May Day Celebration

While I held down the home front by participating in a neighborhood yard sale, Karen and Kylie went to Kylie's Montessori school May Day celebration.

Just like the Fall Festival, they had a bunch of crafts. Kylie loves to do crafts with her friends.

Her first craft was a pencil caterpillar.




And while the Elementary students wrapped the may pole, Kylie completed this newspaper flower pot with her Lead Teacher, Ms. Pilar.


Kylie made a bookmark


and a necklace




and a butterfly crown.


The last craft was a paper bag to hold some coloring pages, information about recycling and all her other craft goodies.


Kylie took her coloring quite seriously and was at this table over 20 minutes. But she was so proud of her finished creation.


One of Kylie's best school chums arrived. The girls hugged and jumped around.


Then it was time to release the ladybugs.


There were lots of and lots of ladybugs. And while Kylie found it all fascinating, she didn't much want them crawling on her.


The girls romped around some more. Finally it was time for hugs and good-byes.


It was a fantastic May Day celebration!

PS- And we made enough at our yard sale to replace the garage door part that got fried when a nearby transformer blew. Neither our garage lifetime warranty, nor our homeowner's insurance, nor our electric company paid for the replacement. It was a hefty fee but we made it up at the sale. In one hand, out the other!

{this moment} 05/06//11

{this moment} - a Friday ritual. Some photos capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Kylie brought home this Mother's Day gift of a bell made out of a terra cotta flower pot. She painted it herself and strung the beads. Along with the bell was this card and these two pictures. She was so proud of her creation!



This moment posts are inspired by SouleMama's Friday posts

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Sister

Yesterday Kylie asked me for "a best friend, a girl, who would live here in the house with me...you know...a sister".

I put that thought down immediately. I have enough time, money, and energy just for you my darling Kylie.

I'm an only child and I understand that longing and that wish. But it's soooooo not going to happen. Even if she smiles and asks so sweetly.

Oh that's why we don't jump on the bed

Here's a video of Kylie bouncing on the bed.

She's fine by the way; not a scratch on her. She's hard to understand here but she's naming "dance party rules" then she's putting a fire on Momma Karen's head and then putting it out.

This video reminds me of the Gilda Radner girl scout Judy Miller show from SNL. Gilda nailed it don't you think?

Triathlete- April 2011

April was a month filled with distractions and obstacles.

We had our weekend trip to Orlando, then Kylie's birthday celebration and then Easter. These were fabulous events that meant the world to me. And while I wouldn't change a moment of them, they did take up a lot of room in my head this month. The planning, the organizing, and the events themselves took my focus off my triathlon training.

It's been said that in order to train for a triathlon, you need to do at least 2 swims, 2 bikes and 2 runs per week. I lost sight of this. Plus I had some obstacles to overcome.

So here we go: For the 30 days in April, I trained 22 days and had 8 days off.

Swim
FACT: This month I had 11 swim practices-- 8 with Coach Gus and 3 on my own.

OBSTACLE: Swimming more than 75yards freestyle without stopping. There is a big mental wall there based on fear and I don't know what else. I've been frustrated to the point of tears during practice. My very best efforts haven't helped me climb over this wall. But I did find a way around it. Swimming breaststroke. My breaststroke needs lots of work but I can at least swim it for 100yards at a time.

NEXT STEPS: Gus and I talked and for now, we are mixing breaststroke in with my freestyle training. This takes some of my self-imposed pressure off and lets me concentrate on getting stronger in the water. We've worked on getting stronger two ways in April. First, by swimming lots of yards 1400- 2000 yards, mostly with fins. And second, by swimming around 750 yards during practice with kicking drills (with kickboard, no fins) and by 25yard speed drills.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I can feel myself getting stronger in the water. I bought a wetsuit so I could swim in my neighborhood outdoor (and unheated yet blissfully unoccupied) pool. I learned to do a flip turn. I can't do it while swimming laps yet but I plan on nailing that in May.


Bike
FACT: I was on the bike 5 times: once using my indoor trainer and the other four out on the road. My goal at the end of March was to stay on for one hour which I did. For my four outdoor rides, I averaged 1 hour and 12.5 - 12.75 miles.

OBSTACLE: Pain in my seat. Lots of shooting pain and numbness that would last for days afterwards. I would have to stop and get off the bike after 30 minutes of cycling just to stop the pain. I grit my teeth and moan over every bump. I'm not exaggerating here folks. Lots of pain. Joy, my strength trainer, suggested a different brand of bike shorts. I got a new pair of cycling shorts which helped with the pain along my bikini line and bum. But it did not help the most painful area which was my "girl parts".

NEXT STEPS: Finally, with Joy's recommendation, I went to a bike shop and had them pick out a new bike seat for me. I also had them take off the bike clip pedals (I wasn't using them but rather flipping them over and still using my running shoes) and put on regular pedals. The larger pedal helps me feel more secure. Perhaps someday I'll try clipping in again but not anytime soon. Let's hope the new bike seat helps!

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I've stayed with it. I haven't given up.


Run
FACT: 6 runs for the month of April.
Long Runs
12 miles in 1:57 9:75 pace
12 miles in 1:54 9:50 pace
13 miles in 2:03 9:46 pace
11 miles in 1:48 9:80 pace
09 miles in 1:35 10:00 pace

Tempo run
4.5 miles in 39:00 8:66 pace

OBSTACLE: I didn't do my easy or tempo/interval runs this month. And I could feel it at the end of the month. The last two weeks of April kicked my but. We went from temps in the 70's to the mid 80's. And my long run fell apart. I just "didn't feel the legs" for pushing through the hot weather and humidity. I carried water in a pack that fits in the small of my back for the last long run of the month. Those extra ounces feel heavy. It's something I'll have to get used to it again. The 5-6 mile easy or tempo runs help keep my legs in running condition. I really missed not having those runs in place for April.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I did see a 13 miles in 2:03 which gave me a glimmer of hope that come Fall I could do a half marathon in under 2 hours.

NEXT STEPS: Get three runs per week in May. Get that long run back up to 13 miles, even in hot weather.

Strength
I completed four training sessions with Joy. They were great sessions that really pushed me and left me sore for days afterwards. I only got in 1 strength train session by myself. I plan to get more in May. I got in 3 Body Combat classes in April.

Weight
I dropped from 120 to 117 in April. I wasn't really planning on losing more weight.

I spoke with Joy and with Karen on how I can maintain this healthy weight without dropping any more pounds. My fear is that with all this training, I'll lose muscle mass. I'm still shaking my head in disbelief over making sure I have ENOUGH calories when for almost 2 years my focus has been keeping the calories to a weight-loss minimum. It's a BIG mental transition. I have some strategies in place to get the great nutrition my body needs.

So that's it for another month! Thanks for reading! And if you've made it this far, please leave me a comment. Comments mean the world to me.

March 2011 summary
February 2011 summary
January 2011 summary
December 2010 summary


Goal: Triathlon in 2012- initial post from December 2010
One Little Word: Triathlete post

Powdered donut

5 small changes

Here are five small changes I've observed in Kylie:

1. She's started drawing robots (pictured here), dragons, and big multi-colored daisies.


2. In the morning, she prefers brushing her teeth by herself in the bathroom with the door closed. When she's done, she blows a minty-clean breath on me. She's ok with me supervising her night-time teeth brushing. She's a good brusher.

3. She can button her shirt buttons herself.

4. She's started bringing me her plate from the dining area to the kitchen at the end of breakfast and dinner. She can clean the cat hair off our couches and chairs. She helps me feed the cats. She enjoys watering the small potted tree on our front sidewalk. She likes to drag our the recycling bins to the curb on trash day. And she loves helping me wash our car.

5. She can do a back float. And she can roll from swimming freestyle over to a back float.


I'm so proud of our little one!

Dinosaurs

Yesterday we saw the newly installed dinosaur exhibit at the zoo.


Kylie was so fun! She was waving and talking to all of the dinosaurs. The robots had lots of grunts, groans and yells and Kylie was convinced that the dinosaurs were talking to her. She kept a conversation going with all of them.




This dinosaur sprayed water on her. Of course she loved it!


There was only one time when she got startled. She was talking to this dinosaur when one around the corner roared really loud. She jumped a foot and made this face.


But then she made friends with the one that scared her. She's such a hoot!


The last time we saw the dinosaurs was in June 2008 at the Portland Zoo. Kylie was in her stroller eating cheerios from her snack cup. The dinosaurs didn't scare her then either. Wow! My baby girl has changed so much but she's still cute as a bug.


I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our friends Lily and Sarah invited us to an Easter breakfast and egg hunt this morning. The egg hunt was pretty much a botched fiasco leaving lots of kids crying that they didn't get any eggs (Kylie only got two). But Lily and Kylie enjoyed being dressed up together and seeing the Easter Bunny.

And I got these sweet photos of Kylie.

School easter egg hunt and more egg dyeing

On Monday at her school, Kylie got to dye some Easter eggs. And on Tuesday, she got to have an Easter Egg Hunt at her school playground. I downloaded these pictures from the school's Facebook page. Our munchkin is in the center front of the photo with a bright pink basket.


Here she is on the run for more eggs.


She came home with three dyed eggs and six plastic eggs. The plastic eggs held some toy dinosaurs, a few stickers and a purple flower ring.




Kylie wanted to dye some more eggs at home. So after consulting with my Mom on how to do it, Kylie and I dyed some.

We also painted dye on some which created some cool tie-dyed effects and put some glitter on others.

Despite our best efforts, Kylie and I both got food dye on our fingers.


But we made some really pretty eggs!

Kylie's birthday home celebration

Kylie has been talking about her birthday party since before Christmas. Although she created very detailed instructions for me and Karen, in essence all she has wanted was to invite her best friend Lily over to her house for a playdate and cake.

About a week ago, Kylie told me, "You know Mommy, I only turn four once. You should really have a lot of decorations, especially balloons."

Well my darling Kylie. I did my best to fill the house with balloons! Kylie and Lily started celebrating around 12:15 on Saturday.


The house was soon filled with the sounds of two girls blowing their loud party blowers as loud and often as they could!


After a lunch of Chik Fil A chicken and fruit salad, it was time for the cake.


Kylie was adamant about putting candles on herself.


Singing Happy Birthday to our beautiful four-year old daughter just made my heart ache with pride and happiness and a bit of nostalgia.




Afterwards, the girls ran around the backyard, running off the sugar high and playing with the bubble maker toy that Lily had given Kylie.


After a quick change of shirts (due to some messy eating of bright pink icing), we treated the girls to a trip to Build-a-Bear where Kylie made the sweet "Peace and Friendship" bear.


Kylie and Lily finished their playdate by playing at our neighborhood park. And after a bath, Kylie got to open her birthday presents.


She got lots of awesome gifts from Karen and I and the rest of her family. This unicorn blanket from my mom was a particular favorite.


Kylie felt so blessed with all her presents. We felt so blessed to have such a great daughter and a birthday that went off without a hitch. Kylie, Karen and I just beamed with happiness all day long.


One last thing: Kylie asked me, for her birthday, to paint her cats in rainbow colors and put costumes on them. Sorry sweet love. That was one birthday wish I didn't even attempt to do.