Say AAAHHH!

Kirkley had her first trip to the dentist today.
All was well and she was pretty excited till she saw another child come in hysterical.
We did our best to convince her he must have gotten a boo boo or something
so that it wouldn't dawn on her he was hysterical about being there.

She did pretty good for the most part and was intrigued with all of the tools. She did not receive a glowing report so we'll be back again soon.
Hoping we're not all hysterical then!

day at the beach

We took a quick day trip to the "beach" last week!
The children were none the wiser and lived it up like we'd hit the coast.
Jay got his first sand between the toes experience.
I love that there are even rolls on his feet :)

Kirkley was ecstatic we were finally at the beach!
She's been asking since nick jr advertised "we're going on a trip" starting in May.

Jay was a good sport in the heat. He cracked us up kicked back and loving life!

The traumatizing part of the trip was brought to you by mommy who forgot sand toys.
Kirkley realized halfway to the beach. Mommy won't forget again.
She made do with the bucket!We had a great morning at the beach!
K is already asking to go again....

the rundown

I should really call it the "jog"down! Running is probably an overstatement, but 10 weeks ago today is when I started a running program from nada! This post is filled with goals/tips not to say "Look what I did," but to say, "If I can, YOU can!" :) I have had so many people ask me about this so here is a rundown of what I have done. If you're a real runner, this will all probably be hilarious, but I hope it helps and encourages anyone that is considering starting.

Warning -- I started this a few days ago and kept adding random things I thought of.

I bounced between Couch to 5K and Jillian's. Here is another if you get bored with those. I have not skipped more than 1-2 days in the 10 weeks. Not because I'm sooo disciplined but because I'm soooo scared that it will be as hard as it was on week 1 if I put too much distance between my days. The first 1-3 weeks, I aimed to do every 36 hours because I was mostly walking. I have reached the goal of being able to run 3+ miles nonstop -- this is much more attainable when I jog on the treadmill. But I have not hit being able to run 3 in 30 min -- still working on speed.

I have kept a calendar with details of every attempt. How long each mile took, how long the total run was, etc. This way I can look back and see that I cut 4 minutes off of my time in a month or whatever. Shows progress. I need to see that progress now as much as I did at the beginning.

I invested in some gear. This is especially a must for kicking this off in the summer. Target has great stuff for under $20 and works just as good as the few Nike things I got. Dry wick t-shirts, thin socks, etc. are a must. Get something fun and cute! :) This was a great use of the Christmas/bday money I kept stashed all year. December bdays have to hang on to it! I had barely used running shoes that have worked fine, but Alex had to get fitted. Who knew you couldn't just buy the cute color!?

The fun in this really emerged in week 5 or 6 when I started meeting friends. What started off with a sweet friend who really "trained" me and got me through my first nonstop 5k route, has grown into a regular meeting of 6-8 girls at 6am twice a week. Accountability works wonders for me. We can't breathe enough to chat and we don't all stay at the same pace, but we all do our 3+ miles! Who wants to join us!?

6am sound ridiculous to you? It sure does to us, but it feels soooo good to be riding home before 7am and know that it's checked off. I found this ebook recently and LOVE it: Maximize your Mornings. This is the morning game plan I have SO been needing. Print it and read/work through it as soon as you can! I certainly don't wake up at 5:10 thinking, "I love this," but I do think that after the fact. I am selfishly excited about the day I can wake up a little later and skip pumping beforehand! Guys don't read blogs do they!? Sorry, guys. I certainly couldn't do this without my man who runs before me on these mornings and then helps with our early risers while I'm gone!

Google has a program where you can map routes so that it tells you distance, calories, etc. I didn't find it until after several drives mapping routes the old school way! I'm sort of addicted to knowing my time, mileage, etc. We borrowed a Garmin watch, and I finally gave in and used a bday amazon gift card for my own! Try to talk someone in your group into getting one or tell Santa. :)

Doing an actual 5K race helps. I did one at week 7. I had to walk every once in a while in miles 2 and 3, but it was interesting just to see how it works, see a finish line, see old men schooling me in their short shorts, etc. Learning what to eat before/after helped for this. There are races every month providing fun goals to look forward to! There is talk of a 10K or half-marathon, but I think I may be sticking with 5K for a while.

What I've really found in this newfound hobby is solitude. There are few quiet moments in my day, but getting out early provides great quiet time for me to think, pray, recite "I can do all things through Christ" as we power up a hill, or just zone out! It has been great "me" time! I think all parents need some quiet me time to think uninterrupted thoughts! So it's not that I heart running, but I am loving some time of peace.

If you've made it this far in the post, I'm shocked, but I hope this answers questions for anyone wanting to start. I think this is everything I've had to search out these last 2 1/2 months for tips/help! Okay, now it's on the world wide web so I've got to keep doing it. Someone random will ask me how it's going and I'd rather crawl in a hole than say I quit! :)

how quickly

a little hairdo session goes from this

to this
poor Jay -- K has not a care in the world with her 80's do!
i hope everyone's living room floor looks a hot mess at the end of the day.
at least the kids were bathed and in jammies -- points for that?!

Princess Bedhead

Kirkley declared right off the bat this morning it was time for a princess parade!She's so proud of her earrings her daddy got her!

Brother as usual thinks she's hilarious. Check out two teeth!

And we've entered the super grabby stage! There are lots of sibling tug of war games going on! Kirkley is a good sport about it about half the time! :)Too cute for 7am!

First 5K

We made it! We survived our first 5K this morning. I know in the world of running, a 5K is no biggie, but for complete non-runners, we were excited to all get our personal best times today!! I was thrilled to see 33 min on the clock as I turned the corner even though my man beat me by a minute! :)

We were all psyched up before the run as we'd practiced the course area a few times....
After the race -- so glad to be on the other side!
Nothing like a run on a muggy July morning! :) Next on is August 14 -- who wants to join!?!?

Roasted Summer Squash and Chicken Pasta

I've hesitated to put up cooking posts, but I think I'm going to attempt a few. Goal will be easy, low-cal, and budget friendly. Hopefully someone finds this useful and not annoying. You know what I mean, some days I look at blogs and think, they have time to do {fill in the blank} and I haven't even showered yet!!? :) Reading this the other day put me in my mama place.

First up is Roasted Summer Squash and Chicken Pasta. There is no measuring required and only a handful of ingredients. I made this the other night for families that had babies several months ago -- hope they forgive my tardiness!

And don't stop reading if you hate squash and zucchini -- we've started tossing in all manner of veggies into our pasta -- asparagus, sweet peas, broccoli, etc. -- we all prefer them sauced up! K will eat them faster this way, and it leads to great dinner convo about how squash and zucchini are brother and sister.

I used 4 squash and 4 zucchini, washed and chopped earlier in the morning and threw in a ziploc bag with 1-2 T of garlic olive oil and a few shakes of Italian seasoning.

Then this is my supper secret weapon.
Once a month when split chicken breasts are on sale for $0.99/lb, I get 3-4 packs and bake them up. Line 9x13 dishes with foil, add 1/4 c water to each and 3-4 chicken breasts per pan. Bake at 350 for an hour and test with meat thermometer. Cool, dice, and throw in containers to use over the next month or two. There are a zillion recipes that call for chopped, cooked chicken. I can barely get dinner on the table some days much less have time to do two big cooking steps, so these containers tucked away help a ton. Microwave for a min or two then add to recipes. The less I have to touch raw chicken in my lifetime the better.

Here are the last few ingredients -- box of whole wheat thin spaghetti, fire roasted diced tomatoes (2), and Classico alfredo sauce (2).

Yes, alfredo sauce. I said low cal, and surprisingly, I looked one day {when we were totally tired of red sauce} and it is! The pasta is also low cal -- 140 cals per serving if you serve 10. Then I use two jars of alfredo sauce -- 80 cals per serving. So 220 per serving for the big hitters -- I don't count cals for squash and tomatoes! Rough estimate of 300 calories per serving including veggies and chicken.
Preheat oven to 425. Throw your squash and zucchini on a tray lined with foil and sprayed with olive oil. spread them out so they're in a single layer.
Bake 8 minutes then start babysitting them every minute till they just start to turn brown. You could stop here and serve these as a side topped with parm. Yum!

Leave them to cool, cook and drain pasta, and return pasta to pot. Drain tomatoes and stir in all ingredients.

You should get 10-12 servings out of it....I am so not a food photographer, but we liked it! :)


{to print recipe, select just the recipe, select print from the menu, and click "selection" so you don't print the whole blog}


Roasted Summer Squash and Chicken Pasta
serves 10

4 summer squash
4 zucchini squash
1-2 T garlic olive oil (or regular and throw in 1/8 t garlic powder)
Italian seasoning (a few shakes)
olive oil spray
1 box Barilla whole wheat thin spaghetti (Barilla Plus is my fave)
2-3 c chopped cooked chicken
2 jars Classico Alfredo sauce (roasted red popper or sun dried tomato)
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained

- Prep squash and zucchini ahead of time by chopping into bite sizes, putting in ziploc bag, and adding garlic olive oil and Italian seasoning. Shake around and keep in fridge.
- Preheat oven to 425 and get pasta water set to start boiling.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, spray with olive oil, and arrange squash and zucchini in a single layer.
- Bake 8 minutes on your top rack then start watching for them to brown. You may even want to broil them for a minute to help them along at the end.
- Remove from oven and let cool on tray.
- Boil pasta for 1 minute less than package instructions. Drain. Do not rinse and return back to pot.
- Drain the fire roasted tomatoes well.
- Put all remaining ingredients in the pasta pot and mix well.
- Serve topped with parm!

*I delivered this with caesar salad and slices of symphony pie

- variations: use chicken/quartered artichoke hearts/chopped roma tomatoes/mushrooms, chicken/sweet peas/asparagus, or any variation that suits your audience! Switch the sauce to red and it's a totally different dish.

stars & stripes

& photoshoots with two are hilarious.

a simultaneous, "we heart 4th of july" smile just didn't happen!

by the time we got the teether happy, sister was done with pics :)

all she could think about today was hopping in the pool and blueberry pie!

See my new tooth?the other one has to be close behind because I am so tenderhearted these past few days!
and K isn't really at an empathetic age!
happy 4th!

thanks, gigi, for the stars & stripes outfits!
we've had fun with them!

summer dinners

outside on the deck

and enjoying backyard fun!

We are still loving some summer corn. We officially ate it with 99% of our June dinners! :) My favorite way turned out the be the Best Corn Ever. Easy and yummy! I also made a blueberry topping recently that was great with summer blueberries! Fast to make and not all that high in calories like the blueberry cobbler or pie it hits the craving for -- top off some low cal vanilla ice cream with it!

Any summer favorites you love?? Scarlotte and Emily, don't be posting a recipe with 126 ingredients! :) Use the boxes below to submit recipe links or your own posts!

Office Visits!

Kirkley is always asking, "Can we go to daddy's office?" Sorry, Daddy, I think it's to play with Aunt La La! We visit the office probably more often than we should. Laurel has taught Kirkley to answer the phone, "write" messages, type on the typewriter, etc. K makes her rounds to all of the office gals with hugs, and they are all so sweet to dote on my babies! Every once in a while we take a picnic up to Alex's office floor to get to visit with him for a bit, especially on these busy summer days.