Confessions of a Tired Mom....

***I got tired of pushing my kids on the swing, so I taught Ryley how to go on her stomach (she still wants me to push her).

***I put leftover Valentine candy in my kids Easter baskets this year.

***I let Ryley play on the computer while I take a nap.

***I make my kids meals that only take 30 seconds-1 minute.

***I wear my workout clothes for more than half the day.

***We have leftovers for dinner at least twice a week.

***I go to the bathroom to "get away", but even that doesn't work.

***I dream of vacations to Hawaii and Caribbean cruises.

***I get tired of breaking up my kids fighting, so I tell myself I'm helping them be "tough."

***I vacuum around my kids toys on their floor.

***I give them otter pops and tell them to go play outside.

***I have big bins for their clothes so I don't have to fold them. Come on! What's the point of folding a 2 year old's clothes anyway!

***I go to the grocery store, even if we don't need anything, just so we don't have to stay home all day.

Note To Self....

Shows NOT to watch while working out:
**Grey's Anatomy, especially this month where Izzie finds out her cancer isn't all gone, and she makes her boyfriend try the wedding dishes for Meredith's wedding. He tells her that the shrimp he's eating is like their first date, a little sweet and a little spicy....waaaahhhhhh!

**Oprah: For the most part Oprah has those shows that you can watch while working out, especially if it's anything with Dr. Oz. However, you never know what you're gonna get. So, today as I was running, finishing up the last 10 minutes of Greys', I proceeded to turn on Oprah from a few days ago. Bad decision. It was on that little girl Madeline McCann who had been abducted while her family was in Portugal on vacation . I instantly started crying, while I was running, which I'm sure is a lovely site! What happens is, when I watch these shows, I put myself in their position. So I was Izzzie for a while, with cancer, and Scott was sitting at the side of my bed, testing the wedding dishes. The little girl who gets abducted is my daughter...and on and on.

**Extreme Makeover Home Edition: This show almost inevitably makes me cry. I do like to see the finished project though.

**The Food Network: Self explanatory

Shows TO watch while working out:
**Ellen Degeneres: She starts with her monologue making you laugh, then she dances to some upbeat music, which makes you want to run faster. She also has on a hottie guests like Hugh Jackman. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is!

**ANYTHING on Bravo! That channel is what I call some good ol' entertainment. Who can go wrong with The Real Housewives or Project Runway. And what about Kathy Griffin...what a potty mouth! But I love her anyway because she makes me laugh.

**Biggest Loser: Usually I watch this show with a bag of carrots and celery at my side (yeah right), but it is also nice to watch while working out. Hey, if a 400 pound man can run on the treadmill, so can I!

Any others you like or don't like?

The Lesser Half...

I'm thinking that the title of our blog should be something like "The Zinn...Jill Zinn". I've decided to participate in our blog, not because I think anyone really cares about what Jill's husband thinks, but because I need a way to unwind and get my thoughts out without thinking that I need to get a 4.0!
My daily schedule keeps me planning my hours and sometimes quarter hours. It's not a life that I enjoy, but it's become one that I'm accustomed to. I go to school every morning and work every afternoon.That is the meat and potates. The yams and cream corn consist of 24 hours of church volunteer work per week, and web design/development work for contracted clients to wrap it all up. Someone once told me to make sure to have time for family...oh yeah, that was my conscience. I absolutely love spending time with my family, I adore it in fact. Somehow we're doing well with all of this though. All is well, all is well.

I'm planning a real road trip for September. My best friend will fly up from Calif. and we will be driving from Seattle to Canada. We'll be camping at the really nice KOA camps...not those...other ones... I'm really looking forward to it. We'll live on baked beans and Doritos. Hopefully Barry (as in Manilow) will be playing somewhere in Canada...not because we will go see him, but so that we can say that we didn't go see him.

Jill has been really working hard with Ryley and her tantrums lately. It's my belief that when kids are that young, they are not conditioned or even able to react positively when they feel bad or sad, so they resort to base emotions. Adults can maintain or even work through it more easily. So, young'ns need to have all of their base needs met to be happy. They need to be fed, rested, and loved. If they are missing one or even all of those, tantrums result. So, that's my formula. It's easy for me to say right?;)

I hope all of our family and friends are doing great and are fed, rested, and loved.

My Sister Is Famous!

Hey everyone, check out this link: http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=91850@video.ktvx.com&navCatId=462
My sister was on Good Things Utah this last Friday promoting her blog called 365 Days of Slow Cooking...(365daysofcrockpot.blogspot.com). She is trying to cook 365 days in a row in her crockpot. She has some really great recipes and ideas on her blog. I love cooking in my crockpot, because it makes dinner so easy. The only problem is, I have to know what I am going to make the night before or that morning.

Slacker

I have been such a blog slacker lately. My laptop is dead, so at night I have a hard time going in to the computer room and getting online. I used to blog with my laptop in bed. So, anyway, sorry I have kept everyone out of the loop for so long.
Right now we are a busy busy family. Back in November I got certified as a fitness instructor. I have been working at a gym nearby about 5 days a week teaching group exercise classes. It has been so great and I really do love it! I don't even mind waking up at 4:30am (most days)! I teach three 6 am classes, but I like to be there around 5am to work out prior to class. I also teach a two 5pm classes. It has been a great learning experience and I hope to continue my fitness education.
Scott is busy with school, work, and since February, the bishop of our church. We don't see him as much anymore, but he is so strong and is doing so great with everything. He is also training for a few volleyball tournaments this summer. I am excited to watch him play!
Ryley is 3 1/2 and is as grown up as ever. The other day she said to me, "Mom, you're driving me crazy!" Nice. I can't WAIT until she is a teenager. :) Although she has her sassy moments, she is also very sweet and loving. She will turn 4 in August and then start preschool in September! Hooray!
Kirye just turned 2 and is a very active little boy. He loves to follow his sister everywhere and do everything she does. He also likes to show his disapproval of her by biting. Not good. His latest exciting toy has been his baseball and bat.
So, that's an update on us. I want to try to keep up with blogging! Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to catch up on your blogs as well.

I wish I could sing like Allison

Do you ever wish you could sing like an American Idol? I do...all the time. I wish I could sing like Allison. She has such an amazing voice for only being 16 years old. I like to turn the tv up really loud (so I can't hear my own voice) and sing along with the contestants and pretend that it's me up on the stage. Randy will call me Dog, and Simon will tell me it was absolutely, positively, the best he's heard all night!

Here's Allison's voice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVDEnh8xRCU&feature=related

I Love American Idol

I am just so in to AI this season! Last night was so good already and I especially loved all of the judges comments. I thought Randy was right on when he said to Stevie , "Wow, wow, wow, that was not hot for me!" Scott and I started laughing so hard. He also said to that Casey girl, "That was not good for me, that was kind of weird for me!" It was just so funny the way he said it. I also stared squealing like a 12 year old girl when Danny Gokie sang. I just like him so much. Ryley and I were screaming I LOVE YOU DANNY! Does anyone else have a favorite? I did not like that 17 year old girl Stevie or the other girl, Casey. They both did horrendous!

Are You Kidding Me!!

Did anyone else hear about the woman who had 8 babies in 5 minutes? She gave birth to them on Monday. I guess the 8th one was a suprise. How insane would your life be? You could pretty much just resign yourself to the fact that you will never sleep for another 18 years! Not to mention the cost! Yikes!!

LET IT SNOW!!!

We have gotten almost 60 inches of snow in the last 17 days. It is crazy here! There is snow everywhere and many events have been cancelled. People haven't been going anywhere because of how difficult it is to drive. Scott was supposed to go in to work today, but that didn't work out. It is kind of fun, if you ask me!! This month has been the snowiest one on record. The last record was in January 1950 where it snowed 56.9 inches. The kids got a fun inflatable sled for Christmas that they already tried out on Christmas day. It looks like we will be getting a lot of use out of it this winter!

Naughty and Nice

My sister bought these for my kids and I thought they were so cute. Ryley loves to wear her apron when we cook.

Naughty and Nice

Ryley being Nice

Kirye being Naughty

Naughty :)

I put them on the back of my kitchen chairs when we are not using them.

Dreams do come true...in the Philippines

Scott and I love this guy. His name is Arnel Pineda and he was the lead singer of a cover band in the Philippines. The band Journey was looking for a new lead singer to replace Steve Perry. The guitarist of journey was just browsing on youtube one day and came across Arnel and his cheesy band called The Zoo. They called him up and invited him to audition for the band. Arnel got hired and now he has been all over the world as the new lead singer of Journey. It is uncanny how similar he sounds to Steve Perry.

Discoing Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I have nothing to say

I've been thinking and thinking about what I can blog about, but I honestly have nothing to talk about. Shocking isn't it??? Okay, well I guess I can blab about my kids. Today we went to the dentist and Ryley got her front teeth checked out. About 3 months ago she bumped her mouth and her front teeth. It didn't kill the root, but it damaged the teeth and they are a purplish/gray color. So she got x-rays this morning on them to see if they were getting worse or better. The dentist said that her body is trying to reject the teeth, just like your body rejects a sliver and tries to push it out. Basically she has to have her teeth drilled in to and they are going to take out the damaged part and fill it. I do not know all the correct terms, so this might sound a little funny. I guess in a way it is kind of like a root canal, but it isn't fully in to the root.

I started my no sugar diet again and I am a grump! I never diet, but I like to limit my sugar intake. This summer I kind of slacked off a bit since I was running so much. Well, now that it is cold and dark out in the mornings I am not running outside as much or as long (back to the treadmill for me)! So, not as much running means I can't justify eating whatever I want. Which means I go all week with no extra sugar from treats or candy, and then on Sunday I can eat whatever treat (or treats) I want. Yeah! It is my favorite day. I feel really good when I do this, not only physically, but also mentally. I am a huge sugar person, so just knowing in my mind that I can do this makes me stronger.

What else...Scott is going full speed ahead with school, work, exercising, church stuff. He is a busy man. I am hoping this weekend he will have a little time to go to the pumpkin patch with the kids and I. The kids love that place and it is always fun to take cute pictures and drink hot cider.

Kath and Kim

Does anyone else think that new show Kath and Kim looks hilarious! I can't wait to watch it and see if it's funny or stupid. All of the commercials for it are really funny, and I love Molly Shannon, so we'll see.
Oh crap! I just read some reviews and they aren't good!

Half Marathon

Well I DID IT!! I ran my first half marathon on Saturday. That is 13.1 miles folks! I feel like I have been training all summer for this. It was a great race, but it was raining the first 7 or 8 miles, so my feet were wet the whole way. I finished in 1:41, which I was pretty happy with. I have been training at about 8-8:30 minute miles, so by my time I was running about 7:45 minute miles. I felt like the race wasn't organized that well though. They didn't even have gatorade at the mile markers, which is odd for a race that long. Scott, his mom, and the kids were at the finish line waiting for me. It was so good to see them there cheering. I just looked at the results online and I placed 31st out of 200 runners (that includes men and women); 5th place out of the 107 female runners, 2nd in my age group. I was only 4 minutes behind the female winner. Oh man, if I would've known maybe I could have pushed it a little harder (Scott just calculated that I would have had to run 19 seconds faster per mile). The course was so hard though! There were a ton of hills, and at one point there was a major hill on a gravel. It was pretty bad. A lot of people had to walk up it.
After the race we went around Greenbluff, which is an area of small family farms with apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy, so we didn't want to stay long. Ryley had fun going through a corn maze with dad. I will have to post pictures when my mother in law sends them. I think we will go again in a few weeks so we can enjoy ourselves a bit more.
Back to the grind tomorrow. Where do the weekends go! Ugh.

Dark Chocolate Chex Mix

Has anyone tasted the new dark chocolate chex mix? I really like it and here's why....the normal sweet and salty mixes are good, but they have way too many plain, calorie wasting pretzels in them. The dark chocolate chex mix still has the pretzels in it, but they are covered in dark chocolate. See the difference? Before I would have to sift through and take out all the pretzels. Now I can just dig right in! Thanks General Mills.

Conversation with Dad

Dad: Ryley, I just told you last night not to play with the outlets. There is fire in there and it could come out and GET YOU!
Ryley: I don't want it to come out and get me.
Dad: Then don't play with the outlets.
Ryley: There's fire in that hole in there?
Dad: Yup

Boy, I love how we scare our kids. The other day I told Ryley if she kept swallowing her gum she would get bugs in her tummy.

Random

I found these pictures on my camera the other day. It looks like we have a photographer on our hands. :)

New Hobby???

I thought I would post a little about our vacation to Mammoth Lakes, CA. First of all, it was so great that my mom was able to drive over and watch the kids for 5 days. I can't even tell you how fabulous it was to not worry one single minute about my kids. The whole vacation I was so relaxed and at ease knowing they were in good hands.

We left on a Wednesday and flew in to Reno. When we got the directions to Mammoth the night before I thought the drive would only be about 1 1/2-2 hours. Well, turns out it actually takes about 3 hours because of the highway and going through small towns with the slower speed limits. Ugh. Actually, I can't complain at all because it was so nice to just drive and not have to worry about the kids in the back screaming. We just listened to music and talked and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

The next day our friends weren't getting in until later that afternoon, so Scott and I decided to go mountain biking. Mammoth Lakes is a ski resort in the winter and a big mountain biking resort in the summer. We rented some bikes and got our gondola passes. The gondola ride was only about 10 minutes, and when we got to the top we were at 11,000 feet. We had a map and we were prepared to go down an easy trail, considering we are both novice mountain bikers.

Here is a picture of us at the top, ready to take on the mountain!!


So, remember that "easy" trail we thought we would go down? Unexpectedly, we happened to get on another trail which ended up being a more difficult one. It was frustrating because none of the trails were marked that well, so we just had to guess which one we were on from the map. Scott and I had a great time going down the mountain. I was braking practically the whole time down. It was so steep and really rocky. I felt this great rush though and I feel like I can truly appreciate the passion true mountain bikers have.
At one point as we were going down the mountain and there was a lot of loose gravel type rocks. Well, I totally bit the dust and went flying over my handlebars and skidded on the rocks for a few feet. Luckily I didn't get hurt, only a few scratches. I just felt stupid. Scott of course was instantly frantic and rushed to my side! Actually, he just laughed and took a picture.

We had such a great time mountain biking. I can't wait to go again! Maybe next time I will be a little more prepared for the steep trails and wear protective padding.

ELLEN!!!!

I got all excited because I thought Ellen started her new season today, but I think it started last week! I can't believe I missed a week of her show. I never miss a day, but since we were on vacation and getting back in to things, I must've just missed it. This morning I set my dvr so no show will be left behind. Jason Lezak is on the show today. How cool is that!
Oh Ellen, how I love you. You always make me laugh and put a skip in my step. Some days I may not be able to watch you until 11pm, but don't you worry, I always make sure to squeeze you in! Happy 6th season! I can't wait to see what this year will bring. OH, and I WILL win one of your 12 days of Christmas this year!
http://www.ellentv.com/