Thursday, October 20, 2011

to do list

Fun List
  • Run outside in this 70 degree weather
  • Knit some mittens for Miles
  • Knit some mittens for myself
  • Sew more cute pencil bags

  • Use my gift certificate for Fancy Tiger Craft Store
  • Update my blog with vacation pictures
  • Play with new serger machine (yet to come out of the box)
Unfun list
  • Clean bathrooms
  • Wash sheets and towels
  • Mop floor
  • Organize digital pictures
  • Clean/organize guest room (aka craft room)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Weekend at the Beaver


Hello Beavers

We spent the weekend in Beaver Creek, CO with my husband's company.  Read: all expense paid weekend in the mountains.  Only problem, no sitter for our little one.  Oh well, I can only do so much shmoozing with the wifes and his coworkers.  This was Miles' first ride on a ski lift, but fairly positive it won't be his last if my husband has his way. 

Wavy lines and dream music plays in my head as I picture a quiet Saturday at home while the boys go skiing.  Yes, I can support Miles on skis.

Dad gets his coffee


After our ride to the top there was breakfast and a giant sandbox.  Miles was in heaven. 


Horseshoes anyone?

Don't you love trying to get pictures of your little one these days?  It's like tracking a dog.  "This bucket is nice.  Oh wait, there's a better bucket.  What?  You had a perfect shot if I would just be still?"  Good luck on ever getting the perfect shot.  And family pictures are truly a prize to get him 1. calm. 2. smiling. 3. today.  So our family portrait was classic.


Squirmy boy

In running news, I ran 8.6 miles when I got back from the mountains at a respectable pace especially for not running all weekend long.  Today I did some strides again, but this time on the awful treadmill.  Note to self, get workout done in the morning so you are not forced to run on a hamster wheel in the basement in the evening which feels like it takes 100x more effort to run on than out in nature.  This is truly how I feel on the treadmill.



I'm starting "Maximize your Mornings Challenge" tomorrow.  For those of us who are mothers, the fundamental idea is to stop waking up TO our children and start waking up FOR them.  The idea is for me to wake up before Miles starts chatting in his crib.  To have quality time with myself reading the Bible, getting my run in and doing a few chores before Miles is awake.  Doing a task with Miles as my "helper" takes about 10x as long as if I can just do it real quick on my own.  But, I whole heartly admit that I am not a morning person.  I have always hit the snooze button as far back as high school, in college and all through my career.  But I see the value of waking up early and I want to work towards being a morning person.  Wish me luck!

Monday, September 05, 2011

Still running

I'm still running.  And training.  On Saturday I did a 7 miles run.  It was the perfect running weather at about 60 degrees.  I started out slow and was able to run at a good pace the entire time. 

Today I did 5 miles of shorter strides and sprints and that went surprisingly well.  I was disappointed because there not any tracks within running distance so I had to just look at my GPS watch to see my distance, but I was actually motivated to get this run in. 

Tomorrow I have an easy 4 mile run.  I'm feeling good about this training stuff.  Ask me about it in 6 weeks.

Downtown fun


Sunday we had a picnic dinner at Commons Park in downtown.  Miles loved watching all the kids and dogs walk by. And he loves to run free. 

Water is the best!  I love long weekends.

P.S.  We had Yogurt Time on Platte and it was not good.  Melty, runny yogurt and the sugar free flavors were disgusting.  Just FYI, in case you were planning on going there.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hello Hippo






I finally finished the happy hippo a few weeks ago.  It took me a very long time.  I was getting sick of seeing the unfinished pieces laying around.  I was getting sick of that yarn.  The smile did not come out quite right and I can still take it out and redo it.  But Miles does not seem to mind.  He loves hippo.  It is apparent by the chocolate stains on hippos snout.  Miles likes to hug and bite hippo. 

The book of animals are very cute in Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen.  If I was motivated I would make another one.  I am not motivated. 




Monday, July 25, 2011

One week done

Week 1
5 Runs
Total milage 17 miles

Slow and steady.  It really is hard to get runs in with this hot weather.  I feel better when I run in the morning so I'm not dreading the late day run in the heat.  At the same time, I'm trying to figure out how to have enough in the tank to have a strong run in the morning.  So far I have eaten a 1/2 banana and 8oz of Naked Juice green machine flavor and that does not seem to cut it.  Maybe a whole banana with peanut butter.  The last few days I haven't rolled out of bed until 7am and that is not going to cut it once Peter has to go into the office more regularly. 

Goal for tomorrow:  Get up by 6:15 and out the door by 6:30.  Drink Naked juice and eat banana with peanut butter.  Do a few hills at stride pace to get my legs moving.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Day 2

Distance 3.08 miles
Time 27:33 mins

Getting up is 90% of the run.  Whether it is off the couch, out of bed or away from work. 

This morning I was so close to staying in bed.  As I laid there half awake, I accessed how I was feeling.  Pretty much everything was sore.  You see yesterday I decided to do squats, lunges, crunches, and stairs to really kick my butt into shape.  So I'm feeling it today.

Pain is weakness leaving the body. 

Today the weakness is sprinting from my body as I recover.  I'll take today off from strength training.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Bowtie & Blizzard

Running journey

Distance 3.22 miles
Time 28:36 mins

I did it!  I got myself out of bed before Miles woke up.  Not only did I get up...  I went running.  This is the first day, the first of many.  I have decided to sign up for a half marathon this fall.  I need a goal so that I can be diligent and dedicated to my running routine.  Otherwise running just does not happen because of all the other things in life happen.  Sleeping.  House duties.  Kid duties.  It's too hot out.  I'm too tired.  Spending time with husband.  I'll run later.  or tomorrow.  I don't feel well.  Etc.  You know the excuses because you use them too for whatever else you ideally want to do.

So even though I got back yesterday from vacation and I did not sleep well last night.  I got up.  And I ran.  And I remembered how good I feel when I run.  When I don't run, there is a string inside of my that gets wrapped around my sanity.  The more days I got without running, the tighter the strings gets until I am "high strung" and "tightly wond." 

Running is my therapy.  Free therapy.  So I am one of those people who are fantic about getting their run because I know what happens when I don't.  I'm stressed.  I stress out my husband.  I can't sleep.  I worry about nothing.  I have trouble couping with everyday occurances.  I'm selfish.  When I run, I'm laid back (really I am).  I let things slide off my back.  I can sleep.  I can enjoy other people's company and I'm not annoyed that they were late or rude or unkind or not thinking about me.  Because when I run the string loosens and I can look outside of myself.

"Wow" you say "running does all that?  It's a miracle drug." 

It really is for me.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Friday, July 01, 2011

Navigating the World Wide Web

There is a lot of information out there.  A LOT.  And how do you keep it all straight?  All those links of articles you are reading and want to share with someone else.  The research you have been doing on the the various campsite in Colorado.  Vacation locations for the next year.  A book you want to check out at the library or buy on amazon. 

Me it is the thousands of sewing projects that I aspire to do someday.  There are some very crafty people in the world who post tutorials.

How do you keep all your interests organized?

I use to just open a new tab.  And that started to get to the point where the tabs were so small you could not even read what each tab was.  And if my computer decides to reboot for no apparent reason, half the time Chrome or Firefox would not remember my links and I would have to start from scratch.  A nice way to clean the slate, but not good if you had done a lot of research on VRBO condos to stay at in Winter Park.

Some people have started to use pinterest.com.  I don't know much about this website so please let me know if that is how you organize your projects, wishlists. etc.

I use delicious.com.  I love it.  You set up an account and then start bookmarking your links, adding tags to organize them.  All your links are in one spot that can be accessed from any computer or mobile device. 

And you can add people to your network so you can see what they are bookmarking.  For example my user name is "milehighmom."  You will find that lately I have bookmarked a sewing project to make bow ties for boys and a link to the teardrop camper I love.  I am networked with "simple mom" who bookmarks lots of things on homeschooling and crafts for kids.  

Let me know your user name if you sign up.  Oh it's free!

Sidewalk art 2

This dog greets us every time we pull into our alley!  Happy squating this Holiday weekend!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Sidewalk art


Elephant walking


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Big Outdoors

 We did it!  Camped with a 14 month old.  This cute guy.


And he loved it.  We had a pretty good time as well.  Except for waking up at 3:30 AM to a screaming baby.  Yes, that would be our little guy.  He was cold.  Or teething.  Or scared.  Your guess is as good as mine.  So we cut our trip from a 2 night event to one which is such a bummer after all the preparation that goes into camping. 

I mean we bought a new tent.

The Coleman TentMaster 10 sold at Costco is huge, sleeps 10 people.  We had 2 adults and a baby in a pack n play.  We were living large in the woods.  It took a while to setup for the first time and out designated tent pad was just barely big enough to fit our 10x16 tent.  But you could stand up this thing and not just in the middle.  There was a swinging door and auto roll windows.  The winds picked up some and it did just fine.  The weather was gorgeous so no rain to test how waterproof it is.  A pole was bent during setup, but we will just exchange the tent at Costco next time we are in.  Love it.

We also got an airmatress and until 3:30 AM we were sleeping like babies. 

The campsite we stayed at was called Sunset Point on Grandby Lake.  We showed up at 12:30 on a Friday afternoon and there were only 4 sites open.  We got one that overlooked the lake and had some trees to shade us from the midday sun. 





We had delicious salmon and bell peppers with couscous for dinner.  This is a very easy recipe to prepare ahead of time and then place in tin foil to put in the fire.

For breakfast we had creamed eggs on biscuits.  Again boiled the eggs at home and brought frozen Pillsbury Biscuits in the cooler.  You put 2 T Butter in a pan, add 2 T flour and then 1 cup milk.  Add the chopped hard boiled eggs.  On the other stove burner add butter to a pan and put the frozen or somewhat thawed biscuits and cover the pan with a lid.  After about 8 minutes check biscuits and flip over so then don't get burned.  This is my favorite breakfast at home and even better camping. 



The 2nd night we were going to have Penne pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and chard.  Since we didn't stay the for the 2nd night I made it home and this is one of the best new recipes I've found.  Try it out at home and then use it camping.

Whole Wheat Penne With Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Mushrooms And Chard


Makes 2 to 4 servings

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup chard or spinach
1/2 pound whole wheat penne
1 cube vegetable bouillon
3 tablespoons olive oil
At home: Boil a cup of water and add the tomatoes. Let steep, covered, for 10 minutes, then drain and put into a zip-top bag. Combine the onion, garlic, mushrooms, basil and oregano in another bag. Measure out the penne, and carry the chard separately.


In camp: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Add the pasta and the vegetable bouillon and cook until al dente. Remove from heat and drain if necessary, reserving some of the cooking liquid in the pot.


In another pot, heat the olive oil and add the contents of the bag with the onion, garlic, mushrooms and dried herbs. Cook a few minutes. Lower the heat and add the chard and sun-dried tomatoes, stirring vigorously to wilt the greens. Remove from heat and stir into the pot containing the penne. Add salt and pepper to taste.
 
Here's a picture of how mine turned out at home:
 
 
 
Miles loved exploring the woods and the campground.  We were able to eat our dinner while he sat in the dirt with a stick for 15 minutes entertaining himself. 
 
 


To many more adventures!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

What is this Thai Basil?

Something was a little off from this round of delivered Panang chicken from Thai Basil. And this picture proves it was watered down a bit. Strike one Thai Basil, please don't disappoint me again.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I love this trailer camper!

Remember my obsession with Airstreams?  Well, I want one to renovate and tour across the country in.  I really like the Design Within Reach Airstream.  Although a little pricey at $47k.



So very modern, not your grandpa's Airstream.  Unfortunately we don't have an extra $50k laying around.  


My new want is a Teardrop trailer camper.  These camper originated in the 1950's after WWII in America.  People's love of the great outdoors and roadtripping were at an all time high.  Then in the 1960's American's motto of bigger is better took over and the fifth wheel was born.  


The teardrop camper got it's name from the shape.


So much to love about that cute little camper.   It is small and light, some light enough a motorcycle could pull one.  There is room enough for a double bed and a galley kitchen in the hitch.



You can get extras like stove built-in, sink, fridge, dvd player, etc.  I love the one pictured above from Clever Camper, a company that rents these fully outfitted campers in England.


This is how easy it is to setup a teardrop camper.


Here's a list of other teardrop campers on the market. 

Only problem, sleeps 2... not so good for families.  Or maybe let the kids sleep in tents! Ha, yeah right.


Either way, doesn't it make you want to go camping right now?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Bike ride to Dairy Queen

This was our first outing on the back bike seat. We went to DQ and Miles wasn't so sad.

life

Sorry for the absence.  No real excuse other than I like to do other things than post blogs.  Also it takes me a while to actual get a post up.  And I have been using my iPad a lot more often to surf the web which does not support Flash, making it very difficult to post from the iPad.  


So here is the run down on life.



  • Miles and I have been taking swim lesson at the rec center 5 blocks from our house.  Last week, Miles was not a fan aka there was a lot of crying.  And then on Thursday they fixed the water heater at the pool and like that swimming became more enjoyable.  We have 2 more days and then we can head over there any afternoon all summer long.
  • We borrowed a kiddie pool for our backyard and Miles loves to splash around in that thing.  Pictures to come soon.

  • A luxury tent was bought yesterday.  Read a 10 person tent for 2 adults and 1 small child.  We should have plenty of room this weekend for our first camping trip this season.  We went last year to the Sand Dunes and camped in a 2 person backpacking tent.  That is when we decided we needed a BIGGER tent.  We got our tent at Costco.  I'll give you a review after this weekend on the Coleman WeatherMaster 10 tent.  


  • We are selling a kakak plus all the gear to get started for $350.  I know you need a new hobby, please contact me.
  • Speaking of hobbies, I'm trying to make outdoor pillows for our outdoor furniture and benches.  And I'm ever so slowly trying to finish a knitted hippo for Miles.  One day I'll post pictures.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Dear Miles on your 1st birthday,


My heart truly bursts because you are in my life. I could never imagine how much love I have for anyone and then you came along a year ago.

I'll be honest with you, we had a rough start out of the gate, but that's another story for you. After we got things figured out foodwise, life was better for both of us. You smiled at 5 weeks and rolled over soon after. Your giggle is music and I want to keep doing whatever prompts a laugh so I can hear it forever. I would bottle your smell and giggle if I could. And that smile, wow! You make friends just by flashing your gummy smile and I hope that continues well into the future.

If there ever was a perfect baby, you would be it. You sleep through the night not even waking for new teeth growing in. You take good naps, 3 naps and then switching to 2 naps at 9 months. You really don't get upset. And you are the best running partner I have ever had and I'm glad that we have been able to explore our neighborhood together, let's explore to the moon and back.

I thought you would army crawl forever, but you figured out how to crawl and then started walking a few days before your birthday. I hope your new found freedom enriches your curiosity, but that you will always come back to my arms with a smile.

We have been to camping in the Sand Dunes, to Indy for Dana's wedding, Kentucky to see your family, Vail, celebrated both your grandparents' 40th anniversaries this year. You have been to the mountains and hiking and downtown Denver and many of restaurants around town. Your friends have been Sammy, Noah, Dillon, Liam, Briggs, Olivia, Carenna, Addisyn, and Ava.

As I look to the future, I hope for you many more friends, (we need to work on your sharing). Don't eat dirt and NO means stop, not keep doing what you are doing at a faster pace.

In all seriousness, I pray for you daily that you become a Man of God and that you follow Him to the end of the Earths. And I pray that I can teach you to love BIG and forgive always. And that you would continue blessing people just as you have blessed me.

All my heart,
Mama


Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Uno Birthday!

Tentative cake eater.
Still managed to make a mess.
Bunting I sewed for special occasions including the Kentucky Derby coming up.
Uno shirts (I didn't have time to make one for me so I wore my ONE shirt which seemed appropriate).

Miles turned ONE a week ago and we threw him an UNO party which I stole from another blog. She sent me a pdf file with the UNO cards already scanned in so I could easily make the cupcake toppers and the pattern for the UNO and WILD t-shirts. Lots of kids running everywhere, but lots of fun was had by all.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

princess party, oh my!

my niece turned 3 this week and she had a princess party today. there was a lot of pink. and wands. and tiaras. and a tea party because what princess doesn't love a good tea party. her mom made an amazing cake.
Yep, that tea pot is a cake. I will not be throwing a princess tea party anytime soon. I did sew a cute yellow skirt for her. It did not hold a candle to her princess dress she got from her grandma, oh well. I learned how to make it here and it took about 4 hours. Not bad, but next time I'll make it little longer.

P.S. I fixed the Up youtube link below so you should be able to see it now.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Zoo

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather today (70 degrees!) and met some friends at the zoo. Isn't baby Briggs cute?

Love a sleeping baby.
Mama and son.
Ok all you Colorado natives, how many of you remember going to the zoo as kids and riding the elephants? Am I dreaming that? I swear there is a picture of me riding an elephant with my sister and brother and I was like 3. Man, I would love copy of that picture.
Mr. Miles is at the stage where he does not want to sit still at all. He wants to be walking, but crawling will do. Today was his first time playing in the sand at the playground. He's a big fan.