·:[ The Healthy Mom ]:·
• • • • •

First, my computer is working. Kevin saved the day (Thanks Kevin!) by disconnecting and reconnecting the cables to the hard drive. Whew!

Second, Zander has been an AWESOME kid since we got back from Dillon. Really helpful, super sweet, cooperative… it’s been great. Zevan - not so much.

Third, my food choices have been TERRIBLE. I went on a carb binge - sugar, bread, etc, etc… It has not been pretty.

Finally, I’ve done a decent job with my workouts.

Day 10, Tuesday, I did Back and Abs. It was late in the day, and I almost missed the workout, but I got it done! Since I did Ab Ripper X the day before, I did not do it again that day. Since my family was visiting and no one was interested in going climbing with me, I didn’t climb in the evening.

Day 11, Wednesday - we went on a 90 minute hike around Garden of the Gods in the morning. After lunch I took the boys to Art Sports for open gym. When my brother and his family left town, I left the boys with my mom and spent 2 hours cleaning/doing laundry to get our house liveable again. Then I put in a hour of work on top of all that just to get all the fires put out. With the hike, housecleaning, and work I was far too exhausted to even think about doing Yoga X. So I didn’t. And I didn’t do Ab Ripper X either.

Day 12, Thursday - after fixing the boys breakfast, I worked for 2 hours… THEN I finally popped in the DVD for Shoulders and Arms. Ah… my favorite one. This time I used dumbbells instead of the bands and got a tougher workout. I followed up with Ab Ripper X. Now I’m back on schedule. Then we headed to the park for playdate.

That evening, I actually went climbing to make up for missing it on Tuesday night. Ow. Shoulders and Arms the same day as climbing - it was not a pretty sight. Normally I am a solid 5.10 climber, but last night I only climbed one route at 5.10 — the rest were 5.9, 5.9+, and I think one 5.10- Yowza. Now I know it was a good idea to swap those workout days. If only I was actually on that schedule.

After climbing, we went to Shuga’s and I indulged myself. The Brazilian Shrimp Soup and Chicken Curry salad were good choices, but the almond butter cake and almond kiss drink were not.

That brings us to today.

Day 13, Friday. This morning I did Kenpo X first thing! There were a few pauses in getting the boys breakfast, but I did the workout in its entirety. Love it! I had a quick bowl of Oatmeal Crisp with walnuts and Craisins. For lunch, I brought an Amy’s vegetarian lasagna to Doug’s parents house to eat while the boys ate McDonalds.

In the afternoon, I had a protein bar snack and a handful of yogurt raisins. And Doug just went out with Zander to pick up some Yakitori chicken and Miso soup for my dinner. Definitely getting back on track.

I’m simply not going to be strictly by the P90X nutrition book - all that denial gets me primed for a binge, as I experienced. So, I’m going to go for a balance of BETTER choices and live with that. My focus is on getting more protein, more protein, more protein and staying within my calories.

EARTH HOUR
Saturday, March 29, 2008
8 p.m. regardless of your time zone.

Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting http://www.earthhour.org/sign-up and join the movement.

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town.

What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas.

Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour.

One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

Oh boy. It’s been quite the weekend. Food wise, I’m well within my calories, but again, less than optimal choices.

On Sunday, I went far too long between meals.

SUNDAY:
BREAKFAST: Protein shake
SNACK: None
LUNCH: None
SNACK: (Late lunch): Beef & Broccoli with rice and mango
DINNER: Beefsteak with rice
DESSERT: Coldstone (Cake Batter with Kit Kats)

After my late lunch/snack, I FINALLY found time to do my workout. I did Chest and Back - again it was brutal. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for another week.

Doug left for home on Sunday because he had to go into work on Monday. The boys and I stayed an extra night to hang out with the family. After dinner, I pre-packed our stuff since we had to check out in the morning.

Monday morning, I woke up and realized that I had forgotten to do my Ab Ripper X workout the night before. So, I popped in the DVD, and did it. Afterwards, I thought, welll, might as well do plyometrics while I’m already sweaty. So while everyone else was packing, I did Plyometrics in the living room of the condo. Whew! Crazy stuff.

After my workout, I made myself a quick protein shake, grabbed a shower and then joined in on the packing and cleaning in order to check out by 10 AM. We finished just as the cleaning person arrived, and then took the boys out to go sledding again before we left the mountains.

Zander and Ashton were the only ones interested in sledding, so my mom sat with Zevan in the van while my dad and I took the 2 boys to the sledding hill. It was fun, and much sunnier, warmer and less windy weather than the first time. After about 45 minutes, they had had enough, and we went back to the car.

By this time, it was lunch time, I missed my snack, and was STARVING. We headed into Dillon and stopped at Burger King for lunch. I had a whopper (half the bun), onion rings and diet coke. I know, I know, it was oh so bad, but it was oh so delicious.

Then it was back into the car for the long drive back home.

When I got home, I unpacked, started laundry and then turned on the computer to catch up after being off line the entire weekend.

Except my computer told me that it was unable to find the hard drive. I have seen that message before, so I turned it off, and restarted it. Same error message. Crap.

More starting and restarting. No luck. Crap. Crap. CRAP.

I’m trying not to panic, but it’s hard not to. EVERYTHING is on that computer. My last back up was about 3 weeks ago, so of course I’m nervous.

Okay, I’ve got a million things to do, I’ll just wait until Kimmie and Kevin get here to have them take a look.

So now more laundry, more cleaning, and I have to run some errands. I have Zander, Zevan and Ash with me. How can I get them in the car?

“Anyone want some ice cream ” “Me!” “I do!” “Me, I do!”

So, we head out to Dairy Queen. And I buy them ice cream. But none for me. I have a protein bar instead.

While they eat their ice cream, I stop at the ATM to deposit some checks from clients. Then we go over to the car wash so I can get the mountain snow dirt off of my car. The boys enjoyed me squirting them through the windows.

And now we’re home. And I’m hungrily waiting for my mom’s sinigang (Filipino beef stew) while everyone else will be eating something from Chipotle or Noodles & Co.

And I’m typing from my laptop because my PC still can’t find the hard drive. Sigh.

Okay, my diet is suffering, suffering, suffering… I totally should have waited until after this weekend to start this program.

So let’s get the confession out of the way.

Last night - I was hoping to have some steak, but my dad - who is studying to be a deacon - reminded me that it was Good Friday and should not eat meat. (I’m a lapsed Catholic). They all ordered pizza and I somehow kept the resolve to not eat it. Instead I ate a plain omelette with tomatoes and a 1/3 cup of rice. Unfortunately, I did have some chips & salsa… and then, late at night, my sister made rice krispie treats… and then I ate way too many rice krispie treats.

This morning, I had sausages, tomatoes and rice for breakfast. Then it was Stretch X - which took about 30-40 minutes longer than it should have because we were watching my kids, and my 2 nephews. 4 boys - 5, 3, 3, and 2 years old. Craziness and mayhem.

Then we took the boys sledding. It was cold and windy, but they all had a great time. Zevan was ready to leave and had a tiny tantrum, but shortly afterwards, we were all ready to get warm.

My parents took the little guys, and Doug, the boys and I went out to lunch at Ruby Tuesday. I didn’t get to order my favorite Ruby Minis with fries and salad bar. Instead I ordered a steak and the salad bar. And no Starbucks for me.
Snack today - pumpkin seeds.

For dinner, my mom made her famous beef & broccoli. I had
1 1/2 servings with rice and banana.

Calorically, I’m doing okay, but my choices have been less than optimum. I’m sure I won’t have a loss this week, and I’m not entirely sure there won’t be a gain.

Last night was spa night with the girls. There was less than optimal food involved…there was cheese, bread, roasted garlic, cream cheese, wheat thins, carrots, strawberries…half a glass of pomegranate italian sode and a pint of beer! I was able to abstain from sweets like cookies, so that was a small victory.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled P90X program.

No time to do a long run today - I’m headed out of town for Easter weekend for a family reunion. So, I got to do the entire Kenpo X workout - oh yeah! I have studied martial arts on and off over the years, and a big fan of Tae Bo. So, Kenpo X was really fun and a great workout for me.

POST WORKOUT: Smoothie (same as yesterday with 1 1/2 scoops of protein powder)
BREAKFAST: Oatmeal with 1/4 scoop protein powder, 1/2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp craisins (the protein powder made it taste funny - I probably won’t do that again)
SNACK: Pumpkin seeds

Now I’ve got to pack up for the trip. I’m bringing food with me and my workout DVDs for Sunday/Monday. Again, food will be an issue, but I promise to not totally over do it.

Don’t know if I can get online while I’m gone…

This morning was probably my favorite work out yet. Not just because there were not pull ups, but that definitely made it more appealing. I love working biceps and shoulders. My triceps need a lot of work. It was good, I need to get some heavy weights or a more resistant band for some of the exercises.

Ab ripper X was, of course, brutal. I always collapse in a heap after just 30 reps of the last exercise, Mason Twists… YOW!

I went to the grocery store and bought a lot of protein.

Cans of chicken, frozen shrimp, steak, coconut crusted tilapia, and a frozen Amy’s Bowl. And I picked up a tub of egg white vanilla protein powder.

NUTRITION thus far:
BREAKFAST: 1 boiled egg
PRE-WORKOUT: 1 banana
POST-WORKOUT: Smoothie! 1 scoop protein powder, 8 frozen strawberries, 1 tbs cashew butter, 12 oz water - DELICIOUS!
LUNCH: Protein Bar
SNACK: Chicken Salad 1 with Celery

I’m off to spa night with the girls. There will probably be a little bit of less than optimum eating, but I’m going to do my best to keep it to a minimum.

I need to admit that I *just* ate an oatmeal raisin cookie along with a handful of walnuts…

I know my calories are too low today, but I don’t have good choices around…

However, here’s some good news - I’m down 0.4 lbs from last week!

Week 8
Starting weight: 137.8
Last week’s weight: 133.0
Current weight: 132.6
Goal Weight: 125.0

Overall loss: 5.2
Lbs to go: 7.6

Yesterday, I did well on my nutrition, considering I went to a networking event that had FREE appetizers and I did not have any of it.

For lunch, I scrounged around the pantry and found a two 3oz cans of chicken, so I took one and followed the recipe from the P90X Nutrition Guide for chicken salad 1, and ate it with a big stalk of celery. It was delish!

Sadly, I missed my climbing workout, but I was still able to meet the girls at VI for a late dinner.

So, in total:
POST WORKOUT: 6 oz 1.5% milk with Ovaltine, EmergenC with water
BREAKFAST: 1 boiled egg, 2 oz steak, 8 baby carrots
SNACK: 1 protein bar
LUNCH: Chicken Salad 1 (3 oz chicken) with celery
SNACK: Grapes
SNACK: .375 oz dark chocolate square (on the way to networking event)
DINNER: (8 PM) Village Inn hamburger with half the bun, salad with french dressing and extra pickles - NO PIE!

This morning, I ran 4 miles at a 10:46 average pace. Then I worked. Then we went to Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Then I came home and worked some more. Late this afternoon, I did the first half hour (out of 90 minutes) of Yoga X. It was good - definitely the workout kind of yoga, not the sleepy relax-o kind that I prefer. Then I worked until the boys came home.

POST RUN: Gatorade
No Breakfast (oops)
SNACK: 1/2 protein bar
LUNCH: Chick Fil A - chicken salad sandwich, only half the bread, coleslaw and diet lemonade
SNACK: 1/2 protein bar
SNACK: Chicken Salad 1 (3 oz chicken) with celery
DINNER: 2 egg omelette, 1/3 cup white rice, grape tomatoes

I have GOT to get some of that whey protein to supplement! I just haven’t had a chance to get to the grocery store yet…

I woke up last night - STARVING. I tried to go back to sleep and my stomach was protesting. I had an oatmeal raisin cookie and a glass of water. Sigh.

According to my BalanceLog, I only had 1404 calories yesterday, so I’m not surprised I was so hungry.

I might need to go for more calories now, and work on adding protein as I go or else I’m not going to have the strength to continue the workouts. After Ab Ripper X today, I got totally light headed as I got off the floor. Not good.

I did Legs & Back today - I switched it up so that I could save my upper body for my climbing night, and rest my lower body for my long runs.

Wall squats are definitely my downfall - particularly the one leg wall squats. All the other leg exercises, I did with modifications, but full reps and good form.

The pull ups - yeah, that’s going to take a lot of work for me. I can do 2 chin ups on my own and 1 pull up. The rest are all with the chair:

Back & Abs
1) Balance Lunge - nice start
2) Calf Raise Squat
3) Reverse Grip Chin Up: 12
4) Super Skater
5) Wall Squat - Need to work on this!
6) Wide Front Pull Up: 12
7) Step Back Lunge
8 ) Alternating Side Lunge
9) Closed Grip Overhand Pull up: 8
10) Single Leg Wall Squat - REALLY need to work on this!
11) Deadlift Squat
12) Switch Grip Pull Ups: 6
13) Three Way Lunge with Two Kick - I like the KICK!
14) Sneaky Lunge - Intense!
15) Reverse Grip Chin Up: 11
16) Chair Salutations - I like these!
17) Toe Roll Lunge
18 ) Wide Front Pull Up: 12
19) Groucho Walk - Fun!
20) Calf Raises
21) Closed Grip Overhand Pull Up: 9
22) 80/20 Cyber Speed Squat (YOWZA!)
23) Switch Grip Pull Ups: 7

And then, of course, Ab Ripper X - Yowza. A little better than Monday, but oh so painful.
In and Outs: 25
Bicycle/Reverse: 14/10 (my reverse is ugly - I’m uncoordinated)
Crunchy Frog : 18
Wide Leg (or Crossed Leg) Sit Up: 14
Fifer Scissors: 8
Hip Rock and Raise: 25
Pulse-Up/Heels to Heaven: 10
V Up - Roll Up Combo: 12
Obliques V Up: 16/16
Leg Climbs: 12/12
Mason Twist: 30

My 5 1/2 year old son was home sick today so watched me do the workout on the couch. Tony made us both laugh out loud several times throughout the workouts, so that was fun.

We’re going out of town this weekend for a family reunion in Dillon, CO - food is going to be trouble, but I’m going to bring my workouts with me!

I’ve been getting a lot of suggestions to take protein shakes to add more protein to my diet, so I’m going to try to find something I like today.

So far today -
POST WORKOUT: 6 oz 1.5% milk with Ovaltine, EmergenC with water
BREAKFAST: 1 boiled egg, 2 oz steak, 8 baby carrots
SNACK: 1/2 protein bar - but now I think I’ll just finish it off.

So I forgot to mention, during the cooldown, when we did the cat stretches, I TOTALLY felt the ache in my abs. Yowza.

After my work out today, I had 6 oz of 1 1/2 % milk with 2 tbsp of Ovaltine.

During my shower, when I was soaping up, I noticed even MORE painful muscles - my chest, my tris - sore to the touch. Tomorrow is going to be interesting for sure…

I have been trying to balance climbing, running and nutrition/weight loss for over 2 years. When I concentrate on one, the others always suffer.

Looking at the workouts again, I think maybe I will switch Shoulders & Arms with Legs & Back for my climbing day. That way, my legs can have a bit of a rest for my Friday long run.

If the first two days are any indication, no matter what I do, I’m going to be sore for a while.

Sunday: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Monday: Speed Interval or Tempo Interval Run followed by 20-30 minutes of Plyometrics
Tuesday: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X in the AM, Climbing in the PM
Wednesday: Easy run followed by 45 minutes of Yoga X
Thursday: Shoulder & Arms X/Ab Ripper X
Friday: Long run followed by 20 minutes of Kenpo X
Saturday: Rest (or Stretch X)

Ugh, I’m struggling with the food.

Pre Workout: Boiled Egg
Post Workout: 6 oz 1.5% milk, 2 tbsp Ovaltine
Breakfast: Oatmeal Crisp Hearty Raisin Cereal with added Craisins, walnuts and a splash of milk
Snack: 3/4 of a Protein bar, grapes
Lunch: 2.5 oz beef with sprouts/ mushrooms/ onion/ zucchini stirfry
Dinner: Baby Carrots, 2 oz Steak Umm, garlic, 8 Veggie Wheat Thin Toasted Crips

According to Balance Log, that’s only a 1404 calorie intake!

I can’t seem to bring myself to eat any more meat or eggs. I don’t know how to get more protein in.

I woke up this morning with some very sore arms and tight back from yesterday’s workout.

I missed my run this morning because the snow caused a 2 hour delay for my kids school. I got to sleep in an extra hour!

Lucky me, that gave me a chance to press play this morning for PLYOMETRICS!

Hoo-ah! I’m dripping sweat as I type this and I’m feeling GOOD! I did a lot of the modified moves, but I did them all - the entire time, so I feel good about that.

I think I might need new shoes with better lateral support, just for this workout.

And I have to say that Tony just cracks me up - it’s fun to laugh when I’m working out.

Of course, ask me again in a few weeks when my motivation is waning and I need a kick in the pants to get going.

I had a boiled egg this morning so far. Yes, yolk and all - I just can’t bring myself to waste the yolks. We get Eggland’s Best, so I’m just going to be okay with that.

Day 2 - feels good!

Day 1:
Chest & Back
01 Standard Push Ups: 12/12
02 Wide Front Pull Ups: 12/12 (chair)
03 Military Push Ups: 8/8 (knees)
04 Reverse Grip Chin Ups: 15/15 (chair)
05 Wide Fly Push Ups: 12/12 (knees)
06 Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups: 12/8 (chair)
07 Decline Push Ups: 12/10 (knees)
08 Heavy Pants: 20/20 (red)
09 Diamond Push Ups: 8/9 (knees)
10 Lawnmowers: 25/25 (red)
11 Dive Bomber Push Ups: 6/6 (half)
12 Back Flys: 12/15 (red)

Ab ripper X was brutal.
In and Outs: 25
Bicycle/Reverse: 12/12 (my reverse was not well done - I couldn’t get the cycling part down)
Crunchy Frog : 14
Wide Leg (or Crossed Leg) Sit Up: 12
Fifer Scissors: 8
Hip Rock and Raise: 25
Pulse-Up/Heels to Heaven: 14
V Up - Roll Up Combo: 3
Obliques V Up: 12/12
Leg Climbs: 12/12
Mason Twist: 20

I woke up late, worked out late, didn’t eat anything until 1 PM (I know, I know very bad)

half protein bar (right before working out)
8 oz 2% milk with 1 tbsp chocolate syrup (recovery)
3 oz steak with garlic
14 baby carrots
string cheese snack
5 oz teriyaki salmon
grilled green beans with butter
1/2 cup rice
banana

I’m going to treat myself to a couple of Doug’s mom’s homemade oatmeal raisin cookies tonight just because I worked hard and I’m WAY under my calories for the day. Sue me.

Check it! The West Side Moms team took 3rd place in the Women’s Teams

This is posted from memory - I’ll post again when the official times are online.

West Side Moms Team
27:35 May Chan
29:44 Maida Carpio Scott
38:00 Candice Jackson
55:00 Michelle Lum

Yahoo! I PR’d today at the race!

If we had just one more runner under 40 minutes on the team, we could have taken 2nd even.

Of course, I had a helluva morning, though. I got up at 7 AM with the boys, tried to go back to sleep for just a *little* while longer and woke up again at 9:30 AM - the race start was 10 AM.

I forgot my iPod, wallet, everything. Luckily I had enough change the car to pay for parking then I rushed to the start with minutes to spare. Whew!

Update:

OVERALL FEMALE RESULTS
Place Age Plc Name                    Age City/state            Guntime    Cat Bib#
===== ======= ======================= === ===================== ========== === ====
   27   7/75  Marny Scalard            24 Colorado Springs CO     22:36.60 AG  1324
  171  19/98  May Chan                 41 Colorado Springs CO     27:30.95 AG  1019
  299  43/126 Maida Carpio Scott       39 Colorado Springs CO     29:44.05 AG  1016
  363  78/135 Kim Everhart             33 Colorado Springs CO     30:54.20 AG   841
  643 100/126 Candice Jackson          37 Colorado Springs CO     38:00.00 AG  1017
  790 126/126 Michelle Lum             35 Colorado Springs CO     55:24.35 AG  1018

Check out Marny  - she’s REALLY fast - placed 27 out of 793 women overall!

I broke my PR (personal record) today - the first time I ever ran a 5k under 30 minutes!

FEMALE TEAMS

  3. 2:30:41 West Side Moms                (  37:41)
========================================
  1    27:31  May Chan                F 40 Colorado Springs CO   
  2    29:45  Maida Carpio Scott      F 39 Colorado Springs CO   
  3    38:00  Candice Jackson         F 37 Colorado Springs CO   
  4    55:25  Michelle Lum            F 35 Colorado Springs CO   

Okay, so it looks like there were only 3 female teams, but we were very close to 2nd place!  In fact, if we had Marny and Kim’s time under the team, we would have been #2!

Since I introduced it last week, we play Uno! every day. The boys love it. When they come home from school or their grandparents’ house, it’s “Can we play Uno?”

To make it friendlier, and finish up quicker, we have been starting with 3 or 4 cards (instead of 7) and we have been taking out the Victory Lap Wild cards, +4 Wild cards and yellow cards.

It’s by far my favorite game to play with them.

Today I braved the wet spring snow to venture to May’s house so we could do the p90x fitness test together. Just needed to make sure I could make the minimum requirements to start the program.

Pull Ups: 1¾
(min. 1)

Vertical Leap: 9½"
(min. 3" )

Push Ups: 15
(min. 3)

Toe Touch: + 2½"
(min. -6" )

Wall Squat: 1:09
(min. 1:00)

Bicep Curls: 10 lb dumbbell 40 reps Left, 44 reps Right
(min. 8 lb dumbbell - 10 reps) we only had one dumbbell

In & Outs: 45
(min. 25)

Heart Rate Maximizer: 172 bpm, 118 bpm, 98 bpm, 90 bpm, 90 bpm
(min. finish standing & able to breathe)

Here’s my stats from Monday

Week 7
Starting weight: 137.8
Last week’s weight: 133.6
Current weight: 133.0
Goal Weight: 125.0

Overall loss: 4.8
Lbs to go: 8.0

I have only lost 4.8 lbs over the last 7 weeks, which felt discouraging to me, so I finally measured myself to see what was up.  Imagine my delight to find that I dropped 2″ from my waist and 1″ off each thigh.

The last 12 lbs for me definitely have been the most difficult to come off.  I’ve been trying to take those last lbs off for years now.  And I did do it once - in 2006, for like 2 months.     And I’m starting P90x this week - so look out!  My plan is to  be stronger and and leaner than ever before (well, at least close to my body building days).

So I’ve been having these HORRIBLE headaches when I get up in the morning, and they recur throughout the day.  I *rarely* get headaches, so this has been particularly annoying for me.

I got in with Dr. Daugherty yesterday for an adjustment - I was out of whack and totally tight.   After talking, we attributed it to low electrolytes due to some recent, more intense workouts (May and I added speedwork and tempo intervals recently), and that I don’t eat before/during my runs.  Which is okay for my 3-5 mile easy runs, but not so good for my longer runs and workout runs. 

He recommended that I take EmergenC once a day for the next week or so, and try and eat something light before running.  Which I tried today, for a long run.  I have to say I’m just not fond of eating before working out.  Drinks slosh around, food sits there and makes me feel ill.

Today I ate an hour before running - a slice of bread, 1 tbsp of peanut butter and 1/2 tbsp of grape fruit spread.  And then I had an EmergenC pack right after running.  So far so good.  I definitely could feel the food there in my stomach, so I need to find something lighter.  I might try a rice cake next time instead of the bread.  Or a banana with cashew butter.

I’m struggling with eating right now.  Last week I dropped my calorie quota to 1710 before exercise, because for the first 6 weeks, it was at 1830.  I’m afraid I’ll have to drop it again, but I am STRUGGLING with 1710 as it is.  We’ll see…

I got the p90x dvds today.  May and I were supposed to do the P90X fitness test last night, but her son got sick so we couldn’t do it.  We’re going to try and do it on Friday morning before our run.

I’m tired today.   We ran 7 miles this morning, and my chest muscles are sore from climbing last night.   

My guys actually love workbooks and worksheets - particularly connect the dots and mazes, which is helping hone their skills with a pencil. Anything where you have to draw a line to match things or circle a specific choice is great, too. The dollar store has LOTS of workbooks for $1 each.

Board games have been great - Chutes and Ladders has been great for counting/math type stuff. They actually figure out what spin they need to get to a ladder and what number they don’t want to get to hit a chute.

I’m thinking they are ready for Uno, which is one of my fave card games.

We love the library, of course, it’s just so nice to have all those books. We pick out 3 at the library, check them out and those are the bedtime books for the week. We started getting the audio books from the library as well for listening in the car.

We recently started giving the boys an allowance. They earn it with a combination of good behavior during the week, and then by completing Saturday chores with Doug and me.

This has given us a great opportunity to teach them about handling money…about lending/borrowing, and saving up for something. I even introduced the concept of matching contributions. They’ve been wanting a Game Cube, and they are $30 used. So, I said if they each gave me $7.50, I would match their contributions to help them buy it. They are still considering it.

They’ve been really frugal with their money, which is pretty cute to me. When we go out, and they really want something, I ask for it out of their allowance. 9/10 they decide that they really don’t want it that much. This summer, we are going to the bank to start an account for each of them. I’m trying to find a super kid-friendly bank close by to do that.

They love to help with cooking - cracking eggs, pouring ingredients…

We just renewed our zoo membership, and I really want to do some treasure hunt type stuff at the zoo with them this year - where I make a list of things for them to look for, and when they identify it, they get a sticker/stamp.

We use our screen time judiciously. Educational games, pre-approved tv shows - usually 30 minutes per day, or up to an hour if I have to work. On the weekends, they get to play video games purely for entertainment.