I Got Me Some New Gear…

 

I haven’t been posting lately because well, life gets in the way and stuff happens.  I’ve been very busy the last few days with the kids going back to school, Wayne is working over time Cooperators, and I’ve been delegated taking the kids back and forth to their activities.

Fortunately, this is Daniel’s last week of tackle football.  He has three more football practices and his last game will be this weekend at University of Regina.  Despite football being over in the next week, hockey season will start picking up.  Oh the joy!  Hockey tryouts for Atom will start next week and will last for two weeks.  After that it’ll be a break as the teams are picked and then hockey will begin until the end of March 2011. 

This year Daniel will be playing in Atom Tier III.  This will be his last year of Atom and then next year he’ll be playing Pee Wee division.  Joshua will be in his second year of Learn to Play Hockey.  We were going to put Andrew into LTP, but he just started getting comfortable in skates and we don’t want to push him to hard.  LTP will be one hour sessions twice a week.  Last year, Joshua absolutely loved being on a team and playing hockey.  Last Spring he was outside playing hockey with the hockey net on the driveway.  A few times I would play with him and he would practice being goalie.  He already has set in his mind that he wants to be a goalie.  Well good for him on giving goals for himself!  LOL  One time while we were outside playing hockey and he was goalie he said to me and I quote “Mommy, you need to shot high, for you to be a star!”   Ummm, I’m still trying to figure out if he meant that I need to score goals a lot to be a star or I need to shot the puck higher.  I don’t know, but it made me laugh for a few days.

Anyways, today was a day that I wanted to have a doughnut!  Oh no, a doughnut!  I had a doughnut over the weekend and it tasted so good!  I normally don’t eat doughnuts and when it was presented to me, I ate one with great satisfaction!  Well, since I’m trying to eat better I search on OhSheGlows.com for a recipe.  I lucked out because Angela did have a recipe for doughnuts called Low Fat Banana Baked Doughnuts.

http://ohsheglows.com/2009/01/09/baked-banana-doughnuts/

So, first I mashed my bananas up…

Don’t my bananas look pretty!

Then I added the rest of the wet ingrediants.  I know the recipe called for two egg whites, but I used one whole egg.  I was just to lazy to do the whole separate thing…

Add the brown sugar and mix!

Then add all the dry ingrediants and mix well…

Let the batter sit for five minutes.  Then start making doughnuts!!!

Doesn’t that look pretty!

Then pop in them into the oven at 425 degrees for seven to eight minutes!

Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar and viola…doughnuts!  My sprinkling needs some work lol

And here’s the finished product!  I haven’t tried one yet, but I know they’re good because I’m an awesome cook!  Even though I’m the only one that eats my healthy cooking…

So, after running the half marathon last Sunday, I wanted to treat myself to some new running gear.  I wanted to get a couple new shorts to wear for running.  I know some people like wearing running capris, running tights, or running pants, but I’m one that actually likes to wear shorts running.  I find wearing shorts while I run a lot better because its more breathable, I feel that I get more running/leg action, and I perform better.  But that’s just me.

Yesterday, I went to Sportchek.  Sportchek is a retail store that carries everything sport.  From bikes, hockey gear, shoes, and apparel.  It has everything.  Well, I found two Nike shorts and a top for sale while I was at Sportchek.  They are spring/summer stuff, but I don’t care because I’ll be doing most of my running inside during the winter months.  I never run outside during the winter because Saskatchewan winter’s are bitterly cold and unbearable.

With the help of my two little boys I was able to get a few pictures of my new stuff!  Check them out!!!'

 

Joshua took this picture.  It’s not bad, but the lighting wasn’t that great and I notice  that Joshua’s finger is in the way.  I am wearing everything Nike except for my socks.  The socks are from the Running Room.

Here’s a better picture.  Andrew is with me this time.  Notice that mark on the middle of his forehead.  This morning he was playing downstairs and he tripped and banged his head on the corner of the wall.  He has a big goose egg, but he’s a trouper!

The shorts I’m wearing are Nike and they are awesome!  Their called Tempo Running shorts and they are very comfortable and have a built in underwear bottom.  Kind of like boys/men swimming trunks.

The top I’m wearing is…

Lululemon!!!  I got this top about a year ago and its my favourite top to use when I workout, especially running.  Of course you can’t see the label because of the stupid lighting.  I also wanted to get a picture of my back because I’ve been noticing lately that I’m getting some really nice definition in my back.  Thank you Ballet Body!!!

Last but not least a picture of me on my treadmill.  I didn’t know my boys had the camera with them and they took a pic of me in the zone.

I must say though that my boys take very good pictures!  It’s funny because I feel more comfortable getting my picture taken from them then anyone else.  Maybe because you know they won’t judge or they just do anything I tell them without hesitation!  LOL

That’s it for now!

Checkers and Scrabble…

 

Well, it’s the second week of school and all the kids have pretty much adjusted to  getting up early, going to school, coming home, etc.  They’re now into a routine and everything seems to be going smoothly.  The only person not in school this week is Joshua.  Poor Josh.  Josh’s kindergarten class is set up where the kids go to school every other day.  The teacher wants them to transition slowly and this week, Josh is not going to school.  His first official day with all his classmates will be next Monday.

Since Josh isn’t in school, he’s been watching his younger brother Andrew go to Preschool.  Andrew has been in preschool three times and is enjoying it immensely.  There hasn’t been any incidents or crying episodes.  He is very happy getting there and he doesn’t even turn around to watch me leave.  He’s upstairs in the preschool area having the time of his life.

This afternoon was Andrew’s third day at preschool and Josh was not that happy.  I can tell that Josh is very bored at home and is itching to get to school and do kindergarten stuff!  So, this afternoon Josh and I decided to play some board games while Andrew was at school.

First game is checkers.  Josh for a five year old is very good at checkers.  Wayne taught him the game a month ago and he caught on right away.  When I play checkers with Josh, I play to win lol because Josh is that GOOD! 

Can you tell whose winning?  Well, all I’m going to say is that Josh is black and I’m red…

Josh in his glory!

I told Josh to take a picture of me and he says “should a try to get a picture of your face too?”  Ummmm  yeah!  LOL

Then after Josh beat me in checkers, he wanted to play another board game.  Not just another preschool game, but a big kid game.  He wanted to play Scrabble.  Alright then…fine…How was I going to play Scrabble with a boy that just learned to spell his name.  Well, I gave Josh flash cards of words and I told him to use the flash cards to help him spell words with the letters he got.  Josh eagerly took the cards and started shuffling through them.

Josh’s were “ants” and “lions”.  These words he did all by himself without mom’s help using the flash cards!

Josh concentrating so hard…

Towards the end, Josh was having a difficult time using his flash cards.  I started helping him.  His only problem was that he wasn’t beating me.  As a good mom, I gave him the last word and I helped him.  I helped him spell “jiminey”  I don’t think that’s an actual word, but who cares…I’m playing with my five year old boy!  Well with the word “jiminey” landing on a triple word score, Josh ended up beating mom!

Well that’s how I spent this afternoon.  I had some good quality time with my kindergarten boy, Josh!

Queen City Marathon!!!

 

Good morning!  It is the day after Queen City Marathon and I’m feeling great!  I think with all the stretching I did over the weekend, it really helped with my recovery.

So, yesterday’s marathon started at eight in the morning.  The sun was out, but it was very chilly.  I opted to wear a thermal shirt and leggings.  I was going to wear a jacket, but from previous marathons, I usually start warming up after 3km.  We arrived at QCM at 7:30am.  I immediately looked for a washroom before going to the volunteer station to pick up my Pace Rabbit Board that I would be holding at the beginning of the race for those that wanted to follow a pace rabbit.  There was a long lineup for the washrooms and by the time I was finished, it was fifteen minutes before the race would start and I had to start lining up.

I was hoping to get some pictures, but the morning was so rushed from going to the bathroom and lining up, that I didn’t have time.

When I lined up, I had several people stand really close to me because they were going to follow me.  Then we heard the announcer say “On your mark.  Get set.  Go!!!”  There were almost four thousand people crossing the start line, that at first you’re shuffling along until the crowds start to thin out.  I had a pace wrist band telling me that what time I should be at at this km for a time of 2:45.  Around 5km mark, I noticed the time wasn’t accurate and I discovered the times from 5km to 9km were not right and it kind of messed me up.  At 9km the times were more accurate.

I had a hard time to keeping to the pace of 2:45 because it was a lot slower than my normal pace.  At around 7km, the people that were following me started to fall behind.  I was always checking my watch and km signs to see were I was at and I was always about five to seven minutes faster than what I should be.  I ended up crossing the finish line at 2:35. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any pictures of me crossing the finish line because my husband had a hard time working the camera!  Oh well…but I did get some pictures.

This is my brother approaching the finish line.  My brother didn’t train for the marathon.  This is his second time doing QCM.  He was one minute shy from his personal best last year.  He is very proud of himself.

This is me and my husband, Wayne after the marathon.  He promised me last year that he would race this year.  I’m still waiting for him to race…

This is me with my boys and our dog after the race.  Next year, the boys are going to participate in the mini marathon.  Josh (the middle boy) is very excited!

And this is me and my brother standing together after the race with our medals! 

The day before Queen City Marathon: Friendship Run

 

It is the day before Queen City Marathon and I’m getting pretty excited!  This morning I went to the Running Room to get my pace rabbit gear and met fellow pace rabbits.  As well, we had the opportunity to hear John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room and best selling author speak and motivate us for tomorrow’s run.

I also had the opportunity to met several girls who will be following me at tomorrow’s marathon.  Most of them were running their first marathon and were nervous, but I reassured them, that it will be an unbelievable experience and you’ll be back for more!

Afterwards, the pace rabbits and fellow marathon runners ran the 3km Friendship Run.  We ran from the Running Room to the Legislative Building.  From there they took several pictures of all of us standing in front of the Legislative Building.

Can you guess where I am?  I’ll give you a hint.  I’m in the middle with rabbit ears.  Can you see me now?

Then they took a picture of all the pace rabbits volunteering at the marathon.

You probably can see where I am now…right?  Can you tell that I am the only girl whose a pace rabbit?  What is up with that?  LOL

After the Friendship Run, we went back to the Running Room to have refreshments.  Refreshments were water, bagels with cream cheese (carb loading!!!) and fruit.  Yummmm…I didn’t get a picture of the food because I opted to get a picture with John Stanton!

I was so excited because I’m standing next to an actual celebrity!  Well, celebrity in the running world! LOL!

I didn’t even think of bringing my very first book of running written by him.  If I would’ve brought it, he could’ve signed it.  But he ended up signing my rabbit ears hat!

Very exciting stuff!  Anyways, tomorrow will be Queen City Marathon and I’m hoping that I can get some really good pictures!  For the rest of the day, I’m going to be stretching and carb loading for tomorrow’s run!  See you tomorrow!

Another Milestone: Entering Kindergarten…

 

After a very long summer and many countless days of asking “when do I get to go to Kindergarten?”  Joshua, my five year old boy, gets to go to Kindergarten today!  Yay!  Josh has been looking forward to this day since his Kindergarten orientation back in the beginning of June.  Now the day is here and we can rejoice or for me thank the Lord that this day has come because I have had enough of the constant talk about when will be his first day of Kindergarten.

Surprisingly, for a boy who was anxious to get to school, didn’t mean that he was getting up early.  I woke Josh up at 7:30am and he would not budge.  Finally after five times, he rolled his body out of bed, got dressed, and had breakfast.

Of course since this is his first day of school, that meant that he got to wear brand new clothes from Old Navy!

A new outfit wouldn’t be complete without a brand new Lightening McQueen backpack and lunch bag!

And Josh standing besides his Lightening McQueen backpack and lunch bag!

And Lightening McQueen backpack and lunch bag standing all by itself!

And last but not least, a picture of Josh in brand new Old Navy clothes, Lightening McQueen backpack and lunch bag, and a brand new Old Navy hoodie!

I know I know…overkill in the pictures of Josh and his backpack…I’m not that creative, but I wanted pictures of my five year old’s first day of kindergarten.

Then I got a couple pictures of my nephew, Kierin with Josh’s backpack and lunch bag.  Kierin left his bag and lunch bag in his dad’s van.

Then it is off to school!  Here’s the boys standing outside of Balgonie Elementary School.

And here’s the boys standing in the foyer of the school.  Their teacher, Mrs. Niesson is standing behind them near the wall.  I actually didn’t realize she was there until after the picture was taken.

Another picture of Joshua standing besides his coat and bag hanger!

I think Josh has had enough of mom’s picture taking.  You can just see the joy in his face posing for this picture.

Here’s Josh and Kierin sitting at their desk.  The girl with the boys is Avery.  Avery went to preschool with Josh and Kierin.

Here’s another picture of a couple of boys in Josh’s class.  Jack and Ryan were both in Josh’s preschool class too!

And another picture of Josh with Ryan…Ryan is one of Josh’s good friends that he likes to play with!

Well, Josh had a full day of Kindergarten.  The way Balgonie Elementary School is set up is that Kindergarten’s go to school for full days every other day.  So, for today, it was just me and Andrew.  Andrew was kind of going through withdrawl and by lunch, he was asking when can we pick up Josh. 

When I picked Josh from school, I could tell it was a long day for him b/c he was just so happy to see me.  Not happy to see me that he missed me, but more like “I’m soooo glad this day is over!”  I asked him what he did at Kindergarten and he listed off a whole bunch of things and he ended it with “I didn’t realize school was so long.  I kind of wanted a rest at school!”  Well, buddy get use to it because this is what school’s all about! 

My next post will be about my experience at Queen City Marathon.  I’m a pace rabbit for the half run and I’m hoping that I will get a lot of good pictures to share with you!

My Baby is not a baby anymore, but a preschooler…

 

This week marks a week of milestones for the Winter family.  Yesterday, Daniel (my ten year old) entered grade five.  I cannot believe he is in grade five!  I remember when I was in grade five and it seemed like yesterday.  Now that he is in grade five, he is slowly becoming more independent.  Yesterday, after school, Daniel informs me that now for gym, he has to have gym shorts and shirt.  He’ll be changing from his school clothes to his gym clothes for physical education.  Well, you know what that means…yup…preadolescense.   Kids are now sweating and smelling not so nice now when they participate in hard physical activity.  Unfortunately for Daniel, he started wearing deordarant last year because he was smelling kind of funky.

 

Today was also a milestone for my baby boy.  The baby of the family.  My little Andrew.  Andrew (four years old) had his first day at preschool today.  I thought I would be emotional, but I held it together.  He’s been excited since last week when we bought him a new Cars backpack, Spiderman lunch box, scrap book, new runners, and his very own markers.   But this morning when he woke up, he didn’t want to go.  He told me that he would be very sad and that he didn’t want to leave mommy.  It broke my heart when he told me this, but I said to him that he’s getting older and he’ll have a wonderful time at preschool.  I told him that he was becoming such a big boy now since he’s been standing up to pee! (instead of sitting), he’s been putting his shoes by himself, changing his clothes by himself, etc.  After a few minutes of really thinking about it, Andrew decided that yup, he wanted to go to school!

 

Here are some pictures of Andrew’s new school stuff that he is so proud of!

  Every little boy’s dream: Lightening McQueen backpack!

  Who loves Spiderman?  Andrew loves Spiderman!  Andrew loves Spiderman so much that he has three different Spiderman costumes!

  His stuffed blue monkey named “Snuffy”.  I have no idea why he named him Snuffy, but this little guy was put into Andrew’s backpack to keep him company at school.

 

  Of course brand spanking new runners to wear at school!

 

Now that his backpack was stuffed with all of his stuff, Andrew was ready to go to school.  First, he had to be a big boy and put on his shoes.

   I couldn’t make the picture big enough, but those are Spiderman shoes that he is putting on! lol!

   Joshua (my five year old) sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting for Andrew to put his shoes on.  Joshua is kind of irritated this week because he is the last one to go to school.  He won’t start Kindergarten until Friday (don’t ask me why, it just is according to the school lol).  He kept reasoning to me that he already finished Preschool, so he should be going to Kindergarten before Andrew should go to Preschool.  Joshua basically argues his point to me every day.

Front and back pictures of Andrew wearing Lightening McQueen before going into the van.

Andrew showing his Lightening McQueen backpack…oh yes, Joshua getting into the shot lol

Cousin Kieran waiting to go.  Kieran and Josh are the same age, both five.  And will be going to the same Kindergarten class together.

Andrew waiting for the preschool to open.  I was going to get a shot of Andrew and the preschool building, but Andrew was too excited to get in!

 

Now Andrew is in preschool.  I was going to take more pictures, but I think from the look on Andrew’s face, he’s like hurry up mom and GO!!!  Oh well…

That’s it for now…next will be Joshua’s big day in Kindergarten!