Race Day.

Well I think I finally made it to a race. Tommorow will be my first 5k race. Once that's finished I will have a new goal of finishing a 10k next month. Then training hard for the July half marathon. Yikes! I think I am doing pretty good so far. I just need to keep having the support of my wonderful husband and my sweet daughter who goes on these long walks with me. She does get spoiled while on the walks though. She has so many toys, games and things to do. We also go to the parks and gas stations to buy a treat. She loves that part! I'm pretty sure I could already do a 10k for the distances I have covered so far, but I don't want to hurt myself or just try to hard right away. I think it would be best to get the feel of a race first and then move up from there. All these races do cost money to enter but it's always a fundraiser to a good cause. So I don't run/walk just to improve my overhealth. It's one way to help make a differance. Maybe one day when I get better at these races, I will put together a race for a good cause of my choice and hope to do what I can to help somewhere. I love to run and go for long walks, so why not use that? I'm sure I could think of some clever race title name to perk some interest too.
    I have to laugh at my hubby who does give me some support, but I'm sure he's not the only husband out there thinking this. I had asked him, "should I do the 5k, or the 10k?"   His response, "do the 5k, it will be better for the first race."   Two days later I mentioned to him "I really think I should have signed up for the 10k. I know I can do it."  His response, "The 10k is too long, do you think Heidi will wait for you that long?"  My response, "Is it that Heidi can't wait, or you can't wait for me and you have to watch Heidi for that long."  His response. Oh wait there wasn't one, he just walked away. Ah hah!!! What a wimp.

LOVE spring!!!

I love when spring comes around. There are so many fun activites around town. So facebook and MOPS groups are great to be apart of, when you can't get together when your child is sick. Then you can stay in the loop of area events in town. I found one event that is state wide. They call it Unplug and be Outside Week. It's basically, unplug that t.v and get your butt in gear to enjoy things outside. So area schools and business' have donated their time and materials for many free projects to do around town each day during the week. Sometimes there are four things going on during the day, all day. Yesturday, I brought heidi out for a walk which was more like over 7 miles I had in mind. So I packed a lunch and a busy bag for Heidi to stay entertained in her Schwinn trailer I push along on my walks or runs. It's about 2 1/2 miles to get to the river in town and along the way there are parks and other stops for her to get out to stretch and play. When we finally made it to the river which is located by the downtown area, we went to our local parks and rec center to pick up a list they have for everyone. It's a Scavenger Hunt list which is part of the Unplug program going on this week. Heidi had so much fun. What a great idea and fun for her to learn some nature materials. After our scavenger hunt we sat to eat some lunch and fed the geese and ducks. We even found some baby geese and then Heidi just wanted to feed them the food. If the bigger geese got in the way, Heidi would say "go away geese, no, get away. Baby's food!"   What a great afternoon. By the time it was on our way to get home, Heidi jumped in the Schwinn and passed out tired. So it was a nice straight shot home. 
              This afternoon when Heidi's nap is over. We are heading to the park for a birhouse making project. It sounds fun and Heidi sure loves feeding the birds in our yard. We can only stay an hour for that, then it's off to free swimming at the aquatic center in town until 8pm. Somewhere in there we have to eat, so I think it's a drive through moment and while on our way to the pool. Heidi has been so excited to go swimming. All day she has been asking me and I beleive this has been the longest morning and mid afternoon for her! We even bought new dora slippers for when she goes to a pool. Speaking of all this, I better get going and get her up from her nap to go make birdhouse's and then get something to eat. FUN FUN FUN!
      

Heidi's 3rd Birthday!

Alot of the things I found were at the dollar store, and I printed out signs.

Gotta have the Piston Cup!

Flo's V-8 cafe' menu for guests.

Rust-eze Medicated Bumper ointment ketchup & mustard bottles.

Cars cake I made for my birthday girl.

Pit Crew passes for the kitchen helpers.

Luigi's tower of tires.(mini chocolate donuts).

Pop and Juice for 'Fuel'.

Gardening

This summer I am once again hoping to have a nice garden. Last year I didn't have the time to take care of one. We were just to busy. So this year I am looking forward to do some canning from some veggies that I hope will grow to a good harvest. This weekend is suppose to be very nice with almost 80 degree temps and I think I will get my garden tilled and ready. No excuses to stay inside! I found a few ads online in our local area for 'free wood'. Like old fences knocked down and they are giving away the old fence pieces. I may have to go look at them and see if the pieces are in good enough shape to make a few raised garden beds. Now that would be a great re-purpose project. If you look at the home improvement stores, their garden beds are nearly $100. Silly to buy them when people are giving away old wood and you can make them yourself.

Heidi helped me plant a few seeds in our little greenhouse today. I think it's going to be a fun and colorful garden. Heidi will have her own garden bed, that will have her own tomato plant, flower plant, and some strawberries. One other plant she will love later, are the Snake Gourds! Yes, Gourds that grow to look like snake's! Then when picked and dried completly, the seeds inside will rattle! How awesome. I have to get some paints sometime, so she can paint her own snake, and I will have to get some funky eyes to put on. I really hope those will turn out. What a fun halloween idea also. I also planted some decorative corn. This corn looks like rainbow colors and you can use this corn for decoration or for bird feed. So, great idea for heidi or to sell in packets for kids; 'duck food' in little baggies. It's really colorful and fun for kids. It would also be fun for craft projects later.

Keeping my fingers crossed that we can have a decent garden and I can give a try at canning some homemade spagetti sauce's, veggies, and strawberries jam. Going to be a busy summer!

Heidi's plant.

The other day my daughter and I went to our local MOPS group. This week we had the chance to decorate our own flower pot and then we all got a strawberry plant to take home. It was about the growing anew and loving life in light of the easter holiday. What a nice craft idea to take home. So I painted some flowers on it and some polka dots on the top. Then finished it with some pretty ribbon. But I decided to let heidi help take care of it and she can call it hers. I think this will be a good start to learn where one of her favorite foods come from. This summer I plan on building a medium sized raised garden bed and make it a strawberry patch. Since we already have a few strawberry plants in our garden already and we haven't seemed to kill them off yet. So it just might be a successful garden bed. It's going to fun and I can't for the weather to be a little nicer outside.

Texas Roadhouse buns and butter.

More to come about these wonderful rolls that won't last long in our house!! SO SO good.

Grandma's Recipes

Who doesn't like keeping family traditions going? I love to cook and try new things and lately I have been wanting to make my grandmother's recipes. Or what she could remember from making some things. She never really had a recipe. So today I had to try her Kase Kneophla Casserole. It turned out really good, and by really good, I mean a good tasting, thick casserole that is very heavy. Now, most german's from russia (from where we grew up) lived on farm's and back in the day they worked harder than ever. So I can see why this would be a great meal for those hard working farmers. And on the cheap! Gotta use what is available and quick to make. Brian really enjoyed this meal, but I believe we will be eating a big salad for dinner tommorow. Phew! I feel like a could run a few miles after eating this. But since it's freezing outside today and the wind is blowing like crazy, I think I might run up and down the stairs. Ha ha! I was just glad that I made this recipe and keep it from my grandmother's stack of things to try. Now to decide what to try next time.