October 25, 2014

that's what she said

Ryann: "Sorry Elsie, better luck next time!"
I can't remember what Elsie was trying to do, but I about died.

Me: "I wish the leaves could stay the fall colors all winter and then just turn in to spring leaves."
Ryann: "But they fall of the tree right? And new ones grow back?"
Me: "Yeah, but I don't like the way the trees look with no leaves.  I wish they could just keep them.  And I love how the fall leaves look."
Ryann: "Sorry Mom, that just isn't how Jesus made it."

While trying to cut some stuff to make the girls' head pieces for their Halloween costume, I sliced the crap out of my finger.  It was bleeding all over the place.  Once I had it under control and made sure Ryann wasn't going to freak out...
Ryann: "Maybe you should have practiced more with your scissors.  My scissors aren't as pointy and sharp, maybe you need to use those next time you use scissors."

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October 20, 2014

number six

Half marathons that is.

I have run six half marathons in the last three years.  Some people will read that and think 'oh my gosh that's amazing', while other people might read that and think 'congrats, wanna cookie?'  For some people a half marathon is no big deal.  For some people it seems unattainable.  And some people just plain don't care about running so there's that.  :o)

What is important to me is to remember how far I've come, every time I finish a race.  Saturday wasn't my best race.  I've made some poor food choices the last couple of weeks, and I certainly felt it during the first nine miles of the race.  I had to stop at that point and use the bathroom.  Something I've never done, even when I was pregnant.  By mile eleven I was feeling gassed.  I hadn't grabbed any fuel to run with, and hadn't slept well the night before, so I hit a wall.  My training definitely wasn't the greatest either.  All of these things added up to a less than stellar race.  BUT.  I finished.  And I pushed until the end.  And I am proud to earn that sixth medal.

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post 13.1 with my favorite 5k finishers!

Three and a half years ago running a 5k seemed like such a daunting task.  I struggled through the first few weeks of the C25K, wanting to die during each and every run.  If felt so hard.  Now three miles is my short run.  I seriously still can't believe I've fallen in love with running.  Sure there are some days I don't want to do it.  Sitting on the couch watching HGTV or staying in my warm cozy bed or reading a good book, they all often sound way more fun than lacing up my shoes and hitting the pavement.  But the satisfaction I feel when I finish a run is so much greater.

This is the first time I've signed up for two halfs in one season.  I've got another one on the calendar less than three weeks away.  Thankfully this is the first season I haven't felt burnt out by the time I finished a race.  I wasn't as dedicated to my training this time around, and while that may sometimes be a bad thing, I think I'm finally settling in to a good point in my life.  I'm taking it more in stride and realizing that missing one run won't kill me, only running 4 instead of 5 once in a while won't ruin my ability to finish a race.  Thus I'm not as anxious for the running season to come to a close.

Plus, as I've said, fall is by far my FAVORITE running seasoning!

October 15, 2014

elsie - twenty months

I've been meaning to sit down and write this for nearly a week but keep getting sidetracked.  Better get to it before I blink and the little miss is another month older.  I can't believe how close she is to two!

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she would only smile if she grabbed her legs... goober.

Again, I was too lazy (or forgetful really) to get Elsie on the scale, so I have no idea how much she weighed.  My guess is somewhere between 26-27 pounds.  Her round little belly still makes quite the statement.  Her clothes are either 18-24 month or 2T.  2T is definitely a little big, but not to the point that I would consider buying anything else (as if she needs more clothes) in the 18-24 month size.  I really don't get it, all of a sudden she went from wearing a size 4 shoes, to a size 6.  Ry skipped right past the 5's too, so I shouldn't be all that surprised, but I was like wait what?  Thankfully we had borrowed some size 5's that worked for the maybe two weeks she was in them.  We've used a box of size 5 diapers, but they were a touch big and she was pissed because they covered up her belly button (naturally) so we're back to a size 4 for a bit.

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hahahaha caught her falling over

Elsie is currently cutting the last three canine teeth, all at once.  I keep thinking she is doing a great job teething, which really she probably is.  Not super drooly, no fevers, sleep is relatively normal, but her attitude the last couple weeks?  OY.  I love that girl to pieces, she is so funny and cute.  But lately everything, every request, every word, is accompanied with a big ol' pile of whine.  If I remind her to nicely say please, or ask her not to whine, she changes her voice in an instant.  However her initial attempt at getting anything is always in a whiny voice.  And oh man, the ridiculous battles and power struggles we've been having lately, they are slowly killing me!  We fight over getting her diaper changed, getting in the car, getting in the crib, getting out of the crib, every little transition.

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And I said that sleep was relatively normal.  In regards to the fact that when she goes to sleep she is out.  But it is the whole going to sleep that is a problem.  She has caught on to the fact that Ryann doesn't nap, and I'm pretty sure that makes her drag her feet to nap time.  And in the last month we've had several days where she stays in her crib for over an hour, never really fussing or anything, but just doesn't go to sleep.  It might have something to do with the bajillion 'buddies' she demands to take to bed.  I swear I tried to keep it to one or two stuffed guys in her crib, but then she'd cry and want this or that and I just wanted her to go to sleep so I went with it.  And now there are nine little (ish) friends in there that she has to count every night.  We've got owlie of course, and then 'second owlie' and 'rainbow kitty' that came home from Omaha, 'kitty' that she got for Christmas, 'woof woof' that came from who knows where, 'hop hop' that she stole from Ryann's room, 'neigh neigh' that came from Build a Bear, and for the life of me I somehow can't think of the other two.  But I know there are nine because again, she makes me count them each night.

So yeah, she doesn't nap a lot and then she is a real peach for the rest of the evening.  I'm assuming it is just a phase and she'll go back to napping.  But, um, what if she doesn't?  WHY DON'T MY CHILDREN NAP?!?  Ok enough of that.

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The things that Elsie says lately crack me up.  Last week she held up a dish towel in front of her chest and "it fit me" like she was trying on clothes or something.  Then she tossed it over her head and said "now hiding!"  And of course I can't think of any of them right now, but she'll surprise me and string together a four word sentence.  When she counts it is always 2 3 5 6 7 9 10!  I correct her every time, but she doesn't care :o).  I think she can sing most of the ABC's too, because she'll occasionally chime in when I'm signing, but won't do it on her own.  She also sings twinkle twinkle, baa baa black sheep and a couple other songs too.  Really she knows tons of words and songs and tries to say them, it just isn't always really clear what she is trying to convey.

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so many faces, so little time. haha.

Elsie is definitely turning in to a picky toddler.  The best part?  Ryann will only consistently eat peanut butter and jelly and chicken nuggets.  Elsie does not like peanut butter and jelly or chicken nuggets.  Oy, dinner goes over so well in our house these days!!  It isn't that bad, thankfully Elsie doesn't really care if she doesn't like what is on her plate, she just doesn't eat it.  Ryann was always offended by foods she didn't want and would throw a fit, so this works much better.  Elsie seems to really like different soups, it is just unfortunate that soup isn't really an easy thing for toddlers to eat.  She isn't too terrible with a spoon, but not skilled enough that I'd just give her a bowl of tomato soup.  She loves rolls and muffins, and m&m's of course.  Fruit and cheese are also at the top of her love list.  Oh, and mac 'n cheese.  For the longest time I never fed her mac 'n cheese because we just didn't eat it all that much, but now she goes nuts for it.

We can't go anywhere without someone commenting on Elsie's hair.  Telling me how beautiful it is, asking where the curls came from, wondering if the curls will last.  I can't blame them, I love her hair so much, it is adorable.  I don't think the curls will last, but one can hope.

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Miss E is still my little mama's girl.  A few weeks ago she actually pushed me out the door at MDO and said "bye mama!"  And now the last two weeks she has screamed her head off walking down the hall to her classroom.  I feel so bad and guilty about it, but they assure me that she never cries for long, and she always is excited to tell me about the things she did at 'school' that day.  Aside from that, in general, she prefers to be with me.  Unless of course Grammy is an option.  She asks if we can go to Grammy's house ALL THE TIME.  The other day when we were leaving the gym I said "let's go home!" to which she responded "no home."  So I asked her, "No home?  If we don't go home where will we go?"  "Mimi's house!"  Too cute.

I need to read up on fostering sibling relationships or something, because my girls bicker and fight like crazy!  I know they're young and still learning the ways of sharing and such, but they go after each other.  And Elsie is a top notch hair puller.  She has pulled chunks of hair from Ryann's head.  CHUNKS!  Ryann doesn't have a ton of hair to begin with so it freaks me out a little.  Even with all the fighting though, I can see the love too.  There will be spontaneous hugs and kisses and cuddles, and nobody can make Elsie giggle like Ryann can.  I really hope that they can learn to be civil with each other more often, and get along.

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Elsie's current favorite pop song is Fireball by Pitbull.  I know, but she loves it.  She loves to shake her little booty and yell 'fireball!'.  She loves coloring and school buses and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She has a thing for wearing other people's shoes around the house.  She wants to help with everything, from unloading the dishwasher, to using the bathroom (whether I want help or not! and not that she wants anything to do with the potty herself.).  She is full of personality and spunk and I adore her.

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Oh Elsie girl, I love you.  So much.

October 8, 2014

my favorite season

I dislike winter aside from the holidays.  Spring is pretty awesome.  Summer rocks too.  But fall wins.  The weather is (for the most part) wonderful, and there are all sorts of festive things to be done.  And festive outfits to be worn.  And I just love watching all the leaves change, so gorgeous.

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The goal is to squeeze in a couple of pumpkin patch trips this month, but if it doesn't happen we have already gone to the Cider Mill.  Not quite the same as the pumpkin patch (they do have a patch at this mill, but it has a separate entrance fee and doesn't have as many attractions as other KC patches), but it does come with a side of cider doughnuts, heck yes!  I'm also a huge fan of the cider slushies.

The weekend we went was their Cider Fest, so there were some extra activities like the inflatable slides, pony rides and several vendors.  The cost of the different activities added up quickly, but Ryann and Elsie couldn't stop talking about the pony rides so I deemed the $10 for the two of them worth it.  Elsie kept saying "Neigh neigh go round a round!"  We met up with my bestie, her husband and little guy.  We've been friends since Meaghan and I were under two, so to get to attend activities and such with our families is surreal and just so fun.  Elsie wasn't in the best of moods that day, she hadn't napped, and also chugged and then puked up her cider, so our outing only lasted about an hour.  Ry would have stayed much later, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

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Even though it wasn't necessary a fall activity, I thought I'd throw these photos in here too.  A few weeks ago we went to Deanna Rose Farm with some friends.  All three of us brought our strollers, and wouldn't you know none of them were used.  Baby needed his mama and the toddler girls had no interest in riding.  We had fun feeding the goats though.  Elsie was so cute feeding the baby with the bottle, but she wouldn't hold on to it tightly and the little guy kept trying to steal it!  It was another day where Elsie was a bit of a pill, but she is still cutting teeth so I'm going to give her a pass for a bit longer.  We still had a great time and enjoyed being outside.

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Seriously, fall just makes me giddy.  Fun things to do, great running weather, plenty of excuses to eat soup and snuggle under blankets.  I love it.

October 2, 2014

chocolate pumpkin spice cookies

Last week I posted a picture of some cookies the girls and I made on instagram...

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The photo got a pretty positive response, and our family really enjoyed them (I forgot to take a 'real' picture of them for a couple days, and we ate them all!), so I figured I'd share my recipe.  Which really isn't much of a recipe at all.  At least not mine anyway.  When I spotted the kisses in the store I wasn't really sure what I'd make with them, but I was in the fall/pumpkin/etc mood so I grabbed a bag.  After trying one at home, I decided I thought they'd go well with a chocolate cookie.  I searched 'chocolate kiss cookie' on pinterest and came up with Jeanne's Chocolate Kiss Cookies on allrecipes.com.  Swapped out the chocolate kisses for the pumpkin kisses and boom.  Chocolate pumpkin spice kiss cookies.  Yum.

Just please note the part where is says the recipe yields 4 1/2 dozen.  Not that you can ever have too many cookies of course, but that is a fair amount, so halve the recipe if you really need to.  Or just send some with your hubby to work.  That is my method for getting rid of excess sweets.

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Ryann and Elsie were my little helpers, Elsie dumping ingredients in and Ryann unwrapping all of the kisses.  The both love baking, mostly because they love trying to sneak as much dough and as many chocolate chips as they can, but they do like helping :o).  Well Ryann had put all of the unwrapped kisses in a bowl, and at one point I turned around and caught her biting the tips off of the kisses and tossing them back in the bowl!!  "Ryann!!  What are you doing?!?" "Mommy they taste so good I just couldn't resist them!" I couldn't help but laugh.  But then I had to dig out several 'trimmed' kisses.  Oh sweet girl, you are too funny.