Lessons from the Glow Run

Last Friday night Kendle and I ran our first race together - a 3 mile night glow run along the Columbia River here in Pasco. Our Relay for Life team sponsored the event and it was a total blast. Everyone was decked out in all sorts of neon and glow in the dark accessories and clothing. Not only was the race itself super fun, but the fact that so many people came out to show their support for such a good cause was awesome. I'm so glad that we had such a great experience participating in our first race.  I usually don't consider myself a very competitive person, but there was something about running and raising money for cancer and thinking about those that we have lost and those that are dealing with cancer right now that just made me want to run my heart out for all of them.

I had a personal PR for a 3 mile run at 24:06. Pretty sure if I could have started sprinting right away I could have made it under 24 minutes. It was hard bobbing and weaving through all of the people at the very beginning, but eventually it cleared out and I was able to get a good pace going. Kendle and I started out side by side and she was actually cutting a nice path through people for me. She kept up a good pace with me for the first half mile or so. She had a great time of 30:52. She ran her little heart out, I was pretty darn proud of her. She came up with her own system to get through the race: sprint, run, jog, and then walk when she got tired. She loved it and wants to do another race soon.

 I have to share this experience from the race that has stayed with me and I think it really taught me something that I needed to see, feel, and learn. Kendle and I were keeping pace together really well at the beginning, I was sprinting pretty hard to get a good start going and she was keeping up. About a half mile in I could tell she was starting to struggle and slow down. I was tempted to slow down with her and give her a break, but I was trying to be this fast race runner lady and wanted to do my best, so I made the decision to go on ahead and leave her behind. As I put distance between us, I took a glance over my shoulder and I could see her slowing and getting swallowed up by the darkness and the sea of runners. It made me kind of sad. She was trying so hard and really wanted to finish with a good time.  My next thought was just to concentrate on running as fast as I could so I could be to the finish line in plenty of time to watch her finish and take a picture. I found a fast person in front of me to keep pace with and did my best to keep up with them the remainder of the race.  After crossing the finish line myself, I stood and cheered with others on the sidelines as the other racers came through. In the darkness it was hard to make out who was who, and I kept searching and searching for her face to appear among those nearing the end. When I spotted her face among a few other runners approaching the finish, I felt like I had just learned a profound lesson that I as a mother needed to learn at this exact moment in my life. It literally felt like I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. [At this point in our mother/daughter relationship, we don't always get along and very rarely see eye to eye. We disagree more often than not and I've been frustrated with the yucky road I felt our relationship was heading down. It is something that I have been trying to figure out how to make better and worrying that her and I would never have the type of bond that I wanted us to have. I would lay awake at night imagining her going off to college and leaving the nest without her feeling like she has a strong link to me. That's a terrifying feeling for a mom.]  But I realized as I saw her cross that finish line, that sometimes as a mother you have to just go on ahead and hope that what you are teaching your kids and the love you unconditionally give is good enough for them to make it across the finish line in their own time and in their own way. At some point in their life you have to loosen the reigns and just have hope. You can't always run with them and hold their hand and pull them along and slow yourself down with frustration and worry in the process. I recognized the fact that I need to lighten up on my feelings to control most everything in my life and take a lighter approach to our relationship. Don't force things.  I'm going to try my best not to be so hard on her. I already knew she was amazing and is capable of great things, but I'm not going to push so hard and not try and make her get where she needs to go, because she is already well on her way and will get there on her own. I read a great quote the other day that said something along the lines of "Don't be so worried about raising a great kid, that you forget you already have one."  I had the distinct and overwhelming feeling when I gave her a big congratulatory hug that everything is going to be ok with us. Not in my time which is usually now, now, now, but in time. It was kind of ironic, but I felt like that finish line represented the possibility of having a fresh start.



If I had my own Nike running poster, this is what it might say:

"That's me in that picture. I am 32.  Mom of four great kids. Wife to a hard working husband. Three years ago I never thought I'd be running. Never thought I'd love running. Never thought I'd call myself a runner. Now I'm looking forward to more races. And training for a half-marathon. Most days I have to be super mom. But when I'm running, I just concentrate on being super fast. Here I come."

Oh yeah, and that girl in the picture with me? She's a stud. An academic. Softball, soccer, and basketball player. And now I'll add runner to that list. Future doctor, writer, professional soccer player, President of the United States, mother, marathon runner -- whatever she wants to be.

Miles and Miles

Here it is the last day of February and I was able to squeeze in a little more running and working out thanks to the extra day this month courtesy of Mr. Leap Year. I'm breaking in some new running shoes and trying out some new workouts to mix things up and keep my body and metabolism guessing. Results are slow and steady and I just keep at it.

I wanted to try and run on average 50 miles a month this year. As of today I am at 95 miles, and I probably could have eked out more if I hadn't gotten sick and felt so rotten a couple of those weeks. Still having trouble getting all the junk out my lungs and getting my full breathing capacity back so I've scaled back on the miles for the time being.

Started back up with some free weights and my arms and back are feeling better. I've been reading up on healthy fuel for the body to restore and replenish exhausted muscles after a hard workout and found that chocolate milk is one of the best things you can drink post workout. A glass of low-fat chocolate milk and a banana and peanut butter (the potassium from the banana helps prevent muscle cramps and the peanut butter just helps me get a little more protein) are one of my go-to snacks now to help make sure my muscles are getting the refueling they need.

My challenge for March is finding more healthy dinner ideas that the whole family will eat and planning them way ahead of time. We are jumping full throttle into Riley's high school soccer coaching season, Kendle's soccer season, added onto school, work, church, piano, and everything else. We've been in a food rut so hopefully I can overcome that in the next few weeks and make good things happen.

Running

Well, it has been over a year (14 months to be exact) that I have more or less stuck with my running routine. Minus the few months I was sans treadmill and I only ran outside a little bit during the summer, I have been pretty good about running at least three days a week unless I was sick. After getting our new treadmill back in October I felt like I would have to start back at square one, but it is amazing what our bodies can remember how to do and adapt back to what they are capable of and then some. I'm able to run continuously farther than I ever have in my entire life, but I do notice the constant running is hard on my feet and I realize why runners have so many leg, hip, and foot injuries. The bones on the top of my left foot are currently very sore, but not too discouraging. I never thought I would be in better shape at age 31 than when I was 21, but I still have a long way to go. I hope I can continue to say that as I age another year I am also improving my health. As women we tend to make ourselves believe that just because we weigh more than we did when we were younger, that we aren't in as good of shape. But I know that when I was 21 and weighed 20 pounds less than I do now, I couldn't go out and run 5 miles straight without keeling over and dying. Ha!

I saw a good quote the other day that made me laugh. It said "I love dessert, therefore I run."  I think that about sums it up for me.

Getting in Shape: It's An Ongoing Process

My resolve and motivation to get in shape over the last year was a direct result of how horrible I physically felt the last few months of my pregnancy with Cooper and Kale. (Poor boys, I hope they don't develop some sort of complex hearing about how painful my pregnancy was with them.)

{This was taken the day I went to the hospital. It makes me hurt just to look at this picture.}

I was carrying around so much extra weight, that my heart would race all of the time, my back was in pain continually, I could barely catch my breath doing the simplest things, and my joints and bones ached and felt like they were falling apart. My knees felt like they were going to give out on me, and I feared they would never be the same so that I could have the agility and flexibility to do a quick knee bend to pick up toys or squat to help tie a shoe. It took me a good six months after the twins were born to get to where I could kneel down without pain or discomfort (and be able to get back up). Lets just say it gave me a very good wake up call as to how I did not want to feel the rest of my life. It scared me. I was very determined to whip myself back into shape no matter what and make sure I always took care of myself. No excuses.This time was going to be different from all of the other times.

Well, then real life after twins set in and there really was no extra time or energy to offer up to "working out". Every day was pretty much a workout in learning to juggle many things at once and keep two babies happy and well loved. But still determined, I decided that even though it wasn't realistic to get really good workouts in, I could concentrate on my diet and making sure I wasn't fueling myself with junk. To be honest, I was just too tired or busy to eat half of the time. I knew I needed to keep myself healthy however in order to avoid exhaustion and burnout. So just starting first with the diet portion before the workouts really helped me. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.

By the time Cooper and Kale were in a good routine of taking regular longer naps during the day I decided it was time to really kick it into gear and start a regular daily workout routine. So as soon as school started this last fall, I began to get on the treadmill every day (or as many days as I could) after I'd put the twins down for a nap. The very first day, I wanted to see if I could run a mile straight without stopping. (Yes, I'm telling you I was starting out small.) I had not been able to run very fast in a long time and had no idea of what my body was still capable of doing or how my knees and everything else would hold up. I told myself to just run it in the best time I could without stopping and see what I could do. My time was not very good, but still better than I thought it would be which gave me incentive to do more. {The biggest thing I had to get over was that working out is as much mental as it is physical. You have to say that you can -- and then you will.} I made it a goal to see if I could get my time down farther and farther. So everyday when I did my half hour or more on the treadmill, I would always start with running the first mile as fast and hard as I could. It made it a challenge and sort of fun to see if I could beat my own time everyday. Then after I was done with the first mile I would do some walking/running/incline intervals for the rest of the time. I always made sure to have good workout playlists on my ipod which kept me pumped up and from getting bored.

In a month's time I had taken a minute and a half off of my time for the mile and by pushing myself by the end of December I was only a few seconds off the time I set as my goal. Because I had stayed committed, the running was paying off not only in shedding some weight, but more importantly I felt healthier and stronger and had more good energy. Mentally I was feeling better as well.

In January I decided to switch things up a bit, so instead of running four or five days a week I was running Mon/Wed/Fri, and then Tues/Thurs I started doing a workout DVD. I also decided to ramp up my running a bit and try to run farther/longer. I found that just by telling myself I could do five more minutes, I would get there and think, ok I can do another five minutes. It has been good to push myself and prove to myself that I can do it. That is a great feeling to give yourself. *Here's where I have to be honest.* I'm still not in love with running. Maybe if I was able to run outside more I would like it more. Maybe. But really, it's just become part of my routine - like cleaning the bathroom. I really don't like cleaning the bathroom, but it's something that has to be done and it feels good after you've done it. And just like cleaning the bathroom or any other household chore, it is much easier to do it often and maintain it than to let it go to pot and then have to really get down and dirty to restore it to it's normal state.

I like that my kids keep me accountable and ask if I've worked out that day. Morgan always asks me if I'm going to go run on the treadmill. It is a good feeling to be able to fit into clothes I want to wear, but there are a lot of more important things than that. I try to really stress that mommy does this so she can be strong and healthy, (and not because I look fat in my jeans). I don't want them to hear me say negative things about myself and then in turn feel like there is something wrong with them. I feel like I can jump and run and play and do the things I want to do now. I'm proud I have put in the hard work to get where I am and I know I still have a long way to go but that I can do it. I'm happy to be a positive role model for Kendle - that being strong and fit is more important than the pressure of being the unhealthy size 0 examples that the world puts out there for us all to see. A few years ago I would have just made short term goals to lose weight before a vacation or special event, but now I'm committed to making this a way of life.

So why did I share all of this? I just felt inspired today to let other people know that you can start small and keep working at where you want to be. You don't have to feel pressure to do what everyone else is doing. Find something you enjoy and that works for you. You can do it on your own time and make your own goals. This time last year I would have never thought that I would be where I'm at, or feeling as good as I am. I'm lucky to have lots of friends and family members that support and inspire me as well. I have lost about 16 pounds since September, and it has been through diet and tough exercise. (Mostly exercise though because I really love to eat and can't stop baking treats if my life depended on it.) I still have a long ways to go.  I was basically starting from scratch, so believe me if I can do it anyone can!

Here are some things that have helped and worked for me:

*Good music on my ipod. Let's face it, running on a treadmill can get reeeeallllllyyyy boring, so I try and switch up the music I work out to and treat myself to new music to make it fun. Music makes everything better. It keeps me pumped up. I also listen to it on occasion when I'm doing my workout DVDs. (Because the hosts can get kind of annoying.)

*New workout clothes. It might seem silly to buy some new cute workout clothes if you only workout at home where no one else but your family sees you, but there is something about having designated "workout" clothes, that once I put them on I feel like I can't change my mind and not do it. Where as if I was just in some comfy sweats or other lounge type of clothes, I might be tempted to just whittle away my time on something else. It makes me feel like there is purpose in what I am doing.

*Setting Goals. I started by setting some short term achievable goals. It feels good, even if it is something simple. Then I began setting some long term goals. It always would psyche me out in the past if I just set a big grandiose goal, and it would be easy to give up because it would become discouraging. So I started off with little things that grew into bigger things. I didn't start out saying I was going to run the Boston Marathon, I just wanted to be able to run a mile straight as fast as I could without stopping.

*Having a designated time at night that is your cutoff for eating/snacking. I know this is kind of controversial and there has been a lot of debate on it in the health community, but all I can say is it works for me. My usual cutoff time is around 7:00/7:30. I try not to eat anything after that. I also feel like I sleep better because of it.

*Going to bed at a good time and getting up at a good time. Remember the old saying, "Early to bed, early to rise - makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." (I haven't been very good about that lately as I've been staying up late at night reading a good book.) If I stay up too late I feel sluggish and totally unmotivated the next day.

*Enlist your family to be your cheerleaders or exercise with you. Our whole family is trying to do more and be better about adding exercise into our days and staying active. Riley works out with his soccer team at practice, Kendle likes to ride her bike or jump rope when she's not playing a sport, and Morgan burns off a gazillion calories doing all the running, jumping, climbing, and playing he does every day. I've noticed everyone is a lot happier when they've got some exercise into their day.

*Practicing portion control.  There are a few things that I try to avoid 99% of the time (like pop), but really I think I do much better if I just allow myself the things I want to eat instead of cutting them out all together which usually makes me crave them more. I know a lot of people who are way tougher and more hard core than me that have cut out sugar and all sweets and I give them a big virtual high five. I don't think I will ever be one of those people myself. I do however try and make lower fat or healthier versions of foods if there is a good alternative that is still tasty.

So that pretty much sums it up. It's an every day ongoing process. Nothing too tricky or complicated.


**If you'd like to get some helpful running tips, head over to my friend Jenn's Blog to read about some great pointers.

Week 1 of 2011

First of all, is anyone else having as much trouble as I am writing 2011 on everything? It is just insane. I keep having to double check that I've actually written the correct date.

I am glad to say my first week of the new year has gotten off to a good start. I've worked out every day this week, changed up my workouts a bit, stayed organized and used good time management, went to bed at a good time and got some good sleep. (Well, except for Tuesday night when Cooper woke up at three in the morning and was bawling his eyes out. I really do think babies can have nightmares too.) I did good with my meal planning and my goal to stay ahead of the laundry by doing one load of laundry a day. I've tried to be diligent about taking a little quiet time each day to just relax. This week has felt great.

One thing I've put off doing is cleaning out our closet by the front door. It is stuffed with coats, the vacuum, toys, boardgames, and who knows what else. You know when you can barely get the door closed and it looks like those parts in movies where everything is going to come flying out at you that it is due for a clean up. For Christmas we received four new puzzles and board games and they've been sitting on my dining room table needing a place to go since Christmas. So, they need a home and the closet needs to be tamed. Maybe I can get to it if I'm really brave today!

Well, I am glad that it is Friday and I am ready for the weekend. I am looking forward to:
A.) Pizza
B.) Riley cleaning out the garage
C.) Getting started on a few little projects
D.) Watching some new Netflix movies

Have a fun weekend!

It's Almost Christmas Break

Today is the last day of school and then we have two full weeks of Christmas break. The last few days I've been busy as a squirrel storing nuts for winter. I've shopped, baked, cleaned, worked out, dealt with a broken dryer, wrapped presents, put decorations back on the tree the twins keep pulling down and watched as the days until Christmas have slowly been dwindling down. I've loved having Riley home every afternoon after work and I'm dreading him starting soccer again in January.

I'm also a little annoyed today.  I'm really tired of our school not letting the kids have holiday parties. Is it the school's or the teachers? Once again, I have to watch my daughter head off to school totally dejected because no holiday cheer is to be had in her class. LAME! I had her dress up in full Christmas colors and jangly bells anyway. Ha! They can't say it's a money issue because us parents would sign up to bring treats and whatever else was needed in to the class. Also, no Christmas concerts/plays/programs. DOUBLE LAME! I have so many fun memories from my childhood of our class parties and school programs that it makes me sad for Kendle to not have any of that. I can remember being Blitzen in my kindergarten program and Mrs. Snowman in first grade. We looked forward to it every year. It is seriously unbelievable to me that things like that are becoming a thing of the past. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. :)

Riley was having his work Christmas party/meeting today and spent all day yesterday smoking the ribs for it. My fridge and kitchen have smelled like garlic for the last 24 hours and I'm glad he finally packed those babies up this morning and I can have it start smelling like Christmas again and not a BBQ joint. To him that smell is heavenly, to me it just smells like campfire.

I am so stoked because as of this morning I have lost 10 pounds since I started running in September! It has been really tough, I won't lie. I have to literally drag myself onto the treadmill some days, but it's awesome to see the hard work paying off. I know if I followed a better diet the weight would probably be coming off quicker, but hey - I like to eat yummy food. My other goal was that I wanted to be able to run an 8 minute mile by Christmas. Today I ran it in 8:15. I'm getting closer every day. Realistically, I don't know if I can run much faster on the treadmill than I'm already running before I just fly off of there. I think it's easier on a track or the road to sprint really hard. Think I can make it to my goal by Christmas? We shall see. The best part isn't just losing the weight, but I am also feeling better and having more energy and feeling strong so that is all good. My next goal is to lose another 10 pounds by the end of March. I think slowly but surely is the best way to lose weight and keep it off.

I'm excited I get to catch up with my gal pals tonight and enjoy some yummy dinner. Tomorrow night we are doing Riley's family Christmas party at his brother's just a few block's away. I think we have a fun weekend in store.

Progress?

I guess if my aching shin/ankle combination and my bruised toenail that is about to turn a nice purplish black is any indication, I am doing a good job of keeping up with my running/workout routine. When I was playing volleyball in high school, my feet would always get really sore and have problems the first few weeks of practice because of all the short sprints and jumping and so on. It was quite painful. I had several toe nails that would fall off and I'd get blood blisters underneath others. One year I had a horrible blister on the side of my right pinky toe that got so bad I started to get a red line running up my foot which was an indication I was on the verge of getting some nice infectious blood poisoning. I had to have my mom cut that sucker open and get all the toxic goo out. (Doesn't that get your appetite going?) That could be one of the most painful memories I have. Youch!

The strange thing is that pretty much all of my foot problems occur on my right foot. My right ankle is the only one I've ever sprained as well. Why all the right sided problems? I've tried different shoes, different sizes, better socks, yada - yada - yada. Nothing really seems to help. I guess having sensitive feet is just one of my hurdles to jump in this life. This is just something I have to get over whenever I start doing something new.

I've had 8 years of going up and down in the weight department. I've gained as much as 70 pounds with one pregnancy; Kendle my big old 10 pound baby.  After Kendle was born it took me a good 2 years of blood sweat and tears to lose that 70 pounds. I've figured with all of my kids combined I've had to lose close to 185 pounds over the years. That is a whole person. It gets harder and harder when you can't lose all the weight you need to in between each baby and the next thing you know that "baby weight" just wants to stick like glue and never leave. But I have gotten to the point where I am just sick of not feeling as healthy as I've wanted to and haven't had the energy level I need. I knew I needed to step it up and that I can reach the goals I've set for myself. I'm trying not to be so worried about what the scale says and more concerned with getting back in good shape and feeling really strong again. I want to be a positive role model for my family.

So even though the thought of putting shoes on with my sore toe and running right now gives me the shivers, that's exactly what I'm going to go do. And that is how I know I'm making progress. The term "no pain, no gain" is definitely going to be applicable the next little while.

This and That

Miss Kendle is adjusting to having her expander put in yesterday. She is frustrated that it is harder to eat and she was really grumpy this morning as she tried to eat cereal for breakfast, she finally gave up on it and ate some banana instead. It will be interesting to see how her lunch goes. Relearning how to eat is going to be a top priority. I would have thought having the expander on the roof of her mouth would have been more uncomfortable but so far she has only complained about the brackets on her two front teeth. They only put two on and are waiting for her other teeth to come in and she has one tooth that she needs to wiggle and help fall out. I was helping her take some pain medicine for it last night and accidentally banged the spoon on her teeth. Ouch! She was not happy about that. But, she is excited to being on her way to beautiful teeth!

{Got to love the "I just got done beating up on my little brother hair"}

Have I mentioned what a little snacker Mister Morgan is lately? Every time I turn around he is eating something or asking for a snack. He is like a little bird that grazes all day long. He is so skinny though, I figure it's not hurting him. He is stretching out and getting taller and has the skinniest little legs. I'm always trying to get him to drink more milk and I don't mind when he wants a spoonful of peanut butter. He has so much energy and is always playing and running and doing something. He hardly sits still for long. Last night I found him sitting on the kitchen counter snacking on an apple. 

I've never seen a little kid that drinks as much as he does either. He is always running to the fridge to fill up his cup for a drink. I don't think we will ever have to worry about Morgan staying hydrated!

In other exciting news, I have cut my time on running the mile by 45 seconds in the last month since I started running more consistently. I am aiming to cut off another 15 seconds in the next few weeks. I am feeling good but my knees are hurting me a little. My legs tend to get kind of sore because I have one leg that is a bit longer than the other (just one of my many oddities) so I think one leg tends to get more pressure put on it and it puts me off kilter a bit. Since we moved our treadmill into our bedroom and I can't watch TV anymore while I run I have to rely on a good playlist of workout music on my ipod. It totally keeps me going and keeps me pumped up and helps me run harder and longer than I think I can. Here's a small sampling:

Airplanes - B.o.B (Featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore)

Undo It - Carrie Underwood

When You Were Young - The Killers

Spotlight (Twilight Mix) - Mutemath

Heart of a Champion - Nelly

Everlong - Foo Fighters

Let the Drummer Kick - Citizen Cope

Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club

How Do You Get High? - The Weepies

I make sure to mix it up and change up the playlist every now and then so I don't get bored. Oh yeah, and it's always interesting to see what Morgan has been doing during my run. For example when he's supposed to be watching a movie and he's really been climbing up on the counter and eating all the sprinkles in the baking cupboard. Never a dull moment I tell ya.

20 pounds

*Warning-this might be a little whiny and self indulgent, so read on at your own risk.

OK, I'm putting it out there. I'm trying to lose this last 20 pounds that won't budge. This baby weight is happy and comfortable and not wanting to go anywhere. I'm not one of those people who have the pounds melt off after having a baby, I have to seriously work my booty off with diet and exercise. The last couple of weeks I've been able to make a few pounds go away and stay away, but I'm still a far cry from my goal weight. I'm not even trying to get down to what I weighed before I was pregnant, just in the ball park. After I had Kendle, it took me almost two years to lose most of the weight ( I guess that's what happens when you gain almost sixty pounds), but I remember I had to really shock my body into losing weight. I jump started the process by going on a no-carb diet for a little while, and then gradually adding a few carbs back in. I looked at some pictures of myself from over the weekend, and had one of those "aha" moments. I asked my husband "is that what I really look like?". Of course he says all of the nice husband things, like you look great, and all of that, but it was then that I realized that I'm not going to sit around and complain about it anymore and starting this week I'm going to put myself in weight loss mode for real. I usually run or walk on the treadmill a couple of times a week, but I'm going to really push myself this week to run hard and do all of the other extras (crunches, resistance bands, lunges, stretching).

*Here is where the whiny self-indulgent part really kicks in. Just warning you.

I think the hardest thing for me, is that my whole life I've always been thin and not had to worry about my weight. This is not an asset to me because I can trick myself into thinking that I can still eat whatever I want and burn it off. Boy how the metabolism gods are laughing at me now.

I know a lot of you can relate to that, and I realize that it's not a diet, it's a life style change that works in the long run. Here are some things that sabotage my weight loss:

-I love to bake. AND I feel like a bad mom if I don't make cookies or a little treat for my family at least once a week.

-This time of year our family is on the go constantly, and it is way easier to eat junk or grab some fast food, than pack healthy food or eat before we go. (I know, excuses, excuses)

-My family loves to snack. If we go to my parents house they always have tons of snacks and goodies and I feel like I have a free pass or something to eat whatever I want because I'm at their house. I know it doesn't make sense, but in my delusioned state of snacking, I can convince myself that whatever I eat there will not count in the weight department.

Why did I write this post? I'm embarrassing myself into accountability I guess you could say. Next time you see me, I want you to ask me how my weight loss and exercise program are going.

Also, if anyone has any tasty low-carb, low-fat recipes you'd love to share, don't be afraid to send them my way. You can e-mail them to me if you'd like. If I get quite a few recipes, I'll post them on my blog for everyone to share.

Deadly combination

This

+ this

= one tired mom

Is it really only Wednesday?