The First Warm Day...

In a couple weeks and the kids are all outside playing.

I went out to see what they were up to and this is what I saw:

I guess because it's over 50* out you don't need a shirt or shoes?

We've Been Busy...

It's been a busy couple of weeks here at Camp Berger.  Between my parents visiting and Squish's birthday, there has been plenty of things to do and food to eat.

While my parents were here, my dad and I had a chance to run a local 5k race.  The race was run on a Friday night in conjunction with the local Balloon Fest.  The weather didn't really cooperate for us.  A couple minutes before the gun went off, the rain started coming down.  But that didn't keep us from running a good race.

My dad took second in his age group (4 seconds behind 1st) and I took 1st female.  The medals were really cool laser engraved wood.

On Saturday we spent the entire day at the festival and then went out to eat at a local restaurant.  And there was a little bit of excitement.

We were able to watch one of the balloons crash land in the parking lot across the road.  Thankfully everyone was okay.

Since my parents were here, we decided to celebrate Squish's birthday a few days early.  He requested a construction cake, and this is what I came up with.

I think he was more excited that he got to play with the decorations after the cake was gone =)

Papa spent some time fixing up the kids' bikes...  And then took one of them for a spin. (anyone else hearing the clown college theme song?)

Safety first!

Papa built the kids some new toys.

Sweet Pea took a break reading a book.

Out of the seven eggs we wanted to hatch, we got five chicks.  Sweet Pea wasn't too sure about them and tried to keep her distance. 

Sarge picked up a new cooking toy.

We filled it up with some meat, potatoes, carrots...

And set it to cook.

It was delicious and was more than enough for the 12 people who ate that day =)

So, you can see that I've been keeping pretty busy.  I'm hoping that things start slowing down just a bit so I can catch up on all the chores that have gotten missed the last couple weeks (the kids don't really need clean clothes, do they?)

Week 11 Recap

If the fact that it's Thursday and I'm just now getting to last week's recap doesn't tell you how my week has been...

Things have been even more busy around here than usual.  Why?  Well, because we put our house on the market this week and spent most of last week/ weekend getting it ready.  Lots of lots of cleaning, organizing and getting rid of stuff (I'm not even sure how to count the 2 van loads and overflowing garbage bins for my yearly total...).  But, the house was officially listed yesterday.  AND!  We had a showing!  Now to wait and see if there's an offer with that...

In the midst of all that (as if that wasn't enough!) Mom 4ce met on Tuesday for another group workout 

yes, I had the longest arms so we could all fit in the picture =)

and on Saturday for the C25k workout.  Our group grew a bit this week!

All of the ladies did a great job this week!

Like last week, I headed out early to run a few miles before we met- 13.3 to be exact.  And in the process officially earned the St Patty's Day Virtual Half Marathon Medal.

Another half completed for my goal towards 13 for the year.  And the next few weeks will see me checking off a few more!

And with trying to keep the house clean and *show* ready, we're spending more time outside.  Good thing the weather's cooperating!

 He really will eat his veggies.  And now that I have proof, he can never say he doesn't like broccoli ;)

Sarge demonstrating how they ate when he was in Afghanistan   

Girly caught the Easter bunny...

Playing is such hard work.

It was a delicious cookie.

I love finding these messages all over the house.

That about wraps up this last week...  And a couple days into this week.

Keep reaching for your goals!

232.48/ 1000 miles

5/13 half marathons

1411/ 10,000 push- ups

40/ 180 school days

296/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

Week 10 Recap

Had a busy week again last week.  Lots of running around, but not really feeling like I accomplished much.  Sigh...

Tuesday night Mom 4ce had their fist group workout.  It was a small group, but lots of fun.  Kelli did a great job leading us =)

Thursday night we ended up in the ER with one of the kids.  Sweet Pea fell and cracked her noggin pretty good.  Course by the time we were seen, the swelling had gone done and she was acting normal...  Well, as normal as a overly tired toddler acts =)

Saturday I headed over to the Cedar Hill Levee to run some miles.  I had the pleasure of running into a couple of runners from the local group that I knew from on- line, but hadn't had the chance to meet in person yet.  It was fun to run a couple miles with them =)

There were two purposes for heading out on Saturday.  The first was to run the Fit, Fab and Lean in 2013 Virtual Half Marathon.  Finished that in about 1:56.

And the second was to kick off Mom 4ce's Couch to 5k training group.  Again, a small group, buts lots of laughs =)

So, that was my week.  Still getting things organized and ready for the start of my Turbo Fire challenge.  There's a couple spots open yet if you're interested!

201.15/ 1000 miles

4/ 13 half marathons

1368/ 10,000 push- ups

35/ 180 school days

249/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

30 bags and a couple big pieces of baby gear out the door

Week 9 Recap

Yup, another week, another recap.  Is it just me or is time going by way to fast?

I keep wondering how this happened...

Because, wasn't it just yesterday she looked like this?

Quiet weekend for me.  Sarge had drill, so I wasn't able to get out for a long run.  Just enjoyed hanging out at home with the kids.  

Did a little of this.

Sweet Pea wanted to help with the laundry.

I had a big running week.  I was pushing to hit my February goal (85 miles) so I ran 28 miles in the last 5 days of the month.  Felt good to be able to check that off my list =)  

176.44/ 1000 miles

3/ 13 half marathons

1228/ 10,000 push- ups

32/ 180 school days

231/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

28 bags and a couple big pieces of baby gear out the door

Not much work on de-cluttering this week.  I will be listing some big pieces this week.  Sarge got orders to PCS, so the house will be going on the market shortly and we need to downsize some stuff.

In the midst of the coming chaos, I'm pushing ahead with plans for another challenge group.  This one will start March 18th and will be a Turbo Fire group.  I'm determined to step outside my comfort zone on workouts and try something different =)  If you're interested in joining me in this challenge, just let me know and I can give you all the details!

Week 7 Recep

I'm a day behind this week.  Sarge had a long weekend, so we spent some time in OK with his parents.  Beautiful country that recharges the soul...  So much better running out there than in the concrete jungle =)

Mountain views and sunny skies...

There were even ducks swimming on the pond, but the mutt scared them off when we came by.

This was overlooking the quarry hill I ran down (thankfully down and not up!) on Sunday.  

My Sunday run was also my Sweet Cupcake Virtual 10k (turned into 8.5 miles).  For my effort, I earned this sweet bling.

Y'all may be wondering way I'm running virtual runs.  For the most part, virtual runs work better than *real* races.  I can fit them around my family's schedule.  And almost all of them benefit a charity.

There you have it.  A look at what I did last week.

133.9/ 1000 miles

3/ 13 half marathons

1073 10,000 push- ups

25/ 180 school days

182/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

26 bags and a couple big pieces of baby gear out the door

What are you most proud of this last week?

Week 6 Recap

Here it is Monday again.  And once again, you're getting to hear how my week went =)

This last weekend I threatened asked the kids to help me clean up their room.  It went much better than I expected.

This is only one corner of the room.  The rest wasn't much better =(  I've been ignoring afraid to tackle the room...

And the after picture.  The boys' clothes are organized, all the broken toys are gone and a bunch more donated.  Girly's side looks as good.  

I also ran another virtual race this weekend.  The race was the Heart Throb Virtual 5k.  The non- virtual version was run Saturday morning in CO.

It was a bit tougher to get it in, because Sarge had drill, but the mutt and I went out (in the semi- dark and mist) as soon as he got home.

I was glowing when I finished ;)

It was an interesting run.  Usually when the mutt and I go out, he meanders around for the first mile and then we start running.  But, this time we started running right away and he didn't get his usual chance to leave a message for all the other neighborhood dogs lol!

My other project, Mom 4ce, kicked off this last week.  My friend, Kelli, and I wanted a place that we could encourage other moms to take the steps needed to get fit and healthy.  And to have their families join them.  We have been completely blown away with the response to our endeavor.  

To update my totals... 
113.5/ 1000 miles

3/ 13 half marathons

1018/ 10,000 push- ups

22/ 180 school days

160/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

24 bags and a couple big pieces of baby gear out the door

Week 4 Recap

Yet another week has flown by!  Can you believe it's already the end of January?

To update my totals...
68.7/ 1000 miles
2/ 13 half marathons
556/ 10,000 push- ups
15/ 180 school days
100/ 1189 chapters in the Bible
7 bags and a couple big pieces of baby gear out the door

Didn't get too much clutter out this week.  Just the normal sorting through as I'm folding laundry things.  We had bigger plans this week, so that took a back seat =)

And our bigger plans included this: 

And this:

And this:

The Army was hosting a Strong Bonds Family training weekend and we were privileged enough to be able to attend.  Four days/ 3 nights at Great Wolf Lodge =)

We took the kids to Steak 'n Shake

And Bass Pro Shop (doesn't everyone go there on vacations?)

"I'll have three kids with a side of toddler, please."

That's about it for this week.  Staying with the fight with my Combat program and getting my runs and push- ups in.  Coming down to the wire on my January goals, but I'll be close!

What have you accomplished this week? How close are you to reaching your January goals?

Week 2 Recap

Another week and another chance to check in and see how you're doing on reaching your goals!

Here's my updates for this week.  I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about...  The number of push- ups or the number of bags that went out the door =)

35.68/ 1000 miles

252/ 10,000 push- ups

8/ 180 school days

44/ 1189 chapters in the Bible

5 bags out the door

I have a couple boxes to pack up with fabric- a friend's church's missions group makes dresses for girls in Africa- and the entire pile should be gone.  Then I just have to find a home for my counted cross stitch items.

And then I started going through the front hall closet.  Living in TX, but having family in MN and WI means that the kids still need winter coats.  But, because they only wear them a couple times a year, it means they outgrow them before they're really worn.  So, trying on coats, hats, mittens, winter boots...  

I found joy this weekend in running a race with a friend.  Here we are at the end.  It was about 200% humidity, so please don't mind the sweatiness =)

The race was at UT Arlington.  This is their mascot.

And I even managed to place.

I promise to write up a real race report in the next day or two =)  Today was just too busy hammering out final details on a new venture I'm diving into with a friend.  Details will slowly be trickling out over the next few weeks ;)

How did you find joy in your week?