Week in Review: CSW, AARP and AIRBNB

Happy Friday!  Hope you are staying cozy on this February day just like Lucy Doodle.  How cute is she with her crossed legs, my fancy girl:

I'm staying cozy in my Lucy-colored wrap sweater (some colors are only $13.99):

Last Friday, Xander had his science fair and some of the AP students at the Catholic high school were judges, which included Eamon!  Don't worry though, no nepotism was involved as Eamon was not assigned to judge Xander.  Also if you are interested, mints don't actually cool the temp of water.

This week is Catholic Schools Week and there's been a dressdown and fun activities each day for the kiddos.  

Phil was able to attend the Parent Picnic with Declan and Brendan.  He brought them happy meals and said McDonald's was a popular choice among the dads who went :)

Eamon served a school Mass:

Wednesday Workout Wrapup: With a Side of Supplements

It was a rainy and yucky week, so there was not a lot of outside walking time, but I tried to make do.  When I can't get outside in the sun, I make sure to take my Vitamin D drops that are fun to put right on my tongue.   This week was also my visit from Aunt Flo which consistently makes me want to curl up in bed with a heating pad and not go to the gym.  But I remind myself that I never regret a workout, take my trusty iron supplements and push through most of the time.  I did indeed take a day off because I also try to listen to my body when it's really tired or sore and prioritize sleep and rest on those days.  Even God rested on the 7th day :)

A note about supplements, I really believe they are just that...supplemental...to a healthy diet.  I don't just routinely take the same vitamins/supplements every day, but I think about my day and what I am lacking and adjust accordingly.  Iron when I've not eaten red meat, calcium if my dairy consumption has been low, and so on.  I do take magnesium everyday, but if I am drinking it before bed, then I don't also take the pill version.  I take a probiotic daily, either alone or with Vitamin C, again depending on if I've had an Emergen-C drink that day and gotten a high dose of Vitamin C already or not.  

There's no point in wasting supplements by taking them on a day you already got enough of that vitamin or mineral, you know?  I do the same with protein...if I don't think I had enough for the day, then I will make myself a casein protein shake at night, but I'm not just drinking a protein shake every night as part of a plan.  I'm not a nutritionist, I am merely a common sensist and frugalist.

 Wednesday, January 24: 

2 mile run on treadmill + 45 minute Strength Class (while Xander was at swim practice)

Thursday, January 25: 

3 mile Walk at lunch

5 mile Run/Walk Intervals on treadmill

Friday, January 26: 

5:30 am Boot Camp Class 

The workout was seven rounds of these:

And then we finished with single-hand deadlifts and stretching.

I'm sorry my gym selfies are so weird, I get very self-conscious taking them in front of the others.

Saturday, January 27: 

5 mile run

1 mile Walk with dog

Sunday, January 28: 

2 mile run on treadmill + 45 minute cardio/weight class at gym

Monday, January 29: 

3 mile walk at lunch 

2 mile walk with dog in evening

Tuesday, January 30: 

3 mile Walk at lunch

50 minute elliptical at gym while Xander had swim practice

Out and About

 Today, I am out and about (said with a Canadian accent) at my sweet friend Elisabeth's blog. 

I am so honored to be part of her interview series, and I hope my answers don't disappoint.  Funny story about Elisabeth, who lives in Nova Scotia (can you even imagine?)...I used to read her blog every single time she posted, and then one day POOF it was gone.  I was so blue and I googled and tried to figure out what happened, with no success.  

Then I wrote about it in a post one day, and a loyal reader (hi!) told me that she had lost her blog and was forced to start a new one.  I would be devastated to lose my blog and all of those memories, but Elisabeth took it so well and started a new (and dare I say improved?) blog and the blogiverse has been put back in order once again.  So anyway, please go give her a read if you don't already :)  And thanks for having me Elisabeth!!

Week in Review: Soup for Life, March for Life, Conspiracy Theories for Life

Happy Friday of a week that felt very long, how 'bout for you guys?  We've had dreary weather of rain and snow and people's moods seem to be matching it, myself included.  It may have a lot to do with the four home basketball games this week for the teens:

23 has my heart.

Let's start with some good eats, because food is just such a treat.

I made this Creamy Chicken and Corn Soup for lunches this week that basically tastes like a delicious wine sauce with chicken and veggies in it.  Will definitely make again.

We eat soup for lunch about 200 days a year.

We eat a lot of chicken sausages, and this was some leftover sausages sliced up with leftover peppers and onions (from chicken fajitas earlier in the week) over cauliflower rice.  Simple but delish.

I made Salmon burgers/patties/cakes and ate two helpings of them over a bed of lettuce.  This meal makes me feel like I went back to the 70s for some reason.  Is this what people ate in the 70s? 

Wednesday Workout Wrapup - With a Note to Moms of Littles

Another week of workouts in the book.  I feel compelled to disclose that if you are a mom with young children and you are wondering how on earth you can find time or energy to exercise, I see you and hear you and feel you.  Sleepless nights are literally torture and being away from a breastfeeding baby is hard to plan and childcare or a gym membership may not be financially available right now.  

I am able to fit in these walks and workouts because all of my children are in school, I have built-in babysitters to be able to walk the dog at night with my husband, and we have a family gym membership at half price at the YMCA because we qualify for financial aid.  

When the first four kids were little, I joined a gym that included childcare for $19.99/month and I would take them four times a week and they played while I worked out and it was great.  Before that, I would wait for Phil to get home from work and we would take turns going for a quick run or walk.  Sometimes I would just do workouts at home while someone was napping or after they went to bed (anyone remember the P90X dvds or Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred?).   Other days, the best I could do was pop the toddler in the stroller and strap the baby on my body and walk.

Declan (age 2) and Brendan (age newbie)

What I'm saying is that I have always found a way to squeeze in exercise because I craaaave the benefits, but it has looked very different throughout the years.  I try to walk the very fine line between keeping myself healthy without interfering with the family's needs.  Can it appear selfish to take an hour away from family to workout alone?  Yes.  But would it also be selfish to not take care of one's health when so many lives are dependent on it? Yes.  

I once heard Fr. Mike Schmitz explaining the way he grew up in a fit and active family, and he said the question of the day would be WHEN or WHAT the workout was today and never IF they would workout.  I think our kids have grown up this way too, seeing Mom and Dad exercise daily and joining in when they can/want to, and that makes me feel proud and not guilty at all.

Let's review, shall we?

Wednesday, January 17: 

3 mile Walk at lunch

1 mile Run on treadmill + 45 minute Strength Class (while Xander was at swim practice)

Thursday, January 18: 

45 minutes on Stair Stepper at home before work

3 mile Walk at lunch

1 mile Walk with dog at night

Friday, January 19: 

5:30 am Boot Camp Class (we slept in until 5:01 and made it just in time!)

The workout was four rounds of these 1 minute stations:

1 mile Walk with dog in evening

Saturday, January 20: 

4 mile run

1 mile Walk with dog

Sunday, January 21: 

1 mile run on treadmill + 45 minute cardio/weight class at gym

1 mile walk with dog

Monday, January 22: 

Day off - I do this whenever my body feels very sore or tired.

3 mile walk at lunch 

1 mile walk with dog in evening

Tuesday, January 23: 

45 minutes on Stair Stepper at home before work

3 mile Walk at lunch

 

The Last First Reconciliation

 Our little caboose made his First Confession last night!  

Brendan took this sacrament very seriously and spent a long time examining his conscience and writing down his sins so that he wouldn't forget any.  Oh how I would have loved to hear what these sweet little children had to say to Father last night, can you even imagine?  While preparing, Brendan told Phil "Your first confession must be your longest confession because you have to tell all of the sins from your WHOLE LIFE!  After that, you just tell the sins since your last confession."  

Sins in hand, which he was happy to throw out in the trash after - exactly what God does.

Phil is the Director of Religious Ed at our parish, so he took Brendan with him early while he went to set up the church for the evening.  When I arrived, Brendan was sitting in a pew with a little friend, and afterwards he told me his friend started telling his sins to Brendan, "But I stopped him right away and said that he only had to tell his sins to Father.  I did hear the first one he said though, but I won't tell."

When it was Brendan's turn to receive the sacrament, he was in the confessional for a very long time (7 years of sin y'all!)  and I asked him how it went and if Father talked a lot or helped him out in any way.  Brendan said "he only had to help me with one statement".  I didn't understand the reference so I asked Phil when he got home later.  He smiled and said that Father had told the children earlier that morning to read through the pamphlet on examining your conscience, and if you could answer yes to a question (ex. Did I disobey my parents?) then in confession, you just had to turn that question into a statement (ex. I disobeyed my parents.)  

Well, these kids are only seven or eight and this was a wee bit hard for some of them to figure out, so they were repeating the questions in confession and Father was trying to help them make statements instead.  I can just picture those kids confessing "Did I fight with my siblings?  Did I go to Mass on Sunday?" and Father facepalming on the other side of the screen, like I don't know, did you?  Haha!  No wonder they took so long!

Praying his penance after.

What's a better way to celebrate a clean soul than ice cream?  

Brendan was able to pick anything he wanted, so he got a hot fudge sundae with coffee ice cream, and the rest of his adoring siblings each got a small cone or cup too.  Confession Confections :)

We love you and are so proud of you Brendan Age-of-Reason Martin!