Give Me 5 Monday !!

It is time once again for Give Me 5 Monday! Click here for more!

This week's theme is "Give me 5 future events you are currently looking forward to and/or planning or attending!"

• I am running my very first 5K race on April 13th! My goal is to run the entire thing without stopping. I have done it 3 times on the treadmill so far but I have heard that running outside is harder.
• I am looking forward to teaching Vacation Bible School again at our church. This was such an amazing experience last year and I am really looking forward to repeating it! I will teach Princess's class this year since I taught the Prince's class last year.
  
• We are planning our summer trip home to Iowa in July! I am doubly excited since we missed our summer trip home last year. Adventureland here we come!
  
• I am looking forward to DadOf3's and my date night coming up the weekend after my 5K. It will be fun to hang out together.
• I am looking forward to attending a wedding on May 10th. Our anniversary is May 20th, so attending a wedding so close to our anniversary will bring back some fun memories!
  
• (I am looking forward to our anniversary too, but I am trying to be chronological and our anniversary comes after the wedding! Maybe I will be a rebel and have a "Give Me 6 Monday! Ha!)
  

That's all folks! :)

5K Progress!

I have been working towards running my first 5K race since the beginning of the year, and last week I hit a big milestone: I ran the entire 5K on the treadmill not once but twice! I decided to try running it last Wednesday, and I did it again on Friday. I will go Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week since I have MOPS on Friday.

I really surprised myself. I am slow right now, but I have 6 more workouts until my 5K race on April 13th. I plan to bump up the speed on the treadmill .1 mph every workout until my race. If it gets to be too much I will just hold steady. My goal continues to be to run the entire race without stopping.

Do you know what the best part of this running program is?

Last night DadOf3 and I took the kids to the park. We ended up playing freeze tag and I was a formidable opponent! I have always played tag with the kids but just kind of knew that they were going to catch me and I didn't try too hard. Last night I ran hard and outran them! Ha! Of course they did "catch" me in the end but I was no longer a sitting duck waiting to be tagged.

Progress!!

If you want to read more about my journey to become a runner, you can click here.

Helping A Fellow Blogger!

Bella over at Beyond the Map has helped put together a fund raiser (along with Jen Lemen and Meg Casey) for a fellow mom blogger named Jeni.

Jeni is fighting the fight of her life. She is a single mom of a 6 year old little boy named Jack. She has stage 4 colon cancer

As Bella has written, this could happen to any one of us. To read more about Jeni, click here.

If you find it in your heart to donate to help Jeni, you can click here. Bella has a button on her sidebar where you can donate through paypal. There is also going to be an auction on Ebay. You can read this on Bella's page too.

This could be any one of us.

Faith Lift Friday!

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him.

She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her. She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed. The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew.

She did this for the whole week. As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week.

Finally she said to Timmy, "Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?"

Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, I know who she is."

The little girl said, "Well, who is she?"

"That's just Shirley Goodnest," Timmy replied, "and her daughter Marcy."

"Shirley Goodnest? Who is she and why is she following us?" "Well," Timmy explained, "every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!"

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.

:) Have a great Friday!

First Soccer Practice!

It's official. I am a soccer mom!

Princess had her very first soccer practice last night, and the whole family went along for the ride. She had fun despite the crabby girl you see in these pictures.

She is in soccer with her best little friend from school, AB. They had a blast chasing each other around.

As for the pictures, she should know by now, that I WILL get my picture and it is just better for everyone involved to smile nice the first time! Ha ha!

Wordless Wednesday - Spring Planting!

Bloggy Conest!

Dawn from over at Dawn's Daily Life is holding a contest! Check it out if you want to win this precious little angel!

Heads Or Tails Tuesday!

It is time once again for Heads or Tails Tuesday!

This week's theme is HEADS: Surprise.

Here is a list of my favorite surprises:

• For my 18th birthday, my best friends threw me a SURPRISE party! They really pulled one over on me.
  
• I also SURPRISED my parents that day with one of my very few acts of rebellion as a teenager: I had my ears pierced for the second time without asking. I know! What a rebel I was!
• I was shocked and happily SURPRISED to get an offer at the same company my sister worked the January before college graduation. It was the only place I wanted to work and the only company I interviewed with. That made my last semester fun!
  
• I was SURPRISED that I met my future husband in a garage! You just never know where you will find Mr. Right! (This was literally a garage at a friend's house!)
• My husband (boyfriend at the time) SURPRISED me once with a weekend camping get-away. He told me to pack my bags, bring my swimsuit, and come on over to his place. He had all of the food and necessities packed up and ready to go! He really put a lot of thought into that trip, and I have never forgotten!
• I was SURPRISED when my husband popped the question! We had been dating for three years and we had shopped for rings, but he still managed to SURPRISE me!
  
• I was SURPRISED when I found out that Princess was coming. I thought it would take longer. We were very lucky with all three kiddos.
• I am SURPRISED every day with what my children can teach me. They laugh so easily and are so enthusiastic!

Happy Heads or Tails Tuesday!

Give Me 5 Monday !!

Give Me Five favorite memories from your Easter day 2008.

• Easter this year was very different from years past because my sister and her family were in town! Memory #1 is watching my three kids play with my 6 year old nephew.
• Memory #2 is of all four kids seeing the Easter Bunny at a restaurant here in town. We didn't even plan this - the Easter Bunny just showed up!
• Memory #3 is of the kids waking up on Easter Morning to find Easter Baskets instead of the traditional hidden eggs. The Easter Bunny knew that Nephew might not have time to find his fair share of eggs since his plane left for Iowa that morning.
• Memory #4 is of the kids running around outside chasing geckos. No geckos were hurt and the kids were just fascinated by these small little lizzards.
• Memory #5 is getting the kids' picture taken the Friday before Easter. It always surprises me when we can get all four kids to look in the same direction and smile at the same time!

For more Give Me 5 Monday, go here!

Throwback Thursday - Baby Nephew and Princess

Happy Throwback Thursday! I am ahead of the game this week and am posting early. The kids are finally asleep!


I thought it would be fun to have a Throwback Thursday of nephew and my sister since they are here this week.

The first pictures is of Princess in her Easter Ears!

The second pictures is of my mother holding her first two grandchildren!

The third pictures is of my sister, my nephew, and Princess. Princess and I went to help out for two weeks after my nephew was born. He was less than a week old when he arrived! Doesn't he just look all shiny and new?

Horton Hears A Who - Review! (Tuesday of Sister and Nephew's Visit)

My sister and I broke Princess out of school 15 minutes early yesterday so we could take them to a matinée! I know, I am a horrible mother, but I have been to her school and I know exactly what happens during those last 15 minutes - not much! The kids make sure their stuff is in their backpacks and they sit on the carpet and listen to a story. So I guess I don't feel all that bad after all.

We took the kiddos to see Horton Hears A Who and it was one of the most enjoyable kid movies that I have seen in a long, long time! Jim Carry did a great job voicing Horton. He didn't over-do it like he does sometimes. It was a great story with a great message: A person is a person no matter how small.

The kids were really good. The Knight sat on my lap for the entire movie. We splurged for popcorn and a cheese pizza for the kids (yes, and for us too!)! It was a really neat experience!!

Wordless Wednesday - Bunny Cousins!

Heads Or Tails Tuesday!

HEADS - Any part of (or place in) a house


When we bought this house, over 7 years ago now, we knew it needed a lot of work. Here are a few of the parts of the house that we have changed!

Give Me 5 Monday!

Give Me Five favorite green things or your favorite ways to be green or favorite things about St. Patrick's day or mix and match!

1. I like to tell my husband to Kiss Me Because I am Irish!
2. I like to sing rainbow songs (Somewhere Over the Rainbow and the Kermit the Frog rainbow song) to my kids and talk about finding gold at the end of the rainbow
3. I like to wear my emerald ring.
4. I like to recycle and teach my kids to do the same
5. I like to use the re-usable grocery bags at the grocery store instead of plastic bags.

Have a great St. Patty's Day!!!!

Monday of Sister and Nephew's Visit!

Woo hoo! This is a great day! I actually ran for 20 minutes without stopping this morning! And best of all my sister was there to witness it! Woo hoo!

My sister and I took the boys to the gym. They played while we worked out. I walked for 5 minutes, ran for 20 minutes, walked for 5 minutes, ran for 10 minutes, and walked for 10 minutes for a total of 50 minutes. I feel great! There is no way I could have done that the first week of my Couch to 5K training.

We are having a blast with my sister and nephew here!! Last night we ordered pizza. After supper, the kids played and then went to bed by 9:00. DadOf3, Sister, and I watched Knocked Up and it was hilarious! We sent the movie back to netflix and hope to get Enchanted by Wednesday.

Princess will be home from school in about 20 minutes. It is big homework night. We kind of slid off the homework bandwagon during Spring Break. I was going to make her read every night. Oops. We will incorporate reading this summer as a requirement for going swimming.

Everyone is napping so the house is quiet. A nice blogging opportunity. :)

Sunday of Sister and Nephews Visit!

My sister and nephew arrived on time yesterday morning! They had a close call where they almost missed their connecting flight but they made it in the end and were here by 10:30! After lunch, playing outside for a while, and finding a gecko later released back into the wild, everyone took a nap and then it was time for pizza and more play! Here are some pictures of our day!

Saturday Fun!

TGIS! Thank goodness it is Saturday!

We have had a pretty good Saturday so far. The boys woke up early, as is their habit. Princess however slept until 9:00. I went in to wake her up and she said that she wanted to sleep some more. DadOf3 went up around 9:30 and she said she wanted to sleep all day! Is Princess turning into a teenager already? Say it isn't so!

We finally managed to wake Princess up so we could all head out to breakfast! There is a neat place down here that had great breakfasts and a playscape, and no! it is not McDonald's! So we ate and played and then came back for naps for the kids and some yard work.

We are all so excited that my sister and her family are coming down this weekend! The kids keep asking how many hours until they arrive. The weather has been prefect today so hopefully they will get a good taste of Spring and have fun leaving winter back in Iowa for a while!

Time to go clean some more!

Faith Lift Friday!

Christians -By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
And need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

I absolutely love reading KC's Faith Lift Friday's so I thought I would give it a shot. I have lots of neat things like this because I write our MOPS newsletter. I hope you enjoy it! This is one of my favorites! :)