The Sweet Life

Our family has been very focused on "good" food for a few years now. As I have stated before, we have tried to maintain a healthy kitchen, and in order to do this I have had to research and educate myself quite a bit. My most recent book, is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It is very informative and creative, with just the right amount of how-to. There are endless recipes and descriptive chapters on how to grow your own garden. This week I have embarked on a journey of trying to create new and delicious recipes that we have not yet had. I have been very Greek this week with lots of tapas meals and tons of veggies and hummus with everything. Keton has been rather pleased, which I think is a good sign. I have a sense of purpose when I am food shopping and preparing meals for my family. To me, this part of my "job" as a wife and mother is a very important responsibility. I rest at ease when I know that my family is eating well, and I feel good that I am passing healthful cooking and eating on to my girls. For about a month Gracie was running around telling everyone that what they were eating had "bad sugar". Kind of annoying, but cute at the same time. We are eating at home more now than ever (although, with two little ones, eating out is a rarity!). After a weekend of original mediterranian meals, I decided to have a baking evening with my girls! Keton was off to watch the Lakers, and we set in to bake some cookies. This particular recipe came from the above novel, and it is called "Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies". They are made with half the regular amount of butter, and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/3 cup of honey as sweeteners. The other health benefit is that half of the flour used is whole wheat. I added some ground up flax seed to add more fiber and omega 3 fatty acids. Gracie helped stir and poor, and Stella hung onto my leg waiting for chocolate chips to fall.
It was going well, until I discovered that I did not have a shredder to shred the zucchini finely. Without this key tool, I figured the zucchini would just not work in the recipe so the cookies turned out to be just healthier chocolate chip cookies. They came out fluffy, and had a nice sweet taste to them that definitely took care of your sweet tooth, but also assured you that you were eating something that is healthy too.
I usually have to put the paper down for grease absorbtion, but it was rather minimal with these cookies. We loved making them, but we certainly loved eating them more...
It was hard to keep the girls to just one cookie, but the batch does provide us leverage for tomorrow! Gracie was so helpful and attentive, I think she might love cooking one day. This little project just reminded me of how fast the girls are growing. While waiting for the cookies to bake, Stella was busying herself with the computer (which of course, is hands-off....). As I glanced at her, I was taken back by how much older she seemed. I grabbed the camera in order to preserve her at this age, since I know by tomorrow she will look different.

I love how in the last picture here you can see her little chipped tooth. She took a spill while jumping on the bed. Stella is rather fearless. Both of the girls have features that seem to age and change with the sun rising and setting, and we are so amazed at this. What a wonderful reminder this is to slow down and count your blessings. That is what I will be doing tonight. Along with counting the cookies, as I am sure when Keton gets home there will be several missing....
If you have not baked with your little munchkins in awhile, jump on in and try this recipe!
www.AnimalVegetableMiracle.com

Changes

I wonder what life would be like if nothing around us ever changed. It sure would be boring, but I do find myself wishing and praying that certain aspects of my life would never change. For instance, take the moment I am currently witnessing. Gracie is on the floor coloring and writing her name (still shocks me that she can do this!) and Keton is hanging out with her while playing with the various gadgets on his can-do-all Blackberry Curve phone. She is telling him how much she loves him, while he is making his phone "talk" and say things that make her laugh. It really is the small things in life. Stella is finally asleep, and sometimes it would be nice if time would stand still for a few more hours while she is doing that. The one thing I miss (besides being able to finish my coffee while it is still hot) the most from my former non-kid life is the sleep. But, as you all know, once that one little one makes its appearance, goodbye sleep! That is a change that is still a little tough to deal with. Change is just part of life. A big part. One moment you are a little one yourself, and the next you have little versions of yourself. Seriously weird, even after years of raising a mini-me. Our family has had some recent changes, all good, but still changes. One being that I have been blessed with work for the summer, which was not the plan. Super great! Another change here is that Brooke and I will be running another half marathon. Yep, we are crazy. And asking for pain. It is in October, so we hit the pavement next week for training. The goal is to beat 2 hours! I will keep you posted on how that goes...
The girls have had a big change this week too. We got rid of the crib and put in a bunk bed type system! They are both officially big girls!
Here is their room now:) They LOVE the beds, and of course during the day they double as a fort. Who knew? And for those of you that see Keton's little bunny ear fingers on the right hand side, go ahead and chuckle. Obviously some things never change....but I do love him so. We have done some work and rearranging in their room and so far I am pretty happy with it. Although I am a little sad that we have no baby in there anymore. But once I do not have to carry a diaper bag anymore I will forget all about that and be thrilled that they are big girls! We are also in the process of trying to put our backyard together. Our plan is to plant an above ground garden, full of greens and herbs for cooking! I will definitely be blogging about that when the time comes. I cannot wait to see Keton out there being Tim the Tool Man Taylor. Haha. Anyone that wants to come and check out that scene is welcome to visit! On a side note, we went to Ikea to get the beds and took the girls too. Has anyone ever taken their children there? Their YOUNG children? There is no way out; it is like one giant maze. Just terrific if your little ones throw a wingding fit and you cannot get out of there. I might have nightmares about that place soon. Oh, and another major change....Gracie ate a bean tonight. Amazing. For all of you who know Gracie, you know how lovely her food issues are (yes I know, like mother like daughter, shush!). We convinced her to eat a chickpea (and I am pretty sure she ate it only because it had a cute name) and we both thought that this might qualify as a milestone. How come that is not on those charts at the doctor's office? OMG. Gracie just came up to me, pointed at her gums and told me that she hurt her "nipple" up there. Uh, those are not nipples kiddo. Not that I am going to show her what nipples really are....hmmm. Funny how children's books don't really prepare you for everything. I suppose that is a lesson for another time of change in the future...
The last change that has happened around here in the recent weeks is that Gracie has become an artist. She drew beautiful pictures of Keton and me. Of course she told Keton that she had to add his yohoo, because after all, that is what he has. Girls have hoohoos, boys have yoohoos. We are not a technical term family.
Here is Picasso's artwork:There is nothing like seeing yourself through your child's eyes. Too many Pixar movies maybe? Oh well. At least she is loving art, reading, and writing. I feel that she will be attending school soon, and that is a change that I am just not ready for. Not that I ever will be.
Bring on the changes...
Might as well try to flow with them, and enjoy the amazing things that are happening around us.

Goal Accomplished!

My friend Brooke and I trained for the Orange County Half Marathon for five months. We ran every week; some weeks had more miles packed into them than others. Neither one of us are what you would call "runners" but we are both former athletes and have competitive spirits. So when I asked her back in December if she wanted to do a half marathon, she enthusiastically signed up with me. We started with one mile. That's right. We ran one whole mile our first time out together. It was Christmas break, and we met up at the high school we work at. I was winded, and a little worried. From that point on we added miles and time each week, and the training was going well. We hit some bumps with minor health concerns and some overall fatigue or sickness, but for the most part we trained together consistently. When we could not run together, we trained separately and we stayed faithful to "the plan". Just sticking with the training for several months was a big deal for me, as I tend to get bored and side tracked with working out. Brooke was a wonderful running companion and kept me going even when I wanted to say no. The five months flew by, and last Saturday night, I found myself getting anxious for the race. We woke up early Sunday morning, dressed for our long run, and headed out. Keton was kind enough to wake before five am to drive me down to the beach (us Southern Ca runners have beach marathons and the scenery and weather spoils us!). I was supposed to meet Brooke at the runner's drop off. No problem. See you there. Except there were 13,000 people running the half and full marathon that day.
I waited and waited. No Brooke. I began to panic, and had visions of me running next to strangers for the next few hours. How would I make it without my buddy?! That is when I saw her exit the car and start heading in my direction. I seriously almost teared up; I was freaked out we would not find each other. And she was my motivation! We headed to the start line, and stopped off to use the port-a-potties. Ewww, I know. But no one wants to run a 13.1 mile race without going potty! We waited and waited. If no one ever tells you this (and you are thinking of running a big race) go potty as many times as you can. And get in line right away. Oh, and bring your own toilet paper. Brooke chose to capture the moment with her phone (it is one of my favorite pics actually!):
We lined up and got ready to start! It took awhile to even reach the starting line, since there were so many people running. Neither one of us were sure we would finish running (although we vowed to scrape each other off of the ground if need be). I had only gotten to ten miles the week before, and that is three short...
Just before the starting horn went off, Brooke again captured the moment!

Miles one through four were good, although I had to potty again at mile two and Brooke made me hold it for the race, and I am now thankful that she did that (she was right, you just feel like you have to because you are running! Another tip for first time race runners!). I did sigh as I passed each port-a-potty along the way. We ran well, and finished strong. By mile ten, we knew we would make it (and we even charged up the hills a la Rocky style!). Seeing that finish line was one of the greatest moments I have ever had. We never quit, or even thought of it for that matter, and I had a great sense of accomplishment as my shoe tag crossed that line. We did it. We ran 13.1 miles without breaking or giving up. This is something that I will cherish always. For anyone out there who is considering running or competing, go for it!
You won't regret it:)
Keton was there to greet me and hug me, sweat and all. He was beaming with pride, and that made me feel amazing too. I do feel tremendously blessed to have a wonderful husband who supports me, and a friend like Brooke who would endure this with me. Thank you to you both.
Oh, and my dearest mother was at our home keeping the girls occupied. A major thank you to her for helping us!
It truly takes a village for a lot of things, not just raising a child!
Sunday night we were hurting. But we made it out for a big celebratory dinner and some dessert. And I had an extra glass of wine just so I would be able to stand the walk to the car. Monday morning Brooke and I hobbled into work, with our race numbers and metals to show off our accomplishment. And later in the day we were already discussing what race would be next...
It is kind of addicting. I headed out for a two mile jog last night, even though my knees were not happy with me, and I found myself visualizing the race as I ran my usual course. That got me through the little aches and pains I was feeling, and by the end of mile two I felt almost normal again.
Today I began researching more races. I fear I have started a hobby that may be painful for life....
But I think it might be worth it.
And hey, Brooke is ready for another race too. At least there is one person crazy enough to take this on with me:) I think Keton has agreed to remain sidelined. He enjoys the cheering aspect. And likes to take the pictures. He is just not big on pain (good thing I had the kids...)! Kidding honey, I love you!
Apparently running just isn't for everyone.
But it is for me...
More to follow with the Brooke and Stephanie race saga. Stay tuned to find out which marathon we are taking on next!