Commitment

I love running.  Lately, I haven't been able to run as much as I'd like.  It's difficult to fit into my schedule, since I'm the bus driver for both of my kids, and I still have a toddler at home, and the days are getting shorter, and I won't run in the dark.  Blah, blah, blah.  As you can see, I can come up with excuses, which are all good, I'd say.  Hee hee.

Anyway, that's all changing.  I purchased a bike trainer today that will allow me to work out every day, at home, in the dark, or whenever I want.  Hooray!  I'll be able to go on runs on the weekend, when it's light out, when my hubby is home and watching our beautiful boys.

I've run two half marathons, the first one I trained for 9 months with my friend.  We ran in rain, snow, wind, heat and humidity, everything.  We talked child-rearing, husbands, recipes, even some of our deepest secrets.  We were committed and dedicated and I loved every minute of it.  Well, almost every minute...

The second one I ran, we kind of decided last minute.  We were going to do the 5K, but once you run the 1/2, the 5K just isn't that special anymore.  Maybe I'll feel that way about the 1/2 once I run a full marathon.  Anyway, I had just started running again, after having my 3rd boy.  We had about 3 weeks until race day and we decided that if we could run 10 miles, then we should go for it.  The 10 mile run night went great and we signed up the next day.

Running a race like that is addictive, for me anyway.  It's so exciting, having all the other runners there, seeing all of the spectators cheer you on, the newness of a different course, and of course, having your family waiting for you at the finish line.  Fabulous!  Our second half marathon didn't go too bad, since we didn't really train that much for it.  But, I had one casualty, my right big toe nail.  It's finally healed (grown back), 9 months later.

So, now here I am, thinking about running another 1/2 marathon, and maybe 2 this spring!  The Ohskosh half marathon is April 16 (ohmygoodness I hope there's no snow this year) and the Bayshore Marathon (I think I'd still have to do the 1/2) is Memorial weekend (thanks Sarah!).

I'll keep you posted on my progress.  Tonight, my first night, I did 45 minutes on the bike.  It felt good, not too bad since it's been a while since I'd run last (about 3 weeks....eeek!!!).  I did have to break and let the dog out, but other than that I kept a steady pace.

Consider me committed! 

{this moment}

In soulemama's words:  {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Go to www.soulemama.com to play along.

Tofu

I'm vegan but am not a big fan of tofu.  I think I just haven't experimented with it enough.  Tonight, I began experimenting with a recipe of my own. 

A local all natural, health foods store makes their own tofu, and I've heard it's fabulous.  I've tried it on a sandwich that they make and it was delicious.  I just wasn't sure how well I could prepare it.  But, I thought I'd be adventurous this week.

I've made chicken tenders for the kids for many years.  My breadcrumb mix is pretty yummy and I thought I could coat  my tofu in the mixture I usually use for chicken.  I don't ever measure for this recipe, but here are the approximates.  Feel free to change up the amounts or ingredients to suit your tastes.

Breading
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (can be dairy or non-dairy)
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Wet mixture
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, or other non-diary milk

Press the tofu to drain the excess liquid.  Slice into small nugget-sized shapes (about 1 inch by 2 inches).  Dip into the pumpkin mixture and dredge into the breadcrumbs.  Repeat.  Press some of the breadcrumbs to adhere if it they fall off.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, checking to make sure they don't burn.  Eat with ketchup and enjoy!

They had a healthy coating on them, as you can see, but they were very yummy!  Even my oldest son liked them.  The baby loved them!  Probably because he could dip them in ketchup.  He loves to dip his food, especially into ketchup.  I should have taken a picture of him enjoying them, but I was enjoying mine too much to stop eating and grab the camera. 

And, thanks to my oldest son for taking the pictures.  I think he did a great job, don't you?

Oh, and I couldn't taste the pumpkin at all.  They really were fabulous and I can't wait to eat them tomorrow as leftovers.

Halloween...a little bit late

Happy belated Halloween!!  It is a week past the holiday which brought unGodly amounts of candy into my house.  All of which I would like promptly removed!!!  Before I eat any more of it!  Hopefully it won't be much longer before the boys forget about Halloween candy and it'll just mysteriously disappear.

Anyway, sometimes I get lucky on Halloween and my kids dress up in clothes they already have.  My sister sends the boys awesome dress up clothes.  We have 2 sets of camis and one flight suit that the boys love!  And, last year my oldest dressed up in his Marine camis, face paint and all, and poof, his costume was done!  My middle boy decided to dress up in a costume I had made a prior year for my oldest when he was about 3 or 4.  He was a dalmation.  The baby was little and I store bought (egad!!) a costume for him, mainly for me because he didn't much care as long as he was there in my arms.  Here's a picture of them last year with my oldest son's best friend, dressed as an astronaut.

Cute huh?  And easy.  Well, this year was different.  They wanted to be Star Wars characters.  Which, is fine, it's just that I'm not the most creative person in the world.  I can follow directions very well, but can't really come up with my own idea to save my life.  But, I think my creations of their costumes this year didn't turn out too bad. 

My oldest wanted to be Clone Captain Rex from the Clone Wars.  Middle son wanted to be Boba Fett.  And, baby got to be Clifford (a creation from a prior year - in which I was able to follow a pattern - when my oldest was 2 or 3).  Here are pictures from this year.

I measured and drew out my own pattern pieces to create the "armor".  I then cut out the pieces of fabric and doubled them up.  I was concerned with the gray sweatsuits showing through with the lighter colors.  Then, I placed them in their appropriate places on the sweatsuits using my 2 live models, who were very patient with me and my goal to have the knees in just the right spot.  What good boys...

My biggest challenge in creating these (besides deciding on the size and shapes of the various pattern pieces) was sewing the "armor" pieces to the pre-purchased sweat pants and sweat shirts.  My Boba Fett boy's costume was extremely difficult because the arms were so narrow and it was difficult to push and pull to get the arm into place.  Then, attempting to sew the fabric to the shirt without hitting my finger.  I was successful with that as well.  No blood was shed on these projects!  I did work on them down to the wire, finishing Halloween eve.  Just in time for the boys to wear their costumes out to breakfast Sunday morning. 

So, now I've taken about a week and a half break from sewing but am chomping at the bit to get moving on my projects for Christmas.  I won't be blogging about them until after the holiday since some of them are going to family members who read my blog and I'd like to keep the projects a surprise for them.

Is anyone else sewing for the holidays?  I'd love to hear about what you're working on.

My Love of Fall

I love fall. I actually love all the seasons, the change of the seasons, but there's just something about fall that makes me smile everyday. I love the smell of dry leaves and the sound they make when you walk on them I love cooking warm soup on cool days, and making pumpkin cherry muffins (and of course eating said muffins!!). I love how the contrasting colorful leaves against the dark bark of the tree. I love the pale gray, cloudy sky. I love the flaming crimson of the burning bushes. Oh, how I love fall!

We recently moved and on our trip to school everyday, I get to see the beautiful colors of fall. We live by several lakes, and it's very hilly, and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Many mornings have been foggy and seeing the wispy fog along the rolling green hills with the beautiful colored leaves in the background and the calm, clear lake in the foreground....oh, I can barely withstand saying, "Oh look boys! Isn't it pretty??" every morning as we drive to school. One morning this week, I couldn't help myself. I had to stop and take some pictures. The road we travel to school is a fairly busy, main road that takes you from our neighborhood around the main lake into the city. So, I kinda felt like a dork, standing on the side of the road at 8:30am (after dropping the kids off at school) taking pictures of the fields. sigh... The things I do to take a pretty picture.





Of course my pictures don't do it justice because I don't have a fancy-shmancy camera or photo software. But, it helps me remember what a pretty scene it was on a beautiful fall day.

I think I forgot to mention that I love fall festivals and farms.



Oh and what about pumpkins?



And apples?? Yep, I love those fall things too.






LOTS of apples!!




Last weekend we went to a local farm and enjoyed all of these things. The weather was beautiful and of course the colors were vibrant and beautiful too.

We got to see some farm animals, eat pumpkin donuts, walk through (well, on top of actually) a hay bale maze and try our luck with a corn maze. In all of my years of walking through corn mazes, I've only completed one successfully...last year. We cheated a bit this year, the corn was planted so you could walk through the rows...so we did...to find our way out. Oh well, I've never been good with directions.








Oh, and Daddy's boy was picking and smelling flowers (clover actually).




It was a fantastic day and I was happy just being with family and enjoying the sights and smells of fall.





Happy fall to all!!

What did you do?

It was Saturday and my husband and Mom were on a road trip to bring back a dining room set from my Aunt and Uncle who live out of state. This meant that I was at home with the kids...my 3 boys and my cute niece...all day long. They're great kids, but when naps are short, which then leads to clingy kids, and said road-trippers don't get in until after 10pm, well, it can make for a long day. We did find ways to break up the day, to keep everyone entertained, and happy. This is what we did.















:: We started the day with a big breakfast

:: played with balloons

:: some of us colored

:: thankfully the rain stopped, so we were able to play outside. Some, being drawn to the street...

:: found all small puddles on the driveway

:: road our fastest!

:: ran our fastest while playing the "keep away from Mommy" game

:: were drawn again to the street (thankfully, we live on a pretty quiet road)

:: and played with birthday decorations.

What a completely full Saturday we had! What did you do this weekend?

Our woods

We're settling in to our new (to us) home since we moved the past 3 weeks ago. And, with settling into the inside of our home, we've also been playing in our yard, meeting our neighbors, and exploring the woods outside our fence in our backyard.


There are a plethora of sticks, acorns, moss, leaves, rocks, etc. Everything a boy could want.







In no way did I stage the picture below:



The boys aren't the only ones asking to go explore in the woods...Mommy is usually the first one to suggest it. We all love our woods.