Over the mountain and through the woods…

To Great Grandma Taylor’s house we go! On Christmas Eve the kids and I (Adam had to work) heading to my Grandma Taylor’s house to spend the day with her and my father. She lives in a small town about an hour and half away from us so we left first thing in the morning. Let me re-phrase that, we tried to leave first thing in the morning. I was up the night before till 3am working on Christmas presents, so needless to say, the snooze button was my friend Christmas Eve morning. By the time we left I was only an hour behind schedule which I thought wasn’t to bad since I had to set-up the DVD players and fill the tank. That hour behind schedule turned into almost two hours behind schedule with Mason developing car sickness. My poor little guy had me pull over because he thought he was going to be sick, but nothing. Not a minute went by once I pulled back onto the highway that chunks went flying! Of course to top it off, he had to have a LARGE glass of milk with breakfast. Throw up milk is the worst! Lucky I had packed extra clothes for them since I knew they would be playing in the snow with Grandpa. We finally made it to our destination and had a wonderful visit. And the car ride home? Was a lot like the car ride up; windows rolled down, lots of pulling over, “close your eyes and try to go to sleep”, but minus the throw up in the car. Dramamine will be a must for the next car trip!

     

Gingerbread Time

Back during the first part of December the boys and I headed to the store to pick up a few things for our Christmas UFC party. I told them if they behaved themselves I would buy a gingerbread house for them to make. I figured it would keep them busy while the grown ups were watching the fight. Will they did pretty good up till check out time, where they decided to start fist fighting while our things were being scanned. Of course this lead to me having the checker take the gingerbread house off and going home empty handed. I had a gut feeling if I didn't buy it then there wouldn't be anymore left the next time I went, but I had to make a point and couldn't go back on my word. And sure enough, the follow weekend there was no more left... ANYWHERE. So instead of a gingerbread house, we ended up with a gingerbread tree. I was kinda bummed at first because the tradition has been a house, but once the boys started putting it together; I realized it did not matter to them. They just enjoyed the activity and spending quality time with mommy and daddy. In the end, their Gingerbread Christmas Tree turned out very cute!

 

Photo Shoot Take #2

Once again one of my little monsters (and i mean that in a loving way… kinda, sorta) got a hold of my camera and had their own little photo shoot. I don’t know what is funnier, the fact they try to hide what they did. "No mommy, I didn't touch your camera." Or the randomness of the pictures. Either way, I laugh every time.

Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy visited our home for the first time over the weekend. After a couple of weeks of Mason wiggling his little front tooth, it finally came free. Waking up to his toothless smile gave me mixed emotions. On one hand my heart sank because it’s a reminder that my “little” boy is growing up (way to fast). And on the other hand all I could do was smile (it was to early to laugh) because it was so darn cute. I wish I had my camera by the bed so I could have taken a picture of his new toothless smile holding what the Tooth Fairy left. WAIT A MINUTE! When did the Tooth Fairy start leaving $2? She never left me $2! I remember getting quarters and maybe a dollar when I got older. What the heck is she going to leave when he’s 10? I’m glad the recession isn’t hurting her, perhaps I need to start pulling my teeth out. I wonder what she would give me?

Holiday Photos

Anybody who has children knows how HORRIBLE holiday photos can be. I personally cringe whenever I say those two words in the same sentence. What throws me through a loop, is my children will take the best picture when they are in the scrubbiest clothes and dirt all over their face. But when I actually want to take a good picture of them, all hell breaks loose.

This year was no expectation. Mason decided to test out his “fake” smile in pretty much all the photos. Cody wanted to see every picture after it was taken. And Baby Girl was not happy because the photographer wanted someone to holder her the whole time.

So what makes this photo session the topper of all toppers? My mother wanted to also take pictures. Which meant my family photos that included: all of us, the kids, and just Baby Girl. Then my mom wanted to take a family picture with us, a family picture with my grandparents, a photo of her and the kids, PLUS a 4th generation picture. Needless to say…. Two hours later, 3 VERY hungry kids, 1 exhausted photographer, and me dripping in sweat; we were done!

I hope you enjoy our family photos. Because I sure in the hell did not enjoy taking them. I do love looking at them though! Merry Christmas!

California International Marathon

Alright… I have to admit, I was NOT excited about this race. At first I was, and then I started thinking about all the things I needed to get done before Halloween, Baby Girls first birthday, and Thanksgiving dinner. How in the world was I going to find the time to stick to my training program? And then there was the weather factor. I hate being cold!!! I wear a hoodie to bed with two down comforters. During the wintertime I’ll take multiple showers a day just to stay warm. What was I thinking when I agreed to this relay?

When our relay team, “Relay Rookies” signed up, I said the only leg I would NOT run was the first one. So Amy took the first leg, then her dad Alan, myself, and Amy’s mom Susan finished. Our girlfriend Tracey was suppose to run the last leg but she decided to get knocked and developed horrible morning sickness. The miles for each leg broke down as; 5.9, 7.6, 7.0, and 5.7.

The morning of the race I was just glad to look out the window and see it not raining. And the fact I didn’t need to be to my relay point till 9am, unlike Amy who took off at 7am. The weather report from Weather.com logged 7:00am at 29f feeling like 22f and 9:00am at 37f feeling more like 28f. All in all… it was COLD!!

To be honest, I didn’t start getting excited about this race until I was actually standing in the sea of people waiting for my relay buddy Alan to arrive. The relay points were very unorganized and there was a lot of confusion amongst everyone. Amy decided to stand on the other side of the street keeping a lookout for her dad to arrive. Once she saw him and started yelling at me, that is when my heart started pounding and all the nervousness rushed over me. A quick exchanged of the timing chip and I was off.

For some odd reason I thought most of my leg and the finishing leg was down hill. Yeah, not so much. Grant it, it was nothing like the second leg (there was also a few good hills in the 1st leg). But when your in the mind set that your leg is fairly flat and you start running rolling hills with a head wind, you get thrown off your game a little. It took me the first few miles to get myself into a good running rhythm.

By mile four I hear someone shouting out pace times, 11:22. OK, no way he just said that. I must have heard him wrong. I haven’t ran a 11 minute mile in over seven years. Mile five rolls along and I listen, 11:08. Mile six 11:15. Mile seven and I’m strapping the timing chip to Susan’s ankle. Done! And I’m actually not to cold. :)

My goal for this race was to finish in 1:40 with an overall pace of 13:29 (according to my training program). I am VERY proud to say, I surpassed my goal and finished in 1:30 with an overall pace of 12:85. And yes I did cry when I called Adam to tell him my finishing time.

A special thank you to Amy for pushing me bound my boundaries. A thank you to Alan for running the hilliest part of the race. And thank you Susan for having us finish 26.2 miles under 5 hours. For a bunch of rookies (other then Alan) I think we did pretty damn good!

P.S. Congrats Tracey and Jay on baby number 2!

Baby Girls Rag Blanket

FINALLY! No, I didn’t finish it. I haven’t even started sewing it! BUT… I did finish cutting my squares and figured out the pattern. Which by the way there really isn’t much of a pattern, I just didn’t want two solids or two prints next to each other. Adam laughs at me and calls me old, but I found cutting the squares very calming. Now lets just see if sewing all them squares together is just as calming. LOL. I did contemplate posting a picture of the layout, but decided against it since I want the finished project to be a surprise. So consider this your sneak peak. :)

Tinker Bell

I recently made this for my niece Charley for her 4th birthday. I figured it was only fitting since she is in LOVE with Tinker Bell.

The first few tie fleece blankets I made were the “no sew” style. Basically all I had to do was cut the strips around the outside and tie the two pieces together. SIMPLY! For this blanket I decided to sew the pieces together before cutting. Since I sewed them together, I had to watch while I was cutting my strips to make sure I didn’t cut into my stitch. I wanted to sew it this time 1.) because I wanted to practice using my machine, and 2.) I wouldn’t worry that it would fall apart while she was playing with it, or 3.) come undone in the wash. After seeing the finished product, I'll be sewing them for now on! Still super simply, but to me it looks a lot nicer and has a polished look to it.

Shamrock’n Half Marathon

Here it is, my training program for the next half marathon; Shamrock'n March 14, 2010!!!

Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
11/30 12/6	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:58	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5mi Warm; 3 mi @ 13:22; Cool	XT	Rest	Long Run Dist: 6mi @14:58	Rest /Walk
12/7 12/13	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:58	XT	Speedwork Dist: 5mi Warm; 2x1600 in 12:37 w/800 jogs; Cool	XT	Rest	Long Run Dist: 6mi @14:58	Rest /Walk
12/14 12/20	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:58	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5mi Warm; 3 mi @ 13:22; Cool	XT	Rest	Long Run Dist: 7mi @14:58	Rest /Walk
12/21 12/27	Easy Run Dist: 4mi @14:58	XT	Easy Run Dist: 3mi @14:58	XT	Rest	Easy Run Dist: 3mi @14:58	Rest /Walk
12/28 1/3	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:49	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 6mi Warm; 4 mi @ 13:21; Cool	XT	Rest	Long Run Dist: 7mi @14:49	Rest /Walk
1/4 1/10	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:49	XT	Speedwork Dist: 7mi Warm; 3x1600 in 12:29 w/800 jogs; Cool	XT	Rest	Long Run Dist: 8mi @14:49	Rest /Walk
1/11 1/17	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:49	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 6mi Warm; 4 mi @ 13:21; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:49	Rest	Long Run Dist: 8mi @14:49	Rest /Walk
1/18 1/24	Easy Run Dist: 4mi @14:49	XT	Easy Run Dist: 4mi @14:49	XT	Rest	Easy Run Dist: 4mi @14:49	Rest /Walk
1/25 1/31	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:40	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 7mi Warm; 5 mi @ 13:21; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:40	Rest	Long Run Dist: 9mi @14:40	Rest /Walk
2/1 2/7	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:40	XT	Speedwork Dist: 8mi Warm; 4x1600 in 12:22 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:40	Rest	Long Run Dist: 9mi @14:40	Rest /Walk
2/8 2/14	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:40	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 7mi Warm; 5 mi @ 13:21; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:40	Rest	Long Run Dist: 10mi @14:40	Rest /Walk
2/15 2/21	Easy Run Dist: 5mi @14:40	XT	Easy Run Dist: 5mi @14:40	XT	Rest	Easy Run Dist: 5mi @14:40	Rest /Walk
2/22 2/28	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:31	XT	Tempo Run Dist: 8mi Warm; 6 mi @ 13:20; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:31	Rest	Long Run Dist: 10mi @14:31	Rest /Walk
3/1 3/7	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:31	XT	Speedwork Dist: 10mi Warm; 5x1600 in 12:14 w/800 jogs; Cool	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @14:31	Rest	Long Run Dist: 11mi @14:31	Rest /Walk
3/8 3/14	Rest	Easy Run Dist: 2mi @14:58	Rest	Tempo Run Dist: 5 mi Warm; 3 mi @ 13:22; Cool	Rest	Rest	Race Day Dist: Half @13:18 Time: 2:54:35

Gobble Gobble

Before

After

This year our bird was 25lbs! The largest I could find at Costco and fit in my roasting pan. I think this year was my best bird yet. The meat literally feel off the bone making it hard to carve. There was only enough leftovers for one meal but I managed to scrap enough off the legs to get two. I made a “Day After Thanksgiving Pie” with the leftover stuffing, meat, mash potatoes, and cheese. I’ve learned in my house cheese will make any dinner get eaten! With the leg meat I through that into my BFF, aka Crockpot; with some broth, veggies, and egg noodles to make “soup”. Most of the broth was absorbed by dinnertime, but it worked out since my kids would only eat it because I said it was “chicken” and noodles. They are weird like that, no fancy names for them. Lasagna has become meat and noodles, chili is beans and meat, and soup is now chicken and noodles. Whatever it takes to keep them eating healthy, I don’t care!!

1st Baby Blanket

I’ve had this finished for some time and have wanted to post a picture of it but since I hadn’t given it to Baby Claire I didn’t want to ruin the present. It was my second project using a sewing machine (my 1st was for baby girls shopping cart cover). And even though it has it’s flaws, I’m very proud of it. I never thought I would fall in love with using a sewing machine, but after coming across The Sometimes Crafter Blog I just can’t seem to get enough. Her work and ideas are so inspiring. My next project is a rag quilt for Baby Girl. But for now, I hope Baby Claire enjoys her lovie.

Baby Girls 1st Birthday Party

I don’t know if it had to do with the lack of sleep from the previous weeks events (pack, move, unpack, organize, party planning, school, work, sports, etc.) or the simple fact my baby girl was turning one, but I was an emotional wreck during her party. I could barely say thank you to all our guests without crying! I just wanted everything to be perfect. Perfect for our perfect little girl and perfect for being (most likely) the last 1st birthday party I get to plan. I did not realize all these “last” things would be so hard on me. I’m glad to say it all turned out lovely though.