As Summer Draws to a Close...

...I thought I'd share a few pics from Memorial Day...

After triple digit temps this past week, it hardly felt like Summer was nearly over.  But, with Labor Day creeping up quickly (next weekend!), I guess I need to accept the fact that Fall will soon be here.

Comparing these pics to how the kids look now, it's obvious we've enjoyed the sun this Summer.  Buddy and Sissy are definitely more blonde now and all three kidlets are not nearly as pale.

For the record, we have a really great HOA Community Pool, but because it was Memorial Day, we figured it'd be crowded and bought a cheap pool for the backyard.

Terrific Tuesday!

Actually this is supposed to be my Mamavation Monday post, but here it is Tuesday again so I thought I'd come up with some other alliteration to go with Tuesday...  Though I did have a Terrific week, I'm not attached to terrific and am open to suggestions. :)

The number on the scale yesterday was 134#, a loss of 0.6# from last week, 21# loss from January 2010.  I'm pleased with that considering I didn't keep up with my exercise routine.  Yet, with family visiting, we did a lot of playing and that helped.  I even hit green on my gruve on our Disneyland day (On my long run days I run first thing in the morning, usually hitting green around 10 or 11 miles).  I also tried to not overeat and to be aware of what I put in my mouth.

I got a Tracey Mallett DVD from Netflix.  I'm excited to give it a try this week.  We're "starting" school this week.  I put it in quotes because we actually try a year-round approach to homeschooling, but are going to be hitting the books hard again now.  Which means less time to exercise.  Though I'm near my goal weight (another 10 - 20# to go), I'm not ready to cut back a whole lot on my exercise.  I'm hoping Tracey's DVD helps out with that.

18 days to go until my first half-marathon.  I'm nervously excited!!  Hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

Mamavation Monday on Tuesday

Disneyland January 2008 (I'm 4mo pregnant with Buddy)

Yup, I'm a day behind.  So we'll cut right to the chase: I lost 1.8# and am now at 134.6#.  It would have been nice if I could have at least lost what I gained last week, but that's okay.  At least I'm heading downward again.

This upcoming week will be interesting to see how I fare.  My sister and her family are coming to visit.  We have excursions planned in which I hope to get a lot of walking in (Disneyland) and some planned which aren't big cardio workouts (hanging out on the beach).  So, I'll have to keep a careful eye on what I eat.  Fortunately, we are Penny Pinchers, usually packing lunches rather than eating out and that will help a lot.

Thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement!  It truly helps push me along, especially when the going gets tough.  I hope I can be motivational to you too!

OpenSky & Gracie's Gear Tank

You may or may not have noticed that there had been a countdown clock in the right sidebar.  Now I have my OpenSky Founder's Club Badge.  Yay!!

"What is OpenSky?" you ask.  It is an incredibly cool way to share with you the things I use and love, giving you the opportunity to buy these same things so you can use and love them also!

First up in the shop is this wonderful Gracie's Gear tank. 

I've personally ran 13.1 miles wearing this and I love it!  It's incredibly comfortable.  There is no riding up of the tank like other tanks I use.  It also has the convenient front pouch where I can store my phone while I'm running.  Designed with moisture wicking technology you can sweat like crazy and still look pretty.  Plus, the tank is produced with Chitin, which contains antimicrobial properties.  And that equals reduced running stink odor-causing bacteria.

The cool thing about OpenSky is that you can order this tank directly from my site here by clicking the Add to Cart button below.  No traipsing all over the internet or wasting valuable gas driving to a store!  Awesome...

I even have a coupon for you to use.  Now through August 16th you can get free shipping by using the coupon code FREESHIPPING at checkout.

Stay tuned for more amazing products to come!

Mamavation Monday

I've not weighed myself this week (my weigh-ins are Mondays), but I think I gained.  I'll update this post tomorrow morning with the details.  ETA: Yep, I gained.  I'm at 136.4# now which is a gain of 2.8#, not the 5# I was expecting, but a gain nonetheless. Hopefully I can lose it this week...

The last two weeks have been strange.  As I reported last week, I had missed some workouts and hadn't been eating right due to being out and about a lot.  I didn't mention it in that post, but I also had found out that a childhood friend had lost his lifelong battle with depression.  It floored me.  The last I had spoke with him was 6th grade, yet we had continued on through middle and high school as classmates.  He left behind a beautiful young family.

And so began my spiral downward.  Because I hadn't been eating right or exercising, I didn't have the energy or desire to eat right and exercise.  To quote an overweight Scottish man some of us may know, "I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat. It's a vicious cycle."  

I've struggled with depression at different times throughout my life.  I could feel myself in a funk.  Brad noticed too.  I hate taking medication and I hate feeling that way.  

A few days ago I realized that I have in my arsenal a way to combat the funky feeling.  It's running.  It's my drug of choice.  I started up again Friday and loved the way I felt.  I can feel myself crawling out of the hole I fell in.  Fortunately, I have hands reaching in to help me out of the hole.  Support systems are awesome that way!  Whether they are In Real Life or of the online variety, we all need them.  We're not meant to go through life alone.

Tuesday I begin the Couch to 5k program with some ladies here in my neighborhood.  I already am hitting 13 miles on my weekly long runs, but that's on a treadmill without using inclines.  I'd like to train on the hills here for my half-marathon in September.  I also was hoping to find some running buddies.  I live in a fairly safe neighborhood, but would feel more comfortable running with others.

I hope everyone has had a great week.  If you're able, I'd suggest attending Mamavation tomorrow night as the incredibly awesome Pete Cohen will be there.  Also, I will try to get to the other Mamavation posts.  I unfortunately, have not been as good at that as I would like.  I've received so much support along the way; I really want to share my support with others!

Mamavation Monday

This past week was a crazy busy one.  This SAHM was not at home very much.  I ate out too much and I missed several workouts so I fully expected a gain this morning.  But, I didn't!  I'm now at 133.6#, a 0.8# loss from last week, 21.4# since January.

Part of what helped is the good eating habits I've adopted over the last 7 months.  I tried to make good choices in what I ate and I didn't go overboard with the amount I ate.

The second thing that helped was having my gruve.  Even though I wasn't able to get my workout in some days, I still tried to move enough to hit my calorie burn goal that the gruve had set for me.  It's an awesome little weight loss tool!  I'm sure it's what helped me not gain this past week.

I'm looking forward to the half-marathon I'm going to run in September.  I do run a half on my long runs on Mondays, but it will be cool to officially complete one.

Field Trips

Have you ever ate at Pat and Oscar's?  They have bread sticks that are amazing!!  When I saw that our homeschool group had made arrangements to have a field trip there I knew we had to go. 

They gave us a tour of the kitchen... 

 

(I like to turn the camera over to the girls at times.  It's interesting to see what they find photo-worthy.  Apparently Missy found all the bags of flour cool...) 

After the tour, the kids were able to make 2 large pizzas to share.  The girls had a lot of fun making a pizza.  They also gave us some of the coveted bread sticks.  For the win!!

 

We also recently went to the Western Science Center.  The exhibits "chronicle the environmental and cultural development from the late Pleistocene to modern times" in our region.  I found it really interesting, but Sissy is only 4 years old and in many ways, Missy is a lot like a 4 year old, so it was difficult to keep their attention on anything other than what is hands on.  Though they did find the mastodon, mammoth, and sloth fossils somewhat interesting.

Missy with the structure she built.

 

Sissy built a slide.