Whole Lot of Running

I did a lot of running this week, at least for me.

Friday-jog 42 minutes
Saturday-lot of yard work
Sunday-Worked all day teaching gymnastics birthday parties. So I did lots of stretching, moving, spotting, moving heavy mats, and vacuumed for an hour.
Monday-jogged 47 minutes
Tuesday-jogged 33 minutes in the 90 degree heat
Wednesday-had running class for an hour. We warmed up, did running drills, intervals (200m fast/200m recovery), and a cooled down. Also in the 90 degree heat.
Thursday-I did an ab workout.
I plan on jogging today too.

I feel pretty good about the workouts last week. I enjoy running and I'm actually seeing my times and distances improve despite the heat on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting out early today and enjoying the cool weather this morning. I need to do some weight workouts this week. It is hard to fit everything in. The yard work takes at least one day to mow and weed.

The food tracking didn't happen this week and neither did a weight loss. I really need to try doing something different because not tracking is not working. Wearing shorts this week should be an added incentive.

That is So Penis!

Our friends' 4 year old daughter was taught the correct anatomical terms for the genitals. Her parents wanted her to know the right terms but also did not want her to talk about them all the time. She started to use the word penis as an exclamation. If she didn't like something, she would say "That is so penis!" So her parents told her if she continued to use the term that way, she would get a drop of Tabasco sauce on her tongue. She didn't like that. She then replaced her favorite phase of "That is so penis" with "That is so Tabasco sauce."

Vampire Apple and When 5 Year Old Dress Themselves

Can you see the fang marks on this apple? Was a Cullen visiting? Nope, it was just Maximus, the wonder dog.

Caitlin dressed herself this morning. She insisted on the knee high socks because they covered her bandages.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos. Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Life as We know It

Despite good intentions, we missed our date night last week. It was going to be a good one too. We were suppose to see a Pearl Jam concert. Unfortunately, I got too sick to go and Dave went with a buddy instead. We'll try to see them next time they tour. That is just the way things go sometimes.

This week, we decided to watch the tv show Life As We Know It that my husband and friend Joe made during college. Joe's wife sent us copies of the first two seasons of the show. So we had a little marathon. The show was a sketch comedy format similar to Saturday Night Live. We were reliving college life while watching the show and had a bunch of beers like we would have during college. We opted for Coronas and Blue Moon's Honeymoon beer. They were much yummier than the Natty Light we drank religiously back in the day. The shows were funny and definitely funnier with each beer. Usually tv is bad for a date night but this was not bad since we spent the whole time reminiscing and trying to remember people's names.

This is date 14 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

Yup, beer makes me happy.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

Challenge Failure

So blew the work out everyday in the month of May challenge. I had a good reason though. I got really sick with a stomach virus. Besides the nausea, I also had extreme muscle pain. Anyway the nausea subsided after 24 hours, but I felt off for days. I'm back on track again though. I mowed the lawn yesterday for an hour. Today I went jogging for 42 minutes. I'm feeling strong and will finish the rest of the month with a workout each day.

The upside of the stomach virus is I haven't been overeating at all. We have had birthday cake in the house since last Sunday and I haven't had any yet. That is very unusual. Time to throw it out now. My normal appetite and sweet tooth have returned. I've lost 6 lbs in the last two weeks. Hopefully I can maintain the loss and continue.

This coming week I plan on jogging, some weight lifting routines, elliptical machines, and walking. I hope to check track of those calories too. Wish me luck.

Sitting Pretty

Go to Skywatch Friday to see skies from all around the world.

Rainbow Cake

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Quick Recovery

Being too sick to go to the Pearl Jam concert sucked, but recovering quickly enough to teach Caitlin's birthday party at the gymnastics center made me happy. Made her happy too.
Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

i heart faces-Flowers

This week's theme at i heart faces is flowers.

Be sure to go to i heart faces to check out all the other beautiful faces.

Fitness Friday

Well I made two challenges for myself for the month of May, exercising everyday and tracking my calories. I've kicked ass in the exercise department. Here's what I've done in the past week:

Friday-elliptical machine for 50 minutes
Saturday-30 minute walk with the dog
Sunday-jog for 42 minutes
Monday-elliptical machine for 50 minutes
Tuesday-jogged 33 minutes (Shorter than I would usually jog but it was done while the kids were at their class.)
Wednesday-Jillian Micheal's Making the Cut workout and stepped for 10 minutes
Thursday-Jogged for 42 minutes.

Now for the tracking calories...I haven't done as well. I didn't even make it through the first day. I start out with good intentions and track up till lunch. Then I just stop. I'm not sure why. I think I've done better with snacking this week but I forgot to weigh myself this morning so I'm not sure it has paid off. I will weigh tomorrow morning.

So this week, I plan to continue to exercise each day with one lighter day (like walking). I really am going to stop being lazy with food tracking and do that this week. Hopefully it will pay off.
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Time for more begging. If you haven't voted yet could you please vote for my entry in Simply Modern Mom's Mommy Moment's photo contest. To vote you just have to leave a comment that you are voting for my entry #1. I'm not too proud to beg. Please! You can vote till May 16. One vote per person. Thanks so much in advance.

Here is my entry again. Caitlin is cuddling with my 9 month pregnant belly.

Mother's Day Tea

My daughter's preschool had a Mother's Day tea party. The kids sang us songs about moms being important. They were very cute. The kids then gave us presents (homemade bookmarks) and cards. The cards had sentences that the kids filled in. Here is what Caitlin's card said:
My mom looks pretty when: she goes to her friends' parties.
My mom's favorite thing to do is: spend time with me and my brother.
I love my mommy because: she takes me to the kids museum.

I love this little girl so much!

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 16/52 for me.

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Also if you haven't voted yet could you please vote for my entry in Simply Modern Mom's Mommy Moment's photo contest. To vote you just have to leave a comment that you are voting for my entry #1. I'm not too proud to beg. Please! You can vote till May 16. One vote per person. Thanks so much in advance.

Here is my entry again. Caitlin is cuddling with my 9 month pregnant belly.

Vote for Me. Please!

I entered Simply Modern Mom's Mommy Moment's photo contest. I'd love if you could vote for my entry #1. I'm not too proud to beg. Please! You can vote till May 16. One vote per person. Thanks so much in advance.

This is the photo I entered.

Making a Wish

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Pearl Jam and Uno

Pearl Jam still makes me happy. Even happier that I get to see them live soon.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

I love the card game Uno. It has been a while since we have played. Last time was years ago and involved a drinking aspect. No alcohol was involved this time. Just good old competitiveness. I won the first 3 games and pretty much felt like an Uno goddess. Then Dave won the next 4 games. Started to hate him and all his draw 2 cards cards. Just kidding but I did pout a little. I won the last 2 games to come up on top. It was a blast and a date that we both would do again.

This is date 13 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

Happy 3rd Birthday Davey!

Three years ago today, we welcomed Davey to the world.

Davey has always been a curious little guy...

...and a little mischievous too.

He is always full of joy...

and ready for an adventure.

Happy 3rd birthday Davey! I love watching you grow into the cool guy you are becoming.

A New Class and May Challenge

I'm taking the Shredheads May challenge of working out everyday for the month of May. I was a little behind reading blogs so I didn't see the challenge till May 3rd but I still got workouts in on the 1st and 2nd. I work at a gymnastics center so I taught classes which includes me jogging, doing stretches, situps, spotting, and moving lots of heavy equipment each day. So I think I can count that.

Monday I did a Jillian Micheal's Making the Cut weight and interval workout and 10 extra minutes on the step.

Tuesday I went jogging for 44 minutes. I'm still walking a little. I'm finding it hard to breathe at times. I think it is allergy related since it is worse some days and better on others.

Wednesday I had my first running class. I was nervous that I would be the slowest or most out of shape in the class. Turns out I'm in the middle. There are some more experienced runners and triathletes. There are also some people who are just starting. We warmed up with 800m. Then we did form drills mostly concentrating on quicker feet. We did 800m of speed work (fast on the straights and walk/jog on the curves of the track). We did a couple more form drills. Then we did 1200 m of more speed work. We finished with 800 m for a cool down. I'm hoping the class will help me with my form and give me a better training plan. Up till now my training plan has been lacing up my shoes and jogging.

Thursday I almost did not workout but knew I needed to in order to keep up with the challenge. So I did level 3 of the 30 Day Shred. I hadn't done that in months but thought I'd be ok since I've been doing the Making the Cut workouts. I was ok but the Shred still kicks my ass. I'm not sore today though so that is a victory.

I'm also going to add another challenge to myself. I'm going to track my calories everyday for the rest of the month. I need to track. Not tracking is simply not working. Hopefully May will be a good month for me.

How I Met Your Father

Fifteen years ago today, I finally connected with the man of my dreams. I just didn't know he was that man quite yet. We had had a couple of near meets. We actually were friends with a lot of the same people but somehow had never really talked. I didn't notice Dave till one night when he walked into a party without a hat on and I noticed he had gorgeous eyes and hair. He almost always wore a baseball hat. He didn't stay at that party very long but I decided I needed to meet him.

The next week I saw him across the room at another party. I walked and across and started to talk to him. I ran out of beer and told him to wait for me while I got another beer. When I returned from the keg, he was gone. This was not good for my self-esteem but I wasn't giving up yet.

Another week later, I got home from competing in a college track meet and went to the all day annual spring party at 8 pm. This was considered arriving very late. Most people were completely wasted. I met up with my roommates and got a beer. Then I saw Dave again across the yard. I told my roommate, Amy, that I wanted to meet him. She said that they were friends and she would introduce us again.

Amy went over to Dave and started chatting with him. She said she had a friend who wanted to meet him but was a little shy. He totally thought she was hitting on him and then she mentioned her boyfriend. That confused him more. Finally she points over to me. I didn't find this part out till months later. I would have been so embarrassed.

We started chatting and really connecting. Neither one of us had had more than a beer which was very unusual for those days. The party got broken up after only talking for about a half hour. I thought for sure that was going to be it but Amy's boyfriend, Chris, invited everyone back to his apartment. We chatted and flirted for a couple of hours. Amy and Chris excused themselves and went to his room. Dave and I continued to chat in the living room for a while. We started to feel weird hanging out in Chris's apartment so we left. We had an awkward conversation outside the apartment that went like this:

Me: So what are you going to do? (It is like 1 am)

Dave: I'll probably just go home and watch some tv.

Me: I think I'm going to watch some tv too. Do you want to go upstairs to watch tv with me?

Dave: Um, yeah.

We watched Emtpy Nest together and flirted some more. We fought over who had to pick the next show by forcing each other to take the remote. That is when I made my move and kissed him. The kiss lasted 3 hours. Really just kissing. By 4am I was pretty tired and called it a night. I gave Dave my number and hoped he'd call but there was only 2 weeks of school left so I wasn't sure if things were really going to go anywhere.

Despite his friends telling him not to call so soon, Dave called the next day. We hung out almost everyday for the next two weeks mostly at keg parties. I didn't know he was the man of my dreams yet but I did think that he was good for me. We both went home for the summer. I wasn't sure if we would still see each other. At first I thought the timing of meeting him at the end of the year was bad but I think it worked out. I got to really get to know him without all his friends around and constant partying. Dave was sweet. He took me on real dates, sent me cards and small gifts, and talked almost everyday. I fell in love with him that summer. I've been in love with him ever since.

I'm using this photo from one of our first real dates for the Just Shoot Me Challenge this week.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 15/52 for me.

Super Kids!

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos. Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Heathen Family Revival.

Happiness and Super Mario Brothers.

I love that it is warm enough for bike riding.

Be sure to go Leigh vs Laundry to see more photos that are bound to make you happy.

So we missed our date last week. Things got hectic and we really didn't do anything other than watch tv together. I guess we really need to pick a day of the week and stick with it. So this week we decided to rent Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. We both had played the original as kids. It took us a little while to figure out how to start and play. The rental doesn't come with any directions but it is not that hard to figure out. It totally brought back memories from childhood. The game is very similar but also has some cool additions like riding lizard like creatures. It was a very fun date. I'm a little competitive but it was cool that you can work together at times too. We hadn't played Super Mario Brothers earlier because we thought it would take too much energy. This Wii game doesn't require much movement on the part of the user. So we will play again much sooner.

This is date 12 out of 52 for us. Go to Simply Modern Mom to join in on the fun.

No Second Dates

Dave and I were talking last night about all our kids little quirks and what would happen if they didn't outgrow them before they started dating. We figure Caitlin will go out to dinner and insist on 4 different forks so she can use one for each food on her plate. She'll insist that her date watch Snow White with her. She'll wear her prettiest tutu with stripy tights and polka dot shirt. If she passes gas on the date, she'll announce it and then giggle maniacally. And Davey will announce he pooped while not looking up from his Leapster game. I don't think we would need to worry about second dates if they don't outgrow these quirks.

Beach Fun

We went to the beach for the first time this year. The weather was great. Here are my favorite shots from yesterday:

Both my guys were tuckered out from all the beach fun.

Be sure to go to I am Lotus to check out more weekly winners.