Ballet and Potential Cavities!

Elliana has been attending Nutcracker practices every Saturday for the last month.  It's a special mommy-daughter time that we love.  I wanted a picture with the two of us, minus Corduroy.  You can tell by her facial expression that she didn't like that idea :)

 And she has Corduroy !!!  Just love this girls smile :)

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating (Princess-Kitty-Fairy, Harry Potter and The Edge).  We came home with 12 pounds of candy!

All of that candy will not be eaten right away.  I packaged most of it into freezer bags and stuck them in the big freezer.  On movie nights we can grab a bag and have fun snacks.

Ouch and Yeah!!

My PT decided that we should try something new in our timeless endeavor to get rid of this ITB pain. It's called dry needling and he said it wouldn't really hurt....

it was kind of like acupuncture...

see how happy and relaxed she looks....

why, everyone would want to be in her place....

those needles look like they are barely even touching her....

oh that man, he is so funny sometimes......

and this women is quite the actress....

whoever paid for the above advertisement should be sued...

for A LOT of money.....

I looked at my leg when the needles were all in, I could barely see said needles because they were jabbed that far into my muscles.....

this is what it really feels like...

yeah, I won't be doing that again.

BUT..I did run three pain free miles the day after the above torture session.  So maybe I will suck it up and let him stab me with needles...

Shocker!

Apparently running 12 miles through excruciating pain isn't all that bad for you :)  All tests came back normal I am free to run whenever I want !!!  No, I will not be running a super long run tomorrow :)  I plan on easing back into my normal routine.

Now to research winter running tights and ice cleats!

Gym Frustrations!

I hit the gym this morning determined to get in a good work-out without running (one more week per Ortho guys instructions).  I left pretty angry.

I have a BoduBugg that keeps track of the amount of calories I'm burning per minute.  (An amazing tool that I highly recommend for anyone wanting to lose wait, get healthier,  or train for a marathon :)  While running that number will be between 8 and 9.  This morning it wouldn't budge above 4!!!  I so miss running!!!!

But it was worth it because..

CRAFT TIME!

Elliana and I love doing crafts together.  We are always on the look out for a new craft to try.  Today we found Perler Beads!  I had no idea these things existed.  I just love spending time with my girl! :)

Chill Out!

Dear Moms, Jesus Wants You To Chill Out

by STEPHEN ALTROGGE on OCTOBER 12, 2012

FACT: If your children can’t read by age four there is a 95% chance they will end up homeless and on drugs.

FACT: If your children eat any processed food there is an 85% chance they will contract a rare, most likely incurable disease, by age 12.

FACT: If  you’re not up at dawn reading the Bible to your children, you are most likely a pagan caught in the clutches of witchcraft.

FACT: If your children watch more than 10 minutes of television a day there is 75% chance they will end up in a violent street gang by age 17.

Obviously, the “facts” listed above are not true (at least, I don’t think they are). But, I’ve noticed that the Internet has made it much easier for people, and moms in particular, to compare themselves to each other. Now, just to be clear, this is not a post against “mom blogs”, or whatever they’re called. If you write a mom blog, that’s cool with me. This is a post to encourage the moms who tend to freak out and feel like complete failures when they read the mom blogs and mom Facebook posts.

Moms, Jesus wants you to chill out about being a mom. You don’t have to make homemade bread to be a faithful mom. You don’t have to sew you children’s clothing to be a faithful mom. You don’t have to coupon, buy all organic produce, keep a journal, scrapbook, plant a garden, or make your own babyfood to be a faithful mom. There’s nothing wrong with these things, but they’re also not in your biblical job description.

Your job description is as follows:

• Love God. This simply means finding some time during the day to meet with the Lord. It doesn’t have to be before all the kids are awake. It doesn’t have to be in the pre-dawn stillness. Your job is to love God. How you make that happen can look a million different ways.

• Love your husband (unless you’re a single mom, of course). Your second job is to love and serve your husband. Husbands are to do the same for their wives, but that’s for a different post. If your husband really likes homemade bread, maybe you could make it for him. But don’t make homemade bread simply because you see other moms posting pictures of their homemade bread on Facebook.

• Love your kids. Your calling as mom is to love your kids and teach them to follow the Lord. They don’t need to know Latin by age six. If they do, more power to you. But that’s a bonus, not part of the job description. Your job is simply to love your kids with all your exhausted heart, and to teach them to love Jesus. That’s a high calling. Don’t go throwing in other, extraneous things to make your life more difficult. If you want to teach your kids to sew, great. But don’t be crushed by guilt if your kids aren’t making stylish blazers by the age of 10.

Moms, Jesus want you to rest in him. He wants you to chill out. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Don’t compare yourself to other moms. Don’t try to be something God hasn’t called you to be. If the mom blogs are making you feel guilty, stop reading them. Be faithful to what he has truly called you to do, and know that he is pleased with you. When your kids are resting, don’t feel guilty about watching an episode of “Lost”, or whatever your favorite show may happen to be.

Love God, love your husband, love your kids. Keep it simple and chill out.

–

+photo by pedrosimoes7

Article found here.

Being Girly :)

Having fun teaching Elliana to make pot holders :)

poked and prodded

About 10 weeks ago I set out for a 21 mile run.  Nine miles in I started having some pain in my left leg. I was determined to finish my run and I did, but man was it ever painful.  I "assumed" it would take me a few weeks to recover from this not so successful run.  Ten weeks and two half-marathons later I am still in excruciating pain when I go past about a mile or two.

My doctor recommended an EMG to test the nerves in my leg and back.  For 6 months everyone has been telling us that the herniated disc and the disc tear in my back were the problem.  After having my nerves shocked and my muscles zapped the neurologist gave us surprising news.  My nervous system is working just fine.  The nerves in my legs are transmitting signals perfectly and my muscles are in great shape.  The disc and tear in my back are not causing any problems; they certainly were not involved in the big catastrophe in April that landed me in the ER.

So...I am being sent off for a new x-ray and MRI.  The new idea- back in April I tore a tendon/ligament/muscle (one or more of these).  Apparently it was really bad and my body is still inflamed from the whole experience.  I am also being sent to the ortho to check out me knee problem from that awesome 21 mile run mentioned earlier.

Am I giving up and just laying around eating bon bons????  No way!  I get up bright in early (although it is actually dark at 4:30am) and head to the pool for a nice long swim.  After an hour and twenty minutes of laps I come home and hit the weights.  This is just a roadblock, not a stop sign.