Halloween Part III

 Trick or Treat day - again with two dirty hobos

 An 80s workout Barbie...

 Two Slurpees (had several people ask if they were smoothies and what is a slurpee)

 The kids and all their treats...

 Keller and his treats...

 Cameron and his treats...

After sorting everything there were several

business deals involving the trade of candy...

 Chris watching the Utes ALMOST lose to Air Force

Glad they pulled that one off

There was a lot of yelling at the TV

Workout Barbie and some of her "nerdy" friends.

Nerds rule!!

Happy Trick or Treat day...

Tonight we are off to two MORE Halloween parties!

Halloween Part II

 Day II of our Halloween Extravaganza started with two "dirty" hobos

Cam and BF Keller came up with these fabulous little numbers on their own.

We got up EXTRA early so we could be to school early for the annual Halloween Parade

Okay, we really got up early so we could get a parking spot at the school.

 I ran into these two characters while waiting for the parade...

Have to say, these are some of the best costumes I have seen in a long, long time.
Plus, I think these two boys are too cute for words.

 And, really, what is there to say about these?  Other than I think these are the most amazing costumes I have seen, EVER.  Thanks to Char at Crap I've Made for her sharing her amazing talent with my daughter!  Hands down the best costume she will EVER have.

 We sat through the ENTIRE parade (an hour, total).  But it was well worth it to see this dirty little hobo...

 And the Energizer Bunny...

 And Cookie Monster
(these were some of my favorite costumes this year)

 Next, our dirty hobos were off to get some candy at the neighborhood "Trunk" or Treat...

Of course, Tay didn't want to be left out.  We can't decide if she is a ninja or a football player or just plain weird.

And that ends day II of Halloween Extravaganza.

Not one piece of candy was consumed by me today. 

And it almost killed me.

Almost.

 

More to come tomorrow...

Halloween - Part 1

And so begins my love/hate relationship with Halloween.  I love the pumpkins, the costumes, the fall-ness of it all.  Love, love, love. 
What is there to hate, you ask?

The Candy.  I am a candy addict.  ADDICT.  I LOVE candy, all kinds of candy.  I have no self control when it comes to candy. (doesn't help I have added 15 pounds in the last 2 weeks)
And so here begins my three day love/hate Halloween weekend extravaganza!
(read each day and you will understand what I mean by extravaganza - you will be shocked and amazed at how many Halloween things this family can do in three days!!)

Carving pumpkins...

Everyone is involved...

And LOVING it!!

 This is one of my loves - LOVE carving the pumpkins....

The finished product...



 

The Boy and his masterpiece. 

 This is the first year he did the whole thing BY HIMSELF!! 

(Can you see the pride oozing from his smile?)

Stay tuned for day two of our weekend Halloween extravaganza!!

Happy Monday!

Ashlie with her beautiful homemade dessert pizza!

Hope you have a happy Monday!!

Yep

That's right, folks.  I have MONO. Of course I do.

MONONUCLEOSIS, a friend of the Epstein-Barr Virus - which is a virus (duh) so there is nothing they can give me. At all.

Kind of funny if you think about it.  NOT!! 

On the bright side - only 8 weeks of school left.  And 6 midterms.  And 4 finals.  On the downward slide!!

I think I will go take a nap...

Today

For today I just want to be a mom.  No school, no work, no church, just a mom, marveling at how amazing my kids are. I want to freeze them in time.  They are growing like weeds and I am afraid they will be gone when I wake up tomorrow.

That's all.

Nothing New

Nothing new to post. I am stick of studying - again, nothing new to report. So I took off last Friday and spent the day with the fam at Lagoon. We ran into a few of our friends which was so fun!!

It was a nice break. And it was a beautiful day. And we spent 12 whole hours there. So we were all extremely exhausted, a little sunburned and glad we only go once a year!!

Another Weekend

...Has come and gone. 

We watched our little soccer star score 3 goals at his soccer game.

We caught up with old friends over breakfast.

We watched our beloved Utah Utes pulverize Iowa State (have I mentioned how much I love my Utah Football?)

Birthday party for my dad - we are so grateful he is still here (he gave us quite a scare last April with a major heart attack).

That's about it.  Now back to the grind of another week.  At least it is short - UEA for the kids.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

A Long Weekend

We took off last weekend for a few days of rest and relaxation at our cabin.  Here is what we did...

We photographed two of the cutest boys EVER made!

We played cards with our FABULOUS friend Morgan...

We watched movies...

Giggled like girls...

Practiced our "Strong Man" poses...

Rode dirt bikes and 4-wheelers...

And acted tough...

And posed for the camera...

The dog was banned from the cabin so we kept him outside (yeah, right)...

We carved our names in trees...

We dustied up the 4-wheelers then loaded them up to come home for the winter...

We oohed and aaahed at the beautiful fall colors...

We got high on the clean mountain air...

I heard it was beautiful weather and an amazing weekend.  I studied for my micro test all weekend (which I did not do so fabulous on).  It was nice to get away and fun to have our favorite Morgan with us.  If only every weekend could be that relaxing...

Campbell Cupcakes

Meet Campbell.  I love him - and ADORE him.  He's been my buddy since he was 18 months old (now he's 4).  My good friend Char (his mom) lets me borrow him now and again.  My baby is 7, almost 8, and I miss having my little guy around.  So this day I borrowed Campbell and we made cupcakes.


Campbell and I share a similar fascination/adoration/respect for the cupcake.  Campbell likes them because "they are easier to eat than cake - you just get to hold it in your hand!"  So smart!  I like them because - well, because they are delicious!  And I think the hold it in your hand thing has something really going for it...no forks, plates...genius!

Campbell went to the store that morning and bought us extra special, fancy Halloween sprinkles for our cupcakes.

We baked our cupcakes - this is the first time my cupcakes did not come out disgusting - Campbell must be magic!  He did tell me his mom taught him special cupcake skills.  Knowing his mom, I totally believe it.

The finished product - with two extra specials cakes for hims (his word) mom and dad.

Campbell, thanks for a great afternoon (and some delicious cupcakes)!!

Days Three, Four and Five

Day three - upper body weights 1 hour, run 3 miles.

Day Four - should have done lower body, but was running late, so ran 2 miles (without stopping and in 19:58 - a best for me in almost a year)

Day Five - Rest - long run tomorrow.  I am not going to do weights or a run (mostly because I am behind on my studying, lab paper and midterm prep), but will do an hour of pilates.  Told (of course, by my trainer) pilates are GREAT for runners - they lengthen and strengthen muscles without a lot off stress.  I am a HUGE fan of pilates!

The plan for tomorrow is to run a long run of 4 long miles (if you can call that a long run) then rest on Sunday.

 Start the week over on Monday, increasing the length of each run gradually.  You can email me or leave a comment if you want the training schedule.  I will not bore you (if anyone is actually reading this) with the whole 12 week schedule.  I think it would bore me to write it!

I have one midterm a week in October - two in one week.  Running and lifting helps me deal a little better with the stress.  Not a lot, but a little. 

May all your runs be good ones!

Day Two

 Today is lower body - meaning legs and butt (I am already sore).  I spent 45 minutes on lower body then a two mile run.  My trainer suggested not running a long distance after a leg workout - it is possible to do more damage than good.  I doubt I run far or hard enough to qualify for that.

I am eating what my trainer calls 'clean'.  Lean protein sources - fish, chicken, turkey, non-starch vegetables and healthy fat (olive oil, almond butter) for each meal.  At lunch I add 1/2  a sweet potato.  Dinner is protein, fat and lots and lots of vegetables.  Processed food makes me feel fat and bloated, so I stay away from it.  Also, he suggests eating every two to three hours - between meals have a snack of fruit and nuts (12 almonds, to be precise).  I also use a protein bar for an afternoon snack so I can get in my chocolate fix.

Happy training - I hope someone out there is reading this!

Day One

Here goes day one of training for the 1/2 marathon in January.

First - 45 minutes of upper-body weights
Protein shake for breakfast (one hour before run)
Second - 3 mile run
My trainer told me to run AFTER weights and more fat is burned that running before weights.

Good to know!