a life beyond running shoes.

of our impromptu party. it was one of those nights when i realize how great my kids are. they were funny, affectionate, endearing, and hysterical. i was laughing so hard. we had a tickle fight. we had a dance party. we had a jumping, running competition. we had a workout. we had a laughing fit. perhaps it was the two glasses of wine i had..... or that they weren't hitting each other..... or that we were all in good moods..... or that we actually enjoyed each other's company. whatever it was.... it was a fabulous night. the kind that you want to embed in your memory. when your boys are small enough to still fit in your lap. when they still want your affection. when you realize that they are growing up. when you realize they won't always be this size. when you realize that you have really great kids.

i am running a half marathon in five weeks. the goal is to raise money for water filtration systems in kenya. i don't have to tell you that the need is great. this is my fundraising page . what is amazing to me is that the entire race benefits world vision's work. (an organization that i am personally fond of through the life and memory of my dear friend matthew) there are not many races out there that benefit christian organizations. i was pretty excited about this. i'm even coaching the training group on saturdays. it has been a really great experience to encourage runners who have never done something like this before. but while i can do the training, i need people to help fund the run. the cost of the race only covers putting on the race..... anything that is to go to world vision has to come through fundraising. please consider donating. so, how is my training going? i did 6.6 miles this weekend...... half way point. it was a spectacular day! i had a great run other...

did you know that in the winter..... in the snow... when it is cold.... the big animals stay inside. that would be at the bronx zoo. perhaps they are smarter than we are..... but we still had fun. saw the rhino. amphibians. hissing cockroaches. favorite thing was the bug carousel. and the starbursts. and making smashed pennies. (that cost 50 cents to smash the penny you provide) maybe we will wait until spring to go again. but then again we were some of the only people there.

we get to do things like go sledding. this was our first exposure. one loved it. one did not. and one barely tolerated the snow.... but was a trooper. thought for the day: lent. gracious god, father of my lord jesus christ and also my dear father, i thank you that you have permitted me to see another lenten season, during which i am privileged again to meditate on the cross of christ with its many comforting spiritual lessons. may this holy season give me great spiritual lessons. cause the message of the slain lamb of god to impress on my heart and mind the awfulness of my sins and to lead me to calvary for pardon and peace.... o holy spirit, during this lenten season grant all pastors a double measure of your outpouring to arouse the indifferent listeners, to stir up the lukewarm, to encourage the timid, to assure the doubting, to calm the disturbed, to console the sorrowing. -- my prayer book , for the lenten season during this lenten season..... it is good for me to try the discip...

at home. a day late. but very yummy. menu: sauvignon blanc. arugula salad with garlic crouton, shaved parmesan, and lemon. steamed artichokes with lemon butter. whole wheat flatbread with rosemary and onions. pan-seared scallops with beurre blanc sauce. chocolate mousse with salted whipped cream. seriously. we could not have afforded that meal at a restaurant. and we could hear the boys chatting in bed while we ate. no screaming.... no fighting.... it was amazing. thank you boys.

mark bittman's book includes 75 recipes. i started dog-earring the ones i wanted to try...... then stopped when it was every other one. food matters: a guide to conscious eating . in the same vane as michael pollan..... re-thinking consumption. discusses our nation's over-consumption. gets into the issue of gov't involvement. "healthy" ingredients. sane eating. what i love is that he starts his book with the supposition that we don't eat healthy. and when he actually changed the way he ate (as described and proposed in his book) he actually lost weight, lowered his cholesterol & blood pressure. one of the ways he does this is by eating vegan during the day..... then consumes meat & wine & cheese at dinner. he is a self-proposed glutton at dinner. while i am not sure i could do the vegan-thing so strictly, it did make me consider how many meat products i consume on a daily basis. i mean, would it be so terrible to have vegetable or lentil soup (...

what drives me crazy about winter is how home-bound i get. i don't parent inside all that well. i am more distracted - email, phone, blogging. outdoors - i feel like i am more on my game. the park, the farmer's market, the playground. but we don't live walking distance from the park anymore. a day at the playground doesn't work..... naps for sweet pea, school for peanut, pick-up, lunch..... well... this saturday, we had a family day. i did my run early without my training group. got home, showered, jumped in the car. i realize that we drove over two hours to just have lunch. but we were not at home. we were not bugging each other (that much). we stepped out of the doors. and we found a candy shop with a big gum ball machine. and a "haunted" indian smoke shop. (side note: those headphones are not plugged into anything. he wore them the whole ride home) it was mostly worth it...... minus the stress of trying to park our car when getting home when our entire stre...

we made valentine day cookies. that is how we deal with ice after the snow. as with most things.... this is not helping weight loss. baking being my downfall...... but it helped get through the morning of being inside. frosting colors: peanut - purple. little bit - jungle green (total heart day color). mommy - raspberry. side note: little bit has worn that basketball tee all week. i finally had to bargain with him in order to wash it last night.

cancelled school and all. movie nap time. daddy made slide.

snow: three inches cancelled our training run this weekend..... but it afforded lots of fun. sports: geaux saints! food: barley soup with kale, dill, fennel and lemon (bon appetit page 89 ) perfect thin crust home-made pizza (cook's illustrated website) chunky cheese bread (passion for baking page 44) note: as 3 peas has said , it is worth the price of book. kids: rocking out to super bowl commercial:

another good young adult fiction read. book 2 of the series. had dinner with the author; walked away with all her books. love that youth group culture that they capture so well. teen angst. grief. crushes. friendship. growing up. it was a nice departure from food and parenting books.

so glad stef didn't waver..... i could have easily when i saw the two inches covering my car. it wasn't that cold..... 29 degrees. the snow had stopped. but i wondered if the running path would be clear. it wasn't. but it was beautiful. quiet. serene. spectacular. we were not the first footprints. but it felt like we were. same ole loop. just better. was a bit slippy on the hill down.... but so worth a little adventure this morning. 4 miles felt good especially after 5 on monday. this is a much better training week than last!

....blessed lord, let me climb up near to thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, from my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved. wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to thy will, mored fixed on thyself, that i may be more fitted for doing and suffering. from valley of visions . i got to have lunch by myself. it was wonderful. lentil soup, glass of wine, books, coffee. of course, i had four books with me trying to take full advantage of quiet. valley of visions, food matters, the bible, and next book club book. too much to tackle in one two hour period, but i loved every quiet minute there was. came home and had a delightful afternoon with the boys and daddy. fun project from peanut's highlights magazine. i mean, shaving cream and food coloring.... does it get more fun than that?

that losing weight is hard? i know.... duh. i guess baby #3 is reminding me that it doesn't just happen. it seemed to just happen after the other two. or at least a little bit easier. so.... i have called in for back-up. that famous "meeting" group.... that i am doing on-line (how could i get to a meeting once a week?) ...... the good 'ole WW. i love it. a friend gave me a cookbook and i tried the chicken & chickpea chili. YUM!!! (i couldn't even taste the three bell peppers) AND my family ate it. i have also discovered a zero point soup..... basically vegetable soup.... and i add barley and use olive oil.... so make that a 2 point soup but again....YUM! (another friend recommendation) there is a whole WW sub-culture. people who have done.... are doing it...... love it. i have to admit that signing up was a huge ego thing. to admit that i could not do it on my own. but i am so capable, smart, we eat healthy.... and i have done this before. but i wasn't h...

home cooking . i am not sure. i'm glad i read it. i found her to be interesting. i loved reading her recipes. i liked how she was not exact: heat the meat. add salt. saute until browned. i won't keep it although perhaps if i did i might use it. book of vignettes about cooking. some funny things. loved the chapter about being alone in the kitchen with an eggplant. but her writing is not captivating. but then again, perhaps it didn't need to be. she is not father capon (my favorite book of 2009) but she does refer to him which made her far more endearing and credible. read if you choose.... you won't be wasting your time.

he is his own person. fully. completely. one thing about him is his love for all things sports. that would include the clothing. he fights with me every morning to wear basketball shorts. even if it is 19 degrees outside. we compromise. he wears shorts inside and changes when we have to leave the house. of course, he changes into some version of sweats or athletic pants. (translation: he needs sport clothes. when he grows he needs big boy sport clothes and right now he is wearing little sport clothes. also, he was singing "leaning on the everlasting arms" from church this past week.) he also love music. here is his own version of language with a little "unto the lord" thrown in there. (he is a pastor's kid and all) he does create his own words and sentences. funny boy!

i have not put out my list for this year. many of these were on my list for last year that i didn't get to. some i started and just didn't get to finish. here goes: unsettling of america - wendell berry closing the food gap - mark winne food matters - mark bitman come to the table - katrina heron little women - louisa may alcott tale of two cities - charles dickens day after night - anita diamant sophie's choice - william styron unaccustomed earth - jhumpa lahiri (finish) little house on prairie - laura wilder the help - kathryn stockett a quest for more - paul tripp authentic parenting in a postmodern culture - mary demuth big truths for young hearts - bruce a ware teach them diligently - louis paul priolo grace based parenting - tim kimmel men & women in the church - sarah sumner orthodoxy - gk chesterton

.....but i did. catching fire . book 2. sequel to hunger games (that i read over christmas) a friend gave me her copy on wednesday night. i so kindly decided to let my husband read it first. i got an email the next morning that my copy was available at the library. i went and got it. the idea that i did NOT have to wait for him to finish..... i could not contain myself. again..... devoured the book. now my patience will be tried as the third and final chapter of her trilogy does not come out until this summer. i think i can wait.... not really, but i don't have a choice. read this! young adult fiction can be so fun.... fast.... engaging.... interesting..... captivating.... and quick. what an interesting story. did you read "the lottery" in college? short story. has that feel to it. can't recommend it enough.

girl with the dragon tatoo . crime, murder, "who dunnit?" it was a fast read. gripped me. read it in a week. original swedish title: men who hate women. i would not have read it under that title. plan on reading the second book of the trilogy this summer. what was nice is that the book does not lend itself to much discussion, so the ladies and i mostly just hung out. this month marks five years for this group and it was pretty much the original crowd. we have added people here and there. some stick (and just couldn't make it last night); some don't. people cycle in and people cycle out - have babies, grad school, move, life..... it was nice to be the only one with small children. we talked about faith, church, dating, careers, exercise, weight loss, cancer, retiring, marriage, children, and how delicious the cheese was. it was great to not have to talk about the book. next month.

not me.... (although, i am trying for that - wink, wink) the food i ate last night. friend won a raffle for a wine night at a vegetarian restaurant. she couldn't go. i got to. DELICIOUS! here was the menu: parsley root puree with truffled chestnuts warmed beluga lentils with artichokes on butter lettuce with sherry vinaigrette winter bean cassoulet with winter greens and roasted heirloom garlic warm chocolate cake with parsnip and toasted hazelnut ice-cream the menu was built to highlight local, organic wine. it used all local ingredients. it was so tasty. i only got a photo of one of the courses (the beluga lentils with butter lettuce).