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Monday, April 25, 2011

Happiness Project - Month 4

So that whole "Happiness Project" thing?  Sorta flaking out on it.  But I did get some organizing done this month, which does bring peace to my mind.

John and I spent a weekend afternoon organizing all the kids toys.  John got everything out from under Gwen's bed, Jack's closet, and all the other random placed the kids stash stuff.  We sorted toys and pulled out all the baby/toddler stuff they no longer play with.  I put away some things they still enjoy but needed a break from and got out toys that they hadn't seen in a while.  I think I threw out 2 bags of trash - random broken toys and papers.  Then Christina texted asking if I had some paper for her soon-to-be-born baby's foot prints.  Of course!  So while I had her there, I filled the back of her mini-van with all those baby/toddler toys we no longer use but were still in good condition.  HOOZAH! 

Now I just had those pesky baby girls clothes to deal with.  I have already given my Godson Jake most of Jack's baby clothes, and those have made a second round to Ryland.  But I still had Gwen & Maddy's stuff to deal with.  It's been through 3 girls by now, so it's well loved but I didn't have the heart to throw anything away.  I also wanted to give it to someone who really needed it.  Last week I was chatting with one of Gwen's old teachers at daycare.  She told me she was putting in her notice soon, that she just got back from Africa and would soon be going back to get the 9 month old baby she would be adopting!  How awesome is that?  This lady is so nice and doesn't have any kids of her own and now she is doing this really awesome thing and also living her dream of raising her own child.  I'm so excited for her - and also SO GLAD TO HAVE SOMEONE TO GIVE THESE CLOTHES TO!  I'm so selfish.  Every day this week I have brought her a bag of clothes and emptied out space in our garage.  I think it was about 6 bags of stuff so far with 1 more to go.

I also had a bag of girls' newborn and 0-3 month size.  I know Miss Mia would not need stuff this small so I planned to donate it.  Then my co-worker and friend announced his granddaughter had been born last weekend, 5 weeks early and was in the NICU.  I immediately offered up the tiny girls clothes I had saved and was so glad that they will be put to good use. 

Now I am just left with the unisex crib bedding, with any luck Miss Mia will want that too.

You may want to ask, "Gee Amanda, are you sure you won't need all this baby stuff again?"  Hell no.  I loved being pregnant, it was great.  I love my kids, they are awesome.  I am not really a fan of babies.  Don't get me wrong, they are cute and precious and all that, but they are hard work.  I would have to have some severe memory loss to be tempted again, or just really crazy. 

Take us out to the ball game!

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to a Round Rock Express game.  It was kind of last minute, but we got decent seats and we were excited to take Jack and Maddy to their first game.  Last year we had thought about attempting the full family baseball night, but realized that was crazy.  We got our seats, middle of a row on the third base side, and the kids jumped around before demanding cotton candy and snacks.  Gwen had gotten everyone excited about the cotton candy, but when Jack and Maddy actually saw it were not nearly as intested as Gwen.  They did enjoy opening the peanuts for John and climbing all over us.  I think we made it through 5 or 6 innings and it was 1 inning too long.  John actually had to go get the car because Gwen refused to walk and was very upset about not being carried like the little kids.   So our first attempt at taking all the kids to a game was sort of a draw, not great but not a nightmare.

This weekend, our kick ass neighbors took us to a game and we got to sit in one of the box suites.  Oh my goodness, this is seriously the only way to go to a game with 4 adults and 6 kids.  The kids could go inside and run around, they could be outside in a fenced area and run around.  They had their sippy cups and snacks and had a great time.  Even more awesome, we had food and beer in the suite (thanks Ross & Dawn) so John and I also had our sippy bottles and snacks.  I got a new Rangers hat, and Jack and Maddy picked out RR Express hats.  We stayed until 9pm and the kids were still having a good time.  This time there was no crying on the way to the car or meltdowns.  WINNING!
Jack watching warmups

She is trying to be a crazy fan

BRICK #1

Saturday I was in a bad mood.  Just crabby crabby crabby.  The kids were driving me bananas and it seemed like anything I tried to get us all in a better mood failed miserably.  I tried to get everyone dancing, Jack was clearly annoyed and Gwen cried because I wouldn't "freeze dance."  I tried having a tea party and Maddy refused to come upstairs on her own two feet, so cried on the bottom step for 15 minutes.  I made everyone attempt a nap and then left for a workout.  I could have taken a nap, too, but decided the workout would make me feel better about all the bad food I knew I'd be eating later.

I did my first Bike/Run workout and actually rode my bike for the first time in months.  It was 90 degrees and windy but the bike part felt good.  I did about 6 miles in 34 minutes, around the neighborhood.  After the bike I drank some water, ate a shot block and then did a 3 mile loop.  My legs felt like lead, I was struggling hard and was sure I must be doing 12 minute miles, which was ok given the heat and already riding the bike. But I was actually doing 8:30/mile.  I was in a weird cadence where I could either walk or run fast and could not change my pace.  I finished the 3 miles but it was killer.  I would have rather done 10min/mile and gone a little longer.

Afterward I iced my legs and streatched and felt a million times better mentally.  The kids still drove me bananas, but I had slightly more patience to deal with them. 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lookie Lookie

Ran the Georgetown Red Poppy 5k this weekend with Jennifer and man was it hard.  I did not beat my previous 5k PR of 23:21 (Casa Super Hero 5k) but I was happy with the results.  They breed fast runners in Georgetown so I was 4th in my age group.  It was a nice course though and not too far from home so I would definitely do it again.