Friday, November 28, 2008

Zoo Lights

The boys and I went to the first night of Zoo Lights tonight. We also were able to get on the first train ride. It sprinkled a bit early on, but then it was pretty dry and not too cold.






Monday, November 24, 2008

Neglect

We are still alive and well...My schedule which includeds Homeschooling, working part-time and trying to run or work out 5-6 days a week keeps me busy. I feel better over-all from the running and working out, but I find I am more tired at night, which is also the time I usually update my blog. I'll give some updates.
Homeschooling
Going well. I do not know what grade level Christian is at, I just know that he is reading. We let him choose the books he wants to read and help him through difficult words. When we are driving, he can read most of the road signs. He is starting to work on multipication. I found this online study that encourages family to incorporate math into daily life and introduce more difficult concepts early by applying them to daily activities. An example...last week we bought pizza and cheesy bread from Papa Murphys. There were six pieces left over. I asked Christian if he wanted to distribute the six pieces evenly and eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, how many pieces would he get for each meal. I put out three pieces of saran wrap out and asked him to distribute. He figured out that he would get two pieces. (I know that is actually division)
I checked out a couple books on playing chess and sat down are read them with Christian. He has taken off with this and wants to play chess all day. He is already beating me.
Liam likes to spend his days listening to the same Thomas the Train stories and songs. He wants us to read him his Thomas books often too. He is going through a big scissors and tape phase. He likes cut things up and tape them back up. He is able to name most of the chess pieces from observing us when we play.
Running & Working Out
I am making steady progress. I did a big run on Wednesday and my legs were very sore and unhappy for a couple days. I had to take it easy Friday and Saturday. Yesturday we all went at the community center. I left first and ran there, David and the boys walked. I was able to run to the center, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, check in and do a mile on the elliptical before David and the boys arrived. I love the elliptical. I have to put it on a high resistance level and incline, but I can do 10-11 minute miles without even pushing myself.
Hen-House Update
I took some bread out to the chickens yesturday and one of our white chickens (who were supposed to be males) ran out of the hen house and grabbed the bread. She could not figure out how to get back it, so I had to pick her up and carry her in. I always thought these chickens were covered in dirt, when I looked at the feathers closely, I realized that it was not dirt, they have black spots on their feathers. I am curious what breed we ended up with. I hope it is an expensive one, since the most expensive chicken we bought last year turned out to be a rooster. It will even everything out. The are finished laying for the winter. They love it when the boys go out and dig up worms from the garden for them.
Christmas and snow themed kits are coming out. I went into the vault and used some of last year's photos to do layouts.


Tracey Monette and Saxon HoltWinter Frost.

Tracey Monette and Mikki LivanosWinter Wonderland

Christmas Traditions by Lindsay Jane Designs

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Another Running update

I have not blogged about my running for a while. I still am running and I feel like I have broken through a wall. In the last week or so, it has become so much easier.
Today, I took Christian to run around the park by his Tae Kwon Do class and when we were running, he was trailing behind me exhausted. What a great change. When Liam runs off from me, I can easily chase after him and catch him. I don't think he understands this yet, he seems so surprised.
I am able to run for about 50 minutes straight. At the community center I turn that resistance and incline to high settings and I can do a mile on it in 11:45.
Mile goal is to get down to a 10 minute mile by August when we do Hood to Coast.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Halloween Weekend

We had a beautiful Halloween night. We all went out with light clothing on. I cannot remember the last time we had a warm, dry Halloween. The boys got lots of candy. I let them each pick out 15 pieces and I chose a few of my favorites then I packed up the rest and gave them to a co-worker of mine who works with the homeless and people in transition.
Here are two layouts...

Credits: Harvest Kitchen by Tracey Monette and Saxon Holt

Credits: Word Art Paper Cutters by Chrissy W. Template and Kit: Family Ties - Elemental Scraps (Team One) November Mega Kit