3.1

    For years I have wanted to start running. A busy life and little ones, not to mention the fact that its really only fun to run once you're in shape, have made it easy for me to delay this goal. Well, I've finally gotten my motivation! And, to help me stay on track, I have signed up to run a 5K! I am very excited! As of today I have gotten four friends to join also! That helps my motivation greatly.

   I have one month to get in good enough condition to run the 3.1 miles. I can walk forever, but running is a different story. At the beginning of last week I couldn't quite run a mile. By Saturday I made it a mile and a half; so that's promising! Half way there! It feels great to be accomplishing small goals on the way to the bigger ones.

   One of the added benefits to getting in better shape is that the more I exercise, the healthier I eat. They're connected for me. My motivation to eat really healthy is directly related to whether or not I exercise. Suffice it to say, I've been eating much better this past week. (Healthy for me doesn't mean no sugar, no bread, etc. It means moderation of those things. In my opinion, a life without baked goods is no life at all.) I have found that I love spinach in my scrambled eggs and omelets. Who knew?! Its really good! And green beans (not canned) cooked with garlic, mmmmmmm. Leafy greens, produce, and protein are my staples... and coffee of course.

   I am very happy to be running, even though I'm sore a lot lately. Its the kind of soreness that reassures you that progress is being made. I'm ready to be a healthier mommy, even when it hurts.

Here is the website for the race information:
 http://www.willpower5k.com/

Choo Choo, Blake is turning two!!

My big little man is turning two! Hard to believe our sweet Bubba boy is getting so big!

Here he is at just 6 days old.

For his party we picked a train theme. Most little boys around his age love trains, and he is no exception. I got to get creative for his party (thank you pintrest). I decided to make a big box train, which was a lot of fun.

Stage one: boxes, packing tape, and an oatmeal can.

Stage two: Some easel paper, tissue paper, and a little construction paper and its an engine! Yay!

The finished product, filled with balloons for extra fun!

They loved it!

So worth the effort!

Amazingly enough, the train survived the party! We still have it to play with!

Next came the decorations. Lots of bright colors!            

We decorated the birthday boy's chair with balloons. 

I made him a happy birthday banner.

The kitchen and living room all done up, complete with streamers on the fan.

Even the front door got in on the decorating fun.

Then the cakes! I made two cakes and a batch of cupcakes, including frosting, from scratch. 

The main cake was dairy free because Bubba has a dairy allergy. 

I also made some dairy free strawberry ice cream which turned out really good. It only had four ingredients: water, rice milk, sugar, and strawberries.

I made the cake marbled chocolate and vanilla, and had so much fun decorating it!

 And because multiple families we invited had food allergies, and I love a good baking challenge, I made the second cake (marble cake) and the (lemon) cupcakes dairy, gluten, corn, egg, nut, and coconut free. (I will share the recipes I used in a separate post.)

Allergy free lemon cupcakes.

The kids were happy to be my taste testers, and they devoured the cupcakes. Kid approval means they're good!

 Here are all three together.

They were a hit! 

The day of the party started out with snow! So exciting for the kids. 

Blake had fun trying on his engineer hat and bandana.

Here he is mid-party having a blast!

Teeper in his engineer duds. 

 The Thacker boys showing off some basketball moves while sporting their party wear.

Cake Time!

Candles... shiny 

He blew out both his candles by himself.

Playing with part of his train candle holder while waiting for a piece of cake. (Daelynn took this picture.)

Cake!

Daelynn got to play photographer for a bit. :)

Concentrating...

Presents! He was very spoiled.

Remote controlled truck pulling a trailer. Sweet!

Wooden train set from mommy and daddy.

Oh no! The train derailed! His new set of construction equipment is on the job!

He's just a little happy with his party and gifts... just a little. :)

He also got two awesome books that he can't get enough of, and neither can his sister. Two great coloring books, which she has helped him break in as well. And a cool John Deer tractor.

It was a very fun train party. We all enjoyed the company and fun! And the birthday boy had a blast! Thank you to all who helped make it so fun! I do wish I had gotten more pictures of all the kids playing together. But, we had so much fun spending time with our guests that the camera was often forgotten. 

I wish to say a special thank you to my amazing Husband, without his help I never could have pulled this off! He went above and beyond to help me in any way I needed. He really was:

:) Love you hun!

Walter Mitty and Mojo Ranch

Jim and I got to go on a date night this past weekend. And it was wonderful! 

We got to see a movie! That may not seem like a big thing to most people. But to put it in perspective, the last movie Jim and I went to was before we were married. Hadn't been in a theater for over 4 years! And what a great one to be the first in-theater movie of our married lives. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fantastic movie. We enjoyed it very much. We also enjoyed being able to sit through a whole movie! If you have, or have had, toddlers you know exactly what I'm talking about.

After the movie we had dinner at The Brewhouse. They have, as their name would suggest, a great selection of beer, which was fun for Jim. He loves to try new ones. He got a nice stout porter from a local brewery, which got his approval. And they have a wonderful menu. If you stop over, we highly recommend the jalapeno bacon cheeseburger with mojo ranch, which is a wonderful spicy ranch dressing. And don't forget to dip the fries in the mojo ranch as well. Mmmm... Just thinking about it is making me hungry!

I do not have any pictures from our evening out for two reasons. First, I was enjoying the company so much that it never crossed my mind. And second, because we both wanted to be "unplugged" that night to focus on each other. So aside from check-ins pertaining to the kids, we didn't have our phones out. The best part of out time on the town was uninterrupted conversation. Catching up with each other. It was overdue. And very delightful.

Having three young children makes it both more difficult to get out for date night, and more important to make date night a priority. Little people can require so much of parents that we often get very focused on accomplishing all that needs to be done; becoming consumed by diapers, feeding and nap schedules, and the continuous circle of dishes, laundry, and house keeping. Not to mention peek-a-boo, "I'm gonna get you", tickle wars, and "daddy's a horsie". Can't forget those. Sometimes we get so caught up in being parents that we forget who we were first: husband and wife. 

After our date, when thanking my dear friend for being so kind as to watch our children for us, I said something that I would like to repeat here, because it hit the nail on the head for what had been occurring in our home recently and what a change that night out had made: 

"We really needed to remember that we are a couple, and not just a couple of parents." 

Our little pioneer

My how time sprints by when we are busy living life. Having three little ones to chase, and tend, to laugh with, comfort, scold, and snuggle, to teach and learn from, can sure make the days pass with amazing speed.

Sweet baby Garrett is now three and a half months old. Adorable. Quick to smile; just on the verge of laughing. Intentionally grabbing things. And very talkative.

(Be prepared for a lot of cute baby pictures!)

Here he is ready for church a few Sundays ago.

As you may know, his first few weeks of life had a couple bumps. But things were ironed out and he was well before long. For a couple weeks. Then we got a bit of a shock one night when we were changing his diaper. He had developed an inguinal hernia, a hernia in the lower abdomen. It was quite a scare at first, but inguinal hernias are, for the most part, pretty benign. However, if they are not repaired, they can become a very serious health issue. This is part of why we call him the pioneer. He is the third child, but the first to ride in an ambulance (which was my first ride in one as well), the first to be hospitalized and get an IV (which occurred during those first bumpy weeks). The first with a medical condition requiring major action, and so will be the first to have surgery. Yes, my sweet little baby is scheduled for surgery on Valentines Day. They had wanted to schedule it sooner, but then he came down with RSV, a particularly nasty upper respiratory virus that can be pretty dangerous for babies. He weathered the virus pretty well and did not have to be hospitalized, which we count as a major victory. But to be on the safe side, his surgery needed to be postponed, and the doctors policy is a minimum of 6 weeks for an illness such as RSV. So Jim and I will be spending Valentines Day together... in the waiting room at the Children's Hospital. No parent is comfortable with the idea of surgery for their child, especially their baby. And we definitely have some anxiety about it. But we trust in the Lord. We know our children are in his hands. And in what safer place could they be? 

Baby smiles... the best.

It should be an outpatient procedure. Very non-invasive. He will not even require external stitches. After a few hours in recovery he should be allowed to go home. And he should be fully healed and back to himself in about a week. His hernia does not cause him any pain right now, but it does seem to cause him a lot of gas issues. Bubbles often get trapped in the hernia and can cause him a fair amount of discomfort. Needless to say, Jim and I will both be very relieved to be on the other side of his surgery, with a healed and healthy baby. 

Enough medical chitchat. 

Garrett is not only a pioneer for unpleasant things. Among other things, he is our first real passy baby. What a difference it makes for nap time and "getting the bottle ready" time! The first two only had interest in them for a few weeks. 

Once upon a time, in my pre-parent days, I was determined to be anti-passy. Any time I need a good laugh, I just look back to those pre-parent days at all my ideals and the things I believed would be absolute certainties for my parenting. Oh what a picture we paint of our dreamy perfect world through those rose colored glasses. All the "I would never"s and "I will always"s. Always gives me a good chuckle. Here in my real world of mothering, that passy is a blessing. I think it is definitely a contributor in Garrett's calm demeanor, and helps me maintain mine as well. :)

Some footsteps he is content to follow. He loves the jumper, just like his big brother did. 

Its been an adventure. We are so thankful to have him.

He fits right in with our busy little family.

Doesn't let much get him down.

Had to add this great sequence of faces I was lucky enough to capture on my camera.

He sure does make our world a brighter and happier place. 

A few more weeks will see my big boy's second birthday and my little boy's surgery and recovery. 

Life sure is busy. And it will only get busier. But I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Turtle Party

Hard to believe my big girl is three! 

(And that I am so behind, nearly a month and a half, in posting about her birthday!) 

That little girl is about the most amazing little person I have ever known. 

And she is growing up into a beautiful young lady. 

She also happens to really love turtles. Which made for a very fun birthday party theme! Mama got to bring out her crafty/creative side. I made her turtle cakes. It was so fun! Though credit must be given to my wonderful husband, because without his help and problem solving abilities I wouldn't have pulled it off. 

I had an idea for the turtle cakes. Did a lot of research. Saw a lot of ugly cupcake "turtle cakes" that I didn't want to resort to. And a lot of over the top, professional style cakes that I don't yet poses the skills for. Decided to try my own way. Ran into a bump, literally. How would I make it rounded for the shell? Really didn't want to cut and carve and such. Hubby to the rescue! "You could use your Pyrex bowls. They are oven safe, aren't they?" Yes, yes they are! Had to guess on the baking times, don't recall what they were.

Round shells, a whole cupcake for heads, halved cupcakes for the legs. And a bit of the excess, that was removed to make the bottom flat, cut into a triangle for the tails. 

Coming to life...

Turtle cakes! So fun to make! And the birthday girl got to help, which made it all the more special. 

On to the important stuff: the party! 

We didn't lollygag much, straight to the cake! Yum!

Daddy bringing the cake. And my dear friend Denise, aka Super Mom, holding her baby and mine. :)

She made sure it was front and center for her.

She wanted the turtle head. Haha. And, in true toddler fashion, ate only the frosting.

Presents!

Always lots of helping hands when its present time. 

She was quickly crowned princess of the party. 

Audrey helping her figure out a new toy. Audrey is quite knowledgeable about princesses. Whereas there is rarely princess talk in our house. For this gift, it was good she had a subject matter expert available. :)

She was wonderfully spoiled. And loved all her gifts. 

She was especially excited about having her very own lip gloss. Which she, of course, later tried to eat.

Coloring and playtime

After gifts came coloring. She loves most anything artistic. And coloring is something everyone could enjoy.

The long curtains for our sliding glass door are always a favorite among littles!

Here are a few of the turtle coloring pages we printed out. We had many more, some more difficult and more lifelike for the bigger kids, but also a lot of fun simple ones like these. Turtles are just fun and cute! 

As a belated birthday present, she finally got her blanket... 

that I started working on before she was born! Ahem... I was busy...

She loves it! It was a long time coming, but so worth it. 

My sweet three year old! Such a smart, helpful, creative, loving, fun, sweet, incredibly responsible for her age, beautiful little lady. A great big sister to her little brothers. A much loved, and truly wonderful, daughter.

My Big Girl!