Beating the Winter Doldrums...Maybe?

In the winter, I try to do a lot to keep myself busy but really end up doing very little. Last weekend, the hubs and I made a gallery wall in our red room (which is not red, nor had it been for at least 4 years or so, but old habits die hard), and it came out alright despite me kind of flying by the seat of my pants and not making a plan at all. Well, that's not entirely true. My plan was to take pictures I had laying around and put them on the wall. So, success.

Also since the house is still up for sale, there's a ton cleaning and upkeep, besides just picking up the same toys for the 67th time in a day. But I'm trying to keep busy in other, more personally satisfying ways too. Here are a few:
Today is library day at our house, so I'm starting the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2025 Reading Challenge, and I encourage you to check it out as well. It's only 12 books total for the year. Totally do-able, right? There are 12 categories, and you just pick a book from each and read it. You don't have to do it in any order, and there's no book club, and no pressure. I'm psyched about the "Book by a Favorite Author" and "Book You Should Have Read in High School" categories, and not so much for the "Book Your Mom Loves" one...yeah, we have markedly different tastes, and our interests really no not intersect at all. Any time either of us has recommended a book to the other, we've both kind of regretted it. That said, January is almost done, so I'm a bit behind and I'm excited to go to the library and get started!
I'm also participating in Sarah Mae's 31 Days to Clean, cuz to be honest? The abode could use a little boost this time of year, and so could my spirits. It always helps me when I can look around and not feel like I'm living in the basement of a junk store. So I'm following her steps and hoping that at the end, I have a more comfortable space for everyone. Yesterday I started in the kitchen and today? I need to clean the fridge and the microwave. Just to let you know an embarrassing truth about myself: I store all kinds of crap in my microwave. We so rarely use it to just nuke anything, but I am forever putting open bags of popcorn and other junk in it. See?

Right now there's a bunch of leftover candy canes and Christmas stocking candy in a Halloween candy bin, because obviously that's how I do. Oh, and hot sauce popcorn. And a tin full of Hershey kisses, and about a thousand ring pops (why are ring pops so popular for little kids at Christmas? They drive me nuts). I'm embarrassed, but I'm so much more embarrassed of what the inside of my fridge looks like that I'm not even going to show it to you. It's that bad. I've got my work cut out for me!
Also, I'm trying to get out and walk or run a little more every day. Has it been working? NO. But do I feel better when I do it? Oh hell yes.
What do you do when it feels like winter is never going to end (and you're not even halfway through)? Help a sister out!

Back-to-School Week Day 2

So it's the second day of back-to-school week over here, and even though Stenni doesn't have school today (she's only going on Monday and Wednesday, so far), it's still on my mind. So here's my you've -heard-it-before, painfully practical tip for day 2. 

Day 2 Tip: Plan meals in advance, at least for the first few weeks. Plan what you'll have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (at least have a rough idea). Because your new school schedule will take some adjusting to, don't assume that you'll have oodles of time to plan and prep dinner while the kiddos are not home. You probably won't. Keep it simple with minimal prep. When I know I'll be pressed for time, I like to stick with quick and easy things like pastas (I'm a huge fan of the whole wheat pastas and I always have a bag of homemade frozen vegetable sauce in the basement freezer; it doesn't even get easier than that) and basic rice dishes such as jambalaya. Also if you have a crockpot, use it. It helps. 
Start thinking about what you want to eat for the week, and shop accordingly. Keep easy meals and snacks, like granola, fruit bars, cut fruit, yogurt, hot and cold cereals, steamable frozen veggies, and even frozen waffles around the house. I've seen too many meal plans start out with good intentions and then end up turning people into martyrs when they can't allow for changes in their situations. It makes it easier to go with the flow when you have a back-up plan that you don't feel guilty about because it's still marginally healthy and low-effort.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: keep it simple, but don't neglect nutrition. We really like Van's whole grain waffles at our house because they're easy and quick, and I don't always feel like dragging out a waffle iron. Waffles with peanut butter and raisins is an old standby at our house. I'm not always a big fan of "convenience foods" but don't totally rule out using mixes on occasion. If you can find a good complete pancake/waffle mix (again, whole grains are nice, but take what you can get!), make pancakes with fruit or veggies added in. Adding quick oats, apple juice, apple sauce and cinnamon to complete pancake mix equals apple crumble pancakes, which are a huge hit around here (berry pancakes are well-loved too)! And it doesn't hurt to make a few extras in advance to freeze and use when you need them. But seriously, never underestimate the add-ins: things like ground flaxseed, fruits, oats, juices, fruit pulps and that sort of thing can really up the nutritional value of a simple meal, and add some flavor without too much extra effort.
Meals for kiddos shouldn't be a struggle, even if you don't have a ton of time. A little advance planning goes a long way.

So here is our get-out-the-door-on-time breakfast menu for this week: 
Monday: Jack-o-lantern pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes (add apple juice and pumpkin puree to complete pancake mix, throw in a few chocolate chips, shape like a pumpkin and make a face out of the rest of the chocolate chips)
Tuesday: Peanut butter cheerios with milk and a banana
Wednesday: Whole grain waffle (yes, the frozen kind) with peanut butter or hazlenut spread and raisins, apple sauce
Thursday: Egg over easy in a pepper "flower" (just cut the pepper so that it still retains the ring shape, then cook the egg inside), pepper slices and wheat toast
Friday: Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins (hopefully Stenni and I will have the time to make them together on Thursday afternoon!)

If you need some great recipes, check out  http://www.parents.com/recipes/ or Allrecipes' Back-to-School page.

Staying fit in your third trimester...Is it possible?

Hey all. I know I do the occasional fitness-related post (and the more than occasional pregnancy-related post...sorry guys, it's kind of on my mind right now), and this one is really no different except...well, except that it kind of is. I've finally made it a few weeks into my third trimester, and with my gym closing next week (and me not wanting to switch gyms and work 1/2 an hour away 3 days a week just to work out for free, and almost 7 months preggers at that), it's time for me to explore other fitness options. I know how important it is to keep active throughout the entire pregnancy, and I don't want to start really packing on the pounds now because it's not healthy for anyone. I mean, who am I kidding, the pounds are there, I just don't want to add any more than baby needs at this point. So what can I do to stay semi-in-pregnant-lady shape? Here's what:
Walking is great, it really is. "They" say that walking and swimming are the two best exercises for pregnant women. But is it really enough exercise to stroll around the block a few times and call it a day? Sometimes, yeah it is. Lord knows it depends on the day, and obviously you need to pay attention to what your body is telling you that you can (or can't) do that day. But mostly I'm used to something a little more high-intensity, at least when I can handle it. Before I had Stenni (in fact, up until a few hours before I went into labor!), I took hour-long hikes with my dog every day. But with a toddler in tow, even one with legs almost as long as mine already, that just isn't realistic. I've thought about mall-walking with Stenni in the stroller, but since I don't use credit cards, I don't really need the temptation, so that's out. I try to walk around the block when I can, which is great because my block has some pretty beast hills, but I can only walk around in the same circle so many times a day before I want to punch the neighbors' yippy dog (and I'm a total dog person...he's just that bad).
Swimming is wonderful exercise, especially for expectant women. It's low-impact and works out basically every muscle in the body. So what are the downsides? Well for me, it makes me hungry (like, super crazy famished) and exhausted. Not that that stops me. The family and I had a wonderful week down the shore last week, and we went to the beach every single day, and I mean just to swim. I don't do that sit on the sand crap. We were out jumping waves and swimming the whole time, despite my whole shark fear thing. Also, my parents have a nice in-ground pool, and they only live a mile or so away, so we make use of it whenever we can (I say we because Stenni is a total water-baby). But, swimming season has about 2-3 more weeks left, and then it gets too cold too quickly around here to try to sneak in any late-season dips, and we don't have access to any indoor pools in the area.
Yoga is nice but can make me feel a little too hippy-dippy, what with all of the meditation and that sort of stuff. I understand that a lot of people are into yoga for the body-mind connection spiritual thing, and that's cool, but for real? That's totally not me. The kind of yoga I do normally (power yoga, or occasionally hot yoga) is really not appropriate for the pregnant body. But I do try to string together a sun salutation and some stretchy, flowing poses every once in a while just to make sure that my body still moves in the way that it should, and to stretch my back out.
Light aerobics are quite useful, and they bring up the energy level a good bit. Think gym class stuff: knee lifts, front and side kicks, squats, marching in place, kickboxing moves (without actually moving around), and that sort of thing. Keep it low-impact; no skipping, high-kicks, running up stairs, or other Rocky-type moves.
Light, no-contact sports with no real risk of falling and no hard balls to hit you. I'm looking at you, badminton. And pretty much only you. Well, wiffle ball is acceptable too as long as you aren't sprinting the bases, because if you can get hurt by a wiffle ball you can pretty much be gravely injured by an errant falling leaf and shouldn't be allowed outside. Skip soccer, cycling, distance running, rugby, lacrosse and tackle football. For all of us. 

Here's what I'm trying to do now: I'm aiming for 1/2 an hour of walking or hiking, at least 3 days a week (unless I'm swimming, which is still an option for a few weeks). Yoga, at least 1 day a week, for half an hour or more. 10-15 minutes of light weight training (5 lb. weights), 3-5 times a week. Anything else is a bonus. I'm not pushing myself to hike an hour a day anymore, and honestly, I really can't with everything else going on.

What kind of workout regimen did you adopt towards the end of your pregnancy, or when another condition like injury stopped you from, say, P90X, competitive bodybuilding, cross-country running or whatever it was you did beforehand? Did you tone it down at all? Let me know, I can use all the advice I can get just now!

What are your summer plans?

 

Last year for Father's Day, Stenni (& I) made one of those cool, pinterest-inspired summer bucket lists and gave it to hubs for Papa Day (which is what we call Father's Day around these here parts). It was awesome and he kept it in his wallet and checked things off as they went, accomplishing feats like going to 5 different parks, swimming in a pool, lake, river and the ocean,  picking berries (photographic evidence of us at the field above...we went to pick strawberries 2 days ago, the only dry day we've had in weeks, and it was such fun!) and other assorted feats of fun-ness. This worked incredibly well for us last summer, as it gave us plenty of ideas for cheap or free activities and kept us busy all through the season.

But this year, I want to take a different approach. As Stenni is getting a little older, I want her to be able to pick out what we do based on how she feels that day. And I want to be able to spontaneously say "yes" more, so we've scheduled less to fill up our days in general. Also, growing a baby human is pretty hard work, and I just don't have the energy I did last summer, so I don't want to hatch some grand scheme and end up too tired to follow through. I want to be able to go with the flow and let her give in to whims...if we feel like making a fort and pretending to be bears all day, so be it. If it's nice out and she wants to go to my parents' house and play in the pool, we will. There's only so much longer that Stenni will have my undivided attention, and I want to make this summer magical. 

So my over-arching plan is...well, not to plan. Or not to over-plan, at least. The weekends are already pretty full up until the middle of August, so I want to at least play the weekdays by ear. We'll still go blueberry picking and to the zoo, and have playdates and BBQ's, but we'll take them as they come. It's a little hard for me to let go of my lists and my schedule, my type-A personality and my control-freak nature, but I think it'll be worth it for the whole family in the long run. Once the baby comes, the schedule goes out the window anyway, so maybe we'll consider this an intro to the new normal? 

What are your summer plans? Anything set in stone, or everything easy-breezy?

The Summer of 100 Books

For the past few months, Stenni has been asking me to read her 5 books every time she goes on the potty. This used to be more doable, as she read shorter books and spent more minutes on the potty each sitting...and she didn't count all the books, so sometimes I could fudge it.  Now that potty training is in the home stretch (meaning that she usually just gets on the potty to do her business, and that's it), we have less quality reading time than we used to. I'm happy not to have to sit in front of her on the bathroom floor for half an hour at a time, but I need to find a new way to incorporate more reading into our everyday routine again. Therefore we are declaring this summer:

The Summer of 100 Books!

Between May 28th (the day after Memorial Day) and September 1st (the day before Labor day) there are 97 days, including all holidays and weekends. That means that all we have to do to meet this totally attainable goal is read a book a day, with 3 extra thrown in there for good measure as time allows. Here's the catch: I'm only counting each book once, which means that as many times as I read I Love You, Stinky Face or Put Me in the Zoo, they count only once towards the 100 book goal. And at the end of the summer we will be making our own book based on our summer experiences, since we'll have a whole new appreciation of books and reading! Plus, I'll report all of the books to you in order to keep us fully accountable!

This is all in conjunction with our very experimental home-preschooling, and will be tied into summer experiences and trips (we will read about the beach in preparation for our trip to the shore, for example, and read about gardening while tending to our garden). I'm hoping that this will help us in our goal, which is to move towards some very basic independent reading within in next year or so (really, everything we do at home is working towards that end, and it might sound lofty, but reading is something we really love in this house). Stenni is already identifying each letter of the alphabet and the sounds that they make, and can sight-read some words like her name, mama and papa, and a few others. Our attempts to write, trace, or copy letters so far have not worked out as well as I'd like, but I figure we'll chock that up to needing some more work on small motor skills, and the fact that she's 2 1/2, so I'm not going to totally push it too hard just yet. There's always more time. 

Anyone out there want to take the "Summer of 100 Books" challenge with us? Comment, and we'll synchronize our efforts! Here's to a fruitful summer!

Make this the year of no more resolutions

I loathe resolutions, I do. I understand the idea of a fresh start with a new year, but to be honest, any of us can resolve to do anything we want pretty much whenever we want. New Years is just the time they market it to you the hardest. My hubs always says its silly to start diet-related resolutions until MLK day anyway, since the house is pretty much filled with cake pops and chocolate and all manner of delicious-but-bad-for-you noms until then anyway. And he's pretty much right. But are New Year's resolutions made to fail?
Well, mine are I think. My resolutions generally last until about the week before Valentine's day, if I'm lucky. I think I've read every article on creating attainable goals and making resolutions stick, but if the goals don't have a natural start and end point, I'm liable to give up halfway through. So this year I'm taking a different approach: I'm setting life goals, or creating a "bucket list" of sorts. It's my list of things I'd like to do before I'm too old or my life changes too drastically and I'm no longer physically able. So here is a short list of my "life goals" and a bit of explanation for each. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so I'll add to it from time to time as I can (or as I think of them). Remember, the timeline is my life, not be next week or next year, but these are all things I want to accomplish and I can accomplish.

• I want to run a half marathon. Hubs and I did our first 5k this past Thanksgiving. Then we started some longer runs. Currently I max out at about 6 miles, so of course since a half marathon is more than double that, I've got some work to do. But this is a long term goal. I'd like to plan for one in 2014, which means lots of running in the interim.
• I want to compete in the lumberjack/lumberjill competition. I didn't say win, I just said compete. This year is a research year. I'd like to know a little more about all of the events, and maybe get some practice with a chainsaw, before I compete against anyone. I'm ok with the splitting wedge, but the chainsaw? That's gonna take a while.
• I want to do a polar bear plunge. I just missed the sign-ups for the one in Asbury Park this year, and I was super sad about it. I'd really like to do this in 2013 (it was December 30th this year), because it's been on my to-do list for years and it looks like so much fun! 
• I want to play the harmonica and sing on stage with the hubs. This is tricky since hubs does not currently have a functioning band, and there's a fine line between me drinking enough to have the courage to do these things and well, drinking too much to be good at them. But I can do them at home!
• I want to save more money. Self-explanatory. Who doesn't? I'm currently formulating a plan to do just that.
• I want to read more. And I already read a ton this year. But a lot of it was re-reading things I'd already read, blogs, reading to Stenni, and comic books (which totally count, I know). But I want to read more books that I've never even heard of. I need some recommendations, people!
• Oh, and PS, I'd like to hear from more people who stop by the blog! And since you're reading this, that means you! I'd like to take this blogging thing a bit more seriously this year and I've already got some ideas on that! But more than anything, I'd like to hear from all of you.

How is everyone else handling the resolution thing this year?  Any changes from last year?