Christmas Crazies

The kids are coming down with the Christmas Crazies.

Every year they are given the "Wish Book" in which they are asked to choose a select few Toys to ask Santa for. In years past there wasn't much that they were interested in. But now they want EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING.

The Boo seems especially worse this time around. Every page. Every Barbie, Disney Princess, etc. She ask if she can have it. I tell her maybe. She hears YES.

But I think I finally came up with a way to calm her gimmes down:

The Boo: Mama can I have......list off several different items.
Mama: Tell you what Boo, Santa will bring you every toy you ask for, but then there will be none left for all the other girls and boys. 
The Boo: Oh. I guess I don't need everything then!

She is a smart cookie.

Dance A Thon

Well this morning was the annual Dance A Thon for Con Man and The Boo! They dressed up in their Halloween Costumes (Belle for the Boo and Iron Man for Con).

 They did there own little dances!  It was a lot of fun.

I am sure the kids won't want to take their costumes off for the next five days!

Finding the Time

Is there anyone else out there that seems to never have time for themselves? And I don't mean in a "I need to have an afternoon to myself" kind of way.  I mean in a "can I not SHOWER" kind of way.

This morning began like most off school day mornings.

6:00am - Hubby gets up for work
6:45 - Con Man comes into our room and climbs into bed with me
7:00 - Syd Boo climbs into bed with Con Man and I
7:07 - Cam Man wakes up with his usual morning chant "MAMA MAMA MAMA"
7:45 - Eggs and Cheese Toast are served for breakfast
8:00 - Mama tries to take shower.  And is joined by three munchkins in the process.

This mornings shower time conversation was all about Halloween and whether or not Syd Boo would be going as a Princess - or as something else - which is news to Mama.

Sigh.


School days are a little better.  We walk to school, and then I take Cam Man on a Run with me, come home and put him down for his nap.  Then I can shower alone.  But I often find myself peeking out of the shower, expecting to find someone standing there smiling a goofy smile at me.


I guess at the end of the day I enjoy that time with the kidlets. And I think they do too!
 

The Muffin (Wo)Man

Do you know the Muffin (Wo)Man?

Tomorrow night Mama gets a night off from being a Mama and gets to spend the evening with some amazing ladies.  In my time at work I have met some incredibly strong and funny woman that have become very good friends.  We are all different yet the same. Even though I spend a lot of time at work with these ladies, I very rarely get to see them in "the real world". So one of them is arranging a "Twilight" night.  It should be a blast!

I agreed to bake something to bring, along with the movies.  Since I am busy all day tomorrow, I bit the bullet and made the cupcakes today while Con Man and The Boo were in school.  While Cam Man was napping I set forth to make "Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing".

If you know me well, you know I LOVE TO BAKE. Christmas is an especially awesome time of the year. So I wasn't really worried when I began.  I am not sure I will be making this recipe again though.  But there are a few things I will do differently if I decide to try again:

• Wear clothing that you would never wear in public.  Because Red Food Coloring leaves a nice permanent mark.
• Also remember to turn OFF the electric mixer.  Do not turn it UP, as that creates a red MESS all over the place
• You are not Martha Stewart, so do not attempt to ice the cupcakes like her.

I swear, they will taste better than they look, I PROMISE!

The Boo's Birthday

Not so long ago, The Hubby and I were never sure we would be able to have kids.  Now we look around and see we are blessed with THREE beautiful children.  And in less than 5 years!  We count our blessings everyday.

The Boo will be turning 4 in October.  I can hardly believe it.  Seems like just yesterday she was born, out like a champagne cork!

Hubby and I always agreed that we would never be those parents that spend a ton of money on parties and things for our kids when the time came.  Just a nice quiet party, maybe a few friends and family.

The Boo began school this fall.  And she came to us last week.

The Boo: "Mama?"
Me: "Yes Boo"
The Boo: "Can I have a party for my birthday this year?"
Me: "Of Course Boo, what would you like to do?"
The Boo: "I would like to have all my friends from school come. Please!"
Mama: "GULP"

So Hubby and I are going to be having a party at a local kids gym for The Boo, her siblings, cousins and 19 of her CLOSEST friends.  Because we can't leave anyone out.

Wish us luck.

Adventures in Halloween Costumes

Well Fall is upon us.  Thanksgiving here in Canada is right around the corner.  And then comes HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Even more than Christmas.  We decorate the house up and have even been known to have a Halloween party or two!  And with The Boo celebrating her birthday before and I the day after, it makes it even more festive!

This weekend the hunt was on for this year's costumes.  We had done a little research online first.  Cam Man was easy: Thomas The Tank Engine.  He is on a big Thomas kick right now.

Con Man was a little more of a challenge.  He wanted to be a Superhero.  But which one? He finally decided on Iron Man, with a Mask and all. He is going to look pretty cool.

The Boo..............

She was another story entirely.

The Boo wants to be a princess.  Ok, no problem.  She has A TON of princess dress up clothes that would suit just fine.  But of course, she doesn't want to be a PINK princess.  No.  She wants to be Belle from "Beauty and The Beast".  YELLOW Belle.  So after two stores we were finally able to find the costume she wanted.

Why do I have feelings of dread when thinking of Prom Dress shopping.............

Once More With Feeling

I was lying in bed last night thinking to myself:

"Sarah, you haven't updated your blog in so LONG".

There is always so much going on in my brain.  What bills to pay when? What will I do at the gym tomorrow? Do I have to pick up anything for the kids for school? It never really stops. 

Then I thought about it and decided that this blog would undertake a makeover of sorts. Gone are the days where I can spend hours pouring over what races I am going to be running, how much weight I want to lose or which clinic I am going to be teaching next.

I have somehow managed to become a full time Mom overnight.  Con Man and The Boo are both in school now, which brings with it a whole new aspect.  And twice a week (and alternate Fridays) its just me and the Cam Man.  So yes, I am still running and yes, I still love it.  But so much happens outside of that, and I wanted to share it with all of you!

And the adventures we have on a day to day basis!  So I decided I would use this blog as a way to help me through the joys and hurdles that I seem to encounter.  And to talk out the things that are keeping me up at night.

So I hope you will all continue to follow my adventures.  And the adventures of the family!

Wednesday

So one full week into my half marathon training and I feel ok! I have managed to fit in all my runs, and even did my long run. I really wish we could afford to buy a treadmill for our room, since we managed to clear out a lot of crap in the last few weeks! Sometimes running in the cold is sucky!

And I lost another 3.6 pounds this week and a 5% total so far! So I am aiming for my 10% and hopefully will see it sooner rather than later!

This week has another 3k, 4k, 3k and a 7k long run on Sunday morning. I am also running with my Learn to Run as well. The cold this weekend was brutal, but I think its over for the most part and we can move onto warmers days (if you feel like -5 is warm!)

So Far So Good

Apparently yesterday was the most DEPRESSING day of the entire year. Being the 1st Monday of the first full week of a new year. I wasn't particularly depressed myself, but I can see how some people would find it to be!

I have had success again at Weight Watchers. Two weeks in and I have already lost a total of 10 pounds! I am very pleased.

My Half Marathon training is about to begin, which is making me a little nervous. I have a goal and I hope to achieve it!

This past weekend was tough in our Running Room Family. A friend and colleague of ours passed away suddenly. It was a reminder to me that life really is a gift that you can't squander away or take advantage of. He lived everyday to the fullest and was an amazing person. RIP Shawn.......

HAPPY 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

So after some requests (Hi Jason! Hi Connie!) I have decided to make a better effort to update my blog again! I didn't mean to stay away for so long on purpose, but last fall was an insane time around here. Colin SMASHED his Marathon PB by almost 54 minutes (!) at the Toronto Marathon! And I became the Assistant Manager at the store. Which pretty much meant I worked ALL. THE. TIME.

So now here we are! 2011. When did this happen. A few things are going on, that I think I should mention:

I started back to Weight Watchers in the new year. You can go back and read all about my past exploits with WW, but for me it was the only thing that EVER worked. And I find with the amount of exercise I am doing right now, I am better able to keep track of what I eat. The new PointsPlus system is marvelous, especially since ALL FRUIT IS 0 POINTS! Woohoo. Now I will definitely reach for that apple or banana! I am keeping my Monday Weight In, since it keeps me on track over the weekend, especially at work (HELLO STARBUCKS and South Street Burger!)

I am also teaching this rounds Learn to Run. I love teaching this clinic, but especially at this time of year. They are all so eager to Learn to Run.

My half marathon training begins January 27th. Its on the fridge, calling to me. I am so excited about this one. Its going to be a blast!

I hope everyone still enjoys reading. I promise to keep it up more often!