices.

In our kitchens.

We formed a tight friendship even before BlogHer’11 even started – we even had a hashtag – #OperationGlory

The day before BlogHer started, we met in an empty conference room and practiced.

And practiced.

And then we practiced some more.

Karen, Sara, and I went back to our hotel room and practiced at midnight while eating pizza.

We knew as much as we were going to know.

On Friday, we went to lunch. It was loud. The room was huge.

We listened for the music to start and… well… you can see it for yourself:

I am so glad that I decided to join in, and that my bucket list is a little shorter!

I can’t thank you enough, Mary and Theresa!

Link your #OperationGlory post below!