Food

Okay I know that I had said that I would update this with house, kids and general knowledge about us, but I am selfish and lazy.  Hence my new endeavor....www.facebook.com/idontfeellikecooking  A site to help others find food to cook fast on nights you don't feel like cooking.  Take a peek.

More to come

I see that it has been more than a year since my last post and BOY has a year changed us all around here, but before you get excited I am going to have to write TO BE CONTINUED because I just don't have enough time tonight or the pictures to post right now.

To Be Expected...
1.  Route 66 vacations
2.  House Project (Yes we are still working on it)
3.  Job Changes
4.  Children Growing
5.  And A Lots More

SO STAY TUNED UNTIL NEXT TIME...

Warrior Dash

The day came and I am still standing. The Warrior Dash came up sudden and I will be the first to admit that I was not at my peek performance, but my running partner swore to me that I would be okay. I can say this first that I was not the first to finish nor was I was the last to finish. With that said, it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be and it isn't because of the obstacles we had to do, but instead the insane hills we had to climb.

I understand that the coarse was at Afton Alps, but I didn't realize we were going to have to do most of the ski hill too. Right out of the starting gate the first hill we tackled was the bunny hill and that was bad enough, but as soon as we were at the top we were faced with our first obstacle, climbing over junk cars. Not too bad but with my own personal experience with climbing over cars and their parts, I was bit hesitant. It went smoothly enough but before long we had more hills to climb. I felt like I was at the Jackson Hole snowmobile hill climb without the snowmobile.

We finished and that was my goal. I will take an obstacle coarse any day but running the hills maybe not, but I am interested in what a regular 5k would be like. The mud hole at the end might have tipped the scale for me, but saying I got to experience the Warrior Dash is a memory that won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Update

I understand it has been five months since the last post for our family, but as you can read from the last one in March life gets busy. The kids did fabulous with all their sports and Chris is really stepping into his Mr. Mom role.

The Spring was very hectic with me trying to finish up school which I am now done as I write this post, the kids sports and Chris's past work schedule. We made it through it and now the kids are enjoying their summer break. Jasmine is enjoying her horse lessons and tomorrow she gets to participate in a horse show at Windy Ridge Ranch in Woodbury. She is also finishing up her softball season with a tournament next weekend. Jayna is still in gymnastics and finishing up her first year by moving up a level at Crowleys in Oakdale. She is also the little swimmer and is in level 3 for her age group. Nick is Nick and is just loves to ride his bike and getting a break before soccer starts this fall and hockey around the corner. Tony on the other hand, doesn't know what to do with all the kids at home all the time. I think he is looking forward to them going back to school in a month.

It is hard to believe in a month I will have 3 out of the 4 kids in school and Tony is just around the corner from starting himself. I myself get to go back to school too but in this case I get to be in the front of the classroom again. It is weird to think of working again after taking three years off, but it is nice to be there too. I am currently working with the summer program to finish off my own schooling with the student teaching portion. I think this is great because I get to know the kids and building before starting the official year. I really like this place and the drive isn't bad either...it is right in district 622 about 15 minutes away at the worst.

The house is coming along slowly and I think Chris (as well as the rest of the family) is getting sick of this house project. So once we get our Electrician into the house we should be in good shape. Right now I think Chris is trying to get it roughed in so we can get it heated correctly this winter. So all in all nothing much has changed here in South Maplewood.

Keeping Busy

It is hard to believe that it is March and Spring is just around the corner. I just finished signing up the kids for their Spring activities and if the gas prices don't kill me the scheduling might just do that.

Jasmine = horse lessons (Fridays), softball (2x a wk practices, plus games and tournaments)
Nick = Soccer (Tues & Thurs), Swimming lessons (Wednesdays), Hockey (weekend games)
Jayna = T-ball (Mon. & Tues.), Swimming lessons (Wed), gymnastics (Fridays)
Tony = Swimming Lessons (Wednesdays)
Chris = building the house (Everyday)

I know this schedule is crazy, but at the same time we told the kids that they could participate in two things. I want to encourage them to do just that and I am grateful to have people surround me that are supportive and mobile as well. Thanks grandparents for carpooling for me.

I am really excited for Jayna to be able to play a sport. She has been waiting for this for years so this year will be very exciting, because she has been talking about being like her big sister. Finally she gets her chance and when she is 7 she wants to ride horse too.

I think it will become harder and easier as the kids grow up because they will be able to choose their sports rather than getting suggestions from Chris and I. I have a feeling that Jasmine will make horse riding her passion and softball will just become a hobby. She is already talking about joining the JETS at Windy Ridge Ranch, and the owner Mark said there would be spots open in October. So she would be practicing on the weekends with the drill team then.

Nick on the other hand has thrown himself whole heartily into soccer so if hockey doesn't work out I might be looking into indoor soccer for him to keep him busy. Who knows he might surprise me and want to go in a whole other directions too.

Jayna on the other hand is going to be my busy little girl. She is already talking up hockey next year with the boys, but LOVES her gymnastics classes too; in addition to her T-ball and horse interests. She told me she would play soccer this year with Nick if she was too young for T-ball, so maybe next fall she might want to try out soccer too.

So where does this leave Tony, he is might just have to take up knitting or something he can bring along where ever we take him. The poor little guy has been and will continue to be drug along to the various events his siblings are involved in. He seems to enjoy the change of scenery though.

Warrior Dash 2011

Call me crazy but I signed up for my first 5k in MY LIFE and it is the Warrior Dash www.warriordash.com out in Afton in summer. It is an obstacle course 3k so not only do I have to run a 3k but also do events like a rope wall, mud crawl, tunnels, and anything else they throw at us. I am excited to do this and it is great motivator to get my butt off the couch, I just wish I could convince Chris to do it with me.

I guess it is the first time in my life that I actually felt old. I realized that I wasn't 20 and eating everything I wanted too wasn't going to help my health. So I really hope to stick to a fitness plan that will help me get in shape for this event. So watch out everyone, because on July 23 I will be a warrior.

Oh if anyone wants to do the Commando 5k, which is the same type of race as the warrior let me know because it is on June 25th. Take care everyone it is a new year.

Christmas Holidays 2010

It is amazing that another Christmas has blessed this house. The holiday's started with the traditional events around this house like decorating the house and this year we added the advent calendars to the daily count down to Christmas. The oldest three loved the daily surprise they got and Tony loved that he got to eat chocolate everyday, even if he thought he was sneaking them. The kids decorated their gingerbread houses again and put them out for display. As the days went by, the kids noticed their houses were losing their candies thanks to Tony's sweet tooth. Chris reminded me that next year I can have a 15 foot tree in our bedroom if I wanted too, and I would love to try it but who gets to climb the 15 feet to decorate it?

The kids love the small things we do every year like baking and decorating cookies. This year Jayna got into the sugar cookies and rolled them out all by herself. Santa is a spoiled guy at this house because the kids baked four times to get the perfect cookies for him, but for some reason each batch never lasted long in this house. Instead Jasmine helped her siblings type out letters to Santa thanking him for leaving them a gifts. Jayna had her normal questions about how Santa was going to get into the house and if he was traveling to all the boys and girls houses. Nick on the other hand might only have another year left, but Tony enjoyed it to the fullest.

Christmas Eve arrived and after enjoying a hearty breakfast of Santa pancakes we made the journey to North St. Paul to enjoy Christmas at the Zientara's. It is chaos when we get all the kids together there, but after a wonderful meal prepared by my mother the kids got right to the heart of the matter, gifts. Tony wasn't quite sure what to expect but after the first gift, he understood and we got to enjoy his squeals of pleasure with each gift. "My toy, my toy...My Thomas, MY THOMAS" (he got a Thomas follow me toy). This year the kids got a few toys that were very exciting and I hope the excitement of them last them the year.

After all that excitement I wasn't sure if they would fall asleep early enough for Santa to arrive to the house, but they were off to sleep fast than I thought. Santa arrived, but for some reason the kids let Chris and I sleep in. I awake to the sound of Nick playing in his room and the others running up and down the hall. I thought for sure they opened the presents without us, but nope they waited for us to come down stairs. Santa used his traditional method of gift wrapping and as soon as the kids figured out which wrapping paper represented them they were quick to figure out the gifts. This year Santa even found Bacon wrapping paper to represent Jasmine's love of BACON.

Once all the gifts were wrapped, we were off again this time to Grandma and Grandpa Carvelli's to celebrate with family again. So again the mighty silver truck made the trip to North St. Paul and I was wondering if we were going to have a Christmas baby (Baby Herr?). Nope but the excitement was just as prevalent and the kids love playing with each other and Nick was able to contain his own excitement with out displaying it on the kitchen floor this time. The brunch was delicious and I could have ate all day long, but the kids had other ideas in store for the adults. The gifts were exchanged and everyone out did themselves again. Nick has shown everyone his remote control snowmobile he received and with the help of the freezing rain he has been able to take it outside in the yard too.

The holiday season is wonderful and everyone enjoys the time together. I love getting together with the family and I think the kids are even excited to go back to school tomorrow too. I know Jayna has been waiting a long time to show Ms. Marge her holiday dress and start her gymnastics again on Friday. Nick is missing his friends and I pity Mr. Mealey having to reign in 20+ boys again, and I don't even want to think how the early morning is going to work for Jasmine...she is still sleeping right now @ 1:40 in the afternoon. Chris on top of it all I think loves his holiday present the most...a GPS system for his snowmobile, so he doesn't get lost when he makes the Canada trip in February. Geez...boys and their toys!!!