Linsey’s Sleep Over Birthday Party
The birthday party sleep over went fantastically well on Saturday night and all the girls (I think) had a great time.

Linsey and I got there about 30 minutes or so before the guests so that we could get the room situated and drop off our stuff. The room was BEAUTIFUL!

With a king size bed All. For. Me.

Before the girls all arrived and after we got our stuff loaded into the suite LInsey and I stopped for a mother/daughter picture in the giant mirror that I really wanted to steal and bring home with me. But alas, it was too big.

The party was small and consisted of Linsey’s very best friends (three to be exact) so I knew there wasn’t going to be any drama. The girls played games, ate pizza and watched movies way into the night.

On Sunday morning we went out to have crepes for breakfast at Linsey’s request.

I’m pretty sure that all the girls had a good time and I’ve decided that the low-key, smaller parties are definitely the way to go in the future. This one was so easy and pain free. SCORE!

Clayton High School vs Westboro Baptist Church
If you’re not familiar with the group, Westboro Baptist Church sends members of their congregation out to protest military funerals, tornado destruction sites and anything else they can use as a platform to spread their message of hate.

Well, this morning they chose to do it at one of our local high schools. The group was protesting the high school because they said that is where children are being taught about “abominations like same sex marriage, equality for all and other anti-Christian values”.

The student body at Clayton High School put together a counter protest to take place at the same time that would raise money (selling t-shirts, wrist bands and screen printing items on the spot) for Gay and Lesbian Youth Support Groups.

I knew I wanted to join in the protest and take the girls with me immediately. Jason and I have always tried to teach the girls that we love and respect everyone. Race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and anything else that makes someone “different” does not matter to us. We love and cherish every equally because they are human beings and that is what being a human being means.

So we got up extra early this morning to head out for the protest. We stopped at Bread Co for breakfast…

(whole grain bagel with wild blueberry cream cheese – YUM!)

As soon as we got to the high school we realized that this was bigger than even I thought it would be. Look at the amount of police presence there was!

Some residence in the very expensive town homes across the street even joined in the support!!

The crowd of Westboro protesters only consisted of 5 people with 3 to 4 signs a piece. The signs were so horrible that I opted not to even give them publication, but know that the message was full of hate and ignorance. So sad.

The crown for the counter protest was amazing. It was probably 300 to 400 people with signs that said some of the most beautiful things. The vibe of the crown was peaceful, loving and compassionate, but strong on their beliefs.

I am so glad that I took the girls to see and be a part of the demonstration. Regan obviously had no clue what was going one, but Linsey really got it and was amazed to see such a large group of people coming together in such a positive way. It was very lovely.

We even got stopped and interviewed by a local news channel!! The reporter was so excited to see that I was involving my children in the protest. He asked me a few questions and then asked Linsey a couple as well. We may be on Channel 2 News if you live in St Louis!!

Who Won The Yogurt??
So – I was given some different types of Chobani Champions to try last week and was also allowed to host a giveaway of the new flavors. Well – we all tried the new flavors of yogurt. I am a tried and true Chobani fan! I eat many of the flavors quite frequently and was super excited to sample the new champions flavors.

Vanilla Chocolate Chunk

This was our over all favorite for obvious reasons. Who doesn’t love chocolate? The texture was smooth. The flavor was subtle and sweet, but not overwhelming. This is a flavor I will be buying often!

Orange Vanilla Swirl

The girls weren’t thrilled with this flavor as much. Regan doesn’t like orange anything and Linsey said it was way too sweet. She said it was too orange-y and not something she would want me to buy. I liked it! I thought it was definitely orange-y, but I happen to like oranges and orange flavor so maybe that’s why. I probably will buy this flavor, but not as often as the chocolate.

And the winner’s are…

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Candace and Missy please send your mailing addresses to maria@realfitmama.com so I can get them to the good people over at Chobani.

Today I’m thankful for:

…positivity in the world

…being able to share events with my daughters

…getting to hang out with Jason during the day

…friends who help lift my spirits

…yoga

~ Maria

Nope.

Time keeps ticking away…

Here’s what has been happening while time’s been ticking and I’ve been home with a sick kiddo.

Today I am thankful for -

…chobani yogurt sales

…fishing princesses

…hummus and falafel dinners

…independent films

…tea parties with little girls who still don’t feel 100%

And now I’m off to sneak in a workout that I skipped this morning!

~ Maria

First – guess who slept ALL. THROUGH. THE. NIGHT. and woke up with a dry pull-up? You guessed it!! And then she proceeded to make herself right at home in our bed to watch the cooking channel.

While ‘princess Regan‘ relaxed high up on her throne I got my sweat on with Jillian Michaels in the living room. Amazingly enough, getting up and working out by 5:30 every morning is getting to be less and less of a struggle every single day. SCORE!

While we were in Atlanta Jason’s aunt gave me some homemade jams to bring back with us. I fell absolutely in love with her cherry jam, she saw it and took pity on me – sending me home with my very own jar. SCORE!!

I have been enjoying it all week and completely forgetting to tell you guys just how amazing it is. It’s AH-MAY-ZING!! Completely…

This morning I was having a split personality moment. I wanted something sweet and then I wanted something savory. The entire time I was in the shower I was debating about whether or not to have oatmeal or scrambled eggs, cereal of toast with hummus. Finally I decided to meet in the middle and have a little of both.

For savory I went with scrambled eggs. I added a pinch of parmesan cheese, a handful of fresh spinach, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to two eggs and then mixed it all up. Then I added it to my skillet and got busy making some toast and getting out the infamous jam.

Well, I got side tracked with the girls and forgot about my eggs!

Dun, dun, dun…

It ended up being a complete and total happy accident (serendipitous if you will!) and I made my very first omelet. I’ve never had any luck making omelets and they always end up just being scrambles with veggies mixed in.

This time I was victorious – accidentally.

I added a hefty helping of cherry jam to my toast and made myself a second cup of coffee and got busy eating. It was all delicious!!

All day today I have been thinking about my 2012 Challenges and what I actually want to make the next 11 months be about. January is going really well with the 30 Day Shred challenge, but I still have the rest of the year to think about.

I finally came to a decision and here it is. Good or bad. Happy or sad. Easy or hard. Like it or not. These are my 2012 Challenges…

January – 30 Day Shred

February - P90X Classic (first 30 day schedule)

March – P90X Lean (first 30 day schedule)

April – 30 days of yoga

May – run 50 miles in a month

June – 2 a days (yoga/run) 4 days a week

July - 2 a days (run/swim) 4 days a week

August – swim 30 miles in a month

September – 30 day runstreak

October -run the Rock n Roll half

November – 30 days of yoga

December – P90X doubles (first 30 days schedule)

That’s it – for better or worse.

Now please excuse me while I mentally prepare myself for this…

…I’m thankful for the ability to challenge myself

…I’m thankful for omelets

…I’m thankful for weather forecasts so I can be prepared

…I’m thankful for a working furnace

…I’m thankful for flannel sheets (I”m gonna need ‘em)

~ Maria

I managed to avoid most of the bad things (mainly because they had meat in them) but did over indulge on some of the desserts (my weakness).  I enjoyed peach cream cake, apple dumplings and pumpkin beer bread pudding.

So today, after getting in a solid 40 minutes of P90X Core Synergistics done before everyone else woke up, I made sure my food intact was clean, healthy and satisfying. But I didn’t snap one food picture today!!

I’m still getting used to my new iPhone.

Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup cooked steel cut oats with splash of almond milk
• 3/4 of a large banana
• 1 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 1 big scoop crunchy peanut butter
• 2 mugs of coffee

Snack:

• luna protein bar (chocolate & peanut butter)

Lunch:

• Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• 6 saltine crackers
• chocolate chip cookie (not so clean)

Dinner:

• TJ’s mildly spiced vegetable burrito
• topped with peach salsa and light sour cream
• 2 mint oreos (not so clean)

I’m so over the food today!

I’ve been feeling a bit frustrated lately. I work out 6 days a week for an average of 45 minutes a day, but my weight hasn’t changed and my body isn’t changing either. I really hoped to be back in my favorite Gap jeans by January 1st.

And now – something completely not food or fitness related!

I stuck to one of my Family Goals for the week this evening. Jason and Linsey had to be at Nutcracker rehearsal by 5:45 and won’t be home until right around bedtime. So Regan and I were on our own. I asked her on the way to school this morning what she wanted to do with all of her Mommy time and she didn’t hesitate with an answer.

Jason bought these for the girls and put them together over the weekend. We had to let them dry completely before decorating and Regan had waited long enough. She quickly got busy making plans, instructing me where to put the icing and sticking the different candies in just the right spots.

She was really good at designing the look of her gingerbread house and knew exactly what she wanted. We spent a good hour getting everything just right.

When it was all exactly the way she wanted it and we had used every drop of icing and every piece of candy – she finally decided to stop and smile for the camera.

Her master piece is complete…

It was some of the greatest Mommy/Regan time EVER.

Now I have to take a minute to brag on Linsey.

When the school year started about two tons of paperwork came home during the first week. Teacher introductions, calendars, volunteer forms, school policies and school year time-lines. Mixed up in that paperwork was a form for the kids. They got to enter their own drawing into a contest for this years cover of the Buzz Book (the school directory).

Linsey loves to draw, but never thinks any of her stuff is “very good”. You know – that whole “being your own worst critic” thing. Yeah. She’s got that down pat. So she drew a number of pictures and then finally, the night before the entry was supposed to be turned in, she sat down and really drew a picture. I thought it was cute. Linsey thought it sucked. But she entered it anyway.

And guess what…?!

Hers got picked!!!

She was so excited this afternoon when she showed it to me. She couldn’t stop smiling and couldn’t wait to show it to Jason. As much as that girl makes me crazy, it breaks my heart when she’s down on herself. This was definitely something that she needed to lift her self esteem a bit.

Even Regan was so proud. She carried the Buzz Book all the way home and displayed it neatly on our desk for everyone to see.

Today I’m thankful for:

• a loving family
• my beautiful daughters
• Mommy/Regan time
• Jason and all that he does for his girls (have I used that one before?)
• a working furnace

Which means there’s only ONE MORE work day until Thanksgiving!! I’m super stoked for a four day weekend, the St Louis Thanksgiving Day Parade and a day with friends and family.

Tomorrow I’ll be working with one eye watching the hands on the clock for sure.

This morning it was so gloomy and rainy! All I wanted was comfort food. So after I slammed through a 30 minute kettlebell session with Jillian the girls and I whipped up some scrambled eggs (I put spinach in mine) and toast with raspberry jam.

I’m not in love with gluten free bread. I haven’t found one that I really adore yet, but I’m dealing with the denseness. Three mugs of coffee made it go down so much smoother.

All together now…

Today was the Thanksgiving feast at Regan’s school and family were invited to attend, but it was from 11:30-12:30 … The busiest possible time at the deli! Needless to say, I didn’t get to go so drop off was extra excruciating this morning. Regan cried, pulled on me and begged me not to go to work.

Talk about heart breaking.

I snacked on a chocolate peppermint luna bar before things got crazy busy at work. I really like this flavor. It totally reminds me of Christmas!

Once the deli was closed and it was time to eat lunch I went with my old stand by because it was still cold, rainy and not pretty out at all. Tomato soup was screaming my name!

It continued to rain the rest of the day. So I picked Regan up from school early (so not running in the COLD and the RAIN!) and we met Linsey right at her dismissal time.

Since Jason’s on Thanksgiving break already he had planned on taking Linsey to her dance class tonight – which meant that Regan and I were free for some Thanksgiving baking!!

But first…dinner. I literally had 45 minutes to put food on the table and get Jason out the door with Linsey.

So this…

Turned into this…

Once we ate, I got Jason and Linsey out the door and had cleaned up from dinner – Regan and I got down and dirty. I love to bake, but I almost NEVER have the time.

I had seen Kristen make this pumpkin beer bread a while back and knew I had to make it. It’s the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale Bread and it looked DE-LISH. So I tweaked the recipe a bit (made it vegan and gluten free) and got out everything we would need.

Regan was stoked to bring a chair into the kitchen and help me bake for Thanksgiving. It’s something we love to do, but rarely find the time for these days.

Once the pumpkin, beer and every other ingredient was put into their appropriate bowls – Regan got busy mixing.

And a bit more mixing had it all…ummm…mixed together.

Then we divided the batter into three small loaf pans to put into the oven.

As soon as it’s all done I’ll let you know how they turned out. Jason plans on turning the bread into a Pumpkin Beer Bread Pudding tomorrow. YUM-O!!

Today I’m thankful for:

• pumpkin
• holidays
• long weekends
• little helpers in the kitchen
• the smell of bread baking

I even heard that it’s snowing about four hours south west of us. NOT COOL!!

I got in a great kettlebell workout with my girl Jillian Michaels this morning before everyone woke up. I was nice and shweddy by 6:30 in the morning!

You guys all know how much I love my overnight oats. Right? Well, Regan knows it too and while I was making Linsey’s lunch, getting coffee prepped and cleaning up the kitchen for the night she told me, “Mama, we need to make your oatmeal!” So make my oatmeal we did…

I have to tell you, those were the BEST oats I’ve ever eaten.

In the mix was the usual 2/3 cup of oats, 2/3 cup of vanilla almond milk and a big scoop of cinnamon. Then this morning I added a scoop of crunchy peanut butter, two scoops of canned pumpkin and a sprinkle of dried cranberries. It was divine…

Like always there was an entire pot of coffee all to myself a cup or two of my favorite coffee right next to me.

I had to have a little pep talk/chat thing with Linsey this morning. She has been so excited to run for student cancel this year (classroom representative) and planning her speech has taken every free moment she has had…which aren’t many.

She asked me if she could take candy to hand out to her classmates before she gave her speech. After I contained my laughter (and kept it all inside) I explained to her that an action like that would be considered bribery and we don’t bribe people to get the outcome that we want.

Her response, “So… (insert name here) handed out candy last year and that’s how she won!”

After we had the long discussion of “being a good representative means that your character, actions and words are more than enough to win you votes” and a lot of eye rolling we decided on not handing out candy.

WIN!!

So I got the girls dropped off and made my way into work.

The day was pretty busy and everyone seemed to be a bit snippy. I think it may be the weather or the fact the holidays seemed to have snuck up on us faster than ever before.

In any case, I was so glad when it was my turn to sit down and eat some lunch. With it being so cold outside I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than a bowl of hot soup. Tomato soup with crackers that is.

I managed to get everything done and get out of the deli in time to go for a short (really short) run before getting Linsey from school.

It was great to get out there and blow off just a little bit of steam before starting the second half of my day.

I picked up Linsey from school and we ran home to grab her dance bag. We both wanted a snack so I whipped up some green monsters for us both.

We had a major discussion in the car on the way to dance about the results of today’s election. Linsey didn’t win. A girl who brought laffy taffy for all the kids won. Linsey was NOT pleased with me!

I came out with every upbeat comment I could think of…

“Let’s focus on all the things that you have going in your life right now.”

“You are a smart, funny, beautiful girl who is kind and loving.”

“Your really great grades and dancing ability are what will move you forward in life.”

She didn’t care about anything I said and wanted to call Jason.

He said everything I said and then, “Barack Obama was picked on ruthlessly in school and look where he is now.”

That’s all it took. She was a happy girl once again.

I guess it just takes a smoothie and a dad.

Today I’m thankful for:

• afternoon runs (no matter how brief)
• tomato soup
• green monsters
• a husband who can calm down his girls

So… this past Sunday was the Rock n Roll Marathon here in St Louis. I didn’t run it (slacker that I am) but had many friends who did. We decided that in honor of our friends and the 24, 000 other people who were running we would go down, hold up some signs, scream, clap and just randomly show support for anyone who passed us by.

The girls were all about the signs…

When we got downtown the excitement really started. The runners were fierce and the girls were enthralled!! (if you know a mom runner then a RealFitMama t-shirt would make a great gift … just sayin)

Then we saw Damian!!!

He finished in 4:15 WOO HOO!

After Mr Incredible and Elasta Girl we saw Brian!!

Brian finished in 5:14!! WHAT WHAT!!

After hugs, kisses and congratulations to all the runners (I even spotted Hannah across the street at one point!) we flew across town to the birthday party redo. The birthday girl was exactly 10 minutes late to her very own party!

But once it got going no one cared!!

Then it was play time in the Magic House!

And NOW Regan is officially 4 years old. (according to her)

BODY LOVIN…

You may or may not remember that I made a few promises to my body. Well… on top of those promises I made a few commitments last night (after reading Hannah’s blog) that will bring some more lovin to my body.

1. Pile on the Miles… to qualify I have to walk/run a minimum of 5 miles a week.

2. Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge… to keep me in check over the holidays.

3. Virtual Resolution Run… a way to ensure I start 2012 off on the right foot.

Like my post stated yesterday… “You are more important than you realize” and I have to make sure I’m taking care of myself if I plan on being any good for anyone else.

On a side note…

I’m a published writer once again.

What this world needs is a new kind of army – the army of the kind.  ~ Cleveland Amory

Linsey has been lucky enough to have two so far.They were both amazing women (still are) and I was proud to say she connected with them. Proud she felt that connection with them. Proud that she could open up to them when she needed to.

Regan is very young still and hasn’t had that many teachers. She was very close to her primary teacher when she was a baby. She called her Kay-Kay and refused to share her with any of the other children.

She had a teacher in the Two Year Old room that she adored as well, but Colleen has since stopped working at the school and had a beautiful baby boy of her own.

When she transitioned into the Three Year Old room she met the “love of her life” in teacher form of course. Ms Matti was her everything. She would hug her, play with her, talk about her at home and she was always excited to see her at school in the mornings.

Since she has moved into the Four Year Old room (back in MAY!!) she had to stop in to say Good Morning to Ms Matti every morning and stop in to say Good Bye every evening.

Every. Single. Day.

Then one day Ms Matti went on vacation with her boyfriend (whom Regan also adores) and she told Regan she would be gone for a while. Well, a while was actually a month. They were taking a vacation to see the boyfriend’s family in New Zealand.

Regan was really sad that Ms Matti would be missing her birthday, but hugged her anyway and told her to have a great trip.

Well – Look what came in the mail for Regan’s 4th Birthday…

A POSTCARD ALL THE WAY FROM NEW ZEALAND!!!

Regan was beside herself with joy and couldn’t believe that Ms Matti had thought about her while being so far away.

In my opinion THESE are the kind of teachers we should have in every classroom, in every school, in every city, across the country. PERIOD.

I’m off to enjoy an evening with Jason and the girls. HAPPY FRIDAY!!

It’s easy to make a buck.  It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.  ~ Tom Brokaw

She then proceeded to flip, flop, wiggle and kick while pulling, tugging and tossing around the covers … in our bed.

I’m exhausted.

Jason closed the deli.

And Regan is now enjoying cartoons back in our bed.

I’ll give you that post about my favorite Gap jeans later … once I’ve had more coffee and bathed and eaten a meal and gotten the “sick one” (it’s amazing how much better ibuprofen can make a 4 year old feel) to take a nap.

Sick kids almost never go to their father’s side of the bed to announce that they’re going to barf. ~ Julie Ann Barnhill

For whatever reason – this Saturday – she wasn’t down with it still being dark. She decided that playing a song for the sun (using pencils as drum sticks) would wake it up.

After convincing her that she wasn’t going to be able to wake up the sun drumming, I got up and made coffee, because that wakes ME up.

Jason took the girls to their morning dance class while I stayed home and did massive amounts of laundry and drank copious amounts of coffee…because it makes me productive.

I took them to the afternoon Nutcracker rehearsal where everyone was treated to cupcakes for one of the other girls birthday. Of course, Regan thought they were for her birthday and I didn’t have the heart to tell her other wise.

Everything was going well, the day was moving along and it was Date Night. WOO HOO!! I managed to get Regan down for a nap around 2:30 and finished up the house work and laundry. Then I showered and got changed for date night just in time for my mother to watch the girls at 5:00.

Dinner was super yummy!

We ate at out favorite “kid free” spot – Ranoush. After dinner we did a little last minute birthday shopping for Regan and then headed to a dessert party at our friends house. Then, at 9:00, Jason’s phone rang.

It was my mother.

Regan had a fever.

And she threw up.

FUCK!

So we got in the car and drove straight home. Regan greeted me at the door with tears and then proceeded to vomit all over the floor from the living room to the bathroom. With in an hour she was fast asleep with a temperature of 101.3.

She slept off and on all night with me in our bed while Jason was kind enough to sleep in her bed. Thankfully we were all done with the throwing up, but the fevered lingered until well into the day on Sunday…her 4th birthday.

She had breakfast in our bed.

Opened presents in our bed.

And slept the day away in our bed.

Every once and a while she would wake up and want either me or Jason to lay with her.Then she convinced Jason to do his homework in bed with her while she worked on her new laptop.

We had to cancel her birthday party at The Magic House, but thankfully they were so awesome about it. They even let us reschedule it for next Sunday.

Today she stayed home with Nana and drover her crazy!! She even got to open some presents from her favorite Aunt that came all the way from Atlanta.

I’ve even managed a half ass workout this evening!!

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.  ~ Lucille Ball