My Favorite Things party!!!!!!!!!!!

My sister Kelsey told me that she had been invited to a "My Favorite Things" party way back in September or October.  I immediately knew I wanted to host such a party.  So, way back when I sent out a really formal invite on Facebook with all the details.  Finally, last night was the night!  It was a blast and I hope to make this an annual event!

This was not an Oprah style party.  We had a limit of approximately $8 a gift.  Since there were 11 ladies total that is a lot of money.  Knowing about the party since October made budgeting and planning so much easier on the bank account.

I decided this would be a party for my dearest friends from church.  We all know each other well and this just provided another chance to learn something fun about one another.  I also opted to keep the party simple.  I made easy peasy appetizers.  My friend Kim brought one dessert.  I did not make any fancy drinks.  It was just simple, basic, and what I think we all needed.

I would also like to say that I think my house looked so pretty.   I love this time of year and all the decorations are part of my love affair with December.  My mom helped me decorate this year and she did a really good job.  I was so happy to share my pretty decorations and clean house with my friends.  My house is never totally clean because of the kiddos so it was a total treat for me!

Almost everyone could come which was awesome.  We visited, laughed, and laughed some more.  We ate and had some drinks.  Then it was time for the main event....the PRESENTS!  Everyone explained why the gift was their favorite thing.  I so wish I had recorded each reason because they were all so great.

Tami loves to craft and Pinterest is her thing so she made everyone a old fashioned looking candy dispenser.  So awesome!

All of Tami's gifts!

Kim loves to write notes so we each received two notepads, a pen, and some candy!

Carmalyn loves pretty things especially if it involves the word JOY.  She gave everyone a pretty knick knack thing with beautiful blue bird and the saying "Embrace Joy".  It is so much more awesome than I am explaining.

Kate adores William Somona's cranberry relish and she gave everyone a jar of that.  YUM!

Ann Marie likes to read the Momastery blog.  The one motto of the blog is "Love Wins" so Ann Marie had wrap bracelets with those words on it made for everyone....woo hoo!

Paula makes her own lotion!  She made everyone peppermint shea butter lotion.  It smells so good.

Michelle gave everyone a packaged soup mix from one of her favorite Nutcracker Market vendor.  I can't wait to make it.

Eileen also gave the gift of food....Fiber One brownie bars....so fun!

Jenn likes jewelry and she brought a cross bracelet for everyone.  Pretty!

Becah loves hair (her back story was hilarious!) so we all received hair spray that apparently works with all our Houston humidity!

I gave three little things...Burts Bees chap stick, a Christmas ornament, and homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

It was such a fun, happy night!  I am thankful for great friends, all the smiles, the laughter, the gifts, and the JOY!  Thanks girls!!

Run Girl 13.1 and the park

I am scheduled to run the Run Girl 13.1 on Sunday morning.  This will be my third year to run this race.  I really love it and in fact I would say it is my favorite race.  It was the first time I broke 2 hours in a half.  I ran a 1:57.26 in 2010.  Last year I bettered my time and ran a 1:50.00.  Yeah, I was that close to going being in the 1:40's.  Oh, well.  That was my plan this year until I got sick last week.  Now my plan is just to have fun.  If I am feeling strong (not thinking this will be the case) I will try to run a great race.  I would love to PR, but that means running a 1:49.19 or better.  Again, not thinking this will happen.

So, in the spirit of having fun I made pack pick up an adventure.  Elena's friend Carmendy came along to have lunch and play at the park.  Samuel and Elena were all about playing at a new park.  And, because it is a long drive to the park, that meant a movie in the car.  It was a totally fun day for them!

I got all my goodies for Sunday and I must say this is quite the race bag.  I love all the stuff and just wish I could use some of it on Sunday.  Again it is going to be crazy warm so gloves and long sleeves will not be needed.  I am going to wear a tank top in December which is nuts!  I can use the awesome insulated water bottle after the race so that is good!

The our play at the park plan was to eat lunch and play for about an hour.  It was kind of chilly and Elena is still not feeling great.  I did not want to wear her out too much.  As soon as we got out of the car these two little pests came over to greet us.

Huge ducks and ugly!

Then they would not leave.  I did not have the presence of mind for us to leave so we just dealt with the pesky ducks.  All was fine until the one duck bit my pants.  Nice!  After that we ate sitting on top of the table.  Elena, Samuel, and Carmendy thought it was kind of funny, but I found it to be annoying!  After eating we tried to go to the park to play.  The kids made it just fine, but I was carrying the food bag.  That meant I was attacked by the pesky ducks again.  Serioulsy!!  That was enough and we left to find another play area.  Why I could not come up with that plan sooner is beyond me!

The kids had a blast.  There were several covered play areas with many different climbing things, slides, little toys, etc.  It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.  The best part was a totally empty park.  I guess the clouds kept people at home.

For one of the first times in my life I used Instagram to take all the pictures.  I loved being able to change the picture settings!  I am so behind the times....oh well.

Silly Elena

Elena still has a nasty cough and Drew is now sick.  Drew decided a Sonic slush would be a nice treat for his sore throat.  Elena wanted blue coconut and I, of course, had to take pictures of her being silly.

On a happy note, I ran today and did not feel like I might die.  I actually felt like I was running without maximum effort for the last five miles....woo hoo!

Oatmeal Pancakes

This is going to be a first for me....blogging about food.  It is strange that I never write about food because I LOVE it.  I could eat all day long as long as it is good food or cookies or ice cream.  I love to bake and I like to cook.  I pride myself of making fun, delicious meals for my family at least 5 or 6 nights a week.  But, my cooking is all about following a recipe.  I am not original in my cooking as with every other area of my life.  Give me a plan and I follow it.  Give me a recipe and I rarely deviate from it.  That is probably why I never write about food.  It is not original, but these pancakes are so worth blog space.

I found the recipe in Cooking Light last year, but did not make it until late this summer.  Who knows why I waited so long....so regrettable.  Anyway, you can find the recipe here:
Oatmeal Pancakes.

We had them last night for dinner and I quadrupled the recipe.  We eat a lot of pancakes and I wanted a lot of leftovers.  You see I love having the for dinner, but I really like having them for breakfast and lunch for many more days.

They batter is a little thin

They are so pretty!

I highly recommend eating them topped with Greek Yogurt and fruit.  Leftover they are so yummy slightly warmed and then topped with peanut butter and jelly!  It is making me hungry!

This is definitely our favorite pancake recipe.

As for the "You've been Rack'd" update, this morning Emma made her bed.  The note card was taped to her headboard because she actually made her bed before school.  What a sweet girl!

You've been Rack'd

I am guessing that got your attention! 

Yesterday at our church's Advent Celebration Emma picked up a stack of cards entitled "You've been Rack'd"!  

As the card says, Emma is to perform a Random Act of Christmas Kindness each day.  I thought it was quite awesome of her to bring these home.  It was her little secret.  

Emma did not have much time to perform her kind act yesterday because she did not get the cards until 6pm last night.  Being the clever girl that she is, Emma patted me on the back and told me she loved me.  I thought she was just being lovey, which she was.  However, she was patting a note card onto my back with a little note saying "I love you!"  Well played Emma!

Then last night she taped this note to our bathroom mirror...

Her little note to Drew said "you are the best dad ever".  Apparently Emma plans for her acts of kindness to be in the form of words.  I love it and am so proud of her!

Emma is already prepared for tomorrow.  She taped her note card to her headboard.  I am already very curious who she will be blessing with her words!

On a totally different note, look who is sick now....

Fever, cough, sniffles....oh my!  My heart melted to see Elena holding her baby's hand while napping.

Blowing up my Marathon Plan

I am less than four weeks from running my second marathon.  A marathon that I started training for in August and have worked really hard to improve my time.  A marathon that I am actually really excited to run.  A marathon that holds big dreams for me.  So, why am I blowing up my plan this close to the race? 

I started to feel sick on Monday.  Each day I felt a little worse or had a new symptom or both.  After I developed a fever on Thursday I decided a trip to the doctor was needed.  Now I am on antibiotics and the new symptoms just keep on coming.  It is like a train wreck repeating itself each day.  I could not be more frustrated my seeming inability to get well or even slightly better.

I was supposed to have a light running week last week with only 36 scheduled miles.  I ran 10.5 of them and they were all gut wrenching hard.  Today was the worst.  I decided to try to run maybe 6.  I was feeling slightly better when I went to bed last night and I honestly wanted to run this morning.  Well, my mind was willing, but my body had other plans.  It was a horrible run.  Mentally it did nothing except damage my self-confidence.  Physically I barely survived. 

Less than 4 weeks to go and I missed 25 miles of training and two speed sessions.  This week I am supposed to run 50 miles with a half marathon on Sunday.  That half is one week from today.  It was supposed to be a huge PR race for me.  I love the course very much and until now have felt crazy prepared to run.  Now, I don't think I will run. 

The timing of this could only be worse if it was closer to the marathon.  I know I still have time to pull it together, but my doubts grow with each day that I don't feel well.  Seriously, feeling off and flat out sick for a week is not normal for me.  

I totally believe that things happen for a reason.  Life is about lessons and learning.  So, perhaps I need to slow down and rest more.  Maybe that is the lesson I am to learn from this ridiculous extended illness.  I just know it can't have anything to do with running....please no!!

All I know is I really want to feel ready to run on Tuesday.  It is possible!

I also should say that Drew was awesome helping me complete all my weekend obligations at church. They were non-negotiable and I could not have done it without his help.  We received lots of compliments today on the "forest scene" in the sanctuary.  Whew....I am glad it was well received.  I have had no voice since yesterday morning and Emma has been my "mom" voice.  She loves speaking for me.  I don't think her brothers are enjoying it quite as much!  Today Elena told me to stop being quiet because no one was sleeping.  If only it was that simple dear girl!

But, the entire week was not lost.  I did go to an amazing Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins concert with my mom.  Thank goodness it was Wednesday night or I would have been too sick to go.

We had to say good-bye to Mammy/Mom on Thursday.  I am glad I was healthy enough to have fun while she was here; however, it would have been great for her to take care of me!

Tonight, the church madness culminated with the annual Advent Celebration.  The kids love it.  I like it.  We did make some fun things to enjoy this Advent Season.  And, we went on a hayride albeit through a parking lot.  We do live in the city and it counted in the kids' minds.

So, as we start a new week, people please pray for my health and my sanity.  I am in need of both to return!

There is an Elf in our House

Our Elf first appeared in 2009.  Emma with all her creative juices flowing named her Ellie.  This is the first year that Samuel is really enjoying it.  Who knows what Elena thinks about Ellie.  They all, even Emma, get excited to see where she will appear each morning. 

 

This was their favorite place so far!