Busy, busy, busy!

Well, not really....  We have about 8 weekends where we have plans (other than stay-at-home, family time), and this just happened to be one of the busiest!

The boys were at a Parent-Son Campout with Cub Scouts.  I attended a photography workshop with a friend.  And thanks to those two out-of-town events, my parents-in-law came to hang out with M.

I missed the boys like crazy, but it was totally worth it because they had a great time!

BB Shooting

 Every shot hit the target!

Boulder Room and Rock Climbing Wall

Big J tried this one out - and made it to the top!

Fishing

Apparently, a big hit!

Food

Baked chicken and baked potatoes with all the fixings for Saturday dinner.  

Hotdogs and mac and cheese for the kids. 

And that's just what the boys did!

I attended a fantastic photography workshop and learned how to use my DSLR in manual mode!  I went with a friend, which made it even more enjoyable.  Now that I know a little more about what I'm doing, I want to try out my dad's old SLR.  That's right - a film camera!  I'd love to see what kind of results I could get now that I understand what I'm doing just a little more.

Miss M was not left out of the fun.  Although she was just hanging around at home - which wasn't a bad idea since she spent 3 days out of school last week - she was also getting undivided attention from the grandparents!  They played inside, they played outside, and they even got treats from the ice cream truck!  No, I'm sure she wasn't spoiled at all.... 

Huge thanks to the grands for helping make this busy weekend possible!

Home Sweet Home

Has it seemed a little quiet around here lately?  There's a good reason for that.  We've been on vacation!  Well, not all of us - Daddy stayed home while the kids, my mom, and I flew to Texas to visit my cousin and his family.  We missed Daddy an awful lot, but he wasn't alone for long!  While we were gone, his parents arrived to help out with a BIG project around here (which they are still working on).  I'll recap the project in a later post, but for now - vacation photos!  (And these are the ones from my mom's camera - thanks, Mom!!!)

Let me start by saying that it was HOT here before we left, and Texas had a break in the heat there just as we arrived - which made the temp the same as what we'd just left.  Thankful for that little break in their weather!  And, thankful for plenty of opportunities to go swimming!

We picked up a set of 'floaties' for Miss M before we left, knowing they would help her feel a bit more at ease in the water.  No worries, there were still plenty of adults keeping an eye on the kiddos!  She was soon swimming from one end of the pool to the other!

And this guy, who has made great strides in his swimming lessons at school, also showed off a new talent.  He's floating on his back!  That's Lily checking him out.  She's a funny dog - loves to catch a ball, but she can't quite make herself drop it back off in your hand or lap.  Instead, she enlists the help of Minnie.  Lily will drop it a few feet away, then Minnie will pick it up and bring it back for you to throw again.

We took a trip to the local Hong Kong Market (So cool!  Lots of interesting fruits and veggies!) to pick up some veggies and these guys for dinner (two crab and one lobster).  Miss M was not quite convinced that these could possibly be tasty.

My cousin's home is totally kid-friendly.  You already know about the pool and the dogs, but there were also plenty of TOYS!  Miss M got to play with the doll house and Polly Pockets that you see below, and also some teeny-tiny Polly Pockets (which the three kids eventually turned into a Polly-meets-Monopoly kind of game).

 And they had a few Legos, too....

We also did some touristy stuff while we were there.

The Beer Can House

My sweet kiddos

My favorite feature of the Beer Can House

 The Children's Museum

Also (no photos yet, but hopefully soon)...

NASA (Johnson Space Center) - it rained while we were there, for the first time in several months.

Kemah Boardwalk - dinner outdoors at The Flying Dutchman, which would not have been quite so nice without the rain earlier in the day to cool things off

Whole Foods - this might seem an odd stop, but it was a new store (and I loooove grocery stores!) so it even had some draw for the "locals."  Also, we got to see an electric car out front - plugged in for a charge!  Mister J was fascinated!

As if all of this wasn't exciting enough, guess who lost a tooth while we were there?  He was quite confident that the tooth fairy could find him all the way out in Texas.  Sure enough, there was a dollar under his pillow the next morning!

Please excuse that piece of gum in his mouth.  Gum has become quite the favorite around here lately.

As for me, I had time for some reading, some swimming, lots of visiting and laughing, lots of talk about food/cooking/the amazing grocery prices (noticeably less than here), and way too much eating!  My mom cooked some of her favorite recipes, we enjoyed my cousin's grilling and juicing (a-ma-zing), and had some fantastic meals out, too.  (Pappasita's is on my must-do list for our next visit!)

I'm sure I've left some things out, and I know I have more cute photos to post (which I may get around to - or not), but I have to say that I came home so relaxed!  We had a pretty much non-schedule kind of vacation (not the kind where you come home and need a vacation to get over your vacation) and it was wonderful!  The kids really missed Daddy early on - and I was really anxious to get home to him towards the end of our trip!  But I have to say, he looked really well-rested when we got home!

My Day in Food

*Apologies in advance for the crazy spacing.  I just can't figure it out tonight.*

I can't remember what I are for breakfast, but it probably had something to do with those evil chocolate chunk cookies from Costco.  But maybe not, since I had an orthodontist appointment at noon. 

I do remember that I had a late lunch.  I made one of my favorite new recipes - Thai Peanut Noodles from Our Best Bites (which happens to be my favorite online source for recipes right now).  I usually add some stir-fried chicken, but I skipped the chicken today.  And Miss M, who has never eaten it when I cooked with chicken, ate a small bowlful today.  She also helped me cook it, which may have also had something to do with her choice to actually eat it. 

Not only are they mildly spicy noodles in a soy/ginger/peanut/honey/sriracha sauce, it's topped with peanuts, green onions, cilantro, and lime juice.  I was thrilled that she liked it!

Later in the day, I decided I'd give a new recipe a try - something I've been wanting to do for ages.  The kids weren't interested - they were more interested in the painting I was starting, but I was waiting for paint to dry so they found something else to do.



Can you guess what I was making?  It's butter!  (Or, soon-to-be-butter when I snapped this picture.)  The process was very simple, though it took some time and plenty of effort.  I was very pleased with the result!





After the dairy adventure, it was time to start dinner.  I did most of the prep work, and hubs did most of the cooking.  We had sliders and "Aunt LuAnn's potatoes."  Delicious!  The kids recognize the potatoes by the aroma, and always love them.  And even though the kids aren't great meat-eaters, they each finished an entire slider.  I'll call that a success any day!

Dessert?  Oh, yes.  I'm all about dessert lately (see breakfast, above) - probably because of the evil chocolate chunk cookies from Costco.  They are really good smeared with peanut butter....

Not quite so ho-hum lunch

We have fallen into a lunch rut around here. It's fine, as the kids are happy, eating most of what's packed, and not complaining. Today, though, M asked for popcorn. And we have blueberries. So I decided it was a great day to try a new "sandwich" too. Wraps aren't usually successful, but M has already tasted hers (she wants to eat everything in sight this morning) and declared, "Mmm!". I will consider that a success, even if she pulls it apart and brings home bits after school today.

Dinosaur upon request

Sorry you have to turn your head to see the dino!

On the left, M's lunch:
Salt-and-lime popcorn - we love the little bags, which we can share between two lunches with a little left over for Mom - or for second breakfast for the not-so-littles
Dino sandwich - one piece of bread + dino sandwich cutter = two nearly matching sandwich halves, onto which I put soy butter and grape jelly, as requested.
Strawberries - to add a bit of variety since I purchased 4 pounds of grapes earlier in the week
Cucumber slices - the 'veggie of the week' plus a few grapes.

I just realized that I packed forks, but forgot to pack napkins.  Oops!

One the right, J's lunch:
Turkey and cheese on a everything bagel (his current favorite) - cut in half because I believe a sandwich is better that way
Salt-and-lime popcorn - he got a bigger portion because he's pretty well eating everything in sight right now

Strawberries
Cucumbers with Italian dressing for dipping
A few grapes on top of the fork, because there was room (you know, since I forgot the napkin)
Cashew granola bar for snack time in the afternoon

Each kiddo also got a Thermos filled with water (I love that they choose water!).  Stay tuned for the makeover of Miss M's Thermos, coming soon!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We took a little trip this weekend and had a lot of fun - including the zoo, basketball, Mickey and friends, grass stains, and birthday cake!  Happy birthday, Daddy!  (And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!)

"Custom" Snack Mix

The color really does look better on my phone, but that doesn't make it look any better here....

Today the kids had:
Soybutter and jelly sandwich - Again.  By request. (Have I mentioned how sad I am that W@l-M@rt doesn't seem to be carrying their house brand of soybutter anymore?)
Grapes - yum!
Carrot sticks with ranch dressing
"Custom" snack mix - We just toss a few things into that compartment of the lunch box as we pack.  Today's mix was Cheez-Its (and I don't care how bad they are for you, they taste so good!), Craisins, Cinnamon Cheerios, and Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios. 
Mister J also took a banana for his afternoon snack.

I haven't eaten the cinnamon Cheerios yet, but they sure smelled good.  And now I'm hungry, so I think that's what I'll have for lunch.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Packed in a hurry

Whew - the color is terrible!  But here's what's inside:
Soy butter and jelly sandwich
Tangy Carolina Barbeque chips (so good!)
Carrot sticks (no dip for Miss M, hummus for Mister J)
Sliced up mozzarella cheese stick and craisins
Mister J also got a clemetine for his afternoon snack

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Mmmmm......

I'll try to rotate this if I can (grr...)

Pink box - salt and lime popcorn, applesauce, carrots, crackers with mozzerella slices (just a sliced-in-circles cheese stick) and mini turkey pepperoni, strawberry heart marshmallows

Blue box - cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese, mozzerella slices, salt and lime popcorn, apple sauce, carrots with dip, strawberry heart marshmallows

Boo on the pre-packaged applesauce - but at least the preschool classes reuse the cups, and the K-1s collect and recycle them.  I did remember to tuck a spoon under the marshmallows after I snapped the photos!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Bagels and Blueberries

What an awful ,shadowy photo -  but I don't usually break out the fancy cam for lunchboxes anymore. 

On the left - Mister J's lunch.  Blueberries, carrots with dip, strawberry heart marshmallows in the flatware section, and a Costco-sized cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese.  He added a container with Cheez-Its and craisins for snack time. 

On the right - Miss M's lunch.  Half of a Costco-sized wheat bagel with a slice of American cheese, blueberries, celery with dip, a few Cheez-Its, and strawberry marshmallows.

Two things pictured above I wish I could remove from our diet?  American cheese and Cheez-Its.  The one I don't think I can even part with (though I can reduce my consumption)?  The Cheez-Its.  And no, nothing else melts on a grilled cheese like American, but I can pass it up for something healthier (and tastier).

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Adventure Girl!

Miss M was recently invited to a birthday party at a local indoor play area. She got to play video games and skee ball, go bowling, and more! The highlight for her may have been racking up 150+ tickets when we hit the jackpot on the 2nd game we tried, but I was pretty thrilled that she gave the climbing wall a shot. She pronounced herself, "probably not very good at this," when she was done, but she wasn't disappointed at all.
I love my adventure girl!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Swim Day Lunches

Mister J has swimming two mornings a week at school for the next few weeks. I'm packing extra protein in his lunch on swim days.
Turkey and cheese on picks (extra meat below the picks in Mister J's lunch), multi-grain crackers, carrots with dip, blueberries. Water to drink.
Post-school day update:  Mister J's box came home empty, Miss M didn't like the new crackers :(

Stocking Stuffers

I wasn't quite on-the-ball enough this year for us to participate in Operation Christmas Child, but we did choose another giving opportunity to benefit children.  Our local Chick-Fil-As also collect Salvation Army stockings, so we chose to stuff two for children close in age to Mister J and Miss M.

Armed with our lists, I let the kids select most of the items on their own.  When we still had money left over (I'd estimated what it would cost as I planned out budget for the week), I picked up a few more items and surprised the kids with them when it was time to stuff the stockings.  Here's what we ended up with:

Miss M's items for a 3- to 5-year-old girl

Socks, mittens, hat, headbands and ponytail holders, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a book, a puzzle, some lacing cards, flashcards, and a travel-size m@gna-doodle

It's nearly as big as she is!

Mister J's items for a 7ish-year-old boy

Socks, mittens, hat, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a book, three Hot Wh33ls cars, flashcards, hair brush, slinky, juggling beanbags, and bend@roos (truly fun for nearly any age)

That stocking is pretty heavy!

I was so proud of my kiddos for shopping their way down the lists to fill the stockings!  We had to be mindful of finding things that would fit into the stockings, and the kids also thought about some details that they felt would be important to the kids receiving these items: they selected the characters on the toothpaste, toothbrush, books, etc., and chose between different options for the toys, socks, at other items.  Oh, how much fun we had paying for the first round of items and finding we could bless the children with even more goodies!  And then, it was time to drop them off!

The bittersweet part of all of this is teaching our children that not everyone has as much as we have - tangible or intangible.  That there are people out there with few possessions - like warm clothing.  There were tears when we had a real-life example of people without enough food to eat.  We've talked about people who can't afford medical care or who are far from home because their child is very sick.  Thankfully, we are in a position to be able to do something to help - and I hope it's a lesson that lasts a lifetime.

Local Helping Hand {giveaway!}

I enjoy keeping up with local bloggers and tweeters - it's been a great way to learn more about the city we call home (since we didn't grow up here), and a way to make some fun local connections.  Not too long ago, I got connected to our local Ronald McDonald House (web, blog, twitter, Facebook) as they were celebrating a recent expansion.  Just a few days after I started following on twitter, I got the message that they were in need of some pantry items.  As it turned out, our entire family was in Costco at the time, so we added a few things to our cart and made plans to visit the House!

So glad to be here!

Getting ready to unload our goodies!

And now, the RMH has given me some goodies to share with you! 

Yes, those are coupons for free cake squares from Dewey's!  I've got five sets of twenty coupons each, and all you have to do is leave a comment!  I'll award a coupon book to each of  five winners!


To enter:  I'd love to hear ways that you try to teach your children about giving, but any old comment will do.
Extra entries (leave me a separate comment if you do 1, 2, or 3): 
1) Follow @RMHWinstonSalem on twitter
2) Subscribe to the RMH Winston-Salem blog
3) Like the Ronald McDonald House of Winston-Salem on Facebook
4) Send a friend over to leave a comment and enter the giveaway!  If they let me know that you sent them, you will get an extra entry!
The fine print: The coupons have no expiration date (yay!), but since Dewey's is a local business, this giveaway is open to local folks (or those willing to drive here to use them...). 


If you don't know me in real or bloggy life, be sure to leave a way for me to contact you (name at email dot com).  I'll draw the winners on Thursday, December 16th (or maybe use random.org, but I think my kids would have fun drawing the names), and try to contact you by the 17th for your mailing address.  I'll post the winners here, too - so if you didn't win, you know who you need to meet at Dewey's for coffee and cake squares!


By the way, if you don't win - or if one pack just isn't enough - these coupon books are also for sale at the Ronald McDonald House through Christmas.  The booklets are $5 each (remember: 20 coupons in each booklet) and all of the proceeds go to the RMH!  I sent them to school for my son's birthday (no cupcakes allowed at school, but these were a fun substitute!), and they would also make great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers!


Best of luck, readers - I'll be waiting for the comments to start rolling in!

And you can mark that off of your list...

Whee!  Yippee!  Woohoo!  Today's run was the goal race for my 5K training It was 33 degrees when I left my house this morning, and I didn't even notice the cold.  I was crazy excited!  Also, there wind that we've had the last couple of days was gone, so it just didn't seem as cold.

My goal for the training was to run a 5K in 45 minutes.  Today's run results - 43:34 (14:02 pace) - which is pretty consistent with my results from the Thanksgiving 5K. I was thrilled to find these posted just a little while ago!

And here's me - even before I knew the results - celebrating with my running buddy!

So, a few things I've learned in the last twelve weeks:
1) I love to run
2) I'm tougher than I thought
3) Running with a friend is way more fun
4) I get a little crazy when the endorphins kick in
5) Running changes everything!

Pizza, Pudding, and Popcorn

This alliterative lunch theme was a hit with my kids, who helped me pick out the 3rd P item - popcorn.  We had pizza leftover from Sunday - we typically order pizza on big house-cleaning days (which is how we spent Sunday afternoon) - so the kids were excited to have leftovers today.  I suggested the pudding, and asked them what other "p" food I could include.  Perhaps not the most balanced meal, but certainly fun.  I think their lunchtime should be enjoyable, so I played along!  They did enjoy their lunches, and Mister J declared that I "make the best pudding ever!" 

5K Wrap-Up

I'm so glad I decided to do a practice 5K before my goal run next month!  I learned a few important lessons:

1) Running with a group of 200 people is not like running with 100 or so folks at my twice-weekly coached runs.  Especially with many of them are kids.
2) It is very difficult to anticipate which way another runner will move (if at all) when they hear you coming up from behind them.
3) Even on a closed race course, the sound of the police escort motorcycle right behind you will still unnerve you.
4) Running with earbuds in both ears is not necessarily a good plan for me.
5) It's hard to drink a cup of water without spillage - even when walking - so be prepared to wear some of it.  It was definitely worth it anyway.

And confirmed a few things I already knew:
1) It's so much more fun to run with a friend.
2) I really need to hold off on the base layer of long sleeves until the high temp is in the 40s.  I was a little too warm, especially since there was almost no shade on the course.

I'm so glad my husband and kids came along - I have some great photographs and had a great cheering squad!  I'm posting just a couple of photos - because many of them are close-up with photos of other folks I don't know, and because I'm still a bit self-conscious about how I look in my running gear :)

Attaching the timing chip to my shoe.  I was geeking out just a little bit....

Approximately one mile in the course.  Got to see my family again at the 1.5 mile mark - what a treat!

Come to think of it, the kids were using a second camera that morning.  I need to take a peek at the run from their perspective!  I'm sure they also took some shots of the bouncy house they were looking forward to enjoying post-race.  (Update: Lots of closeup self-portraits and photos of the ground [and most of those with Miss M's feet].  Some good shots of the family walking from starting line to mile one to the halfway point and back to the finish. No photos of bouncy house taken by the kids.)

I was really surprised to learn that the timing chip saved me 14 seconds on my time!  The group was large enough that it took me 14 seconds to get across the starting line once the race began.  I opted to start near the back, not knowing how my pace would compare to everyone else's.  I quickly realized that I was a little too far back, pace-wise, but that's just a part of the learning curve, I suppose.

The most exciting thing - besides crossing the finish line - was realizing that I finished nearly 4 minutes faster than my end-of-training goal!  It wasn't my best run - the music threw my pace off a bit, I think, and I got tired early on - but I still did well.  It was also a relatively flat course compared to what I usually run, which probably worked in my favor.  Nevertheless, it gives me a new goal to work towards!

For now, I'm looking forward to running with my running buddies again and sharing the lessons that I learned in my first 5K!

Silly Boy! (also... Overheard #37)

Last Saturday, upon realizing that the knees of his blue jeans were green:

"Oh, man - grass grease!"

October Fun!

Here are just a few of the photos from our trip to the pumpkin patch and a photo of my favorite trick-or-treaters.  I love fall!!!  Enjoy!

 A trip to the pumpkin patch isn't just a chance to pick a pumpkin - there are wagons, a cornstalk 'house' and a place that's set up specifically for taking pictures (which we never end up using). 

 The kids do a lot of running around before we ever start looking at pumpkins.

 See what I mean?  Miss M, in particular, doesn't stop for the camera - at all.

I loved these bumpy pumpkins!   And the regular ones, too.  Fall is my favorite season (but can you call it fall when you wear short sleeves to pick out your pumpkins?).

For Halloween,  the kids dressed up as Optimus Prime and Cinderella.  I have to admit I was a little sad that their costumes were completely store-bought.  I have had so much fun making costumes these past few years - mostly Mister J's, since Miss M has worn some lovely second-hand costumes (until last year when I made her into Angelina Ballerina).  Whether I made it or found it second-hand, there was always some work - and some love - put into each costume.  But - when I realized just how much they loved their costumes and saw them having such a great time getting 'recognized' at each house, I got over my pity party pretty quickly. 

We opted to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood this year (rather than travel around a bit to festivals and family members' homes like last year), and spent about two hours walking around with our neighbors and their two children.  The kids had so much fun together - and the adults had a good time, too!

Mini Subs!

Clockwise from top left:
Apple sticks, can't remember what's in the dip container, 'mini-sub' on a hotdog bun, chocolate chip bunny grahams, grapes.  My kids asked for mayo and mustard on their subs.  I was especially floored that Miss M asked for mayo.