We have Light!

This week was a bit of a down week. Keira had a snow day, as well as winter break, so she only attended school once. Our major accomplishments were replacing 2 light fixtures in our kitchen!

We started off the week with a snow day! The bummer about this was that it also ended up cancelling a playdate. Keira is learning to be flexible. We did head over to the gym for a bit and then spent some time outside in the snow. I also spent some time trying to move Kris's mustang (on loan for the week) so that the space could be plowed. It took me and 3 other guys to get it unstuck from its spot.









On Tuesday, I had a check up for myself at the dr's first thing, so Keira and Soren spent the morning at Amber's, playing with Sidney and Carter. They had a blast. We squeezed in a trip to the gym and then headed to Costco. Keira and Soren thought it was funny that they had on matching pants today!

We also played in the snow some more.




While they were outside, Fed Ex came and brought me some free shoes from Reebok! I had signed up to be a product tester a while back, and had responded to an email saying that I would be able to test their running shoe, but hadn't heard anything back from there. Getting the shoes in the mail meant that I was going to be testing them! I can't say much about them, but the test is not hindering or interfering with my training.



On Wednesday, Keira did have school, her one day this week since Friday is the start of winter break. It was Q day. Cristina came to the gym with me for our brick class, which was another mini tri since we swam first.






On Thursday, I did my long run inside on the treadmill and then stopped at Busch's for a few things. Keira and Soren never argue about riding in the car cart. They also love getting balloons.


On Friday, I was able to try a spin class at my gym with Cristina. I was a bit worried about doing a spin class before my 20 miler tomorrow, but Cristina spins all the time on Fridays, and thought it would be good for me. I usually can't do this class due to Keira's school schedule. We also swam afterwards, but we didn't have much time or energy to do much at all. That afternoon, I helped Keira finish her craft from Adam's birthday party. Keira painted the biplane last weekend, and I did Soren's helicopter. We just glued them today. I also experimented a bit with some healthy whole grain and flax brownies. They didn't taste like brownies at all, more like chocolate flavored health bars, so I made some Ghirahdelli ones too.


That evening, we headed over to IKEA because I had gotten a light bulb stuck in our ceiling fan socket, and couldn't get it out. Ryan tried, and the bulb broke. We have never loved the ceiling fan, and since we have always had problems with the other overhead lighting in the kitchen, figured it was time to replace them. We ate dinner there and then selected two light fixtures. A trip to IKEA isn't complete without some ice cream for Keira and Soren!


We worked a bit once Keira and Soren were in bed on the lighting. We got the first light up fairly easily, but struggled with the removal of the ceiling fan. The hardware inside the ceiling had been damaged and ceiling fan had been held in place with a hodge podge of fasteners. We also kept tripping the GFCI since we had an open circuit with the fan out, so that was a bit frustrating too. Finally, we went to bed with the job partially completed, because a trip to home depot for some additional anchors for the new lamp was required anyway.

On Saturday morning, I headed out to Home Depot with Keira and Soren while Ryan rode indoors. Ryan had gotten the mounting plate installed (with the wacky hardware and all), but we still needed anchors for the rest of the fixture. Once Ryan got back, we had a few minutes to wire the new light, and then I left to run with Cristina and Monica. Monica ran the first 10 with us, so we started off pretty fast. I was getting a bit worried about the pace. We finished the first 10 at an 8:30 pace, and then did the second 10 a bit slower, with an average of 8:46 for the whole thing. We took a couple of walking breaks too, as my stomach didn't feel the greatest due to all the "healthy" brownies I had eaten in the morning. While I was gone, Ryan had been busy. The kids played outside in the snow, and he finished up the light. The kids were both anxious to see the light on, and the first thing that Soren asked about when he got up from his nap was to see the "bendy light" on. Ryan had told him that he was going to work on it while he was sleeping. The light was off when I came in, and Soren was asking to have it on. It looks great. It is a bummer that we will have to leave it soon. At least we have learned how to do it ourselves. It really amazed me that the instructions for the first lamp were only 4 pictures and no words.


We went to Red Robin for dinner, and had a restful evening once we got back.


Our Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. We had a nice big breakfast Soren and I took short naps before lunch. We even got to church a few minutes early. It was a good set of meetings, and Ryan did home teaching in the evening.




Up for next week, I get fitted for my tri bike tomorrow. Yeah!

Happy Valentine's Day & High Hopes

We had big expectations for this week. Unfortunately, many of the plans we had for last week were either cancelled or postponed due to illness.

On Monday, we celebrated Valentine's day. Keira had her valentine exchange at school. After school, we meet up with Ryan at Boston Market for a lunch out. We thought that would be a bit easier than dinner out.





On Tuesday, we got a slightly later start on purpose, to avoid the 9am gym class that isn't working out for me anymore. No one did it today, so I did feel a little bad. I did a tempo run today that felt decent, and then had a little time for some spinning. I skipped the trainer last night being Valentine's day. After the gym, we went present shopping for all the birthday parties we had planned for this week. However, no sooner than I got home from shopping, I received an email stating that Brendan was ill, and that his party had to be moved to March. Poor little guy. At least Keira understood and wasn't as upset as I though she would be.



On Wednesday, while Keira was at school, I took Soren to the gym to meet up with Cristina. We did a short swim workout, followed by a short spin, and then the track run. It was fun to do a mini sprint tri indoors. That evening, we had our taxes done and yea, we will be doing better than we expected this year. We did play outside for a little bit, though.






That night got very bad, though. Keira woke up around 11pm, before we had even gone to sleep, throwing up. It was a rough night for all of us. I eventually just slept in the bathroom with her. The morning came too quickly, and Keira was so sad that she wouldn't be able to go to Lorelai's party. She didn't really eat anything most of the day, but didn't throw up anymore. We stayed inside all day, miss the surprisingly warmer temps. By the end of the day, she seemed a ton better, which was great. She was up and playing in the kitchen, pretending to be a ballerina.


On Friday, we went ahead and let Keira go to school. She ate a normal breakfast and really wanted to go because they were having a pizza party as part of the letter P day. Cristina wanted to try a core fitness class, so I planned to have another short swim and do the class with her. It wasn't a very exciting class, and I don't think I will do it again unless another friend of mine wants to try it with me. After class, we had time to hit McDonalds (ironic, right?) since Cristina had her boys with her too before getting Keira. I ate Keira's kids meal for her since she doesn't eat the food anyway and they had Barbies. I couldn't not get her one, especially since the party she missed yesterday was Barbie themed.
Here is Keira's pizza she made at school:

Once Soren woke up from his nap, Keira wanted to have a "picnic" outside, meaning eat bread and crackers on a blanket in the yard. It was too wet to be in the yard still, so the porch had to do.



We had a dinner out as a family at Noodles and Ryan picked up his truck from his parents house. He had picked up their mustang when he drove Kris to the airport on Wed night. It was a good thing he got it then too, as he got sick with the same thing as Keira that night.

On Saturday, I ended up taking both kids to the gym to keep them away from Ryan. I was able to get in my 12 miles, just barely, before my time was up. I am glad I didn't need to run farther. He didn't have to go to church cleaning; the families went last night so that was great, but he was supposed to give a talk on Sunday. He would be unable to do that. I also took Keira to Adam's birthday party that afternoon at Pump it Up. Keira and Soren had a blast.






On Sunday, Ryan was feeling a bit better, but still not well enough for church. The kids were really tired and wild, so I made them lay down for a bit. Soren didn't sleep, but Keira did before church, and I was able to get in a bit of rest too. I was teaching the Relief Society lesson today on Work and Personal Responsibility. It went really well. When we left church, it was super snowy! The drive wasn't terrible, but I wished I had the truck. I am glad we had it at home, though, and didn't have to worry about getting it today. We had a relaxing evening at home.


Keira figured out that she could fill up her dress with air if she sat on the register. It was pretty funny to see her. Soren thought she looked like a pillow and kept trying to lay on her.



Soren kept asking to watch "up the balloons". It took me longer than it should to figure out that he wanted to watch the movie, "Up". There wasn't a ton of time before bed, but we let them watch some of it.

More crafts:




The goal for next week is to get and stay healthy!