How does your lunch stack up? Muffin Tin Monday

Today's Muffin Tin Monday food was in stacks.  Stacks of falafel, a marshmallow man stack, carrots, broccoli, baby corn and cheddar cheese cube towers.

Pierce didn't like the falafel, but the twins did!  I thought I'd found the perfect high protein baby food for them, until I realized how crumbly it was and how much they tossed it around.  Clean up was a job!

Want to participate in MTM?

Chicken update!  Here's Elvis, look how big he she is!

Note the chicken tractor in the background, with Pierce opening the door.

He's all ready to practice egg gathering skills.  Soon!

The Falling Lisa Half Marathon, A Race Report

Actually, it was called the Trail Nut Half Marathon.  This wasn't the greatest race for me.  It started at 9 am, which was a late start considering the heat.  I don't typically carry water during races, but with water stops only every 3+ miles I knew I'd need it today - temps would hit 90* by the finish.  Course I'm too fat for my fuel belt (stupid postpartum belly that will.not.go.away) so I had to opt for my Camelbak.  I filled it with 40 ounces of water and a bunch of ice.  That's a lot of water, but it really didn't seem heavy to me.  Here's a pic from about 1/4 mile into the race.  I'm on the far left, with a look on my face that expresses my thoughts, "It's hot!"

Meanwhile, Cort and Reid enjoyed crawling on a blanket in the shade while Pierce hit the playground.  Ahhhhh.  Must've been nice.

The first loop of the course went okay, even though I was slow.  I walked some of the hills, which I pretty much never do, but it was HOT!  There was virtually no breeze - I think I felt a breeze twice during the run, and then for only a couple of seconds.  Every time I took a sip of ice cold water from my Camelbak, though, I felt slightly revived.  My legs were tired in spite of 2 days off from running.  Not sure what was going on there.

At the halfway point, we had to run by the finish line, and I was tempted to call it a 10K and quit, but I knew I would've beaten myself up for the next year if I'd done something that wimpy.

Here I am, just past halfway.

During the second loop I started tripping frequently.  I was just worn out from the heat, and didn't have the greatest foot placement.  I think I was also draggging my feet some.

I ended up falling twice!  Unheard of! 

I sure was glad when I crossed the finish line.

Sadly, I ran a new personal worst by THIRTY minutes.

That's huge.

I don't know what to think.

Yeah, the conditions were awful, it was hilly, it was trails, and the course was long (about 13.25) and so forth and so on. 

But honestly, I never would've thought I could've run a half that slow.  I really need to start evaluating what I'm putting in to my runs more, and trying to get things together a little better.

Below is me with Trina, so happy to have survived.

Trina runs a lot of trail races, and she said it was the worst race she'd ever run...just because of the heat.

She also said, "Look at it this way, next year if you do this again you're guaranteed an instant PR on this course".  I like having positive friends!

Seriously, 90* is pretty dang gnarly.

The damage:

The race was well organized and I love my new t-shirt which says I heart MUD and I'm a Trail Nut. 

If I run this again, I think I'll wait to see the weather forecast before I sign up though.

The Suicidal Lemmings and Diaper Changes

I had successfully blocked out of my memory forgotten that at some point babies develop free will.  And all of the sudden, your compliant, agreeable, smiley baby decides that :

NO YOU WILL NOT CHANGE MY DIAPER.  END OF STORY.

Uh huh.  The twins have hit that day.  They've hit it HARD.

Now diaper changes involved devious planning.  I grab the diaper ahead of time, open all the tabs, have it out and ready.  Wipes open?  Check. 

Proceed to place happy baby on changing table pad.  Toys strategically placed for maximum distraction.  All systems a-go, right?

WRONG

For this is the moment that madness sets in.  That cute little happy baby?  GONE.  Back arches.  Crying insues.  Tears.  Flinging.  Kicking.  This small little rigid yet fighting body is like the suicidal lemmings, trying to throw itself off the changing table to escape the diaper change.  Desperation. 

Meanwhile, I practice my wrestling moves while hoping I can contain all diaper nastiness in time.  Because, you know, in my daily life I prefer to not sink my hand into poop, pick poop off the floor, or clean poop off the side of the wall.  That's just me.  So I try to pin down a corner of the child while I make herculean efforts to diaper as.quickly.as.possible.  No easy feat on fighting, angry, suicidal baby.  Seriously, are they injecting steroids into bananas these days?  How can this wily less-than-20-pounder be so strong?  They're doing push ups in their jails cribs during naptime, aren't they? 

If I could hit the translate button on the screaming, I'm pretty sure it would translate "I'll get you my pretty!  You and your stupid diaper changes too".

When does potty training start again?

Memory Lane Friday - A Favorite Movie

Memory Lane Friday is a time to reflect on memories from your youth.  Today's topic is 'A Favorite Movie'.  I had a really hard time with this topic!  I didn't have any one particular favorite (at least not that I can remember) but I did have several well-cherished horse movies.  So I'm going to write about those.

First off, there was The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. A Disney comedy, it's a really cute movie about a man who builds an aspirin sales campaign around his daughter's show jumper.

There was also Sylvester, which I probably watched hundreds of times.  Starring Melissa Gilbert, it's about an orphaned Texan girl who believes in herself and her battered horse, going all the way to a National Equestrian competition.

Other really great horse movies included Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken and of course National Velvet.

And, to toss in a movie that wasn't all horsey, I just loved The Three Lives of Thomasina.  Another cute, sweet classic Disney comedy.

Want to join in on Memory Lane Friday?

Grab the code from below the button and copy/paste it into your blog.

<a href="http://twobearsfarm.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll311/varunner7/button_edited-3-1.jpg" /></a>

Then post your website into Mister Linky:

Be sure to come back for next week's topic, "A Time I was Scared".

The Chart, The Bank, and That Stupid Snow Globe

Having spent almost 5 years doing juvenile probation, I've seen a lot of teenagers with a deeply ingrained sense of entitlement.  So as I encounter the typical 3 year old egocentrism, I'm always carefully thinking about things I can do to help Pierce realize a healthy respect for money, without resorting to saying lame things like "Money doesn't grow on trees".

Showing instead of just saying.

So a couple of weeks ago, a perfect teaching opportunity arose when we went to the Transportation Museum.  Now let it be noted that I avoid the gift shop at all costs everytime we go there.  Why?  Because I have experience.  And now I know better.

Seriously, why step into the fire if you can just walk around it?

But Pierce was begging and Paul was all, "Oh, we'll just walk through it on our way out".

Famous last words before being burned to a crisp.

Because there, in the piles of junk, a little train snow globe (OF ALL THINGS!) called out to Pierce and said, "YOU MUST BUY ME"

Furthermore, it also spoke to him and said, "YOU MUST THROW THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TANTRUM.  LET NOTHING STOP YOU.  THEY WILL RELENT".

Relent we did not.  But we got lots of looks as we toted our screaming, flailing 3 year old out to the car.

It's been a long, long while since he's thrown a tantrum of such epic proportions.

I swear I think it aged me 2 years.

And so, we now have this on the fridge:

Pierce can now earn check marks on a daily basis.  Things like picking up toys, putting shoes in the drawers, bringing mom diapers - all of these things earn check marks.

And at the end of the week, those check marks convert to coins.

Which then go into the ATM:

So that Pierce can save up to buy things.  The ATM actually keeps track of how much he has. And now, whenever we encounter situations where Pierce says "I want, I want, I want" we say, "Okay, it costs $8.99 and you will need to do your chores and save your money". 

And you know what?

Although he doesn't seem that interested in doing 'extra' chores to get 'extra' money, he does seem to be grasping the idea that he needs to save to buy.

As for the snow globe, well, Pierce did earn his $3.50 and we finally got to stop hearing about it forty times a day.  Now he just HAS TO HAVE the orange Zhu Zhu named Nugget.  Yup...save your money, kid!

Oink! Oh, excuse me. Truffle Cake Recipe.

This month's Woman's World magazine had THE BEST recipe.  Even better - it's easy (the hardest part is waiting until the next day to eat it)!  So I had to share.

Truffle Cake
2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
1 cup unsalted butter
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped (I just used Ghiaradelli chocolate chips)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*.  Wrap aluminum foil around bottom and outside of 8" springform pan; coat inside with cooking spray.  Dissolve coffee granules in 1/2 cup hot water; cool.  In pot, melt butter slowly and carefully over low heat; remove from heat and cool.  In large microwave-safe bowl, microwave dark chocolate on high in 20 second intervals, stirring, until melted.  Chocolate burns easily, so pay attention.  Mix sugar into butter; stir into melted chocolate.  Cool.  Stir cooled coffee into chocolate mixture; whisk in eggs.  Make sure mixture is not too hot or you will have scrambled eggs!  Pour batter into pan.  Bake 40 minutes.  Cake will be "jiggly".  Refrigerate overnight.  Before serving, remove side of pan.

I didn't have an 8 inch springform - I had a full sized springform, so my cake was shorter than it would've been otherwise.  But it turned out just fine.  Also, if you don't have a springform, I don't see any reason why you couldn't just line a 9 inch round cake pan with foil and use that.  Just use the foil to lift it out of the pan once it has set up.

Let  me tell you, this cake is so rich and delicious.  Paul compared it to creme brulee (our mutual favorite dessert) in chocolate format.  It's a little more dense than creme brulee, a bit like cheesecake in that fashion.  And it kind of melts in your mouth with its chocolateness.  It'll be a definite repeat in my house.

Deconstructing May

I realize that my use of the word 'deconstructing' isn't entirely appropriate, but it just feels right as I sit here and analyze my workouts over the past month.  I have really struggled trying to get back into shape after the twins, and May has been my best month so far.  It still isn't where I want to be, but I'm getting closer.  And  that feels good.

So here's to May:
3x weightlifting
4x yoga
2x hiking with Cort
95 miles of running (no races this month)

First, the positives.  What did I do right?  Well, my running is consistent.  I did several long runs during the course of May.  I got in yoga weekly, and almost got in weightlifting weekly.  I ran lots of hills and I ran at different times of the day to increase my heat tolerance as summer nears.  I managed to get up early to run a couple of times.  I ran in rain and storms. 
Motivation this month was decent.  I downloaded some fun podcasts to listen to, including some of the Nike professional runner interviews.  I also downloaded an awesome podcast workout by YogAmazing called Yoga for Runners.  Just 20 minutes, it stretches all those running muscles. 

Okay, so where do I need to improve?  I have got to start hitting the track once a week.  I know I keep saying that, but I really NEED TO ACT ON IT.  I also need to at least be doing weights once a week, although 2x a week would be more ideal.  Also, it would've been nice to hit 100 on the miles.  I am a little mad at myself, as I certainly could've fit in one more 5 miler somewhere this month. 

Anyhow, I'm getting there.  I'm being careful about my progress.  NYC is my long term goal, but I'm trying to gradually build up the mileage.  My hips still ache constantly after runs, as does my IT band.  This pregnancy sure did a number on me.  I need to hit the chiropractor because I think it would do me some good.  Overall, things could be much worse, and hopefully June will be an even stronger month for me.  I'll be racing on Saturday in a half marathon.

Now, speaking of racing, this weekend was the AEP run.  Cort, Reid, and I hung out at the starting line, just across the street from our running group Striders friends who were volunteering.

The racers were off:

Paul and Pierce ran together.  Pierce rang his bell along the 5K.

Paul hurt his back running with the stroller one handed, and has been laid up all weekend.  Hopefully he'll feel better soon.  Let me just say...running with a stroller, even the ever-awesome Bob, is not easy work!

Post race Pierce gave Louie the lightening bug a low 5.

How was your May?  And do you have goals for June?