C25K...Couch To 5K Day One Week One

I love to reconnect with old friends on Facebook. You know those friends you more than likely would have only seen at reunions, because your lives are so busy that keeping up with one another is just another ticker on the "to do" list? Yet Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with these friends.  This is the ultimate reason I love Facebook.  Lynsey Jones is a perfect example of one of those friendships that has been reconnected through Facebook.  She and I spent several years hanging out in middle & high school, we ran together in a group of girls that spent time lots of time together before after & during school.  We labeled our clique the "Sigma Alphas."  Oh those were the days. 

Recently Lynsey had begun blogging and facebooking about her desire and motivation to be healthy.  I always have a desire to exercise, but do I  actually get out there an exercise?? Not as much as I would like.  Her daily reminder of her new journey has inspired me to really become dedicated to being fit as well.  She selected C25k to begin her exercise routine. C25k is an acronym for Couch To 5K. Its a 9 week running program that works your way to being able to complete a 5k.

I have always wanted to run in a 5k. I have always had that small voice in my head say "Wouldn't it be neat to do that?" We have several 5k runs in Jacksonville and there are also some in Pensacola that have peaked my interest. Several years back I downloaded an very similar itune exercise to get me prepared for a 5k. But the music was bum and didn't help inspire me, plus each time that I would head out to run my heart wasn't in it. I couldn't complete past week one.

The weather was GORGEOUS today, cool, crisp and sunny.  It screamed "you can run today! Come on out here and at least try."  I tackled my work to do list, downloaded the app for my android, got dressed, stretched and then out I went out to run.  Since I downloaded the C25k pro version (for a mere $1.99) I was able to listen to my Pandora radio while receiving the commands to shift from walking to running.  I fired up my Newsboys station to get my ears pumping full of uplifting and upbeat music, started Day One Week One.  I must say the 5 minute walking warm up was great and the amount of time spent between walking and running was great for me.  I don't believe I could have done any more today.  It did push me harder than I have pushed myself running, but it was not too much.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Really did I just say that I thoroughly enjoyed it? I did and I am very proud of myself. It was exactly what I needed today.

Tomorrow the boys have soccer practice and there is a perfect loop there for running.  I will definitely be completing Day Two, Week One.  I can't wait to let you know how it goes!

Breath of Fresh Air

I went home to Gulf Breeze, FL this past weekend to visit my Grandparents.  Shortly after we arrived I stepped out on the dock & was greeted with this site.

What a breath of fresh air for me to see Pensacola Bay & the sky airbrushed in colors.  Its always nice to remember where you come from.  I have been there atleast 3 times a year for the past 10 years, but haven't taken time to see the sunset.  It was a welcomed calm for me.

Modeling Session!

Back in August the boys decided it would be fun to do a modeling session!  Fun for me, as I love to use my camera taking pictures of the boys.  Here are some of the shots we took!

They are both so handsome and growing so big!  Time flies when you having fun.  I should also note that Trever has grown out of the jeans he is wearing in this pictures.  He has shot up an inch in the last month and has also gained about 15lbs over the past 6 months!  Woowzers no wonder we go through so much milk a week!

Tyler Pre-K 4 School Photo

Tyler is getting so big!  This is a great picture this year!



Pumpkin Patch Fall 2010

We spent Sunday with Aunt Sarah & baby Wesley!  Here are our pictures from the outing.

Outside Halloween Decor

We have completed the outside home decor yesterday.  The boys are super excited to start fall. Living in Florida our weather stays warm for quite a while.  Somedays it will cool down to the mid 70's, but the next day it can be at hot at 90 again, so its hard to get the weather change that indicates fall is here for the children. Last weekend we had the fall festival at the school, complete with derby car races and bounce houses, and it really seemed to set in that fall is here. They see the pumpkin patches adorning the sides of the road and are ready to get in full swing to decorating at our house. Here is the completed yard for Halloween 2010!



Have a safe Halloween!

Homework Time

My week day afternoon routine consists of leaving work & picking up the boys from school. I then head home and they get snacks and approximately 30 minutes to unwind. (I do insist however that shoes be placed in bins and backpacks hung up before they start their down time!) I usually begin dinner prep during this time as well.  After some down time, we sit down at the table for homework time. This is a shot of the boys doing homework this evening. Tyler doesn't have homework but insists on "doing homework." He uses a preschool workbook I picked up at the book store.

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

Trever Borrowed My Camera Again

I also found these shots on my camera card today.  He's a future facebooker in the making ;).  They were too cute not to share.

 Ignore the unorganized bathroom countertop and mirror that needs to be cleaned please!

 We're in trouble now!!!

  He learned to take a picture of himself in the mirror and not get the camera in the shot.

 Gotta love the pin curl clip on his nose!

Wolverine rocks!  Too bad he has to hand down this shirt to his cousin now.  Its getting to tight.  :(

Tyler's Soccer Game through Trever's Lense

I uploaded the camera card tonight and found all these great shots that Trever took at Tyler's soccer game 2 weekends ago.  He has a good eye!

This angle is my favorite by far!

Hand Me Downs

I have never been one to turn down hand me downs! I think recycling clothes is a fantastic way to say money and have lots of options in the boys wardrobes.  Today, Labor Day, we spent some time by Mimi & Papa's pool with the family and then came home to fall clean the house.  We are also moving the boys into one room and making an office space in Tyler's "old" room. I went to the garage to fetch all of the hand me downs and grabbed all the boys currently worn clothes in the house and have set out to completely organize them. This is where it begins bags and totes of clothes and all of the boys drawers and hangers emptied. Here goes something!
Joy Williams

School Website

I am so exited to share Trever& Tyler's classroom website with you.  Trever is attending 2nd grade with Mrs. Leimer and Tyler is attending Pre-K4 with Mrs. Leimer at Grace Lutheran School.  Roll over the red words, it will be come white, then click to get directly to the pages.  I love the idea of having the newsletter each week online in case it is misplaced and we need to refer to it to complete school lessons.  I am also so excited for the school wide theme this year "Clothed In Christ." The theme is based on Colossian 3:12-14 which states in part "as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion and kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." I think it will be a valuable life lesson for both boys to learn to "wear" compassion, kindness, humility and patience each day in place of aggression and selfishness.  We do our best to be examples for our children in how to handle day to day situations but the daily lessons they will receive at Grace will help solidify their responses and shape their behavior.  I am looking forward to a great school year!

Testing My Adobe Skills

I am trying to make side by side pictures so that you can see before and afters of our investment property, 3001 Buttontree Lane.  I have created this picture so far....

What do you think?  Too smushed?  Too hard to draw before and after comparisons? Drop me a comment and tell me what you think...

Trever lost his first tooth!

Trever has had an adult tooth growing behind the baby tooth for weeks now. I was getting concerned that I would have to have the dentist pull the baby one since they weren't budging. Tonight I asked Trever to let me check and see if one was wiggly at all. I tugged at the tooth and then it was out. Just like that, in a split second, my first born lost his first tooth.  He is super excited jumping around the house saying "I finally lost a tooth!" He is looking forward to the tooth fairy tonight!

Trever Started Soccer

Trever's soccer season started yesterday. It's Tuesday's and Thursday;s with games on Saturday's..and dare I say even with late evening practices its still Florida hot out there! Putting the heat aside, its a pleasure to watch him play out on the field.  He appears to be in his element. I think he's going to be a pretty good player!

We had to put tennis aside this summer due to our hectic schedule.  I assumed he would pick it back up in mid August when school began again.  However tennis and soccer practice fall on the same day. :(  So the decision was Trever's to make...tennis or soccer?? Trever made the decision to try something different and play soccer.  This choice is bittersweet because he really enjoyed playing tennis and being with his cousins. I look forward to the rest of the season and seeing it unfold.

Wow, does this make me a soccer mom?  Umm ok this just hit me...And this makes me feel older somehow..I always imagined soccer mom's as old mini van driving people.  OMG what a revelation as to where I really am in my own life!  Yea yea I have a mini van and take my kids to soccer, school, etc but I am still young at heart and most certainly am not OLD!  Who care's I turned 30 last month right?  30 is the new 20 right?? RIGHT?  No its not?? I am 30?? Okay I am a 30 year old mom who drives a mini van and takes her kids to soccer..thanks for the reality check. Its worth every minute of the aging to be a wife and mother, even if it makes me a stereo typical soccer mom..

Wore Out!

Tyler hasn't been napping with the summer schedule. Its not the best scenario for this boy that requires a good amount of structure. But none the less he has to give into sleep and he seems to sneak it in in the car.  I don't know he sleeps like this but on the way to and from Pensacola this past weekend he slept like this for over two hours!

Bubbles!

Ahh the kids put shampoo in Meme &  Papa's hot tub then they turned the jets on high.  Thank goodness Papa didn't seem to mind! There was fun had by all the kids!

Bruiser & Tyler..Email from Phone Test

Tyler and Bruiser enjoying a lazy day around the house

Whoo Hoo!  I have entered 2010 and am blogging from my phone!  I have figured it out!  Thanks Katie for testing on your site and inspiring me to figure out how to do it myself! Now I will be able to post more pictures of the boys and our fun activities.

Sarah's Baby Shower for Wesley James

My sister, Sarah, is expecting her first child in October.  Shortly after the beginning of her second trimester she had a sonogram that revealed a little boy was growing in her womb.  Sarah and Josh have decided to name their first born son, Wesley James Wiggins.  When I found out Sarah was expecting I was super excited to know that I got to hold a shower to celebrate the arrival of her first baby!  My sister has been my biggest support system in raising my boys (aside from their father of course!).  She was Trever & Tyler's first baby sitter and has done a wonderful job of being my go to girl.  You know the kind of person you can call in the middle of the night and would drop everything she was doing to help you.  She nursed my children to health several times when I needed to work.  She was there for every tear and oh my gosh's.  All the look at what he's doing and can you believe he said that's.  She has been a wonderful sister and friend.  And in some ways I really wanted my shower to be my big Thank You to her for all she has done. 

Sarah's nursery colors are tan, chocolate brown and light blue. I decided I would continue the color scheme over to her shower. My Mother In Law Connie Williams volunteered to assemble and put up the clothes line for the shower.  It came out beautifully!!!  I love how it turned out!  It added so much to the decor of the shower.

A mutual friend of Sarah & myself, Sandra Felty helped me with all of the decorations.  This is one of the centerpieces we did.  Its a clear pail filled with rocks and the letter W.  I love how the balloons pulled this centerpiece together.

Our second centerpiece was the infamous diaper cake with our twist on it.  I had ordered extras of the placematts and cut out the corner pictures then added them to the ribbon on the cake.

Here are some shots of the food spread.  My Mom, Josh's Mom, Nicole, Nathalie, Kori, Brittany and so many more contributed so much to this shower.  I most certainly couldn't have done it with out each and everyone of them.  Thank you Ladies!!!!  I know Sarah appreciates your hard work as well.

Sarah Stevenson Wiggins- soon to be mama of Wesley James Wiggins

Congratulations Sarah & Josh!  We look forward to meeting Wesley and giving him the same love and attention that you have shown our children.  There is nothing in this world better than the love of family.

Vacation 2010

I took sometime off work for a mini-vacation this summer. We tried to get in as many activities as we could in the small amount of time that I had allotted for the mini-vaca.  We spent two day at the beach house that Troy's grandparents rented, south of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. 

Trever fished in the Atlantic Ocean with his Uncle Steve and cousin Colson.  He isn't typically an angular but he was really interested in fishing with Colson this trip.

Here are the boys taking a break from crab hunting to make silly faces for the camera.

L to R Colson, Tyler, Madyson & Dayton

Madyson had the privilege of taking a picture of me and the boys.  I know I am not one to take pictures often, but as the kids get older I let them use the camera and I get a chance to jump in a shot or two.

We packed up our gear on Monday and headed home to get a good nights rest.  We then spent Tuesday at Wild Adventures.  We seem to get lucky in picking days when the theme park has low attendance.  This is great for us because it means no lines and no waiting.  The boys get to ride all the rides they want and enjoy the water park with very little interaction with others.  I didn't take pictures of our day at the park.  I figured I have taken enough pictures of our time there this year.  It is our 4th time since we got the year passes.  : D

And Wednesday, well lets let the pictures show ya what happened on Wednesday......

I got a new washer!  My washer we got 9 years ago for our wedding DIED.  It made lots of loud noises and then kerplunk like that it was done.  I wanted to be fiscally responsible in my purchase yet wanted to take advantage of the new energy efficient technology that has hit the market since our last purchase of a washer.  This is a top loader but has all the wonderful qualities of a front loader.  It has the dual drums, the senor waited loads, and so much more!  We were able to get at $25 credit on our electric bill for simply purchasing the machine.  Over all its a great deal and I have really been pleased with how well my clothes get clean, as well as the amount of clothes I can add per load.  I can for see the laundry task not being so daunting in the future! :)