Socks, Green Bean Cake and Denzel.

 I am a lady of few words these days. I get to my computer at night and often all of the stories, thoughts, observations, highs and lows of the day just disappear in to the spaghetti jumble that is my brain. And sometimes, I’m not quite sure what to pull out and share. Sometimes it is silly and feels worthless to share, meaningful only in that moment to us. Sometimes it is too heavy to share. Too private in its pain. Sometimes it’s funnier in person than it is on paper. Or blog screen, if you will:)

I was really dragging this afternoon, due to a poor night’s sleep. Eliana cried out for me at least 3 times last night, which is unusual, but the broken sleep really was wearing on me. I was tempted to take a nap but I realized that this was an opportune time to do our weekly laundry. I always know it’s time when the boys start complaining that they have no socks. Their sock supply is dwindling quickly! Most of them are getting holes from the constant running and playing that they do. Several have been tossed in corners and under beds or in the black sock hole, never to be seen again. Either way, that is my cue to make my many trips up and down the stairs for a few hours with loads of stinky boy clothes!

The funny thing today was that I realized I need to start checking the boys pockets before I wash the clothes. Especially the pockets of my treasure-keeper, Samuel. Today I found mulch, a quarter, 7 rocks, a dried cranberry and some bits of paper in the washer after a load……

Eliana occupied herself with some play dough this afternoon. She got a really fun sweet shop play dough set for Christmas that she just loves. Here she is making “Green Bean Cake” for me for my birthday. It’s a good thing she will not be trying to sell this concoction!

She refused to put on her skirt after nap, exerting her very opinionated two-year old opinions! We just love her soft, chubby little legs anyways so as long as she covers the other parts, we can pick our battles. For now anyways!

Tonight, I left my family finishing up dinner and once again, ventured into the crazy land of Cardio Boxing. I kind of dreaded going, even though I really loved the class last time, because I don’t like the time. It’s at 6pm and I hate not being able to sit down and eat the dinner I made with my family. But then, of course, I’m always super glad that I forced myself to go and do it! It is like a Jillian Michael’s level 3 workout, except for one hour instead of 20 minutes!

Our instructor’s name is Damon and he reminds me a lot of Denzel Washington with the way he talks. He’s really funny but he has us moving non-stop for the whole hour. He is literally DRIPPING sweat within 10 minutes of class starting, that’s how hard we’re working!

But it feels so good to push that hard and then to come home to the excited cries of “MOMMY!!!,” like I haven’t seem them in a couple of days rather than an hour:)

But I am beat and ready to go rest my weary head. Hoping Eliana sleeps better tonight so I can get some good rest! Good night.

Three Little Sheep

We started our Thursday bright and early with the farmer’s market again. This week, thankfully, it was cool out for our early morning walk, rather than stifling! We are loving this weather!

And we love this sweet girl, too! Isn’t she pretty?

While the boys were out playing and enjoying the beautiful, cooler sunshine-y day, Eliana got herself all spiffied up and told me she was going to kindergarten! She went over to the door, all packed up and said she was ready to go:)

Then she changed it to preschool. Oh, I hate the thought of sending her off to preschool! It would be like admitting that she’s growing up and I’m not ready to do that:) Maybe next year…

Tonight, I got my family all set up with dinner and with my gracious hubby’s support, skipped out to a Cardio Boxing class at the Y! (I know, me, boxing??) I have been wanting to pick up another class for awhile but it’s so hard with our schedule being so busy, Ben not getting home til late some nights or having no car, etc. I have at least kept up with my Zumba once a week but I got brave tonight and went to this new class, which a fellow Zumba goer has been telling me about.

It was awesome! Crazy. Hard. Intense. Non-stop. And very fun! It was seriously one of the toughest workouts I’ve done. One whole hour of non-stop boxing, sparring, jogging, etc. Wow. I don’t think I’ve sweated so much…ever! Er, I mean “glowed.” 😉  I must be crazy because I am really hoping to go back again next week! It amazes me, despite how tiring exercising is, how much it energizes me.

We’ll see if I feel the same way once the soreness sets in:)

And the best part? I came home to three squeaky clean children, ready for bed. My boy sheep had even been shorn! They look so handsome when they get their shaggy fur cut off:) I will have to wrangle them down for a picture tomorrow. We’ll see if Samuel cooperates since he claims his hair is too short.

I’m off to check on my three little sheep before I go to bed….

It doesn’t take much…

 My day started dark and early this morning with a very intense workout at the Y! I have really been wanting to add some more workouts in, other than my 1 day a week Zumba class, and have been having such a hard time finding a good time in our schedule.

Hence, my 5:45am workout. It took a lot of willpower to roll out of bed and put my feet on the icy floor and workout. I went to a Body Pump class, which was totally more intense than I realized. The other women in there were hard-core and had obviously been doing it for awhile! After 45 min, my arms were shaking and I was starting to feel slightly nauseous. It is a 1 hour workout using a weight bar and weights!

Squats, lunges, shoulder raises, biceps, triceps, push-ups, ab work, you name it, we did it. It may take even more willpower to go back next Monday…..I’m already really sore!

I’m checking out Yoga Thursday morning. Hopefully that will be a little lower key!

I have been sewing my fingers to the bone for my sweet guys. Seriously, my fingers are really sore. But my heart is so happy because my boys are so happy! It took them a really long time to come up with a costume idea. We don’t buy $40 costumes over here, we create with what we have! Just like the good old days, right?

The boys have practically been breathing down my neck, waiting impatiently for me to finish. But I can’t tell you about it yet because according to them, it’s a secret:)

Samuel slid this sweet note over to me after dinner tonight. It says, “Dear Mommy, I love you so much. You are the best mommy in the world. Thank you for the ———
costume. Love, Samuel.”

If that’s all it takes to show my kiddos I love them, I’d make a million of these!! I’m always amazed at how forgiving and loving kids are. And it doesn’t take much to fill their hearts up with love.

Tom Turkey and Thankfulness

It seems like an ideal month to think about thankfulness:) Last night as I was mulling over my melt-down, I was thinking that I need to be purposefully thankful. I’ve always heard and known that the more you practice finding things to be thankful about, the more things you find to be thankful about!

So in honor of my desire to be content where I am, with what I have, I am going to say something I am thankful for every single day of this month, whether a big thing or a small thing and in no particular order. I am hoping to have the boys join on board with me, too, as I think it is far to easy for kids (or any of us!) to take things for granted. And you can join, too, if you want!

Today I am really thankful for hot soup. We don’t have much in the way of groceries and have been stretching our slim pickings to last as long as possible but amazingly, I had all the ingredients for a wonderful, hot pot of black bean soup. With cornbread:) There is nothing like soup to warm your bones on a very chilly, windy, rainy day.
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Little Miss is coming down with a cold:( She was sneezing a lot to day, exhausted yet fighting naps and the runny nose began this afternoon. I hope it will be minor!

I also discovered today that she is afraid of umbrellas. It was so nasty out and I had to use one while holding her when picking up the boys from school. She cried and cried and kept pushing my hand that was holding the umbrella away. I felt so bad for her! Silly baby.
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Every once in awhile, Samuel really likes for me to come up and lay with him in bed for a little while and talk before he goes to sleep. Last night we were talking about random things and I asked him if he had any ideas of what he might want for Christmas.

He said he wants a picture of our family standing next to the Christmas tree:)
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Zakkai had a special school project due today. We had to “disguise” Tom Turkey so that he won’t be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner! Z tossed out any ideas that we threw at him (of course) and so we dressed up Tom Zakkai’s way.

Presenting: Professor Tom Turkey!

Pretty good, eh? I thought he turned out pretty cute!!
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And last but not least, I committed with a friend to do the 30 Day Shred for 30 days straight this month. (what was I thinking???!!!) I have been needing some motivation to do something other than once-a-week Zumba and here it is. I will blog about my 30 days over on my other blog that is about my journey to getting in shape. If you’d like to join in the commitment this month or just follow along, feel free to pop over here🙂

Jillian

Remember this? Well, I’m still a fool! But a good one, I think:) I may have been strutting past the mirror in those good old days, but not anymore. It’s more of a sidle past the mirror, long enough to make sure I’m matching but short enough to avoid seeing the extras that having a baby has left me with.

Muffin Top, if you will.

I don’t need to lose anymore weight but I do need to….firm up things. Ahem. So last night, in a spurt of insanity (insanity that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a month) at 11pm (told you I was crazy!) I decided to dust off the 30 Day Shred and whip myself back into shape!

And I’m paying for it. I may have wobbled to bed on jelly-like legs and barely had the strength to lift the baby out of her cradle with my 40 lb arms but it was worth every excruciating moment! It was. Right?

 I am determined to be looking svelte and glamorous (or at least presentable:) by my 30th birthday in the summer. Before everything goes downhill.

Literally.

Welcome back to my life, Jillian. I think.

Shredded

Remember this?

Today I was fooled into thinking I was ready for workout 3. Fooled, I tell you! Maybe I ate something wrong or woke up on the end of the bed or something that caused my brain to lapse. I should have questioned my sanity and rolled over and gone back to sleep, I’m pretty sure.

So there I am, everything set up, standing bleary eyed in my workout clothes and I press “Workout 3” with a trembling hand. My heart starts to beat in anticipation. Am I crazy, I think to myself? You can do this, you can do this! You can’t do this. You’re not ready yet! Here is goes….

The upbeat music starts to play and there she comes, Jillian; the trainer who wishes death on you all in the name of a “Shredded body,” and her two sidekicks. She gives a congratulations about making it to level 3 (Oh, crap! What was I thinking?) and a dire warning about how utterly hard this is going to be. I should’ve tucked tail and run then but…I was filled with the false hope that I was ready.

Ready to die.

Jillian launches into the warm-up which was filled with exercises from the other two levels. What? Did I skip something? Aren’t we supposed to be warming-up, I think as I’m huffing through butt-kicks and double jump roping. It’s too early in the morning for this!

And then the workout begins. Each workout (1, 2 and 3) consists of 3 circuits: 3 minutes of strength, 2 min of cardio and 1 min of abs. You do that 3 times in each workout. By the end of circuit one, I was sweating and my limbs were trembling. You want me to do walk around push ups? Alternating lunges while jumping? jumping jacks with handweights? What did you just ask me, Jillian? To remember all the reasons I bought this DVD in the first place? Well, umm….I….my mind is blank. Why in the world did I buy this DVD? Why, oh why? Shredded? Me? It’s all a cruel joke. She gets paid to think up the hardest workouts ever and make you feel like a fool as you lumber around like an elephant in the privacy of your home. And there ,she and her two cronies sit with their 6-packs and lean sleek muscles.

You say I should have a 6-pack by this point in the DVD? Did I miss the memo? I have a…well, I can feel some muscles in there. Does that count? Oh, man, what kind of ab exercises? How come they can do that with their legs and I can’t? Come on, Heidi, give it your all. You know you’ll feel proud if you can make it through the ultimate goal: Workout 3! Plank jacks? Plank leg and arm raises with handweights? Do they sell handweights smaller than 3lbs?

And finally. I can’t believe it! It’s Cooldown time. I collapse with jelly-like legs, trembling arms and a sweat covered body to the exercise mat. I’m almost too weak to stretch my muscles. Almost. A nice cold shower sounds so good right now. So does swimming. I heave a sigh of relief and accomplishment and stumble on shaky legs towards the bathroom. I pass my reflection in the mirror on the way in. Hey, now. What this? Muscles? Sleek muscles? I have calves? What?! I’ve never had calves. Hey, there pretty lady. You’ve got some nice arms. You don’t look so bad under that beet-red face, wild hair and glistening skin, gasping for air.

You look…Shredded. Maybe Jillian isn’t so bad after all…

I’ve Been Shredded.

Jillian Michaels has kicked. my. rear. Oh, yes. I’ve been hobbling around like an old lady a’groanin’ and moanin’ all day! And this is all from yesterday’s workout:)

I first began my working out adventure last May. I have never worked out. Never! I was definitely not the athletic sort back in high school. I much preferred quieter pursuits like playing my piano, reading and hanging with my best friend. Very exciting. But Ben’s health was rapidly declining last year due to severe sinus issues (and other things) and he started a crazy diet and started working out a lot and I got motivated to take care of myself! You see, you can be thin and not be in shape! I’ve had no trouble losing any baby weight after my two boys but I’ve never been in good shape. We have been gradually improving our eating habits over the past few years to include lots of fresh veggies and fruits, less processed foods and whole grain breads. There is nothing like having kids to make you want to change! But exercise is important, too!

I was SO faithful in working out from the time I decided to go for it last May. I do not go to a gym. There’s a few problems with that for me: 1. Money 2. My kids 3. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing with all those crazy machines! So, it was exercise DVDs for me! I have several Kathy Smith DVDs that I like to workout to (cheesy 80s music and all:) like a Step workout and one of my favorites, a kickboxing one!

Anyways, faithful to working out 3-4 times a week up until my back injury in January. It’s amazing how quickly you can lose all that you worked so hard for! I am starting the 30 day Shred, determined to kick myself back into gear! I’ll post from time to time and let you know how I’m coming along on my journey to a rockin’, in shape, I-want-to-live-past-50 body!! For now, I’m just trying to find the motivation to hobble off to bed:)