What happens when you stop saying no..

Asher is always bringing me items that he wants to look at under our microscope. I am usually busy with something and tell him not now, maybe later.

Yesterday I went on a 10 mile run. As often happens on these long runs my mind was busy thinking about anything and everything. One thing in particular came to my mind, why do I tell him no. As a homeschooling mom I should be encouraging this behavior. I had already given both the boys lessons in microscopy. So I decided to set up our microscope and leave it at the ready for anything they want to investigate more closely.

This morning Asher had a blast finding things to study with the microscope. At one point he grabbed my camera and asked if he could use it to take a picture of what he saw through the eyepiece. I started to tell him no (I doubted highly that it would work), but then I stopped and said sure give it a try.

These are the pictures that he took….(he set up and focused all of these images).

I have a little scientist on my hands J Yeah!

What a GREAT day :)

This was such an amazing day. So many little things fell together to make it just wonderful.

-We finished the last day of our garage sale for As Our Own this morning, which turned out awesome.

-During the garage sale one of our most favorite people in the world came to visit :) Joshua is still talking about the cool air force picture :) And I am still teary, we really miss her.

-We took the kids to the discovery museum.

-I was blessed to have a "picnic" with Elliana and her babies.

-I took Joshua to the batting cages. I love getting one on one time with my kids.

-I bought some safflower seeds for our bird feeder :) Hoping to attract some neat birds for my little bird watchers.

-Aaron and I are going to end the night watching a movie after the kids are in bed.

The Lord has truly blessed me with this day. I am so grateful.

[I am loving these baby pictures!]

The garage sale raised $200 for As Our Own!!!!! That is definitely a success :)

Thank you to all who donated and shopped!

I am bored!

I am so not a "sitter" (not even a real word, but I am bored and feel like using words that are not real...). Sitting at my garage sale waiting for people to have pity on me and buy something is so hard for me! I want to go and DO SOMETHING!

I would much rather go and run ten miles or bike 50 miles to earn money than just sit here...AUGH!!!!!

But I will continue to sit for two more hours today and then wake up and sit for 4 more hours tomorrow (I am not looking forward to waking up just so I can come sit in my garage...I am not a sitter!), why am I sitting for hours on end? For the little girls in India! They are worth it :)

Garage Sale for As Our Own

I will be having a garage sale on June 24th and 25th. All proceeds from this sale will be donated to As Our Own. If you have anything you would like to donate to the garage sale feel free to call or email me. This is an easy way to help the little girls in India :)

I am excited to sell my little girls clothes and use that money to help a little girl on the other side of the globe.

Training Update

I have several events that I am training for right now. Next month I will be completing a 100 mile bike ride (my first century!), Olympic distance triathlon (raising money for As Our Own!), and running the Bix. I may be doing another triathlon in August. And I will definitely be running in the Quad City Half Marathon in September.

I have been training as hard as I can in the mornings and then occasionally getting a little extra running done in the evenings. I log my workouts using dailymile.org. They have fun ways of keeping track of your miles and calories burned.

Here are some of their stats-

Total miles in 2011-1,535

Total miles running in 2011-312.37

Total miles biking in 2011- 1138.24

Total miles swimming in 2011-80.37

Pounds burned-38

Donuts Burned- 722.20

My new favorite running song-

Times are changing..

Last September I was told that I was prediabetic and as a result I changed the way that I eat. I learned that my body does not use sugar the way it should. I was also told that I am slightly hypoglycemic. If I eat mostly protein and very little carbs/sugar I feel great. But if I eat a little too much sugar I feel awful.

Due to my dietary changes I had to give up some things that I enjoyed. The last time that I had a soda or a cookie was in September of 2010. Do I miss them? Not at all.

Pop tastes good when you drink it regularly. But

give it up for 2 weeks and then try it again and you will realize how gross it really tastes. Pop also changes the way other foods taste. Another down side is the whole "drinking your calories" thing (a big no no).

Why give up cookies? Well, that is a me thing. One of my favorite desserts is a homemade chocolate shake with crushed Oreo's. Let me explain how I make these AMAZING shakes. First you add about 5 scoops of vanilla ice cream, smother it with Hershey's syrup, add milk, and then add at least 8 crushed Oreo's. Mix together and you have the very reason I was prediabetic! I would make these shakes 2-3 times a week. So giving up cookies ensures that I am no longer tempted to make myself a shake.

I did initially give up ice cream entirely. But I knew that in the summer my family would want to go to Gene's or DQ occasionally. I want my diet changes to be a lifestyle so I allow myself to eat ice cream when we go out (never at home). But I do not get a Blizzard or an Avalanche. I enjoy a plain chocolate shake :) And we do not go out for ice cream very often.

It's all about boundaries and knowing yourself. If you are struggling with giving up that food that you think you just have to have, just let it go. There is no food in the entire world that you have to eat to be happy.

Bay Area Burgers

I have discovered an amazing burger recipe! I found it on allrecipes and tweaked it a bit for our tastes.

Bay Area Burger

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• Red Onion chopped fine (between 1/4 and 1/2 a cup)

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Mix together the ground beef, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, red onion, and basil. Divide into patties.
2. Cook the patties for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or to desired doneness. The internal temperature should be at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove from grill and place onto hamburger buns. Top with desired toppings and condiments.

Psssttt...

I ran the State Farm 5 K this morning. My goal was to beat my best time in this race 27:30. My finishing time was 24:50! I got 1st place in my age group :) Happy day!

Why the picture of Homer, that expresses how I felt throughout the race :)

Bike Lane

FYI- There is foul language between 15 seconds and 31 seconds...fast forward that part, this is so funny!

Best Friends

Asher and Elliana have a lot of fun playing together (most of the time). It is not unusual for me to find Star Wars action figures in her doll house or to see her running through the house with a Nerf gun. But sometimes, when Asher is in an especially sweet mood, they will do something a little more "girly".

Yesterday they disappeared upstairs and a few minutes later I walked into this adorable scene..

Yes, it is a princess/ stormtrooper tea party :)

Asher (and Joshua) are awesome big brothers. Elliana just adores them.

Psssttt...

I have been analyzing my race results. There were 430 participants, I came in at number 164. That means I beat 266 people!!

I broke that number down to the number of men and women- I beat 116 women and 150 men! Rock On!!!

Tri-Shark!

There were 21 women in my age group and I finished 6th :)

There were 152 women competing (total for all the age groups) and I came in at number 36.

The swim was tough. I was toward the front of the crowd at the beginning, which I thought would be helpful. It didn't help a bit. I was constantly running into people and getting hit. Oh well, I swam my best!

The bike was fun. I definitely felt my legs on the hills and the wind was pretty brutal. But all in all I enjoyed this part of the race the most, something about going 20-25 mph :)

The run was killer. The sun and heat were just draining. But I am proud to say that I did not walk! I ran the entire 5K in 28:03 (9:03 pace). Not bad for having just killed myself in a swim and bike.

A friend was taking pictures and snapped this one of me coming in from the run.

A little inspiration..

Pre-Race Thoughts and Jitters

My first triathlon of the year is in two days. I have been training hard for this race. Physically I am more than ready.

At last years race I ran slower and I was 20 pounds heavier. This year I am stronger, leaner, and faster. I have also updated my bike with aerobars, a new seat, and a hydration system (water bottle between my aerobars). All things point to an awesome race with a great finishing time.

But there are a million and one unknowns. The weather could be bad. I could get a flat tire. Maybe I will wake up feeling fatigued. My knees could hurt during the run (which is not unusual). And the list goes on and on. It is all the unknowns that makes race day prone to anxiety. I can prepare myself for everything that I can control but I cannot control everything. And that is the part that stinks. One flat tire could potentially ruin a years worth of training.

That is when I step back and look at the bigger picture. I train and compete in triathlons because I love "doing" things. I have never been a sit on the couch kinda girl. I like to work hard and accomplish something everyday. Waking up at 4:15 am everyday and working up a sweat is a gift that I give myself.

Although I love to train my true accomplishments do not occur in the gym, out running in the neighborhood, or biking in the country. They all happen right here at home. Making dinner everyday for my husband, teaching my daughter how to read, pouring my time into my youngest son, and teaching my oldest how to play baseball- those are my true accomplishments. And they are not dependent on the weather or mechanical failure.

Yesterday playing catch with Joshua for an hour was my accomplishment. We threw the ball and he improved greatly, but the best part was the hour of uninterrupted talking. Spending all that time hearing about what is on my sons heart and mind, that was my trophy. Who cares about Saturday, I have already won.

My only prayer for Saturday is safety. Things happen when you are biking at 20 plus mph...