A Little of This and a Little of That. September 29, 2008

I’m starting a series of posts on my Nuggets blog about current events.  It’s actually kind of a “thinking out loud” series in an attempt to get a firm grasp on major issues going on in our world today.  First picking a subject and then stating what I grasp (or think I grasp) thus far. Then taking time to research more about it posting my findings. There’s three parts so far.

If you’re a news buff or even if you’re not please share your knowledge of current events with me. I welcome comments!

In other WhisFam news life is very normal. No big happenings. I will post a running update in the next couple of days. Let’s just say it’s discouraging but I have HOPE.

The kids are doing well. My son had a huge Dinosaur party in class on Friday. It’s was nearly an all day party centered around Dinosaurs. They had lunch in class with HUGE Brontosaurus burgers, Dino shaped chicken nuggets, Dino Jell-O eggs, a Dino cake, and much more. They painted Dinosaur money banks, and hunted for Dino eggs, and just had a lot of fun. I went for about 2 1/2 hours. It was a fun time.

That same day my daughter’s class was celebrating Johnny Appleseed day. I didn’t end up going to her class so I don’t know much about it. I do know they had apple pie and my daughter didn’t have any. Talk about party foul.

Looking ahead: Tomorrow I’m really excited because I get to help out on Campus at our local University and hand out fliers to a Campus Crusade sponsored event. I used to do stuff like this back when I was in college so I’m so excited to do it again. Our church we attend here has many part time staff for Crusade so I’m excited they welcome my help. Yay!

This Thursday there’s no school so we’re taking advantage of it by going and visiting with 2 great grandma’s and one grandma. We’ll have lunch together and spend some valuable time together. I’m much looking forward to it. Now pray I don’t forget my camera.

Tomorrow’s ballet and scouts. Such is life.

That’s what the WhisFam is up to.

Until next time,
K-Dawg

My Sweet Darling Daughter September 28, 2008

So today I had the entire day to myself. Jake took the kids with him to his brother’s house while he helped his brother with some work.

When they got back we were sitting at the kitchen table while the kids and Jake ate some dinner.  So I asked my daughter if her brother and cousin were nice to her since she was the third wheel.  

She said no.

So then I asked her if her Uncle Josh was nice to her.   

She says yah.  And then she said, with a disgruntled look on her face,  “Yah …well he did say I was much sweeter when I don’t whine.”  Uncle Josh doesn’t like whining (does anybody?) and he lets her know.

But then with all seriousness she added, “But I didn’t care I just busted out whining anyways!”

Ahhhh, yes.  That’s my girl.

What’s us up to? September 26, 2008

Apparently not grammar.

Anyway, my whole family was sick this past week.  EXCEPT ME!  Can you tell I’m excited about it?  Praise God!  I’m glad to not get sick, anyday!

What a fun week I’ve had with my husband though.  For two of the days this week we’ve spent time together in ways we normally don’t, during the middle of the day and let me just add, just the two of us.  

Yesterday (or was it Tuesday?) I’d have to say was more fun for me than him.  He was sick and stayed home from work. But the kids were in school and so we were alone together all day in the house, just the two of us and it was nice.  And quiet. He slept till one in the afternoon (remember now he was sick) and I was so glad for him to finally get some rest.  He’s a go getter that’s for sure and lately he’d been especially busy. This sickness was a little of a blessing in disguise in that way.  But there was something about just having him there with me that was nice.  Even if he was hidden away in the back bedroom buried beneath blankets and snoring away all day.

Then today it was nice for the both of us.  He had a doctor’s appointment which allowed him to leave work at noon.  So. We had lunch together in a coffee shop we’d never been, just the two of us.  Went to a bookstore and browsed, just the two of us.  And then had uninterrupted conversation in the truck while waiting for his appointment, just the two of us.   WAAAHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAHAHA!!!!

Whoa sorry that was me freaking out.  Not so much an excited freaking out but just a happy freaking out. Like scrunch my-face-up-in-a-weird-grin happy, freak out. Maybe I should take a picture for you to bring home the point…hold on.

…

Um…I did and it wasn’t pretty so you’ll just have to imagine it.  Now hold on now while I delete them from the camera so Jake don’t (that pesky grammar again) catch a glimpse.  

Anyway, the Beavs are playing and last I checked they are KICKING SOME SERIOUS USC BUTT!  So now I’m going to go and make sure they still are.

The two sides of children September 24, 2008

Friday night I was sitting down at my computer while my children were happily playing together.  Sounds of their imaginations and laughter filled my ears and I thought, “This is nice.”

I continue on uninterrupted, peacefully reading blogs, and messing around on Facebook and Myspace.  I think I even got a blog post in of my own.

My son enters the room and says, “Here, mom,” with a satisfied grin on his face, handing me a piece of paper.

My heart melts.  I give him a big squeeze and say thank you.  Can it get any better than this?  I think to myself.  Notes like these are what being a mom is all about.

He trots off and I continue on.  But it’s different now.  I’m feeling very lovey and decide I’m going to go see what the kids are up to and maybe even join in.  They’re so precious and all.  So I get up from my chair and head toward the hallway.  Nearly there I begin, “Whatcha up…”

 

 

*dramatic pause*

 

 

 …”to?”

 

My face contorts.

 

“What’s wrong, mom?”  My son asks innocently.

“Do you want to play in our picnic?”  My daughter asks.  She’s not pictured.  She’s sitting in her now empty bedroom.  Must be more room to sit than in the picnic in the hallway.

“Oh that’s OK,” I muster.  The only thing I want to do now is exit the scene and pretend it doesn’t exist.  

 

What was I saying earlier?  Oh yah.

It’s moments like these…

that makes moments like these all worth it.

What do these things have in common? (Vlog Link at End) September 21, 2008

This fan.
This step stool.
This area of our house.
And this little blue pop up toy.

 

Give up?
They are all things that this little guy is afraid of.  The little blue pop up toy was just added to the list last night.  As my son taunted him with it my 60 pound bundle of joy jumped up on my lap in efforts to get away.  

In this pic he’s keeping an eye on the fan because he wants to walk past but is afraid it will jump out and get him. No joke.

Sadly this dog lives in fear. He will at any given moment spin out on our laminate flooring in a desperate attempt to flee impending danger. But since he can’t get traction he just makes an awful lot of noise as his nails scrape the floor uselessly. It’s funny and sad and irritating all at once.  Oh Cesar we need you.  

“Ah mama don’t make fun of me. I can’t help it.”

Click here for vid of Blacky wanting to come to me but I’m standing next to “The Fan”.

Pain Schmain (and my husband’s eating habits revealed) September 19, 2008

So today my legs HURT!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They hurt all day and it did not help that I was on my feet all day helping out at my kids’ school. When I got home I popped some ibuprofen. I’m feeling much better now.

In other pain news, I had a really bad stomach ache at the school today. It felt like someone literally inflated my inside with air. Hurt so bad. The culprit? Major gut bomb breakfast burrito I had for lunch. Somebody help me.

Quick reply to a question Brooke asked after reading a post about the miracle that happened at our house and my husbands’ eating habits.

She asked, “Does [Jake] prepare all of his own food?”

Short Answer: Pretty much.

Long Answer: Breakfast usually consists of cereal, toast, or oatmeal. Something easy and quick. During the school year he makes him and the kids food while I get their clothes ready. During summer time I’m never up when he gets up. Then lunch he takes groceries to work and stores them in the fridge there or sometimes buys lunch on campus. Then dinner I usually cook every night but what he does is comes homes from work and snacks on whatever he finds and then doesn’t eat dinner and then snacks a little before he goes to bed. But in all fairness he will usually will eat a little of the dinner I make. Like the veggie part or the salad. =)

Have a great night, peeps.

Running Update September 18, 2008

Still running and loving it BUT since I’ve been consistently running 3 miles at a time I’ve experienced much lower leg pain. It’s different than what I’ve experienced thus far and much more intense. Let’s see, first it was my knee and shoulder early on. Next came the faithful shin splints. Those went away finally. I’ll insert here that with each of the early trouble spots I’d read up on it, usually on running websites, and then take appropriate action and it worked–usually rest, ice, and stretching were involved. Then when I achieved 3 miles and ran that consistently I started experiencing a middle calf pain. I read up on this new pain and found out it was a classic overtraining strain. So this is what I’ve done so far to fix it.

I stretch my calves multiple times daily (or at least that’s the goal). I stretch before a run and stretch after and ice right after as well. I also take an ibuprofen now to reduce inflammation. But the real kicker and bummer is that I had to cut back on mileage.

So this week I’ve only ran (boo hoo) 2 miles at a time. So far I’ve ran twice. But oh my what a difference in the leg pain. When I was running three miles I could barely walk after wards and it would hurt for about 2 days. I ran Monday and the pain after the run was significantly less than the week before when I barely got in two 3 mile runs. Today I ran 2 miles and it was fine. There was a little pain during but nothing I couldn’t run through. As I type there is a little pain mid calf when I walk but still much less. I find this promising. I still did the icing and stretching and will take an ibuprofen. Before I could not run with only 1 day of rest, I needed at least 2. So I’ll run 2 miles one more time this week and then next week I’ll up it to 2.5 and see how that goes.

As for my shoes. Right now I have Nike running shoes but know nothing about them. I just went to a store and bought them one day. I really didn’t know what to look for as far as shoes go. I bought them because they said ‘running’, there were white with an orange swoosh (which I still love them for this fact) and they were on sale! But since then I’ve been doing some research on shoes and hope to get maybe some really good shoes when the pocketbook allows. That will be interesting to see how much of a difference shoes make as well. But these Nike’s I’ve been wearing were a million times better than what I was wearing when I first started.

As for weight I’ve dropped 2(ish) pounds. I’m not celebrating as I’ve lost and found those 2 pounds many times. I’m still working on it though. I read for every pound I lose my speed will increase by .2. That’s motivation. I’ve found that my desire to run (and run pain free) has increased my motivation to lose weight even more. I’ll keep you posted.

When I can run 3mi 3x a week without major pain in my legs I’ll sign up for my first 5K. God willing.

P.S. I’ve found a couple of running blogs of mom’s like me that I find inspiring. I’ll be linking them on my side bar soon along with a few other blogs I like. Stay tuned.

Miracles Do Happen September 17, 2008

A miracle happened at my house tonight.  It involved enchiladas with a recipe found here.

It involved my husband and enchiladas.

Ok I’ll spill it. …..drum roll please… are you ready???….ok here it is: My husband had SECONDS. My husband had seconds for dinner tonight. My husband had seconds tonight with ENCHILADAS and they had CHEESE on them and in them.

For those who know my husband and his eating habits I’ll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor.

{pause}

Ok now for those who don’t let me clue you in.

My husband, besides being the man who rarely eats red meat, doesn’t eat burgers, steaks, or goodies like cake and doughnuts, who went to a BBQ on Sunday and all he had was green salad with no dressing, who has weighed less than me for our entire dating and married life (there was a time when I was in decent shape though and I was oh so close to being less than him (and I have to tell you that to save some face)), who’s life isn’t complete if he doesn’t get his workout in everyday, who wrestled at 126lbs in college…my husband, my sweet dear, small-but-very-in-shape-work-out-crazy-six-pack-ab darling of a husband:

1) Never eats seconds. Never. (Ok ok he will if it’s low fat ice cream…)
2) Is known affectionately by many as “Mr. Fitness”.
3) Hates mexican food.
4) Hardly ever eats dinner and if he does it’s not what we’re eating usually.

So. I tell you what. Pigs do fly. The fat lady has sung.

I can now die happy knowing something I cooked, my husband ate and ate heartily.

Thank you honey!!

And thank you Pioneer Woman!

P.S. I will confess the recipe does call for beef and I used chicken breast and shredded it. He’s not a beef man.

P.P.S. It was a fun dinner tonight because the whole family was involved and at dinner we go around and ask each other questions and I asked my daughter what her favorite thing of today was. And she replied, “I just love this dinner, and making it, and the whole thing.”

New Vlog Post September 16, 2008

click here!!

I was trying to catch some vid of a bird that pecks on our roof every morning. Somewhat annoying when I’m trying to sleep. I also didn’t want him poking holes in our roof. I don’t know can birds do that? Well anyways, I must’ve distracted him (her?) because he dropped his little acorn he was pounding on much to my surprise.

Yes this is my life now that my kids are in school.

Somebody came home “sick” today September 16, 2008

My sweet, precious, baby girl decided she was sick today while at school and so the teacher took her to the office and had them call me.  The only option I had was to pick her up.  I know my girl and I know she wasn’t sick enough to go home.  I did know she was sniffing during the night before but she was fine.  Moments before the bus picked her up this morning she was laughing and blowing bubbles with her brother.

I knew she must’ve been whiny girl at school and the teacher probably was like, adios girly.  The office gal said she was pretty emotional when she came in.  Yah, what’s new?

So my sweet, darling, precious little girl had to spend the rest of the day doing what we do when we’re so sick we can’t go to school.  Laying in bed.  She didn’t really like this idea.  She then had to go to bed early which she really, really didn’t like.    It was actually kind of fun playing into it. 

“Mom, can I have this candy?”

“No honey you’re sick.”

“Mommy can I get up now?

“No honey you’re too sick.”

“You have to go to bed right after dinner?”

**screams, wails, and cries**

“Well hopefully you’ll get lots of sleep and get all better so you won’t have to do this tomorrow.” 

So we’ll see how it worked. 

She keeps me on my toes, this one.