The Warrior Dash. OUCH!

So, I got this bright idea to sign up for a race called the Warrior Dash. This is not any ol' run! The website calls it "the craziest frikin' day of your life!" There is fire, mud, water and beer!

One one problem, I don't run! Not only do I not run but I also have not stepped foot into any sort of gym since I found out I was preggo with Miss Malia. This is going to hurt. If fact, it already does! Good God. What I have gotten myself into????

I had asked my Dad to run it with me since it has been a long time since we have done anything just the two of us. He agreed since we have a while to train. One Brian (The hubster) got wind of the race he wanted in two. Here is the catch he wants to build his own little team to try and beat my Dad and I! He decided to recruit my cousin (and BFF) Jessica.

IT IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!

I am only on my second week of training and I can tell that is may be a bit of a challenge for me. Good think I am willing to accept that challange. I will keep you updated on how this whole 5K challenge goes.

Please pray for me. I don't want to die out there :)

And these kids continue to grow!

I think we often take for granted how wonderful it is for Alyssa to grow up in the same community that Brian and I did. Most of Alyssa's friends are kids that she has gone to school with since she was 3 years old. She has know these kids longer than she hasn't! One of her best friends is the daughter of someone that Brian and I went to school with. In fact, Brian was even on her t-ball team growing up.

The point of all of this? Alyssa and her friend Lauryn have grown up together and these two crack me up!

This morning they decided to wear matching t-shirts to school. They decided this before they left school on Friday. The morning started with Lauryn's Mom and I texting back and forth since the girls wanted to make sure that the outfits matched just right. They are too funny! I had Sara (Lauryn's Mom) take a picture of them at school (she is a teacher there). I am shocked at how big they look. I had to go back and look at some pictures of them through the years and it kind of makes me sappy.

Here they are this morning:

The first day of 2nd Grade in August 2010:

The first day of kindergarten:

Preschool gymnastics (please note Alyssa's I love New Kids on the Block shirt, lol):

What do these kids think they are doing growing up????

What do you want to do before you die?

Have you ever thought of making a bucket list? Well I started with 50. I wonder if I will ever come close to marking all of these off my list.

1. Visit Washington DC and visit the museums and monuments
2. Learn to wakeboard
3. Grow a successful garden
4. Fly in first class
5. Have a food fight
6. Visit New York City at Christmas time
7. Send a message in a bottle
8. See the real Terra Cotta Warriors in China
9. Mail a secret to Post Secret
10. Volunteer in a soup kitchen on Christmas eve
11. Finish my nursing degree
12. Run a half marathon
13. Attend Mardi Gra
14. Learn to sew something other than things with straight lines
15. Take an RV trip across the United States
16. Have boudoir photos taken
17. Take my girls to Disney World!
18. Learn to snowboard
19. Pay for a strangers groceries
20. Have a bonfire on the beach
21. Protest something
22. Skinny dip
23. Visit all 50 states
24. Take a ballroom dance class
25. Learn sign language
26. Have a snow ball fight
27. Make a quilt
28. Take 1 picture a day of each of my girls for one year
29. Walk on a warm beach at sunset
30. Learn to fold origami
31. Compile my family tree
32. Go fishing
33. Play in the rain
34. Take a cooking class
35. Sew my own curtains
36. See a Banksy piece in person
37. See the Grand Canyon
38. Ride every ride at Disneyland
39. Should I have another child, try unmedicated childbirth
40. Visit Mount Rushmore
41. Learn more about wine
42. Attend a luau
43. Ride in a horse-drawn carriage
44. Travel somewhere by train
45. Own a horse
46. Walk the Susan G. Komen 3 day walk
47. Visit the USS Arizona Memorial
48. Have grandchildren
49. Zip-line
50. Be a tourist in San Francisco

If you have a bucket list I would love to see it. Post the link!

Haaaaa, ha, ha!

So.. embarassing moment today...

I realized AFTER I was done pumping in my office today that I left the shades open. I am trying to tell myself that no one walked by...

4 weeks down, 48 to go!

Well I am almost one whole month into the new year and so far one of my resolutions is still going strong.

When I get busy with life I kind of take one day at a time. This comes back to bite me in the ass quite often. I forget Alyssa needs to be to school early, there is nothing in the house for dinner or we missed another birthday party.

Now that I am back to work (boo hoo) now more than ever, I need to be on top of my game. Thus the need for my resolutions this year. The biggest are my Sunday tasks:

1) Check the calendar for the week- I have an AWESOME calendar system that someday I will share with you. Good thing I did this today, Alyssa has Girl Scouts tomorrow!

2) Meal plan for the week- I am really bad about not planning what we are going to eat for the week then by the time we get home it becomes a take-out night or a fend for yourself night. I feel terrible feeding my kids canned soup for dinner. I have been good for the past 4 weeks. This week looks pretty good and fairly easy:

Sunday - BBQ Hamburgers, chips and dip (not health food but YUM!)

Monday - Beef Taquitos, mexican rice and beans

Tuesday - CROCK POT DAY!!! This week is turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts.

Wednesday - Ribs, dilled potatoes and green beans

Thursday - Chicken lasagna

Friday - BLTs with baked french fries and sliced apples

3) Weekly grocery shopping - boy does it feel nice to start the week off with that done!

Now lets just see if I can stick to this plan for at least another month, lol. So far, so good.

What a difference a year makes

Last year at this time my prayers were answered. You see, it took me years of heartache to reach the joyous moment when I found out Alyssa would finally become a big sister. It took 3 and half long years to be exact.

In those 3 + years, I realized that I have some of the best friends in the world. Those years happened to be a ridiculously fertile time in my group of friends and it felt like something died inside me any time I heard another big announcement. Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic for my friends but sometimes it was an awfully bitter pill to swallow. Nonetheless, they understood.


When it came to the point where I could no longer bare to attend baby showers, my friends understood. When I needed a hand to hold, they were there by my side. When I needed space, they gave it to me. Looking back I can't really even put in to words how much it means to me. I would never wish that journey on anyone.


Today I feel grateful and my heart feels healed. Sometimes I sit here staring at my girls and it brings tears to my eyes. Brian thinks I am crazy but I can't stop myself from being overwhelmed by how much I love these crazy kids. I am sure that in a few years I will need to read this again when Alyssa enters the teen years so I can refrain from strangling her. Until them, I will settle for being the crazy emotional Mom who cries just by watching her girls play on the floor.

Wordless Wednesday - Alyssa and Miley Cyrus, lol!

The life of a Brownie Girl Scout

Well this weekend was all about Girl Scouts! I spent what should have been about 10 minuets Saturday morning putting badges on her sash when it really took me about an hour. UGH!!!

Anyways... It was also time for the big annual Girl Scouts Father Daughter dance. Alyssa was so excited she could not contain herself. It was half cute and half annoying that she asked all day if it was time to get ready to go yet.

Brian was awesome and made a whole date night of it. They went to their favorite Sushi Restaurant (Sushi Tozai in Sebastopol), then the dance and then to Baskin Robbins afterward. He even got her a wrist corsage (thank you ETC Designs!). She was so exhausted when she got home it took her all of about 5 minutes to enter dream land.

I was only able to snap one quick picture before they headed out the door since it was that particular moment that Malia decided that it was her dinner time! She has some videos on her camera of her and her friends boogieing down (with the dads standing on the side of the dance floor). I will try and post them soon. They are pretty funny!

And this is one last plug for Girl Scout cookies. They are $4 a box and super yummy! They should be in the second week in February. And just in case you were wondering, they freeze well so go ahead and load up! You can go here to look at all of the scrumptious varieties.

Well, I have become one of "those" moms

You know, the ones who are far superior to other mothers, lol {insert eye roll here}. I have decided to make my own baby food. Really, I just wanted to give it a shot and see if I could do it. Well, so far so good!

I decided that since Malia got the all clear from her doctor to start solids, I would whip up some homemade applesauce. I have to say it is pretty yummy! I have since even made a larger batch for the rest of us. I even tossed some blueberries in for Alyssa. She loved having purple applesauce.

Malia recieved a pretty hefty Amazon gift card when she was born so I have been using it for stuff that I normally would not buy. I have been really lucky and bought a few things that were huge hits! A few of these things have been for this baby food making adventure.

The first is this AWESOME apple peeler, corer, slicer. I was able to do 5 pounds of apples in under 10 minutes! I found it here.


It makes these really cool spiral apples that are neat just by themselves. Alyssa has had them in her lunch the past few days and all her friends what to know where her mom bought the cool apples. I just cut down the side and it made them into slices which are perfect to throw in the pan.


It really was as simple as cooking them in some water for about 30 minutes. After that I cooled them down overnight in the fridge. I pulled them out the next day and pureed them in my Magic Bullet in a few batches. I spooned the puree into this other cool gadget. It is basiclly a fancy ice cube tray with a lid. I found it here.


From there it went into the freezer. The next day I popped the cubes out and stuck them in a labeled ziplock freezer bag to be used as needed. I can't believe how easy it really was.

I am pretty sure Malia approves!


Next up, sweet potatoes (or yams, if you will).

If I had a big sister I would want it to be Alyssa!

Malia is so lucky to have such a great big sister. Every day I am amazed by how lucky I got with these two. When it took us so long to get Malia, I was terrified about the age difference but, boy I would not do it any other way.

For only being 5 months old I can't believe how much fun Malia has with her sissy! Just take a look at a few of the shenanigans these two have been up to.

These are Alyssa's carpet skates that she rigged with her rain boots so that she could get them on Malia:

Alyssa wanted to get a picture of Leelee with her Barbies cause she said that Leelee loves them, lol.

And last, but certainly not least, Lissy wrapped Malia up like a Christmas package!

Who knows what these two are going to come up with over the years. I can't wait to find out. Oh wait... maybe I can!

Here are my sweet little birdies

Little Miss Malia (Leelee) is 5 months old and her big sister Alyssa (Lyssie) is 8! Where did the time go???