Seaport River Run

70 degrees, dogwoods blooming, kiddies in the stroller with the hubby long-gone, smiley by my side...ah, the sweet feeling of a good Saturday run.
Yesterday, we did the Seaport River run 10k in Lewiston. It was a beautiful day (warmest day yet of the season). On this particular run, when you get to the end of the run you get a boat ride back to the start. It was sooo much fun. Smiley was over-heating for the majority of the run. (I think he needs to lose more of his winter coat.) Twice I had to stop for him to get a drink and to dip himself in the river. He was pretty exhausted by the end.
As for the Rickster...he pulled a 44 min flat pushing the stroller(didn't even phase him!). I did my own pace and did a 52 min. We had a great time and polished off the day with a little yard work and a swim.
Oh, how I love the longer days of spring with nice weather and the fun of spending time with my family!

Ebay treasures...

Recently we have had occasion to purchase a few items on eBay. I thought I would share our treasures with you!

Ricky's New wheels...After pulling the third-wheel and being shaken up a bit we decided it was time to get a bike with a little bigger tires and a more sturdy frame. (Last night I pulled the third wheel behind my bike and I can attest to the very unstable, (especially when climbing) and quite tricky balancing act. Also, the Rickster will be able to ride this bike to work without fear of losing his sweet Lightspeed.

Next up we have a dozen vanilla beans...great for making our own home-brewed vanilla!! Umm, I can't wait!
Lastly, I just purchased four of these sweet vintage knobs to accent my lovely avocado kitchen. The curtains I'm making will hang from the four knobs...pretty cute eh?

Well, that's all for now! Happy trails!

School Lunch...

Today we received word that our camera's repair is complete and I should have it back in four days!! Woohoo...I have been feeling a bit of a camera withdrawal. So, here is a Oldie-but-goodie pic of the Popster last summer (she kept her outfit entirely clean!).

A few days ago one of my friends approached me with an idea about trying to re-inspire the school lunch system within our area. The main premise of the idea is that we would try to convince the school board that instead of feeding our kids the trans-fat laden, sugar loaded, pre-processed food that they are currently receiving. We would try to devise a plan/alternative that would supply our children with healthier food at school.

Basically the thought process of this brainchild is this: With the childhood obesity epidemic taking hold of our nation, and with children who probably rarely ever eat "whole" foods, why is it that our school systems encourage this poor dietary consumption. It would seem logical to me that children being in a learning environment should be learning how to eat well. Why is it that if parents such as myself, want my child to have a "real" meal for lunch, I have to send it with my child who will, no-doubt, actually want to eat the pre-processed terriyaki-dippers(that was actually on the menu this week) that all of his friends are eating?
It would seem like a much better idea to serve our children healthy whole foods and then if the parents decide that their child would not like to eat the real food, they could send the wonder bread/ Bologna sandwich with Velveeta on the side. Have we as a society just embraced the fact that obesity and poor nutrition are the norm? Do we sit complacency on the side and let these health issues destroy these children, before they have a chance to make the choice to eat healthy? We tell them they should be eating whole grains but we don't supply them with it. We tell them that fruit and vegetables are good and delicious, but we give them canned processed, syrup laden food. What ever happened to actually giving kids fresh fruit and veggies?
With all that being said...I am trying to devise a way that we could encourage others to see the good that could come from giving these kids at least one good meal a day...especially if the parents aren't helping them with good food choices.
I recently heard on NPR a report that said, that the lower class of America tends to be the most at risk for obesity. During the study they actually showed that when people were obese their earning potential goes down and that when they lost weight their earning potential went up.
It seems strange that the poor people of our country are the people who are struggling the most with obesity. Does that seem backwards to anyone else? OK, I think you get my point here...sorry to get on a soap box...but I would love suggestions and ideas from the blog world. Surely there must be a way to gain leverage against obesity. It seems to me like a good place to start would be with our children.

Luau Limbo...

Jack be nimble, jack be quick...Jack jump under the limbo stick...
Yes, tonight I nearly (that is, I was the last person over 3 ft, to be standing) won the limbo contest at our ward's Luau. Not to worry, the little munchkins beat me out, including Oscar. I still felt this surge of joy at the fact that I could make it under the stick at all (as a side note: tonight I have discovered an advantage to having a depleted chest size)!
Oscar however, is quite devastated the he was not the "winner". After we were both disqualified, he got all teary and sad. In fact, still at this very moment, he is in his bed bemoaning the fact that he was not the limbo champ.
I tried to comfort him by saying..."don't worry, you still beat me!"... and..."It's OK I still love you"...but to him, the limbo loss is a setback. To this I'm certain there won't be a question of whether or not he can successfully win at the limbo, on his college entrance application. But to a 4 and 3/4 yr old tonight, the limbo is everything.
Oh, to be back in the time of my life where such travesty is just too much to bare. In fact the funny thing about doing the limbo tonight is that is brought back all of these fun memories of doing the limbo as a kid. I also was doing the face painting booth tonight, and had a great time drawing doodles from my younger years.
My cousin Heather and I would sit and paint on our arms and legs for hours as kids. We would doodle on paper and pretty much anything we could find. She still is very much into art, and is creating quite a name for herself in the art world.. as for me, it is a past time that is fun to visit from time to time.
So, tonight as we go to sleep, I'll dream of past times and memories of being a kid...while Oscar dreams of how next time he will be the Limbo champ.
The Rickster did admit, that he too, was distraught for not winning the limbo when he was a kid. I suppose our little Oscar apple didn't fall too far from the tree.
Tomorrow...we will have a Edgie limbo contest, where we will all be winners!!!!

Random Tidbits

1. Mr. Digital camera took a fall and will be out of commission for a little while. Hopefully, all the kings horses and men will put him back together again!
I may have to go to photo archives to keep my blog a photo happening place.

2. Currently I'm on a no-junk food diet (including: anything chocolate, candy, cracker, snack food variety items) during the week. Having said that, this is what I ate this weekend (besides my regular food intake):

-Copious amounts of Easter candy that I deprived myself from during the week.

-Chocolate fudge strawberry waffles

-Strawberry yogurt ice cream with hot fudge on top (twice)

-Chips and salsa (due to comments, I may need to add this to the ok-to-eat list)

-Cookies from a going-away party

-A few chocolate chips

As of yesterday morning, I am junk-food free until Saturday! (Betina and I are still looking for a great reward for the winner who can do the challenge the longest. Any suggestions?)

3. I was recently thinking about Pullman and all the cool people I have met since we moved here. This is a list of countries that I have met people from:

-Ukraine: Natasha

-Russia: Irina

-Germany: Lotah and Umgard

-India: Susmita and family

-Korea: Lee family

-Palestine: Reem and Samer, and cute mom who was visiting

-Mexico: Javier and Sara

-Argentina: Marcos

-Ecuador: Andrea

-France: Natalie

-Canada: Betina and Family

-I have also met people who have (or will be) adopting babies from: Kazakhstan (Emma), Ethiopia (to be determined), and Guatemala (baby Marcos, not here yet, but soon!).

What a cool place to live where so many different cultures come together!

Oh, Boy!

While preparing for our wards primary activity yesterday. Oscar entertained himself by watering the flowers. Being the nice mom that I am, I told him to make sure and wash his feet off before he comes in the house. After a few minutes left alone, I looked out the kitchen window to find, my sweet little Oscar frolicking through the mud!
Oh, to be 4 3/4 and feel the sweet freedom of frolicking about, naked in the mud!

Easter Family Photo Success!!!

Recipe for a successful family Photo: 1. Forewarn husband and children of their desired cooperation in said activity(two weeks notice). 2. Take picture before church (instead of after), and following Poppy's nap. 3. Get a third party to take picture (rather than setting the self-timer like we normally do.) 4. Demand conformity and withhold Easter baskets to attain desired cooperation!
Now I'm happy to report that we took two good pictures (out of 10). Here are the two I liked best.
Not to worry however, I wasn't too hard on them. I even let them play in their Sunday clothes following photo shoot. Daddy was pleased to have the pictures over with.
Best part of it all is that we now have a family photo, with me included, that doesn't have me wearing Lycra! Woo Hoooo! We have now saved the eyes of our posterity. Not to mention captured my cute family in their Sunday best. :0)

Static!

Poppy reminds me of a Fraggle. Her wispy fuzzy hair and big eyes. She is this little Fraggle puppet who buzzes around the house like a busy bee. She is sweet and adorable, smelling all the sweet flowers of life. Then all of a sudden, she stings the innocent passer-bys. Yes, she has a stinger made of little pinchers. Frequently she applies her pinching to the Lil'O. Then she runs away for one second then returns for a second shot. She is quite the little tease. I know immediately where she genetically received that quality (and it wasn't the Y chromosome).
Some of her sweeter attributes include (but not limited to): She can dance...this little girl has a groove. She has this contagious laugh that makes you want to squeeze and tickle her. She also has quite a few words...Cookie, daddy, momma, BOY (this is what she calls Oscar), dogie, more, please, thank you, NO, ninky (binki), bottle, yucky, kitty, up. She knows how to get peoples attention (good or bad). She also has developed a talent of eating dog food and mixing the dog's water and food together (just think she is a cook in training!).
This little fire cracker of a girl, is so adorable you can't help but adore her...but be careful...she bites!