~ Week 2 Running ~

Here's the next interval for those of you looking to be a runner.

Week 2

Session 1
Walk 5 min
Run 2 sec/walk 1 min x 6
Walk 5 min
Total workout: 29 min

Session 2

Walk 15 min

Run 30 sec/walk 1 min x 6

Walk 5 min

Total workout: 29 min

Session 3

Walk 10 min

Run 1 min/walk 1 min x 7

Walk 5 min

Total workout: 29 min

~ Mom Tips ~

So I was thinking today...how come all us mom's, which most of my friends are...why don't we 'share' more often. That new receipe that was great, or awful. A deal that we find at a store, a new idea for the kids...any of that stuff. So I decided to add it as an element on my blog. Send me your tips and tricks and I'll post them.

Some from me....

Recipe

This recipe was in the Kraft Kitchen magazine that I get every quarter. If you aren't subscribed...you should be. It's free, it comes right to your door, and it has tonnes of fabulous recipes. I personally love to cook, and love new ideas.

Prep: 5 min
Ready In: 30 min
Serves: 4

1/4 cup KRAFT SIGNATURE Sundried Tomato and Oregano Dressing, divided

4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb./ 500 g)

1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 cup KRAFT 4 CHEESE ITALIANO Shredded Cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil leaves

PLACE large sheet of heavy-duty foil over half of barbecue grate; preheat barbecue to medium heat. Pour 2 Tbsp. of the dressing over chicken in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Turn bag over several times to evenly coat chicken with the dressing. Refrigerate 10 min. to marinate. Remove chicken from marinade; discard bag and marinade.

GRILL chicken on uncovered side of barbecue 6 min. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, cheese, basil remaining 2 Tbsp. dressing.

TURN chicken over; place, cooked-side up, on foil on barbecue. Top evenly with tomato mixture. Close lid. Grill an additional 8 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170ºF).

That's the official receipe. I simplified it even further. Simply put the chicken straight on the grill, in fact it was fairly frozen still, then when the one side was cooked...put it over on the tin foil. Poured on some salsa and put on the cheese. Closed the lid and presto chango. It was super yummy. Served with potatoes and salad.

Tip

Did you know that the Spray and Wash Dual Action stain remover...you know the one that squeezes out in two seperate squirters to make one formula....it works on carpet as well. Probably best to test in an area to make sure it doesn't discolor your carpet. Owen had dripped some grape freezy in his bedroom. I sprayed some of that on it, then came back with the carpet cleaner a while later to take care of it, it was totally gone. This stuff has the Oxi Power whatever, and it had completely evaproated. I've used it a lot, cleans too well sometime and shows that the rest of my carpet needs to be washed.

Deal

Coop has Wave Petunia's on sale. A six pack for $9.99. The tag say $12.99 but the flyer and the till say cheaper. That's a deal. Superstore has them on for $3.99 each or 4 for $10.00. They're the bigger ones, but I only need the smaller ones anyway.

Drop me a line with all your tricky mom stuff, I'll post it.

~ Crazy Kid ~

Last night at 10:30 pm when most little children are supposed to be snug in their beds, our Mr. Owen is still zooming around the house. He has a bit of a cold, and had fallen asleep in the afternoon. As a result he was still up when we were trying to get to bed. So he's fooling around in our bed as we brush teeth and such. He finds a bowl that Sydney had left from her after school snack. It still had a few Teddy Grahams in it.

Mom: "Owen don't eat those, it's late and you need to go to sleep. "
Owen: "But mom I want to eat them. "
Mom: "No, put them in the kitchen, you can have them tomorrow, it's bed time."
Owen: "But mom, these cookies make me tired."

Crazy Kid!!

~ Birthday boys and new friends ~

So we've had a busy weekend. Thursday night mom and dad came out to take Tyler for his "I get to spend time alone with Grandma and Grandpa" dinner. Then off to choose a gift with them. My children love to have this time with their grandparents. It's fun to be together with all their cousins, but it's a special treat to have Grandma and Grandpa all to your self. Tyler asked me every half hour when they were coming. Tyler had his birthday party on Saturday. His best bud Cole came on Friday to stay the entire weekend, as his parents were headed out of town. Ty and Cole are best friends and love to be together. They play computer games, watch movies, play in Tyler's room, play outside... all the things that best buds love to do together. For Tyler's birthday he had Cole and Ammon over. They went swimming at our local pool. Then home for a movie, pizza and presents. They're three fairly quiet boys. We were eating pizza together at the table, pretty much in silence. I commented to Brian....routy bunch these boys are...that's okay, they're the strong silent type.

Sunday was crazy as always. We headed out to the Boyd's for family dinner in the afternoon. We had nice dinner and visit with them. So great to spend quality time with family. Don and Sheila have just gotten back from a trip out East to visit with his family. We were fortunate enough to all travel to Nova Scotia a few years ago for a Boyd family reunion. I still remember watching my father in law and thinking that I had never seen him as happy as at that moment. The same was still true this time around. He really has a great time with his brother and sisters and their spouses. He came home with a renewed sense of family, and wanting to try harder to make our family closer. Looks like we'll be taking that Nova Scotia trip again in the next couple years, which is great...we love going there.

Monday is my day to get the laundry done and stuff around the house. I'm trying to make my work schedule more set, rather than basically taking up my whole life. So Monday's are 'get this house in order' days. It's now Tuesday and I'm still finishing up what was started on Monday, but it's a work in progress. Visiting Teaching had to be done yesterday as well, so that bit into my time. I have a new friend that really makes the effort to make her Visiting Teaching sisters feel special. I would like to do that as well. So my partner and I are making the effort to not just visit, but to leave our sisters with something each month that will remind them of our message. Nothing fancy...just something.

We have a new Dollar Store that has opened up in town. A really great one, and we're SOOOO excited about it. Pretty sad when the event of the week is wandering up and down the ailes of the new dollar store. It's a simple life we have here in our town. It's also a great place to get those little things to supplement our VT lessons.

We have a new family that has moved into our ward. Kristen and I accosted Missy. We didn't have her new phone number, and actually didn't know which house was hers. They've only been in our town 3 days. So we're walking down the street looking into the windows of all the houses. Kristen remembered that her living room was lower and she had brown furniture, so we were trying to find the house based on that. We were eventually successful and invited them over to our house last night for FHE. We had three families, and a lot of boys...but it was fun, and a great time to start getting to know our new friends better. One of the things I love about being in our town is that we run into people that we know all the time. It gives us a great opportunity to stay in touch, make new friends and organize house parties. With summer on it's way....invite over a friend!

That's it for now. Deciding if I'm going to run this morning. Jack must be growing, he hasn't been sleeping well....and as a result....neither have I. So I'm getting sick. I try to run four days a week, taking off Wednedays because that's Playgroup and it's too hard to run and then try and get everyone ready and out the door. We'll see how I feel after I get Jack down for a nap...maybe I'll nap too.

~ The hidden runner in me ~

8 weeks ago the Herald started a section that was called "Zero to 5K in 8 weeks" It is a step by step program to take anyone from their couch to the track. I was relieved to finally find a program that I could follow. So every week a new segment would be printed to up the intensity and length of my run. I've done the running every week since the very begginning, and though I'm still stuck on week 4 of the program...I'm definately seeing an improvement. My cardio recovery is a lot better, and I'm up to 2.5 miles, 4 times per week. So for those of you that might need that extra boost to get on the treadmill, or hit the open road...here is what I've been doing. I didn't know how much I'd love running. I set the boys up for a cartoon, plug in the mp3 with some Nickleback and hit the treadmill for 30-35 minutes. Try it, you'll love it.

Week 1

Walking should be done at a quick pace, like you were late for an appointment. Running should be done so that you can talk or recite the alphabet while you're going. Do on non-consecutive days.

Session 1

Walk 10 minutes

Run 30 seconds walk 1 minutes x 8

Walk 5 minutes

Total Workout Time: 27 min

Session 2

Walk 20 min

Run 30 sec, walk 1 min x 4

Walk 4 minutes

Total Workout Time: 30 min

Session 3

Walk 10 min

Run 30 sec, walk 30 sec x 12

Walk 5 min

Total Workout Time: 27 min

I found I could skip over the first couple weeks, as I'm not 700 pounds on the couch all day. So I already had the endurance. However, my knees gave me trouble originally as I'm trying to lose weight. So my joints aren't used to running with the extra weight I'm carrying. So take it slow. I've lost 1 pound per week. Nothing dramatic, but apparantly the safe way to lose weight. Whatever...I think once you've decided it's time to lose weight, it should just happen. ; - )

Break a dripping sweat 3-4 times per week, that's my goal. Been great so far, looking to get to the final goal of running straight for 30 minutes...not there yet.

ENJOY!!

~ Who knew it was so easy ~

So I've been peer pressured into creating my own blog. Not really, but it seems like it is the thing to do right now. So I'm riding the blogger wave and letting you all get the play by play on my daily boring life.

So what's new and exciting with us...not much....but here's the jist of it. Tyler is 10 year old tomorrow....wow....10. He's turning into a grown up guy lately, with only the rare back peddling to acting younger. Generally he's dealing with day to day life a little better. I can't believe I have a boy who's ten though...someone's getting old and it can't be me.

Last weekend Jason and Joanne came to visit and we had a grand time with them. We always do though. Joanne and I are buds, always have been, always will be. We see eye to eye on so many things....nice to have someone like that. You hardly have to even say a lot, and she knows how I feel about stuff. We had a great girls day... ready about more on her blog fabulous me. I have toes that look exactly the same as that. And since they send home the little sample polish that I used, Sydney and Owen also have toes that look like that. Brian put his foot down when it came to making Owen's finger nails green, he said that he can at least put socks and shoes on his feet so you can't see that the 3 year old boy has green toes that match mommy's!! I figure it's not hurting anything, so why make a big deal out of it.

This week I was down for the count on Tuesday and a bit of Wednesday. A touch of the stomach flu I think. Nothing really serious, just enough to keep me out of my office for a couple days. Nothing wrong with that, always nice to have a break. Since Brian was home for the holiday monday, I was able to get caught up on some work. So I didn't feel too guilty laying around all day on Tuesday. Nothing was so urgent that it couldn't wait. I'm back up and running now. Work has been crazy busy since January. A combination of year end and GST quarters that are all due at the same time. I've had some friends in helping me out. I'm at the point with my business that it is literally impossible for me to get all the work done all on my own. It's nice to be able to make the extra we need at our house, and provide a little work for those around me as well. It's not prestigous work, but it pays decent and I can do it all from home. I'm getting to where I have 4-5 major clients that I have to keep caught up every week. I can do enough for them to make what we need, then the little guys are just gravy. However that gravy is usually what causes the stress, so I'm looking at pawning them off and just keeping my bigger guys. We'll see how the cookie crumbles...it's just a theory for now.

I've been planning and booking our summer holiday. We're taking the kids on a road trip to Vancouver and Victoria. It's a popular place so I've had to get started on booking hotel rooms. It has taken almost two weeks for me to get it all planned out, and find hotels that are both in my price range, and will let four children sleep in the same room. There was one lady in Creston BC that gave me a deal driving there, and again the way home. She said she remember what it was like to try and take the kids on a summer holiday, so she is giving me a rate that is way less than anything else on the whole trip. So nice to find decent people out there. I'm pretty excited about our trip, but we took long road trips all the time growing up. Brian is not all that jazzed about 2 weeks in the van with the kids...but I've tried to break it up that we don't drive more than 3-4 hours per day. Then stop and hit the beach at each place. I'm planning to have lots ready for the kids to do and see. Including a customized road trip manual. Will show you more of that as I complete it.

Well that's it for now. Need to hit the hay as it's another busy day tomorrow...and the big man's birthday. I wake up tomorrow the mother of a TWEEN!!