the Uno Master and other random photos

hairbow project = COMPLETE!

i ordered a few products from the body shop and they came packaged like a gift :)

helen was working on measuring things at her preschool with mittens (they have been reading a book about mittens and talking about winter). during her homeschool time with me - we've been studying dinosaurs for the month of January and we used a leaf to measure the same things she had measured with mittens at her preschool - she loved it!

measuring the height of the chair

not sure why she had to wear sunglasses? :)

recording her observations

i've had this Gatorade bottle since high school --- it provided liquid for me during many track meets and races - yes it's getting old! ---- Ross filled it the other night and discovered a hole in the middle of it - so i took a picture of it and threw it in the garbage :(

finally got around to getting some frames for the photos we had taken last fall - also put Ross to work hanging some other things around the house!

you are looking at the UNO master! - Jillian won 2 games the other night when we played as a family. she had very little assistance from us helping her decide which cards to play too -- she knew that she had to play a matching color or number and was very lucky when it came to hitting the button :)

laying down the winning card! - she says "booya"!

doing the UNO dance :)

sweater girl - wearing THIS sweater for the last time :) she is growing too fast!! (she does not know that i removed this sweater from her closet) - she often requests to sleep in this sweater - she likes it that much!

ever wonder why the microwave popcorn bag says "place this end up" - this is what happens if you don't place "this end up" :) ...nice job, Ross!

i made these t-shirts for the girls to wear on Valentine's day. I picked up the t-shirts and heart fabric at wal-mart. i found the black and white polka-dot fabric in my stash. then i zig-zagged the hearts on the shirt! i plan to remove the hearts and put a shamrock on for March!

yucky and funny

jillian's new game - tell her it's time for bed or a nap and she runs away to hide - in MY bed!

i usually give the kids an alloted time to play their Nintendo DS - depending on their behavior they may have time taken off their alloted time. last week, graham had 15 minutes taken off his playing time. (when the boys play their DS, they set a timer and they are on the honor system to turn their DS off when the time expires.) last week, graham decided to ignore the timer so he lost his DS for 1 week. on friday, graham brought home this drawing from school describing the bad choice he made by playing his DS too long :)

jayden made these signs and posted them on his bed :) love the spelling of one (won).

" no bruthes and sisters only jayden and his animals" (jayden sleeps with about 16 stuffed animals!)

jillian ate these vegetables (as mushed up baby food) ALL the time in Holland. now she has decided, as an (very) opinionated (almost) 2 year old that they are "yucky". and she says it with a smile :)

made with love

some hairbows i've been working on for 3 days now..... still.not.done :)

i think it's so special when someone makes a gift and sends it to the kids. i love arts and crafts and know how much time it takes to make things - truely a gift of love.

my mom's aunt sheila made the kids (and me!) a scarf. they love the scarves and enjoyed opening their package! knitting/crocheting is on my "must learn how to do" list.

jillian was a little more interested in the books that auntie sheila sent and she ripped through the wrapping paper with no help from mommy :)

my scarf!

helen likes her purple scarf and "tied" it herself

0.67741935487097

the other night while i was making dinner, i was listening to the girls play together. i noticed that they put their baby in time-out! they even put her in our time-out chair :)

poor baby!

jillian showing a little attitude during breakfast!

sturgis stingrays are ready for their home meet today!

jillian cheers on her brothers while mommy and helen take a class at the gym.

what's that bright light in the left-hand corner? - it's the SUN! (reflecting off the freshly fallen snow outside!)

handing in their time cards - getting ready to swim an event

jayden getting ready to swim butterfly

we're exactly 0.67741935487097 of the way through january.... january is a very long month for me and february is not much shorter this year due to the leap year. thankfully we haven't had much snow - but the snow we've had seems to cancel school (ugh!) and make the parking lots all sloppy and slippery.

i've been scheduling a few races to set some goals to get me through the next few months. i'm thinking about doing a half-marathon in Toledo in mid-April - that will be my first race of the spring... either that or the Lansing half-marathon the same weekend in April. then i'm running the Kenosha half-marathon the first week in May. i just registered for the Sunburst half-marathon for the first weekend in June and then i'm going to do the Ann Arbor Marathon in mid-june. i think it's the first year for the Ann Arbor Marathon and they only allow 2,500 runners for the marathon and 5,000 runners for the half. after battling the crowds in Berlin and Disney, I'm looking forward to a smaller race! i finazlied my plans for my trip to Portland, OR for the marathon in early October. unfortunately i won't be able to spend more than 2 full days out there running and exploring - but i'm excited to at least have the chance to run out there. THEN while doing some internet surfing for races to run over the next year, i actually found out that my Disney half-marathon times puts me pre-qualified for the New York City Marathon (the first weekend in November). Like the Boston Marathon, so many people seem to be achieving the qualifying times that they (NYC) are tightening the pre-qualifying standards by 10 minutes next year (and i thought the 5 minute reduced time for Boston was tough!). so i applied for NYC and i'm anxiously awaiting my letter of acceptance (it could take up to 3 weeks - ugh). you can also submit your name for the NYC marathon lottery - but if history is any indicator of our future.... i have no idea where we will be living over the next couple years... so i think the lottery is out for me.

i recently joined a mom's club here in sturgis (it's the same format at the MOPS group i belonged to in Kenosha - Mother's of Preschoolers - but in Sturgis there are no membership fees and you can be a member of the group until your children are 12 years old). they had a speaker on depression last week and she had a lot of good points in her speech. she also said that in order to fight of depression you should increase the protein in your diet, get some natural sunlight (also vitamin D if sunlight is not an option), exercise, and get pleanty of rest. i thought some of her points were very good reminders. she also said that it helps to plan small trips or events for you (the mom or dad) and the family. when we moved overseas, i found it very helpful in our adjustment to plan little trips and have something to look forward to - it lifted my spirits during some of the rough days ... they don't have to be big trips but a little something - perhaps a trip to a museum or an excursion to get ice cream with the family after a nice walk or bike ride. we have started to plan a few trips here with our family and i think it really helps not only me but the family to have something to look foward to. adjusting to our life here hasn't been as easy as i thought it would be - i constantly struggle with my feelings that coming "home" is just not "home" to me anymore.

here's some video of the boy's swim meet this morning.... i'm so proud of them! the continue to achieve Personal Records in their events and we will be traveling to Detroit at the end of February for their State Meet. They are practicing 3 times a week now - ugh! But they really seem to enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPng1MlGch0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4AQBDV-0zY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWjld1jYlxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Ep9YU4eLc (oops! - graham gets disqualified for swimming freestyle in the breaststroke event)

my secret recipe

i tried a new recipe out last night on the family - overall review - i liked it, ross said it tasted good, jillian and helen didn't like it (helen said she did not like it because it had broccoli in it and jillian agreed even though she was not sure which vegetable was the broccoli!) and the boys - well i don't think they WOULD have liked it as much as they did but a 1.5 hour swim practice left them pretty hungry so they actually had 2 servings of it. (AND - it even looks like the picture from the magazine! - see recipe below)

jillian readin' the mornin' paper and having breakfast :)

i really think these are THE.CUTEST.SHOES.EVER! i picked these shoes up for helen yesterday after realizing that her feet grew a couple sizes since she last wore her tennis shoes. she opened the box and said "oh mom, NIKE!" probably helped that we lived in the town of Nike Euro Headquarters in Holland.

a shot of my 3 medals! - these are the biggest medals i have ever received in a race. i still hear the sound in my head of all 3 medals clanging together as i walked around the airport. AND i must say i wasn't the ONLY one wearing all my medals in the airport :) ---now they are pretty much necklaces for the girls :) but nonetheless - I earned them!

and now for THE SECRET RECIPE ----- 39.3 miles and no blisters (or yucky toenails either - gross, i know!) these socks are officially my secret recipe to running without blisters! the shoes aren't bad either... i love asics kayano - not my color preference but they have worked out ok for the rainy/snowy/salty/sandy ground conditions this winter in Michigan. i bought these socks in Holland before i left and they were my last 2 pairs that did not have holes in them. i was lucky enough to find ONE pair at the fitness expo in Orlando. I can assure you that these will ONLY be worn in races now :)

and now for the food!

2 recipes i've tried recently (the recipe in the photo above had mixed reviews) but the soup recipe was a big hit with EVERYONE!

easy baked cheese & vegetable twist

2 eggs

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheese

3 cups of frozen broccoli cuts

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

4 green onions, sliced

2 cans of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

combine the first 3 ingredients and stir. then add the other ingredients. unroll the crescent dough and separate into triangles then arrange them in a circle on a cookie sheet. add the mixture onto the dough and then tuck in the ends of the triangles. bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

tortellini soup

1 pkg. (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

2 cans of tomato soup, undliuted

2 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of milk

2 cups of half and half cream

1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1 tsp. onion poweder

1tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

cook tortellini according to the package directions then add them to the ingredients listed above. enjoy with some homemade bread!

snow fun in sturgis

family sledding at a nearby park in sturgis

graham, jayden, and helen try the "small" hill first

the big kid tries the small sled :)

why not bring your chairs? - sit all day and watch your kids sled ... hmmmm

daddy and jilly

blurry shot - but she had fun :) she kept saying "one more time, please!"

the full view of the sledding spot - kind of dangerous when you think about it --- several hills coming together with toddlers, parents, and pre-teens all sledding down at the same time

smile of approval from jilly

no sled? no problem for helen!

self-portrait of mommy and jilly sledding down the small hill together

who's the big kid?