My girls don't drink much, if any milk. As a Mom of young girls in a family with an awful history of osteoporosis that worries me. Thankfully they are big fans of cheese and even bigger fans of yogurt. Yoplait Kids yogurt makes it easy for them to like, you can eat it or drink it. Options are always good when you are four and your mother is trying to get you to eat something other than crackers. The kids yogurt has less sugar than the other yogurt which makes me feel better about what they are eating as well. Pulling out a cup of yogurt from the Dora pack makes it a little easier to get Boobah to down something good for her and admit she likes it too! Its smooth and no chunks of anything for her to ponder. My bigger kids stay in the Yoplait "family" and slurp up Go-Gurt like there is no tomorrow. Some for the fridge, some for the freezer and everyone is happy.
I am always trying to find ways to make sure my kids get everything they need to do their best. Yoplait Kids yogurt also comes with DHA to boost the growth of their brains. Kids brains grow exponentially up to age 5 and Yoplait Kids yogurt has DHA, found in breast milk, and shown to enhance brain growth. You can find more information on the magic of DHA by clicking here.
Need a cool place to keep your Yoplait Kids yogurt in the car or at the park? Thanks to the folks at Yoplait and Parent Bloggers Network I have a little giveaway. Leave me a comment and mention the yogurt and I'll pick a commenter at random for an insulated Yoplait kids lunch bag perfect for long car trips or a day at the park.
Have enough bags and want to help out that brain some more? Leave a comment with the word brain in it and I'll randomly select on poster to receive a Brain Quest game for 2-3 year olds to help their emerging language skills.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I am an Iron Girl
The race was great. Truly amazing the power of all those women, encouraging each other and all those people on the sidelines cheering us on. More later, but I did it!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Iron Girl Countdown
Es and I went out with a co-worker this weekend for one last ride of the Iron Girl bike course. It rocked, for me it was fast, I felt good and in control. The mantra, don't worry, just spin. And spin I did. I didn't worry about riding fast or passing people, I tried to concentrate on feeling good and having fun and it worked. It didn't hurt to see a person or two walking a bike and knowing I wouldn't have to do that. I finished in 1:11 and for race day I was going to give myself 1:30.
Then we came back to the park and ran (and in my case walked). As good as the bike was the run was not. It was a bummer but again, I just tried to relax and enjoy. There were lots of other women out there, everyone was encouraging each other and my friend D kept circling back to keep me company, she is a chatty runner. It was fun, until the last quarter mile when my foot hurt. A lot. Finally I ended up taking on my shoes and walking to the end in the grass relieving some of the pressure on the bottom of my foot. I spent the afternoon and much of yesterday trying to find solutions for my foot that would get me through the weekend. The woman at the running store and my internet research say I probably have a Morton's Neuroma.
This week I am taking it easy, tonight I rode 3 miles to the pool, swam 500 yds and rode home. It was all nice and easy and meant to remind my body that we'd be doing those things this weekend. This week will be about resting, hydrating, and carb loading.
I have been in a few interesting conversations this week about Iron Girl being demeaning to women. Why is it Ironman and Iron Girl, not Iron Woman? Ironman is a very specific distance, 140.6 made up of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and 26.2 run. A woman can be an Ironman but a man can't be an Iron Girl. It is a series of women's only events meant to empower women to challenge themselves. There are tris, duathlons and runs. Its about doing it and finishing it and girl power. Just watching last year made me believe I could do it. The encouragement of all those women for each other was amazing. Training this year has been much of the same, women encouraging each other on the bike and run courses.
Then we came back to the park and ran (and in my case walked). As good as the bike was the run was not. It was a bummer but again, I just tried to relax and enjoy. There were lots of other women out there, everyone was encouraging each other and my friend D kept circling back to keep me company, she is a chatty runner. It was fun, until the last quarter mile when my foot hurt. A lot. Finally I ended up taking on my shoes and walking to the end in the grass relieving some of the pressure on the bottom of my foot. I spent the afternoon and much of yesterday trying to find solutions for my foot that would get me through the weekend. The woman at the running store and my internet research say I probably have a Morton's Neuroma.
This week I am taking it easy, tonight I rode 3 miles to the pool, swam 500 yds and rode home. It was all nice and easy and meant to remind my body that we'd be doing those things this weekend. This week will be about resting, hydrating, and carb loading.
I have been in a few interesting conversations this week about Iron Girl being demeaning to women. Why is it Ironman and Iron Girl, not Iron Woman? Ironman is a very specific distance, 140.6 made up of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and 26.2 run. A woman can be an Ironman but a man can't be an Iron Girl. It is a series of women's only events meant to empower women to challenge themselves. There are tris, duathlons and runs. Its about doing it and finishing it and girl power. Just watching last year made me believe I could do it. The encouragement of all those women for each other was amazing. Training this year has been much of the same, women encouraging each other on the bike and run courses.
I may never be an Ironman but I will be proud to be an Iron Girl.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Only Half Crazy?
After running with my sister on vacation we agreed that we'd like to do a race together. I didn't think much of it, I was thinking Turkey Trot when we were home over Thanksgiving. Then I got the e-mail, "how about The Country Music Half Marathon?" At first I laughed. Then I checked it out. Its the week of my 40th birthday, I felt like that was a sign and told her I'd do it. We still haven't worked out who is going with us--is it a couples weekend with Gman and BIL or is it a family weekend and Mom & Dad will come too or even a girls weekend and we bring Mom along? Only time will tell.
So, after deciding I was going to train to run 13.1 miles I decided what the heck I'd add the Columbia Triathlon to my spring calendar as well. It will be my first Olympic distance tri. The bike is hard, the swim requires a wetsuit and well the run is 10K--I've never run 10K. But if I can run 13.1 miles what is 6.2 a few weeks later? Remember that this time last year I couldn't run At. All. No running to 5K was certainly more daunting than moving up from 3 to 13 miles.
So, I'll be looking to all my tri and running friends for advice on preparing for the half as well as the tri. First on my agenda after Iron Girl is being a diligent Weight Watcher and dropping at least another 25 pounds. It has to make everything easier. I have been stuck for about 6 weeks and while its better than being where I started I would like to be un-stuck.
I think this just proves that pushing yourself does make you believe you can do anything!
Friday, August 8, 2008
The house of nuts
Things have been a serious whirlwind--train, work, can, kids, work, cook, work, worry, work.
Work
The good news is there is a new VP at work and he thinks I rock. The bad news, I have to work my tail off to make sure he continues to think that. This week he is on vacation and he left me with several "can you look into this" assignments while he is gone. I went for acupuncture and he asked me pretty early on how things were at work. I spent an hour on his table, mostly just breathing and its amazing how much better I felt when I left.
Training
Last Sunday I did a "Brick n Pic" with the local tri club. They were wonderful to hang out with and someone always stayed at the back of the pack with me. I should never, ever have run before my ride. My heart rate was zooming the whole time and the ride was pretty miserable. My back was killing me after climbing but thankfully Mr. Don fixed that! This week I've done pretty well keeping up with the training but not the bike, they have the road torn up on the course and I hear it is NASTY, I'll need to do that when I come back from NY.
Canning
I picked 23 pounds of peaches (along with raspberries and blueberries) last Wednesday. That meant I had a lot of fruit to deal with! I did my first batch of peach hot pepper jelly. Gman asked if I could make the bits not float to the top. I read that rotating the jar during the process helped with that so I flipped them over. Oops, I went to bed without flipping them back. Now I have nine jars that look like this....
Work
The good news is there is a new VP at work and he thinks I rock. The bad news, I have to work my tail off to make sure he continues to think that. This week he is on vacation and he left me with several "can you look into this" assignments while he is gone. I went for acupuncture and he asked me pretty early on how things were at work. I spent an hour on his table, mostly just breathing and its amazing how much better I felt when I left.
Training
Last Sunday I did a "Brick n Pic" with the local tri club. They were wonderful to hang out with and someone always stayed at the back of the pack with me. I should never, ever have run before my ride. My heart rate was zooming the whole time and the ride was pretty miserable. My back was killing me after climbing but thankfully Mr. Don fixed that! This week I've done pretty well keeping up with the training but not the bike, they have the road torn up on the course and I hear it is NASTY, I'll need to do that when I come back from NY.
Canning
I picked 23 pounds of peaches (along with raspberries and blueberries) last Wednesday. That meant I had a lot of fruit to deal with! I did my first batch of peach hot pepper jelly. Gman asked if I could make the bits not float to the top. I read that rotating the jar during the process helped with that so I flipped them over. Oops, I went to bed without flipping them back. Now I have nine jars that look like this....
Kids
I don't know if it the end of the summer or what but they are non-stop fighting, talking, singing and getting into things they shouldn't. Boobah can't wait for school to start and I can't wait to have one drop off in the morning and no pick ups in the afternoon. On the other side, how the heck did my baby get old enough for Kindergarten?
Other Random Stuff
We are off to Albany, NY this morning for GMan's sister to get married this evening. We are brining our 18 year old neice back with us to visit for a week.
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