Update!

Rattle Me Bones 10K

PB - 1:01:06

October 25, 2009.

Ready! Set! Go Gobble Gobble!

A few weeks into the school year I got a phone call from DJ's school. Apparently, every second nutrition break he was hanging out with a bunch of grade 3-6 students. DJ would race out of the Grade 1 door and head over to the far corner of the track. The grade 5 teacher called to tell me of DJ's fascination with this crowd.

Apparently, every day, DJ has been leaving his peers and joining in the grade3-6 track team practices.

The coach told me that he does not want to discourage DJr, but that he wanted to make sure my future track star understood he was too young to participate in the upcoming track team competition.

That afternoon, I sat DJ down and asked him about his track aspirations.

He was so cute. At first he thought he was in trouble. Then, I think I figured he was going to be banned from the team practices.

He smiled innocently at me and simply said he liked running with the big kids. It was good exercise and making him strong and healthy.

I congratulated him on his commitment and hard work. Then I gently explained how he could not compete with the school team...not yet.

He smiled. Nodded in agreement. Gave me a big hug and said, " That's ok mommy. I do not run for them. I run for me, cause I like it...and um, I run for you."

"You run for mommy?"

"Well mommy, I like it when you race and I want to race like you. But really, I just want to run with you when I get big and when I get better at running. Mommy, you go to your running class to learn to run - and I go to the running team to learn to run and maybe one day we can run together. I would really like that. Mommy, running makes you happy and running makes me happy and I like being happy with you!"

WOW. WHAM!

It really hit me how my transformation from being overweight, inactive and unhealthy has impacted my children.

My children see how I now take time for myself, and that physical exercise, working out, and taking care of myself makes me happy. Heck, it makes me happy, content, proud and at peace.

They see the benefits to leading an active lifestyle. Both the physical ones, and the emotional ones.

I am committed to keeping up with my new routines of working out, eating properly and taking care of myself. I am committed to being a positive role model for my three children.

So, this past weekend we all ran together. We entered the The Fall Colours Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot race.

And everything about it made me happy.

Pre-race photo!

Ready....Set....Go!

And we are off!!!!

I love this photo of the boys! DJ's facial expression is priceless!

DJ loved the experience. He was awesome!

Click HERE for more photos of DJ giving it his all!

Anderson was excited...and then got a little whiny ...but soon got his second win and finished on a high note!

Click HERE for more photos of Anderson.

Little Madigan ran the ENTIRE 1km on her own. She was so determined. When people cheered for her she would stop and clap! It was hilarious! This photo so captures her race with me loudly cheering her on every step of the race!

Her photos from the race are great! I love the one with her running and a man running behind her with his screaming child! Priceless! Click HERE to see all Madigan`s professional shots!

Here we are after the race. The kids were super proud of their t-shirts, their bibs and especially their medals.

I was just proud of them...and very thankful.

Happy be-lated thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadian bloggers!

The scat master irons his socks

OH my!

Rex Murphy did not disappoint!!!!

"The scat master"

"No bimbos in Harper land!"

"Harper and the Deficits"




OH my!
I HEART Rex!!!!!

So yesterday!

Ok... I no longer have PM Harper's Beatle song in my head...that is just sooooo yesterday!!!

(hee hee, I made a funny!)

Today's brain-knocker is this little glee-ful rendition of a popular song!

(hee hee, another funny!)





TOUCH DOWN!!!!!!

Bravo! Bravo!!!!

OK, our Prime Minister stole the show on Saturday night!



He is NO OBAMA, in fact, many a comedic sketch has payed homage to his robotic nature. But he threw caution to the wind, and took centre stage!


Oh, his handlers have worked hard trying to improve his image - Remember those lovely sweaters?????!!!!

Anyways, thanks to PM Harper I have been humming this song!!!! All. Day. Long.

I cannot get it out of my head!!!

Furthermore, this tune is being hummed all over Parliament Hill!

Every morning I deliver my report to the PM's office in Centre Block. Well, this morning I came across 5 workers humming a certain Beatles tune!

Hilarious!

Genius!

PM Harper's performance is the talk of the town. What a perfect choice of song given our current political landscape. Oh, I cannot wait for Rex Murphy on the Thursday night CBC National program...his commentary will ROCK! (Ya, I am a Canadian Studies major, can you tell?!?!?!)

Now, wonder what PM Harper's encore will be????

At the next G8 meeting, Obama may win the congeniality award, but Harper may be crowned in the talent competition!!!

AH, Canadian politics!!!

My meals for the week come with pre-made photos!

Each week my parents have been residing at The Grimes Lodge - it is like a dorm for cancer patients while they are getting treatment. There is a little kitchenette where they can warm up foods. Since my mom cannot eat and there is no real cooling facilities, I have been trying to provide as many meals as possible.

So, each weekend I make a few meals for my family is an extra little to pass onto my dad! here is this week's menu:

Monday - Crock-pot steak with mushroom & mushroom sauce and cous cous and squash from our garden!

Tuesday - Tandoori chicken with mixed veggies and cous cous.

Wednesday is pizza night! Mommy has a 5:45 gym class and the boys have Beavers and Daddy has to rush home!

Thursday is yummy salmon loaf with grilled peppers and squash (the last one from our garden!).

Friday is kind of up in the air right now. We might go out for Pho soup?

This weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving. Gotta finalize my plans...but it will involve turkey and stuffing and a pumpkin pie!!!

As for my other meals, I am tracking religiously. I am keeping within my points the best I can.

My breakfasts are going to include steel cut oats with PB and banana, or eggs with veggies and salsa or toast with apply butter. I am going to try my best to eat the bulk of my breakfast early, and then have a healthy mid-day snack.

My plans for lunch are pretty basic - mainly a salad with some sort of protein - tuna, chicken, tofu...something tasty, a bit of dressing and a fruit with yogurt.

I bought a huge bag of spinach to have afternoon green monsters - and I am loving a low-fat hot chocolate mix I got that is basically a point!

Last week I had a shock at the scales...SEVEN pounds LOST! Crazy, I know...but I think it all had to do with training and running for the half marathon! I am hoping for a loss this week... but if not, I will know that I have eaten healthy and within my points.

Check out more Menu Plan Monday entries at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

I did not get around to posting on Friday, but I cannot wait to tell you all about my new fitness program for October and November!!!!! Stay tuned!

Well, gotta run and get lunches made and kids into bed!

Peace out my dear Bloggy-friend! Sleep well!

Everything old is new again!

So, I am chatting with my Mom, and she asks me the address of my "new blog".

My new blog?????

"Ya, your new blog, you know, since you have not been posting on your old blog, I figured you had a new blog."

A new blog? Nope, no new blog. Just a dusty one!

Not posting. Yep. That is the case.

Why not?

I am not sure. I have had lots of stories I have wanted to share...but I have just not made the time.

I did not even summarize our amazing cross-county drive! Oh, I wanted to tell you all about the "sign from above" and our laundry. Or how we drove home through the US and visited Old Faithful - how cool is that?!?!?

Oh, I had a hilarious condemnation of our house sitters. You know, the ones who not only drank copious amounts of alcohol in our backyard, but drank OUR alcohol, leaving all the empties by the pool deck, and whose MOTHER threw a pool party and got busted by my parents! That is a story to share, for sure!

I took lots of photos of the "While-you-were-out-Clean Sweep" my wonderful parents did while we were on vacation - HOLY CRAP did they do a great job...though I still need the sticky notes on some drawers to know what goes where!!!!!

Oh, and I wanted to write about my last few training sessions for the half marathon, and my amazing (and surprising) mental state going into the race. I also wanted to spell out a few race stories and surprises.

I wanted to bitch and complain that my Mom has cancer. I wanted to shout out how proud I am in how she (and my Dad) are handling this challenge. I wanted to update on her condition and how her treatments are going. I wanted to sing the praises of the doctors and entire medical team, and I wanted to tell you all about her "cool-cancer dormitory".

I wanted to tell you about how I have been battling the same 2 or 3 pounds at the scale for WEEKS now. I also wanted to share my funny experiences in finding a new WW meeting. Oh, and I really wanted to post my Monday menus to help me stay accountable and organized. My fitness program, oh, ya, I am changing things up and I wanted to run some ideas past you wonderful readers.

I wanted to update you on the kids and how they are adjusting to the new school year. Heck, I wanted to post about Madigan and her 3, yep, THREE first days of school.

I wanted to complain about how I had to reapply for my own job. My ridiculous hours. My crazy co-worker. Oh ya, lots of good material from the office to share!

I wanted to write about all our extra-curricular activities such as soccer, swimming lessons, Beavers, gymnastics - you know all the regular juicy content of a Mommy-blog!

Oh, there has been so much going on...lots of material...I just have not made the time.

When I mention my blog to friends, it kind of annoys me when they comment about not having time for stuff like that...I usually reply, "Well, it is important to me, so I make the time...it helps me keep sane." And, well, sadly, I have not been following my own words of advise.

Having the time, is not the same as making the time. For whatever reason, I have not made the time. That is sad, especially since I really enjoy blogging. I love the outlet, I thrive on the comments and idea sharing and I enjoy keeping up with all my bloggy-friends.

I have been a bad Mommy-blogger, a bad weight-loss blogger, basically, a bad blogger, all round. I have neglected the Fringe! But that changes today. Everything old is new again! New attitude. New commitment to the old Fringe.

Oh, ya, baby, Laura from the Lunatic Fringe is back again!

I did it - a PB!!!

I did it!!!!!
A half marathon!!!!!!
2:19:21.6

My runners!

Left foot: Over 80 lbs gone!

Right foot: Only 21km to go!

Moments before lining up at the start line.

It was amazing. It was the Army Run - so, lots of soldiers, and brave, injured soldiers started the pack. Read THIS amazing story about a double amputee running this race!

I felt strong the entire race. I kept with my plan and never "lost it emotionally".

This wonderful cheering squad met me at 7km, 17km and at the finish line. Each time giving my encouragement and strength. My heart swelled with their yells of, "GO MOMMY GO!"

I finished very strong and felt great!

I had realistically figured I COULD finish in the 2:30s. I had privately hoped to finish in the 2:20s...and was ecstatic to clock 2:19:21.6!!! A Personal Best, you know, since it was the first time I ever ran a half!

We headed off to Chapters - the kids played with Thomas the Train and read books, and I enjoyed a nice coffee, and admired my dog-tag medal!!!!

(Believe it or not, yes, I was able to get up! AND, after running the half, I took the three kids to the local pool for some fun. We then went out for dinner...it was an amazing day!)

Check out my Senior Bunny

School supplies carefully stored in a new school back pack. Check!

Fancy clothes. Check!
(apparently, a belt, makes it "fancy, fancy!)

Smile on your face. Check!

Quick pose with Mommy. Check!

A big yellow bus. Check!

Ready to tackle senior kindergarten. Double check!!

Anderson,

Today you start senior kindergarten; today you are a senior bunny! How exciting! You are so ready for this new challenge. I cannot wait to see what the new school year brings for you. This year you will be one of the leaders in your split class. I know you will help and coach and befriend many junior and senior bunnies. Your infectious smile, crazy antics and sincere caring nature will help you make many friends. I hope that you continue to love writing, reading and drawing. May your level of confidence grow, and your success be many. I hope you allow your cute, cuddlely personality shine, but that you also pay attention, stay focused and most of all, that you have fun!

Every day at 11:47am I will be anxiously waiting at the bus stop for you - excited to hear about your newest adventure and fun. I cannot wait to see the zoodles and zoodles of art projects and work sheets you bring home. I cannot wait to see you excel and totally enjoy your last year of kindergarten.


Good luck my crazy, funny, Pander-Bear!

Kissies and huggies,
Mommy

Grade One

Supplies bought, new back pack packed...

First ever school-lunch packed...




A quick pose with Mommy...




Cool dude, ready to take on the world...



A quick wave and glance back...

... and DJ is off to grade one!

DJ,

May you have a wonderful first day, and a brilliant year in grade one. I hope that you make new friends, reconnect with your old pals, and have the time of your life. I hope you enjoy school, step up to all new adventures and challenges like you usually do - with a smile and a sense of determination and pride. May you make peace-maker decisions. May you be true to yourself. May you seek knowledge, fall in love with learning and have fun. May you accept your challenges, tackle any difficulties, take pride in your successes and use each experience to learn and grow into the person you are meant to be.

Best of luck in grade one, Buddy. I love you.

Mommy

(I miss you already!)

The Great BC Trek 2009

Having WAY

too much FUN

to blog!

We have DRIVEN over

3500km

and I do not want this

ADVENTURE to end!

Having a BLAST!

Will share lots of

GREAT stories SOON!

XOXOXOX

laura

Making Mom Proud

Our HUGE family vacation is fast approaching...you know, the one where we put a 5 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old into a van and drive clear across the country. Ya, the one that Map Quest indicates takes 51 hours and 12 minutes (one way, not including washroom breaks, sanity checks, false washroom breaks, WW3 diversions, playground stops, middle-of-no-where-stops, traffic jams, bad weather, ferry wait times and whatever other types of stops a young family is forced to take in a 4602.46 KM/ 2860 mile car ride). Ya. That one.

Anyways, my mom (who gives Martha Stewart a run for her money in many areas) is a woman of lists, organization and efficiency. While, in daily life, her mutant gene hardly wears off on me, it does when I am vacation planning. I make lists of lists, I stay organized and well prepared.

So, I am happy to report, that while we are still a week from departure, packing and organizing is coming along.

I have a spread sheet that includes 234 rows and almost half of those have little check marks. COMPLETED. PACKED. READY. (I am not sure if being packed or if having a spread sheet of 234 rows or even having room for 234 items in our van is the more impressive feat!?!??!??!)

Yep, while one can never be fully prepared for a epic, crazy-a$$ trip of this sort, I am doing my very best!

Madigan, or line item 154, packed!

Weekly Challenge Success

Amy's 15 Week Challenge has been keeping me motivated. After an initial weight gain the first week, I am happy to announce that I am down for the second straight week. At my last WW weigh in I was -0.5 pounds! Yippeeee!!!

The weekly challenges this week were pretty easy.

First, we had to fit in 20 minutes of running. Well, training for my half marathon allowed me to easily meet this requirement. Actually, Wednesday I participated in the 20 minute challenge at The Running Room. It was great fun and I got a cool running hat too!!!

The healthy eating challenge was also easy. Why? Well, just look at the recent shots of my gardens!!!!! The challenge was to eat "clean". As few processed foods as possible.

This is my second year gardening. I have 5 little plot that each measure about 5 feet by 8 feet. I cannot wait till all the plants are ready to harvest.

For breakfast I used fresh raspberries from my "fruity" garden to make an amazing purple-green monster! YUMMY!


Then I harvested fresh lettuce and spinach and swiss chard from my "greens" garden.

I made simply delish tossed salad. I added a some cottage cheese and left-over ham to make it really yummy good!

For dinner I decided to make a shrimp stir fry. I raided my "climber" garden for snow peas, green peas and a few beans.

Combined with fresh herbs from my "flavour" garden" I made a very tasty dinner!

Yes, it was a very lovely, clean diet all day! For my morning snack I ate an assortment of radishes from the garden and in the afternoon I used spinach from the garden to make another green monster.

This challenge really got me thinking. And I am now committed to decrease my consumption of processed foods and enjoy fresh fruits and veggies.

Thanks Amy!

One day left

11PM - Leave for work
7AM - Deliver media report to the Prime Minister's Office
8AM - Breakfast with hubby and kiddies
9AM - Relax in bed and try to get to sleep
2PM - Wake up, eat lunch, play with kids
5PM - Make dinner
6PM - Exercise
8PM - Put kids to bed
9PM - Threaten kids
10PM - Wink-wink, nudge-nudge (or cuddle-cuddle, or mindless TV, or blog)
11PM - Leave for work

REPEAT for 2 weeks.

Happily, after tonight, only one more night, then my co-worker returns from vacation. THANK GOD! (though, I must say, there have been SOME benefits to this new schedule!)

Did you have a great day too?

It is always important to start your summer vacation off right. Our first day of summer vacation plans had been in the works for a few days. The boys had decided that to truly celebrate the end of the school year they wanted to take a bus adventure. All year they took yellow school buses to school, passing the red city buses.

So, on Friday, with a huge bag packed we set off on our adventure.

We started at Baseline Station, where we bought Mommy $4 worth of tickets (all three kids were free!). Then we waited for the #95. Oh, the excitement was mounting!

The bus pulled up and our squeals of delight brought smiles and chuckles from even the most hardened public commuter!

It was all so exciting! With transfer in hand, the bus pulled out of the station. You cannot believe the excitement a little boy has when a bus pulls off the main road and goes onto the transit way - Little Anderson was looking out the window and then he started to shake, "Mommy, Mommy, look it, we are going onto the big bussie roads! Only RED BUSSIES can go on these roads Mommy!"

We arrived at Bayview station, and excited the bus. Have you ever tried to get off a crowded bus with a 5,4 and 2.5 year old??? Let's just say, it is a bit challenging, to say the least - especially when you throw in a 20 pound picnic/supply bag!

We walked from the bus stop to the O-Train platform. Here in Ottawa we have a bus system and then a new fast train system - well, I would not call it a system, it is actually one line! None, the less, we were off for stage 2 of our public transportation adventure!

We got onto the train. It was basically empty, but apparently, great care must be taken when choosing the perfect seat!

And then we were off. All three kids LOVED it. When we went through a tunnel, you would have thought we were on a big amusement ride at Disneyland!

About 10 minutes later we pulled into the station. Just for fun we exited the train, then made our way to another train car. We all switched seats, so those who had rode backwards, were now forward and those originally forward, were now seated going backwards! Fair, is fair, you know!

And off we went!

As we pulled back into the Bayview station, I asked the conductor if my transfer was still valid. Yep. I had another 45 minutes. So, I hustled the kids back up to the bus station and we hopped onto the first bus heading downtown.

We arrived downtown. We were making our way towards, what I thought would be an ideal picnic spot. Instead, we stumbled upon a promotional concert for the upcoming Jazz Festival. So, we grabbed chairs, broke out our sandwiches, fishie crackers and apples, and enjoyed a wonderful free concert.

We then hiked (yep, hiked, since I took a wrong turn) to a local establishment. My work was having a summer BBQ lunch and my boss had encouraged me to stop in. So, my plan was to drag all three kids! Little did I know that the excitement, just would not stop!

As we made our way to the restaurant, a fire truck sped past. Then, imagine our surprise when we discovered the fire truck stopped right in front of where we were going. (Apparently the BBQ set off the fire alarms!)

Well, the kids were in heaven! I could not have planned it better. And you know firemen, they are soooooo cute, I mean friendly. They let the kids look at the truck and chatted with them, and even let them stand on the back!

Anderson, came over and hugged my leg and exclaimed, "Mommy, I think this is the best day ever!"

I assured him, it was not over yet!

We joined my work gathering, and the kids were great! They were friendly, well behaved, and kind of cute in the mix with all my co-workers!

After hotdogs, pop and cookies we made our way to Chapters. This is a huge book chain that has a kids section that features a Thomas the Tank Engine play area. The kids played, I read, sipped a coffee and we all had a great time.

Then we walked up to Sparks street. Cannot miss Ottawa Ribfest! We all voted on which vendor smelled the most tastey, had the most trophies and which had the best decorations. We found our winner and waited in line. I bought a full rack of ribs with all the fixings - oh ya! Dinner would be SWEEEET!

We walked to the ice cream store. All chose our favorites, and then headed back to catch a bus home.

We climbed on board a packed train. I looked at all the weary, tired, annoyed commuters - all heading home. I lovingly looked down at my three, exhausted, but very happy (and sticky) children and smiled. This is what summer time is about. Fun and adventure.

These smiling faces sum it all up!

DJ stuck up a conversation with a fellow commuter, and he detailed his day. The love, happiness and excitement in his voice was amazing! My heart swelled when he ended his conversation with, " So, I had a great day, it was the best day ever in my life, how about you? Did you have a great day too?"