December already!?

Wow…I am waaaaay behind here! Good grief. I have got to get better about blogging. I’ve also got to be good about it since we have some cool stuff coming up next year, but you have to wait for that… ;)

Ryan and I went to San Francisco last month which was fun! We ate way too much food, but walked a lot. I stayed a few more days than he did to actually attend the conference. It was nice to have a few days of ‘us’ time. Then Thanksgiving was a week after that. My aunt, uncle, cousin and her husband and their two boys came for Thanksgiving. It was a great time! Our kids are really close in age, and it was beautiful outside, so we spent a lot of time going up and down the street on bikes and in the golf cart. The week after Thanksgiving Lola got croup. It was horrible…she sounded like a 90 year old man who had smoked his whole life. And on top of it she had a 103.5 fever for 4 days and a 101 fever for the last 2 days. I was so sure Luca would get it, but somehow she didn’t! I had to go out of town for work, and I waited until the last minute to book my flight because I wasn’t going to be able to go if Luca got sick. I assume that since she didn’t get sick this time, our time is coming shortly…I am just hoping it is during a slow week for me at work (NOT THIS WEEK PLEASE!). This is an extremely crazy week…both at work and out of work. I’m looking forward to next week because it means I can breathe.

I have wanted to start taking a spin class – it’s something I have never done and I really want to get better and stronger on my bike. I don’t want just any spin class though; I want a class where I can spin on my own bike. Ryan goes to a grueling workout and spin class on Thursday nights, and I begged him for months to try and come home early on Tuesdays so I can go too (they offer these classes Tuesday and Thursday nights). So after 5 years of me wanting to go to some sort of exercise class in the evening, I finally get to! I have to say that it is a pain in the rear for him to leave early on a Tuesday but he made it work so I can go and I am very grateful. I just went to my 2nd class last night and these things are a killer! Wow…so we spin for almost an hour and then do another hour of hard-core training. Halfway through last Tuesday I thought to myself; “this is harder than giving birth!” Nice. Love it!

Halfway through Lola being sick...she felt well enough to put
her Christmas dress on but I think that wore her out. 

Kids table at Thanksgiving.  Notice the turkey cookies!

Carriage ride on the Plaza - we got the Cinderella carriage per Lola's request

Lola has been dressing herself for a while.  We let her pick
out what she wants to wear.  This day I told her it was cold
outside so she needed to dress accordingly.  She put a long
sleeved shirt under her short sleeved shirtdress and wore
tights to keep her legs warm!  She is quite the fashionista

Luca is obsessed with shoes...all shoes that aren't hers that is!

It’s been an interesting few weeks. Last week we went trick-or-treating at my office which is always fun. There is always a good turnout and a lot of people at the office participate. The kids end up getting way more candy from my office than they ever would going door to door. They both looked adorable too.

We also had Luca’s 18-month conference at school. She is meeting all of her milestones, which I already knew for the most part, but it is nice to hear it from someone else too. Her teacher, Jana, has been at her school for 30 years now. Lola also had Jana as a teacher. Jana has seen it all at this point, so when she told me that she thinks Luca will potty train by the time she is 2 I should have believed her right? Instead I gave her a look of “huh”? I then proceeded to say “no way”. She said “well, I could be wrong, but I really think she will”. So literally the next night Luca went potty on the toilet. Then she went again the next night. And then for the kicker….last night she pooped on the toilet! What!? She is 18 months old! I’m not ready for this…it is SO much work to deal with underwear and dribbles and accidents, I would rather deal with diapers for a little while longer. We’ll see what actually happens though. This could just be a little random phase.

We went to a birthday on Sunday for a girl in Lola's dance class.  The party was at the dance studio and all the kids got to jump around on the tumbling mats and equipement.  They loved it!  I really loved it because my girls got to go all out for an hour and work off some of their energy.  As for Lola's dance class, she has been going for 3 weeks now.  It is a 'combo' class which includes tap dancing, ballet, and tumbling - 20 minutes of each.  She really seems to enjoy it and has been doing a decent job of listening to the teacher! 

We also went to the pumpkin patch last week.  We wanted to go before it turned cold...the main reason I wanted to go was to have Lola stand by the measuring board to see how much she has changed from last year!  Otherwise, I just realized last night that this weekend is daylight savings! I am usually prepared for this a few weeks ahead of time, but it popped up on me. I like to gradually ease the kids into it over a weeks’ time, so I guess I will have to start tonight. It is getting much easier to adjust to time changes though. It was way more of a pain when they were small babies.

I am going to San Francisco in a few weeks for a conference called Greenbuild. I have gone 6 of the last 7 years, and every year Ryan and I talk about him going with me, but it never works out. This year we forced it to work out! He is going to go with me for 3 days of the conference. I am really looking forward to it.

 

She's not really doing herself any justice by standing on the downhill...

Birthday party

Lola eating her cake
like a popsicle

Party at the girls' school. 
Lola hanging with Little Red
Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf! 

Halloween and other stuff...

It’s almost Halloween time! Luca is going to be a chicken, which is what Lola was a couple of years ago. Lola is going to be a princess (again) and wear the same dress she wore last year. It still fits…actually, it fits perfect. Last year it was too big. I told her since she was re-using last year’s dress that I would order her a new wand. I also ordered her a necklace and earrings set too. I got them last week but haven’t shown her yet. If I show her now, they will for sure be broken by Halloween. She will be thrilled! I think the main reason why she is excited about wearing the dress again is because I put it away after Halloween last year, mostly because it has glitter on it and I was sick of it getting everywhere. She asked about it a few times and I just changed the subject. She asked again a month ago and I got it out, and she was so excited and said she wanted to wear it again. Score one for me!

My parents took the girls last weekend. They have been taking them once a month and I LOVE those weekends because I get so much done at home. It’s a double bonus because the girls love going there too, so everybody wins. I installed a new light fixture installed in the basement to replace the broken one, cleaned out the basement, got the yard cleaned up, storage shed cleaned out, and toy cabinets cleaned out. Cleaning out the cabinets was kind of sad. Our goal was to get rid of some stuff, and to also put some toys in the basement in a bin so that we can switch them out from time to time. We basically got rid of all infant toys. I was a bit sad because it really seems so ‘final’. Actually, what really made it seem ‘final’ was when I got rid of 4 pairs of baby shoes. I asked Ryan a couple of times if he was sure we wouldn’t need them in the future, and after a few eye rolls he said (for the 100th time since I started asking a year ago), “no”. So there you have it…no more kids! He would have another if we could guarantee it is a boy, but alas it doesn’t work that way.

My niece Olivia is making great strides in her ability to sit up. She now has leg braces, a body brace, and a stander to help her bear weight on her legs. I really hope that she can become one of those kids who has Muscular Dystrophy but that makes great strides above and beyond others who also have the disease. She seems to be doing very well in gaining strength. I think about her every day and hope, hope, hope that she will be able to walk and at least be somewhat of a normal kid. We will be doing some fundraising for ‘Cure CMD’ (cmd = congenital muscular dystrophy) in the upcoming months and I am very excited about raising money for something that hits so close to home!

Health (and quick) dinner goals...

I've got to start figuring out dinners ahead of time.  I wanted to get better about it a while ago, but haven’t.  It’s time.  I just found a bunch of slow cooker recipes that can be frozen ahead of time so I am going to try some this weekend.  We are really lucky because our girls go to school 3 days/week so Ryan is home on Wednesdays and I’m typically home on Fridays.  That only leaves Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday dinners as “scramble together whatever I can find in 10 minutes after I walk in the door at 5:30pm” dinners.  We also try to eat healthy most of the time so this is becoming even more important to us, and I really want to try to limit the processed foods as much as we can.  I’m not going to be super crazy about it though because I really am okay with my kids having chicken nuggets and hot dogs every so often, just not every week!  J 

I got some recipes from this blog so I plan to start with some of these and see how they go! 

http://www.ringaroundtherosies.net/2012/02/freezer-cooking.html

Memphis baby!

Guess I haven’t blogged in a while… all the sudden it’s almost October! Wow… time really does fly when you get older, ha!

I had my 7th annual girl’s trip last weekend. We went to Memphis this year which worked out perfectly because my friend Elizabeth just moved there a few months ago. I got to see her, Steve (her husband), and the kiddos Julia and William. Julia is Lola’s friend who was born on the same day. I really miss them. A lot. I’m not sure that I realized how much I missed them until I left. I got there on Thursday afternoon and stayed with them, then left to pick up my girlfriends at the airport on Friday morning. I cried the whole way to the airport. Memphis was good…although it was the least favorite of the cities we have been to. We had our usual spa day, a great dinner on Friday night at Restaurant Iris, and then some sightseeing the rest of the weekend at Sun Studios, Civil Rights Museum, and Graceland. Graceland wasn’t what I thought it would be, although I am not sure what I really thought it would be anyway. The house was pretty cool, although we couldn’t go upstairs. What I liked about it was that it was totally frozen in time. Nothing had been changed since Elvis died. It was like walking through time…my favorite was the kitchen. All ‘retro’ appliances to us now, but they were top of the line at that time. You just don’t see completely undisturbed spaces like that anymore. I guess I thought the house would be larger than it was, but for the 60’s I suppose it was pretty nice.

I decided at the end of last weekend that I am going to take Lola to visit Julia in the spring. Just the two of us. She is already excited!

Olathe Women's triathlon 2012

Well, the first triathlon is officially on the books! The Olathe Medical Center Women’s triathlon 2012 was last Saturday, September 8th. The week leading up to it was terrible…I was very nervous. Once Friday came around, I had to drive to pick up my packet. All I could think about was the logistics of bringing both kids to the race at 5:30am in the morning. What started out as me being annoyed of the inconvenience of dealing with the kids turned out to be a really good distraction. I have watched Ryan race 4 times this summer and I never brought the kids. I left them with my parents. It was soooo much easier to watch him race without the kids. I could run from area to area and focus on him, and not worry about giving the kids a snack or one of the kids dropping their shoes out of the stroller. So Friday night instead of worrying about Saturday morning, I was making a list of things to pack for not only me but the kids! I was making ‘snack packs’ and getting the double jogging stroller put into the car. I was wondering what time to wake them up and what clothes to put them in…

So the morning of the race, I set the alarm for 4:45am. I got up, had a cup of coffee, and made some pancakes. Ryan made extra (small) pancakes and put them in baggies for the girls (easy and fairly mess-less snack idea). I usually have 2 cups of coffee, but decided on 1 cup instead so I would only have to pee 5 times instead of 10.  :)   I had also planned on taking a GU Gel somewhere during the race, and was going to use one with caffeine, so I knew I would get the rest of my caffeine fix later. We got the girls up literally as we were ready to walk out the door. They weren’t grumpy, just groggy. They both decided they needed to take a ton of extra stuff. Lola ‘needed’ her pillow and 3 blankets. Luca ‘needed’ her lovey (a nasty bunny blanket that usually stays in her crib). Plus we had the diaper bag, snacks, drinks, and a portable folding toilet (for Lola). We took way more things for the girls than we did for me. I sat in the back seat with the girls, in between them, and tried to get them to eat their pancakes. Neither really did, and I can hardly blame them for not wanting to eat breakfast 1.5 hours earlier than normal.

We got to the race parking area and got our huge fleet unloaded! Both girls did really well. We got me to the transition area and I got my bike and stuff set up. Ryan was trying to keep the girls in the stroller so they didn’t get into other peoples’ things. I did have to ask him how to rack my bike because I had never done it before! At this point I was nervous, but once again still focused on the girls that it really helped distract me. It was also really chilly outside, the first time in a while that it had been around 50 degrees. I had a jacket on, but I couldn’t feel my toes. The weather was going to be perfect that day though… cool and sunny! I knew the water would feel warm compared to the air. Once we got me all set up in transition, we wandered around and people-watched. The first wave took off at 7:30 but my wave didn’t take off until 8:05. I was starting to get nervous.

I went down to the swimming warm up area, which was between the buoys of the swim start and swim finish. I couldn’t believe how warm the water felt! It felt like bath water. The air temperature was 52 degrees and the water was 80 degrees. I warmed up for a few minutes, and then realized it was time…the 30-34 age group was lining up to go in the water. Here we go… I lined up along the left. My goal was to hug the buoys and not wander to the right. There were 2 left turns, basically an upside down triangle. The gun went off and away we went. I tried to start swimming but there were people everywhere. I got kicked in the face over and over, and a girl swam on top of me from the side. I tried to move left, but then got caught up in the rope that connected the buoys. Once I finally got to the first turn, I remember thinking “holy crap, I WAY underestimated how hard this swim would be”. And in all honesty, I had always believed the swim would be hard. Nothing could have prepared me for this though…not even the 5 other open water swims I did in the month leading up to the race. I just couldn’t get into a rhythm. Every time I tried to, someone was either in front of me or the darn rope was in my way! I finally made it to the home stretch, and  got into somewhat of a rhythm…although I still never felt awesome. I was very frustrated, although I didn’t let it get me down. I came out of the water with a HUGE sigh of relief. I saw Ryan and the girls, and I shouted something about the swim being horrible! Ryan took a picture of me right after that, and I was smiling though…because the hard part was over! 

Off into transition I went. This was my first race so this was a new experience for me. My legs were pretty shaky as I put on my bike shoes and helmet. I sucked down a gel (with caffeine!) and took off. Running in bike shoes is hard… maybe someday I can get to the point where I keep my shoes on my bike and just slip in and out of them while on my bike (like the more experienced racers do). But I have only been riding a few months and I can’t even comprehend doing this yet…I can barely reach down and grab a water bottle while riding! I got on my bike and decided to push it a bit. I was frustrated about the swim, but I was bound and determined to make it up on the bike and run. I saw my dad as I was beginning the bike.  Mom had dropped him off and he was walking to meet Ryan.  I just happened to glance over and there he was.  The bike went FAST! It seemed like 10 minutes, even though it was 36.5 minutes. I loved it! I passed over 150 gals on the bike course (yes, I counted), and got passed by only 2 girls. What an addictive feeling! The course was really hilly, with 2 HUGE hills before the final stretch, but I got through it. As I was coming into transition I heard Ryan yelling and cheering.

I ran over to hang my bike up and started to change for the run. Ryan ran over to the fence and was yelling. I couldn’t really tell what he was saying because my legs were shaking as I tried to put on my socks and shoes and I was focused on that. He was talking, but all I heard was “just go”. So I yelled back “I’m trying!”. Turns out he had told me I was in 4th place in my age group and instead of holding back on the first mile of the run, like we had talked about, to instead just go and push it. All I heard was “just go” and I thought he was trying to hurry me out of transition so it made me mad.  :) It is hard to take bike shoes off and put running shoes on when you are shaking. I grabbed another gel and ate half of it, and started running. I am a decent runner. I am not a fast runner. It is something I want to work on, and had been working on a bit, but my goal is to work on speed over the winter. I wanted to run this 3 miles in under 8 minute miles and in my dream world it would have been closer to 7 minute miles (I ended up pacing at 7:43/mile). I was surprised at how decent my legs felt after the bike, although the first part of the run course was gentle downhills. I knew the hard part would be coming back up. I passed a lot of people. I didn’t count though like I did on the bike ride. I only got passed by one girl, and it was very frustrating because she was in the age group that started the swim after me! I tried to keep my pace up. Coming back in I felt okay, tired but okay. The last hill up before the finish line was tough. If I could go back and do it again of course I would have tried to push myself harder, but that is how it goes right? You would always do better if you could go back in time! Ha. The finish was all downhill. Uncomfortable downhill, meaning it was a pretty steep slope down. I had to hold back just do I didn’t let my feet get ahead of me, then I sprinted the last 25 yards or so. Whew…all done! I felt really good, which of course made me think that I could have pushed myself even harder on the bike and run. There goes that darn hindsight thing again…

I ended up placing 1st in my age group, although if you really want to get technical and picky (which I do because I’m a perfectionist) I got 3rd in my age group. They gave overall awards and then age group awards. The top 2 finishers in the whole race were in my age group, but they don’t let them ‘double dip’ and also place in their age group, so that is how I ended up with the 1st place trophy for the 30-34 age group. Regardless, I am happy with how I did! I got 26th overall in the whole race which I am still happy with. Now that it is a few days later, I’ve started picking things apart. I just can’t help myself. I know what I need to work on to do better in future races. I need to work on my speed in the swim. I need to go out strong and get ahead of the pack so I don’t get kicked and pushed around. Then I need to slow down and focus on breathing. I need to work on sprints in the pool so I can be comfortable going fast, and then slowing down. I’m not comfortable doing that now…I can’t re-catch my breath. I need to work on becoming quicker in both transitions; swim to bike and bike to run. I need to work on bike speed, and I need to work on run speed. Otherwise, I’m good!  Ha ha.

Overall it was a good experience, but I am still a bit freaked out by how difficult the swim was. I guess I have all winter to work on it!





Right after unloading all our gear out of the car. 
Lola just can't smile...
she has to make a silly face. 




Out of the water....major relief!




Right after I yelled to Ryan, "that was horrible",
then I smiled...so it couldn't have been that
bad, right!?  Hmmmm




I need to work on clipping in...I missed
and had to try again.   




Apparently I need to spend a bit more time in
transition getting my helmet on properly. 
It's pretty crooked and probably not very safe. 




Most people wouldn't have anything funny to say
about this photo, but seriously, can the belt
holding my race number be any higher up!? 
Ryan and I joke about this all the time...my
'natural' waist is so high, waaaay above my hips. 
I spent the whole run trying to pull this stupid
thing down and obviously it never stayed down. 




All finished!  Note, the 1:50 time is from the first wave start.  
My wave started 35 minutes after the first wave. 




Random picture the photographer captured of
 Ryan and the girls. 




Me getting my award from Becky Lavelle, the pro
triathlete who was at this race. 



5 days and counting...

My first triathlon is in 5 days. I am freaking out more than I can even explain. I went for an open water swim last night and it didn’t go great. I have done 5 open water swims in the past few weeks which I know has helped a TON, but…I still can’t get the comfortable breathing down until I have warmed up a bit. There really isn’t any way to get past that since I can really only warm up by swimming.

Otherwise, we had a good Labor Day weekend. We had some friends over on Sunday to eat. None of them had been to our house before and they hadn’t met our kids yet. Ryan smoked a pork shoulder all day and we had tacos, guacamole, and a corn salad. Very tasty! Lola was pretty good until the evening wore on…then she turned into ‘crazy Lola’ and she wouldn’t calm down. It was to the point of being embarrassing for both me and Ryan. We tried several times to talk to her and tell her to chill out, but she was just freaking out running around, grabbing onto people, basically the best way to describe the way she acted was like we had just given her 1200mg of caffeine. I’ll be surprised if we ever hear from these friends again!

We also finally got some rain last weekend. I was seriously getting sick of my 2nd job of watering our bushes and trees, trying to keep them alive. There is nothing like working all day, then going outside when it’s 90 degrees and humid and watering after the kids go to bed. I was so glad to get a break from that! We have lost several bushes and two trees look pretty bad. I figured the cost of water wouldn’t be nearly as much money as replacing decently sized bushes and trees.

getting by....

I haven't been very good about blogging lately.  Once again, I will try and get better!  I've had drama with a couple of 'friends' which is annoying, considering we are all in our mid to upper 30's and I thought this kind of thing would be gone by now. 

Triathlon training has been going fairly well.  I was gone so much in July that I failed to get into a good routine, but over the past couple of weeks I have been able to be more consistent.  I'm really not worried so much about the bike and run, it's just the swim.  I'm seriously having anxiety about it.  It's 'only' 500 meters (or so many people tell me), but it's my first race and it's in a lake with other gals kicking and splashing me.  I've done one open water swim, which didn't go great, and I'm doing another this morning and yet another on Saturday.  The swim on Saturday will be in the actual lake I will swim in for the triathlon.  I just have to focus on my breathing...focus, focus, focus!  Deep breathing.  Ugh.  If I can get through this triathlon, and I am still feeling good, Ryan and I will run the KC 1/2 Marathon together.  We'll see how I feel...I had been having some leg and knee pain.  The knee pain is from the fact that my IT band area of my leg is super tight.  I had been trying to stretch and roll it out on the foam roller but wasn't having any luck.  I just went and got a massage to get it worked out, so hopefully it helped.  The gal said it was extremely tight.  I blame the fact that I missed yoga for 2 weeks in a row in July and I wasn't using the foam roller consistently.  She dug in so deeply that I am bruised.  The last time I got bruised from a massage was when I was pregnant with Lola and my massage guy was trying to work out my sciatic nerve pain.  It worked that time, so hopefully my IT band will loosen up this time. 

WARNING - Depressing and whiny post!

I haven’t blogged in a few weeks because I honestly haven’t felt like it. I started to log on a few times but all I had to say were negative things so I decided to just not write them down. Well, here I am and pretty much all I have to say are negative things but I’m going to write them down anyway…WARNING – This entire post is me being sad and complaining and whiny. Don’t continue to read if you don’t want to hear me venting.

One of my best friends moved away a few weeks ago. She and I became friends when we were pregnant with our first girls, and then totally randomly we had them on the same day! What are the chances of that right? So we went on to have our 2nd kids and they are only a few weeks apart too. Over the past year she stayed home with her kids so we didn’t get together nearly as often as we used to but we still talked on the phone almost daily. I knew from day one of meeting her that they would move away eventually. Her husband was doing his Medical residency here in Kansas City and their ultimate goal was to eventually end up near both of their parents in Ohio. The fact that they would eventually move seemed SO far away back in 2008. It slowly crept up on both of us, but reality hit when they listed their house for sale this past Spring. I wish we could have gotten together more often over the past few months, but she was so busy on the weekends trying to pack, attend going away parties, etc… We were in California the day they actually moved, and I have been travelling a lot this month so reality hadn’t really hit until last weekend when I was home with the girls and I almost called her to see if they wanted to come over for dinner. Ugh. This really sucks. I miss her and the kids a lot and I cry a lot thinking about them.

This past Saturday was my 34th birthday. I’m not really a huge birthday person, never have been. I travelled all last week and Ryan had to re-arrange his schedule so he could pick up the girls which meant he had to leave way early every day. I knew he would have to work on Saturday of my birthday. I was really fine with it. I told him a month ago that all I wanted for my birthday was to go out to a nice dinner. He managed to rearrange his work schedule so he didn’t have to close on Saturday night, and he said something to the effect of (in a dull, non-caring voice) “if you really want to go out on Saturday night I guess you can try and find a babysitter”. I felt about as important as my cat and dog (aka not very important). I told him no thanks and that it hurt my feelings that he said it like that, and that maybe he could make the effort to find a babysitter and plan things. His response “Well, you are the one with the babysitter contacts”. Okay, somewhat true, but he knows one babysitter we use (his niece) and if he REALLY wanted to he could have easily found someone else. I can think of several ways he could have contacted the other babysitters we use. Seriously!? I was pretty mad. So Saturday comes around. He never told me happy birthday. He went to work. I took the girls to the grocery store, made lunch, cleaned up the house (which looked 10x worse than it did when I left earlier in the week), and did laundry. My parents stopped by and brought me cupcakes which was nice. Ryan got home around dinner time. I had just fed the girls and I was eating chicken and veggies with the girls. Not exactly my ideal birthday dinner. And to top if off, none of my friends called me to wish me a happy birthday. Not even my in-laws who call everybody on their birthday (they called the next day). My brother did call later that night, but by that time I was so hurt and angry that our conversation was brief. I never thought any of this stuff would upset me as bad as it did, but I was seriously devastated. It was the worst birthday I have ever had. I tried to talk to Ryan about it the next day but he completely shut down which he has been doing lately when I try to talk to him about anything (that’s a whole story in itself).

And then to top it off, my little niece (my brother's 6 month daughter) was officially diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy.  We knew a diagnosis like this was coming for the past couple of months, but it was still a hard blow to handle.  I had talked myself into believing she didn't really have it and she had something more minor, because she has been doing really well with her physical therapy, so when Matt called and told me I just couldn't believe it.  My stomach turned in knots.  It just doesn't seem fair.  Why are my kids okay and his are not?  What did they do to deserve this?  It just breaks my heart...I can't think of any other way to describe it. 

So there’s my depressing post. If you read this you probably feel a whole lot better about yourself right now and probably think I’m a headcase. I kind of feel like it lately…

racing

I have been slacking on the blog a little bit...just haven't felt like writing for some reason!  We got back from California late Tuesday night and I've been trying to catch up on sleep since.  Ryan did great in his race - it was Vineman 70.3 (technically a 1/2 Ironman), which is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 1/2 marathon run.  Swimming has been his weakness for years, but he has really made some huge breakthroughs in the past month with open water swimming.  He did the swim in less time than I thought he would, which was evident by the fact I didn't see him come out of the water and he had to wave at me to get my attention!  I was really, really proud of him.  The trip was really a combo fun/race trip, so we did have fun and downtime as well.  We met with a few winemakers and visited a few wineries (so Ryan can write off the trip).  We ate some good food and drank some good wine, which is most important!  I seriously overindulged on food, and am paying the price this week.  Gotta go put the kiddos to bed now!

the 4th among other things...

Well the ice cream pie in the post below was a success! I would totally make it again. It had just the right amount of lemon juice and zest in the ice cream and blueberry topping to offset the sweetness. Tasty!
Swimming drills continue (week 6)…I had a follow-up lesson last week and now the 2 drills I was doing have been combined into one drill, which also includes working on the correct form of each arm entering the water. I’m trying to be patient because I know that working on these drills is the best way to swim correctly in the end. I have exactly 60 days until my triathlon so I think I am still doing okay on timing. I have ridden my bike a couple times now and am getting more comfortable by the mile. I think if I bike several times per week then I will get good fairly quickly because it feels fairly natural to me, plus I have nice thick ‘riding legs’. Ha. I’m going to start a new training schedule when I get back from our trip to California.

The 4th of July week was great! We hung out at my parents for a few days. We tried out the new City Pool which was really nice…where was this nice, new pool when I lived there!? We also bought some fireworks and shot them off. Nothing too crazy, just things like smoke bombs, parachutes, spinning flowers, and a few fountains. Basically fireworks that are acceptable for a 3-year old. She did try a sparkler, but once the sparkler was almost used up the sparks got too close to her hand and she freaked out. It was nice just hanging out with Matt and Sara as well. We hadn’t all been together since October of last year. It’s too bad the weather was horrible – 100+ temperatures. It would have been fun to sit and hang outside more.

Playing in the pool at Grandma and Grandad's

Lola, Olivia, and Luca!



Luca is a good poser!



The girls in shirts from Aunt Marilyn

4th of July and tasty treats!

Not much new going on lately…just waiting for the 4th of July next week. We are heading down to Fort Scott to hang out with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to be over 100 degrees and dry so there is a decent chance there will be no fireworks allowed and they won’t shoot off the big display! I am super bummed about this because I have been talking up fireworks to Lola for the past couple of weeks. She was really into them last year – we bought a bunch of things like smoke bombs, sparklers, and other gadgets that light up and spin. We also let her stay up late and watch the big fireworks display. Obviously she is a year older this year and has been looking forward to it even more. Grrrrrrr. Hope it works out. Oh well if it doesn’t!

I’m going to try a new recipe I found on Pinterest. I'm going to make two of these ice cream pies and take down to Fort Scott for everyone to (hopefully) enjoy.   I have been dying to make this, not really sure why…it just sounds so freaking yummy! Plus, I (I mean the girls) got Ryan an ice cream maker for Father’s Day. It was really one of those gifts for all of us – we have been talking about getting one for years now. We have already made some pretty tasty strawberry ice cream and peach sorbet. So back to this recipe, which is below. I will let you know how it turns out! The original recipe called for a store bought graham cracker crust but I have made homemade ones before and they are so easy it’s stupid to buy one. Plus they taste a whole heck of a lot better than store bought.  I put the crust recipe I use into this recipe. 



Blueberry cheesecake ice cream pie

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 5 ounces)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, pulse the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and light brown sugar until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly into a 9-inch glass or metal pie plate. Bake for about 6-8 minutes, just until lightly browned. Let cool. 

For the blueberry sauce:
2 cups (12-16 ounces) fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup (2 ounces) brown sugar
1 lemon, zest and juice


For the ice cream:
1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 cups (16 ounces) whole milk
1 1/4 (10 ounces) cups heavy cream
2/3 cup (5 1/3 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, zest and juice

Twenty-four hours before making the ice cream, place the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer.

The graham cracker crust (if making by hand) and blueberry sauce can either be prepared ahead of time or while the ice cream base is chilling. Both need to be completely cooled to room temperature before assembling the ice cream pie.

For the blueberry sauce, combine the blueberries, brown sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until a the berries have released their juices and become syrupy, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, but try not to mash up the berries too much. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The syrup can be made up to a week ahead.

To make the ice cream, cut the cream cheese into small pieces and place in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the milk in a separate ramekin and set aside.

Bring the remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan and continue boiling for 4 minutes. The milk will double in bulk as it bubbles, so use at least a 4-quart saucepan or larger for this step. If it looks like the milk is going to bubble over the sides, lower the heat just enough so that the milk is still bubbling but no longer threatening to boil over.

Remove the saucepan from heat and whisk in the corn starch mixture. Bring it back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until it just starts to thicken, about 1 minute.

Add the lemon zest to the milk (reserve the juice to add once the milk is chilled; adding it to hot milk can cause curdling). Whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese in several additions, whisking between each addition to melt the cream cheese evenly. Let cool to room temperature, then chill completely in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight.

When the ice cream has chilled, stir in the reserved lemon juice and churn it in your ice cream maker until thick, about 20 minutes (or according to your ice cream maker's instructions). Pour about half the ice cream into the cooled pie crust, filling it right up to the edge. Press a square of parchment to the surface of the pie and freeze at least 4 hours or overnight. (The remaining ice cream can be transferred to a freezer-safe container and frozen for midnight snacking.)

When ready to serve, spoon the cooled blueberry syrup over the pie and slice into wedges. Leftover pie can be frozen with the blueberry sauce on top.

Exercise

I think there will be quite a few posts on here that voice things that I can’t really (or won’t) say on Facebook. Nothing really bad I guess, but just thoughts that might come across as rude in only a few words. Yesterday, the gal who helps out in our cafeteria at work commented on my arms (I had a sleeveless top on). She said she really wanted her arms to have definition like mine, and asked how she could get them to do that. I paused and wasn’t sure what to say. In all honesty, she probably needs to lose 10-15lbs…so if she just did that she would automatically have more arm definition without even working out. But instead I just said that working out would really help (which is true), and to try and do push-ups at home to start with, but it was not totally what I really wanted to say. We gals are so sensitive about our weight, and I don’t know any girl who would want to be told she needed to lose weight, you know? I mean, we already know if we need to lose weight, and we don’t need reminders. We get reminders when we try to put our skinny jeans on!  :) And I really don’t feel comfortable telling someone they need to lose weight. It just seems easier to tell them they need to workout instead. So that is what I did…

Speaking of working out, I have really gotten into a rhythm with my workouts. I look better than I ever have, minus the teeny bit of extra belly skin that wrinkles when I sit down and the semi-outie belly button I used to never have…both thanks to my beautiful kids. I do several sets of lifting each week – back/chest, shoulders/biceps/triceps/forearms, and legs (adductors/abductors/calves). Lately since I have started swimming, I haven’t done any other cardio at the gym (i.e. elliptical, stair stepper) I just swim after I lift. 2 days/week I run – usually on Wednesday and Sunday mornings. 1 day/week I do yoga. 2 days/week I do an intense workout program at the gym, both slightly different. They are great workouts and have whipped me back into good shape. I started the ‘belly off’ workout about a month after I had Luca. I do vary it by substituting some moves so I don’t do the exact same thing each week.

Belly Off workout
Do each set of 3, 3 times with little or no rest between sets
Use as many risers on a step as you feel comfortable with

• Single leg step-ups (12 each leg)
• Push-ups (8-10)
• Jump rope (1 minute)

• Single leg deadlift (12 each leg)
• Swiss ball mountain climbers (10 each leg, alternate legs)
• Cross back lunges (1 min)

• Box jumps (10)
• Deadlifts with weights (12)
• Forward side lunges (1 min)

• Walking lunges, down and back
• Jump to pushup to kick-back (aka Burpees – 8-10)
• Jump rope (1 min)

• Single leg step-ups, step back down to lunge (step up with right foot, step up with left foot, step back down with right foot, step back down and lunge back with left foot, repeat with opposite legs) (12)
• Side jumps over cone (12)
• Jump rope (1 min)

* Push-up variation: push-ups with medicine ball alternating arms (roll it from hand to hand in between push-ups)
*Burpee variation: when you kick back, then kick your legs outward (like a jumping jack) then back to together.  Just makes it harder.  Or when you kick back, do a pushup

I started this leg intensive work out a few weeks ago. Until then I was just doing belly off (slightly different versions) twice per week.

Tuesday Leg workout

• Jump rope (4 minutes)
• Reverse lunges (2 minutes)
• Jump rope (2 minutes)
• Forward side lunges (2 minutes)
• Jump rope (2 minutes)
• Cross back lunges (2 minutes)
• Jump rope (2 minutes)
• Reverse lunges (1 minute)
• Jump rope (1 minute)
• Forward side lunges (1 minute)
• Jump rope (1 minute)
• Cross back lunges (1 minute)

Brief rest

• 1 Legged deadlifts (2 minutes)
• Push-ups (8-10)
• Ball hamstring curls (2 minutes)
• Push-ups (8-10)
• Deadlifts with weights (2 minutes)
• Push-ups (8-10)
• 1 legged deadlifts (1 minute)
• Push-ups (8-ish)
• Ball hamstring curls (1 minute)
• Push-ups (8-ish)
• Deadlifts with weights (1 minute)

Brief rest

• Ball pass over sit-ups (2 minutes)
• High knee Jump rope (1 minute)
• Repeat x2


But besides the exercise I do, I also eat pretty good most of the time.  Eating good is really the key to looking good.  I read somewhere that eating is 80% of how you look and exercise is the other 20%, and I think that probably sounds about right.  I typically eat fairly healthy anyway, but probably even more so since I have upped my workouts.  It's difficult to go run 6 miles without the proper fuel in your body.  We don't eat out much, and when we do its usually something like a sub from Jimmy Johns (fast food) or a margarita pizza and salad from Spin.  Ryan hasn't eaten McDonalds-type food since college and I haven't eaten it in probably 5 years.  I do still indulge with dessert a few times a week though.  I'm not one of those people who will give up eating foods I like!  I truly enjoy eating quality, tasty food and that kind of food can be healthy too...it just takes a little effort. 

Crazy hair...

Just over a week ago Lola decided to cut off all her hair.  It was a Saturday morning…I had just returned from a run; Ryan was in the kitchen cooking.  Lola was at the dining room table coloring and cutting paper with scissors.  She used her scissors all the time, with no problems.  She hadn’t tried to cut anything else besides paper until that point.  I was talking to Ryan in the kitchen while Luca was eating a snack.  Next things we knew, Lola walks up to us.  I looked at her and at first thought she wet her hair down and slicked it back…but then realized that it was just gone.  Her bangs were chopped off.  I freaked out and she started crying.  Her hair was in a braid and I started unbraiding it and chunks just started falling out.  All that was left was one long piece in back.  I was hyperventilating at this point.  Looking back it is funny, but it wasn’t funny at the time.  I ran upstairs and called my mom.  I could tell she was trying not to laugh but I wasn’t laughing at that point.  I cut the remaining long piece off of Lola’s hair and we are now just waiting for it to grow.  Of course we were planning to have our first family picture the 1^st week of July with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law.  A few weeks ago I had planned on calling the place where I get my hair cut to schedule a trim for Lola since her hair was starting to get scraggly.  It’s interesting though because her new ‘pixie in front’ haircut somewhat suits her personality…she is bohemian in a lot of ways.  She dresses the way she wants to dress.  Very rarely does she ever wear clothes at home (i.e. shorts and a shirt).  She is usually wearing one of her swimsuits, a princess dress, or one of my outfits to play dress up.  It is usually pretty cute, except when we need to go somewhere or it’s a school day and we have to bribe her to actually put real clothes on.  The second she gets home they are on the floor by the back door and she has something else on.  Maybe she is going to be an actress??

Right after she cut her hair...eating lunch.  She was not happy
because I was not happy. 

I wet her hair down to trim the back. 

She put on my swimming suit and swim cap
and wore this for half of the day until she got
bored and put something else on

One of her own swimsuits and a cap Ryan just wore
 for a race.  If you are wondering why she is drinking a
huge chocolate milk it was a treat and she was only
allowed to drink 1/2 of it. 

This is technically a swimming suit, but
 we were going somewhere so I made her put
on leggings underneath.  Compromise. 

One of 5 princess dresses that we own thanks to
my sister-in-law Dana donating them to us! 

I had to add a picture of Luca in here somewhere.  The recepient
of a craft project Lola was working on.  Lola was using a kit with stickers
one minute, and the next minute this is what I found.  At least she knows
the proper placement of eyebrows!  

Still swimming...

The swimming seems to be going better.  I’m still just swimming drills, and nothing else.   I was told to only do these drills for the next month.  They are getting easier so hopefully they make a difference once I start actually ‘swimming’ laps.  One of the drills is really difficult to do when I have to share a lane with someone else – it’s a side arm drill and I tend to wander quite a bit when I’m on my left side.  I was sharing a lane last night and was really focusing on staying straight and I got much better.  I did tell the guy I was sharing a lane with that I tend to wander so sorry if I ran into him.  I never did thankfully.   I still can’t imagine swimming back and forth over and over without taking a breathing break, but what I really can’t imagine is swimming in open water without a stopping point every 25 or 50 meters.  I am still working on the breathing and find myself winded really quickly.  I guess that will just take time and practice like anything else, but still frustrating nonetheless.

the two big 'D's...

Divorce and Death...both of these subjects have come up several times in the past few weeks with Lola.  I'm just not sure how to address either one of them.  Death came up as we drove by a cemetery on Memorial Day.  She asked why all the flags were flying and we explained what Memorial Day was for, but struggled through the death part.  I thought she would just drop it, but she kept asking over and over.  One question led to another.  I remember reading somewhere that you should not tell kids that people who are dead are 'asleep' because it might make the kid scared to ever sleep again.  Makes sense.  So Lola said "they are just laying there not moving?"  Yes dear, I suppose that is correct.  "So they can't play any more?"  "So they can't eat anymore?"  And now it comes up randomly, just when I least expect it, so I'm always caught off guard and trying once again to figure out how to explain it.  The other is divorce, or as I explain it - the Mommy and Daddy aren't living in the same house anymore.  Lola has a girl in her class at school that has been a biter.  She doesn't bite all that often, but she has been consistently doing it for several years.  Her parents split up almost 2 years ago and according to the teachers the parents hate each other and they fight all the time and this little girl is right in the middle.  Ryan and I have both only seen the mom smile once.  Every other time she has a scowl or frown on her face.  It's really sad.  Just today Lola asked "Why Burke bite me a few weeks ago?"  I explained that her parents weren't living together anymore and it makes Burke mad and sad, and that's why she bites (this is the theory from the teachers anyway).  Burke is otherwise a really sweet kid.  She just bites when she gets frustrated.  Anyway, back to the discussion.  Lola kept asking questions and I tried to answer as best I could.  Does it get easier?  Is it easier once they are older and can understand more, or is it even more difficult then?  They really need to make a manual for these things...  :)

Fwimming (as Lola would call it)

I had a swim lesson last Friday.  It’s interesting to try and learn a new skill at almost 34 years old…I remember when I got contacts and I was so frustrated because I couldn’t seem to get the hang of it!  I remembered thinking that it was odd to be learning something totally new and different that I had not done before in all of my 28 years (at the time).  I think it’s also different at this point to try and learn something new because I actually want to learn how to swim properly and efficiently, so I was listening carefully to everything the instructor said.  I was getting a bit frustrated because I kept running out of breath.  I think it was so frustrating because I’m in really good shape.  But Liz, the instructor, said that it will just take time and practice to get comfortable breathing in the water.  She gave me 2 different drills to do for the next 4 weeks.  I’m not supposed to swim normal laps; I’m just supposed to do these drills.  I went to the gym/pool last night to swim and it was really frustrating.  I had to share a lane, and one of the drills makes me wander to one side.  I was so self conscious that I was going to run into the other person I was sharing a lane with that I wasn’t focusing on my breathing or my technique so I was running out of breath and getting frustrated.  By the end, I was getting it figured out and I think next time if I have to share a lane I will feel more comfortable.  The more I swim, the more comfortable I get.  Thankfully I have easy access to the pool at my gym.  It’s just sad that I have been going there for 1.5 years now and am just now utilizing the pool!  

And...look how much I've been blogging in the last week!  I'm finally meeting one of my New Year's Resolutions!   :)

Sicknesses

No, nobody is sick in my house...at least right now.  I have a friend who thinks that her kid's constant sicknesses are caused by daycare.  On one hand I agree a little bit, but on the other hand I totally disagree (does that make sense?).  Yes, illnesses can be spread at daycare, but they can spread elsewhere instead.  I have several stay at home mommy friends whose kids are constantly sick.  I also have friends who work full time whose kids are constantly sick.  But on the reverse side, I have both working mom and stay at home mom friends whose kids are never sick.  I think the majority of it is just the kid.  Some kids are prone to ear infections, some are not.  Some kids have a better immune system than others.  My kids don't really get sick much (besides the occasional runny nose) and they go to daycare.  A close friend who stays at home has 2 kids who have had more ear infections than I can count.  I also think the term 'stay at home mom' is totally misused...because non of the moms that I know who stay at home are actually home all that much!  They are at Gymboree, the library, other mom's houses, play group, the ball pit at Chick-Fillet, the YMCA, the park, the pool, the zoo.  One friend is literally never at her house.  It makes me tired to think of how much she is out and about.  And most of the places I listed above aren't all that clean.  They aren't regulated like my daycare is regulated...my daycare sanitizes all the baby toys every night.  If your kid has runny poop and poops out of the diaper more than once, they send them home.  If they even see a hint of pink eye, they send them home.  They don't mess around.  Okay, enough of that.  I feel better.

So tomorrow I have a swim lesson.  Sounds weird right?  Well, for some reason I decided to sign up for a triathlon in September.  Actually, the reason I signed up was because I got so pumped up watching Ryan in the triathlon earlier this month that I decided I had to try one too!  I know how to 'swim', meaning I was a lifeguard in High School and College and I am very comfortable in the water...but swimming laps is a whole different story.  When I lived in New Zealand in 2004-2005, I decided I was going to try and swim.  Everybody there swam for exercise.  There was a YMCA a few blocks from where I was living and they had 3 pools!  So I bought a new (one piece) swimsuit and tried it.  I can't believe how frustrating it was.  People who weighed 3x more than me were lapping me.  I was out of breath by the time I swam 25 meters, and they were going back and forth like nobody's business.  Yet, I could lift a decent amount of weights and go hard on the elliptical for 45 minutes.  It didn't make sense.  So I quit.  I probably tried it for a couple of weeks.  Flash forward to now....last week actually.  I got in the water again at the gym....guess what?  SAME PROBLEM as 2004!  And I am in the best shape of my life right now.  I can go run 6 fairly quick miles with no problem, I can jump rope forever, I can do some serious plyometrics...you get the idea.  But I still can't swim!?  So I ask my husband, who has taken many a lesson.  He gives me a buoy to put between my legs, and tells me to swim without kicking.  He also gives me a few pointers on my stroke.  Then I try it.  WOW.  I can swim back and forth without getting too winded.  So I try without the buoy...and I immediately run out of breath.  I get home and google it, and sure enough, the kicking is what most people have trouble with.  If you try to swim distance and kick too much, it just makes your heart race because it uses up all your energy.  Distance swimmers barely kick.  So this is what I hope to learn at my lesson tomorrow!   Somewhat along those same lines, when I started running a few years back I realized that I was trying to run waaaaay too fast for my skill level, but I didn't realize it until I started monitoring my heartrate and my running pace.  I strapped on Ryan's GPS watch and found out I was literally sprinting.  How did I not realize that before?  No wonder I couldn't even run around the block without dying.  Breathing is really the key to a lot of things.  I have learned a lot about breathing in Yoga!  Enough rambling chatting for today...more later on my swim lesson!  

Mother's Day

We went down to Fort Scott for Mother's Day weekend this year.  My Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Ron were flying in from Phoenix to see Grandma, and my cousin Kate decided that she was going to surprise her parents and drive in from St. Louis.  It was great... I hadn't seen Ron and Marilyn in over a year (since Matt and Sara's wedding in September 2010) and I hadn't seen Kate and Brian in almost a year.  Liam and Lola had a slumber party in the trundle beds, which was interesting the first night but totally fine by night #2.

The 2nd cousins.  We actually ended up with a decent picture!  

Pushing Luca around...she would have let me do this
for hours if I would have let her.  

It's great to have 4 generations!

Happenings

I really thought I would be better about blogging, but alas, it's pretty obvious I'm not. We've had a lot go on in the past month. Ryan turned 40 on May 5th! I had a surprise birthday party for him on Sunday night the 6th at Extra Virgin Restaurant in Kansas City. It turned out really well, he actually didn't suspect a thing. The surprise almost got blown at the last second when Ryan decided to drive around the front of the restaurant to try and find a parking space, even though he had specific instructions to park in the alley and go through the kitchen door (since they are actually closed on Sundays, and we were just going to meet Michael and Nancy there for a drink before we 'went out to dinner').  Ha ha ha.  He is a weirdo and recognizes cars of people he knows, and he started seeing a few cars and was naming who they belonged to.  But for some reason he still didn't suspect anything.  We finally got inside and he was totally surprised.  It was awesome!   

Not the best picture, but you can see
the shocked look on his face.  He
had been looking down at his phone...

He also competed in his first triathlon in 7 years.  He didn't learn to swim until he was 30 and he is still a bit unsure in open water, but he made it through the swim and did good on the bike and run.  It was the first time I have ever watched a triathlon and I was hooked.  It's so different than watching a marathon or other running race.  By the time I was watching everyone running, they had already swam and biked.  Talk about not so fresh legs!  Ryan did the longer course, which was a 1,500 meter swim, 26 mile bike, and 6 mile run.  There was also a sprint course which was a 500 meter swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  I'm crazy and decided to sign up for a sprint course race in Olathe in September.  Interesting considering I haven't swam (laps) since 2004 and haven't biked since 2001.  And the last time I biked it was mountain biking... This should be interesting!  

Right before the start, he had already been in the
water for a practice swim

Last part of the bike before transition to run...
you can see he already has his shoes off