S Club Mama

I realize I haven't really posted about running much lately (after I sucked it up writing 30 posts in 30 days about fitness haha). Running is going extremely well. I've been running 4 days a week, trying to do another workout at least 2 times a week, and playing in a volleyball league (that ends tonight, sad). We've had some beautiful weather up until this weekend (even this isn't bad though) here in Kansas. Last week I was running in a tank top and capris! I'll have to start hitting the treadmill here soon more often, which is sad but I'm hoping some audio books will pump me through the winter blues. My left toe was hurt last April/May and I took time off. I think I'm up to a decent level of fitness and endurance. I haven't ran over 6 miles since then because 1) no reason and 2) now my shoes are getting worn out. I've actually gotten just over 300 miles on this pair of Nike Pegasus +28. I tried a pair of Brooks Pure Cadence but they killed my to...

We're a little superhero happy around here (I say "we" because as the boys become more interested, I get more involved myself. I've even seen both Iron Man movies.) if you haven't noticed. I love it! Superheroes are heroes! But sometimes I don't want to be completely geeky, just chic geek. And thankfully Vintage Virtue had just the Wonder Woman necklace for me! I really like this necklace; as do my boys. My only real qualm is that the listing said "antique gold border" while it should have said "antique-looking gold border." The necklace itself is plastic, not antique gold (not that I was really expecting antique gold but perhaps a stronger metal). This is not a necklace that will probably last me 20 years, but it's fun for now! And the price is awesome for such a trendy little piece. I think this is really cute!   This necklace was subtle enough that anyone could pass it up for just a cute necklace. My boys are the ones ...

Twenty-two days of thankfulness. Not enough. Twenty-four hours of day of thanks giving. Not enough. Daily minutes in repentant prayer. Not enough. Moments (even years) of good works. Not enough. Countless hours of striving. Not enough. Not enough. One God. One Trinity. Enough. One and Only Son. Enough. One cross (not any old cross but His). Enough. Hours of torture. Enough. Countless drops of blood, sweat, and tears. Enough. One final breath. Enough. Three days, then risen. Enough. One gift. Enough. One life. One eternity. Are you enough alone? No. But, believe, and He is. Enough. Happy Thanksgiving. May you count your blessings one by one. May you thank Him for those blessings, one by one. May you remember the one blessing that is enough.

The weather is getting cooler here in Kansas but I really want to continue to run outside for as long as possible. This desire is hindered by a few things: I own no running pants (merely capris) and my arm warmers leave something to be desired (they are Big A's old dress socks cut to fit my arms). The arm warmers aren't long enough to cover most of my arm so my arms get cold.  Groovy Baby Action Gear to the rescue!! Katie, the shop owner, sent me a pair of Wonder Woman arm warmers to use! While Katie admired my upcycle idea of sock arm warmers, she felt " Old dress socks for a Wonder Woman like you is completely unacceptable."   I love that these WW arm warmers cover the majority of my arms. They are snug on the top so they don't slide. I've worn them for over 8 runs and I've never had to adjust. The arm warmers aren't all sweaty when I'm done; I like the material they're made from. I can see the red on the top of mine is rubbing off...

I'm a gamer. I grew up in the gaming age so I love the old Nintendo games, we have a Wii and a PS2, and even our boys love Guitar Hero and this NASCAR game Big A plays for them. But my true love of games is found in simpler games: card and board. I have tried hard to pass on this love with Go Fish and UNO and Hi-Hi Cherry-O. Simple games from simpler times. But I love new things, too. I love pop culture games because I try to keep on the up and up of the era. All kids love new things but my kids have really taken to our new games from Wonder Forge. We tried out a few Cat in the Hat games about a year ago or more and we loved them. So I was excited to work with Wonder Forge again. We received Who Shook the Hook? (a Jake & the Neverland Pirates game), The Joker Funhouse (DC Superfriends game), and the Enchanted Cupcake Party game (Disney princess game). My boys were gung-ho about the Joker Funhouse game , them being so big into Superman. We've played it several times toge...

I remember all too well dropping hundreds of dollars on books each semester while in college. And the buy back at the end of each semester was always such a let down! You hardly got even 1/4 of your money back AND had to buy MORE books. Anyway, it's a stretch for most college students to afford the books. A few years back (of course, after I collected my precious BA), I remember hearing that you could now rent your textbooks! What?! While you wouldn't want to rent all of your textbooks...or maybe just us super geeky people wouldn't want to rent all of them, you very well can. Campusbookrentals.com  is such a place that you can rent your books. Get ready for this statistic: you can save 40%-90% off of bookstore prices! Whoa! I would have gladly saved that much going to school to spend on pizza or a movie or shoes. Not only the savings but FREE shipping BOTH WAYS! Free! Every college student (and parent of said college student) loves freebies. That's a big one; sometime...

Recently, Squirt has been pulling out movies from our collection, asking if he can watch them. Most of them are too old for a 3-year-old to watch, although it's tempting. One of his favorites to ask for is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I wouldn't mind him watching it really, but he gets frightened (or "scaried") kind of easily so I think The Shredder may freak him out. But he loves listening to the cartoon theme song and things I find on You Tube. So I found this Nostalgically Inspired coin purse of Donatello on Etsy and had the opportunity to review it. My mom will tell you that I was a little obsessed with TMNT back in the day...she's probably right. I remember having MC Hammer-type pants with TMNT on them (they were red) and I wore them for so long they were mid-calf and holey in the knees. So I guess this is my way of re-living my childhood in a cooler fashion. The coinpurse itself is really well-made. The sewing far surpasses my own...but that's not ...

As anyone who knows us in real life can attest, my youngest son is obsessed with Superman. He wears a cape (not a Superman cape but he thinks it is) daily. He wants to wear his Superman shirts daily (we have 2). He loves his Superman pajama shirt. I (half) joke that our only arguments are about Superman. We are actually taking a break from the Man of Steel for a week, hoping to curb some of that enthusiasm to a less-obsessive role in our lives. ANYWAY... I do love that he loves Superman. There are so many other things he could emulate that aren't so decent. Superman fights for truth and justice. He protects people. He is an all-around good guy.  I want my boys to imitate good people or good superheroes, so when I was decorating our home, my younger sister had given us some vinyl superhero decals. They are in our toy room and a few in the boys' bedroom. And yet, I know these won't last forever. My boys will outgrow this type of superhero love (or I think they will).  ...

Proverbs 4:25-27 Look straight ahead,    and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet;    stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked;    keep your feet from following evil. A friend's husband told her that I was focused as I ran this morning. This wasn't surprising to her. She knows I take my running seriously. Not to say I don't enjoy it, but it's hard work! Early hours in the dark coldness before the sun rises to greet the day. I plan my path prior to leaving home. I map it out and I stick to that plan. Unless I sense danger. Dog barking on the next street that I'm unable to see but have never heard before. That sends me off path. Reminds me tonight of my walk with the Lord. I generally have a plan - prayer, reading, worship, service - but I try to be attentive to promptings from the Holy Ghost. "Stay on the safe path." I know the Lord will guide my life path. I know he has plans for me - ...

Sunday school has always been rough with Moose. We had him in services with us for a few years, but that always resulted in one of us leaving the service. So we tried Sunday school for children or children's church. We've been at our current church for about 2 years now, so Moose would have been 3 when we began (wow!). It was great when he could be in the 2-year-old room (we had him in there for a year or more?). They really just play the whole time and maybe have a craft or lesson (maybe they do every time?), but it's just less structured. And then we moved him up and it just has seemed hard. Not in the sense that he cries when we leave him; no. He's fine with that. He just likes things his own way so when it doesn't go his way - when another kid "messes up" the trains or he doesn't want to go sing or sit for the story - Moose acts out. It used to be fits. Crying and boo-hooing. And we have a wonderful woman who heads up our children's depar...

This past weekend, I got to attend (as a volunteer) the Women of Faith conference in Kansas City. There were these fabulous dancers (all around age 20 who looked about 16 on stage!) from Ballet Magnificat, a Christian ballet company. I didn't know a thing was real - awesome! Here is a promo for their ballet Snow Queen. I so wish I could attend, but Mississippi is a long way to travel.

David Platt's books Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream and Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God have been New York Times bestsellers. I haven't read these books but I have friends who are Platt fans, so I thought I would read The Radical Question and A Radical Idea by Mr. Platt. The Radical Question basically challenges the American Dream and the affects of it on the contemporary church. He writes of people who have given up large salaries (either by leaving the job or by giving the money) for God's work. I agree with the pretense of giving up all one has for the Lord, I don't think that necessarily means giving it up. It can merely mean using those things (money, time, homes, cars, etc) FOR the Lord. I believe that everything I have is the Lord's...unfortunately, I do know that I don't USE it that way sometimes...probably a lot. I felt that this book was more of a guilt trip, trying to make people fee...

The winner (chosen by random.org) of the Yurbud earphones is #19 Apryl of Studied to be a Mommy ! Congratulations, Apryl! I will be sending you your earphones! Thanks everyone who entered! Please stay tuned for more giveaways from The S Club!

Halloween is over. Phew!  Whirlwind October starts the busy season in this house. Squirt got this pumpkin on his class field trip.  I decided to paint in honor of the Man of Steel. I let Squirt skip nap yesterday so we could head to school to watch the Halloween parade. Basically the kids walk around and parents come up to see costumes. Cute. I was impressed with how well Moose stood in line. After school I gave them Superman cookies. Apparently cream cheese frosting doesn't freeze like buttercream. So I took a picture with the wax paper and then took it off. :) The cookies we made for trick-or-treaters. I figured if their parents didn't want them to have homemade goodies, they could throw them away.  the half frosted cat and very sprinkled pumpkin were Squirt's I love these mummies!   The Super S Club family! Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and two Supermans Lois and Clark I had two women think I was a re...