i can do hard things

It's hard.
Really hard.
and yet, I still desire to get out and do it.
whenever I hear my "running songs" I yearn to be out running.
but, it's hard.
like really hard.

i have started Couchto5K over and am on week 4.
only this time i get to run while pushing 95 pounds of wonderful kids.
so, today we needed to return some movies to the library. why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say.

we set out.
i thought, I can do this.
but, it was hard.
really hard.
i didn't quite run all the time i should have, but i did almost all.
and between running and walking, we made it down 1.2 miles to the library, and back 1.2 miles home.

and now, i am exhausted.

here's to tomorrow, because i know i can do hard things!!!

6 quick things+1 funny

1. We went camping over the weekend with family and friends. Despite the cold/raining/snowing weather, we had a wonderful time! We had 3 trailers to use as our shelter, so we really didn't feel like we were stepping all over each other. I can't wait to go again.
2. The tire almost blew up while driving to our destination. We noticed the truck was vibrating really bad. So we went to get the spare off to use instead, and it was burned up from the muffler. Seriously, burned all the way down to the metal. It took us 5 1/2 hours to complete a 2 1/4 hour drive. However, the kids were amazing, and we are so grateful to our friends for being so accommodating to the change of plans since it took us so long to get there.
3. While camping, my BIL set up a "Top Shot" style shooting course for all who wanted to participate. {K} took my spot and had such fun! After, he shot a .22 and hit the target 9 out of 10 times. I couldn't believe it! He was completely unassisted. {A} shot 4 blackbirds with his BB gun. It was so fun to watch them succeed!
4. I shot a pistol this weekend as well. It scared the bejeessers out of me! But, I think I might like to try it again. :)
5. It's the last week of school, so while I was at the school volunteering today, the boys and I gave their teachers their end of year gift. Each of them got an IPOD. We found them used on craigslist and they were both so excited to have an easy way to have kid appropriate music available at the touch of their fingers. It was fun to see them light up at such a cool gift.  The boys were pretty excited about it.
6. I am so grateful to my friend {M} who watched my kids all year so I could volunteer. That is such an important thing to me and I so appreciate her!! (I am super sad she moved, and am praying that she gets to come back, soon!!)
1 Funny:  The other day {K} climbed into the van and noticed the 1st Aid Kit I have in there. He wanted to know if I keep band-aids in it. I told him yes. Then he asked me if there was such thing as a 2nd Aid Kit!! Ha Ha. That kid is hilarious!!

6 quick things (well, ok, only 4)

1. I went running this morning. It's hard. I run with a double stroller and about 55 pounds worth of kiddos strapped in. I decided to restart couchto5k at week 3 with the hopes that I can build up my endurance since I am running with the stroller. It's going ok.
2. We are making plans for a family vacation early June. We don't want to travel more than a few hours from home. We plan to camp. Where should we go?
3. Mother's Day was nice. Two adorable gifts and breakfast in bed. {K} made a mug decorated by him, and {A} painted a really pretty vase with flowers in it. They then had the painting laminated.
4. {a} has one chore. Empty the Dishwasher. She earns $.50 each time. It's a FIGHT nearly every day.
5. guess I only have 4 things to talk about this time...

6 quick things.

Saw the idea of 6 quick things today on another blog, and thought, that is something I could do. Get some thoughts out there, share what's up with us without the pressure of any pictures. We'll see how it goes...

1. DH is out of town for business, again. It feels like a very regular occurrence lately.
2. Next weekend is Scout Overnighter, again. It definitely is a very regular occurrence. (for the past 4 years)
3. {k} is crazy busy. He REALLY wanted to go outside today in the pouring rain, so I let him. I honestly thought he would stay on the covered patio and play on a bike or in a car or something like that. He didn't stay on the patio. He meandered all over the back yard, through the mud, to the rocks, all without socks, shoes, or a jacket. Silly boy was loving life. He told me it was "wet".
4. {a} can't hardly wait for preschool. She knows that it will start after {K}'s birthday. His bday is the middle of July, and preschool starts after Labor Day. It was the closest milestone I could think of.
5. I have been baking up a storm lately, and have really been enjoying it.
6. {A} got some great news recently. It meant some big conversations between DH and I. Not ready to share, but it means a fairly large change for him in the coming months.

{A} turned 9

I just noticed that I haven't posted about {A's} 9th birthday. We had a fun, little family party. He got a bb gun among other things, but that certainly was the highlight.

{A} is a delightful young man. We love having him as a part of our family. He is super smart and motivated at school, which is such a fun thing to watch. It is a delight to watch him learn and grow and be so excited about neat things he learns at school. He just took his ISATS and scored very well. (I am amazed they have those tests on the computer and know their results as soon as they have completed the test. Isn't technology amazing?)

{A} loves scouts and is part of the Bear Den now. He is working hard to earn his bear patch. We signed {A} and {K} up for a short 5-week Chess class, and they are both excited to become better chess players. Love you, {A}!!

{k}'s blanket broke

so {k} has attached himself to one particular blanket, and one particular corner of that blanket. It is really quite gross. He sucks on it, sticks it in his ear, eyes and nose. It was very ratty. So, I cut it off. I sewed up the corner on his blanket, and he really doesn't seem to care. The video is cute.

He says quite a few things now. "oke" broke, "up" cup, "uh-uh" for yes or no(he now will nod his head to agree when he wants something), "nore" more, "ball" ball, "u-key" monkey. eta: "ninner" dinner, "um" some, "um" yum, "eese" cheese.
He received an adorable stuffed monkey for Christmas and has totally attached himself to it. It's really cute how much he loves it.

He is 20 months old now. He loves nursery and being funny. He is silly and loves to laugh. I can already tell he is going to be hilarious and a joker/teaser when he grows up. Much like {K} and his Dad. :)

check in

so it's been 4 weeks since I began the Newlyweds on a Budget weight loss challenge. and since then, I have lost 6 lbs. It's been an up and down battle, but for now, 6 lbs is 6 lbs!! I seem to have lost momentum, but I am hoping to find some more really soon. :)

seeing changes...

This year I am working on being mindful. For the month of January, I am specifically working on saying my morning prayers. I have been HORRIBLE at this the past few years, but I have decided that one main goal for me this year is to get to know my Heavenly Father better. The best way I could think of was to talk to him. So, I am using Sister Beck's advice, and literally rolling out of bed each morning and saying my prayers before my feet even hit the floor.
I am so happy to report that I have seen a noticeable difference since I started doing this. First, I am actually remembering, and then actually taking the time to say my prayers. I have also noticed a change in my days. I feel more relaxed and kind. I am so grateful.

Also, I started using MyFitnessPal.com It is a wonderful calorie counting website. I understand it is similar to the Weight Watchers online program, only this site is free. I have a whole new understanding and appreciation for calories. It tracks my food/water intake and also tracks my exercise. I am seeing numbers change on the scale!! :)

i joined...

I am declaring my commitment to losing 10 pounds in the next 12 weeks. I am excited to see how much I can lose and what changes I can make to make myself healthier. Plus, there is a chance I can win $$$! Who doesn't love an incentive like that? :)

ONE LITTLE WORD

So I have a few things to post about, but I will try to get to those in the next few days. But, for today, I want to tell you my 'One Little Word' for 2012.

I have chosen MINDFUL as my word for this year. When I was doing research on a couple different words, I found the following:

What is mindfulness?

I like Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness.

“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way;

On purpose,
in the present moment, and
nonjudgmentally.”

Kabat-Zinn, if you haven’t heard of him, is a famous teacher of mindfulness meditation and the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

First of all, mindfulness involves paying attention “on purpose”. Mindfulness involves a conscious direction of our awareness. We sometimes (me included) talk about “mindfulness” and “awareness” as if they were interchangeable terms, but that’s not a good habit to get into. I may be aware I’m irritable, but that wouldn’t mean I was being mindful of my irritability. In order to be mindful I have to be purposefully aware of myself, not just vaguely and habitually aware. Knowing that you are eating is not the same as eating mindfully.

Let’s take that example of eating and look at it a bit further. When we are purposefully aware of eating, we are consciously being aware of the process of eating. We’re deliberately noticing the sensations and our responses to those sensations. We’re noticing the mind wandering, and when it does wander we purposefully bring our attention back.

When we’re eating unmindfully we may in theory be aware of what we’re doing, but we’re probably thinking about a hundred and one other things at the same time, and we may also be watching TV, talking, or reading — or even all three! So a very small part of our awareness is absorbed with eating, and we may be only barely aware of the physical sensations and even less aware of our thoughts and emotions.

Because we’re only dimly aware of our thoughts, they wander in an unrestricted way. There’s no conscious attempt to bring our attention back to our eating. There’s no purposefulness.

This purposefulness is a very important part of mindfulness. Having the purpose of staying with our experience, whether that’s the breath, or a particular emotion, or something as simple as eating, means that we are actively shaping the mind.

Left to itself the mind wanders through all kinds of thoughts — including thoughts expressing anger, craving, depression, revenge, self-pity, etc. As we indulge in these kinds of thoughts we reinforce those emotions in our hearts and cause ourselves to suffer.

By purposefully directing our awareness away from such thoughts and towards some “anchor” we decrease their effect on our lives and we create instead a space of freedom where calmness and contentment can grow.

This article gave me complete pause. I want/need to be more in tune with my thoughts, actions, and words. I desire to be more mindful of my food intake, my movement(calories out), my marriage and all that that entails, my children and their needs and my spiritual growth. This will be a great year for me! I am committed to running atleast one 5k this year. I will improve in my marriage. I will become a better/more involved mother. I am going to get to know my Heavenly Father this year. All of these goals are big for me. They will require thought, and effort and committment. However, they are also necessary. Necessary in many ways. I am still working on BECOMING--a word I chose a few years ago. I am still working on WHISPER, and COMPLETE. With all of these words as mine to use, I am being more mindful of all I do and say.

So, with that, I give you MINDFUL.

mind·ful (mndfl)adj. Attentive; heedful: always mindful of family responsibilities.

My 'One Little Word' for 2012.

quick update

I can't believe it's been since July that I have posted. Here is a quick update of life around here since then. School started. {A} is in 3rd grade and is loving it! He finally lost his first tooth early in the summer. And not long after school started he lost his 2 front top teeth. He is working to earn an allowance. His goals for allowance are to make kinder choices and to not have attitude toward Mom or Dad. He has tried for about 3 months and has made wonderful progress. He will earn his first payday tomorrow. {K} is in 1st grade and is doing very well! He is quite the reader. He works so hard every day. I am amazed at his reading skills. {a} is in a music and movement class right now and after about 6 weeks of class, she is finally warming up to being there. Thank goodness there are 2 classes left for her to show the class her fun personality. She has recently learned to write her name. She is quite the corker. {k} is 16 months. I can hardly wait for nursery so I can actually join even 1 hour of class at church. He is SO busy, and SO noisy. But, he is also fun and funny and loves being the center of attention.

budding photographers, and burned hand

Recently, I let 3 of my kiddos have a chance to take pictures around our yard. It was fun to see what they found important enough to take pictures of. Here are my 1 fav from each child.

The Tree by {A}
Corn by {K}
Baby by {a}









Also, I wanted to mention for journaling reasons, that {k} had his hand burned recently. We had a hot small bbq grill out, and he touched it with his right hand. It blistered right away, and popped that evening. He has had it wrapped in a bandage for a week now, but seems to be healing nicely. Poor little guy. We feel so horrible, but are grateful there shouldn't be any scars.

I DID IT!

As a bonus item for my COMPLETE word this year, I COMPLETED a 5k run this weekend. It was hard, exhausting, and exhilerating! My Sister-in-law came in from out of town to run with me, and I am so grateful! She is such a positive, fun running partner, and I am so grateful she was there to talk me up when I was ready to quit! We ran our race in 36 minutes, which I am VERY proud of, considering we walked about 2 minutes during the course of the run. Thank you {J} for joining me! Let's plan our next race!
I am especially proud of the fact that I actually followed through on something I started. This seems to be a difficult thing in my life, so I am excited that I finished this goal! I began training this spring, maybe around 16 weeks ago, and worked really hard to be ready for this day. Running has been something I have wanted to try for a while now, and finally decided I would give it a try. A friend suggested I try 'Couch-to-5k' and it worked like a charm! I am still in awe that I can run that far in such a short training period! To make things even crazier in my brain, I have decided that I enjoy this running business. WEIRD! :) I doubt I will ever find the desire to run longer distances, but I suppose crazier things have happened. :)
I appologize to all those I didn't tell, sorry gma, but I really was ok with not telling too many people. That way, I didn't have to be accountable to them, I guess. However, I will make it known, that I plan to sign up for a Women's Race coming up in Sept. I had better hit the pavement hard, because this race has a killer hill in it! :)

{K} turns 6!

Happy Birthday to my adorable {K}. He turns 6 this week, and we had a party for him over the weekend. It was fun to have extra family in town to celebrate with us!

{K} is a fun loving, happy boy. He is also, however, a bit sensitive and cries easily. He is super excited to be a first grader, and LOVES his little brother. He enjoys playing pokemon and bakugon with his big brother and tormenting his little sister. {K} will start piano lessons soon and we are hoping that will help him become more confident in front of others. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOBES!!