The Weekly Chase

 

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday and hope that all of you did as well! We took off early and headed back to Iowa for a quick trip to surprise my mom and I am so glad that we did. It was my weekend to work (2:30-11 PM- Friday, Saturday and Sunday) so she didn't think that she would see us at all. We pulled up to her house and went to the front door and rang the doorbell instead of just going in the back door like normal. It was priceless to see her reaction when she saw it was us standing there! It was well worth getting up early and making the drive even though we had such a short amount of time to spend there. 

 

Me with my mom and my boys

After dividing some of her perennials so that we could take some home with us we headed to a local restaurant to meet up with her mom and all of her sisters and brother. Once again my Grandma was surprised to see us. I love to surprise people! It is so much fun to see their reactions when they don't expect to see you! It was nice to be able to see my family and my Grandma as I haven't been able to attend many family functions due to them falling on my weekends to work.

Me with my grandma, my mom, and my boys

We were very limited on our time there so once we ate, visited for a bit it was time to head back north for me to get to work! As we were driving I realized that we never got a picture of just me with the boys! We made it back to my work with some time to spare so we were able to get a few pictures before it was time for me to finish my Mother's Day out by celebrating with my work family and other new mom's as they were celebrating their first Mother's Day! Nothing better than new babies born on Mother's Day!!

I love this picture! Me with my three favorite boys:)

These three boys are my greatest blessings! They make me so proud and have made me who I am today! I want to be the best example to them that I can in all aspects of my life! It brings tears to my eyes to see how big they are getting already! Where has the time gone? 

 



Riley- Mother's Day 213

Isaac- Mother's Day 2013

Aidan- Mother's Day 2013

Today Aidan and I tried a new snack that I found while "stalking" Let's Move it Momma's over the weekend! Marissa's blog was one of the very first ones that I started following and I love her! She is such a great mother, is dedicated to being a wonderful example to her boys, and is someone that I can totally relate to. She has been making huge progress with her eating and fitness this year so I went back over the weekend and read through some of her ideas.


Super easy and very yummy snack!!!
Apples with a little peanut butter and sprinkle of cinnamon.

Aidan gave this snack a thumbs up!

 

Aidan wanted me to add a picture of the two of us when we were making our snack.
I love this little boy:)

Now it is time for another Weekly Chase!

 

 Here were my goals for the past couple of weeks:

Challenge Goal: Improve my eating habits!

• This week I will make sure to have at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal/snack. I would say I was about 75% successful with this over the past few weeks. This something that is going to be hit hard in the future.
• This week I will remain aware of portion sizes and not have seconds. I was more aware and did very good with this over the past few weeks. I think I did have seconds a few times but it was better than in the past!

Challenge Goal: Become a stronger runner!

• This week I will do my daily planks and at least two core workouts. I only missed 3 days of doing my planks (weekends- ugh!). My focus has really been running and getting through marathon training so I only did my planks and no other core work.
• This week I will make sure to get in at least two cross-training session. Done!
• This week I will get all of my marathon training runs completed. Almost! I missed one 4 mile run due to life getting crazy with baseball last week.

Challenge Goal: Become a better mother!

• This week I will make time to spend time with Isaac individually. Done! I had a few opportunities over the past few weeks to get some time with Isaac.
• This week I will have conversations with the boys about what they would like to see change in our life/family so that we have stronger connections. Still haven't gotten this one. I have a plan for this week though!

 

Now for my goals for this week!  It is a new month and Molly has a new challenge for us! It's called Bring a Friend Along. Bring a friend into part of your goal making...whether it be for exercising, sanity, prayer partners, etc. We all know how important goal setting is...let's get our friends involved with us!



With our marathon being on Sunday my goals are very simple this week!

• Hydrate properly each day this week in preparation for the marathon.
• Eat right- make good choices, watch portion sizes, and skip seconds.
• Sleep- start getting a good nights sleep each night this week.
• Taper- continue to follow the training plan and do the miles it tells us- no more than what it says because they don't feel like enough!
• Enjoy the weekend in Green Bay with my best friend, her husband and my wonderful hubby!
• Enjoy our first full marathon!

My wonderful husband has been right by my side through this incridible journey and I can't wait to do this together! My best friend has also been along for this whole journey (she inspired it when she ran this marathon as her first a year ago). I am excited that she will be there running the marathon too!

 

Did you have a good Mother's Day? How did you celebrate?

 

Do you like surprising people or like being surprised?

 

What is a new favorite snack/meal that you have tried lately?

 

Any final tips for our last week before the marathon?