Labor Day Weekend...

Wore me out so much that I'm just now blogging about it on the Thursday after!  The weekend was JAMPACKED with my last long run (the half is THIS Saturday!  Ah!), taking down two trees for some friends from church, having my dad over for supper and to play with the kids, camping with friends, and painting my bedroom.  PHEW!  Let's play a little game called "Guess what color Roxanne painted the bedroom" or alternately, "How well do you know me?!"  or--last one--"Who out there actually reads my blog?"  I will give you till, say, Sunday, then post a picture!  :) 

Whew!

What a crazy couple of weeks!

First -- Mr. Grady started preschool.  After some finagaling and some hemhawing (on our part), we finally have him in the morning session.  It's a group of younger kids (4's only vs. some 4's and mostly 5's) than the afternoon, and if we decide to hold him back, he'll have a better chance of staying with these kids.  He goes MWTh mornings, and T afternoons.  (Confusing, right?)  Hopefully I never forget to drop him off or pick him up.  :)  His teacher is SO nice, however, that I'm sure she'd be very kind and understanding about it.  :)  On Tuesdays, he gets library time, and guess who he'll see in the library?!  His Meemaw!  I don't know if he's put that together yet.  He will be so excited.  :)

Second - I started school.  (Man I wish I had a first day picture to show you!)  :)  I think the year is going to be awesome.  This is my second one where I feel like a normal human being...not pregnant or with a baby and pumping in my office.  It makes SUCH a difference.  I have some new challenges ahead (teaching Oral Comm online for the first time, as well as Cornerstone, a new class) and I'm VERY excited about it.  :)  Plus I have a new dress to wear tomorrow.  (Maybe a "2nd Day" picture to come?)  :)

Third - I actually received bad news between my classes on Monday.  The clock in my classroom doesn't work, so I ran upstairs to my office to grab my phone to keep track of time.  I had a voicemail from my dad, which I listened to on the way back downstairs.  He said he had bad news, and that I should call him.  Well geez.  Do I wait until after my next class but wonder the whole time?  Or do I call him quickly but then have to teach right after hearing whatever it was?  I opted for calling.  He told me that my Grandma Shontz had passed away the night before.  So sad!  We aren't particularly close with that side of the family...no reason except distance and...life?  We always say, "Oh we should get down there and visit them" but it rarely happens.  So her passing makes me really sad for that reason most of all.  Though it's not for an ideal situation, I'm actually looking forward to making the trip to her funeral on Thursday to see my grandpa, aunts and uncles, and all the other relatives.  (That's my grandpa and grandma above.  The picture was taken approximately two years ago.) 

The rest of the weekend should be fun and relaxing.  We are going to Cedar Rapids to celebrate Josh's sister's birthday.  She is going to rent a pontoon on Saturday and we are going to brunch on the boat.  (I don't get to say that NEARLY enough.)  :)  We are hoping to spend a night there to lengthen our stay.  And Grady already told me that if we stayed, Daddy and I were welcome to come back to Dike and just let he and Kingsley sleep over.  What a thoughtful kid.  :)

Speaking of cherishing kids...we were playing at the train table in Von Maur today and a woman struck up a conversation with me.  She was there buying a present for her grandson, not quite 3, who was recovering from brain surgery and would be spending a lot of time in bed.  Poor punkin!!!!  I can't imagine.  We are so blessed with our two healthy, happy, bright, funny, creative, giving little ones.  I am not near thankful enough.  That little boy has been on my mind all day.  I told her to buy him a flashlight...those are always hot items in this house.  I so hope he enjoys it!!

I hope you all are having great weeks, and getting out to soak up the beautiful weather!! 

Watermelon Days!

You know it's August in Iowa when it's time for Watermelon Days!!  This past weekend was a lot of fun.  Saturday morning started out with the annual Phil Kruger 5k, and for once I was actually excited about running this rather than dreading it.  (Last year I ran a total of 4 times the week before the race...nothing else all summer.)  This year I have been really good about going for runs and having done Dam to Dam, I was feeling pretty good about it.  The race itself was fun...we even got on the news.  :)  My goal time was 27:33 (my personal best so far) and I got 27:07, so that was good too.  I was secretly hoping for 26 something, but now that's just the goal for next year.  :)  It was even more special as it was a family affair.  Josh, Mark, and Rob all ran the race too.  Rob's been running a lot this summer and did a marathon a few weeks ago, so it was no surprise to anyone that he smoked the race.  He won his age group.  :)  Between the Heimanns, I won, then Josh, then Mark.  For a girl who isn't a runner (I swear, I'm still not!), feeling pretty good about that.

The rest of the day was just as much fun.  After showering, we went back downtown to eat lunch at the Lions Club with Rob, Kate and Braden.  Then it was a kids pedal tractor pull, petting zoo, bouncy houses, treats and face tattoos before the parade.  Dad came over from his place for that, and we were able to watch it with him and Teri too.  (Mark had already left for Argentina at that point.  No big deal.)  The kids of course loved it, and each got a ridiculous amount of candy.  (Maybe I'll use it to bribe Kingsley into potty training???)  :)  After the parade, we all came back to my house for grilling and a little birthday party for Braden, which Great-Grandma Rouse joined in on.  So fun!  The kids had a blast in particular.

Saturday night brought a sitter (yay!) and going down to Slice for live music and fun with friends.  More fun!!  Love that you never know who you are going to see from the past!  :)  /Rob joined us out and caught up with several classmates, which was particularly nice from him since he's not around here.

Sunday was another great day...Nick and Annie decided to come up from Cedar Rapids for a visit. We went out to lunch with them and then to Heimanns for badminton.  It was gorgeous out and the kids got some quality aunt/uncle time in.

I'm actually sitting outside right now writing this...gorgeous out again.  Sooo apprecited after the hot days!!  Grady is laying on the grass beside me, playing with sticks and little leaves.  :)  Funny what they can find to entertain themselves with!  Miss K is in taking a nap, as is Josh who has to work tonight.  (Yep...stinking third shift again.)

I made the decision to switch my Park to Park registration from the 10k to the half on Sept. 8th.  Exciting, but that means a lot of work between now and then.  I'm ready for it.  I've just been doing shorter runs--4-6 miles--since Dam to Dam and that's great but not so challenging anymore.  Bring it!  :)

Hope you are enjoying this afternoon as much as I am!!

<3

Oh Mr. Food

Do you guys watch Mr. Food's segments on KWWL?  Sometimes they are crap.  ("Take an ice cream sandwich, layer cool whip down, then add another sandwich on top for a DOUBLE ICE CREAM SANDWICH!!"  I might be exaggerating, but for awhile there, I told Josh I could rock that segment waaay better than Mr. Food himself.

Well fast forward to today.  Cream Puffs.  Nicely played, Mr. Food.  Nicely played.  And since I can't pin your recipe from the site, I will put it here to remember in the future.

State Fair Cream Puffs, any old time you want!

Serves: 12

Cooking Time:30 min

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups (1 pint) heavy cream
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir quickly until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat.
   
2. Add 1 egg and beat hard with a wooden spoon to blend. Add remaining whole eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; each egg must be completely blended in before the next egg is added. As you beat mixture, it will change from an almost-curdled to a smooth appearance. When it is smooth, spoon 12 mounds of dough onto a large rimmed baking sheet.
   
3. In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and milk; mix well and brush over dough.
   
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
   
5. In a large bowl, beat cream with an electric beater on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form.
   
6. Cut top third off each cooled pastry puff and fill with equal amounts of whipped cream mixture. Replace tops and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately, or cover and chill until ready to serve.

Note

For a sure way to get perfect whipped cream, chill the bowl and beaters before whipping the cream, and make sure not to over beat it.

Just a note...the next recipe on the site was for chili dogs.  I again think I would do the segment better.  :)

 

Up two, down two!

Been a busy summer so far at the Heimannian household.  Grady did tball and loved it...he just asked me again this morning if it was a tball day.  :)  Grady was on a team of 4-6 year olds...and man there is a difference between a 4 year old playing and a 6 year old.  He had a great time and did really well at it.  I'm sure he'll be back at it next summer.

Swimming lessons start in a couple of weeks...Grady will do them, but since you have to be 3 in Dike, Miss Kingsley won't.  This will be Grady's second year and he's already excited to do the slide and the boards again. 

Josh and I are doing well!  He is on shut down this week, so has a much needed week off.  I have been enjoying the heck out of summer...sleeping until 8, hanging out in the mornings, often going to the pool in the afternoon.  Getting some running in too...I'm doing the Watermelon Day 5k and the Park to Park 10k, so NEED to keep after it.  :)  My only complaint is the HEAT.  I don't know when to go.  This morning Anj and I ran at 8 and it was already sooooo warm and humid.  Gotta love summer in Iowa!  (Actually, I really do!)  :)

To the title of the post...we are UP two kitties!  We adopted one all black and one black and white kitten a couple of weeks ago.  They are sweet and playful and super with the kids, so we are all enjoying them.  :)  Grady named them both...the black one is Max and the black and white is Patches.  I went back and forth and back and forth on adopting kittens but it was a great decision.  They are a good fit for our family.  :)

And we're DOWN 2 body parts...well, to be specific, Grady is.  He had his tonsils and adenoids out on Friday.  I'm hoping that this makes his life a little easier!!  He is always snuffly...his doc said that his tonsils, uninfected, were almost touching.  His adenoids were also huge.  If he GOT an infection, that boy simply wouldn't be breathing. :(  They are out, Friday was a looonnng day at the hospital, but he's doing fairly well here.  Lots of Popsicles and ice cream and movies and Wii and Playstation.  :)  It's actually been kind of nice family bonding time. 

I know I'm terrible about posting pictures...I will do that sometime soon.  Pinky promise.  :) 

Hi there!

It's been forever since I blogged last! I'm not sitting in front of the computer every day so I don't think about it as much. Happy summer break! Mine started out busy with a couple of weeks of workshops at UNI. And a 20k. And a roof. No big deal. But now I'm officially ready to enjoy the sunshine!

I guess I'll blog a bit about each of those things, since clearly that's what we have been up to. The workshops were good...I am teaching a class called Cornerstone at UNI this fall. It's College Reading and Research and Oral Communication combined, along with civil awareness and study skills. It should be interesting! I will be curious to see how the students react. And how I react. It's worth 6 credits over the course of two semesters, and I have two sections of it, so it's quite a commitment. But to be honest, the English nerd in me is drooling a little bit.

The 20k was awesome. (That's 12.4 miles, in case you aren't British. Or whomever uses kilometers.) My summer goal was a 10k, which I will be running in Sept. This was a crazy whim. And it was great. Sooooo glad I did it. Our time was 2:10, and in the future (yes, I said future) I would like to be under 2. Josh has started running with me too, we just did 4 yesterday together. LOVE THAT!!!

We also roofed my grandma's house this past weekend. Oof. Nothing like pushing your body waaaaaay beyond what it's comfortable with two weekends in a row! And it was hot. 93. No shade. I was fine but both Josh and Jeff got sick from the heat. Oh yeah, we had Jeff, Mark, and our friend Luke helping too. (Sounds like a Biblical crowd, doesn't it?! We were just lacking a Matthew and a John.) :) Thank goodness, because there was no way we could have done that thing in 3 days without them!! It was kind of fun, in that torture type of way, but glad it's over!!

Grady and Kingsley have been so much fun already this summer. Having a 4 year old and a 2 year old is EASY compared to past summers! Kingsley is still in diapers (interested in potty training while I was in school...now that I'm home full time, can't get her to pee on that princess potty for nothing!) and she naps, but man. Life is good! This weekend we are taking them to Des Moines and doing the Science Center and the zoo, as well as hotel/pool stuff. I am leaving the pack and play at home. Might regret that one, hopefully not. :)

Currently I'm reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and near the end, so I'm going to go and try to finish that up. Then it's laundry, supper (grilled steak salads), sweeping, the usual. Have a great day! :)

Darn it, blogger.  What are you doing, switching your format?  (Who am I kidding, I didn't know how to work the old version very well...why should this be any different??)  :)  Anyway, yup, this post is coming to you at 3:45 am.  Grady has been UP since 2:30.  It's warm upstairs, he's been sleeping well lately, and I had a feeling that this night was coming.  My kids are generally really good about going to sleep, and both sleep 7 am to 7 pmish.  However, when they aren't that tired, they don't seem to the normal thing of not fall asleep right away.  No, they both tend to fall asleep at their normal time but then wake up in the middle of the night ready to go!  So...I am finding myself with some time on my hands.  (He's actually eating cereal and watching a Veggie Tales movie right now.  Happy as a clam.  But now I can't sleep, so here we are.)

Tomorrow is Miss Kingsley's 2nd birthday. Can anyone else believe that time has gone by so fast?!  I sure can't. That little girl is getting smarter and sweeter every day.  (That's not just my biased opinion either...she really is.)  :)  She speaks in full sentences and we can understand her almost all of the time.  She and Grady are getting along so well, able to play and entertain each other for hours.  I can almost put her hair up in a pony tail.  (Well, I can, but it is out on all side about 10 seconds later.)  :)  Kingsley loves her B's (her stuffed bears..yes, we bought two because I don't think she could sleep without it), babies, wearing my shoes, playing with Grady, coloring, reading, bath time, and playing outside. 

Tomorrow's plans include going to the local inflatable house for the kids to play for awhile, then out to dinner.  (Kingsley's fave spot...Wendy's!  Though Subway is a close second.  So we'll ask her tomorrow), then finally brownie sundaes at home with the grandparents.  Her gift?  We were kicking around the idea of getting her a kitty.  After much discussion...and me even putting a wanted ad on Craig's List, we decided to go with a FurReal FAKE kitty instead.  :-D  I will get her a cat someday...she's obsessed.  Maybe....maybe....maybe even a dog.  (Liz, if you are reading this, I just read your post about your new dog.  Less likely now.)  :)  They just sound like so much work!  Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm not still dealing with my kid's poop...I'll feel like I can take care of something else too.  :)  Anyway, we decided to wait until she would appreciate it more...maybe Christmas or her 3rd birthday.  We'll see. 

I am planning on playing dress up with her tomorrow.  I'll post pictures.  :)

Updates on my running...is has been going great!  I can't remember if I have blogged about my plans yet, but so far I have signed up for a 10k (my original goal--Park to Park) and a 20k (12.4 miles...Dam to Dam).  I just decided to switch the 10k registration to a half marathon.....and I'm going to add another long race to the mix as well.  (Des Moines Half?  Maybe Living History Day Farms race?)  I am trying to get my brother on board with running something with me.  He's open, so long as it's not a super hot day.  (DSM half is in October and Living History Days is November.)  It's so fun to have something to work for that's just for me and not kid, school, house, or hubs related.  (Not that those things aren't great, but this is just for me!)  And it's fun to do things that you never thought you would be able to do and have people be in awe of you a little bit.  What can I say?  I'm kind of a big deal. :)

Ok.  For real.  Back to bed so I'm conscious for Kings' 2nd bday.  (I still say Mom's should get a present every kid birthday.  They did the work!  The kid was just born!)  :)  I guess that's what Mother's Day is for....in some households.  ;)

Night!

Is it just me or....

Does it seem like a lot of people are going through a lot of "junk" in their lives lately? Job losses, cheating spouses, sick (I mean, really sick) babies, health concerns, accidents, death of family members......I saw someone from high school had a FB post that went something like this: "I'm going through some crap in my life right now. From other people's statuses, I know some of you guys are too. If you are, please comment with your name on my post and I will pray for you. In turn, please pray for all the names you see listed." I thought that was cool. And also sad. What's the world coming to?

I'm not trying to be mysterious. Things in the Heimann household are just fine. Wish that were true all over.

This and that...

Nothing too big to blog about tonight, but a few updates...

I am having a "surprise" 30th birthday party for Josh tomorrow night. He either knows or highly suspects but is kindly playing along. Can you tell I have no fear of him ever reading my blog?? Haha. Love that guy. 30! He was 20 when we started dating. Are we possibly getting old?? We are actually celebrating over the course of the whole weekend....party Fri, then kids are going to MeeMaw's Sat-Sun so we can go to a wedding. Should be soooo fun, can't wait.

Kingsley arm is doing much better, though she still cries when I get her dressed or take off or put on a coat. :( Still keeping an eye on this.

Her hair is getting longer every day. She looks a bit scruffy, to be honest. But man, those 30 minutes that she will tolerate her hair in pigtails?? She's SOOOO CUTE!!! The first time that Grady saw, he laughed and said, "Mommy! Why does sissy have antlers???" That made me laugh. Love seeing things through his eyes.

Speaking of little Grady, he has his first school field trip tomorrow. He will have so much fun but I'm apprehensive! I wish I could go along. :( He's super excited about the whole riding on the bus part. ;)

I am doing well! I ran 8 miles today....getting ready for Dam to Dam. (Yes, Liz...I'm gonna do it.) Feels great. And I just got this super tight dress to wear to the aforementioned wedding, so that 8 will help me feel confident in it...:)

I'm sooo tired! Miss Kingsley has been getting me up every night for the past several. She's even fussing every 15 minutes or so now in her sleep. Not sure if it's her cold, or teeth, or she just knows how to work me? (Maybe all of the above?) She loves to pick the times that I'm extra busy and then keep me up all the time......grrrr.

:)

Kingsley - Part II

I left you guys hanging, didn't I?? I will continue my story. (Sidenote: Clare, I laughed when I saw your post. I DID that with Miss Kingsley, with a Reeses mini cup this morning. I told her she could have it but only if she took it with the right hand. No go, lots of crying, that's when I scheduled the appt. in the first place. And gave her the Reeses, of course. I'm not a monster.)

The short version? It looks like it's just a sprain and some good bruising. She's still not using that arm but isn't holding it as gingerly as she was this morning. Read on if you want the longer version. :)

We took Miss Kingsley to the doctor today at 2:45. Josh, Grady, Kingsley and myself made it a family affair and went in. I knew we'd likely be there for awhile and brought lots of snacks, an orange pop, and suckers, not to mention toys and books. And I needed everything to keep those little ones entertained and not ripping the place apart. First we met with our regular family doc....he examined Miss Kingsley head to toe, and his concern landed on her right shoulder and elbow. (There was already bruising on her back, but that's to be expected.) She didn't want to use it, let him do some range of motion things but yelped when he bent the elbow downward and wouldn't lift it at all. He said he was hoping it was just a sprain/bruising but we would need XRays to be sure.

She was good in XRays. Until she had to be put on the table. That was NOT ok.

Our doc examined the XRays and said he thought things looked ok but a radiologist would still look them over and let us know if he caught something else. Also, he said that if she still wasn't using it in 2 or so days, we would to revisit. At that point, she would likely need some sort of immobilization to keep it still. I guess with this type of thing in this age, they do a thick plaster cast thing...it's not as heavy as a cast but it's something they actually put on so the child doesn't mess with it. That would be on a week or so. So we're not out of the woods yet. Kingsley keeps saying, "Mommy, I hurt." :( Hopefully she'll be like new in the morning! :)

I just read an old friend's blog post last night about her new daughter Lia, born March 26th, with two holes in her heart. :( I feel silly even updating this about Kingsley's little tumble. Hearing about other's misfortunes/illness/struggles certainly does put things into perspective, huh? So prayers for little Lia tonight and her Mommy and Daddy.

Poor Kings!

Poor Kings!! This morning we were in TJ Maxx and she was getting a nice little shopping cart ride. She stood up once and I told her to sit down, which she did. Little while later, she stood up again and went to sit on the side of the cart, missed and tumbled right out. :( She landed on her butt/back. I thought she was ok....bruised, sore, but overall ok but as the day has progressed, I have noticed her not using her right arm. I didn't even think that she fell on that? And she keeps saying, "Mommy, hurt." :( Poor little punkin. We're off to see our family doc this afternoon. Hopefully it's nothing but I want his stamp of approval. I will keep you posted!

Sweet Grady, Smelly Mommy

Ok. This is a little gross, but this happened over two weeks ago and I STILL giggle when I think of it. So I'm going to blog about it so I can reminice on it later as well. (I have the memory of a goldfish. This IS necessary!)

So the other day Josh, Grady and I were snuggling on the couch. I had to pass gas (sorry!) and did so, not really thinking about how my rear was near Grady's, well, face. Hahahaha I'm laughing right now. Anyway, he shoots straight up from his lounging position and has the worst look on his face and says, "whweohoiwthYUCK!!! MMMMommy! Something smells y--y--y--yucky!!" I fell off the couch laughing. He didn't really get it but was soon laughing with me anyway. Josh was looking at both of us like we were just crazy. :) Love it.

More Spring Break Fun

Temps in the 80's in March? Yup, we'll take that! I got some good long runs in outside (6.2 miles last week, planning on upping to 7 this Sat. Go me!) AND the kids got some quality park time in. Love it!!

Spring Break, 2012

To kick our spring break off right, the Heimann family went to the Ramada Indoor Waterpark in Des Moines! I got a package deal off Living Social last October...the room, waterpark passes, pizza and pop for dinner, a gift bag and snacks for the kids, breakfast buffet...all for 109. How could I pass that up?? So we went down the Sun-Mon into break for a little fun and relaxation. It was awesome!! Here are a few pictures from the trip!

I put these pics on FB too, but needed here so I could pin the final project! :) This was a toy chest makeover, a find from the side of the road. I think it turned out pretty well.....! :)

I can almost taste it...

It being March. And spring. And break. It's been a couple of busy weeks! A couple of quick updates....

Kingsley is getting...older. I can't really explain it. It's just that the last few days, she's really started to act a lot more like a 2 year old (which she'll soon be!) than a 1 year old. She's sitting on the potty. (No magic happening there yet, but we purchased some Dora undies and she's sitting on it whenever naked...first thing in the morning, at bedtime, at bath time, etc. I'm not pushing it. I know it will happen sooner rather than later. And quite frankly, I'm not sure I'm all that ready! She's in diapers and sleeps in a crib. Pretty soon, diapers will be gone and she'll be climbing all over the place! Where did my baby go?!) Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes. Sitting on the potty. And becoming master of animal noises. (She is going to be begging us for a puppy or kitty soooooon.) Pointing to just about any object in books that you ask her to. (She even clicks her tongue like her big brother often does.) And singing along at our song time at night. (Twinkle, Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and John Jacob Jingelheimerschmidt are her fav's.) Still the sweetie that she's always been, full of snuggles and hugs and kisses. LOVE that girl.

Grady is rounding up on 4. He's getting more mature every day and plays very well with Kingsley...for the most part. He has a ton of friends at preschool and almost every day asks me "What day is it?" Meaning a preschool day, a momma day, a daddy day, or a Meemaw day. I think he's going to love going to preschool four days a week next year. He's been working a lot on spelling...he has his name down and can trace it but doesn't write it on his own yet. He can also count to 20 in Spanish, and seems to be getting into sports. (Mental note: Check into the Rec League in Dike this summer...) He's already excited about going swimming and hitting up the park and playing outside. We're going to a Waterpark over spring break in Des Moines and he's getting really excited for that.

Josh and I are good....he's been on third shift for months now (since November, I think?) and isn't going off until the end of April. We're doing this so he can be on first in the summer. However, it's starting to take it's toll. For the most part, we only see each other on the weekends. (I'm being dramatic...we see each other every day, from 4:30-7:15. However, that time is filled with making dinner, eating, cleaning up, getting the kids ready for bed, books, songs, packing a lunch and heading out the door. NO alone time. Weekends are a good but go by soooo quickly and lately have been filled to the brim with fun stuff. However, again, no alone time. One of these days, I SWEAR we're going to get a date night.

Other things on my mind? Finances. (Isn't it on everyone's???) I only have three classes this semester at UNI and none at HCC. It's about $800/month less than what I normally get. Ouch. We're still fine....but I'm a tightwad and hate the thought of dipping into savings for anything. So I'm being supercheap these five months and looking at this semester as a challenge to see how little we can get by on. (No worries either...I have my schedule for fall and pending anything drastic, should be back up to four.) I am meal planning and sticking to a food budget (crazy! I have never done either of those things before!) and really questioning needs vs. wants. The funny thing is that we were cheap before. Josh and I both brown bag it. We rarely go out to eat. We do inexpensive or free things with the kids. However, now we are even questioning things like trips into CF. With gas prices up (3.59/gallon!) you can figure that a trip into town and back is around 7 bucks, give or take. Not going into town = significant savings! (And I don't just mean on the gas. If you don't go anywhere, you don't spend any money!) :)

I also want to toot my own horn a bit about running lately!! I registered today for my first 10k, in September. Funny, the girl who hates running CAN'T WAIT! I wish it was sooner! Like in May or something. I would actually like to do the half marathon. And I think maybe by then I could? The other day I went for a run and did 4.61 miles in 50 minutes, no problems. By Sept, maybe I could be up to 12? However, these things fill up (other people like to run too??) so I'm not doing the wait and see. There will be other races I can do if I so desire. I LOVE that I'm not just talking about it but am actually gonna get out there and DO IT! It's one of my major goals for 2012.

Part of me is getting bitten by this baby bug going around. (Yep, that was an abrupt shift. Stay with me.) EVERYONE is preggo right now, I swear. Looking at those sweet little cherubic bundles...man. About 2% of me wants to have another baby, like, tomorrow. However, the other 98% loves that my kids are older and interactive and fun and smart and funny....and their lives don't revolve (too much) around a schedule. And that I have more freedom too, to do things that I want to do. Accomplish some other life goals. Like run a 10k. (And someday a half marathon, for sure.) To make some awesome, healthy meals and be able to sit through the whole thing and enjoy it. (Not sure when the latter part of that will happen...I was up 6 times during dinner tonight. Grady wanted a pb&j. Both kids wanted yogurt. Needed another napkin. Then Kingsley spilled her water. Etc.) Travel. Be in the crowd at the Today show. Watch a taping of How I Met Your Mother. Camp. There's more. Keep reading this blog. You may see some evidence. ;)

Update from Valentine's day....we had SUCH a good day! Grady had his preschool party in the morning,where he exchanged Valentines and apparently ate WAYYYY too many treats as he came home with a tummy ache and ate no lunch for me. :) However, he recovered enough by after lunch time to help me make treats (corn flake jumbles), and he and Kingsley both colored construction paper to be made into Valentines. We were going to deliver the treats and Valentines to both sets of Grandparents, but no need! Both showed up for treats for us! After that came dinner, and I think I found my family Valentine tradition. I made a homemade heart shaped pizza (MAMA! It's a HEART!"), and each person had valentine envelopes to open up as well as a small gift. Josh gave me travel coffee mugs. I gave him his Jonesred flag. (Hanging prominently in the garage.) The kids got their gifts. Both loved. :) My favorite part though, was after dinner when Josh and I were cleaning up. He told me that it was the best Valentine's day yet. LOVE that. No expensive romantic dinners. No overpriced flowers that will die the next day. No skeevy massage oil. (Was it just me, or was KY Yours and Mine EVERYWHERE?!) A heart shaped pizza and our little family hanging out on a Tuesday night. Perfection. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not quite, but I'm excited! Valentine's Day is one of those random holidays that I love because there are no expectations. You can make a couple batches of cookies and give them out to friends and neighbors and totally catch them off guard. :) I also like to give little things to the kids and Josh....I think I'm going to make heart shaped pancakes and give the gifts at breakfast. No wait, Vday is a Tuesday. Preschool day. Hmmm...maybe scrap the cute pancake idea. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the gifts.

Grady - a Sid the Science kid dvd
Kings - Dora Valentine's Day book with all of these tabs to open. She'll love it! And some strawberry lip gloss. Too young? She's always stealing my lip crap...
Josh - the coolest flag ever. see right. I can't take too much credit for it...he found it on ebay and was not so subtle with the hinting about it. I paid 17.52. I have NEVER seen a flag like this on there before. And I search for Jonsered stuff semi-often (as does Josh), for years now. My max bid was 50.00 and I probably would have gone higher, to be honest. 17.52 = BARGAIN.

I also got them all a Reese's chocolate heart. :) Can't wait to give them their gifts!

Uggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! That's all I have to say. Aren't weekends supposed to energize and refresh you for the week?? The only time they are excused from doing this simple, necessary thing is when they are so fun you need the week to get yourself some down time.

Our weekend sucked. Everyone is sick, coughing, snotty, fevers...not fun. Tired, crabby kids = tired, crabby parents really fast! We did enjoy some family time....our Wii is getting a good workout...and some snuggles in pajamas. So that's the good part. Hopefully next weekend is more fun. Josh's grandma's birthday celebration. His work Christmas party. Maybe no kids for a whole night?!? (Won't know what to do with ourselves if that's the case...) Just hang on till then........and hope Kingsley stops barking soon. :)

Been awhile since I've posted! Nothing too new and exciting to talk about. We DID go to Josh's sister's for the weekend recently. Very fun! I think the highlight of the trip, at least for the kids, was hitting up the Humane Society. They got to see a lot of kittys and dogs. (Which were noisy, and scared Grady, but Kingsley is fearless with them. Which of course scares her mama a little bit!) Kingsley looooooovvvvesssss animals. She says, "Want puppy" or "Want kitty" A. Lot. Might have to get her one one of these days. (I go back and forth. I love the idea of a cat or dog. But maybe not necessarily the work!) I think I'll hold off for awhile yet, but we'll likely get something at some point.

What else? Kingsley is talking a lot about the potty lately, tells us when she poops (and sometimes pees) and sits on her potty chair quite a bit. I think that she's likely ready to begin training. Though, I'm not sure I am. Training is a lot of work, esp if they're not quite ready! I'm thinking summer, when I'm home and she's wearing dresses, would be an ideal time to train. Though I might get motivated some weekend too. Who knows! :)

Mr. Grady is fighting a cold right now. Stinks to lay in bed and listen to him upstairs coughing. Once you do the humidifier, cough medicine, throat drops, glass of water, and vicks, there's not a lot left. So you feel kinda helpless. Seems like he gets this kind of thing (relatively) a lot. Then I think about all the parents whose kids are actually sick and taking them to the hospital and having to explain scary things to them.....and I realize I'm being a drama queen. :)

Is it Friday yet?!?! Getting my hair done and then having some families from Dike over for appitizers and desserts. Should be really fun!

It's what's for supper TONIGHT

I have been planning out my meals in advance faithfully; some of you would be so impressed! However, tonight I had spaghetti scheduled, and when I went to make it, it sounded so.....boring. So, I decided to play around a little bit and had a great result!! Here's approximately what I did...

Chopped 1 onion and about a half of a green pepper up and sauted them in a tiny bit of olive oil, seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes until tender. Reheated a pound of hamburger (save time and money...buy it in 10 lb. tubes when it goes on sale, brown it up right away, and freeze in .75 lb. portions. It goes farther, is ready when you want it, and is cheaper than buying it by the pound!), then threw a jar of spaghetti sauce in and let that simmer. I boiled about 10 ounces of whole wheat penne until tender, then drained them and threw them back in the pot. Put in 3 ounces or so of reduced fat cream cheese, let it melt all over, then stirred in the sauce. I'm sure it would have been great then, but I, super mom/wife, went a step farther. I tossed it into a 9 x 13 inch pan, sprinkled about a cup of low fat mozzarella on top, and broiled until the cheese melted. YUM! Ok, it really wasn't anything fancy but it DID hit the spot as something a little more exciting than the usual spaghetti. And I only kinda had to bribe Grady to eat it (he does not do green pepper, something this supermom kinda forgot/purposefully doesn't really care about.) :) Lemme know if you make it! And if you want to order an advanced copy of my cookbook.....

Josh is a working fool lately! He's been leaving the house at 5:30 (pm) and returning around 7:30 am. Take time out for sleeping, showering, and eating and that doesn't leave a whole lot leftover!

Tonight I'm going to try and give him a little "I get how much you are working and third shift stinks" love. By way of dinner. (What else?!) I'm doing breakfast for dinner, as that's what time it is for him.

Yum? (Bacon and Egg cheesey biscuits)

Fruit. Coffee. Oatmeal. And anything else I can come up with between now and then. :)

Where did that stinking 50 degree weather go?? Tonight it's supposed to be -8. Yuck!!! I never did get to wear those new tights. I have the cutest outfit planned out (brown boots, cream tights, lavender Banana Republic dress, jean jacket) but I don't feel like catching pneumonia to wear it...spring will be here soon, right??

I have no real updates....coming off the MLK weekend, which was----thankfully-----uneventful. Everyone is back to normal and we enjoyed a weekend of doing laundry, cooking and eating good food, and re-cooperating. No complaints there.

One other thing...I am getting an itch to do a house project. Paint......back splash in the kitchen......new flooring....? The problem is that the house is, well, basically done. Now what???

HAH! So life was fabulous at 1:00 Tuesday, or whenever I wrote that. Speed ahead about 12 hours, not so much. Grady had the stomach flu Friday night. Kingsley had it Monday. Guess whose turn next? BOTH mama and daddy. I was in bed Tuesday night around 12:30, feeling decent (not awesome) but not able to sleep when I heard Josh come home. He was supposed to have jury duty on Wednesday morning, so I thought maybe he just came home to get some sleep before having to go in for the day. No such luck. I went into the kitchen and heard him in the bathroom, well, barfing. I grabbed a cold cloth and a glass of water and took it in. (I'm such a good wife, it smelled bad in there!) :) He just looked at me and said, "You know you're next." It was in the saddest voice possible. Kinda sweet that he was concerned about me at that point. My stomach sank because I knew he was right. Or maybe that was it's way of warning me too. Indeed, I was next, and it happened much sooner rather than later. I'll spare you the details, but know that over the next 8 or so hours, I lost 4.5 pounds. Best/worst weight loss plan ever.

However, that's not what I got on to blog about tonight. I actually got on to write about my dr. appointment today. I went back to the Breast Care Center for another biopsy of the lump in my left breast. (Let me back up if you did not know this information. I have a lump in my left breast. My ob-gyn found it at my visit this past June. She had me go to a radiologist, who ruled it "not nothing" and sent me on to Dr. Duvan in Waterloo. He did an exam, ultrasound, and biopsy in June. He was wary of the look of the lump. The biopsy was ruled "inconclusive," better than "cancerous" but still awfully scary. I had to go back three months later for another ultrasound, they decided they would watch it. Today was another three months out, and I was to have a biopsy. There, you're up to speed.) I went in to my appointment and the doc did the manual exam first, then proceeded to the ultrasound. He said, and I quote, "Well, there's nothing I can do for you, ma'am." I took this to be good, but...you never know. I just looked at him, waiting. He said the lump was gone. Nothing there. Nada. I asked if this was common, and he said yes, when things are benign, they shift and move and disappear altogether. He told me to get out and never come back. :) Well, mostly. He did tell me that, but he also followed it up with saying that since I've had this lump now in my 20's, my stats for other, scary things later on go up, and I need to keep doing self exams and get my toucas in if I feel anything immediately. (This doesn't reassure me as I never felt this one in the first place, but we'll pretend I'm competent for the purposes of this post.)

Hmmm this feels a little Debbie Downer all of a sudden. Let's end this back on the high note. The lump is gone. No more Breast Care Center. No more biopsies. Whoop, whoop! Thanks to all that prayed/sent good thoughts/texts/calls, etc. I really truly believed it made a difference!!

Jan. 10th - something like 57 degrees outside. It's fabulous. So far today, Grady's gone to preschool while Kingsley and I had a little Target run. I had a cup of fabulous coffee in my new Keurig. Chili is going in the crock pot. I got a full 50 minute, uninterrupted workout in. (Jillian, I will be sore tomorrow!! You need to take it easy on me!) I got a new pair of tights that I am gonna wear to work tomorrow. We're going to hit the park when K wakes up. Life. Is. Good.

And I saw this today on Facebook...she was talking about how easy it is to get caught up in materialism and the little things in life, and about how she read something that gave her a little perspective. She ended the post with..."Nathan, all I want (from life) is to grow old together with you watching our kids grow up (with the influence of God in their heart!)"

LOVE that! I'm not really close with this girl but she's our (kinda) neighbor and I think we need to become better friends cause I couldn't have said it better myself!! :)

Happy Tuesday!

"If you are sick of starting over, you have to stop quitting."

Word.

WW lemon cake

Ran across this recipe on Pinterest, and made it tonight. Delish!!!

WW Lemon Cake.

One lemon cake mix
1 20 oz diet sprite
lite cool whip

Mix cake mix and sprite together, and spread into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Let cool completely before cutting. Cut slices and top with cool whip (optional, I didn't think it was needed!) Delish, very moist, and something like 1.5 points a piece. :) Yum!

Back to work tomorrow. The ending of breaks is always bittersweet for me. I love my job, students and coworkers. I also love my kids. Luckily, I have an awesome job that allows me to split my time between the two! Teaching 3 days a week and getting to be home with the kiddos the other two = priceless. Plus, the kids get to hang with daddy one day a week and their beloved MeeMaw the other two. How many people are so lucky???

The break felt short but in retrospect, we did a lot. Started out with tonsil surgery. Then we threw a going away party for our friends moving to Florida. Right after that was Christmas, and we celebrated at my parents, then our house, then Waverly, and finally the Heimanns. We watched a lot of football, played a lot of games, watched some good TV, had play dates, went to a comedian, had friends over for dinner several times, rang in the new year...I even read about 6 books for pleasure. It was busy yet refreshing and I'm ready to begin the next 16 weeks. Between prepping my online class and teaching a "new" one (theory, which I've taught once before, but I switched the text), I will be plenty busy. I also want to plan and do a bunch of fun things with the kids and begin my 10k training. (This ankle is still swollen and painful, so I guess I'll just kick it in on the elliptical? Not sure how to increase from my regular workouts....?) Love having a bunch of projects going! :)

Stomach flu

Why do I have this horrible feeling I should have labeled this post "Stomach flu, part 1"? Last night Josh and I were out with friends and had a sitter. She called me around 9 and said, "I just wanted to let you know that Grady just threw up everywhere....I gave him a bath and cleaned it up the best I could, then got him back to sleep." Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. How much do you tip the sitter that had to clean up your son's barf???? After he had a supper of strawberries and lasagna????? Cream carpet + pink throw up = one gross stain.

I checked on him after we got home...he had thrown up again. Bath and sheet/jammie change #2. (To speed this story along, I'll just tell you there were 4 of these in the next few hours.) Tip: Put a towel down under the trash can that your kid is barfing in, it will save you some trouble.

And at 8:30 am, when you are working on your second hour of sleep, try not to kill your husband when he tells you to put Dora on for the kids so he can sleep a little longer......

Gradykins.

Almost forgot.

Put this on FB but I want it here too.

Grady and I were just discussing somersaults. I showed him a front somersault, and a back somersault. He goes, "Wow!!!! You can do that all by yourself?!" I said "Yes, I'm amazing!" Then he said, "And YOU married DADDY?????" Bahahahahah.

Sometimes kids just say the darnest things.......though Josh didn't find it quite as funny as I did! :)

What is up with this GORGEOUS weather?! This is NOT me complaining. I will take 57 degrees in Jan. anytime!!! Yesterday, we took the kids to the park. Both of them were wearing coats, but no gloves, hats, etc. And those coats were unzipped so fast! LOVE IT!

Tonight Josh and I are going out...so excited. We are headed to do one of our favorite things, hit up a comedian at Jokers. Honestly, I'm not sure who it is! We went there for my birthday in November and tonight are going for the birthday of a friend of ours.

Last night we had the Dodd family over...so fun. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day...I don't think anything is planned except for a pool party for Grady in the afternoon. Interestingly, I think we are all going, making it a family affair. The kids will LOVE it. I am not quite as enthused about putting my pasty white body into a swimsuit in front of strangers, but what the heck. It's for a little boy that Grady is in preschool with, so it will be fun to meet some new people who live in Dike and can be family friends of ours. (Since it seems like everyone we know moved away...) The rest of the weekend is church Sunday and then back to reality Monday. I'm getting excited to get back at it, actually.

Happy weekend!

Workshoppin'

Yesterday and today I was at workshops at UNI. I am putting a course online in the Fall, so it was two days of learning how to do it! Lots to think about, but I'm ready for the new challenge.

Boring post? Yes. But at least I'm posting! (Hint, hint!!) :)

NYE!!

I am horrible about remembering to take my camera WITH me places. Sigh. So I only have one pic from a party last night.

I was trying to show off my new antler headband I got in a grab bag. Sadly, the antlers were floppy. And it looks like I'm trying to take out my friend Katy, not sure why. She's good people. :)

Annie and I went to the party while Josh, Jeff, and Nick hung out and watched boy stuff. The guys came over and kissed us at midnight, which was sweet and got a lot of awwws and heckling, then they went back home. Annie and I then proceeded to dance the night away! Super fun. Wish I could show ya more pictures. :P