Lots of books

For Christmas, we got Kylie

The Kissing Hand

Sunshine on My Shoulders (John Denver Series)

Cat & Mouse

The Magic Rabbit
These were all books that I had gotten for Kylie at the Library. We both loved them and I'm so pleased to add them to our collection of books at home.

We also got

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
because I saw it in the bookstore before Christmas and couldn't resist it.

And the last book we got for Christmas was a special order one from Little Wonder Company. Go check out their website and take their virtual tour through one of their books. We were so tickled with our Little Girl Wonder girl book with Kylie's name and likeness.

I saw on someone's blog (sorry, don't remember whose blog it was) where they got their son a book for each of the 12 days of Christmas. Isn't that a great idea? I think I'll do that next year!

Here are some more books that Kylie has enjoyed recently from the library.

Annie's Chair
Kylie really loved this one. We read it every day, sometimes twice a day, for a week.



Widget & the Puppy

Duck, Duck, Moose
I loved this one because the animals move to Florida for the winter.


Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!


Think Big! (Nancy Carlson's Neighborhood)

I hope you found some book inspiration here today!

Privacy please

Kylie's new thing is to go to every bathroom in every building she walks in--restaurants, grocery stores, Target, libraries--anywhere and everywhere. AND she wants to go into the stall herself. She sometimes has trouble operating the door lock so I end up wanting to hold the door for her which irritates her. "I need privacy please!", she says in an aggravated tone. I hear this all the time.

Of course, she still has absolutely no problem walking in on me in the bathroom.

Kiddo is growing up!

Interview

After dinner on Saturday, we ended up having an impromptu interview with Kylie. She kept handing us her toy microphone. I would ask her a question and she would take the microphone and answer. Here's what she said.

What's your favorite show?
Little Einsteins

Who's your favorite character?
June

What's your favorite color?
Purple

What's your favorite animal?
Snake

What's your favorite sport?
Basketball

What's your favorite dish?
Macaroni

What's your favorite drink?
High C

What's your favorite dessert?
Cupcake and ice cream

What's your favorite ice cream?
Strawberry

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A doctor

Who is your best friend?
Lily

Who is your favorite princess?
Ariel

I think she felt very grown up being asked questions with the microphone. It was fun.

The pictures are from Saturday afternoon. We played in our backyard for a bit. She was completely ignoring me and the camera and was absorbed in her play. I don't ask Kylie to pose very often (she makes really goofy faces and I would rather have natural-looking photos) but I really wanted a shot of her pretty eyes. So I asked her, "Kylie do you see any clouds in the sky today?"

Ha. Gotcha.

Book list from 2010

47 books in 2010. I didn't have a book-reading goal for 2010 but I was a little surprised that this number wasn't at least 50. My blogging friend Soupy read 80 books for goodness sake! Check out her list; she has some awesome reads listed.

This year was the year of the memoirs!

Weight Loss Memoirs
Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Delaney, Lisa
Fat Chance: Losing the Weight, Gaining My Worth by Hadden, Julie
Winning by Losing: Drop the Weight, Change Your Life by Michaels, Jillian
Believe It, Be It by Vincent, Ali

Running Memoirs
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Karnazes, Dean
50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance! by Karnazes, Dean
First Marathons by Kislevitz, Gail
Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving and Not Lose Your Job, Family, or Sanity by Shea and McDowell

Memoirs
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir by Baker, Elna
Eat, Pray, Love by Gilbert, Elizabeth
Committed by Gilbert, Elizabeth
(I was one of the few folks who actually liked Committed more than Eat, Pray, Love)
Bitter Is the New Black by Lancaster, Jen
Such a Pretty Fat by Lancaster, Jen
My Fair Lazy by Lancaster, Jen
(Jen Lancaster makes me laugh out loud. Karen's used to me snorting and chuckling as we lay in bed reading together when I'm reading one of her books)
Cleaving by Powell, Julie

Fiction
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Allen, Sarah Addison
Bitten by Armstrong, Kelley
Destiny Kills by Arthur, Keri
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by C. Alan Bradley
Burned by Cast, P. C.; Kristin Cast
The Hunger Games by Collins, Suzanne
Catching Fire by Collins, Suzanne
Mockingjay by Collins, Suzanne
(This was a fantastic series. One of my best reads of the year.)
Matched by Condie, Ally
The Passage by Cronin, Justin
Maybe This Time by Crusie, Jennifer
Bet Me by Crusie, Jennifer
Strange Bedpersons by Crusie, Jennifer
Charlie All Night by Crusie, Jennifer
Mommy Tracked by Gaskell, Whitney
Good Luck by Gaskell, Whitney
True Love and other Lies by Gaskell, Whitney
When You Least Expect It by Gaskell, Whitney
(J Cruise and Wh Gaskell are easy, chick-lit reads--when you just want lovely entertainment.)
Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Gilmore, Susan Gregg
Magic Hour by Hannah, Kristin
Dead in the Family by Harris, Charlaine
(I've read all of the Sookie Stackhouse books--way before they became a TV series. I've been a Kindle reader since June 2008. This book was the first one I paid more than $9.99. An honor I thought should belong to my beloved Stephen King instead of Charlaine Harris- no matter how much I love her books.)
Under the Dome by King, Stephen
(Love him, Love him, Love him--my favorite book of the year.)
Blockade Billy by King, Stephen
Full Dark No Stars by King, Stephen
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Meyer, Stephenie
Eclipse by Meyer, Stephenie --re-read
Breaking Dawn by Meyer, Stephenie--re-read
Storm Glass by Snyder, Maria V.
Still Missing by Stevens, Chevy
(Recommended by Soupy, this one kept me on the edge of my seat rooting for the heroine.)

Photography
The Photographer's Eye by Freeman, Michael
Within the Frame by DuChemin, David

Parenting
Taming the Spirited Child: Strategies for Parenting Challenging Children Without Breaking Their Spirits Popkin, Michael

Audiobooks
Firefly Lane by Hannah, Kristin
Immoral by Freeman, Brian
Remember When Robb, J. D.; Nora Roberts

I adore the "Eve Dallas" audiobooks by JD Robb. I give them my highest recommendation, either in print or on audiobooks. I was pleased to find out I had missed some of the earlier books. Plus I listened to the new ones as soon as they were released. Here's what I heard/read in 2010.

Promises in Death, Kindred in Death, Haunted in Death, Ritual in Death, Missing in Death, Eternity in Death, Midnight in Death, Interlude in Death, Fantasy in Death, Possession in Death, Indulgence in Death
If you decide to read the stories, I recommend reading them in order. They do build upon one another. You can find the in-order list here.

I hope you find some book inspiration here. Happy Reading Everyone!

Mystical Garden

In December, Kylie started digging holes in the mulch of our backyard and burying things like berries and rocks in the holes. She said she was making a garden.

So it was very cool that my mom got Kylie this Mystical Garden kit for Christmas.

Mystical Crystal Garden Amazing Grows like Magic

This is what it looked like when we first set it up and poured in the magic water.


And this is what it looked like at the end of the day.


Kylie kept running to the table to watch the changes. And it did change about every 30 minutes.


By the next morning, it was "done" and Kylie was enchanted.

Cool present, eh?

365 project for 2010

For two years, I've taken a picture a day. In 2010, I only missed four days, for a total of 361 days documented. You can see the entire stream here. While I found this to be an extremely worthwhile project- I know my Nikon far more than I did two years ago- I don't have the itch to take a photo a day for 2011. But don't worry, I still plan on picking up the camera a LOT. You'll still have tons of daily pictures of Kylie.

Here are a few pictures I posted to Flickr tonight, finishing up the year.

Triathlete - December 2010

Cathy Zielske, a blogger I admire, blogs once a month on how she is progressing in her "Move More, Eat Less" journey. Following her lead, it was interesting for me to summarize my month's activity. And since some of you have shown an interest in my healthy living journey, I thought I would share how I'm progressing in my triathlon goal with you once a month.

For the 31 days in December, I exercised 23 days and had 8 days off. In previous months, I would exercise 3/4 times a week. Bumping this up to 5/6 times a week was great and draining at the same time and I sure was sore a lot. There were big changes this month, adding strength training, swimming and biking to my routine. The breakout is as follows:

Strength
I hired Joy, an Ironman Triathlete and a trainer at my gym, to take me through strength training exercises twice a week. We got in six sessions in December and I puff and pour sweat throughout our time together. Joy loves step ups (on platforms and benches) and sits (where you sit on something just barely off the floor and then stand up and throw a weighted medicine ball or some other upper body exercise). Everything we do works both parts of the body (upper and lower) at once, like lunges and shoulder presses. And everything we do works my core. I feel my core getting very gradually stronger. She works me hard and fast and I'm too busy trying to breathe to talk with her but she has shared some triathlon information with me and is keeping my attention on my diet.

Swim
I swam 3 times in the month of December. Mostly I was trying to get comfortable in the water but the whole time I was swimming, doing the front crawl up the lap and backstroke down the lap, I knew I had improper form. This was further confirmed when I read that a female swimmer should be able to complete a junior olympic-sized pool lap in under 20 strokes. It takes me around 26-28 strokes using the crawl or backstroke and around 22 strokes using the breaststroke. I hope to have a swim coach help me improve my form in the month of January.

I will say that swimming the day after a long run is the best way to stretch out and get some non-impact exercise. Although I'm still nervous and self deprecating in the pool, I still really enjoy being in the water

Bike
I went for one bike ride in my neighborhood, wobbling horribly then braking and stopping for every car. I have such a long way to go.

I used the gym's stationary bike 3 times for 30-45 minutes per workout. One time after my strength training with Joy, one time after walking the stairmaster for 25 minutes, and one time as a prequel to a 3 mile run. Boy, my legs felt really rubbery going from the bike to a run.

Joy encouraged me to use the gym's spin bike rather than the stationary bike. With the spin bike, I can train my body to get used to the aero position I'll need to be in for a triathlon. I used the spin bike once on my own and then took my first spin class. And immediately went out and bought a pair of padded biking shorts. Those shorts were sorely needed.

When you total this up, you get six bike workouts in December

Run
Joy snuck up and watched me run on the treadmill without my knowledge. During our next training session we discussed changes to my running form. She didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. That my upper body is way too rigid (I blame years of cheerleading for this). And my arms tend to swing up too high and cross my body, like a speed runner rather than a long distance one, and my hands flare out. In essence, my upper body is expending energy rather than helping me run further and longer. So on my runs this month, I worked on relaxing my shoulders, neck and mid-section. I worked on bringing my arms to down to 90 degrees and to think about pushing my elbows back when I run (like you are trying to elbow someone behind you). I'm learning to hold my hands in a very loose fist with my thumb "pinching the wing of a butterfly".

The biggest help Joy gave me was to teach me how to foam roll my IT band. I was experiencing quite a bit of knee pain after my runs, particularly the day after. Foam rolling has worked out the knots in my legs. I have no pain in my IT band now. Here are my runs for the month.

Tempo and speed runs:
5 miles in 48 minutes
5 miles in 48 minutes
4 miles in 38 minutes

Long runs:
6 miles in 60 minutes
8 miles in 80 minutes
8 miles in 80 minutes
7 miles in 76 minutes

Regular/easy runs:
3 miles in 30 minutes
5 miles ?
4 miles in 41 minutes

Total of 10 runs and 55 miles in December

Other Exercise
Besides the other additions I made to my workout schedule, I also added a Les Mills Body Combat class. From their website, Body Combat is a fiercely energetic program inspired by martial arts and draws from a wide array of disciplines such as karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. Supported by driving music, you strike, punch, kick and kata your way through calories to superior cardio fitness. I love this class and was able to get in four classes in December. I smile the whole time which cracks my instructor up. And I'm always very sore after.

Walking with Sarah
My friend and neighbor Sarah and I walk once a week around our neighborhood. It's a nice way to gab and stretch and burn some calories. We walk around 4 miles after she gets off work.

Weight
Although weight loss is no longer a primary goal, I was pleased to lose 3 pounds this month. I now weigh 129 pounds. Medium is the t-shirt size that fits me best. And I went through my closet and moved out all the extra large shirts and pants. I now have just medium and large shirts left in my closet.

And there we go, one month summarized. Whew!

One Little Word 2011

Image courtesy of Ali Edwards.

This will be my fourth year with the One Little Word project.

I first read about this from Ali Edwards blog. She encouraged me to pick a word that would be a guiding force for the year.

My first word, in 2008, was Create.
I loved that word. For that year, I was ALL about creating. I created new experiences for my baby Kylie. I created a lot of love with Karen. I created a loving home in Portland. I created tons of scrapbook pages. I created lots of knitted projects. It was a fantastic word that truly motivated me throughout the year.

My second word, in 2009, was Choose.
This was an interesting word for me. The thought behind it was that life with Kylie was so encompassing that all lot of other things were starting to slip. Like my health/fitness. Like our finances. Like anything that wasn't Elmo-related. It was easier to go about the day-to-day stuff and not think nor work on the bigger goals. So picking the word "choose" was like a light slap on my cheeks encouraging myself to wake up and start working on my life. I was partly successful. But my memory of the word "choose" was that it wasn't much fun.

My third word, in 2010, was Steer.
"Steer" was "choose" on steroids.
I did steer my family to our new home in FL. I did steer my but to the gym and steered my attention to our budget. But "steer" was heavy in responsibility. It was my least favorite word of all three.

This year's word is Triathlete.
As you may have read, I plan to complete a triathlon in 2012. Trust me, it will take over a year to get myself ready. But I'm very excited about learning to swim and bike and to run even better. I think this is going to be a fantastic and fun word for me. I've found that the more physical fitness training I put into my schedule, the more I have to make the most of each and every day. My stay-at-home mom time management has improved. I'm letting go with the "responsible aka slightly guilt-filled" words of the year and concentrating on a really fun word. Triathlete. Just saying it makes me smile.

You can read more about the One Little Word project here. And for inspiration, you can see Ali's list of words here.

If you've picked a word for the year, please share it with us!

Back home from holiday in TN

We are back home in Florida from our holiday trip to TN. I have hundreds of photos to sort through and tweak but here is a small sampling.

Kylie preparing cookies and milk for Santa and broccoli and water for the reindeer. Santa left Kylie a note thanking her for both.


We had our Christmas on Christmas Eve. I was pretty sure I heard Kylie rattling around with her presents around 5:00am but she let us sleep until 6:30. Then it was time to see what Santa had brought.



Kylie was very thorough and methodical in opening her presents. For example, we got her a set of alphabet stamps. She wanted to stamp her name, and our names before opening any more presents. She got a musical jewelry box and she left the living room to find the perfect place for it in her bedroom. She got five scented lip balms and she again left the tree and all of her presents to go line up the lip balms just so on her nightstand. You get the picture. Karen and I were cracking up. We joked that we would have torn through the few presents Kylie had in about five minutes. But with Kylie, opening presents lasted over an hour. It was lovely. With lots of her exclamations of "I really wanted that from Santa!"

Friday afternoon we drove halfway to TN and Kylie got to sleep on a pull-out sofa of our hotel's living room suite. Kylie went right to sleep--to my very great relief!


On Saturday, we finished the journey to TN and had Christmas with Karen's family. It was incredible for Karen's Mom and Dad to have all of their children and grandchildren gathered together at the same time.








Kylie had really hoped for a white Christmas. She got her wish! These are Kylie's cousins which Kylie has nick-named her "girly girls". They played with Kylie constantly. I wanted to bundle all of her cousins up and take them home with me to Florida because they were so patient with Kylie--letting her boss them around and such.


Then there was a fantastic Christmas with my Mom


and Dad.


There was a fun trip to the mall and Build-a-Bear compliments of Karen's brother Ted.


And finally more driving and staying in hotels.


It was a really wonderful trip. And I very glad to be home!

Now, back to sorting through those photos.