Keweenaw Cup

This past weekend, we headed up to Brian's favorite place in the world, Copper Harbor, MI.  We were there for him to participate in the Keweenaw Cup cyclocross race.  He had a good time.  Although he apparently should have entered in the B class initially, he figured that out for the second day.  :)  Oh, and I think this weekend was the most beautiful weather I've ever experienced in Copper Harbor excluding one camping trip in the summer.

Start of the A race on day 1.  Those guys are crazy fast.

Day 1 Sand pit

We prettified Nora.  Have I mentioned we're dog-sitting for ten days?

The boys down on Lake Superior on Sunday morning

Day 2 race

Day 2

You know you're cool when you have a "num!" while riding your bike.

Here are a couple videos:




Everett's "race":

Preschool: Letter F

Last week, we worked on the letter F, and I think it's safe to say that Everett picked up on it faster than any of the other letters (except maybe E).  He was even explaining to me yesterday that F has two lines and E has three.  Nice!

Here is one from the week before when he was making his letter E for the wall.  (I'll take an updated pic of the wall when we do our letter G.)

He had fun using his workbook to make squares.  Regarding the pencil holding, when I hand him the pencil, I help him put it between his thumb and index finger but he invariably changes the position while working and I don't correct him.  I want him to get used to using a pencil before I harass him about how he's holding it.

And this is what I do during preschool work time:

Here's our updated flashcard display:

And here's one of our newest items.  Auntie C brought fun new dry erase markers, crayons, workbooks, and flashcards when she came up for the Whistlestop (I've added some of them to our amazon link on the side there).  Can you tell he's a little serious about his schooling?

I also got a little braver and did something we'd normally do during school time (aka Callum's nap time) while Callum was awake.  They had so much fun with their sensory bin:

WhistleStop Half Marthon Recap

Well, I officially did it and did it well!  I ran my first half marathon last Saturday.  The weather was cool and drizzly, which could have been better, but at least it wasn't downright raining.  Brian's dad was nice enough to drive us out to the start so we didn't have to stand around freezing for an hour before the start.  In fact, we barely had time to make it to the potties before it was time to go.
Brian and I started off together at about an 8:30 pace and once he warmed up, Brian decided he needed to do an 8:00 pace and sped off.  My typical pace for long runs has been around 9:15-9:30, so I was hoping to keep it closer to 9:00 for the whole race.  Running in a group really is inspiring.  I would find someone that I wanted to catch and work at it for a mile or so.  Amazingly, while I remember getting bored during the 10k last year, I was never once bored this year.  Maybe it's just more experience running, maybe it's that I managed to keep a faster pace, I don't know, but I had a great time.  The farther I'd gone, the faster the miles seemed to go by too.  However, when I hit about 10.6 miles, my legs started to realize that I'd never gone that far before.  Around 11 miles, my right ankle started hurting.  Well, there's no way I was going to slow down with 2 miles to go, so I changed my stride, sucked it up and kept going.  I loved having the garmin so I could keep my pace consistent.  I noticed a lot of people slowed down around 10-11 miles and I think I naturally would have too had I not had the garmin to keep track of my pace.  Getting into town was fantastic because I'd run that path so many times.  I knew exactly where I was, exactly how far I had left to go, and I was ready.  I even managed to sprint at the end and was flying into the finish, passing the girl ahead of me.  I finished with an average pace of around 8:35!  (Looking back at my post from last year, I see that I did the 10K with a 8:33 pace.  Wow am I consistent, eh???)

Brian was done ten minutes earlier, which gives him an average pace of just around 7:50 I think?

I felt AWESOME after the race.  I immediately gulped down a cup of water and an applesauce cup and we changed into dry clothes and headed home.
At home, I finished my nuun (I had consumed four tropical punch shot blocks, 6 oz of water, and about 3 oz of nuun during the run), had some pb toast and more water.  I tried to keep things light and drink a lot of water all day.
We went out to the Blues fest that night, but I was sooooo tired, I stayed for an hour and a half and headed home to watch Shark Tank and go to bed.

The boys also ran the toddler race on Saturday!  Everett did amazing.  He was super speedy!  I'm pretty sure if they had actually kept track of winners, he would have been it.  I mean, the form!  The speed!  :)

When it was time for Callum's race, he wasn't so sure.  He didn't cry.  He didn't even look scared.  Just a little confused.  So he walked.  :)

Preschool: Letters D & E

Oops.  I was not feeling well and training for a half marathon, so I claim that as my excuse for missing a week here.
I swear, we did preschool, I just apparently didn't take many pictures and we didn't do much new stuff.

We did:

- Create a letter D with paint and corks

- Made letters out of play doh

- Created a leaf number matching game (I was pretty positive I took pictures of this but cannot find them ANYWHERE.)

- Made an E out of popsicle sticks (no pictures yet.  It's still drying.)

Here's our weekly letters we make:

(Yes, that is a chocolate chip cookie for C.)

Ev's doing very well with preschool in general.  He is usually excited to do anything I tell him.  One morning, I was sleeping and I looked over to see him standing right next to me, eyes wide and sparkling.  I said hi to him, and he said, "I want to do school!"  uggggghhhh.  :)
Some days he can recite and recognize almost all the numbers 1-12, some days he has trouble with a few (often, 2, 4, and 8, interestingly enough).  Today, he correctly identified the letters A through F.  We're still working on drawing straight lines, but boy is he determined.  He just keeps trying.  I'm so proud of his continuous effort.
Today we ran into the preschool I looked at putting him in and it made me wonder if I was making a mistake by not having him in an official setting like that, but I felt better about it after the work he did this afternoon.  He still gets plenty of socializing, he gets to be on his own and listen to another adult in both his gymnastics class and library story time, and he really is moving along and learning things at home with me.

Oh yes, and on a hilarious note, Ev tells me that when he goes swimming with nana at the college pool, he does cotton balls off the diving board.  LOL.

Mommy Makeover Challenge: Last Day

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I failed yesterday.  BUT.  I wasn't feeling well!  I was in pajamas until lunchtime, when I changed into running clothes for a 9 miler.  After a shower, I was sore and didn't feel like dressing up to go nowhere so, back into pajamas it was.  Hush.

Today was different and it's the last day of the challenge.  So here goes!

Outfit: Jeans, shirt and sweater which were constantly covered by this jacket, orange scarf, hat because it was COLD.  Oh, and some earrings.How long did it take you to get ready: I'd say 15 minutesWhat you did do differently than normal: Curled my hair
.Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: AppleFest, baby!
Did you feel any differently?: I felt like no one was judging me for being a slob.  :)

Mommy Makeover Challenge: Day 5

I'm calling today a quasi win.  I resisted the ponytail.  I also call today's picture a quasi win.  Yes, it's blurry and strange BUT Everett took it.  :)

I didn't get dressed in this outfit until Callum's naptime because at 10, we left for a mom/kids hike in the freezing cold, then it was home for lunch and nap and then I curled my hair and added the jewelry and makeup.

Outfit: Jeans, tank, old navy shirt, necklace from Maurices, earrings (of which I am now down one...)

How long did it take you to get ready? I'd say 10 minutes?

What did you do differently than normal? curled the hair, makeup

Did you go anywhere outside the home/where? Hiking, yarn store, parade, parents', out to dinner

Did you feel any differently?  Meh, I'm feeling very blah.  I think we're all coming down with something.

Now head on over to The Naptown Organizer for the link up!

Mommy Makeover Challenge: Day 4

I'm keeping up!!!  Check out the other mamas at The Naptown Organizer.

Here's today's update.

Outfit: Jeans, shirt from delias that I bought on ebay before Everett was born.  Necklace from....walmart??? Maurices?

How long did it take you to get ready: 5 minutes?

What you did do differently than normal: I actually had a front piece of hair twisted and clipped back this morning but that's long gone now.  at 7 pm ish....oops.Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: Everett's gymnastics class, walmart, co-op, dinner out with friendsDid you feel any differently?: Not particularly.  I didn't really dress up that much today.  Just the normal going out apparel...

And just for your reference, this is my after boy bedtime look:

Mommy Makeover Challenge: Day 3

Success!  And remember to go over to The Naptown Organizer blog for the link up!

Outfit numero uno of the day (yes, there was more than one...three, actually....four if you count the yoga pants and sweatshirt I'm currently donning.)

Check out that snooki poof going on.

Outfit: Jeans, shirt I got at wet seal ages and ages ago for the last nice weather day of the year.  Necklace a friend gave me at our wedding, cz earrings (hey, I like them, ok?), POOF.
How long did it take you to get ready: around 15 minutes
What you did do differently than normal: poof!
Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: playgroup, park, cleaning the house
Did you feel any differently?: Felt dressed up.  Got comments from the other mamas.  :)

And then, I was all sweaty and gross and needed to go for a run.  So I changed into running clothes (sorry, no picture :) ), then took a shower and put on a fresh shirt.
So here is the second go round.

Outfit: Jeans, new shirt from Maurices, same jewelry
How long did it take you to get ready: probably 10-15 minutes while the boys took a bath (apparently our run made them sweaty too??)
What you did do differently than normal: I attempted my braid thing again
Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: had a showing for our house!!! so we went on a walk around the neighborhood and met the prospective buyers
Did you feel any differently?: I felt very good about myself.  Not like a frumpy mama walking her boys around on their scoot bikes.

And just for Kim, I took a better picture of my braiding.  Shut up, I know you could do it better. :)

Mommy Makeover Challenge: Day 2

I didn't fail today!  It was really close for a while there, but I actually made myself look presentable.
Before getting dressed, we hung out in pajamas for a while and then got dressed for a three mile run.  After our run, we met up with friends and went on a four mile walk.  All this time, I'm in workout clothes with no makeup and very messy hair.  Meh.  Well after a quick lunch at the park and putting Callum down for a nap, I was thiiiiiis close to throwing on the yoga pants but I stopped myself and I'm glad I did.  Even if we don't go anywhere after naptime, I feel nice and presentable.  So far, we just did preschool work and now I'm blogging, but we might venture out for a walk (yes, another one.  Our nice days are very very limited now.) or a wal-mart trip.  Maybe another park outing.  Anyway, on to the challenge!
And don't forget to head over to gorgeous Jayne's blog for the challenge linkup!

Day of the challenge: 2

Outfit: Jeans, turquoise tank and black shirt from Target, my necklace that has been broken for ages and my friend Kim fixed for me (yay!!!), cz earrings, makeup and my first ever successful french braid!!!  I think my hair is the most adorable today it's been in eons.

How long did it take you to get ready: about 30 minutes.

What you did do differently than normal: french braid, yo!  Actually getting dressed and presentable after a morning of working out/blahness.

Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: Well, not looking like this...I should really force myself to go somewhere just so I can feel even more awesome.

Did you feel any differently?: Yes.  I seriously feel amazing that I made a french braid in my own hair and it looks good!  lol

Preschool: Letter C

Everett was excited to learn about "C for Callum" last week.  We're already moving right along with D, but I figured I should probably do last week's update.

Last week, we pulled out our Melissa & Doug stamps and used upper and lower case A, B, and C to decorate a nice green piece of paper.

Even though Everett really has his colors figured out now, we did some color by number just for fun.

We also pulled out this Sesame Street dry erase workbook on numbers.  I was quite impressed to see Everett copy and write his own "2."  Yay dry erase crayons!

And as always, I have some of our favorite products in the amazon box over on the right sidebar.

Mommy Makeover Challenge : Day 1

One of my awesome internet friends (thenaptownorganizer.blogspot.com) has created a bloggy challenge this week for mamas to get themselves dressed up for the day and see how it affects them.  I love the idea since I'm typically a t-shirt, jeans, and ponytail type of mama.

I am horrible at taking pictures of myself and totally forgot until I'd left the house today, so you get a bad picture of me taking in the reflection of my minivan with my house in the background.

Day of the challenge: 1

Outfit: Jeans, hot pink long sleeved t with a short sleeved sweater, black earrings

How long did it take you to get ready: about 30 minutes.

What you did do differently than normal: curled and sprayed the hair, put on makeup and got dressed before breakfast.

Did you go anywhere outside the home/where: Yes, we were at storytime at the library at 10, the park at 11:30, nap at 1:30 at home, then to the bakery around 5.

Did you feel any differently?: Yes!  Because I was dressed before breakfast, I didn't sit around and lounge as much.  I folded the laundry before we went to the library (mostly because I couldn't find any jeans....) and we were to the library in time to pick out books before storytime.  

Yay!