The Carpenter in the Family

Mark had the day off from work today. It's a very rare thing when he has free time so he decided to build himself a work bench in the garage. After trips back and forth to the hardware store, he got to work. He had the help of two very willing little assistants who were anxious to swing their own hammers. It was a fun project for him to work on and a nice way to work off some aggressions!

Week Four Marathon Update

The week didn't go as well as I had hoped that it would. I still wasn't feeling well and had a hard time of it. My body just wasn't up to it. I had a couple of workouts during the week and tried to prepare for the weekend run. This time it was only three miles. We were out of town on Saturday morning so my plan was to do it on Sunday morning instead. So the alarm went off, I got up to get ready, and then I looked outside. This is what I saw:

Now I know that most hard-core runners wouldn't have let a few inches of snow get in the way of a good workout, but I opted to stay inside where it was warm. This morning, however, I did get up and go with Olivia. The only problem was that it was 18 degrees outside. While we had good intentions to go for a nice run, we ended up just walking because we were just too cold! I do love the winter but it really is not very condusive to marathon training. I am looking forward to this coming weekend but it's going to be a killer - SEVEN MILES!

Poor Little One....

Last Wednesday night Samantha was complaining of an earache. I knew it was an ear infection because she is prone to them. She was up most of the night not feeling well. I took her into the doctor and she definitely had an ear infection for which she was given an antibiotic..... Amoxicillin. We were told to take it twice daily for ten days. Well, everything has been going just fine and she was on the mend until this morning. She woke up with a horrible rash that was all over her body and was very itchy. I thought maybe it was a problem with the medicine so I quickly called the Children's Clinic and we saw the doctor first thing. The good news is...... it's just an allergic reaction and nothing to worry about. The bad news is..... she is allergic to penicillin and it could take a week for the rash to clear up. Fortunately she is not contagious - she's just going to look a little different for a while. Thank heavens for Benadryl which not only helps with the itchiness but also makes her drowsy. This will definitely come in handy at bedtime tonight!

Bagel Making

Recently, I found a website that I have really enjoyed that talks a lot about frugal living, living debt free, and also includes lots of recipes which I am always on the lookout for. I came across a recipe for homemade bagels which I had never tried before. It sounded easy enough and something that I could probably handle. So.... Emma and I whipped up a batch and they turned out WONDERFULLY! They were gone in less than two days and they are really healthy. It's so nice to find a snack for my family that is healthy and delicious. Here are a few pictures of our bagel making afternoon.

Week 3 Marathon Update

Well...... my marathon training was actually derailed a bit this week. The girls and I have been struggling with colds. I thought that mine was fairly minor so I went ahead with my Monday and Tuesday workouts which went well. On Tuesday night Samantha woke up with severe ear pain and I knew she had an ear infection. I was up through the night with her so first thing Wednesday we took Sam to the doctor to get an antibiotic. Unfortunately that meant that my Wednesday morning workout didn't happen. By Thursday morning I could tell that my cold was moving into my chest but I wanted to persevere! That evening I did a great workout with my friend Olivia. I felt energized and figured that the fresh air had done me good. Friday morning I woke up not feeling well at all so I took a rest day hoping that the rest would help me to feel much better by Saturday morning. My hopes were dampened on Saturday when I woke up at 4am and I knew that there would not be a five mile run. (Thanks to Olivia who came by the house to accompany me on the run, even though I had to tell her I wouldn't be going.) I'm still not much better today so I am very disappointed. I was really looking forward to doing the five miles. But, I know that if I don't take care of myself then next week's workouts will be in jeopardy as well. We'll keep our fingers crossed that all goes well in the coming week. Here's to getting back on track!!!

Half-Marathon

In two months I am going to be participating in a half-marathon in Boise, along with a bunch of girls from my stake as well as my two sisters. I've never attempted anything like this before and I am very excited. We all have a training schedule that we are following and it's nice to be able to check in with the girls and motivate each other.

Each Saturday we have a "group" run but during the week we all train on our own. Last week the group runs started with a three mile loop. It was freezing cold but we managed to finish just fine. Today was the four mile run. Most of the girls were going to participate in a locak 10k race, but I decided to just put on my IPod and do a four mile loop by myself.

It was a beautiful morning. It was cool and crisp outside but not freezing. I love getting out early in the mornings. It's quiet and peaceful and a wonderful way to start your day. I put on some Mormon Tabernacle Choir music and just hustled along. The only downside to my run was that I am breaking in a new pair of running shoes and about half way through, was feeling the pain on the backs of my ankles. I was getting blisters. Fortunately I had my cell phone with me so I called up my sweet husband who packed the kiddos in the car and drove to find me with a box of band-aids. I put four on each ankle and then started off again. My family just followed me the rest of the way home so I felt like I had my own little cheering section with me.

In order to have some accountability I thought that I would post each week about the progress I am making. That way you can all check in and make sure that I am sticking to the training schedule as I should. I've already had a couple of phone calls this morning to find out how I did. Next week is the five mile run so hopefully I'll be able to keep it up! What am I saying? OF COURSE I'll be keeping it up! 'Til next Saturday!

Too Much TV

Earlier this week Mark and I agreed that there has been far too much television watching in our family. As much as we hate to admit it, we have become complacent. With our busy schedules, we are more tired at night and the TV was our excuse to relax. It also became the excuse to keep the kids entertained so that Mom could get things done around the house or Dad could focus on his homework.

We decided that we would try an experiment. For three days the TV would stay OFF and we would find other things to do. I was certain that the girls would have a very difficult time with it. I also figured that I would miss being able to watch the news whenever I wanted and that Mark would miss the History Channel and ESPN.

Interestingly enough ..... the experiment was very enlightening. Not only did we not really miss the television, but we were more productive, spent more quality time together, and we were generally a happier family. The girls behaved better and I actually got a few projects done that I had been putting off for quite a while. Emma even told us that she wasn't sad about not watching television at all!

So the bottom line is that we made it through the three days just fine and we have new rules for television use in our family. I have more motivation and I feel like I have had some great fun with my girls this week for which I am extremely thankful.