Week 1 - 5K Training - Day 3

With the Prince at pre-school, the Knight and I hit the gym by ourselves! The Knight did a great job! I was a little worried because he has never been in the playroom without Will. More worrying over nothing! He had fun.

I ran/walked for 35 minutes. I started out walking for 5 minutes at a brisk pace. Then I alternated running for 1 minute and walking for 1.5 minutes. I also lifted my usual weights. I will go tomorrow and that will be 4 times this week! The guidelines call for 3 but I figure I need as much practice as I can get! That 5K is coming up fast and I want to run it all and not walk.

I promise to have some more fun posts later! Princess had a friend over last night, AB. The Prince had basketball practice. Princess and I have our big girl scout camping trip this weekend. I use the word "camping" lightly because we will be in heated cabins with bunk beds! We will also have showers. Yippee!!! Princess is really excited to have Mommy and Princess time. I am too. DadOf3 will have fun with the boys. I think there is a monster truck rally in a city not too far away and he might take the boys!

Week 1 - 5K Training - Day 2

The boys and I hit the gym again today. And again, I did the warm-up walking for 5 minutes and then alternating between running for 1 minute and walking for 1.5 minutes. It was easier today. I half expected it to be harder. I am going tomorrow and Friday too. Woo hoo! It has begun!

Tuesday Madness

Tuesdays are crazy around here. It was even crazier with the Prince coming into our room last night around 2:00 or so. He is a wiggler. DadOf3 bailed around 3:00 to sleep on the couch. Even though it was just the Prince and me, he about wiggled me out of the bed! I woke up with the alarm around 6:00, sent DadOf3 back to bed for a bit and got Princess ready for school. The boys slept until about 8:00. I quick grabbed a shower, got breakfast for thePrince and the Knight and headed out to take the Prince to pre-school. The Knight and I got groceries, rushed home to get the cold stuff put away, and then headed to lunch at school with the Princess. The Knight didn't like the meal at the school, so I got him lunch when we got home. Then I put away the rest of the non-cold groceries and finished up some laundry. DadOf3 came home for lunch today. When he left, it was time to pick up the Prince from pre-school. They are both now upstairs sleeping and it is time to get Princess from the bus stop! Then homework. Then I get to go to Juno with a friend! I am quite excited about that! :)

State of the Union and Kennedy endorsing Obama?

So, what did you think about the State of the Union Address?

Any thoughts on Kennedy backing Obama?

I made it out alive!

Well, I did my first workout for the 5K and I am still standing. I actually felt like a slacker because I usually walk for an hour. The first workout had me walk for 5 minutes, run for 1 minute, walk for 1.5 minutes, run for 1 minute, walk for 1.5 minutes, etc. for 20 minutes. I actually did it for 30 minutes because I wanted to get at least 30 minutes of cardio in. After that I did my usual weight lifting stuff. I checked out a fitness class that might be fun to take too.

I logged on to sign up for my first 5K too! It costs $20 or $22 depending on if I sign up for timed or not timed. Not exactly sure which way to go with this? At this point, all I want to do is finish the race, running the entire time! It is April 13th! I will add a ticker to my blog!

Any advice out there? Timed or not timed?

Week 1 - 5K Training Schedule!

Monday -

• Workout at Lifetime Fitness (Walk 5 minutes, alternate jogging 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds for 20 minutes)
  
• Big laundry day
• Create menu
• Find desktop
• BIG homework night for Princess
  

Tuesday -

• Take Prince to pre-school
• Get groceries
• Have lunch with Princess at school
• Find Tackle It Tuesday project
• Homework for Princess
  

Wednesday -

• Workout at Lifetime Fitness (Walk 5 minutes, alternate jogging 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds for 20 minutes)
• AB comes home with Princess for a playdate
• Prince had basketball practice
• Homework for Princess
  

Thursday -

• Take Prince to pre-school
  
• Workout at Lifetime Fitness
• Little Laundry Day
• Homework for Princess
  
• Princess has basketball practice

Friday -

• Workout at Lifetime Fitness (Walk 5 minutes, alternate jogging 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds for 20 minutes)
• Princess and I head to girl scout camping trip!

Saturday -

• Girl scout camping trip with Princess
• I am hoping to get some hiking in. This is new to me so ?
  

Sunday -

• Girl scout camping trip with Princess
• Superbowl!
  

Week 1 - 5K Training!

Well, this is it!

Today is the day I start training for my first 5K! Yippee! Yahoo!!

Things have been nutso around here between hosting guests (which we LOVE to do!!) and school stuff. I wanted to start training on a Monday. To make this work, I need to do the following:

1. Think of workout times like they are doctor appointments. I cannot miss them.
2. Put myself first a little more often so I get my workouts done.
3. Get to bed by 11:00. I am a night owl by nature, and it is not unusual for me to be up until 12:30 or so. I need sleep!
   
4. Eat low fat and more "good" carbs. Plan menus!
   
5. Drink lots of water.
6. Don't listen to people who tell me I cannot do this. These comments drain my energy. I need to be able to shrug them off. DadOf3 knows I can do this and that is all that matters!
   
7. Visualize Visualize Visualize!
1. DadOf3 wants to get a boat. That means lots of time in my swimsuit this year. Scary thought at this point! (Fear is a great motivator!)
   
2. Possible family wedding and I want to get a pretty new dress!
3. Accomplishing this so I can move on to a 10K!
8. Schedule workouts depending on the week. I may not be always able to work out 4 times per week. As long as I follow the schedule I make each Monday I am doing well! (Schedule to follow in a different post.
9. Clean out the Knight's old room (another post unto itself!) and make room for my treadmill to unfold! I need to be able to work out on weekends. I could run outside too but the thought of running in front of my neighbors does not sound fun at this point.
10. This is a good, healthy goal! Stick to it!

:)

Puppy Chow Recipe for Kids!

Puppy Chow for Kids

MomSense June/July 2002

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup chocolate chips

¼ lb. butter

8 cups Chex cereal (any flavor)

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Melt peanut butter, chocolate chips and butter together 2 minutes in microwave on high.
2. Mix in cereal.
3. Place mixture in brown paper grocery bag. Add powdered sugar; shake well to coat.

MOPS Friday!

The MOPS casseroles are in the oven, and the boys are still sleeping so I thought I would take a minute to blog.

First, here is my Breakfast Egg Casserole recipe:

Breakfast Egg Casserole

6 eggs beaten well

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 small can chopped green chilies

1 cup cottage cheese (small or large curd) (Mom - you don't even taste this when it is baked!)

1/2 stick melted butter

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 cups grated Monterrey jack cheese

1 package any flavor sausage (can also be low fat) I think I usually use either sage.

Cook the sausage first, beat the eggs and then combine w/remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9/13 pan.

Bake for 30 min. at 350

This is a good one. It is nice if you like spicy for breakfast.

Here is another recipe. I didn't have time to make this one but it is awesome!

Sausage Cheese Balls

2 lbs. (32oz.) Jimmy Dean Sausage, uncooked

1 ½ cups all-purpose baking/biscuit mix (Bisquick)

16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (or 4 cups shredded)

½ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup finely chopped celery

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375. Shred cheese and mix all ingredients. Form into 1 inch balls. Bake 15 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown. Makes about 6 dozen. Sausage cheese balls can be frozen uncooked. For a firmer texture, add an extra 3 cups of baking/biscuit mix and an extra 2 cups of shredded cheese to the ingredients listed above.

Note: I buy the bag of sharp cheddar cheese that is shredded but NOT FINELY shredded. Also, I use a white onion.

More later!

TGIF!!!!!

Big Thursday!

It has been another crazy day here in FamilyOf5Land.

The Prince went to pre-school this morning at 9:30. The Knight and I drove him over there and then headed over to the church where we have MOPS to make copies of the newsletter I write for MOPS once a month. It was nice to only have to chase after one child while making copies! After that, we headed to the grocery store. My MOPS coordinator sent out a plea for people to make more egg casseroles for the meeting tomorrow. There are going to be lots of extra people. I bought enough stuff to make two casseroles. We rushed home to put the eggs and stuff into the frig and then headed right back out to go to lunch with the Princess. She was SO surprised. She chose AB to come up on the stage with us. It was fun and the Knight was pretty good! It is now time to head back out and get the Prince!

Have a great day! Still hoping to get pictures posted! Soon!

Blog Slacker!

I have been a blog slacker lately! Between having visitors and the kids' activities, I have been running around like mad! It has been fun though!

Last night my aunt and uncle from Missouri were in town! They are traveling down to an even warmer climate over the next week or so, but they stopped in to see us last night and it was so much fun! They were traveling with a really nice couple who I think are their next door neighbors.
We went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant and my kids were so good! I love nights like that!

The kids were super tired because I took them swimming yesterday morning. We met AB and his mom. The Prince decided to be brave and went down the slide into the pool for the first time! He did great and ended up going 7 times total. He would have gone more times if I would have let him but AB's mom was watching the Knight so I didn't want to be away too long.

I will add pictures in a bit!

Whew! What a week!

We have been having a great time with some visitors from Iowa! DN and RN have been here since Sunday night. RN is a senior in high school and has been checking out colleges down here. It has been fun to hear him talk about the schools he has visited. He is a smart young man and I am sure he will pick the school that is right for him. DN is RN's dad. He has been having fun playing with the kiddos.

This has been a busy week. The Prince had preschool Tuesday and today. He is learning all about the letter "J" this week. He is still enjoying going to school.

Princess has had some major homework this week. Her books for reading practice are getting
longer and longer. Her spelling list was quite challenging this week!

First Basketball Game of the Year for Princess and Prince!

Today was the very first basketball game for Princess and Prince! They both did a really good job of listening to their coaches, my only requirement for them at this point! They also had a great time! It was nice that their games were at the same time. That will not happen every week, but I will appreciate it when it does happen!

<==Here is Princess warming up before the big game!











<== Princess running down the court! Fun!








<==Prince playing in his very first basketball game! His shiny shoes really show up in the pictures so it is easy to pick him out of the crowd!




<==Here is Prince talking with his coach, a very kind man!













<==Here is the Prince playing again. He smiled the entire game!









<==Busted! Prince saw me taking pictures!
















<==The Knight says "Go Princess and Prince!"













<==The Knight says "GO PRINCESS AND PRINCE!" (He got louder as the games progressed!)

Naughty Kitty!

Whew! What a day! Today was Princess's and Prince's very first basketball game. I will post pictures of that in a bit. After their games, we all got GREAT naps and then I took down our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations. I am normally bummed to do this, but I was pretty ready this year.

I think the cats will miss the tree, what do you think?

Thursday Update!

Yesterday was yet another super busy day here in FamilyOf5Land.

The Prince had pre-school again and, my oh my, was he ready to go! He was dressed (shoes, coat, and all) by 8:30. He was a little disappointed that we didn't leave until 9:10!

After dropping off the Prince, the Knight and I headed back to the grocery store. Tuesday's run was so big we didn't have room for fruit. My kids love fruit! Plus I wanted to get all of the ingredients to make this recipe. It was really really good!

We picked the Prince up around 2:00, and I put both boys down for naps. The Knight was exhausted. The Prince protested a little but finally conceded and napped for me.

Princess got home at 3:00 and we had to go straight to homework. She has a pretty challenging spelling list this week. Since she didn't have school on Monday, it came down to last night to get everything done. She read all 3 of her reading homework books to me in 1/2 hour. When she read them to me the first time on Monday, it took an hour, so she has definitely improved!

Princess had basketball last night. I was going to take her but DadOf3 came home in time. I let Princess choose, and she chose her daddy because we had already had some time together doing homework. I really wanted to go with her, but I love the fact that she and her daddy love to spend time together!

Princess and DadOf3 got home around 6:10, and I had supper all ready! I had to head out right away after she got home because I had a MOPS meeting last night.

Because the church where we meet is under construction, we have been meeting at people's houses. It literally took me 43 minutes to drive from my house to the meeting house. The meeting went until 10:30. I didn't get home until a quarter after 11:00. LONG night. I was going to leave at 9:30. My resolve failed and I stayed. Plus it was good to reconnect with these MOPS ladies. We cannot meet at the church because it is being reconstructed and there is no water at this point in time. Yikes!

I am really dragging this morning. (Coffee is good!) I am pretty happy to be meeting with my friend MomOf2Boys and her 4 year old at the park this morning with my boys. I still have lots to do at home but the boys need some fun time. I will race to get lots of cleaning done while they are sleeping.

More later!

Crock Pot Recipe - Beef Stroganoff

I found this over on Deb- Mom Of 3 Girls's blog! I am going to try this next week.

Easy Beef Stroganoff
Serves 6-8

NOTES:
*Low fat or fat-free sour cream can be used
*Fat free cream of mushroom soup can be used

Ingredients:
2 lbs. beef cubes (stew meat)
8 oz. canned mushrooms (drained)
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. sour cream
Egg noodles or rice- cooked

Place beef, mushrooms, onion soup mix, and mushroom soup in crock pot (in that order).
Cook for one hour on high. Switch to low temperature and cook another 6-8 hours until done. Stir in sour cream just before serving. Serve over hot egg noodles or rice.

Meme - 7 Weird Things!

Here are ~Da Rules~ The rules are for me to link to the person who tagged me, list 7 weird things about myself and then tag 7 others to play along. And also, most importantly, let them know they have been tagged.

1) I prefer cold to hot. I was in heaven back in Iowa when it was 5 degrees. I prefer that even over 70 degrees. Weird, I know! That is the point!
2) I took over 400 pictures while we were in Iowa.
3) I prefer to eat lunch when the kids are napping. Even if I am super hungry I will wait for them to go up for naps before I eat. Supper is a family event however. I love that we eat 99% of our suppers together as a family.
4) I kept the last outfit my grandma and grandpa saw me in before they passed away. They are hanging prominently in my closet.
5) This is the first time I think I have sat down for any length of time since we got home on Monday! (The boys are napping - lunch time at the computer!)
6) I love animals, especially my cats! I fear I may be allergic to them however. I am going to an allergist this month to get the dreaded skin prick test. Even if I am allergic, the cats are staying.
7) I am going to run a 5K this year and I have never run a real race in my life! If that ain't weird, I don't know what is! Ha!

lets see.....I tag......
1) Supermom
2) Shana
3) Mama Zen
4) Deb- Mom Of 3 Girls
5) Waller Family
6) Village Mama
7) Sandy

Thanks to KC for tagging me! This was fun!

Couch to 5K!

I love the blogging world!!

I have had this nagging feeling that I need to do something that is totally mine for some time now.

As a mom, and even more so as a stay at home mom, it is easy to loose yourself. It is almost a requirement that you put yourself last. Without the opportunity to mingle with adults on a daily basis, it is easy to forget who you were before kids.

I decided to run a 5K as my new year's resolution this year. I personally think this is a nice, little goal. It is the equivalent of running about 3 miles, and in my past life, I used to run 3 miles on the treadmill after work several days a week. This is a do-able feat for me.

I threw this out to the blogging world last week and Supermom asked me if I was doing the Couch to 5K. She even sent me a link!

I am totally going to do this! I am starting next Monday and am making a commitment to go to Lifetime Fitness at least 3 days a week. If I get to go 4 days, I will do the 3rd workout a second time. I am also writing down everything I eat/drink, to be accountable.

I feel like this is the best plan that I have had in many years. Who knows, maybe next year I will be planning a 10K or a half marathon!

The Prince Did Great!

The Prince had his very first day of pre-school and he did GREAT! He said that he loved it and is ready, willing, and able to go back on Thursday! It was a super crazy day getting him there. Because we left for Iowa two days after we signed him up for pre-school, I had no time to get some of the items needed for him to start school.

This morning I was calling his pediatrician by 7:00AM in at attempt to get his immunization records. I was hoping that they would fax them to the school, but nope! So we headed out around 8:00 to the clinic. I was able to convince them to make the copy right then and there instead of making me wait the standard 3 days. (Yippee!) Then we had to race back home because I forgot to make the Prince's lunch. After making that, we headed to his pre-school where we were 10 minutes early. After dropping him off, the Knight and I headed to Wal-mart to pick up a nap mat. Because we are not at the beginning of the school year, there were no cute little kid ones so I settled for a camping mat. The Knight and I raced back to pre-school to drop that off. I was secretly glad to have the excuse to check up on my little Prince! He was doing great! The Knight and I headed out to get groceries from there. Grocery shopping with one child was not the heavenly experience I had been dreaming of, but it was better than shopping with two! The Knight snagged a quick nap, and we headed out to get the Prince by 2:00. We were early again because I didn't want the Prince to worry. From there we headed to Princess's school to pick her up and take her to Brownies. We dropped her off at 3:00 and then headed home. We picked her up at 4:30 and headed home again, this time to make supper. Yikes! What a day!

Bottom line: The Prince did great! It was so hard to leave him, but I managed to not cry. I truly am glad that pre-school is only 2 days a week. It will be good for him to have his own thing and not be following his sister, at least in this one thing.

Tomorrow: Basketball for the Prince!

Big Day!

Today is a BIG, BIG day!

Princess got up really well with the kitties helping her.

The Prince and the Knight are still sleeping which will help them have a great day!

I need to run to the clinic this morning for the Prince's immunization records. I also need to get him a nap mat. The Knight and I may need to drop him off with his immunization records and then head to Wal-mart for the mat. They will not nap until later in the day anyway.

More later!

Last hotel of the holiday!

We are getting up slowly but surely this morning. The Prince had a bit of an upset tummy last night so he ended up sleeping with me. DadOf3 slept with Princess, and the Knight had his "special bed" (aka pack and play). The wake up call came at 6:00AM which was much too early, but if we get out of here by 8:00, we should be home by 6:00PM. The kids are all anxious to see Miney and Moe. Our nice neighbors have been watching them and sending reports so we know they are doing well, but I sure do miss petting them!

Here's to the last leg of our trip! (Toasting with coffee - yum!)

Tomorrow is going to be a big, big day! The Prince will have his very first day at pre-school, and Princess goes back to school. It is nice that her school gives her as big of a break as it does. We had a few days at home, lots of days in Iowa, and we get home in time for school to start again.

More later!

Happy New Year! (On the road again!)

After a super-fun visit all the way around the state of Iowa, we are about to jump back into Otis the van and head for home. I am feeling very sad right now. It is a strange combination of wanting to be home and not wanting to leave Iowa. It always takes a few days for me to bounce back from this feeling. I always take a million pictures so it will be fun to sort through them. They help.

I am excited to start my New Year's resolutions. Instead of the old generic "I am going to lose weight" which never seems to work for me, I have a new goal. I am going to run a 5K this year. I will do some research and figure out what I have to do to sign up for one. I am sure I am almost back to square one after not really paying attention to diet and exercise for 10+ days. I had fun though! Still, I lost 6 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, I can do it.

I will post some pictures of the trip and the fun we had in the snow later this week.