Haven't Blogged in FOREVER

OK, I have been feeling a bit guilty for not blogging since March, but not too guilty. My sister-in-law asked me why I stopped the other day. I think the main reason was that I had been talking about running and how one day I would like to run a marathon. Then not long after that I quit exercising and I was definitely not running. Just because you own a treadmill doesn't mean you will use it.

Then in July I had two friends invite me to go running with them. I have had the blessing of running consistently since then. I am super excited to share that I will be running in my first half marathon on November 20th. It is not a full marathon, but not bad if you ask me. So I figured I could blog again without shame.:) Maybe I will post some sweaty pictures after the run. I am very thankful for my consistent and ever encouraging running partner, Sherri. Without her I would be walking or most likely sitting on the couch.

So be encouraged it is never too late to start getting in shape. The most I had ever run in my life was maybe one or two miles in high school. I have also joined a team to run Hood to Coast this summer. I am trying to challenge myself with goals that will give me accountability and a reason to get in shape. My motto is slow and steady, but I do hope to get faster one day.

WEEKEND AT THE COAST
We finally had a chance to get away as a family for the weekend. Jeff has been really busy with work and school. It was a blessing to just spend time together.We were able to stay at a friend's beautiful home south of Newport. The kids had a blast on the beach and visiting the Aquarium.

We didn't have TV and were not listening to the radio so we were surprised to hear that there was an earthquake in Chile. We went to the beach to play and a man informed us that there was a Tsunami warning for the afternoon. Honestly, that made me a little paranoid for the rest of our trip. Thankfully all was well in Newport. The kids did get to play in some crazy amounts of sea foam though.

RUNNING UPDATE

I realized today I am behind on blogging. I have to give a status update on my running progress. So I took about a month off before I really even started. I am finally healthy (2 kids are sick though). We purchased a used treadmill last week so I am trying to get on track now. I am just trying to get in shape and build up my endurance so I can have some long distance runs in the future. I have some friends that like the idea of doing a 5K so I will probably do that in the next month or two with them.

I am struggling with finding the best time for working out. I am going to try during Ella's nap time and see how that works. The other day I was in the garage running on the treadmill. When I came back inside the house all of the kids had disappeared. I found Ella up in her sister's bunk bed grinning eating a bag of stolen Valentine's candy. More updates to come.

NEW PET

Erin bought a Crested Gecko with her birthday money. Mom and Dad paid for everything else. Mom wanted to get 2 water frogs, but Dad went to the pet store with Erin and she ended up with her dream come true. She has a love of reptiles and animals in general. We may have a future veterinarian or animal rescuer. So Dad is in charge of cleaning the cage with her. She named the Gecko Spike because it's head has some spikes on it and I think it reminds her of Spike from the Land Before Time movies. It's feet have super suction cups and it can climb, stick to anything. I never imagined in a million years we would own a reptile, but it is interesting to watch.

While I was out shopping Erin and Dad let Spike have a run of the house downstairs. I was not happy to hear that Spike was frolicking on the couch. I was then surprised to see this picture that our couch is crested gecko green. I think it may be time to buy a new sofa. It being the same color as the lizard makes me see it in a new light.

HOME SCHOOL

Erin was pretending to be me with her dark rimmed glasses while she was playing. Then she decided that she would look smart during school time if she kept them on. She was noticing that a lot of our neighbor girls have glasses. I guess it is good that glasses are cool right now because I am sure at least one out of our three girls will need them.

Yes, Emily is wearing her princess night gown during school time. Why do you think we home school? So we can wear pajamas all day long. Favorite stuffed animals are also usually close by.

Home schooling can be fun and challenging at the same time. This was a good day for the girls as you can see they are both smiling.

SICK AGAIN

I am trying not be discouraged that I have a cold again. We seem to be recirculating our cold virus. Jeff and Ella have colds too. I think I always get sick from the youngest child because they need help with everything. Saturday night Ella woke up every half an hour crying and needing a new tissue. She seems to like to only dab her nose one time and then she needs a brand new tissue. Needless to say we were exhausted come Sunday morning. I ended up staying home with all of the kids.

I ran at the track on Saturday for the first time since last summer. It felt good to be there again. I can't run a mile yet without stopping ( I know sad), but I speed walk until I feel rested enough to jog again. I have heard this is actually a good technique for weight loss. I told my Mom that I may be training for a marathon and she thought that was hilarious she literally laughed. So I have to decide if I want to put in the effort or not to make it happen. They do it on the Biggest Loser every year so I think if I really want to I can. Then my throat started hurting by Saturday night and I thought great the first time I go running I get sick. I am dosing up on all of these "natural remedies" like Airborne, EmergenC, and zinc lozenges. Hopefully one or all will help speed up the healing process because they are all expensive. Hoping my family and I will feel better soon.

Getting In Shape

Since we have been back from our 10 year anniversary in Hawaii I have been totally slacking off on working out and eating whatever I want. This week I have started working out again. I am looking for a used treadmill and I love to work out to my Jillian Michaels videos. I really like her 30 day shred. It is sad though it used to feel really good to work out and now it is a lot of work! My friend Kim is trying to help me stay accountable and we are talking about training for a marathon together. I think it would be an amazing accomplishment to run in a marathon. I will keep you posted on my progress. We are wanting to start with some smaller local runs as we start training.

TURNING SEVEN

I can not believe that our oldest daughter just turned seven. Time has been flying by. We celebrated this special occasion with a penguin themed ice skating party. We were able to celebrate with all of Erin's cousins and two good friends. The kids had almost two hours on the ice and most had never been ice skating before. I was surprised with how well all of the kids were skating by the end. Emily was really cute shuffling her feet back and forth. I was pleasantly surprised that she wanted to skate all by herself and not have me hold her hand for very long. (She usually wants me to do everything for her) We were able to get some video. I will see if I can figure out how to add video later.

NEW TO BLOGGING

I have been wanting to start blogging for awhile now, but I have been putting it off. I want to have a place to share what is going on in our daily lives. We will have to wait and see how faithful I will be to update, and if I will enjoy this or not.

I love this family photo that Danielle Anthony took of our family in December. I was so excited to have a private photo shoot for our girls and she asked Jeff and me to get in a photo.
Unfortunately the girls were not as excited about having their pictures taken as I was. We were still able to get some great photos out of the shoot and I am looking forward to another session in the Spring.

I am a very blessed mother of three girls. I am thankful every day for the family that God has given to me. We are in a busy and difficult season of raising young children, but again so very blessed.