my first 10k.

Saturday I ran in my first 10k with some friends. Thus far, it's my furthest run. So a 10k is 6.2 miles, for those of you that don't know. I just had to look that up. :) Back in December, after the marathon relay, I ran 6 miles one Saturday. And then Christmas came, I got lazy, cold weather showed it's ugly face and I stopped running all together. But even with my recent lack of training, I still signed up for the Cowtown 10k in early January. And a few weeks ago, when nice weather returned, I started running a little here and there. And now, I hope I'm hooked. I ran with 3 other girls and chatted it up the entire time. It's amazing how fast that time flies when you're yackin' away. And miraculously at mile 4, it became a breeze. That feel good feeling kicked in where I felt like I could have run all day long. Ahhhh that feeling. Reminiscing about it makes me want to go and hit the pavement right now at 10pm. But, I'm actually shocked that I'm even experiencing this feeling. It's a first for me and I'm loving it. Here are some phone pictures pre and post run with the girls.

So fun. So so fun! I can't believe I'm even saying that. My former self has always hated running. I endured through it at different times because I knew of the benefits. But I sure didn't enjoy it like I do now. And there's something different about a race, no matter how turtle-ish you run. And I'm pretty turtle-ish. Our time was around 1hour 8 minutes. See, not speedy. But there will be more of these fun little races in my future. I'm sure of it!

currently on my mind . . .

Just some thoughts that have been filling up my days lately.

*Baby Denton. Remember Holden's BFF from Oklahoma? His name is Lyndon.Well, he's a big brother now! Denton entered the world yesterday at only 29 weeks. He's doing well. As is his momma, who is my sweet friend. But I know prayers for this baby boy and the family would be much appreciated.

*If Holden continues to resist potty training, then maybe we can train both boys at the same time! This is an exciting thought to me. I mean, Pax will be 18 months in just 2 days and many kids pick up on potty training around that time. Especially younger siblings, from what I hear. So if Holden keeps being fearful to sit on the toilet, maybe his little brother will inspire him. I did sit Pax on the toilet 2 weeks ago and made a big hooray about it. I was hoping it would encourage big brother to give it a try. No luck. So I'm not pushing. But secretly (or not so secretly since I'm mentioning it here), I'm hoping to kill 2 birds with 1 stone in the future. Maybe it's just 1 of my benefits of having 2 boys less than 16 months apart.

*Wondering if I could feed my boys homemade almond milk instead of cow's milk. Wondering about the health benefits of doing so. And wondering if it would be cheaper or just cost me more $$. I haven't done enough research to even know if that's a great idea. I've just been reading the fitnessista blog and getting inspired with all of her creative recipes. Have I mentioned how much I love this chick's blog. She's funny and pretty inspiring. So yesterday I took another baby step in trying something new. I made my own almond milk! I had never even tasted almond milk before yesterday. Honestly, I just wanted to try her super healthy Strawberry Banana Milkshake. Which was delish! Too bad, I didn't take pictures of the process. But here are the almonds soaking.
And coming from a girl that doesn't enjoy milk, this stuff was pretty good!

*Thinking about Holden's 3rd birthday party that will be here in May. What sort of fun theme we could have . . .And I've been quite impressed with my little Holden lately. He's becoming polite, more patient and obeying on the first time asked. Okay, not all the time. He still has his moments. But I'm seeing a behavior improvement, big time. Instead of whining "milk, milk, milk" until I place it in his hands. He's saying "Mommy, may I have some milk please?" or "Mommy, may I go outside to play." Oh my! I've HARPED on manners for the past 18 months and it's finally paying off. Mister Politeness. He's made me so proud during this past week. Which makes me wonder what kind of hell next week will be. Ha! Not being negative, just being honest. It goes in cycles at our house. But I'm crossing my fingers that some of this is going to stick.

*We are back in our honeymoon phase! When we brought home Holden, I described it like a honeymoon and we stayed there for a long while. Like 16ish months. We were starry-eyed with our new life as parents. Then we added Pax. And the adjustment of having 2 little ones was rough stuff. Holden was into everything. Pax was a needy baby. My attention was divided. Sleep wasn't as good for a few months. We moved. Twice. It was hard. I was tired. And I'm pretty sure that I aged at least 5-7 years during Pax's first year of life. Now my eyelids droop, which was never the case before. I need some cream for that. Please don't stare at my eyelids the next time you see me. That's just rude. :) Anyways, I think when Pax started walking, we entered back into the honeymoon phase. The boys are playing so well. Getting along so well. Laughing at each other most of the day. Kissing, hugging and occassionally ripping toys out of each other's hands. But life is fun and easy again. We are back in the honeymoon phase and it really is great!

*We've already bought our passes to the water park this year and I CAN'T WAIT! Partly for everything I just mentioned. Both boys are a little more independent now and will be even more so this summer. So, even though it may be a busier time for me at the water park, making sure no one drowns, I'm ready to get out and have some summer fun.

*Grateful that my kitchen floor is no longer sticky. I used naptime to mop today. I'm pretty sure that my boys are messier eaters than 2 wild animals.

*I think I've relaxed a little with child #2. Pax is feeding himself yogurt and other sloppy foods. Which could be part of the reason my kitchen floor was sticky just an hour ago. And it's for sure the reason that I took him to the grocery store yesterday and noticed later that he had dried yogurt on his forehead. But I sure love that desire for independence!
*I feel like I have so many friends going through difficult seasons right now. So this verse has been on my mind: "So that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:5. Praying to see His power in the lives around me.

And those are some things that have been filling up this brain lately.

playtime and picnicking.

With our amazing spring-like weather continuing, we spent our entire morning outside today.
Sweet big brother is helping Pax down the step to the patio. They have been playing so well together lately and it's fun to watch. They giggle and wrestle and seem to love each other so much! I'm watching this little friendship blossom right before my eyes. And I love moments like these; where Holden sees Pax struggling and desires to help. Luckily my camera was close by for this moment.
And a lunch picnic in the backyard was perfect for our day!

green smoothie addition

So for the first time ever, Jeremy tasted the green smoothie. It was a few days ago and he was unimpressed. I think that's because most of us require lots of salt, sugar or artificial flavors to satisfy our taste. We've gotten too far away from whole, basic, unprocessed foods, which is what this green smoothie consists of. So as a random experiment, the other day, I added a granny smith apple to the smoothie. At the very end, after I had blended the spinach, I added the entire apple (minus the core). And it added some flavor. I loved it and will probably do this regularly. So I downed the smoothie, with a little help from Holden and Pax. And that, right there, is 3 servings of fruit (at least) and 1-2 servings of vegetables (depending on how much spinach you add). Can't beat that. So if you've tried the green smoothie and were unimpressed, like Jeremy (though he can be a bit high maintenance in the food department :), then try adding something like the apple.
And on another note. Look who is pulling out the shorts with the beautiful weather we're having this week. It's been amazing. Here's to hoping that spring has hit Texas for good.

Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day began like this:
Holden was the first boy up just after 7am. And he wakes completely prepared to tackle the day.
And Pax was up about 30 minutes later. He comes to life a little more slowly in the mornings. They each got a balloon from us. They passionately love balloons so seeing this little gift nearly cause hyperventilation. I got them dressed in their V-day gear and we headed to the neighborhood playground to meet some friends and play in this amazing spring-like weather. We played outside for over 2 hours and then headed home for lunch. Those 2 hours outside may have aided Holden in napping for almost 4 hours and Pax napping for a solid 3 hours. Wow! This momma decided her V-day afternooon would consist of relaxing. So that's what I did. A restful afternoon for the 3 of us.
Jeremy took care of dinner by picking up this beauty at Papa Murphy's. Delish!Yep, heart-shaped pizza. He's a romantic. He also thought we needed dessert.
And then Holden took a picture of me with my Valentine.
We did baths for the boys and to bed they went. And then, Jeremy and I curled up on the couch and the unthinkable happened. He watched The Bachelor with me. Sweet guy, huh? He hates that show and for some reason I just can't stop the madness. During the show, the doorbell rings and this is what greeted me:
Great day. Low-key and simple. Adding little ones to your life changes alot of things, like Valentine's Day. (Honestly, Valentine's Day is the least of those changes.) But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Hope yours was lovey-dovey with heart-shaped pizza and all!

like father, like son

We lost Pax for 2.7 seconds tonight. This is where we found him.

He might he become a computer genius like his daddy. Maybe.

weekend recap.

Well, our weekend actually began Thursday evening. On the weeks of Jeremy's Friday off, I start telling people "have a good weekend" on Thursday morning. :) We consider that day our Friday. It's nice. I wish it was every week rather than every other. So Thursday night we ice skated in the car to Texas Roadhouse for a belated birthday dinner for Jeremy. He turned 31 on January 30th. The roads and parking lots were bad that night but Jeremy had been driving on them all week. And Holden and I were having some major cabin fever so we went. We NEEDED out! As much as I wanted Jeremy to ride the saddle at Roadhouse as they obnoxiously sang Happy Birthday, I didn't make it happen. We slipped out of the restaurant without the staff even knowing we were celebrating anything. I regret that now. The boys would have loved it.

Earlier in the week, Jeremy had enjoyed some white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It's his fave and quickly becoming mine. We had a lengthy but spotty celebration. Never 1 huge day of celebrating. It was just off and on for about a week. The ice kind of threw off our plans.
On Thursday night, after the boys went to bed, Jeremy worked on our refridgerator. And in less than 2 hours he had completely fixed it, along with our dishwasher. I had been handwashing dishes all week because our dishwasher was doing a terrible job of it. Jeremy had ordered some new parts and they showed up on our doorstep Thursday. So he completely repaired both appliances in less than 2 hours. He is quite the handy man. Smart boy!

So we played in the snow Friday morning, which I already shared. And Holden was obsessed with it. Jeremy was feeling a little under the weather later on Friday. Or perhaps he just didn't want to venture out into the cold again. :) So Holden and I did a little more playing and Jeremy snuck in some pictures from the front window. The laundry basket sled idea that I stole from a friend did not work so well for Holden. After I spilt him out, he would have nothing to do with it. This is the spill that I mentioned.We did find some rather huge ice cycles! Holden liked eating them.And it was a meltdown, once again, when it was time to come inside. But momma got cold this go around. How do the kids not feel the cold!? I don't get it. But I did let them take a bath in our big bathtub, which for whatever reason, is always extra fun to them. Maybe because Holden thinks he can swim a few laps with the extra space.Pax spent the weekend being cute. As usual. :)
And we "watched" the Super Bowl with some friends. We actually didn't do much watching. Just lots of chatting and laughing at the kids. But not much watching. Not a great picture but the only one I had. This was right after "ashes, ashes, we all fall down."
And now I'm off to pack to head to my parents for a few days. My Colorado sister and her fam are visiting for the week. We were supposed to leave tomorrow but with the snow coming, we're heading out early. Oh the snow. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm almost ready for spring. Not quite ready. But almost.

A Colorado snow in Texas

My Coloradan sister will probably see these pictures and say "that's nothing!" But close to 5 inches in Texas is SOMETHING! And the reason I'm calling it a "Colorado snow" is because it was NOT snowman/snowball material. Dusty, light, powder-like snow. Perfect for the slopes, I suppose. And we loved playing in it. Immediately after breakfast, we all bundled up.
And then headed into the backyard. And thanks to no wind and no humidity (I'm just assuming on the no humidity, since I'm no weather gal.) we didn't even get cold this morning. It was just a fun time in the snow. I wasn't sure if Pax would love it or even care. But he loved walking around in it, falling down, and rubbing his mitten-covered-hands in the pretty white snow.
And as you would imagine, Holden couldn't get enough of it. It was falling on us the entire time we played. It's still falling now, many hours later! Neither of the boys were too happy when we decided that we had been outside long enough.
It was so great to have Jeremy home today. It was just his regularly scheduled Friday off. But he has had to work and drive in this mess all week long. And I hadn't even bothered taking the boys out alone. So it has been a wonderful family day to have him with us.And after a few moments of fussing because our fun in the snow was over, some warm cinnamon apple cider put everyone in better spirits. And now my boys are sleeping, probably dreaming about what we promised. (More time in the snow after a good, long nap!) And I'm off to spend some time with my sweet husband. I love family days!

on the bright side of things . . .

I can't complain too much about the ice and snow when the below freezing temps keeps our food nice and cool/frozen.
This morning as I opened the freezer I noticed our food was beginning to dethaw. Uh oh. Not a good way to start the day. Then I opened the refridgerator and noticed it was not very cold. Apparently our refridgerator/freezer is broken. So this morning, Jeremy and I unloaded the freezer and fridge and he got it organized in the backyard. All frozen things went directly onto the ice. While most of the refridgerator things went into the cooler and then placed outside. Originally, he had our milk about 10 feet from the front door. And that just wasn't going to cut it for our milk guzzling boys. So he conveniently move it right outside the front door. It's all very classy, I know. The boxed wine is even more classy. ;) I think Jeremy will be playing refridgerator repairman this weekend. Not fun. And not on the original agenda. But such is life.

cabin fever and a smoothie

We're getting a little cabin fever in our house. And honestly, it's only been 2 days. But Holden and I started knocking heads today. Wednesday is normally his school day. And now I remember why I chose Wednesday. It's smack dab in the middle of the week and we both do well with that mid-week break. Here are a few pictures from our very lazy and uneventful week thus far:
A while back a friend posted on her blog a recipe for green smoothies. I immediately tried them and fell in love. I made some slight changes and then made them regularly for Holden and I. It was a good and painless way to get some greens (spinach!) into my son. But more recently, with the blah-ness of winter here I haven't been very consistent at eating fruits and vegetables. But this week I finally changed all of that. Back to healthier eating, including LOTS of produce. So I'm sharing the green smoothie recipe because we've had it every day this week. And I am certain that you {and your little ones} will love it.

1 cup of frozen fruit (I've done mangoes or a berry mix. Today I did frozen mangoes and fresh blueberries. Whatever floats your boat, really.)
1 cup water (you could also use orange juice if you need more flavor. Water works fine for us.)
1 banana
tons of fresh baby spinach leaves (I think the recipe calls for 1 cup, but I probably do at least 2 cups. Maybe even more. As much as I can shove into my blender.)
Blend water and frozen fruit. Add banana and blend. Add spinach and blend until smooth. Drink and enjoy.
Here is Holden enjoying his smoothie. Pax had already downed his portion. They LOVE this green juice. If they only knew how healthy it was for them . . .