Mikah prays

Mikah has been watching us say family prayer. She does not participate much, she is just there. Lately she has decided that she can pray too. The kids will kneel down and then bow their head all the way to the ground. (it is a sort of lazy way to pray).. so Mikah has the idea that you need to be close to the ground. She will get on all fours and put her head to the ground and then mumble. The first part sounds like "Heavenly Father" and she will go on. I asked her to say her prayers while I was changing her pants this morning. She closed her eyes and stared out her little prayer. At church I told her to fold her arms because they were saying a prayer. Right away she went on to pray out loud!

Mikah also enjoys singing with the kids and with movies. She is a fan of spinning circles. I remember when Maes was learning to turn circles. She would look at us while turning (to make sure we were watching?) Mikah is spinning just for her personal enjoyment. She could care less if she has an audience. It is fun watching my kids grow.. and to see how they are so different.

body image of a 6 year old.

Recently Maesyn has made comments such as:
"This makes me look fat!"
and "Will this (peanut butter) make me fat? I don't want to be fat."
I asked her why she did not want to be fat and she said because it would make her look Nerdy.

We had a little talk about it. I told her that she did not want to get fat because it is not healthy. And that some people can be very thin and still unhealthy and some people can be bigger and are still healthy. We talked about eating the right kinds of food for your body, which led to discussions about the digestive tract. We also talked about getting enough of each type of food and made a chart for each kid that they could cross off when they eat foods from each of the food groups. (a box for each portion they had).

Her recent comments made me wonder if I might have put some of those ideas in her head. My comments about running so I don't turn into a "fatty" and such. I must say, my primary motivation in running is not because I do not want to gain weight (although, it is probably my very close secondary). If I only wished to be thin then I would probably do other exercises and have a really focused diet. I happen to love running and getting faster!

In the name of vanity, I have begun some other exercises to have a nicer bum and more defined arms. (however - i'd love to find some at home weight lifting that would also help improve my performance...faster faster).

Recently I have really be reevaluating my diet. I have been reading a book that talks about our racing weight (previous post) and how it can effect performance. This motivates me even further to get my body fat percentage down. Of course I will loose a few pounds and have a more athletic figure (bonus). We are eating more whole foods and I am tracking all of my calories. Primary purpose=optimize my performance! Other benifts= way healthier body, less fatigue, more energy and of course better physique.

Maes asked why we never have white bread. I explained that it is better to eat whole wheat. (and I am a big label reader- more so now than before- looking for things such as hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup- and 100% whole grains) I need to make sure that I use vocabulary that emphasizes the healthy benefits of our diet and being good to our bodies and make it seem that we do it all so we can be "skinny".

There is this big concern that young girls will develop eating disorders, but in America (and I'd have to research to get exact numbers)- our children are over weight, and I believe that over half of the population is obese.. and this extra weight is killing Americans.

I just need to make sure that I am maintaining a healthy home... both with nutrition, the way i treat my kids and the ides that I put into their heads (weather verbally or through my behavior)

Training Books

With so many books out there about running, it is hard to choose something to use as a guide line for training, nutrition, ect. I take a very scientific approach to it (haha).. when my friend Becky recommends a book, I usually buy it. It is nice to be on the same page as those you are training with. A husband of one of our running partners mentioned that Becky is the one that sort of cracks the whip in our group. I would say so. I think of her as the ring leader. She sends all the texts as far as where we will be running the next morning. Amy is the brains. She loves numbers and tracking her splits and telling us how fast we need to be running. Our program has pace, but we always ask Amy. She is the fastest by far, and really gets us moving. She trained with a coach and kept her notes. She is turning us on to our heart rate (well me at least- Becky is more experienced with it than I). I guess I would say I'm second in command. If Becky is out of town, then I'm more than willing to call the shots. Maybe I'm just bossy.

Here are some reads of mine.

I have not read this entire book. I will eventually ( i think I'll take it to Florida in May with me). We use an awesome pre race carb load plan from this book. I have read a lot of this book. The carb load really truly helped us at St. George last year!

I am devouring this book right now! I cannot wait to get through it. I want to perform my best this year and qualify for Boston. I have found that i'm in a good place with my wight and body fat. It is lower than over half the people my age. So I am just above the middle. Your peak performance weight is not where you want to be all the time. I need to loose 4.5% of my body fat and 6.5 lbs to be at that point. I am mostly concerned with my body fat percent getting down.. the weight will come with it (obviously). When you are not training it is fine to gain up to 8% of you peak performance weight. I am just 6.5 lbs over racing weight, so I should not be discouraged with my current weight. I am in training though. But i don't think I will ever really gain much higher than recommended. As it is with exercise. I do want to work on my diet. I don't think we will be having a year supply of white flour in our home. I cannot wait to read more about the nutrition part. Having a little more money will help (Nate's raise). I do have some concern though. I have hung onto about 5lbs for a while now. My weight is in an area that is harder to loose. I think changes to my diet will help. I am using livestrong.com to track my calorie intake and percentages of fat, protein and carbs I take in. I may change things as I get through the book some more, but tracking is an excellent way to stay on top of things and not over do it! I love sweets.
We are using this program for our training. It has programs with charts for every distance. And then individual charts to BQ (so you don't have to flip back and forth looking for pace). You run 3 days (speed, tempo, long) and cx 2 days. I am swimming. I throw in Yoga and some aerobic weight lifting at home (but I'd like to find a good book that focuses on cross training- specifically weight training) for runners. But something you don't need more than free weights to do. The 3 days of running is new to me. It almost killed me to go down to just 4. But the cross training helps to keep my fitness up and I know that this should prolong my running days! Less impact.

Our up coming races:
Feb 12- Ethan's run- 1/2 marathon. Just me- and not to race hard. The rest of the fam will do the fun run
March 19- Canyonlands 1/2 marathon. the girls. going for 1:45!
April - Pat's run (the family)?
Apil- Warrior Dash (nate and i)?
May Whiskey Row half ?
June- Pinedale run to the bridge...I just think i'll do the fun run with the family.
June - start training for st. george
September - white mtn. 1/2 marathon?
October st. george full marathon

lots of question marks...races cost a lot so i don't think we will do them all.. especially the ones with ? by them. the ones without are ones i believe we will do.

4-H Colorado River

Maesyn has joined the local 4H. We have meetings once a month and she is learning how to show her bunny. She won't really be able to participate in the shows until she is about 9, unless they have a "little clover" division. I'd say by the time she is 9 she will be an expert.

These are all the Junior and Novice girls from our club- and Maesyn, she would be classified as a Clover Kid (i think)

Our friends, the Clarks, watch our bunny when we are out of town, and Sarah got to show our bunny for showmanship at this event.

We got up early on Saturday and drove a little over 4 hours to Prescott valley. When we arrived we saw that all of the people in our group had camp chairs, tarps and ice chests. They were there for the day!!! We brought some car snacks, and the bunny! The show was over the weekend, but we only planned to stay for Saturday. I was even thinking we'd find a cute little diner for lunch! NO WAY. We got there before 10 and did not leave until 3 or later! Sarah's part was about 20 minutes tops! She was the last group to show!

It was a great learning experience, and she got a tiny bunny of her own- and the girls seemed to have a really nice time (even though we spent so much time in the car!).

Next time, I don't think we will be driving so far for a show! We will stick to the close places!

These are all the girls from our club that were at the show.

At the show it seemed that a lot of the mothers enjoyed talking about the bunnies (well, one mother in particular). I bet they could have, and did, enjoy bunny conversations all weekend. Amy and I likened it to maybe being at an expo before a race and our running talk. Others might be bored to death to talk running so much, but I think the majority of our 8 hour car conversation was based on running! ha ha ha.

cozy fire

There is just something about a nice warm fire! Here we are roasting Marshmallows for Family Home Evening.

There is just something about a nice warm fire! Here we are roasting Marshmallows for Family Home Evening.

Our new house does not have a fire place or a wood stove. It will be bitter sweet not to have one...bitter b/c they are so cozy. We have enjoyed getting wood and I don't mind stacking it outside. I love the money we save by heating our wood with wood too. However, It will be nice to just click a button and have the house get warmer rather than waking up to go downstairs to a fridged house and stoke the fire!

I think that I'd like to install a wood stove in the new house eventually. We need to price it out and then add it to the 5 (or maybe 10) year plan!

Anticipation

I'm sitting in our rental house with anticipation. Our verbal offer on the home we love has been accepted. It is a short sale, and we have to jump through the hoops and it is a slow process. I just want a closing date - then we sign papers and it will be under contract.

I struggle that I might be feeling worldly. I know that having things and having the things look the way you want is all about material things, and it should not effect my happiness, or my state of mind... but to an extent it does.

I am tossing around paint colors, dreading the ugly counter tops and wondering if we will be able to afford to replace them sooner than later. (while also wanting to have a road bike by late spring!)- all the while feeling too materialistic.

I just cannot wait to have a home that is mine, that I know I will live in for over a year. A home to paint and decorate and then just sit and relax and play with my kids or read a book. And this summer, I will enjoy watching my kids enjoy the big, grassy back yard. And then buy a nice play gym for them (and the torment on if I can afford a bike too!)... Can you tell, I want a road bike?

Winter Fun

We got our first snow right around Thanksgiving. Thankfully we decided to drive home early. There were just a few inches expected, but once those few inches froze to the road it was a mess. We slid off the road 2 times not more than a few miles from our front door!

Mikah experienced our first winter up here last year, but I am certain she does not remember. Here is her reaction to the white stuff!We got another big snow storm right before the new year. It was our plan to head out as soon as we got home. We met our friends The Clarks, to sled. Mikah was not a fan at all. I am sure we will take her again this year... but if she hates it i'd rather sit with her in our warm home than sit with her on the cold snow!
She does enjoy going out the back door and grabbing some snow to eat though!

Maesyn is in a singing group up here. She enjoys it a lot and does well and memorizing the songs and the actions. I have to be honest that I was less than thrilled that they had 4 performances in December and some extra practices and a party. That is a lot of extra stuff to do in December with other family activities... And I just have one kids that does extra curricular stuff!
Oh, I am complaining.

She also sang with her class and we got to come and support her!
Here is the evidence of how great she is in front of an audience!

Let's get this Party Started...Resolutions? Themes?

Ok...that Black Eyed Pea's Song happens to be on my running play list, and it is nothing I would listen to normally, but it really gets be going.

I don't have any resolutions this year. Well, we are planning on writing them down for Family Home evening next week..then I guess they will be official. Or I could write them here.
1. Read the Book of Mormon 3 times. Nate has 4 and that means 6 pages a day. I am not great at keeping up.. (i missed last night) so I though3 times would be more realistic for me.
2. Read 4 books a day to Jake..except when he is busy playing with friends.
3. hmmm. i forget. i guess i'll write the families list here next week.


It seems like the theme for the year for lost of people is to SIMPLIFY. it seems so cliche and I don't want to be cliche. but it is my theme too i guess!

We are likely to move into our new house in the middle of Feburary...well...the end. I have some great ideas to make things go better. Well...just one.. And I'm actually starting it right now.
I plan on having each kid have one plate, one bowl and one cup! Then I'm not washing like mad! I am currently putting away all the extras right now!
In addition I plan to get rid of my second set of pots and pans and my second wok.. we will fill our shop with garage sale items as we move in and realize how we can do with out things. I get attached to things. So I will hold on to stuff as well.. and put it in storage. I will just have place settings for our family (plus 2) and same with cups and mugs and such! It will surely cut down on dish washing and kitchen messes.
I think we will garage sale in April or May. It will be nice weather then and we will have a taste of what we need and what we don't need in the house.
yahoo.
i'll get the kids excited by knowing that they get to keep the money from the things they sell.

I have some plans..not goals or resolutions.
I plan on running Moab in March.
St. George in October (and hope to qualify for boston)
I will throw in some smaller races here and there for fun i think.

We would like to get our house painted and carpeted before we move in
we would like to get some sort of jungle gym for the back yard. (tax return money)
I would like to lose 5 to 10 lbs.
ha ha
well, here is to the new year.