In case anybody is still interested.

We had a fun Halloween this year. Isabella was a spelling bee, Ayva was a tooth fairy and Lilly was a lion. I decided that I was going to make costumes for the older girls to save some money and to get a bit more creative than I have in the past. I pulled out the old sewing machine, dusted it off and tried not to let my lack of sewing skills deter me from my goal. (I might have cussed a few times but I never quit) So here are some pictures.

Lilly the Lion. Roar!!

It is hard to tell from the picture but Ayva has a big white molar sewn on her leotard.

Bella's costume was inspired by her new habit of trying to spell out everything she says.

In other news...a few months ago I decided that I wanted to paint our kitchen cabinets. Eventually I want to change just about everything in our kitchen and it seemed logical to me to start with the cabinets. To make a very long process story short, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be but I love how they turned out. Before they were just your standard oak cabinets which the previous home owners had put some s shaped silver hardware on. Now they are a nice cream color with aged bronze hardware. Oh, and Peter put up some trim on the top. Ta da!

A half, and full and a new beginning

Last weekend I ran my first ever half-marathon. I did the Salt Lake City Half with my brother, Forrest. I put in a lot of work over the past few months in preparation for this big event and it paid off. The weather was perfect for the run and the route was mostly down hill, all except for the last mile or so up state street (that sucked!!!). My brother did amazing and finished in 1 hour and 44 minutes. I met my goal of coming in under 2 hours by crossing the finish line at 1 hour and 58 minutes. I would definitely like to run it again and try to better my time. I did learn a few things this time around. #1 - Don't stop running. I stopped to use the port o potty and wished I would have just held it because trying to get going again after you have stopped is very difficult. #2 - Try to run with a buddy who can help you mentally re-focus when you feel like quitting. Running can be so much more of a mental challenge than one may think and it is helpful to have someone who knows when to give you a little push. Over all I am proud of myself for completing this challenge and am now looking forward to Ragnar.

Last week we also celebrated ms. Lilly's first birthday. We had a little picnic for her and invited my family over to join us. She had a good time and enjoyed her first taste of sugar, the cake. I had made some "clean" cupcakes and after sampling one early in the day I decided that I might need a backup dessert just in case nobody liked the cupcakes. (The cupcakes were made with sucanat which is dehydrated sugar cane juice and the bittersweet chocolate so the flavor was a bit strong) So I whipped up a "dirty" chocolate cake with "dirty" frosting and raspberries and boy am I glad I did. Delicious!!! As hard as I try to be a clean eater, every now and then I do need a little dirty. hehe

Along with turning one ms. Lilly got to have a check up with her doctor. We were excited to see that she had reached the twenty pound mark so we could turn her around in her car seat. Although my pediatrician said that the new recommendation is two years before they think children should be turned around. Two years? That's nuts! Luckily the law is still one and twenty pounds so I turned my little Lilly around.

This week also marked the beginning of ms. Bella's soccer career. She is on the yellow hornets team and loves how they get a treat and juice box after every game. Ah, the simple joys in life.

It is very entertaining to watch, well as much as I get to watch while I am trying to keep Lilly from eating rocks and abc gum. Here's some pictures.

A bit of an update

Time for an update.

Lilly has 4, almost 6 teeth, she's climbing and crawling around as fast as she can and is sure to leave a mess wherever she goes.

Ayva is enjoying her swim lessons but that's about it. You gotta love her but she does spend most of her days unhappy about something. I am hopeful that she will grow out of this phase soon but I have been hoping that for months now.

Last week Isabella received the Climbing Higher Award at school for always doing her best work and for being a good example to others. She was so excited about it because they do a small video of the award recipients and then show the video on the classroom tvs. Then later that day she was out on recess and ran into a pole that some construction workers had pulled out from the ground to cut and left unattended. Bella didn't see it and ran right into it with her face. Luckily it just left her with some scratches and didn't turn black and blue.

That's her on the bottom right hand corner. Yeah Bella!

In other news...I have officially signed up to run the Salt Lake half marathon in April and have commenced my training. I have had 3 long runs so far with the longest one being 8.5 miles and things are feeling pretty good. My ward basketball team came in second place in our stake and we are now going on to play in a regional tournament. It has been so much fun to play again and I will be sad when it is over.

Peter is still working a lot. However, he has found time to start our garden. He has about a dozen seed starters going in egg cartons with everything from green beans to watermelon. He is anxious for the weather to warm enough for us to start digging up the back yard and establishing our own farmers market. I'll keep you updated.

Picture Tag

My dear friend Paige tagged me to open up my sixth folder and post the sixth picture in that folder. Little does Paige know but I just clump all my pictures together and only have one folder. However, I don't want to be a party pooper so I decided to just post the sixth picture from my single folder.

This picture was taken early summer 2007. Peter took a parent and tot swim class with Ayva and is teaching her how to blow bubbles in this particular picture. We found out early that Ayva would definetly need to learn how to swim because she exhibited very little fear of the water. She continues to take swim lessons and loves it when the teacher lets her jump in from the deck. "No help, please" she'll tell them.

Thanks for the tag Paige. It was fun taking a look back at this photo.

A great date with my handsome mate

Last Thursday evening Peter and I went to the symphony. We went and listened to the Utah Symphony perform Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. It was amazing! It was a one night only performance and I am glad that we heard about it in time to get a hold of some tickets. The featured violinist, Ralph Matson, was brilliant and along with the other members of the orchestra they had me glued to my seat. At one point I glanced around the theater and up at the people sitting in the balconies and was impressed by how still everyone was sitting, motionless, just listening. We have this symphony on CD and I have listened to it many times but hearing it performed live was something else. I can't wait to go again. Thanks Pete.

Clean Eating

One of my goals for 2009 is to have healthier eating habits. This is greatly due to the fact that some of my other goals are to run a half marathon, a 178 mile relay race and compete in my first triathlon. (I know...What is she thinking?!) But I realized I needed to start looking at food in a different way. I need to see it more as fuel and not just as a way to not feel hunger pains or as entertainment. (Well, at least not all the time) So to help me with my nutritional quest I got a subscription to a relatively new magazine called Clean Eating. The philosophy of the magazine is to promote eating food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible. So lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean proteins. And to avoid overly processed foods, refined flour and sugar, saturated fats and sugary drinks.
So far things are going alright. The biggest hurdle is avoiding refined flour and sugar, especially now that I have mastered the art of homemade rolls. I think we will just have to continue to have some things in moderation. Treats are also a bit of a struggle. The magazine has recipes for them but they call for ingredients that I can't find anywhere in West Jordan Utah. (Mind you we couldn't keep a Wild Oats opened out here:( ) Things like maple flakes and arrowroot powder I have to order online. But overall I am enjoying the benefits that come with this lifestyle.
One of my favorite recipes from the magazine is for Yummy Hummus. This is great for snacking on during the day with some carrot and celery sticks. Give it a try, you may like it.

Yummy Hummus
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped (I would only use 1 clove unless you are trying to keep vampires away)
1 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp 100% pure orange juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Happy and Healthy New Year to you!

Lillys got the moves

This is my first time trying to post a video on the blog and I am not sure exactly how to so I am hoping this works. The video is of Lilly dancing along to the Barbie Diamond Castle Princess music. It is kind of long so feel free to just watch for a minute and enjoy.