Grouchy Garrett

Garrett has been just plain miserable this week. He's cutting several teeth at once, his Eczema is acting up, and he's been having "digestion" problems. Poor buddy! No wonder he's grumpy! I've been cuddling him non-stop which I love but he gets mad the moment I put him down. Thankfully Gabriel and Grant have stepped up to help and are actually cooperating because they see a need. Wow, that makes a mom proud!:)
The Cleveland Marathon training is going slow but sure. I ran a whopping 10 miles on Saturday! I wish I could tap in to how/when my body gets in "the zone" but I've never been able to pinpoint it. Some days I feel like I could run for days and other times I struggle running 2 miles! I don't know why. It's amazing what the mind is capable of though. Originally I wanted to run because I thought it would get me in shape physically but I actually think it's had a bigger impact on me mentally. I used to be a quitter sometimes, I didn't always follow-through with diet plans, general responsibilities, etc. Looking back a lot of that had to do with being young but I also really believe running made me mentally tough and learn NOT to quit and realize I'm capable of doing more than I think! If you just set a goal and take action there is no looking back from that point on. So that's my Tony Robbins motivational moment of the day.:)

I guess that's about it for today. My mom's health is holding steady, thanks again for your prayers. During her heart scare and all the testing they discovered she has Diabetes though (a mild form) but it's really stressing her out. I'm guilty of not having a clue about the disease, I just thought it was something easily controlled with diet/exercise and not that big of a deal. Boy was I off-base! My mom is just about the healthiest person I know, we call her the "Flax-Seed Queen" and she is constantly making all-natural recipes, organic so-and-so and never over eats. I never would've suspected she of all people would have Diabetes. I worry about her and it's a wake-up call for me too because I eat WAY worse than she does. I exercise a lot (obviously) but still, it's a reality check. That's pretty much the latest. All is well and we're just waiting for the rain to pass for another outside play day!:)

Easter Photos Finally!

Better late than never!:) It's so hard to get all three boys to pose, sit still, and smile! Obviously Garrett is too little to get what's going on but we did manage to get a few keepers.


Garrett has the stunned "who are these people and what am I doing here" look!:)



A little better! Although Gabe has his eyes closed but hey, we'll take what we can get!:) This one was the best of the bunch though.

Smoky Mountains Here We Come!!!

I am counting the days until our summer vacation! It's still about 4 months away but after today I am chomping at the bit to go. We are staying in a log cabin in the middle of the Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, TN. From rocking chairs overlooking the mountains to white water rafting, fishing, and tubing nearby; we will be in paradise! I haven't even mentioned the icing on the cake.....Dollywood!! We are about 3 minutes from the park and I am so excited! I've wanted to go there for years and I just know the entire family will have a great time with the music, food, and rides. We had priced cabins, and condos for a while and today we finally booked it so it's official!! The other part that makes it nice is my parents are staying with us and Jim's parents are meeting us there so it's going to be a really good memory for the entire family (especially the kids). We found the website www.homeaway.com in the latest issue of Money magazine and it it recommended the site for vacation deals. Sure enough it was right on the money! We are saving so much on our cabin and we shopped around a lot so it was exciting to find something nice, and reasonable! Anyway that's my latest excitement for the day. All is well with the family. Garrett took his first steps over the weekend! I'm sure I'll be posting a photo of our big walker soon.:)

Good News

Yesterday was a good day! My mom received good news regarding her heart and she was able to go home. The heart cath went really well, no blockage or damage like the doctor suspected. The issue is something electric (not sure what that means) but the bottom line is it's something that can be regulated with daily medication. Thank you for your prayers!! It's really the best-case scenario considering the situation and we are very grateful and relieved.
I think that's about it for today. Hopefully the rest of the week will be uneventful!

8 is Not Great

Ugh. I ran 8 MILES over the weekend! It wasn't pretty but I did it and I'm glad I didn't quit. On one hand I am proud of myself for going that far, but on the other hand I am depressed thinking I still have over 5 more to tack on (for the 1/2 marathon)! O'well, one day at a time.

On to bigger news though. My mom is in the hospital and it's been a scary 24 hours. She's been having heart issues and yesterday it got really bad. She babysits the boys and it started in the morning to the point where her heartbeat was so rapid she was blacking out and had to go to the ER. By the time they checked her BPM it had slowed down a little, but was still 182 (it's supposed to be about 75-80 I think). Anyway, the doctor found something he's concerned about so they've been running tests and admitted her for the next day or two. So any prayers you could lift up for her would be much appreciated. I have faith that she'll be fine but it's still scary. It's amazing how much they can do (medically) when dealing with heart issues so I think it's just a matter of pinpointing what it is exactly. So that's the latest. I'll be back when I hear more.

That's Life!

Today was the fun cookie feature on Robin Swoboda's T.V. show (That's Life). It was so much fun. Although, I am no Rachael Ray that's for sure! haha. THANK YOU to Rose, Rebecca, Jennifer and her boys Michael and Matthew. They made fresh batches of cookies to bring to the show. You saved the day! Here is the link to the streaming video if you missed it. HAPPY EASTER!!
http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=2864569&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.7.1

Cookie Crisis!

Oh boy, I went and did it this time. WHY do I even attempt anything in the kitchen?! Earlier this week I read a recipe on the show for Easter Story cookies. It's a great way to tell the story to children and it *seems* like a very simple recipe (ha)! Well, I received an invitation to make the cookies on Robin Swoboda's tv show "That's Life" on Friday. Being the foolish person I am, I said I could conquer the cookies and make the recipe live on the show (with an extra batch ready as the "after" to taste). Well, I made them for the first time last night and it was a disaster! The experience of telling the Easter story to the boys and making them went great, but this morning when I went to get them out of the oven I knew I had missed something! They look like flat, sticky mini-pancakes! My problem lies in the fact I have no time to re-make the cookies for tomorrow's show. We have church until late tonight! Thankfully Rose and Jennifer (great listeners) stepped up to volunteer to make me a new batch to bring to Robin's show. THANK YOU! What a lifesaver.:) Still, I am really nervous and trying to memorize the recipe so I'll look halfway professional on live television! I'll be on sometime between 10-11am on Fox 8 tomorrow morning. I'm going to post the recipe too, I think it's so beautiful....hopefully you'll have better luck than I did!

http://wfhm.salemwebnetwork.com//subpage.asp?StationId=WFHM-FM&PageNo=509

Easter's on the Way!

Just checking in! Not much to report which is a good thing. It's nice to have a lull in life where there isn't a major event going on. It was a beautiful weekend and we took full advantage. Friday I had the day off and the boys and I took a nice morning walk then we all went fishing in the afternoon. We've been really busy with church and that's consumed a lot of our time. This is Holy week so it's the finale' of the RCIA process...Jim's almost there!! It's been such a profound experience and even though I am a cradle Catholic, it's given me new found passion in my faith. Several years ago I kind of started on a journey trying to find out WHAT I believe. You can be taught something your entire life but I feel you need to, at some point, embark on your own path so you know (and can defend) what you believe. For some people that path might lead them to a new religion (or maybe none at all) and I dabbled in different faiths trying to find the Truth. After being open to different religions and doing my own investigations I just kept coming back to the Catholic church. That is my own story, I'm not trying to say anything more than that but for me it's been wonderful to come full circle.
So needless to say, it's going to be a wonderful Easter. That's about it! My life right now is family, work, and running! The half marathon training is going well but it's tough to find time to fit it in. The boys are GREAT and we are loving the warm weather. Nothing else exciting to report! Hope you had a good weekend and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts!