Happy Easter. I will have lots to share as soon as we get back to school and our normal routine.

A special surprise

I am finally able to sit down and type more than a few sentences. I am not sure where the time has gone, but it seems to have been more than a week or two since I last wrote. Two weeks ago, I had wanted to write about the arrival of Nana and Papa, but I was unable to share that news since my mother is a frequent reader of this blog. This would have tipped her off to the fact that it would be a possibility for me to join her and my sister in Vegas. This was a surprise we did not want ruined. Here is how it was all planned out: My mother recently celebrated her 60th birthday (sorry, mom had to share the special occasion). She also made the jump to retirement. Since this was all happening just after Christmas, we decided to combine the three gift giving holidays into one big one. My sister came up with the idea to fly our mom to Vegas for a long weekend. This event was shared with anyone who was willing and able to join us there. The big secret... she had no idea I was part of it. She knew I was helping pay for it, but that was where it ended. Why would this be a big deal if I was there? Well, for starters it would be the first time, I would be away from the boys. Not the easiest thing I ever did either. Secondly, Brian and I are usually not quick to throw a couple hundred dollars out there without a lot of thought given to it. Thirdly, Brian's job does not exactly allow me to just go out of town, since his schedule can change at the drop of a hat. By planning three months in advance, we were hoping to have covered all of our bases, the hard part was trying to keep my mother from finding out.

We bought my ticket, arranged for my in-laws to come for the weekend (well, Nana would be here longer, but that was just bonus time), and even coordinated with my sister so that the flights would be arriving in Vegas within an hour of each other. After everything planned and ready to roll, I had to prepare to say good bye to my two little ones for the first time (I had tried to go on a trip once before, but ended back home before going to sleep). They seemed to be doing better than I was, I guess it helped having Nana and Papa and their crazy Saturday Morning Activities to keep them busy and distracted. There were very little tears, which surprised me that I was not crying.

I arrived to Vegas just a half hour before my sister and mom arrived. It was close, because their flight was almost an hour early. My sister was able to get off the plane before my mom and friends. We made eye contact and then I watched as my mother exited the plane. She looked right in my direction and never saw me. I proceeded to follow behind them. Our friend, Cindy saw me and pulled my mom into and hug so that she was forced to look back in my direction. After she backed away she finally looked right me and completely started to turn away and then turned back and before anyone else knew it she was screaming. I am sure we got the strangest looks from passers-by, but mom did not care. She actually had tears in her eyes. I don't think in all my years, I have ever seen such a look of surprise on my mom's face. For the next hour or so, she kept pinching me to make sure I was really there. I guess we were all able to keep it a secret. It was the best surprise we could ever have given to my mom.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable St. Patrick's Day. The boys enjoyed the messes the leprachauns all made. Lots from this weekend coming very soon.

After keeping a secret for the last three months, i was finally able to surprise my mom in Vegas. First time without the boys. Love and miss them. Happy birthday mom!

Nothing Exciting

Nothing really exciting has happened here today. Brandon has had an upset tummy all day and it doesn't seem to be any better as he heads to bed. We will see how he feels in the morning. Not sure if I will be taking care of a sick little boy or helping Logan in his class. We watched the Absent Minded Professor this evening. The boys thought it was very funny. It is great to see them enjoy some of the older classics. It seems as though Brian is enjoying watching the movies that were his favorites as a child. Up next? Bedknobs and Broomsticks, one of my favorites.

Our internet and cable have been out all night. No big update to report on this end.

Boys are Yellow Belts in Aikido

We are definitely raising some great martial artists. (Is that what those who do martial arts are called?) The boys have taken their belt test in Aikido this evening and have earned their yellow belts.

The boys were a little nervous about taking their tests this afternoon. Actually I was a little nervous for them. I am not sure they knew the techniques as well as they should have. When we were taking Tae Kwon Do, they knew everything about the test inside and out. This time, not so much. But they certainly knew enough to make us proud. Be sure to ask them to show you their forward and backward rolls the next time you see them. They are definitely becoming more agile.

Here is a picture of the boys with their friend Ben. Ben is the whole reason we got started with Aikido in the first place. After Tae Kwon Do stopped, the boys really missed doing martial arts. I was missing the confidence that all martial arts seems to instill in one's self, especially Logan.

Once again, Brian and I are very happy to display the boys accomplishments and to show how proud we are of them.

Both of the boys loved the play Annie. It was a great performance. We are even going to try to find the movie so they can watch that too.

Missed again...

Not sure what I was doing last night that prevented me from writing a quick note, but oops! Nothing really exciting here, the boys and I are going to be attending the play Annie tomorrow evening. Logan was so happy after his field trip and he said he really liked it, so we thought it would be nice to take Brandon and of course, I wanted to go see it too. I am not sure I will be able to tell you about it Friday evening, but I will let you all know sometime this weekend. Probably not Saturday either, that day is totally crazy. Crazier than normal.

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess & 100th Day of School

Can you believe it? Today Brandon celebrated his 100th day of school. (Logan has been in school 102 days). They had a big day of making fruit loop necklaces, 100 Day Smarter Hats, and they brought in 100 things of their favorite item. Brandon chose a 100 marbles. He loves little BB beads, but since 100 of them seemed like such a little amount, he decided on marbles. Can't wait for those to be returned, because I am sure they will be completely over the house.

It was also Dr. Seuss's birthday today. Everyone was very excited, the Cat in the Hat greeted all the students by waving to them from the roof of the school.

Once the Cat in the Hat finally made his way down from the roof, he paid a visit to Brandon's Class and shared Fox in Sox with all them. They thoroughly enjoyed the treat. The kids are very lucky to have a great Principal this year.
I don't have any pictures of Logan from today, but he started the day with a Field Trip to see the play "Annie". He was very excited for this day. Since they had the field trip they could not wear their pajamas like the rest of the school, but they were allowed to bring their favorite stuffed animal and their favorite Dr. Seuss book. Of course, Andy was the one to accompany him to school and he choose One Fish Two Fish. So glad he is able to read those tongue twisters on his own now.

Totally forgot to write last night. But some exciting news today: Logan has his first loose tooth. He can't stop wiggling it. He hopes it comes out tomorrow.

Great Evening

We had a very fun evening at our friend's house. Angie and Jason provided the location and along with two and half other couples (Jess was flying solo) we had a nice dinner of lasagna and a great evening of cards. Hard to find a group of people who know how to play Euchre when you are this far West. But we have found a few and now we are hoping to play monthly. The kids even had a great time. There were a total of EIGHT kids in one house. Surprisingly enough, there were no major incidents. Actually there was hardly any fighting amongst all of them. The only time parents had to intervene was when there seemed to be a few sitting on one of the other boy's head. Not sure who thought it was a good idea, just hope it was not our little Brandon. I am pretty sure it was not, since the other boy was one of his good friends from school.

The evening started at 4:00 and the kids all lasted until 9:00. We probably could have stayed longer, but Brian is currently packing for a very early departure in the morning. Oops! Hope he can sleep on the plane.

early mornings

After what seemed like a long week, we started Friday off at 3:00 by the beginning of a series of phone calls. It would not be too bad if Brian could reach over and answer the phone quickly. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Brian's work phone only gets reception in a few spots in the house, one being in the kitchen by the back door. Therefore, his phone is on the loudest setting and I usually have to wake him quickly so he can get it fast enough. If he doesn't, there is usually another call five minutes later and/or the loud alert of a voicemail. This morning, however, just when we were about to fall asleep again, the phone rings at 3:16. Just lovely. I think we made it til about 4:30-5:00ish before it rang again, but after being up since 4:00 the previous day, it did not matter, my sleep was not satisfying. I, of course, fell back asleep til Brian's alarm went off at 6:30 and then his phone ringing just as he was heading to the shower. I am sure at some point Logan heard the ringing and decided it was alright for him to come down. Thankfully, he laid peacefully til about 7:25. He gets excited when Brian resets the alarm for him to hear the 'music'. However, I was so not in the mood to hear it at 7:30. At this point, Logan was more than happy to hop out of bed. Having said all of this. It is 9:22pm and I am heading to bed because Brian's phone has not stopped ringing since 7:00 this evening and I am pretty sure it will be ringing well into the night. Ugh...

Early morning swim means exhaustion by the time boys are in bed. Enjoyed dinner with friends after swim lessons.

Tried a new class

Today a friend and I went to try Zumba. Wow, what a workout. A third friend of ours is an instructor so we headed out to try her class. It was great. I definitely think it will be a good cross-training workout.

Tomorrow I am headed back to the swimming pool and still need to find time to do my 30 minute run. That is amid all the things I have to do throughout the day. Still trying to get everything organized in my scrap booking folders, hopefully that will be soon. Brian has another trip next week, which usually means that I will have a few evenings on the computer to get motivated. So be sure to check back next week, I am sure to have some pages ready for your viewing pleasure.

I guess I should not miss two days in a row. No reason for missing except I headed to bed early after waking up for a morning swim yesterday. More later.

Another busy weekend has ended. Boys had Sunday School, a birthday party and Boy Scouts today. I somehow managed to squeeze 6 miles in there, but in two shifts.

Have lots of pictures to post, will have to wait til tomorrow. The boys are well on their way to riding a two-wheeler. Just a few things to work on.

New Creation

I have been playing with Adobe Photoshop again and this time I decided to check out how easy it would be to make a card. Well, I absolutely love it. It was so much fun to use the paper and with the books from Close to my Heart the designs are so easy to follow. In a short amount of time this is what I was able to create.

I now just need to get all my stuff sorted out in my crazy craft room and I might be able to recreate these kinds of cards with the actual stuff from Close to my Heart.

Continuing On...

I don't really have to much more to add, just wanted to make up for the missed entry. Both boys are sitting in a mess of legos in the middle of the floor waiting for me to finish so we can do some reading before starting the Wii. Hope everyone has a nice evening. Ours seems pretty short when we don't get home from swimming til almost 7:00.

Oops, missed a day...

I do have a really good excuse. Actually it is probably not, but here it is anyways. I was very congested and sneezing up a storm, that I decided to take a shower as soon as I got the boys to bed. After the shower, I felt a bit better, but knew it would not last. Therefore, I headed to bed. I really was on my way to sleep, but the Olympics got my attention. Not for too long, because I conked out soon after I turned them on. Was smart though, I pressed the record button beforehand. I got a chance to watch Shaun White do his Halfpipe Victory lap and Lindsay Vonn raise her gold to the National Anthem. Just love the Olympics.

Another Day Off

The boys did not have school today for a Teacher Workday. They like to tack those on to the end of three day weekends. Parents just love that. It was a pretty quiet day, the boys were happy to remain in their pjs until lunch. We sorted and built legos and then headed to the Commissary for a long overdue grocery trip. The boys were very good and of course were rewarded by chocolate milk and reese's peanut butter cup.

We bought new goggles for swim lessons and they were much happier in the water although they are still getting used to the actual goggles. They also got new suits yesterday, I have pictures of the boys swimming, forgot to take one before they got wet. I will try to remember Thursday before they dive in. Their swimming is definitely improving. They can't wait to show off their skills. Hopefully we will have a nice warm place to live this summer so they can swim all the time.

Had a crazy evening at chess. Boys r sound asleep and i am heading to bed after a very early morning.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. It was a nice day here. Jessica and the boys came over for a dinner of Heart Shape Pizza and a homemade Cookie Cake. The boys have been couped up all week long it was nice for them to get a chance to run around. After an exhausting evening of chasing each other around the house and playing the wii, Logan was quick to fall asleep and Brandon really needed to sleep, but fought it until he couldn't last any longer.

Here is our yummy Cake:

Probably did not help to give the boys more sugar to fuel their energy. But they all enjoyed it.

Yes, today is Saturday

What does that mean? Well, for starters it meant another crazy day for the Guise Family. In addition to our normal morning activities, we had a birthday party and a retirement ceremony/party to attend. It was the first birthday party that Brandon attended without his brother along. It was hard for Logan to be left out. Could not quite understand why he couldn't go too. I am sure it won't be long before he is invited to some one's party and Brandon will not be allowed to go. Until then, it will take some explaining to do.

Later this evening, we attended a retirement ceremony for someone from Brian's office. It was very nice and very emotional. As a Navy wife for almost 12 years, it makes you realize that this is definitely one tough job. It will definitely be a bitter sweet day when Brian hangs his uniform up for good. We will be happy to have him 'home' for good, but we will be saying goodbye to so many good friends and traditions that I have grown to appreciate over the years.

Beginning of Valentine's Weekend

Both of the boys were filled with sugar at their parties and were very exciting to read all their cards from their friends when they got home. I did take pictures of them, I will put them together soon. Probably not this weekend, because we have tons of things to do, but maybe next week.




I was also nicely surprised with flowers from all my boys. I am always happy when Brian surprises me with flowers. It just brightens the whole kitchen. Here is a photo for all to share:

Hope everyone has a nice weekend planned to share with their loved ones.

Another messed up day...

I did make it to Yoga this morning, but that was the extent of my workout for the day. I will hopefully get my 30 minute run in tomorrow. Both boys have Valentine's Day parties, so it should be a day full of pictures.

I will hopefully have some good pages to post soon.

Logan update

After a crazy evening last night, I did not find much time to update everyone on Logan's status. He woke up Monday night around 2:30 complaining of an earache. I had him sleep on a heating pad, but he was fidgeting for about two hours. Which means neither of us got back to sleep until 4:30. When he woke up, he said he was feeling better, so off he went to school. I should have known that was a bad idea, but I figured he would have called if it was bad again. Nope. When I picked him up from school, he looked horrible. His ear was hurting again and his head was too, plus he felt very warm.

We came home for about five minutes and then decided to head to the doctor's office. Sure enough he had a fever and an ear infection. Still in tears because of the pain, we headed to Rite Aid to fill his prescription and get some Tylenol. Five seconds after getting a Tylenol into his mouth, he decides to throw up. I did manage to get a back to him in time, but wouldn't you know it? It had a hole in it and still soaked his pants. What luck? We had just a few minutes to get Brandon to swim lessons, (needless to say Logan was not swimming). We made it in time and it was just warm enough for Logan to fall asleep. Talk about not feeling well, especially if you can fall asleep in a pool area with all that noise.

When we got home we tried some crackers to get some Tylenol into him and once again no such luck. At this point, our only hope was that he could sleep it off. He did fall asleep on the couch while we played on the wii. The poor boy never even asked for a turn. Knowing he just needed a day of rest, we kept him home from school and he enjoyed the quiet morning all to himself. I think enjoyed it a bit too much especially since he didn't have to share the TV with anyone. By midday, he had a full appetite and has been mostly back to normal since then. He will hopefully be heading back to school tomorrow.

Tonight will be a very short message, I have little sick boy laying on the couch. He has an ear infection that kept him up last night. I will update tomorrow.

Another Monday

I was hoping to have another scrapbook page done this evening, but Brian was able to get out of work early this evening so we ran home between Aikido and Chess to pick him up. Why was this preventing me from scrapbooking? Because he took over the computer while we were at Chess. Oh well, I am currently studying a book on Chess moves myself. It is something that I will be teaching the boys eventually, but we are still working on the basic moves with them. They are doing better each week, but they still like to just go after any piece they want. Still need to understand the concept of trying to focus on the King. I am sure it will come at some point.

Not sure if I will get a chance to scrapbook in the next few days, but I will post some new pages as soon as I get them done. Hope everyone has had a good start to their week.

Busy Weekend

Brian spent most of the Superbowl game on the computer, so I guess I am able to squeeze a few minutes in now. Since I didn't really have much time to report yesterday, here is a quick run down: Boys made a race car display at Home Depot, next we headed to Aikido (might be having a belt test soon), then we rushed over to their soccer game. By the time all of those things are done, it is an hour past lunchtime. We made it before the boys got too cranky from being hungry. We had about two hours before we had to leave again. We were planning on getting started on Valentine's Day Cards, but (sorry don't mean to gloat) we had almost 60 degree weather. We could not sit inside when the sun was actually shining. The boys decided to scoot up and down the hill and then they managed to get us to walk them over to their friends house around the corner and they played in the street until we had to leave. We then had a Mom's Club Potluck to attend. Which all kids were thoroughly entertained by a bunch of balloons in a gymnasium. Talk about cheap entertainment. It was great.

Here are photos of the Home Depot Craft:


Today we had Sunday School this morning and then nothing but relaxation. The boys had their pj bottoms on before we even got through lunch. We worked on some cards a bit more and then I was off to run my 5 miles. The boys decided they wanted to stall my run, so they were running themselves. Well, almost running... at least until Brandon became upclose and personal with the moving belt.

After consoling Brandon and getting some ice for his cheek, I was ready for my run. It was exhausting, but I finished while watching the first half of the Super Bowl. Good thing I was in my room already, the boys refused to let me watch the game out in the Family Room. I was finally allowed to watch it at Halftime.

I have lost my computer to Brian, so i can't send a big message. I will fill u all in on our various activities from Saturday tomorrow.

A New Scrapbook Page

I could not just do a page of Brandon and leave Logan out. So today, I worked on a page of Logan. I am really excited about this one. It was from Logan's Boy Scout Troop, when they performed a Flag Ceremony for Veteran's Day. I hope you like it. Brian is due home any moment, so I am not sure I will be able to do any pages this weekend. He usually takes over the computer, not to mention our weekends are a bit crazy.

Successful Day?

I am going to say No. I started my morning with lots of things I wanted to get done. I believe I accomplished...oh maybe one of them. I wanted to go swimming, didn't make it. I wanted to get to the grocery store, nope didn't get there during day, although I managed to pick up a few items after the boys' swim lessons. Problem with that? Yeah, it was dinnertime and we left with donuts, Cheetos and ice cream cones. Probably not the best time to have shopped. I wanted to get the kitchen cleaned, not even close on that one. Had every intention of taking pictures of the boys at swim lessons, totally forget the camera at home. Wanted to at least start the laundry, I am lucky I got the boys' clothes downstairs in the hall. I am guessing that tomorrow will be an extremely long day getting the house ready for Brian's arrival. The one thing I did accomplish today was my 30 minute run. Although, remember those donuts? Yep, ate one shortly afterwards. Oops! Guess I will try again tomorrow. I have not had a Green Smoothie since Saturday. I really am looking forward to Brian's return, at least he will insist on the Smoothies and I won't feel that I am wasting food if I make one for myself. Hopefully next week, I will get some pictures of the boys in the pool.

Finally finished a page...

I probably should have been doing something more productive today, but I was convinced that I could actually complete a scrapbook page. I am not sure this will actually remain unchanged, but I think it looks cute so far. I hope you like it too.

Today was pretty uneventful other than that. For my workout update, be sure to check out my sister's website at http://www.halforbust.blogspot.com/, there is no point in repeating myself twice.

Here is the new page:

Here's a start

This is the first page I am starting to work on. I am not sure how it is going to turn out, but I wanted to show the beginning stage. I came across a folder that had pictures of both of the boys on their birthdays a few years ago. This is Brandon's 2ND birthday and I can believe how little he looks. I won't even go into the look of innocence, we all know how mischievous this little boy has become over the last three years. I am hoping to have another update on this page tomorrow. With Brian being gone, the boys take over my bed and I spend most of the evening watching TV and trying to figure out this digital programming. I look forward to making some really cute pages to share with all of you.

scrapbooking

Who likes to scrapbook? I am trying to get myself back into the swing of things. I used to have plenty of time and lots of energy to scrapbook, but that was before I had children. Of course that meant I was limited to scraping the cats. Well, now that the boys are in school, sports and lots of other activities that have given me tons of things to scrap... The problem is now I totally don't have near enough time and hardly can keep my thoughts straight on paper.

Well, I am hoping all this is about to change, I have spent the last week or so trying to learn more about digital scrap booking. I am not sure if I will like it, but I think the convenience of it all just being on my laptop might just be the thing that gets me caught up with my albums. I will still continue to scrap actual pages, since the boys' school albums have been started that way. So if I can work on other things on the computer, things might actually get completed in a timely manner.

I will hopefully be able to start posting some pages here, so be sure to stay tuned.

Long Day...

I am about wiped out today. It might have something to do with the lack of sleep I had last night. Managed to get to bed at a reasonable time. Brian was packed and ready to go by 10:00 and I was able to turn my light off by 10:30. I thought I fell asleep right away, but so I was surprised when I work up and saw the clock only say 11:15, then 11:43, then 12:12. At this point, I convinced myself to not even try to go back to sleep. I decided it was too much work to get out of bed, so I just decided to play my DS, did not want to actually wake Brian up by turning on my light to read again. This lasted until about 1:46. At which time, I forced myself to turn off the game and get back to sleep. Well, it worked I slept great until 4:00 AM, when Brian's alarm went off, so much for a solid 8 hours. I did manage to get back to sleep after Brian left, but only for about two or three more hours. Logan decided we didn't need to sleep in, even though he was excited last night about being able to sleep in this morning.

Despite my lack of sleep, I completed my run for today. A full 4 miles. Wow, I am so glad I have 15 more weeks before I am expected to run 13 miles, because four miles felt so much further than the normal 3.1 miles I run during the 5K season. Here's to the next few months of training.

It is official...

I have officially signed up for the Half Marathon. It is the North Olympic Discovery Half Marathon. It is scheduled for June 6th. I have just over 4 months to prepare for this. Thankfully I am not alone. I have just received confirmation that my sister has also signed up. That means there is no backing out now. Fortunately, she will have a training partner, her friend Renee, will be making this journey with her. I am so excited for the both of you.

Today was my day off from working out. Yes, I am entitled to a day off here and there. Especially once I am in my full triathlon training, I am thinking my body will be screaming at me to rest. Tomorrow is a 4 mile run, the debate is whether I do it inside or venture outside in the possible rainy weather. Only time will tell... Even though I took today off from running, I did get my Green Smoothie. Our friends Jessica and Jason came over for dinner. I made ribs this evening, and I do have to admit they were pretty delicious, thanks especially to the wonderful sauce Montgomery Inn BBQ (that of course came from Jessica via Cincinnati.)

There is also a new blog that I will join Angela and Renee and possibly others in sharing our progress to get healthier. Be sure to check it out... www.halforbust.blogspot.com

Didn't want to forget

This will be super quick. Heading to bed, but I wanted to keep with my commitment. We stayed up to watch the Hangover. Not too bad, funny in parts. Also managed to get my run in this evening, mostly because I was trying to get away from the boys while they were arguing.

More tomorrow...

First Day in the Pool

It was a good start. I was able to do about 1000 yards. Not straight swimming, but it was up and down the lane. I needed to use a kick board for most of the workout to prevent myself from dipping too far into the water while trying to breath. It was a successful swim for the first time in a long time. I did manage to do the breast strike for a full 100 yards, that felt like a good accomplishment. Hoping that my arm is not going to be super soar later this evening or tomorrow morning. Ice pack, Here I come!!!

I am still hoping to get my run in after dinner, but we will have to wait and see about that one. Hey, at least I got one workout in today, it is not like I did nothing. It is also not too late for a Green Smoothie, last night we made one at 8:00, mostly because Brandon chose not to eat his dinner and that was the only way he was allowed to play the Wii with the rest of us. Hmmm... I think that might be another topic.

Multi-tasking

I consider myself to be a very good multi-tasker. Although sometimes I wonder how many tasks should I really be doing at one time. I am currently writing this blog, listening to Logan read his book for homework, listening (tuning out) the President's State of the Union Address and at the same time trying to get Brandon to eat his dinner or finish his homework, both of which we have been working on for over an hour.



I suppose at the end of the day, they will all get done, but it does tend to take a little longer to do all of them at once than it does to do just one at a time. But it seems like if I am not doing more than one thing at a time, I will never get to any of them.

Well, I think I have reached my limit, I am really not sure what Logan is reading, so I shall attend to him. Good night

Ready for some good news?

I went to see the Orthopedic Surgeon this morning for possibly the last time. I have been given permission to return to the pool. That of course is the good news, unfortunately now I don't have any excuse for not swimming. My first time will hopefully be on Thursday. I will keep you posted on that torture session. I am pretty sure it is not going to be as fun and enjoyable as it once was.

Today's workout was on the treadmill. Working on increasing my speed, although I am not sure my legs want to go faster than a 10 minute-mile. But I will continue to work on it.

Didn't make a new green smoothie yet, but I did get to try the neon pink one yesterday. I will try to send the picture that I took from my phone. I may still have one today, still waiting for Brian to be home. Yes it really is after 7:00 PM. I did get the opportunity to have lunch with him, but I am sure the boys would like to see him for a bit before they have to go to bed. These next few months are going to be very stressful with Brian working so late, trying to get the house ready for the market, and trying to determine where we will be moving (and of course, Brian finding a job). Maybe I need a drink instead of a Green Smoothie. Does putting alcohol in the smoothie discount the good it does?

I think you all maybe in big trouble. I just learned how to post from my phone.

Do you hate Mondays?

I probably hated them growing up, but not since I became a mother of school-aged children. I actually really like them. Mondays are one of our busy days of the week, but it usually means that the boys are back in school. I will say that I do miss them while they are at school, but not as much as I enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet. I took the boys to the bus stop this morning and came home and got a full hour workout. It was great. Until I am able to get back in the pool and bike ride consistently, I have been supplementing my workouts with the Wii Fit. Let me tell you doing the Hula Hoop for 10 minutes is a huge Calorie burner, not to mention a VERY LONG time. I don't recommend that. If someone wants to beat my score on that one, they can have it, I will not be challenging that one. But for the record, I did do more than 3000 'hulas'.

After school, the boys have Aikido and Chess. So we do have a lot going on, but there is another good thing about Monday... I DON'T have to cook!!! We get to eat on the run. Chess is held at the mall in the food court and we usually have about 30 minutes between Aikido and Chess, so what better way to fill the void? Feed the boys greasy food from the mall. No McDonalds at this mall, so they either have Pizza or Subway. Believe it or not Logan will actually eat have my sandwich, which is great and healthier, but it means I don't have the other half for lunch the following day. The sacrifices we make as mothers.

Jessica will be bringing a Green Smoothie to share this evening, although I am told this one is supposed to be Neon Pink. I will take my camera so you can all share in that one. Have a good Monday.

I didn't want to forget...Updated

This will be short, as I am heading to bed, but I promised myself I would get something written here. We tried another smoothie today, this time Brandon wanted more and more and more. He was only using a little cup, but he kept asking for more. I think we may have found a winner.

Here are the pictures of the boys enjoying their Green Smoothie:

I was also able to get my run in today. I am still sore from my meeting with the Trainer this past week, but it felt good to get some miles under my belt. Considered the first week of my training for the Half Marathon. I think I may have decided on a race, so I guess that means it will only get closer.

Our Busy Saturdays

We have survived another busy Saturday morning. The boys are usually exhausted by the end of the day, but enjoy all of their activities until then. We started off the morning with our craft at Lowe's, today they made tic tac toe games. Actually have a photo or two of our little builders.

Both love to do the crafts every week. We alternate between Home Depot and Lowe's, certainly have to make sure that we have both stores near us wherever we move.

After Craft, we have Aikido and then soccer. The boys are doing much better as the season progresses with soccer, they are actually starting to go after the ball. For a while there, Brandon would run in the opposite direction because he was afraid of getting hit in the stomach. As if his brother doesn't hit him enough, and he keeps running towards Logan. Go figure...

They were both rewarded with a treat to McDonald's, Brian once again reminded me how much he hated that place. This is usually why we go there when he is out of town. Once we got home, both of the boys helped make our very first Green Smoothie. Yes, it really is green. I told the boys not to think about the color or what was going into it, just close your eyes and drink it. It worked for Logan, not so much for Brandon. He is not as trusting, not sure why? Here is a lovely picture of our first Green Smoothie. It actually had a similar enough taste to Peanut Butter, so I was able to enjoy it, without thinking too much about the ingredients also.

What a bad way to start...

I could not even keep to my goal for two days in a row. I had every intention, thought about what I was going to write as soon as I got home. However, a little body was kind of preventing that from happening. I spent all morning in Brandon's classroom, just so he could decide to ride the bus home (usually not a problem, but I watched him get on the bus AT SCHOOL!!!) He likes it, so that is fine.

Rushed home, to get lunch together and head out to physical therapy. After PT, Brandon joined me in working out with some step aerobics, until he got bored and used some of the steps as bridges for his trains. Hey at least I got me workout in... Although my legs are still in pain. Now it has moved to my calves. Today should be loads of fun running.

After school, we picked Logan up and then rushed (yes again it was rushing) to get ready for Boy Scouts. They had a meeting at the Library and each got to pick out a few books. Rushed out to get dinner and head to the School for Family Bingo night. The boys had so much fun. They even got to call out some of the numbers. Might have to play more often, it is a great way to work on number recognition for Brandon.

This now brings us to our crazy Saturday mornings... Craft at Lowe's, followed by Aikido and then RUSHING off to Soccer. Lunch is usually somewhere around 1:30 on these days. Good thing Daddy is making Eggs and Potatoes to fill them up. I will hopefully have some pictures today.

Really Behind the Eight Ball

I must apologize for the extremely long absence of updating our blog. I would like to say that life has been so busy that I have not had a moment to sit down and write about any of it, but that would probably be fabricating the truth just a little bit. Actually, I have no real reason for the absence. I just walk away from the computer after checking email and totally forget to return and update all of our doings. My hope is to change that. Because really how difficult is it to actually write a few paragraphs daily? Please don't answer that... I am sure it is very easy and I will look like a fool.

I am also hoping to start adding my training to this blog, that way I am somewhat held accountable for my workouts by more than just myself. Not that I expect anyone to call me up and yell at me for not working out. Actually that might not be a bad idea. I feel so much better after my workouts (except right now with my legs aching right up to my butt). But I know I was better off after completing my workout yesterday. Here are my goals for this year: complete a Half Marathon (possibly in June) and complete an Olympic Distance Triathlon (hopefully in July or August). I set out to do both of these events last year, unfortunately with my shoulder surgery, I did not complete either of them.

For those who don't remember, I had a SLAP (Superior Labral tear from Anterior to Posterior)Tear in my Labrum. I had surgery on October 7, 2009. I was in a sling for six weeks (absolutely no movement), for the following six weeks I was allowed movement but only lifting things UNDER 1 pound. I don't know about you, but one pound is very difficult to comply with, especially when there are two little boys in the mix. I am almost done with my third set of six weeks and I am slowly increasing my weight. I do not have 100% of my movement, but I am almost there. As soon as I am allowed I will be heading back to the pool. I have missed being in the water the most during this whole process. Once my shoulder is healed enough for me to continue swimming, my training for triathlon season will be in full swing. My goal is to be in the water by mid February. Wish me luck...

On top of my training, I am going to be starting a new way of getting fruits and vegetables into my family. For those who know me, these food items do NOT rate high on my list of edible things. Actually I am not even sure they made a list in my diet at all. My dear friend Jessica has started a blog: The Year of Green Smoothies. She loves these things and makes them daily if not multiple times a day. Supposedly, one drink is enough fruits and vegetables for the entire day. Since I currently don't eat any of them, I figured even if I only make one smoothie a week, I am improving my health, right? I originally would only try a smoothie when I was at her house, but one day she brought a smoothie to me and Brian was there. As soon as he got a taste of it, he was hooked. Not sure if he loved the taste of it, but he loved the IDEA of it. Any time we can drink one smoothie a day and get that much natural vitamins in our body is a good thing. If you are interested in more information about these follow Jessica's blog. I am not sure how much I will be posting about it. But she will be excited just to hear I am thinking about drinking them.

I don't want to burn out on my first day back to the blog, so I will end for now. I will try to post some pictures soon of our trip to Disney this past December.