Spring Break Goals

Posted in Moments of Motherhood, Parenting, Spring Break by

While there may still be s buttload of snow kicking around, the first day of spring is technically tomorrow (March 20) and Spring Break starts today!

Our school district decided (thankfully!) to switch back to Spring Break being only one week instead of two; why on earth they thought parents would be okay with two weeks off is beyond me, but that’s neither here nor there for me. I’m lucky enough to not be working while Isla’s off school, but that doesn’t mean I plan on sitting around at home and letting her watch TV and play on the iPad until she’s a vegetable.

I’ve put together a list of things I’d love to be able to accomplish with the girls while we have the week off together:

  1. Go out for breakfast. I’m thinking I’ll be “mean” just one morning and make Isla wake up as if she’s going to school, only to take her and Norah out for breakfast. While dining out with two kids is probably going to be a regrettable life choice for me, it will be a nice treat!
  2. Unplug & Play. Chapters-Indigo is hosting fun, free events all throughout Spring Break, so I may take the girls down to our local store to partake in one of them. I’m thinking the Unplug & Play one featuring Play-Doh will be great for both girls, and then maybe after that’s done I’ll let them pick out a new book to buy.
  3. Play dates. Isla has been BEGGING me to set up playdates with various friends from school and dance, so if I don’t follow through I’ll never hear the end of it.
  4. Dollar Store adventures. Is there anything better than Dollar Store crafts? I think not! There’s tons of options for the girls to choose from and can easily occupy them for an afternoon. And? THEY’RE A DOLLAR. I mean, come on!
  5. Movies. We’ve been watching the same movies on repeat for a while now, so I’m thinking I may treat the girls to a movie they’ve never seen and we’ll cozy up on the couch with some popcorn one afternoon.
  6. Jump 360. This is probably the best place ever to take the girls to burn off energy for a couple of hours. They have a couple chunks of time set aside for just kids 5 and under so I don’t have to worry about them getting hurt by some older kid not paying attention.
  7. Cooking. For whatever reason, Isla has taken an interest in making dinner. I let her help a couple weekends ago and she was pretty dang proud of herself, so I thought I’d maybe let her help plan dinner for a couple of her days off.

I have no idea how much of that we’ll actually accomplish, or what else we may get up to during the week, but I’m looking forward to Isla being able to recharge a little bit before getting back to a busy schedule next week.

What are your plans for Spring Break?

 

Weekend Update

Posted in Weekend Update by

Hello, beauties, and Happy Monday! This weekend was cold and awful and I’m really not loving how March has started, but in like a lion, out like a lamb, right? Right! So, here’s what we got up to this weekend!

{Friday}
I almost ignored my alarm in the morning and skipped my workout, but reluctantly, I dragged myself out of bed for a quick 1-mile run on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes of Jillian Michael’s Yoga Meltdown. My legs have been feeling heavy this past week (I blame this damn cold I’ve caught) so I thought a switch in exercise wouldn’t hurt.

After I took Isla to school I puttered around the house and didn’t get up to too much; I vacuumed the house and tossed dinner into the Crock Pot and was generally pretty lazy for the rest of the day. I even had a short nap in the afternoon before going to get Isla from school. Win! She was off to a birthday party, so it was just Kyle, Norah and I for dinner. After I picked Isla up it was time for her and Norah’s bedtime routine and then Kyle and I adulted hard watching bad movies on TV and playing on our phones in bed before turning out the lights. Rough life!

{Saturday}
When I woke up the wind was blowing and it was cold and miserable outside. I had plans to go buy groceries in the morning but decided to be lazy and ordered them online to pick up in the afternoon instead. As it turns out, I’ll have to go back to the store because whoever selected my groceries got me salad dressing that was already expired … You win some, you lose some I guess!

We had a pretty lazy day otherwise until Kyle’s aunt & uncle came over to help celebrate Kyle’s birthday! It was actually on Wednesday but because Kyle worked we had a big dinner for him and he opened presents on Saturday.

{Sunday}
On Saturday I had bid on a SNES Classic on one of those 24hr Auction pages on Facebook, so I had to go pick that up in the morning. On my way there I stopped by the grocery store to exchange my items that were messed up from my online shopping trip as well.

By the time I was done running around town it was time for lunch, and since I was feeling especially … crabby … I had a quick power nap when Norah went down for hers. I woke up from that and helped Kyle make a big batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer, then we set up the SNES Classic and relived our childhoods, haha!

That’s pretty much all we got up to on the weekend! Nothing too wild and crazy. This week doesn’t have much planned either. I live an exciting life, is what I’m saying.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Run now, nachos later

Posted in Fitness by

That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run.
– Forrest Gump

Taking a line from Mr. Gump, I wouldn’t necessarily call my plunge into running a journey; it was more along the lines of a spontaneous fire being lit under my ass for no apparent reason. Even today I don’t have a good explanation as to why I started, but I’ll try to explain the sudden bombardment of exercise and fitness posts on my social media accounts. (Because I know that not everyone enjoys reading about gains and miles and #fitness.)

Back in January I came across a 5km obstacle course/race event on Facebook that looked like a hella lotta fun. The entry fee wasn’t too crazy yet, so I signed up even though it’s not until June. Then I figured, why not make it a goal to do three 5km races this year? It would be relatively easy to accomplish – there’s a 5km race in March, plus the big Boogie the Bridge event in May, and the 5km obstacle course in June. Done!

So with that March race in mind, I figured it was time to perhaps start training a little bit so I didn’t collapse and die 1/3 of the way through. I think it was the first Monday after I had signed up for the June race that I set my alarm and told Kyle to kick my ass out of bed so I can go put some distance down on the treadmill. I didn’t get very far (1.92 miles/3.08kms in 25 minutes), but it was enough to make me want to improve. I’ve been getting up early 3 days a week to run and it feels pretty dang good.

Now, I was asked by someone about why I decided to start running, and I still don’t really have an answer. Maybe it’s because it’s a good way to balance out my love for food and couch time. (I will, good Sir, run for nachos.) Or maybe it’s because it seems to be helping reduce stress. Whatever the reason, I do know that it’s certainly not bad for me, providing I don’t push myself too hard. Perhaps one day I’ll work up to a half-marathon (The Seawheeze would be pretty amazing to tackle!) or maybe even a full marathon, who knows! For now, I’m happy with my progress and will set new goals when I feel I’m ready.