Shock and Awe

Yesterday, I was doing my Yoga in the living while Buddy (our dog) and Ellie were playing on the front walk.

When I was done with my exercises I went out to see what they were up to. Seeing the beautiful creation made with purple moon sand all over the sidewalk, I asked her to clean up and put it all back in the container (wishful thinking). Out of no where Ellie says, with absolute shock and awe in her voice, "Oh my Gosh, someone drew on Buddy!"

I look over at my dog sprawled out in the shade under a tree. On his entire left side is a beautiful piece of chalk art, drawn by a three year old.

Weekend Update

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I can't believe Monday has been here and is almost gone. The girls are already in bed. Time for our Weekend update.

Friday night we hung out with the Farquaads. Fried Mushrooms, Salad and Lasagna on the menu. Don't forget the Truffle Pie that Brittany hooked us up with.

We kicked a little, oh I mean a lot of tush playing Smarty Pants. That's right I am the Smarty Pants Champ.....Don't forget it......

We said our last Good-bye to the Goff's as they finished up packing their things. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they are off to a new adventure in Georgia. Lots of love and blessings to Frank, Kristy and baby Goff.

Saturday was a fun filled day at a Cross Country meet for Madi. We had a great time hanging out playing Frisbee and watching the older runners as we waited our turn. She did another great job. Her mile was 8:31. She is so amazing. I don't think she knows how truly wonderful of a talent that she has. She makes it look effortless and beautiful. We spent the rest of the day just enjoying our time together as family.

While dealing with losses by both Green Bay and San Fransisco on Sunday, we played ladder ball with friends.

Zack and Marcus took notes of Teds form.....

Zoie showed us all up. Ellie and Madi shared something for a moment. McKayli and Abby cheered us all on......

Boys vs Girls. Boys won this round. Don't worry Misty, we will get them back.

This picture is just for Marcus. Never tell the crazy blogger lady with the camera not to post a pic. :) Oh, and check it out Zack is smiling.......

Funny in my Tummy

Ellie cracks me up. She is a constant source of laughter in our house. If you have never seen her in motion, it is hard to explain how she moves. Her body has a spring in it, seriously. She just bounces all of the time.

This afternoon, she gulped down her juice box. While she is hopping around as her normal self, she hears a jiggle in her tummy. You know the sound when you shake liquid in a bottle. That is what her stomach sounded like. She got an absolute kick out of it and kept bouncing around. More then normal, if that is possible.

I am sure you can imagine the noise of a gurgle and slush and you look at her bouncy pics.

Motivation

A shout out

I just wanted to say a WOOHOO!! for Ted's Alma Mater. They won their football game against USC last night. Go Beavs!!

Meal Madness

After having such a bummer morning because I didn't eat enough and sleep enough yesterday I decided to do things right tonight. I even got a little creative.

I am not much on presentation but it totally rocked for taste. I toasted some organic coconut in hot red pepper oil in a pan. I threw in some green onion, red pepper, orange pepper and yellow pepper. Stirred it around, threw in some shrimp. Gave a few minutes and wa-la, (oh and rice). Took me about 20 minutes with all the cutting.

Yummy, yummy!! The girls even ate it. (without the veggies, of coarse)

Visualization

The Wii trainer got on my nerves today. I am a bit grumpy. I didn't eat good yesterday and slept even worse. Ted is in Detroit. You think I would learn to take advantage of the empty bed, but it just isn't the same when he isn't there.

I managed to put in 1 1/2hrs on the Wii. I did some step, some boxing and hula. I did the balance games and all the yoga and strength. I didn't beat any of my top scores. Yikes. Just one of those days. I did my best to keep moving through it though. Yeah ME!

I use the female trainer on my Wii. She keeps telling me to visualize the body I want. That made we wonder a bit more about my goals in all of this. I am not in need of being skinny. I want to be strong. I want to be athletic. I really want to be able to keep up with our girls when we hike the Grand Canyon next summer.

So, drum role please: this is my goal. The picture of the body I want. Don't worry, I understand that she is 5" taller then me and is a paid athlete and works out 6 hours a day. I would be happy to get close, even if in my own mind, to this body. Thanks Misty May-Trenor for my picture of inspiration today.

Expectation

This week we began with a few new steps towards a pretty lofty goal. Ted and I are hoping to run a marathon in March. Now, I realize that March seems very far away. But, it really isn't. Before you know it we will be lining up with a few hundred people to run a race one step at a time.

I hope you don't mind I will be keeping track of our progress on our blog. We are pretty active people but not in great shape. Admittedly we are not getting any younger. We both are overweight and don't currently run. Well, unless we are chasing down Ellie or Madi for some reason.

Luckily we found a nice training program that starts with walking. Taking our lofty goal into bite size pieces. The hardest part is to remember not to get ahead of ourselves. I am so excited that I want to push myself beyond its limits already. One day at a time, I tell myself. I need to honor my body. Not only knowing what I am capable of but understanding that it has limitations that I need to work through. I rested today like the schedule said and feel good. Ready for another good workout tomorrow. So far, no injuries to report. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

So, one day at a time. Our goal: to make it to the starting line.

Determination

Children have an amazing talent for teaching us about them and about ourselves.

Our daughter Madi has been running Cross Country this year. She loves running. She isn't much of a competitor but loves to be moving and going. We are a couple of weeks in to her first season. They run a mile at each of their races.

Race 1 went great. She had a wonderful time. She ran her mile in 8 minutes 26 seconds.

Race 2 didn't go as planned. On the way there she talked about how she was going to beat her time. She was so excited. As Cross Country running goes, every mile is a different mile. This one would challenge Madi with two good hills to climb in her run. She got a time of 10:11. A good time for most of us but not what Madi wanted to see. This is the first time I saw my little girl cry because she was disappointed in herself. She hadn't let anyone down, except her own expectation. It was heartbreaking. I gave her a big hug and encouraging words coated with the sweetest sugar I could muster.

There are moments in all of our lives when we face disappointment and discouragement. There are days we don't run as well or live as well as we plan. On those days, we define who we are. Madi had set a goal and not accomplished it. What's next?

Our next practice, she was up and gave 100%. Not a complaint, not a mention of the race from two days before. She never once asked me if she could quit. She just kept going.

Race Day 3. A new day. A new race. She ran her mile in 7 minutes 13 seconds. She was leaping for joy after her race. Accomplished. Knowing that each new day, each new race is a new opportunity to prove that she can do it. We are so proud of her hard work. More then that, she has shown me a piece of who she is becoming. Madi is a person of determination. She will fight for the things she wants. She will have days of hardship and tears but she will keep going.

Lord, May I keep learning the lessons that can only be taught by my children.

First Post

Welcome to our little page. Hopefully you will enjoy what we have to share. Most of the time I will be writing but occasionally you may get a little snippet from Ted. We'll see. There is always hope.

Life has been good to us and we hope to share our joy with you. God Bless.