"Exercise and I"

We go way back.

"Exercise and I"

Then I had twins.

And.

It was great when I was nursing and the pounds came of quickly, but not so good when I stopped.

Ever since then I have been trying and fighting a loosing battle of weight, hormones and ups and downs.

However, I am a "fighter" a "go getter" my husband calls me and I don't give up easily.

I've been determined this year to gain muscle and burn fat.

I have such a background in fitness and nutrition that I know what i need to do.

So starting in January I went with a new program

 (kinda forced into a new program due to loosing a long time running buddy to a move)...

Anyway.

I've been really working hard on when i go to the gym on Monday, Wed, Friday and Sat (Sat is either outside or in...)

I make it really count.

I'm talking if I do the treadmill i pump up the incline every 10 seconds all the way up to 7.0 while running 6.5 or higher speed and then ever 10 seconds take it down.  I was told this was a good idea by a trainer awhile back...and it is.  I hang on until the very end when I feel like throwing the treadmill out the window and then...

I do it all over again.

It hurts. I sweat A LOT and it's making a difference.

Not only that but i'm doing a lot of weight training and spinning.

I tell you what lately i've seen a difference in the way i feel and the way my clothing fits.

YEAH.

The other thing I've been working on is SUGAR, CARBS AND SALT.

I'm doing great and feeling good.

I read it takes 21 days to get of Carbs and they were not joking.

Press forward all those who are trying to get in shape...press forward...

You CAN DO IT!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines day.

We have three sick over here, including me, but my dear husband always makes it special on Valentines day.

Hope your having a extra special day.

"Finishing Well" A Tribute To Ed

Have you ever been to a funeral that was a celebration of someones life;

I mean a real celebration?

We were so blessed last Saturday to be able to attend a old friend of ours funeral.

Yes blessed. 

Blessed to have known him,

Jason was blessed to be mentored by him for some time,

I was blessed to spend time with his wife and

we were both blessed to be able to be in their young married bible study group when we had first moved to San Jose.

Ed was a blessing to all those who knew and spent time with him.

Ed was a man who loved the Lord with all his "heart, mind and soul" and treated each person and each day as a gift.

At the funeral service they had friend after friend come share how Ed was their

"best friend"

Really.

Their.

"Best friend"

Towards the end of the service they asked all the men (and it was a packed service) to stand up that were encouraged, mentored or had talked to Ed about anything spiritual and almost all the men their stood up it was so encouraging.

Jeanne Sechrist Nickell a friend of Ed and Sandy's says this:)

Ed Harris, our dearest friend who loved Jesus and others with his whole heart died suddenly yesterday. We can’t imagine this world and our lives without Ed. As Dale & I sit in this wonderful Godly man’s office where Ed was found peacefully, we feel privileged to be here surrounded with not only Ed’s presence but with the presence of Jesus. Everything about this room where Ed died reflects Jesus a...nd his love for him. There is a painting of Jesus lovingly embracing a man with tenderness painted by his daughter, Shelli ,and just given to him this Christmas. Ed died right below this picture and went into the warm embrace of Jesus. As we see Ed’s computer, we are reminded of all the people Ed communicates with around the world who email in with questions and who are searching for Truth. His many books reflect his quest to know, love and serve Jesus and share his faith with others, because he so loves. Ed was a man of prayer and if we had a problem, we knew we could tell Ed and he would pray for us. We are thankful that God gave us all Ed with his words of encouragement, playfulness, and loving personality. Ed, would say don’t cry for me I am finally in the arms of Jesus. When we get to heaven we will see and understand. For now with that limited understanding comes much grieving. We love Sandy and family and we grieve with them. Thank you Lord you promise to walk with us through our grief, and you will sustain them

"His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; Come and share your masters happiness." Matt 25:23

Life is a gift, precious and short.

God has a plan for your life and if you don't know Him today then start with a bible and the book of John. He wants to know you, He created you.

"O'Lord help me to live each day like it is my last and help me to LOVE those you put in my life with your amazing love." Me

Thank you Ed for your legacy of faith and love.

Thank you God for giving us all a chance to know Ed a faithful servant of yours.

Rocky Road Brownies

These my friends are ...

"Rocky Road Brownies"

Crazy.

My mom ever since I can remember has made rocky road candy at Christmas and it just doesn't seem like Christmas with at least one patch of rocky road to give to the neighbors.

So when I stumbled across this recipe on marthastewart.com

I just had to give it a go...even though i'm trying to eat really good right now.

O'my goodness you have to try them.

They are so much fun to make with kids and SOO yummy.

Make them for Valentines day, bible study group or girls night out.

A sure hit.

Note: I did not use the parchment paper and they turned out perfect.

Ingredients


• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan

• 1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

• 1 cup miniature marshmallows

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, such as cashews, pecans, or walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch-square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper.

2. In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine butter and 1 cup chocolate chips. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Remove mixture from heat; stir in sugars and salt, then eggs, and finally flour, stirring just until combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.

4. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips, then marshmallows and nuts. Bake until chocolate is shiny and marshmallows are puffed, about 5 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares.

Cook's Note

To prevent toppings from sinking into the batter, sprinkle them on after brownies are baked. An extra 5 minutes in the oven melts the topping together for easy slicing.

Birthday and Bundt

The 18th of January was my 37th birthday,

(Yikes am i really thirty-seven).

It was such a great day.

My husband made it extra special by bringing this home to celebrate with our small group.

They are SO delicious and beautiful.

If you haven't tried a "nothing bundt cake" you definitely should.

Yummy. 

Not so good for the diet, but yummy!

http://nothingbundtcakes.com/

Target and Facebook Fast

Random I know...

When you want to really make a difference in your family I've found you have to take a hard core look at yourself and were you spend time as a mother.

I've found that I need to put some things aside in order to make room for other more important things

(like planning activities and actually teaching the kids something substantial).

This Christmas I spend WAY too much time and of course money at Target.

Therefore, I'm on a Target fast and it's great.

I've also found when I'm tired or just want to zone I go the facebook route.

Really.

Let's be honest...

 Facebook to me at least is a lot of comparing and bragging and really doesn't do anything for me.

So.

I'm on a facebook fast.

Sorry ahead of time to those who only connect to me through facebook.

I just need a break.

It feels good to control and not be controlled by things around me.

I have a lot more time and to be honest my thought life is better.

Too cute.

Check out these cuties.  

A 

Friend took these photos while on a hike.

Too Cute. 

Sleep + Two

I love to nap with Nolan.

There I said it.

He is so squishy, cuddly and doesn't even wiggle when napping.

He is a dream to sleep with.

You would think Taryn would be the one to sleep with, but o'no...

It's Nolan.

Taryn is cuddly and all, but she is SO wiggly when it comes time to fall asleep.

Nolan on the other hand.

Falls right to sleep and is a squishy rock solid sleeper.

It's awesome!

So.

I love to lay down with him at least for five minutes.

It's been like this for awhile.

You may ask, "doesn't Taryn want you to lay down with her too"

Occasionally

 and I do,

but then she pushes me and says,

"Nolan's turn"

and

She's okay with it.

Why?

I don't know the twin thing is complex, but it works.

And.

Then I get to sleep with "dreamy".

And sometimes he's just hilarious when I go in to pick him up out of nap time.

One day i found him ready to get out of bed like this :)

 Since we are talking about sleep i found Taryn asleep in her bed a little conflicted...

Apparently she got into the dress up during nap time...and became a ballerina "batman"?

Too funny.

Hope your sleeping good.

Enjoy your time with your kids it goes SO fast.

Hanging Christmas Cards

This year I wanted to display the Christmas cards a little differently so i took shiny tinsel type ribbon and strung it on the sides of our old window wall hanging.

Then I took little tiny close pins and am hanging all the pictures.

Easy and Cute.

Thank you everyone for your cards.

Come January we will be praying for all of you "one by one".

Merry Christmas!



Merry Christmas + Three Fun Teaching Tools

Anyone with kids knows...things take longer sometimes.

Well,
this has been our year to take a little longer getting our cards out.

I just ordered them today, Dec 12th, yikes!

We have been doing a lot of other activities this month to drive home the importance of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.
We have this A-Z advent pre-school young children coloring book where you do a page a day and it's wonderful.
This is the one devotional I've found that i just love and it's only .99 cents on Amazon:)

This year I've had a plan and came prepared for December and it's been so cool to see the kids grow in their knowledge and have more fun as a family.
These are two essential DVD's for Christmas with young children:)
The "Very First Noel" is just a awesome DVD all about the birth of Christ.
It's cute and you can pause and talk about things throughout the movie.

This is another essential DVD for young children:)
"A wowie ... Christmas"  SO cute.

Anyway back to photos the one activity I put off.  We aren't the most photo friendly family, we try but it's hard to get a good photo.
These turned out okay though.
What do you think?

Here's a preview of some photos we just had done.

It was a toss up, which pictures to use.

So I went with the below:)

This is the outcome and to all those close friends out there, I'm hoping to get them to you by Christmas!

Merry Christmas.

What's cool about shutterfly if you post on a blog or facebook you get $10 off your next purchase.  Cool huh.

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Thanksgiving II

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in SLO.

We hiked Bishop's with my brother's family

and

then Sharon and I began getting the feast ready on Thursday morning.

Unfortunately,

a half and hour before the last family members arrived for dinner our oldest got really really really reALLY SICK.

Yikes.

So we tried to keep him in the bedroom, poor guy.

And then.

Everyone decided not to stay the night and left early.

However,

Just about everyone in four families got sick with the stomach flu.

What a bummer.

A Thanksgiving that will surely be remember for sure.

Yuck.

Hope your Thanksgiving was good!

Give Thanks

Give Thanks.

I Mean really "Give Thanks".

Despite the recession and what you would like to have and don't "Give Thanks".

We all really...really...really have a lot to be thankful for.

A little story on our side:)

Our oldest whom we love dearly can only live for today.  It just kills him to think or anticipate fun for tomorrow.  Really.  Because of his severe ADHD he can drive you crazy if he knows he will go to "Disneyland" tomorrow or out of town ect...

So.

We live for "today" not tomorrow and we are thankful for today.

It's biblical really, but we live with a child who reminds us constantly to hold our tongue and live just for "today"

and

be

"Thankful".

 Enjoy your holiday

and

"Give Thanks"

Dentist with Three

I decided to be brave and take all three to the dentist.  It went really really well all three did awesome.  It was Nolan and Taryn's first time to the dentist and afterwards Taryn declared "I want to do that again" and Dylan said, "can we live there"  too funny.

 Highly recommend getting all your kids done at the same time.  I thought I would be overwhelmed, but it actually went really smoothly.

 O'and so far no cavities for any of our kids.

Keep up the good work kiddos (and mom and dad).

November Rush

Well.

We have been busy this November and it's just begun.

My goal this year is to get all the shopping, some baking and even Christmas Child (shoeboxes) done before December.

I found there are SO many extra fun activities in December I have a hard time keeping up and get strung out, especially with three and I just don't want to be like that in December. 

I love December and celebrating Christ's birth and all the activities.

I want to enjoy it.

Not be burdened by it.

So.

I'm on a mission, to put cookie dough in the freezer, order pictures early (if i can even get them done) and all shopping DONE by December 1st and tons of other misc things that need to be done in December.

We'll see if it can be done or not...

(O'and am so thrilled we are going to the snow this year, which will be the twins first time)

Outings and Halloween

This is Santana Row in San Jose.

There are shops under all these condos.

Beautiful shops, some with security guards if you get my point.

In any case, they have a toddler Halloween event where toddlers come one morning and go from shop to shop and get candy; they also have some cute activities and entertainment.

It's cute.

So here we are all ready to go.

We met a friend, got Starbucks and wandered around.

 On the streets in Santana Row

 Waiting for our friend

"Peter's mean face" okay that's really mean Nolan...

 Walking down the row.

 Do you see those faces and all the candy, crazy!

 Taking a break and having some sweets, yummy.

Tesla picture for Jason (he likes cars)

Finally caught them all together.

(btw: the below were about a week later...)

 Grrr I'm Dylan it's about time Dill.

These are there mean faces, cracks me up!

Time to "trick or treat"
(and yep those are the "N and Out" palm trees on the pumpkin)

 Still can't get Dylan to not do a mean one...

 I threw this one in because remember the window I finally hung it...yeah!

 Eating candy...

 The effects of candy on kids.

 Hope you had a great Halloween!

Pumpkins...pumkins...pumkins...

Pumpkins

How I adore pumpkins; their shapes, color, smell ...

Avilia Barn is a great place to take kids for pumpkins.

Super cute and fun and just long enough.

(One little note: I have not been for years and can not believe how crowded it is, still beautiful and fun, but just a wee bit busy)

 And if you are wondering where the missing families are some had strep throat, others had to work...

 Smiley Nolan!

 Dad purchasing pumpkins...

 Mom celebrated her birthday, doesn't she look great!

I'm trying to get caught up.

Beginning to feel like FALL!

Okay so I'm trying to get caught up on my blogging.

So the first couple of pictures are a weekend in SLO with just my brother and kiddos.

It was so much fun.

The kids just love each other.

 Jason, Sharon, Jeff and the kids...cute.

 I am gramming a lot into my blogs, but the next set up pictures are from our trip to Monterey just the two of us, Jason's company trip.  It was just beautiful that weekend in October.

The view from our room.

The Intercontinental, the hotel.

 This is the "Red House Cafe" one of our favorites in Pacific grove you can walk there from downtown Monterey.  Best crab cakes (if you like those) and salad, yummy.

Loved the decor. 

Tried to copy a little, but you know I can only do so much.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

FALL

Do you?