Weekly Winners - Halloween Fun Edition

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Growing Up...

Our first Halloween as a family of four - I gave our costumes a lot of thought. Quinn wanted to be Buzz Lightyear - so I had that to work with. We figured it out. Since we had a family Halloween party to go to - we all needed something. I went as Little Bo Peep, Liam was a Sheep, Mike was Woody, and Quinn was Buzz. It was absolutely the most perfect family dress-up ever. I worked on finding our costumes in August!




And then there was last year. Quinn wanted to be a firefighter. And what firefighter is complete without his dalmation? So, Liam was a dalmation. It was great. I worked on finding their costumes in September. (I was just a witch, since "slutty firefighter" is really the only option for women.)




And here we are this year. I thought I'd have one more year to dress the family. I thought for sure Quinn would choose either a pirate or a superhero. Pirate - we'd all dress like pirates. Superheros - we'd all pick a superhero (of course, there's that "slutty" problem again. Anyone ever see a decent Wonderwoman costume?) But guess what? Liam can talk now. Really well. And he insisted on being batman and Quinn insisted on being a pirate. After looking for a batman costume, I couldn't settle on any of them. I brought home a Curious George costume and a pirate costume for Liam to choose from. And he picked Curious George.

And so we have - a pirate and a monkey. They go hand in hand - don't they? (And is that saying hand in hand or hand and hand?) Oh and me? I'm going to be a clown. I super cute clown, if you ask me! And Mike - has no plans of dressing up this year - party pooper - that's what he'll be!


Except - guess what? We pulled down the bin of old costumes. Quinn tried on his old Buzz costume and Liam tried on his doggy costume. Looks like we might have a Buzz (I can't believe it still fits him - barely.) and a doggy on Halloween this year! At least they got one morning of use out of their new costumes for Quinn's school party!

I must say. I'm pretty proud of myself for letting this go. What? You may be asking. You see part of me really wants them to coordinate - for us to coordinate as a family. But you know what, we really don't need to. And if these boys of mine decide to wear their old costumes Saturday - that's alright with me too.

Weekly Winners - I still take pictures edition.

So... it's been awhile. Almost three months, I think. Anyway - I do still take pictures. Here's some from the past two weeks...

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34 Minutes and some seconds...

Today wasn't how I imagined it. I imagined blue skies, beautiful leaves on the trees, my family there to see me start and finish, and then spending some time after the race doing some of the fun stuff they would have set up for the kiddos. It wasn't like that.

A cold, dreary, and rainy morning greeted me as I headed to my first 5K. I told Mike if he thought it was too cold and wet to take the boys, that's okay. Only crazy people go out in this weather by choice. And so I went...

I worked hard to get to this point. I did everything I needed to do to be ready. There were two things I couldn't control - the weather and the course.

As I drove to the starting location I actually found myself following the signs for the runners, for me, and noticed there were some hills - not huge hills, but more hills than I'm used to.

After registering, waiting, and checking out people's costumes (I did not dress up) - we were off.

As we finished the first mile - the girl at the water table was reading out times. 9:30something (I couldn't remember exactly). I looked at my brother-in-law, "I do NOT run a 10 minute mile." He told me we could slow down. (If anyone needs someone to run with them for their first race - I would nominate him. He did a great job - stayed by me but I never felt like he was pushing me to go faster.)

I don't remember what time the girl at the second mile water table said, but I remember thinking, "That's like an eleven minute mile. I do NOT run eleven minute miles."

I think it was between the 2nd and 3rd mile when it really started raining. Not a mist - but a rain. A cold, wet, rain. My shoes were wet and I couldn't decide if I should leave my sweatshirt on, zipped, opened, or off. I kept switching - on and zipped, unzipped, and then off and around my waist, back on, zipped up again, and then repeat. Well, only two or three times, but it was getting on my nerves. I've got to find something better to wear for my next one. I've also got to work on my pace. More running outside should help with that - it's easy to keep a nice and steady pace on a treadmill.

That's right. I'm already planning on running a 5K with my brother on Thanksgiving morning - want to join us?

And I may or may not have agreed to run a 10K with my brother-in-law in the very distant future.

Anyway...

As we crossed the finish line I could not believe that the clock said 34 minutes and some seconds (gosh my memory is great!). I have run 3 miles many times at the gym - and never under 36 minutes and usually between 37 and 39 minutes.

So - I grabbed a bagel, thanked my brother-in-law for planting the seed in my head to run a 5K and then for helping me follow through, and drove home.

Mike and the boys made a huge sign for me - "Good Job Mom!" and hung it on the front door - it's still there. Quinn wanted to know who won. How many people were in front of me. And how many people were behind me. Luckily, I can honestly say I wasn't first and I wasn't last. I think I have to wait a few days for them to post the results.

Too Spicey. Too Scarey.

If he doesn't want to eat something, he quickly declares it to be "Too spicey!"

If he doesn't want to do something, or go somewhere, he quickly declares that activity to be "Too Scarey."

He loves to make people laugh and will remember a "joke" that had everyone laughing and tell it again and again. "Yellow eyes!" is his latest joke. Trust me, it was funny. (the first time)

He knows how to play pirates, how to annoy his brother, and how to win over a stranger.

His favorite show is Curious George, but he calls it "ooooh, ahhhh, ahhh."

He cries when he doesn't get his way.

He thanks you if he does get his way.

He loves his brother.

He calls his daddy, "Daddy-o"

He loves signing along to "rock-a-bye-baby".

He prefers to lay his head on the skin of my chest, as opposed to a sweatshirt. (I blame this on the fact that he was a summer baby and spent his first few months of life laying on my skin while I sported nursing tank tops.)

He loves books. His favorites include: Big Enough For a Bed, Find the Puppy, That's Not My Dinosaur, Peek a Who, Goodnight Gorilla, Goodnight Moon, and Night Night Sleep Tight. He can read a few of these to himself.

He loves trains.

Some of his most used phrases, besides "too spicey" and "too scarey" include: "Play with me." "Read to me." "Where are we going today?" "Where's Daddy-o?" and my personal favorite, "Who's that guy?"

He all of a sudden turned into a little boy. A little boy I love with all my heart.

The Plan - The Final Week - Six

Aha - the final week. If I wasn't so tired I go into this whole long thing about how proud I am and what I've learned. But I'm tired. It's been a long day. Heck, it's been a long week.

I ran 3.5 miles today! Woot. It felt good - it felt especially good because I wanted to stop at 3.25, but I just kept on going - and finished. (then we rushed home, fed the kids, showered and headed to my favorite pumpkin patch/apple orchard!)

And on the 24th - The Big Day - I only have to run 3.1 miles - so I know I can finish.

The best part about running is this:

On Friday I found out that the program that I teach is on the cutting board. Meaning, all three plans of budget cuts that our superintendent proposed to the school board had my preschool program cut. Nothing is official yet, but hearing that was not the way I wanted to start my weekend. To top it off as I was pulling into the gym after work I sent Mike a quick message letting him know about what time I'd be home and he texted me back letting me know that our fridge didn't appear to be working. Right. So off I went into the gym. And I ran 3 miles. It never felt so good to run. All the thoughts of what I'd do next year without my "perfect" job and all the thoughts of "oh my god we just got a new dishwasher - seriously - now a new fridge" were gone. It was me, my music, and my run. (Of course I did sort of freak out a bit on my way home when I finally stopped to think about what may or may not happen. Which is silly.)

On Tuesday I woke up and Mike told me our dishwasher was broken. Seriously. The new one he just installed was leaking water all over. He went to work, my kitchen was once again torn apart, and I took Quinn to school and headed to the gym. The plan said run 3 miles; I told myself I would only have to do 2 miles, since, you know, I was having a bad day. But you know what? I got to that 2 mile marker and thought, "What good would stopping here do you?" And so I ran 3 miles and it was great.

So anyway... here's my plan for the week.

Week 6
Monday - Rest.
Tuesday - Run 3 miles easy.
Wednesday - Run 2 miles easy. You will begin to taper after this workout. A taper is a gradual decrease in mileage. The purpose of the taper is to be sure that your muscles are well rested before you compete in the race.
Thursday - Rest or cross train.
Friday - Run 2 miles easy.
Saturday - Run 1 mile easy.
Sunday - Race Day. Have Fun!!

If you completed the workouts in this program, you will be able to easily finish your 5K. Keep you pace easy in your first race. Do not worry about your time. You can work on improving you speed in later races. Run at the same pace you were training at or if you are feeling good, just a little faster. Avoid the temptation to start out a lot faster than you have trained for. If you start out too fast, you will have a hard time finishing. Most importantly - HAVE FUN. If you would like to improve your performance, move on to the more advanced training programs.

Of course I know you're all just dying to know what I'm going to do next week, right? Now that I'm done running - what am I going to do?

You'll just have to wait and see, my friends, wait and see...

Cultural Differences

I learned about this in college. One of my child development classes. We discussed the cultural differences in raising children. People tend to parent the way in which they were parented. And so there are differences - and many differences have been found to be cultural. Sometimes, the parenting methods of one culture are deemed inappropriate by another. (And by culture - I'm talking not just about race, but socio-economic status as well - it plays a big role.) One of my professors used to run parenting groups in a low-income, prodominately African-American, school district to try and change some of their parenting habits. So, there she was, a small white jewish woman, trying to encourage these parents to use more positive reinforcement, read to their children more, belittle them less, and basically, talk to them about things happening around them. She admitted that the struggles these parents face are more than we (a group of Master's students in the suburbs) would ever face. She was proud of what the parents had accomplished, but knew, when it came down to it, they'd fall back to how they were parented - and she didn't like the effect it would have on the children. At the time I wondered, and continue to wonder: Who are we to decide exactly what is the correct method for parenting? Physical abuse is absolutely wrong and not nessarsary to manage a child's behavior. But what about this verbal abuse she described so well?


Since then I've sort of forgot about that night's lecture. I continued working in my mostly white - upper-middle class school district and found that most parents have very similiar parenting styles as my own. Grant it, some of them are more relaxed about certain things and others are so uptight about different things, but mostly, we seem to be on the same page as to what is and is not appropriate.


Then the other night I was at Woodfield Mall. The meca of cultural differences. While in the Looney Toons play area I heard over 10 different languages and saw so many shades of skin I thought I was at a UN convention.


And then it happened.


"Savannah. Get over here right now." Her voice was full of anger so of course I looked up. Did Savannah hurt somebody? Who was crying? But my preschool teacher instincts told me Savannah had really done nothing wrong. I was confused by the mother's anger.


Savannah came fairly quickly to her mother. Dressed in an adorable red jumper with her curly black hair pulled into pigtails, I guessed the little girl was 3, maybe 4 years old.

Regardless of the quick obiedence, the mother's angry tone continued. "We're leaving right now."


Savannah began to whimper.


"Don't start that. We've been here two hours. I'm tired. It's time to go."


Savannah began to cry.


"Shut it. Shut your mouth. None of the nonsense." The anger in her voice was clearly rising.

Savannah muffled her cry back to a whimper.


"Put your coat on and let's go."


Savannah now has her coat on and is managing to keep her cries to a minimal.


"Shut your mouth. That is enough of that noise. We're leaving. Keep crying and I won't bring you back."

And so they left. I heard Savannah muffling her cries on the way out and her mother continuing to tell her to "shut it."

During that little episode I also saw a mother trying to talk her 2 year old out of a tantrum. And I saw Savannah's mother look over and I swear she was thinking, "Uh, really? You're going to coax your child out of that tantrum and then let them play? Seriously?"

To each his own, I suppose...

The Plan - Week Five

Alright - here we go. Week Five of "Run Your First 5K." It's a little more exciting this week - I'll be running 3.5 miles in a week. So that's different, right?

Monday - Rest.
Tuesday - Run 3.25 miles easy. Another increase in mileage here. One more to go.
Wednesday - Run 2 miles easy.
Thursday - Rest or cross train.
Friday - Run 3 miles easy.
Saturday - Run 2 miles easy.
Sunday - Run 3.5 miles easy. This is the final mileage increase in this program. You are now running .4 mile farther than the 5K distance. This will give you the endurance to easily complete the 5K race and will increase your confidence.

Again, I'm switching up Thursday and Friday. And... here's the list of songs that it's my "run!" playlist. Before you read it - know this - I am horrible at remember names of songs and who's singing. So, if it's a song that I took from a mix CD my friend made years ago it's most likely not the title, but rather some lyrics from the song. If it's a song I purchased from itunes, then you're lucky and you get the song title and the artist.

1. Mary Janes Last Dance - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2. I Like to Move It - Madagascar
3. I Will Survive - Cake *
4. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas *
5. "I just seen a face I can't forget the time or place..." *
6. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas *
7. 'Till I Collapse - Eminem and Nate Dogg ****
8. Good Riddance - Green Day
9. All Summer Long - The Rock Heroes
10. "What you got in the bag? Tell me who's your housekeeper..." *
11. Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
12. "Bodyguard" *
13. "Bucket Seats" *
14. Overture/All That Jazz - from Chicago *

It does not take me 14 songs to run 3 miles - usually just about 6. So I skip some to get to my "good ones". I've marked my "good ones" with a *.

So - there you have it folks, my Week 5 Plan and my run! playlist.

Enjoy.

Bad Timing

So... I figured it was bad timing when our dishwasher apparently broke just days before we are all set to close on our DVC purchase. No worries, though. When we figured out we could afford to do this, we figured out we could afford to do this even if things go wrong. No big deal.

So... when Mike told me that I couldn't use the kitchen sink, because there was a leak, because he took the old dishwasher out, I figured. No worries. He's going to install * the new one in 24 hours. No big deal. The dishes can wait.

So... when Mike was working on putting the new dishwasher in and had to go to run to the store to get some parts - twice - I started to worry. No dishwasher and No kitchen sink? Ugh.

He promises the dishwasher will be working by midnight tonight. I'm not going to hold my breath.

I suppose this wouldn't be so bad if not for the following:

1. I am in charge of bringing treats to work tomorrow. This is a big deal, people. I cannot show up with a box of donuts. Oh no - there must be mixing and baking involved - so, there must be dishes involved.
2. I am totally PMSing. Totally and completely.

* We could have paid to have the dishwasher installed. $150. Mike said it wasn't worth $150 to have someone else do what he could "easily" do. He's not saying that anymore.

EDITED TO ADD: It's 8:30pm and Mike just ran to the store. This will be his third trip to the store. I do have a kitchen sink that works now and have done many sinkfuls of dishes - is that supposed to make me feel better? Because it does. a little.

Running - Week Four

Right. I'm still running. I ran 3 miles this morning, as a matter of fact. The first half mile was hard (as always) and then the last half mile was hard - because my knee was killing me. But not killing me enough to stop, just killing me enough to remind me to stretch my IT band a little bit longer afterwards. Anyway, that was my longest run so far on this plan and it was okay. I will say - I need my music. I love my music. I am so very grateful for my music. Maybe soon I'll post my "run!" playlist for you all - cuz I know you're dying to know, right??

But for now - let's take a look at Week 4 of the Train for Your First 5K plan.

Week 4
Monday - Rest.
Tuesday - Run 3 miles easy.
Wednesday - Run 2 miles easy.
Thursday - Rest or cross train.
Friday - Run 3 miles easy.
Saturday - Run 2 miles easy.
Sunday - Run 3 miles easy.

*yawn* *yawn* boring, right? I need to switch it up and run on Thursday and rest on Friday. I tried following the plan this week - I rested on Thursday and then Friday came - and I rested again. Fridays always kick my butt. I never want to clean up the house at night, I don't want to think about dinner, I don't want to do anything - so there's no way I'm going to run 3 miles this Friday - I can tell you right now. The funny thing is - this past week I basically forced myself not to run on Thursday. I wanted to go, but figured I should just take the day off and go tomorrow. Didn't work. But that's okay, it just shows you all how "not perfect" I am, right??? I skipped a day!! And then I still got up and finished the week strong.

Oh wait. I have to tell you about my run on Saturday. I *loved* it. Two and a half miles and I was smiling. I actually almost had tears in my eyes because I couldn't believe what I was doing. When I first started this I used to just try to run for an entire song - and the song would end and I'd be so grateful it was over. Well, Saturday I was thinking about this as those songs came and went through my playlist and I just kept on running... (well, honestly, I run for a mile and walk for about 10 sec. while I get some water and then run another mile.... but you know...)

And so we did it.

It's rare for me to talk about money on here, but here I go...


After sitting down and realizing that we've been able to cut our monthly bills by almost $1000 - paid off both cars, our home equity loan, and refinanced our mortgage - We started to look into the Disney Vacation Club.

We have also been looking into buying land.

And I know some would argue that land is a better investment - I'd love to hear anyone's story about how much their house/land is worth right now. (And we did actively look for land this summer, but really could not afford/could not find exactly what we wanted.)

In our mind - the Disney Vacation Club would be a great investment. Not money wise - we're not expecting to turn a profit here. In fact, we're not planning on selling. What we are planning on doing is figuring out when and where we can vacation, because folks, the Disney Vacation Club is not just for DisneyWorld anymore.

I will admit - it took awhile for me to realize that Mike meant it when he kept saying, "yeah, let's do this now - and then save for a camper and land." We both agreed it made sense to buy into DVC now - since those prices just keep going up.

So we did it. You can read more about it over here.