Sweet, Sweet Brayden

SOOOOO…..I am totally fighting the urge to take a nap right now!  I LOVE getting up at 5am, but after my quiet time, getting kids off to school, my run, shower, and breakfast, put me in a quiet house with nothing but the dryer running and I…could….just….snooze…. 

But I won’t right this second, promise;-) 

I had another glorious run outside today. I LOVE it when the weather is so great and I can get outside.  I can’t do it every day because of the bone/joint pain that the pavement pounding causes me (the treadmill is much more forgiving), but it’s so great to mix it up and little and have the sun shining down on my face.  Yep love it. 

SPLITS:
MILE 1	9:05
MILE 2	9:00
MILE 3	9:06
MILE 4	9:11
MILE 5	9:31
MILE 6	9:55

TOTAL DISTANCE: 6 miles

TOTAL TIME: 55:52

AVG PACE: 9:19/mile

After Tyler’s dentist appointment and grocery run yesterday, the kids and I headed to my sister Jessica’s and got some quality time with her and Brayden (and Jason too).  Brayden is soooo sah-weet and I could just snuggle him forever!  He’s 3 1/2 months old already and smiles so much and constantly acts like he wants to run somewhere…hmmmmmm, wonder where he gets that?!  Aunt Erica’s influence?!  Um yes, I think so;-)

 

Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?  His Momma’s pretty cool, too, if you ask me;-)

“I will remember the LORD’s works; yes, I will remember You ancient wonders.  I will reflect on all You have done.”  Psalm 77:11-12

xoxo

Fits Her To A T(ball)

So Katie’s t-ball season is in full swing!  She LOVES playing t-ball so much.  Of course, she is Miss Social Butterfly so any kind of group interaction with other kids and she just lights up;-)

We have 5 t-ball teams in our town.  Rather than play other towns, the teams all stay local and play each other.  Which we parents appreciate GREATLY, especially when you have two other children who DO travel with their teams.  So each team has 8 games and Katie has already had 3 of hers, with numbers 4 & 5 to still come this week. 

Here are some shots of our t-ball star princess:

In the dugout, ready to play! 

Getting ready at her position at pitcher: 

It is truly organized chaos with this many kids ages 4-1st grade!  But so fun and too cute!  

Katie and her friend Courtney:

Katie on deck: 

1st time at bat:

On first:

And she SCORES!! 

Does it get any cuter than this?!  I mean, seriously:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OH, and we need to break for a moment so I can tell you that my Tyler has his first girlfriend…wow.  Erika is such a sweetheart and we’ve known her forever so this is really no surprise, but it seriously is a shock to see your baby boy-err-I mean almost high school son, walking to your car after school holding a girl’s hand.  A girl that isn’t HIS MAMA!  But they are both active in the youth group at church, in fact I believe this is where “love” blossomed;-), both very active in sports, and just all around good kids.  Oh, and she plays with Katie a lot, so Katie is probably more smitten with her than Tyler…maybe ;-) 

And of course Dad had to get in the picture for a little embarrassment!  It was priceless…hilarious!  But I made him get up before he embarrassed Tyler (or Erika) any more:-)

Have a wonderful Wednesday, lovelies!

xoxo

A Few Of My Favorite [Pescatarian] Things

Hey!  How’s Monday treatin’ ya??  I hope your week is starting off wonderfully:-)

We have yet another full one here with baseball games, tball games, an orthodontist appointment, and a class field trip.  Whew.  I think I got it all…hopefully nothing will slip through the cracks!  I can’t believe the school year is almost over.  I am SOOOO ready for summer vacation!

So I mentioned briefly in my last post that I have been eating a pescatarian diet for a little while now…my kids still call it vegetarian, and that’s fine, probably better.  I mean, can you see Katie announcing to her Kindergarten class, “My mom’s a pescatarian.”  I would imagine I would get more than a few questions and possibly a few phone calls.  Not in a negative way mind you, just in a what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about way.  Being that we live on the border of the Midwest and the South, we are predominantly meat and potato eaters ‘round here.  And that’s great, it’s the way I was raised!  But I have come to prefer food that look like the colors of the rainbow.  Now, doesn’t that sound happy?  :-)

Foods that look like this:And this:   And my favorite use for the spinach (which I normally buy organic spinach but I ran out and had to settle) is the Green Monster.  And yes, it’s capitalized because it actually has it’s own website, hehe;-)  I tried making a GM a year ago and almost gagged!  And my hubby made quite a bit of fun of me for trying to drink it.  But NOW for some reason it’s completely different.  For my Green Monster, I blend in the blender:

1 cup organic fat-free milk

1/2 organic frozen banana

2 cups spinach

1 scoop Chocolate Amazing Grass Superfood

1 cup crushed ice

There are a TON of different  combinations to make your own GM, you are only limited by your imagination…well, and your taste buds.  But I have been drinking one a day for the last 3 weeks or so and I have gone through a butt load of spinach noticed my energy levels have increased, my complexion is glowy, and my cravings for anything processed and icky are completely gone.  Seriously, I can’t remember the last time I had a cookie, cake, any kind of processed food.  It’s incredible, really.  And oh the antioxidants I’m getting!  Yessss!

Another fave thing: Nutritional Yeast Powder.  I first read about the benefits of NYP on Gina’s blog over at The Fitnessista, and how it is beneficial for vegetarians especially because of it’s great source of B vitamins and protein.  It’s tastes cheesy and is good sprinkled on top of many things, but my favorite is air popped popcorn…it’s tastes like parmesan cheese, ooooh so goooood!Something else that I used to not be a fan of: hummus.  Seriously, I just used to wonk on the texture of the stuff, now it’s my fave veggie dip and sandwich spread.  Who am I??  This spicy version is my current love.  That stuff in the middle, yeah, it will set your mouth on fi-yah!  So delish!!

And what is the common link between: the bottom of my purse, my glove box in my car, my kitchen and overnight bags?  If you guessed the Larabar you’re right!  I L-O-V-E these all natural fruit and nut bars.  They come in many flavors, and my favorite (but not pictured) is Peanut Butter & Jelly!  OMGosh.  Tastes just like a PB&J sammie…well, almost.  So good!  I must remember to stock up on my next trip to STL!  Nowhere close has the PB&J flavah I crave:-(

So have I completely weirded you out?!  For those of you who have known me forever, are you wondering who I am?!  LOL~  Don’t be alarmed…it’s all good.  I am just improving my diet to be the healthiest “ME” I can be.  I am doing a lot of reading and research and trying to make the best use of my nutrition.  After surgery, chemo, and radiation I feel “clean.”  And I want to do everything in my power to stay that way. 

I could go on for pages about this and I will touch more on it in bits and pieces, as new products and such come up.  But I wanted to share with you a powerful statement that I read in a devotional this weekend about FAITH:

“Genuine faith puts a letter in the mailbox and lets go.  Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives.” –from Streams In The Desert 

W-O-W.  Love it!  We MUST trust God to handle it all.  We can’t give it to Him and expect Him to deal with it while we are still hanging on to it and carrying it around.

“Faith is being…certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1

xoxo 

Run For A Reason

Hello everybody!

I have been wanting to post for the past few days but have been lacking the pictures I need to post! My dad has been a little slow in the emailing pics department;-) He has been a little busy hunting the elusive turkey with my hubby since Monday. Yes, turkey season has started so that means coffee (and plenty of it) at 430am and long hikes through the woods to chase down their birds. However, this week has been less than successful in the hunting department. Oh well, another bird lives to see another day...

Now would seem to be the time to tell you that I'm currently eating a vegetarian diet, huh? Makes sense to me! But I guess the proper term for me would be pescatarian. If you have a confused look on your face right now, it's ok...I'll define it for you. A “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish. Although the word is not commonly used, more and more people are adopting this kind of diet, usually for health reasons or as a stepping stone to a fully vegetarian diet.

I will elaborate more on this and how much I am LOVING how I feel but before I stray too far I must get on to the real reason for this post:

The Lending A Hand Fund held our 1st Annual River Run this past Saturday! We had a 5K Run and a 1 Mile Run/Walk. There was about 165 people that participated, not to mention all the friends and family that gathered at the park to watch and cheer on the runners and walkers. We had medals for the top two finishers male/female in each race. And the winner of the women's 5K was........

ME!!!!!!!!!!

OMGosh, I was so excited y'all, let me tell you!! My time was 23:50, which is a PR for me! It was an amazing experience! There were tears all around from my mom and sisters and almost from me, just from the sheer exhiliaration of winning a race, especially one that I helped set up, and one with such a worthy cause as our Lending A Hand Fund. It was an experience I'll never forget! Our family represented well as all 3 kids ran today, my brother-in law and sister-in-law ran their FIRST 5K, and our nephew ran as well!

Our committee for the Lending A Hand Fund: Tiffany, Della, Me:

Tyler finishing strong! His 5K time was 22:09:

Zachary finishing the 5K! His time was 25:02:Katie and I finishing the 1 mile! Her time was 11:00! WOW!! Tyler getting his medal for taking 2nd place in the 1 mile:

Ethan looking like his Aunt Erica by going and finding one of my sister's old medals from hs so we would match. Awwwwe, he is so sweet!!

So it was an amazing day and an amazing success. We ended up raising over $10,000 for cancer patients in our community!!! Far and beyond our expectations...we are amazed and so thankful. We are already thinking about next year!

xoxo

Bring The Rain

Good Morning;-) I just wanted to share with you a new favorite of mine and I think it's a beautiful way to start your day. I know from personal experience (Thank you, Jesus) that sometimes it takes a little rain for Him to be truly experienced and appreciated.

If you are experiencing some rain in your life right now, just know that the Lord uses trials in order to bless us and to draw us closer to Him. Through trials we lean on God and learn to trust Him and fully appreciate His love for us.

"I trust in Your word." Psalm 119:42

Have a great one!

xoxo

B-E-A-U-TIFUL!!!!

Hello friends!~ Long time no see! Er, read?!

I'm just dropping in to say "HI!!" and that I am still alive and kickin'! My absence is only due to the following wonderful things:

• My sister, Layne, and her boys are here for a couple of weeks and my sister Jessica has been over with little Brayden, so I have been loving soaking up all the sister and nephew time I possibly can! We've had lots of family time and I've loved every single minute.
• The weather has been AMAZING!! So much so, that I've been able to do my running OUTSIDE! Ahhh, if you could see the views and natural beauty I wake up to every morning with the sun filtering through, it would totally knock your socks off. Springtime is here, folks;-) Oh, and for my run yesterday morning, I discovered that I can put my hair in two tiny little pigtails!!!!! With some bobby pins to help, of course. But they are pigtails nonetheless! Yay!
• SPORTS! Zachary's basketball season ended last Friday night so he is finished for the year, just in time for Tyler's baseball season to get into full swing this week. Ty has 3 games this week alone. And Katie's t-ball also started this week and she is loving it! She was so excited for her first practice on Monday night. She went to practice all psyched up with her little pink mitt with a breast cancer ribbon and the word "hope" on it...she loves it;-)

When the weather is THIS beautiful, I feel amazing. Like I could conquer the world. I feel so healthy and blessed!

I have some other changes that I promise that I'm going to fill you in on soon...as soon as we have a partly cloudy day I will let you in on some NEW things. Hint: Am I a vegetarian?? Hmmmmm.......;-)

Be blessed!

xoxo

Extraordinary Easter

Hey guys!  How is your week starting off?  Good?  I hope so;-)  Mine is fantastic!  We are having the most beautiful weather here and today the sun is shining making me wish school was out so we could have a river day!  Soon enough, though.

I had every intention of posting Easter pics yesterday but got home and plugged up my camera and realized that I had taken my sister’s camera instead of mine.  Oops!  So after a quick swap yesterday afternoon I am finally getting around to an Easter recap.

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday!  We woke up celebrating the fact that Jesus is not dead, but He is risen!  Even the kids were not so much focused on Easter baskets or the goodies inside it (well, maybe the candy!) but were talking about the REAL reason we celebrate.  It made my heart smile:-)  Something else that never ceases to make me smile is doing something our pastor told us to do with John 3:16:

“For God so loved (insert your name here), that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Can I get an “AMEN!”  I love it, and it makes it so personal to plug my name into that verse.  But that’s what God is…He.Is.Personal.  He created us, knowing how many hairs we have on our head, forming our personalities, our likes and dislikes, He made us for His pleasure and for His amazing and extraordinary love for us.  FOR YOU!  Yes, YOU!  I am talking to you reading this who may say, “But you don’t know what I’ve done.  There is no way God can love me.” 

Listen when I tell you:  GOD CAN, AND GOD DOES.  UNCONDITIONALLY.    And He so desperately wants you to accept His free gift of salvation so your sins (ALL of them) will be washed away and when it comes your time to leave this world, you will live in Heaven forever.  Amazing love.  Thank you, Lord.

EASTER EGG HUNT AT CHURCH:

  

EASTER AFTERNOON AT MOM & DAD’S.  DINNER, FINDING EGGS (and baskets – my dad gets a kick out of hiding the kids’ baskets and making them go on a search;-)

xoxo

Why Today Is A Good Day

Hello Thursday...but it totally feels like Friday! WooHoo!!

Here is why today is a good day:

• My sister Layne and her boys are coming in today!
• No school tomorrow, so no rush-rush homework and bedtime routine tonight!
• Zachary's basketball game tonight! At home!! (no traveling)
• Glorious 5 mile run outside this morning!
• B-E-A-UTIFUL weather!
• New episode of Survivor tonight! Don't judge, we have always watched together as a family and we love the show! Go Russell!! (he's ornery but ya gotta love him!)
• We get to sleep in tomorrow then go have cousin and sister fun day!

See? What'd I tell ya?! Good day goin on right here!

Oh, before I forget, my run splits:

MILE 1: 8:40

MILE 2: 8:45

MILE 3: 9:19

MILE 4: 10:04

MILE 5: 10:23

TOTAL DISTANCE: 5 miles

TOTAL TIME: 47:14

PACE: 9:26/mi

Have a wonderful day, y'all! Find a reason why today is a good day for YOU!

xoxo