A Few Weeks.....

We have been so busy!  It seems like everyone I talk to is busy.  Our kids and jobs definitely keep us very busy.  This time of year always seems to get busier with four exciting holidays right in a row (Boo Boo!!  Gobble Gobble!! Ho Ho!! Happy New Year!!)  It's also the start of basketball season, and with three boys in three different leagues, we are definitely going to get busier.

Last weekend we ended our middle son's travel soccer season (he's the only one that plays a dedicated fall sport).  We were at a tournament for the weekend, and sadly the games were not in our favor.  It was ok, but we were definitely bummed after not scoring a single goal two games in a row.  The coach quickly got the team together to say a fast goodbye (he had another son playing on a different field).  As he was walking away he said, "see you in a couple weeks".  And us moms who are trying to gather our kids, bags, chairs, water bottles, and soccer balls look at each other thinking "a couple weeks?!? What?!?"  The season is over....spring soccer is months away!   As the coach is walking away a mom yells, "what's in a couple weeks???"  He stopped, thought, and replied, "indoor conditioning starts right after January 1st....it will seem like a couple of weeks to you all!"  This totally got me thinking that "YES! it will feel like a couple of weeks!!"

In a couple of weeks, Thanksgiving will be over, Christmas shopping will need to be finished, then it will be 2017!  

On that note, I wanted to include a couple of referral links.  If you don't have Swagbucks, Ebates, or Ibotta, I highly recommend you getting these apps.  They save me money (not tons of money, but money none the less!)  I am saving my Swagbucks for an Amazon gift card to buy Christmas gifts.  I just got a $30 check from Ebates in the mail!   And I have over $200 in my Ibotta Christmas fund!!  These are definitely wins for me and you too.

SWAGBUCKS

EBATES

IBOTTA

Happy Shopping to you!!  And see you in a couple of weeks, or maybe in January!!

Summer is Over!

Am I the only one that feels like June and July lasted 5 minutes each?!?  It's crazy how fast the 2 months went.  The boys felt the same way!  We did not take an organized family vacation this summer.  We have plans to travel for fall break in October.  They did get to go to Kentucky twice for a long weekend, but other than that we stayed close to home.  I picked 2 pictures for each boy to describe their summer.

 Row 1.  We went to the public pool quit a bit this summer.  My 11 year old twins begged me to let them ride their bikes by themselves to the pool, but I didn't think they were ready for it. They did however convince my mom that I let them do this, and they got a free day of swimming while I was at work.  We watched lots of NBA playoffs in June.  I have a huge Steph Curry/Golden State Warriors fan, and he was very upset when the Cavaliers won the playoffs.  He found his brother's shirt, and we staged this picture to text him.  (No actual Cavalier/Lebron James shirt was harmed in the making of this picture)

Row 2. My middle son had a summer of soccer.  We played a few games then a weekend tournament in June.  It was the hottest weekend we had (so far), and we sat in the hot, humid weather.  His team ended up winning the championship game (by default...the team they were supposed to play didn't show up.  They did go undefeated, my son scored a goal (I may have knocked over my chair cheering for him), and it was a great end to their season.  After bringing home a recipe book from the library, I asked him to pick out a recipe to make. He picked homemade strawberry shortcakes, something I had never made before.  This was the shortcake dough which ended up tasting just ok.  Not a favorite dessert by any means.

Row 3.  My oldest son cleaned out his closet and sadly he threw out his rock and fossil collection.  It made me a little sad to see these in the trash pile.  He used to be into rocks, fossils, and sea creatures big time.  Lots of time collecting and researching and it's all over.  One weekend the twins were gone, I took him and a friend to an indoor rock climbing place (Climb Time Indy), and they had lots of fun.  This was how he felt after an hour at the place.  

And now that their summer is "officially" over, they are almost done with 2 weeks of school.  Only 7 more weeks until fall break (not that we're counting or anything)!!  I had to go to work their first day, so I was sent these pictures.  Not too bad!  We are going to kick some sixth grade and sophomore butt!!

May Photo Dump

I know it's already June, and I'm totally behind the times.  But it's my blog, and I'll do what I want to.  The first 2 pictures are my Mother's Day surprises from my kids.  Megan, Garret, and Harley had flowers delivered to me at work the Friday before; It was so nice to be surprised by beautiful flowers from my Colorado peeps.  The second picture is my new Yeti mug {which I LOVE!!}.  The camo thermos was what Steve wrapped up to give me first...he printed off the YETI words and taped it to the thermos.  Then told me he just saved us 40 bucks.....He's so funny.  Then he gave me the real YETI cup which I have taken to and from work every day since then.  It's awesome!

We celebrate Health Care Team Week at my work every year, and this year's theme was FIESTA!!  We had so much fun every day with different activities.  The OR was in charge of the salsa/guacamole contest that week.  You can tell by the picture what great participation we had.  And yours truly came in second with a tasty pineapple salsa I made.  Sadly there was no second place prize.

One evening I stopped at my sister's house to use her Cricut machine to make a big "D" to put on my YETI cup.  Since they are becoming more popular, I don't want anyone to accidentally drink out of my cup!  That would be bad!

And what's May without finishing up the school year with a wonderful fifth grade history project.  Both of my 5th graders needed to get a good grade on this project, so I put dad in charge of making Conestoga Wagons (with the boys help, or course!).  We made two of the exact same thing, then each boy had to have a presentation typed out to present to the class.  Both of their presentations were similar, with just a few personal tweaks.  It's funny that there was a 10% difference in their project grades!  Although their presentations might have been what caused that.  Who knows!?!   But the final Conestoga Wagons turned out great!  I told my husband he could sell the pattern to 4th grade parents for next year.

 May is race month in Indiana, and I've never been to the Indianapolis 500.  I've lived here 36 out of my 41 years and have yet to see the actual race.  This year we did go to the parade for the first (and last) time.  It was ok, just really really hot sitting on metal bleachers in the sun.  I did get this close to Mrs. Brady (aka Florence Henderson).  There were several other celebrities, but none as exciting as her!!

And lastly we survived 5th grade.  Barely.  The boys love to dab as you can see in this picture.  They are so thankful it's summer.  They've already been staying up way too late (thanks to the NBA playoffs) and trying to get away with anything they (or the neighbors) can think of.  August 1st will be here before we know it.  Because as we all know, the days go slow, but the years go fast!!

Indy Mini Marathon Update

So the Indy Mini is over, and I am so glad!  Let's just say every year I go to bed the night before the race and say a quiet prayer.  It involves rain and lightning and the race being cancelled.  And again this year I woke up to clear skies, a slight breeze, and the forecast showing sun until the race would be over.  So once again I drug myself out of bed and met the girls I ride with every year and found myself in Corral X waiting and waiting with the huge mass of people.  The view is always a good one, and I love what they did to the side of the JW Marriott.  May is definitely all about Indy Car Racing in Indiana!!

So this year I actually started training in January (unlike any other year), and I was looking forward to seeing how it would pay off in the end.  I was able to do 6 solid miles at a 12 min/mile pace on the treadmill.  The one thing I did not do was run outside at all.  This had me a little nervous because I wasn't sure I would be able to pace myself at this speed.  I quickly found a lady who was going the pace I felt like was 12 minute miles and decided just to follow her.  It worked out great....until she started walking at mile 3!  So I decided to see how far I could go without stopping to walk.  And guess what?  The training paid off big time!  I was able to complete the whole 13.1 miles without stopping to walk (unless I was forced to by the people in front of me, or if I got stuck in a water pit stop).  Here you can see I kept my 12 minute mile pace roughly close.  When I saw my pace or the whole race, I was thrilled.  And to finish under 3 hours was the icing on the cake (more on that later)!

The medal they handed out this year was my favorite so far.  With the 40th running of this particular race, I think the design is perfect.  As a lady in her 40s, I appreciate it a little more!

My employer gave out free Fitbit zips this year, so I was able to see how many steps I actually took that day.  I'm pretty sure I won't see numbers like that again until next May.  Yes, I've already signed up for next year!  I couldn't resist the $10 discount they offer right after the race.  Now I need to work on my goal for next year!

This is my 4th Indy Mini, but only the 3rd under my own name (a friend gave me her entry the first year, so I was Jenny that time).  You can find your archived times on the Indy Mini Marathon website. And I absolutely love seeing the progress I've made!  Momma has gotten faster in her old age!!

I couldn't do a post without sharing this beauty.  Oh my word!!  Marathon Foto, I will not be ordering this or any pictures from you.  (This was the best one!)  I cannot decide if I am in pain, need to use the bathroom, or just plain crazy here.  I've offered 8x10s to my family, but so far no one has taken me up on the offer.

I talked about cake earlier, and this was part of what I ate Saturday evening after the race.  I was able to join my mom, sister, and niece for a Mother's Day celebration that evening.  I was glad to be able to walk and sit down without too much pain.  This banana cake with peanut butter icing from The Cake Bake Shoppe was delicious.  I ate it all without feeling one bit guilty!

Final thoughts about this year's mini marathon.

1.  I'm so glad I trained this year!  My longest training run was 6 miles which felt like forever on the treadmill.  For next year, I think a longer training run will be in order.

2.  I bought a FlipBelt at the packet pick-up/vendor expo and was very glad I did.  In the past I have dropped my phone at least twice during the race.  I did not have to worry about it at all the entire time.  And I didn't have to switch hands or worry about getting drinks at the pit stops with a phone in one hand.

3. I used wireless headphones which I highly recommend.  One less thing to worry about!

4. I want to continue to do a run at least once a week.  I'm thinking 3.1 miles sounds good now, and it will feel like a breeze compared to 13.1!

5. May 6, 2017 will be here before I know it!  Time flies.

On Running....

For the last 3 years, I have walked the Indy Mini Marathon.  I've not trained at all, go walk 13.1 miles, then moan, groan, and hobble around for several days afterwards.  Then about day 3 after the walking, I say out loud, "I'm never doing that again".  Then on day 7 or 8 after the marathon, they always send an email that includes $10 off next year's race if you sign up now.  And guess what I do?!?  Of course I sign up.  Because by this time I'm {mostly} walking like a normal human being.

This year in January I decided 2016 was going to be different.  I was actually going to train for this year's mini marathon.  I had grand ideas of starting slowly (around 3-3.5 miles), then gradually adding a mile or so each week.  Which was all good until I got to mile 6.  It seems I can't get past mile 6 (which isn't even half of the race).  I have been doing all my training on the treadmills at the gym because of our Midwest winter that will not go away.  And going one more second past mile 6 has me wanting to cry!  I've kind of looked at training plans and I should be up to about 10 miles if I want to really do the whole mini without walking.  So we shall see..... I have 3 more Saturdays {when I do my longer runs} until the actual race.  Maybe I can get past 6 miles.  Maybe not.  Either way I hope and pray that I don't hobble around like an old lady the week afterwards.  And I'm pretty sure this will be my last Indy Mini {until I get the $10 off next year email....}!

*I am not a real runner by any means.  When I say run, it's more of a slow jog/trot.*
*My pace is about a 12 minute mile.  Like I said I am not a real runner.*

Interview With a Fifteen Year Old!

The last time I interviewed this kid on my blog he was turning eight years old!  I blinked and now he is fifteen.  How does this happen?  Where does the time go? How do some days drag on and on, but the year flies by?  In fifteen years my oldest son will be thirty!  This will be an exciting year in his life with driver's ed, getting a learner's permit, and finishing the first year of high school.  I am looking forward to the day he can drive himself to practice.

So without further ado, here is the {long awaited} Interview With a Fifteen Year Old!!!

What is your favorite subject in school?  Radio and TV

What is your favorite restaurant? Fogo De Chao (un-ending meat)

Who is your boy best friend? Andrew Chase Joshua (that's 3 boys)

Who is your girl best friend? Alex R and Haley C

What is your favorite TV show? Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

What is your favorite school lunch? Pizza Calzone

What size shoe do you wear? 12

What is your favorite drink? Arizona drinks or FIJI water

What is your favorite thing to do outside? hoop

What is your favorite animal? (still) a stingray 

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Hooper or Sports broadcaster

Who is your favorite singer? Kanye West, Childish Gambino, and Lil Wayne

Being mom to this kid is fun, entertaining, exciting, and unpredictable.  Noah is a loyal brother and friend, a great student, and an entrepreneur.   He is a good communicator, and I love watching him play basketball.  If you can't tell, I am very proud of him and cannot wait to see where the next few years take him!

Updates (aka It's Been a While Since I've Blogged)

It's winter here in Indiana.  We have been blessed with a very mild winter until the cold and snow hit us on Saturday night.  Since then it's been freezing cold, snowy, and icy.  I had to drag out boots, gloves, hats, and real winter coats.  We have seriously been wearing jackets and vests before this weather hit!  We've already lost gloves and discovered boots from last year don't fit.  Who's ready for spring?!?  This girl!

I realize it's been a long time since I've written anything, so I thought I'd explain what has been happening around here...

1.  Basketball.  I have a freshman playing school ball and a fifth grader playing travel ball.  We go to lots of games and practices.  I am so looking forward to when my oldest son can drive!!  I have kept track of how many books I've read for the past few years.  This year I am going to keep track of how many basketball games I watch (and think of all the time I could be reading.....sigh!).

2.  Work.  I bit the bullet in November and officially picked up full time hours (36 hours/week) at my real job.  Lots of factors went into this decision, and so far I am surviving.  I've been blessed to work part time since my oldest son was born (except for a brief time when we moved back to Indiana), so I really have nothing to complain about.  Kids just keep getting more expensive each year.  I remember thinking I could not wait to get the twins out of diapers because we would save so much money!!  Oh how I wish the days of diapers were still here.  Not really, however, sports fees, school lunches, big kid shoes, and feeding growing boys really adds up!

3.  Whole30.  I started another real round of Whole30 this month.  I tell myself I eat this way about 90% of the time, but the month of December sure did a number on me.  It started with a cookie day we had at work (everyone brought in their favorite Christmas cookie to share), then went downhill from there.  I may or may not have eaten an entire container of pumpkin pie ice cream.  Then I decided I had to consume some Reese's Trees, even if they were not shaped like trees (who cares?!?).  Then for about 2 weeks I ate whatever the heck I wanted.  Now that I'm back to Whole30, there is a LOT more food prep, which takes a lot of time.  But is definitely worth it!

So that's what has been happening around here, and what I'll be doing the rest of this month!  So who knows when I'll write again.