Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Where did the Summer Go?

Where on earth did the summer go?
Next week is already picture day and registration for Brock and Reece. I am pretty excited about this, since Reece normally takes crappy pictures for some reason or another. Either it is his forced smile, or a stain on his shirt. One year I had to get his picture retaken 3 times! Argh! Very frustrating...

I have had to work or show up at work every day for a week and I have to work til Sunday when I am finally off for almost a week. I am looking forward to that break. Next Saturday we have a neighborhood block party that the kids really are looking forward to. They eat lots, drink lots (of soda) and get to play all kinds of games with the whole neighborhood. I get to cook a dessert and TRY to avoid the huge amounts of food calling my name... Geez. Then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will be in Wisconsin Dells with the kiddo's. Mt Olympus is calling our names this year. (And we will HAVE to visit Paul Bunyans!)

We are also buying a new SUV. and getting rid of the Camry. It will be a Saturn. We had one (Black) all picked out and ready to buy, when Duner found another one (Silver) that we also liked, but it is more $, less miles and it has a sunroof (which I like). Grrr. But since Duner already put $ down on the Black one, if we change our mind and go with the Silver, we are out about $350 bucks. So now we are wondering if the extra $ is worth getting exactly what we want. Hmmm.

Today is supposed to be Brock's first payday. He is super excited. He has big plans for his tiny paycheck. He wanted to become a member of a website called Runescape, but in August the fees are going from$5 bucks a month to 6 and that may not be ok. I told him he needs to save some of his $, and give some to church. (So he can learn how to budget his $) He loves to spend his cash. Anytime he has money his mind races to figure out how it can leave his hands as quickly as possible.

I worked 1 hour on the drywall in our basement this weekend. I am officially doing the part I HATE. I am slapping 'mud' on the seams and making them pretty and I HATE IT. If you want me to be instantly crabby? Just add some mud and an unfinished ceiling calling my name. Yuck.
You basically are putting 'mud' on the ceiling and hoping it doesn't fall onto the floor in chunks because you want to get finished so fast because you HATE doing it in the first place. It kinda fells like painting a HUGE ceiling but for all your hard work you only get a 8 foot section done at a time, when it feels like you did 50 feet. Grrr. If you are reading this, consider yourself invited to come over and help! : )
Well I have to get ready to weigh in today. I was avoiding the kitchen by typing this up, sorry it is so long...Have a great day!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Healthy Choices

So I am trying some new recipes with the Sparkpeople.com meal plan.
I figure if it is good for me it is good for the family.

Here is how they rated... on a scale system of 1 fork (bad) to 5 forks (excellent).
Italian Veggie bake....... ok, I would say about 2 forks. Baked Veggies... that is pretty much it. I likes my veggies, but not the entire meal. (Thank goodness they let me have cornbread with it)
Kids rating... 1 fork.
Oriental Rice.... definitely 1 fork. Yuck. I like my rice with cinnamon and sugar. (and spray butter) I can eat it, but it has neither salt or sugar. I really need a touch of either.
****Kids rating... 1 fork for Zeb and Reece, 4 forks for Brock. (He INHALED it!) I told him to remove the fork from his plate before he gets hurt.
Salmon Patties... 5 forks! Yum! What can I say, I already made these before, so not anything new there.
****Kids rating...5 forks. No need to ask them to clean their plates with this one.
Portobello Burgers... 5 forks!! Double Yum! It was just like eating steak! Loved it!
****Kids rating ... 2 forks. Reece was the only one that tried it. I also had made hot dogs, just in case and Zeb & Brock, couldn't bring themselves to try it.
Roasted Potato Mix... 4 forks. This may have been better if the recipe told me to cook longer, but they were just a touch hard. Next time I will make it just abit longer.
****Kids rating... 4 forks. They liked this one.
Baked Tater with Broccoli, kidney beans, sweet peppers, low fat cheese and Salsa...
4 forks (surprisingly). I really had my doubts on this one, but I ate what it said (and my plate was FULL). The kids were not home when I ate this one, so I don't have a kids rating for this one.
Rotini with Steamed veggies...
5 forks! This was yummy. I am not a huge pasta fan, but I did like this one. Heck, even the kids did too!
****Kids rating... 4 forks.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Not so fun, and Fun at the Fair

Monday I began the Indoor Half-Ironman at the YMCA.
I swam first at a different Y, because I didn't want to share my lane for almost an hour worth of swimming. I kept having my goggle loosen up on one side, which was kind of nice then I was able to pause for a minute and catch my breath to adjust 'em.
I was going along great when I realized at lap 32, I still had 8 more laps to go. I had forgotten it was 1.2 miles, not just ONE. But I just kept going and got 'er done!
Then I headed to the other Y and hopped on a bike. I did the bike that you sit on like a chair (recumbent), not upright. I must say, I like the normal one better. I felt like I had to work harder to keep my legs horizontal, instead of just spinning. I did manage a short 1.1 miles on the treadmill too.

Tuesday I was pretty busy, but I knew we were taking the kids to the fair, so I wanted to get a good workout in. One hour on the bike. 20 miles.

Ironman totals so far:
Swim: Completed. 1.2 miles.
Bike: 30 miles done. (26 to go)
Run: 1.1 mile done. (12 to go)


Tuesday we took the kids to the fair, enjoyed beer battered cheese curds, funnel cake and corn on the cob. Hungry yet? mmmmm.
I weighed in for the morning and made certain that I worked hard on the bike for an hour that day, so I could enjoy the food at the fair.

On the way to the fair, I could hardly talk to Duner because the kids were making so much noise in the car. They were so excited to get to the fair.
The kids each got to try their fare with the games. They shot down cups to win a couple of plastic guns. Brock chose a large rubber ball instead. The kids spent about 30 minutes running between the Tilt-a-whirl and the Graviton rides. Zeb discovered how fun the Fun Slide was, and hit his head in the 'House of mirrors' by walking into a wall. He went for a couple of spins on a motorcycle and car rides. Zeb also thought the mini tractor pulls were fun. They had some lawn tractor pulls going on that night.

It was free to park and get in last night and they had wristbands for a set price, so the kids got to run and ride all night.

The bad part is the not so nice language that surrounds you and the DRAMA mama that yells and stops her feet 20 feet in one direction, then comes back again to tell all that she is 'outta here' after they don't seem to care that she left in the first place.

Some people are amazing.

It was cute, after with left, I heard Zeb say to Reece "That was a pretty good day, wasn't it Reece? We got our guns... and rides..."

Awwwww.

Friday, July 18, 2008

The big day.

On Tuesday was 'Brock's big day'.
His stack of papers arrived and it was time to deliver. Reece was making quick work of folding and rubber banding the papers while Brock read the 'rules' allowed.

Reece was a bit too excited to get 'er done. He was making the papers into mini bats. I should him how to fold them easier and a bit less like weapons.

Brock had about 4 different forms to fill out with the general questions, of name, address, phone...etc...
He played extra attention to detail, and was asking many questions about our address.
"It says 'street address and number', do I put our street then number after?"
After the first signature he said " What? I have to sign, (grumble)". He then went on to sign 2 more times. Each time moaning about his signature.

Later, He was looking for some wite out so he could fix his signature. I told him to forget it. It is his signature. A Doctor I know only signs with a single letter and a line-ish thing.

In the rules, it says he is not supposed to share the route with out them knowing, so he is going 'hire' Reece to drive him on his bike. Reece has a 'trick' bike, so Brock rides the back spike things while Reece pedals.

At first I thought Reece had the bad end of the deal, but Brock got a nasty little rubber burn on his leg so I think they are about even.

Zeb had a fun week at Kindergarten Readiness class talking about Zoo animals. His favorite is the Zebra, because his name is in part of it. I am going to frame this adorable picture he drew....



How Cute is this!!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Odds -n- Ends

1:Brock soon will be EMPLOYED. Yay! He is super excited right now. He will be delivering a local weekly shopper newspaper for $6 per week. We have to get him a work permit on Monday! Reece was extremely jealous, but Brock is already pawning, er... Sharing the working and payment with Reece. I honestly see Reece keeping up with it more than Brock but you never know. I hope I am wrong. You don't want to ANNOUNCE that to Brock, like Reece has, that is just setting him up to give it up.

2:The legos are now in, what is Brock's Room until we finish the basement. I am sick of the mess. Zeb is no longer allowed to touch them. Reece now has got my permission to take legos from Zeb's hands if he is playing with them.


3: I am DOING AN IRONMAN!! Ok, maybe a half Ironman... Ok, maybe an indoor half Ironman... oh yeah, did I mention it can be completed in 28 days? He. He.
Our Local YMCA is doing this INDOOR IRONMAN for their Strong Kids Campaign. We are on the honor system. (Honesty is one of the Y's core values) So we personally keep track of our miles and they keep them posted FOR ALL TO SEE until you complete it. I think I will live at the YMCA on July 21st and 22, just so I can finish in 2 days.
OR Not....
: )

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Frustration


Out of frustration today I had the perfect motivation to get out and go for a quick 40 minute run.
Pace was great. Not quite 6 mph but I will take it. It felt good.

I was frustrated because my 5 year old is becoming a little brat.

Yet again we are having trouble picking up our toys. Specifically legos.

After 36 hours of trying various different forms of discipline that did not work (such as taking away his bike, paddling, grounding to his room till it was done, and finally threating to take away his birthday in September) I snapped and told him his birthday was OVER. It was canceled. Not happening.

Then I ran. It worked.

I came home to a half way (yes it was THAT BAD) picked up room!

As I came in my room to go to bed, Reece, feeling bad from my discipline of Zeb wrote me a note....

It said
"Mom, you should give Zeb a birthday party caue I heard you say no birthday party. From one of your kids, not Zeb of course."
Hmmm.
That kid has a heart of gold, considering how many time Zeb has ruined his 'Lego creations'.


I can't wait til they each have there OWN bedroom!!

*sigh*

Only 2 months away till we finish the basement....2 more months.

(Maybe I should threaten to paint his room purple and pink with butterfly's, flowers and hearts!)

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Boys can be cruel...

Tonight some boys, 'friends' of Reece, show up.

It was kind of late, so they weren't going to be here long.

30 minutes later I was about to send them home when Reece came in asking if I could send them home, since he was bored.

Ok, I said. Tell them I said it is Time to go.

Just as Reece goes to tell them Brock comes in C-R-Y-I-N-G. Apparently one of the kids threw a ball at his head and kicked him in the groin.

Oh, SNAP.

"WHO!!?" I barked.

'Kyle" He muttered between whimpers.

K was a kid that I have been warned to watch out for. He has a brother that beats on him and treats him like dirt. His parents don't exactly do much about it. I feel bad, but he went to far, for two reasons... 1) Brock had his glasses on. 2) Brock is a 'awkward' and extremely prone to this kind of treatment. He really doesn't need this at his own home. Grrr.

He S-L-O-W-L-Y wandered to the front of the house to get on his bike, where I confronted him.
"So what happened?" I said directed to K, with 3 of his friends by him...
"Um, I didn't think it would hurt him." he says. (??? I know he can be dense but he is not wooden)
"Brock already has a crack in his glasses, and you just threw a ball at his head. Do you know how expensive that is to replace?" Ok, I know, he really probably doesn't care, but geez!!! I was ready to rip.
I asked him if he apologized for doing it and asked him what was stopping him from apologizing to him now... eventually he said he was sorry, but I am sure he won't be coming around here anytime soon.

I am glad I was home.

I really doubt Duner would have done much about that. Now I am supposed to go to sleep. I have no idea how that is going to work...

Friday, July 04, 2008

Fox Firecracker 5k!

Early Friday morning we all got up to wander down to our town's library for a 5k run / walk. Reece was acting like I was torturing him, but by the time we got there we were just fine.

He gets that from his father, who also acted like a pooper when I asked him to meet us there after plasma.

Sheesh.







Since the a Dr we work with was organizing the event, many of the girls from work actually signed up too! It was great to see all the girls doing this too! This was Dr Al's Nurse Tammy and a pharmaceutical Rep, Claudia, with me in the picture.
Tammy was cheering me on at High Cliff this year and hopes to do her very own Triathlon NEXT YEAR!!








This is Katie (on the left) and Angie (right) with yours truly in the mid section! They were thinking of doing the walk portion.
Katie also was cheering me on at High Cliff this year. It is so GREAT to see them here today!











This Race began with
"3 grown men jumping out of a perfectly good airplane"
...as Dr. Al put it. This is the second guy. I missed the first one he was going to fast for me. These pix are kind of deceiving, because he was much closer than he appears in this picture.




This was the 3rd guy. If you saw this arrive and you knew the area, you would be impressed. Needless to say we were on an island in our city, surrounded by water... and utility wires, lots!
They did a great job! I wonder how much that flag slowed him down.








I finished in 32 minutes. I did have to tie my shoe, again. Just like High Cliff. Zeb and Duner came RUNNING in first after me, then Reece, and Brock a little bit later. Zeb did a great job. He REALLY just wanted to finish before Reece. Considering all the hills we did I think we all did a excellent job! (Hey, we even had DONUTS AND COOKIES for the HALF WAY MARKER!!!) HOW COOL IS THAT? (guess who had 2 cookies? Zebbie of course!)
After the race we enjoyed pizza, chocolate milk, and good ol' American apple pie. Then we headed up north to watch the lunch parade at the cabin.

Now we are getting ready to launch some fireworks.

We have helicopters, airplanes, tanks, race cars, and parachutes... Do you see a theme?