Last Day of First Grade

Who is this?? Where's my baby???

A Few More Softball Shots

I know I am behind, but I am determined to get these posts up to date! Halle's softball season was over at the end of June. It was fun to see the improvement from last year. great job Halle!

Cute Boys & Their Clothes

Looking for somewhere new to get kids' clothes? I stumbled upon the 77kids website (American Eagle's children's line) by accident and placed an order early this Spring. I was really impressed with the quality (their t's are SO SOFT... I mean really soft... softer than Gymboree) and have so far washed up great. Their prices are okay, but they did lots of promos here and there and I got most of the kids stuff for under $6. Here are Gavin and Isaac in their 77kids shirts and hats.

Potty Training Is All It's Cracked Up To Be

Isaac is just about potty trained (he is still wondering where the train part is in all of this). It has certainly been a long haul. Halle was very easily trained and Gavin wasn't too bad, but this kid!! After a month or so, i think he finally has the pee thing down. He has only pooped on the potty one time (oh what mommy's type). Did you get that ONE TIME, which means he's going a lot of places he shouldn't! I'm assuming he'll be using the potty all around by kindergarten and am still hanging in there!

Potty training has just as many cons as pros if you ask me. But I have to say one of my favorite things, is seeing their cute little bums in unders! And then there's the bare bum that begins poking out of bottoms that were previously perched up by those diapers. Our first time swimming at my mom's without his swim diaper found Isaac showing quite a display!! I couldn't resist!!

For my salmon loving friends...

I have been trying to incorporate some new, healthy recipes to me repertoire and have been striking out. That is, until I tried this wonderful salmon recipe. It is quick and easy and the salsa is amazing!!! I have made this a couple of times and have even altered the salsa a bit (based in what ingredients I had in the fridge) and it still turned out so yummy! Here's the recipe (from Fitness magazine)

Salmon with Blueberry-Mango Salsa
Makes: 4 servings Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes
1/3 cup blueberries


1/3 cup peeled, diced mango


2 tablespoons minced red onion


2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper


1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro


1 tablespoon fresh lime juice


1/2 teaspoon minced jalapeno pepper


2 teaspoons sugar or


1/4 teaspoon sea salt


1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil


4 4-ounce salmon fillets


Pinch each of sea salt and ground pepper
1. Combine blueberries, mango, onion, pepper, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, sugar or cane juice, and salt in a medium bowl. Lightly crush with a fork to release the juices. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and sear for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. (I like to Broil... rub w/ oil, squirt on the juice of 1 lemon and season with the salt and pepper and broil on high (varied time depending on thickness) but it cooks up really quickly
3. Serve fillets with salsa.



Nutrition facts per serving: 205 calories, 19g protein, 6g carbohydrate, 11g fat (2g saturated), 1g fiber

A Sunset & A Smoothie

Love these!

Stone Soup- a Rock Opera

Swimming

at the hotel. The pool was on the terrace and was super nice! Thanks to Hotwire, every hotel stay is four star and fabulous!

Heavenly:

A Cupcake Lounge

After the marathon, a fabulous seafood lunch (and three cherry cokes... my special post race treat... no soda during training), and a nap, we hobbled over to Heavenly: A Cupcake Lounge. We loved the modern decorations and, of course, the yummy cupcakes. There menu even featured a shot of buttercream. yummmmmm......

Marathon Madness!

San Diego Rock 'N Roll Marathon

May 31, 2009

Kristen's Time: 4:31:56

Eric's Time: 3:56:43

Looking back, I am so thankful to have the first marathon behind me. I spent the last few weeks before the marathon being so worried and stressed that it was crazy. I had nightmares about getting there late and without my ipod. I carried around this pace chart and was always looking at it and wondering where I should pace myself. I studdied all the paces and marathon results based on these. Would I start too fast and die out? Would I start too slowly and never recover that lost time? It went on and on. It was exhausting. And then there was the actual race which was monumentally harder than I had expected. I feel so much better knowing what to expect. I would recommend some smaller, less stressful races to get some expreience. I had run only one half marathon prior to this and I see now that it was a disadvantage. BUT all that said, it was a fantastic experience and one that I am proud of. I worked really hard, but have learned a lot about working smart... which is what I will focus on for marathon number 2, which is coming in winter. Here are some pictures from our weekend in San Diego.



Picking up our stuff at the Expo




Eating our traditional "night beofre" dinner of spaghetti


Marathon morning

Unfortunately we don't have a lot of pictures from the marathon because we were both running and we didn't have any one as spectators. The ones from the company that shot them professionally have copyright laws, so we will have to order them soon.
We had to get up at 4:45 to make it down to the hotel lobby for our shuttle to Balboa where the marathon started. When we got there, an Escalade Limo showed up to drive us the few miles over to the marathon. The sun was just starting to come up at this time. When we got there we met up with Chauntai really quick and then we all split up into our holding corrals. I was worried about the craziness of such a large race, but the effeciency was impressive and no one was trampled. The bunch broke up pretty quickly and we were off. The first few miles were great! Around mile 15 I got really yucky feeling and slowed down quite a bit. I was never able to get my speed back up and lost a considerable amount of timt that last 10 or so miles. It was so much harder than any of my long runs! I am training smarter this time so I am hoping to feel better before, during, and AFTER the run. It's interesting how painful a run can be. I was in the mind set of "I've run 20+ miles a handful of times and then went on with my day with only mild soreness and fatigue" so how bad can it be? Well, for me it was a lot worse! I could hardly move after it was over. EVERYTHING hurt! I couldn't walk right because my itbs had flared up really bad and i couldn't bend at the knees without sharp pains. The rest of the weekend we could tell who the runners were as they limped around down town SD. It was great to talk to everyone about their experiences, times, etc. All in all it was awesome and I love the challenge it presents mentally and physically! Bring on another...

Gone Fishin'

Big Bear Lake

May 17, 2009

What better way to spend a Monday?

Grandpa showin' them the ropes

Isaac caught a fish!

Special "adventures" with Grandpa

I can't seem to figure out where all our time has been going lately. I have sat down several times lately to catch up the blog but cannot find the drive to do it. I thought it was Summertime and the livin' was easy???