A Little Running Fun

For anyone out there that has thought you may take up running some day I really want to encourage you to try the couch to 5K program. I was talking to Jared yesterday and I realized that this is the best experience I've had running. I've always just got up one day and headed out. I run until I can't and then try again the next day. I have had injuries, exhaustion, and eventually burnout. The people that put these programs together really know what they're doing.

The gradual increase in distance is perfect. In previous years I've taken supplements due to joint pain and even though I'm older this go round I'm pain free without the supplements. I couldn't be happier. After running the same path for a couple weeks I decided to map it at Mapmyrun.com and was giddy when I figured my base run is 5 miles (still increasing with each week). Before these training apps my longest run was 6 miles and my average run was 3.

There is a 1/2 Marathon in October here in Kansas City. It is my goal to train over the summer and run my very first 1/2! I can't wait :)
I feel so blessed to be 33 with 5 babies and in the best shape I've ever been both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Thank you Lord!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to all of you mom's and aunties (you know you love those babies like they were yours!)

We had church early today. My mom came and it was wonderful to worship with her especially today. My family all came over this afternoon and we celebrated mom, Erin and I. Since this is Erin's first mother's day I wanted to do something special for her. I called Jason and he said she loves cheesecake. Lucky for us both I have a super crafty friend who loves to post delicious recipes. I would love to share it with you since it turned out awesome!

Maple Pumpkin Cheese cake with Maple Pecan Sauce from Alisa (The Sweet Life)

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

Combine and press firmly into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan.

Filling:

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (150z) can pumpkin

3 eggs

1/4 cup Pure Maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

With a mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the pumpkin, eggs, syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix well. Gently pour into spring form pan on top of crust.

Bake 1 1/4 hours at 325 degrees or until center appears nearly set when shaken. Cool 1 hour. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. I used an 8" spring form pan so my cake took 1 hour and 45 minutes due to the extra thickness.

Maple pecan sauce:
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup Pure Maple syrup

Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened; stirring occasionally.Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Cover and chill until served. Stir before serving.
You can also use a 9 x13 pan. Just press crust into bottom of pan and proceed as above. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until nearly set.
I just want to warn you. This is delicious and you can not find pumpkin in May. You're welcome for that :) If you are able to locate some pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin) please share with the rest of the class. I have always wanted to try N.Y. style cheesecake and I really think for my first attempt this turned out fantastic!

I hope you enjoyed it Erin! Happy Mother's Day!!!

Everyone Loves Elmo, Well...Almost

Today our family is heading over to Noah C.'s to celebrate his 2nd birthday. While chatting it up with his mommy (aka Cindy) I found out she was considering making Noah's Elmo cake.

After talking for a few I decided I would really like to take the famous red head on since we're obviously related (Why is it everyone assumes all red heads are related?! I'll save that rant for another post).

This afternoon Elmo went under construction.

I started out with a basic 9x13 pan and standard white cake mix (add 1 tsp almond extract). I took a second mix and filled a 8" round pan and used up the remaining batter with 16 cupcakes.

Since the round pan is going to be Elmo's head I decided to add a little red food coloring to the batter. Apparently Elmo's innards are pink in my brain.

I was explaining to Graham what I was doing when he started telling me how much he hate's Elmo's voice and really wishes Elmo was an elephant that couldn't talk (?). He said he wished Elmo were real so he could punch him in the face...twice. Wow, cute little kid with some aggression issues. We'll decide not to explore the red headed link and not dive into his aggression being indirectly directed towards the real red head in his life.

Once the cakes were baked I immediately froze them on a flat stone. Once frozen I shaped the round cake by cutting out one piece and then laying it on the opposite side as a guide and cutting the same shape.
I used a thin layer of decorators icing to coat the entire rectangle cake and then place the round cake (Elmo's face) on the right side at a slight angle.
I used a paring knife to score where Elmo's mouth and nose should be so I could star out the red around it.
I decided to make his eyes "3D" by taking two of the cupcakes and cutting the bottom half off and placing them at the top of his head (the round cake).
You'll have to forgive the color of his nose since I didn't have orange or yellow food coloring. I took a little brown and mixed a tad of red and ended up with a beige nose. The boys felt it necessary to point that out immediately.


I have had difficulty in the past coming up with a true black but this time I made the icing brown first and then added the black coloring and I finally achieved BLACK! YAY. I made a quick dot for each pupil and then filled in his mouth.


The reason for sitting Elmo off to the right was so I could put the birthday boy's name on the cake.

Happy Birthday NOAH!! I hope Elmo tastes as good as he looks :)

New Project

Jared and I have lived here 6.5 years now and have had a pedestal sink in our main bath for the duration.

The idea behind the sink was space. Our main bath is smallish and we thought having a low profile sink would be great. It's really not so much. We have no where to store anything. I have been spending a lot of time over at Remodelaholics and desperately want to do this project for our bath. All of my readers out there please keep an eye out for just such a dresser. If you find one call me immediately! I would like to keep the cost of the dresser around $50 or less. I'm not too concerned with the aesthetics (paint, stain etc) as long as it's functional I can fix the rest.

I am in love with this blog. It speaks right to the heart of me! I'm always looking to restore or repurpose things. It saves so much money and gives such a sense of accomplishment. Keep an eye out over there. There's going to be a particular barn makeover featured soon and I'm GIDDY!!

As always I'll keep you posted on my progress! I have begun to live with a camera in my hand. I feel the need to document everything for you.

Goofy? Maybe :)

Madder Than A Wet Hen

I am so very upset right now.

This morning I headed out to the garage to charge our mower (it needs a new battery so it has to be charged before we can start it). While walking down the sidewalk I noticed the kids bikes weren't under the awning. Last night before bed the boys, Grandma and Papa parked 2 bikes, a red trike, and a Spider man scooter under the awning.

I just figured they were in the garage and when I arrived at the door it was open. Graham and Elijah's new bikes where in the garage originally. It was obvious that there weren't any bikes in the garage.

Apparently someone thought it would be awesome to take 4 bikes, 1 trike, and a scooter from 5 little kids. Really?!

I wandered around the neighborhood asking questions and no one else is missing anything. One neighbor has an expensive battery operated John Deer tractor sitting in the grass untouched.

I can't help but feel targeted. Being a single income family with lots of babies buying new bikes isn't really an option. My family generously purchased these bikes for the kids for Christmas. This is Brennan taking his bike for it's first spin.
What a generous gift for my sweet kids and now they're gone. All of them. The bikes, not the kids :) There's a silver lining. My babies are all here and safe.
After talking to Officer Boczek we have decided to report the incident. Since they went into our garage it's burglary and not just a theft.

The hardest part is the kids are handling it so well. They were disappointed and a sad but over all they are fine. I'm so proud of them for not throwing a fit or being angry. They're good kids and don't deserve this.

Grandiose Plans 4, Creme de La Creme

What did you ask for for Mother's day?

I asked for a KU weather vane. Don't all mom's want a collegiate weather vane? Guess what my sweet hubby drove all the way to Lawrence for...

Perfection

Rock Chalk

Grandiose Plans Part 3, Finishing Touches

Let's take a minute a reflect on the before:


And savor the after!!


This is it! It took a lot longer and a lot more work than I ever thought. I wanted to be done about 4 hours into it but I pushed through and now look!!!

I haven't blogged a whole lot in the last few days simply because I've been working diligently on this huge building. It's taken the better part of 3 days and I did the work primarily on my own with my 5 little helpers.

I would really like to find a galvanized wash tub on a stand to put between the two main stalls as a planter. The pile of wood at the base of the street lamp will be leaving soon. I have dreams of a weather vane at some point and honestly the sides of the building could use another once over with the top coat.

It's one of those things that I just had to draw a line under at some point. My house needs cleaned, the kids bathed, and we need to do a worksheet or two for school. I'm sure this will be an ongoing project but I feel it is a huge success.

Several of our neighbors have stopped by to give their nod of approval. It's awesome what a difference some paint and super hard work can do.