Pushing my Limits

Today I ran (jogged) a mile. A full, stinkin' mile!

And I am proud of myself for it - VERY proud!

And then I cycled for 11 miles, partly uphill.

And then I tried to run some more.

But my legs had had enuf!

At the Fitness Center where I run, I have to do 13 laps around the indoor track to complete a mile. When I started a couple of weeks ago, I made it only 3 laps before stopping to walk. On Saturday, I made it 8 laps. But today I did ALL 13. And it felt great!

As I ran (jogged) I kept thinking how truly AMAZING our bodies are. We can do SO much more than what we think we can. The first 5 laps were pretty easy. Then I was feeling tired. I wanted to stop and walk many times, but I kept going. I pushed myself and pushed some more. And I did it.

Ok, now I know for a LOT of people, a mile is nothing! A friend's post on Facebook today said she was going to run 4 miles - 4! And here I am, all pleased with my 1. But I am because for me that is good - that is AWESOME!

And tomorrow I will do it again - and then some.

I have a personal rule that whatever I do the day before, I will do at least that much the next day, if not more. So from now on, it is going the full mile before stopping to walk - and working my way up to 3 of those miles!

Brothers

Who could resist these handsome, silly guys?

NOT ME!

(2 0f my 3 favorite boys!)

In the beginning, William didn't care too much to bother with Jackson. But now that Jackson is bigger and a whole lot more playful, William LOVES holding him and playing with him. (In fact, William and Gabriella often argue over whose turn it is to hold Bubba!) He is a sweet boy, loves to give compliments to his mom and sisters and girls at school, telling us that we are pretty or he likes our shirt. And he loves singing songs for us that he's learned at school.

Jackson is at such a fun stage!! He is almost 8 months old now! The time is going by way too fast for me, though. I just want him to stay little for a while longer so I can enjoy it all more. He is such a sweet, happy little guy. He takes great naps, going to sleep on his own, and is finally down to only waking once in the middle of the nite (thank you!). He is doing pretty good sitting on his own - a little wobbly at times still, and is trying to crawl! He does a cute little inchworm movement and can be halfway across the room in no time! And why is it that he is attracted to all the things he shouldn't have? Shoes, papers, cords, etc, are his favorite things to chew on - and with 2 teeth, you better watch out!

It Is Time!

For these 2 to get in SHAPE!

(and I don't mean round!)

(Thank you to the Princess Tabitha for taking our picture -

I look terrible! I had just gotten back from my workout &

Rick was getting ready to leave for his)

Really - I'm just posting this for us - for me. A goal not written down is only a wish, right? So here it goes and here I will randomly do updates and see how we are both improving!

So, here's the skinny of it. Rick and I have both signed up for The Ice Breaker. It's a mini-Triathlon that happens on Saturday, March 20th - 2 months from today. 300 Meter Swim, 11 mile Bike (almost 1/2 of that being uphill! kill me now) and 3.1 mile Run (a good part of that uphill, too!)

Can I just scream? Am I totally and completely NUTS?! Those who know me well, know that I am NOT a biker, I do NOT run (in fact, in 6th grade was told that I couldn't because of my asthma), and as far as swimming - well, I can stay afloat, but breathing in the water? I don't think so.

And ok, so maybe I am on the skinny side. But that doesn't mean much. I am WEAK. I am a WIMP! But Rick on the other hand, is um, not quite what you would call skinny, but he is STRONG! That big guy there can run faster and longer than my skinny little weak legs can any day! He can bike twice as far, twice as fast as I can!

I was chatting with a friend about this the other day - how a lot of people have that misconception that Skinny = Fit. NOT TRUE!! My husband is a whole lot more "in shape" and Fit than I am. But watch out, Baby! That is about to change!

So - WHY do this to myself? To US? Well, for me, I vowed that after this baby (who is now almost 8 months old - cry) I WOULD lose the baby fat, I WOULD get in shape. And Rick has had a long term goal of that (and a Harley ride coming at him, too!) Oh, and we promised ourselves a cruise for 2 once he's dropped 100 pounds. So, NOW is the time!

Rick did The Ice Breaker last year. With very minimal training/working out, he DID it. He finished and I was so proud of him for that accomplishment. But now, doing it together, we can push each other, encourage each other, and hopefully we can do MORE than just finish!

And in doing it, we WILL get into better shape and hopefully create some good exercise/eating habits that will continue with us. And be good role models for our kids, too.

So, our training officially started 10 days ago. (I say "officially" because for the last couple of months we have been exercising pretty regulary on our own, but not like this!)

Rick is continuing with his Boot Camp class that he does 2 mornings a week, plus going to the gym to run, cycle, swim, whatever, at least 3 other days a week. And on the days when he isn't working right now, he is spending even more time at the gym.

I have started taking a 2 hour cycling/swimming class once a week. The rest of the week I jog/walk a mile (for now - I will get better and work my way up to 3!) and cycle for 11 miles (about 30 minutes) and/or swim laps. I'd also really like to get into the weight room, but I'm too chicken to go alone.

If YOU are in the area and interested in The Ice Breaker, go to http://www.timptriclub.com/

Starting Weights:

Lisa - 128 pounds Rick - 320 pounds

Hmmm . . .

Anyone else ever find odd pictures like this on their camera?

Or maybe something like this?

How about a headless child?

Or perhaps something like this?



If so, maybe you have ONE OF THESE at your house!

This little princess absolutely LOVES taking pictures!! She is always grabbing the camera or a cell phone and setting things up and clicking away. And she doesn't do all that bad all the time either!! Anyone have any suggestions for a child-friendly digital camera that doesn't cost a whole lot? The Princess has a birthday coming VERY soon! (You can see her birthday countdown chain hanging on the wall in the 2nd picture!)

Oh, and the crown was from Santa - I think it may be permanently stuck to her head.

Christmas 2009

Ok, so a LITTLE behind here! Just a few fun pictures from Christmas - I didn't take many, but here's some fun ones!

My Crazies!

But they can be Angels, too!

My little Christmas Elf!

Christmas Morning - in their new jammies!

Tabitha posing and showing off her dress -
(that she insisted on wearing almost EVERY day in December!)
and matching bows I made.



A visit with Santa!
(oops - thot I fixed the red eyes - oh well!)

All in all, a good Christmas - spent Christmas Eve at Nana & Pap's (Rick's parents) and then Christmas morning at home opening presents. Rick's parents and Melissa joined us for our Christmas turkey dinner and then a fun rest of the day playing with the new toys and games.

The week after Christmas we spent in Idaho with Lisa's family and Rick spent the week remodeling her sister's bathroom - fun times! The kids had a great time playing with ALL of their cousins, including the 2 brand new little ones that had just been born!

Centers!

The kids had no school today.

Thank you, Dr. King, for what you did for our country.

But what to do? I was NOT about to take 4 kids out for fun -

stressing about being home every 1 1/2 hours for naptime

(yes, he sleeps that often!)

By 9:30, I could tell it was going to be a LONG day -

a very LOOOOOOONG day if I did not do something to entertain these kids.

A light bulb clicked on - CENTERS!!

William often tells me about how he did "centers" at school and how much he enjoys them.

For those who aren't familiar, the idea is simple. Just set up different activities for the kids to do around the house, and rotate every 10 - 15 minutes (or as needed!)

We had 5 different centers this morning:

Reading

Wipe-Off Activity Boards

Art

Spelling

Yogo Math (sorting and counting Yogos by color)

It was a HIT! William was so excited to help get the centers all ready. The kids rotated every 12 minutes and we had a fun, quiet hour, with the kids all working independently.

Took a break for a couple of hours (I had a lunch meeting) and then shortly after getting back home, they were literally BEGGING to do MORE centers!

So this afternoon we did:

Building (blocks & legos)

Reading (yes, again - we love books!)

File Folder Games

Puzzles

Art (again!)

Play-doh

Jello Jiggler Making with Mom

All while listening to some fun kid music!

There are SO many different things you can do for this! The kids LOVED it, had a fun day where we even incorporated learning into it, they got their reading done for the day, and I was able to get some things done (in 12 minute increments!) on my own.

The main thing is to have things that all of your children can do at their level. My art table was simple - lots of construction paper, crayons, markers, kid scissors, glue, and a kid safe paper cutter (Tabitha LOVED this!) - if you aren't comfortable with your kids using scissors, you can do something as simple as coloring books or pages. At our math center, Gabriella had some real math problems to solve with her yogos, while William and Tabitha just counted out the different colors. Smaller kids could even just sort the colors or shapes or whatever! Just make it fun!

We will DEFINITELY be doing Centers again on another No School day!

2009 Tag

1 - What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Became a Full-Time Working Mom for 2 1/2 months (getting ready to do it again, too!)

2 - Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Pretty much - see previous post!

3 - Did anyone close to you give birth?
Myself, baby sister Jessie (girl), SIL Johnna (Joe's wife, boy), cousin Kristina (girl)

4 - Did anyone close to you die?
Rick's wonderful Uncle Larry - one of the greatest, sweetest men I know

5 - What vacations did you take?
Wonderful Meyer Family Reunion in Michigan - including 3 days on the lake

6 - What do you wish you'd done more of?
Scrapbooking, reading, playing with my kids, exercising, blogging

7 - What was the best book you read?
Absolutely LOVED Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - not sure if that was the best, but the best that comes to mind right away!

8 - What was something you wanted but didn't get?
Nothing really - I don't have a lot of major wants - just one thing, and it's still a work in progress.

9 - What kept you sane?
Same thing that always does - an early bedtime for the kiddos! and trips to Kohl's!

10 - What valuable life lesson did you learn?
Regardless of what's going on, I can choose to be happy - no one else can make me that way, it's all up to me.

Happy 2010

It's THAT time again.

A New Year - and that means New Year's Resolutions.

I've been reading over my list of resolutions for 2009, and evalutating how I did. Overall, I did ok - could have been lots better, like always, but not too bad.

Here's a recap of what I wrote one year ago:

1 - Keep up with the dishes. Overall I have done pretty good at this one - mostly. Yes, having a new baby kinda screwed things up for awhile (including a day a neighbor came just at the right moment when I was about to have a breakdown and she so kindly did my mountain of dishes and cleaned the kitchen for me) and slowed me down, but mostly I did ok with this one. Hopefully I can do even better this year!

2 - Piano lessons for Gabriella. Absolutely did NOT happen. In fact, I'd totally forgotten about that. Maybe this summer, we'll see.

3 - Scrapbook. I've done a little, but nowhere close to doing the first year of each of my children. I will definitely keep working on this when I can.

4 - Hair Bows. Again, I've made some, including some to go with T's Christmas dress that I was very pleased with, but not as many as I thot I would.

5 - Eat more fruits & veggies. This one I actually feel like I did very well with. Our family in general eats a lot better now than we used to and for that I am very happy. (and I only gained 32 pounds during my pregnancy, my goal had been 30, like I was hoping to!)

Now, in my defense, shortly after making these goals, I started working Full Time - something I hadn't been planning on doing the first of January. So that REALLY threw things for a loop. And then I had a baby. And I am going to start working again in 4 weeks, but this time I am planning on it and know what to expect so I can be prepared (and not use it as an excuse for next year!) Oh, and I will NOT be having a baby this year.

So, my goals for this year, for 2010 are:

1 - Continue with the 5 from last year.

2 - Make weekly Meal Plans. SO frustrating when it gets to be 4, 5 o'clock and I'm wondering "What's for dinner?" and asking the kids and I always get responses like "Pancakes" "McDonald's" "Pizza!" When I don't have anything written out and planned ahead of time, it is so frustrating! But when I do, we have yummy dinners at a decent time. And to go along with this, I need to take time in January to make a bunch of freezer meals to be prepared for when I start working soon.

3 - Attend the temple once a month. Really, it shouldn't be that hard to go, should it? Especially since it is literally up the road!

4 - Exercise. I've been doing more of this the last couple of months, but I really need to keep at it. I have a little bit of baby weight that I still need to get rid of and I want to overall be healthier and more fit.

And to go along with #4 -

5 - Compete in the Ice Breaker Mini-Triathlon. This scares me. It really does! I am not a great swimmer, biker, or runner! Rick did the Ice Breaker last year (and finished!) and plans to do it this year and I have been toying around with the idea of doing it with him. I figure if he can do it, I can do it - right?! It's in April if I remember correctly, so I really gotta get busy on goal #4!

Anyone want to join us?