Fearless Freedom

He has succeeded! Noah has conquered the bicycle! He decided to show me this one afternoon out of the blue how he could fly down the sidewalk. He was so proud of himself and it was just beaming in his little face. He has been working on pedaling. This has been his major obstacle. It was a little tricky for him to push the pedals all the way around. He would press down and skid because he was hitting the brake instead of pushing forward to complete the revolution.

He still presses down occasionally and the brakes will get him, but he is now going on his own.

WOOOOOOHOOOOO!

This is wonderful news for me cause this means I will now only haul around 25lbs in the bike trailer instead of 60! My legs are going to be so happy!

As we are out scooting around the neighborhood, Noah asked I make a video. Enjoy the show!

Pics from Marathon

Ok, so go ahead and say it. I am so hot when I am running!! HA ha ha!!! That's me, there in the back with the gray tank and black arm band. Um, yeah.

Oh did you say you want an up close pic?

As my husband and his best friend would say, "How tight!"

I look like I am dying or walking. I swear I was running!

And here is the proof. If you want a good laugh at my back side you can watch me run to the finish. Let's all thank Kevin for the flattering view!

At least the kids look good with the moose. Don't ask me, I don't know why he was there! The kids wanted the pic! Well, Noah wanted the pic. Caleb did not like the big stuffed antlered moose.

Spouse Flight

One of the privileges of being married to a pilot is being able to go on a sight seeing tour on the plane he flies. VERY COOL!! My pics do not even capture the breath-taking views and awesomeness that is Alaska. Hope you can get a smidgen of what this place really is.

A few pics I have wanted to post

Mini-Marathon Results

Ok, I could not be happier. I accomplished two goals:

1) To run and not stop, run the 5.6 miles all the way through
2) To finish in an hour

So my official time was 1hr 2min 11.3sec

I finished 25th of 49, 30-34yr olds
AND
154th out of 333 female runners

They did not have the results for men and women combined.

Some things I noticed - I was not out of breath at the finish SO I did not push myself. BIG disappointment for me. However it gives me a greater motivator for next time. I averaged an 11min mile, which I run 9.5min mile at the gym. So, I need to pick it up and not doubt myself. This is the most I have run at one time. I thought I would die, but it was actually very fun.

Kevin took pics. I have lots of pics to post, so that will be a separate post and come later.

Caleb's Ortho Appt Follow Up

C had his check up in Seattle yesterday with the ortho doc. We are still the same, just plodding along. No concerns with his feet. His walking looks great and he is just as normal as all other kids. Still too soon to move us out and have 6 months in between appts. So, we are going back in another 4 months.

God has been so great in this whole process. He made Caleb so perfect and C is such a blessing. He is such a trooper and does so well with all the traveling and docs poking on his feet. I give praise to God for giving Kevin and I such great kids!

What you don't say

This is what you DO NOT say when you are standing behind a tired mother toting her 1yr onto a plane that is going to land at midnight:

"Oh great, there is a baby on this flight. Oh, and look at all those strollers and car seats (which are waiting to be gate checked). That is just great, this is going to be a really nice flight. Geez"

It took everything, EVERYTHING, in my body to keep looking forward and not turn around. Granted, she did not know that I had just sat in the airport for 5 HOURS, entertaining a 1yr old, trying to make nap time work, etc, etc.

Make yourself a mental note: Never comment on children being on the plane. At least you can put in earplugs, lean over in your seat, and go to sleep. If you so feel inclined to comment, OUT LOUD, then you asked for whatever you get, whether it be a tired parent telling you where to stuff it or a "nice" flight full of babies crying in the seat next to you! GRRRRRR!!!!

Skinny Tuesday

So I think I will "theme" my tuesdays. Others have "Monday Meal", "Hair Thrusday", so I will start Skinny Tuesday.

This will be my ravings on about my progress through this "losing baby weight" adventure I have started along with any good nutrition and exercise tips and stuff I find out.

To start, the scale did not move one little ounce on Friday. Friday is weigh in day and the scale looked and me and said "No, I will not budge one little smidge". So, the love for the scale I talked about here, is soooo over. I knew this would be temporary for I have never ever loved the scale. This week I have already missed one "gym day" because of traveling. I am feeling behind this early in the week. Which de-motivates me somewhat. I also ate like, uhm, really really bad on this trip. I try really hard to eat better while I am traveling, but airport food is NOT catered to those trying to watch the waistline AND trying not to break the bank. Finding a place to eat that actually has decent food is usually expensive AND the place that has decent food usually does not cater well to kids. Eating dinner in an airport is enough in itself not to mention taking in a screaming one year old to looks of "I hope that kid is not on my flight". Anyway, more on that later. So, try to find something cheap, healthy, and that I can take away. Ok, that means, fast food, fried, high calorie, make my stomach hurt, in a bag. I did manage to find a place that had salads with the dressing not on them already. However, I choke on the price and pay $6 for a piece of lettuce in a big plastic bowl. I usually try to find salads because they are filling and CAN BE low on cals. However, I am very weary of salads. You may think you are eating well cause it is called salad, BUT some can pack as many as 600 cals!! BOO!! I refuse to buy salads from fast food vendors cause usually the salads contain ridiculous amounts of sugar. Why would I want sugar on my salad? I also don't get the entree size of salads. It is usually too much, as we all know "entree size" in our culture is enough for a small country to eat for a week. A small salad, about 2 cups of greens, is perfect, with a drink.

Skinny Tuesday Tip: When eating a salad you will kill your progress if you drown it in dressing. Look at the serving size on the bottle, usually 2 tblsp. Sometimes those 2 tblsp can pack over 100 cals!! Tune your taste buds to enjoy the flavoring of balsamic vinegar (not vinegarette - which packs A LOT more cals) which is more like 28cals for 2 tblsp.

My weight loss and healthy eating motto: If you forgot to brush your teeth one day would you stop brushing forever?? NO! You brush again the next day. So don't give up today, get over it, and start again tomorrow!!!

The Pickpocket

The entire conversation that happened after church tonight:

Kevin: All my cash is gone
Mary: What? Did you take it out of your money clip and leave it at home
Kevin: NO it was in my pocket, I bet it fell out in the church parking lot

***Noah interjects and informs us he knows where the money is, and then tells us "uh, I don't know"***

We pull in the parking lot at church, no cash on the ground. Great, est. $60 gone. We then start home.

Kevin: I can't believe I lost that money. I am getting a new money clip.
Mary: Well maybe you don't remember leaving it at home.
Noah: Oh wait I know where the money is.
Kevin: Tell me if you know
Noah: It's in my pocket, hee hee, and I can't get it cause I am strapped in my car seat, hee hee.

We pull in the drive and yes it was in his pocket. Who knows?!!

Skinny Tuesday

Oh yeah, K is on a trip so I have time to watch the laundry and dishes pile up and surf the net for hours on end. (So I wrote this yesterday and now I am in trouble cause K is coming home early(like tonight) with DIRTY clothes!! AAACCCKKK!! Soon you will not see C walking down the hall b/c of the large mass that is the laundry pile! AAAHHHH!)


So I have been thinking about my working out and eating better and such. I really have to tell ya, this SparkPeople thing is working.

After my long 7 days in Oklahoma stuffing my face with white bread, BBQ, bday cake, ice cream sundae's from Braums, Belgian waffles, Sonic, quiche, junk, junk, and more junk, you get the point....I come home to my nemesis, the bathroom scale. Fridays are my weigh in day. The scale does not move except on Fridays. We return home, I wait 3 days to see the damage done. Friday morning I jump on the scale and that is when the tide turned, for now. Without working out, without eating right, I still dropped 1.5lbs. WHAT? Yes, the scale is now my friend - this may only be temporary, but live in the moment, right? I guess I am finally training my muscles, instead of the opposite, and making my metabolism work for me (first time in my life this has worked for me). OR we could say it was water weight, who cares!!

I am eating right for the first time in my life. More fiber, less fat, more protein, less cholesterol and sodium, and better control on carbs. I can now go to the grocery without my binder of helpful hints to get the "right" things. I am now understanding the purpose of calories and calories from fat and why I pass on white rice. There is an adjustment phase, but let me tell ya I am loving me some turkey pizza and fish tacos!!!

I got a great compliment. I am on the treadmill, a friend is in the gym as well. She comes over to say HI. I am ending mile 2, beginning mile 3 and I carry on a conversation while running a 9min mile pace, and keep this chat up for about 3 to 4 minutes. Talk about a booster for myself when I realized what I was doing. Anyway, she complimented me on my muscle tone. Now, for me, this is huge. I am in the midst of exercise (which I am a perfectionist with form) and I get a compliment on muscle tone! This means she can SEE my muscle structure through my fat!!! OH HaPPy DaY, OH HaPPy DaY!!! (to the tune from Sister Act).

This could not have come at a better time, cause the marathon is this Sat. Now, I am not running the full marathon, just the 5.6miler. That is my limit. I don't think I could train well enough for a half-marathon, and a full marathon does not interest me. Give me a 5K or 7K and that sounds fun. Plus that is as long as my running music lasts on the ipod. I got some new tunes for the ipod last night and I tried them out on the treadmill. I did not want to kill myself but I was wanting a 8.5 or 8min mile. I kept on track with the slower pace, I want to make it to the start line on Sat.

Anyway, my goal is to average a 8.5-9min mile on sat. I am hoping with other runners I can find someone to pace and seeing them go will motivate my feet to get with it. However, I am going to be absolutely happy with a 10min mile pace and crossing the finish line.

So, I have now set a new goal. After losing the first 11.5lbs, I have tacked on another 5lbs to lose. Then I will change gears to maintain instead of lose. After 8.5 weeks, I have lost 11.5lbs, dropped a size (I am now a 10!), am wearing clothes I have not worn since BEFORE Noah (so glad I kept them!), and am motivated to do more.

Another secret motivator I have is coming in Aug. That is my next yearly physical. I want to see how well or how bad I have done in correcting my cholesterol problem.

This is a huge mountain and I feel like I am almost at the top. I am ready for the weeks where I have a weight gain (and I have had some) instead of a loss. This is not going to stop me, would you stop brushing your teeth if you forgot to brush for one day? NO! You chew gum and get back at it tomorrow.

As a fellow blogger puts it (with my "it" substituted)

1) Get RID of the weight

2) Get CONTROL of what goes in my mouth

3) Get it DONE in the gym

4) Get OVER it, this is life and it is gonna hurt!

5) Give it to GOD - cause He is the only one who is going to carry me when I feel like I can't take one more breath, or push one more time. (especially carry me that last mile on Sat!)


That's how I feel about it these days.

The SWC Revealed

Let me school you...............


SWC = strong willed child
SW = strong will


On average there is only one SWC in a family. On average. Unless you are Kevin and Mary Jackson, who both have SW's and the eminent result of our SW's is distributed so forth in our children, ALL of our children.
So the case have been proven in our home. I was a naive mother to the 2nd SWC, since the first SWC revealed himself at birth. Our 2nd SWC sat quietly waiting for the precise moment to reveal the SW and thus immerse he and I into a fierce day long battle.

C has always seemed so laid back, sweet, easy going. He seemed a child who would listen, a true-blue parent pleaser. So, we treated him as so. We let our guard down. I am not sure yet if C is a full blown SWC, or if he is choosing what to use his SW for.


So the war begins.......


10am - C eats breakfast happily while N argues about why he has to eat and breakfast really isn't important

1030am - C is done with breakfast while N is still trying to debate

1035am - C gets dressed and plays happily while I prepare a bag for our day of errands

1050am - N is still debating the issue of breakfast while trying to get dressed and expressing his absent desire to go to the grocery store

1055am - I put on C's shoes and the screaming and kicking ensues **Caleb acts as if he feet no longer work with the shoes on his feet**

1100am - Noah happily hops in the van and buckles himself in while C continues to kick and scream and act like his feet aren't working.

1110am - I move Caleb to the door step and tell him because he has on shoes doesn't mean he can't walk and he needs to walk to the van

1135am - battle is still being raged while I sit in the van and make grocery list and watch C kick and scream on doorstep.

1143am - a breakthrough happens and I ask, "Are you ready to walk over to the van?", I get the reply, "Yeah". And so he does.

Think this is over.....oh no. Let's not underestimate the power of the SW.

20min drive to the gym with a strapped down kicking and screaming kid. I guess he thought if he could kick hard enough the shoes would fly off. Bless him.

I give in. I want a workout, so the shoes come off while I put him in childwatch. No one in childwatch who has half a brain would have taken C in this current state of tantrum bliss. :)

I workout, go to get the kids and prepare myself for round 2. I put C's shoes on and lo and behold! He hates them again! Surprise Surprise. Now it's a fun game of lets kick mommy while she carries me to the car, maybe the shoes will come off that way. Yay (that's a very monotone yay, just in case ya didn't get that). I again strap C in and he again tries his theory of nonstop kicking in hopes at least one shoe comes off and maybe, just maybe hits me in the back of the head. Okay the last part of that sentence may have been stretching, but this day I wouldn't have been shocked to see that shoe flying by my face and through the windshield.

So, many of you are asking...... Just take the bleeping shoes off already. Well, I will get to that after I tell you about round 3.

We arrive home after our pleasant 20min return trip. Some of my SW has kicked in and I am gonna see this through to the end. C is gonna walk into the house. Seriously, it's all of 15 baby steps to the mudroom. I unstrap and set him down and he drops like a fly hit by the swatter. OH MY his feet suddenly aren't working again!! He is literally on his back, feet in air, moving feet in such a manner they look like wobbly casters on a old used office chair. I inform SWC that all he has to do is get in the door and the shoes come off. Last round ended in 23min, after some rolling around and wailing in the driveway. I wonder what the neighbors thought? Oh well.

So, back to the question, Why didn't I just take off the shoes?
1 - He wore them just the week prior in Oklahoma and never fussed except the day we got them and on the airplane ride home. Ok, so he fussed twice.
2 - he has to learn to like shoes since he strongly dislikes the ones that are attached to a bar that he has to wear every night.
3 - There is not an option to go barefoot in AK. Those days a few and far between. Usually it is chilly or muddy, and not to mention a buh-zillion spiders live here.
4 - lastly I am not a parent who lets the kids make the decisions. Shoes are a part of life and therefore we must learn to wear them.

Why did I let it go on for so long? I am not into "breaking" my kids by forceful discipline. However, in a situation where the child thinks he is on a level with the parent then yes. He can throw his tantrum and still do what I say. Mommy wins ALL the time. I love my children with all my soul, but they were not programmed to do the right thing or know what to do in life. If this were the case, who in the world would need parents?

Case in point. I have not had another episode from C and his shoes. They get put on when we are going somewhere and he walks. case closed.
I started this post a couple of days ago and am just now finishing. So far from watching C, I think I am going to make the initial assessment that he is SW'd about certain things. Or should I say certain thing! Further research may prove different.

Oh and Happy Father's Day Hubby! You are a wonderful father to two awesome little boys who think you hung the moon and the stars, and the sky and you are cool cause you fly airplanes, and take them camping. Here's to you and spending many more years celebrating an awesome thing....being a dad! Love you!

Happy Father's Day to you too Dad....you already know you are cool, you rock it on a Harley! AND who else put the love of the outdoors in me AND who would've thought that I would have 2 little boys to pass that on to........

Happy Father's Day to Weaky (Kevin's Dad) - I couldn't have asked for a better FIL (father-in-law) Who else will eat 3 pieces of chocolate cake/pie/chunks/chocolate/chocolate with me????!!!!!

THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE THEY'RE HERE

WAAAHHHHHAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

My BFF had her Twin Boys!!!

WWWWAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!

***Running all over my house in happy dance fashion!!!*******

2 boys healthy and a momma and daddy happy and healthy too!!!

WAAAAAAHHHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!

They made their debut on June 13 weighing in at 5lbs 14oz and 6lbs 7oz!!!

This is such a HUGE answered prayer from God. All I could do was praise Him yesterday for these wonderful blessings that have been a long time coming. Please do the same, give some praise to the Wonderful God we have, for making these babies a blessing to a wonderful couple!!!

WWWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oklahoma!

Why in the world we plan trips back to back I will never know!

Anyway, we left for Oklahoma on Monday June 2 to visit family and attend a birthday party/family reunion. The trip begins at the airport at the rental car counter. Noah wanted us to have a red rental car. In Noah's world having a red car is the best thing evvveeerrr. This all started with the trip across the country and we usually had a "cool red car" according to Noah. So he voices his desire to the lady at the counter. Lo and behold! They have a red car they are excited for to Noah to ride in. Kevin is accompanying Noah at the counter and with 1 hour of sleep in a 27hour duration I can understand how Noah controlled the situation. Kevin signed the papers and we go to get in the car. There she is....a red mustang convertible. The kid inside me took over and I was excited. How cool! They let us rent this car at no extra cost. Wooo HOOO! That lack of sleep induced enthusiasm quickly turned into me becoming the very tired, easily frustrated monster from the underside when we realized that 2 suitcases, 2 car seats, AND a double stroller WERE NOT going to fit in this car. So, Kevin goes inside to then ask for a different car. Well well well. We were going to have to pay extra for a mini-van cause all of the other mid size/full size cars were gone. GRRRRR. Seriously. Needless to say we jammed, pushed, kicked, and smashed our stuff into that car. And yes, the kids rode with their knees next to their ears! Welcome to our version of the Oklahoma City Hillbillies.

We visited Clara, Kevin's paternal grandmother. The kids flew kites and duck watched. Clara lives in a retirement community and we had plans of taking her to dinner and shopping so she could have a chance to go out in the city a little bit. Well, the wonderful rental choice Noah was allowed to pick out, left us ab-so-lutely no room for someone in the back seat. We did what we called the double shuttle. Kevin took me and dropped me off wherever we planned to go and then went back and picked up his grandma and then returned for us to do whatever we planned. Thank you money-grubbing-oil companies for your gas prices, they make taking a trip so affordable. Seriously, gas is becoming my number one enemy. I am now riding my bike to the grocery store cause I refuse to waste the gas. Secretly, Dave Ramsey is on my shoulder doing a happy dance! Alright, back on track. We enjoy that visit with one grandma, now we smash, kick, jam, push, and cram our things back in the car and visit another part of the family.

On the other side K's maternal grandma had no clue what was going on. For months a surprise birthday/family reunion has been in the planning stages. The entire fam was going to be there. This would be the first time all of her great grandkids would be together at one time, and the first time in about 16yrs the entire family would be in one spot together at the same time. Folks came from California, India, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington DC, Texas, and Alaska. It was so awesome to see her so happy and overwhelmed at the magnitude of the surprise. Mimi's bday is tomorrow so, Happy Early bday Mimi! I hope you enjoyed this past weekend.

It was great for Noah to meet his cousins for the first time. He and Caleb had a great time with Maddy, Sam, and Derby. (Kajsa please forgive me if I am misspelling Maddy :)) Noah was quite the influence on the almost 2yr old Derby. Noah loved having Derby following him around, cause in Noah's perfect world he is the boss of someone. So, you know it was going to happen. Noah had Derby reciting "butt butt poop poop" followed by howls of laughter, from both of them. I will go ahead and put on record... "I apologize in advance for anything N and C do that is not in accordance with the way I raise them, that directly affects and influences any child that comes in contact with them. Especially in the area of language skills for which my son N is quite imaginative and mischievous." I will also forward any blame on to Crazy Uncle Ron, because his imaginative teaching only adds fuel and new perspectives to N's already elaborate way of thinking.

This next paragraph will leave all of you, who did not see it, wondering "what in the world is she talking about", but must be mentioned. I can not post a pic of this truly amazing piece of cloth as it will make my blog go from a "G" rating to an "R" rating very quickly. I met Kevin's aunt Katherine for the first time. She is very cool. She and her husband live in Australia but are temporarily (we hope) living in India. I notice one day this shirt she is wearing. Being that I just met this lady I can not find the gumption to tell her to please take it off before we go out to lunch and shopping in small town USA. Another part of me was thinking, surely this symbol on her shirt is not as bad as I think and maybe in India means something else. I then drop the thought from my head and go with the flow. Well, this very garment was passed around the family and I must say there was a total consensus. The folks in India are pulling a fast one on us Westerners. So, now that you are completely confused. For those of you who were there:

Is the symbol on Aunt Katherine's shirt representative of:

A) a sacred cow

B) the gloryhole

We all know how this vote will sway....... Thanks for the laugh at your expense Katherine!!

Finally, we round off the week with a very short stop into Kevin's aunt and uncle Jim and Carolyn's. We had a nice BBQ together and caught up on missed time. They have been living in Russia for the past 4 years. Some of you know their kids, Matt and Leslie Ragland. They went to Essex Village in SC. Well Matt and Leslie's kids are getting so grown up. Isabella, their youngest almost reaches my shoulder!! It is so crazy how fast time flies. Kevin, Jim, Carolyn, and I sit up having a late night chat over diet dr. pepper! N and C love their music room. Their piano probably needs re-tuning and guitars strings tightened.

We arrive back home last night, or should I say this morning about 1:30am Alaska time. You wouldn't know it was that late cause the sun was still up. If I wouldn't have been so tired I would have taken a pic of the boys by the van, but by that time I was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed. It was great seeing everyone this weekend and catching up. It is a shame that we have such crazy lives we can't see each other more often.

Upcoming we have K leaving on a trip this weekend for about a week and I am trying to get signed up for my first marathon. The kids have swim lessons. C and I are heading down to Seattle in a couple of weeks for his ortho appt. Sidetrack - Caleb got his first pair of shoes and he hates them, go figure. I signed Noah up to start pre-school in the fall. He is on the waitlist so please pray he gets in.

On another note, my BFF is set to have her TWIN BOYS at any minute. She is scheduled to go in for delivery in a week. So, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Okie dokie, that's all for now. Maybe I will post more later this week.