Motherhoods great adventure

A Date that is Great

2008-12-12T22:36:00.000-05:00

With two young children it is often challenging to find a babysitter, time, money and energy to have a date night with your spouse. Well, there is no better time than the present! And a present of time is one of the best gifts you can give. Ben and I enjoyed a special night out on the town - together - with no kids! And we had a ball. Every couple needs to plan a date night in at least once a month. Investing in your marriage is one of the most precious investments you can make. Do you spend money getting your car cleaned? Buying lattes? Purchasing the book of the month? How much more important is your marriage? Ask your husband out on a date today!

Celebrate with Friends

2008-12-02T22:31:00.000-05:00

Stroller Strides women celebrated the Christmas season together at Fulton Five downtown Charleston in December. Little Black Dress night was a huge success and a lot of fun.

Thankful for Great Family

2008-11-30T22:16:00.000-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Morehead City with the Howell family. With little kids involved you never know quite what to expect and can't overplan. And it is always the little things you don't expect that make the biggest impact. JT enjoyed eating green ice cream - which turns out to be mint chocolate chip - with his great-grandmother.

Claire played Wii bowling with Mama, her great-grandmother, and together they had a ball. When Claire returned to school that is the best memory of Thanksgiving that she wrote in her Kindergarten journal. Wow. I am so thankful that my children will grow up with wonderful memories of their great-grandmother. How many kids are lucky enough to say that?

Fall Leaves Fall

2008-11-12T12:11:00.004-05:00

Every autumn childrens book we have read lately shows the changing fall colors and kids jumping in piles of newly raked leaves. Well, I can't give Claire snow but I can give her leaves. So off we went to a random natural area with a rake......we raked and raked and then jumped in! I was surprised how much fun this really was for them both. Too bad we don't need to rake our own yard leaves.....well, not really. But we may pack that rake in the car and do this again!

Determination

2008-11-05T08:38:00.001-05:00

Claire has this amazing little determined personality. She will sit down and work on a problem, a puzzle, a game, a book until she figures it out. Well, the same goes for learning to ride her bike. One day she was ready. And was determined to learn before the day was out. Actually, it took one full trip around the block and she had it. AWESOME!

What a wonderful world of opportunity this opens up for us! We have already been all the way to the park and back. So much fun! I have been wanting her to stay little and have been missing those sweet baby years. Well, this makes growing up all the more exciting. Fun and new adventures are around every corner!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:22:00.000-04:00

Claire has been planning her Halloween costume for months. She wanted to be a Fairy Princess and the costume really evolved over time as we found a cute tiara here and a beautiful dress there. She has practiced wearing her fairy wings pretty much every afternoon since we purchased them. They are rainbow colored with glitter. What more could a 5-year old girl want?! She was a beautiful Fairy Princess for Halloween and loved every minute of it.

JT on the other hand really didn't want to wear much of a costume. I have a hand-me-down handmade pumpkin that Claire wore when she was 2 that is ADORABLE! But no. He would barely let me try it on him and snap one super-quick and blurry photo. Then we borrowed a cute fluffy cow. When Sissy tried it on first (my lame attempt to outsmart him), JT wanted it big-time! "JT turn, JT turn!" But then again, once he had it on that zipper was getting pulled down immediately. So, JT was a "Go Heel", which is basically just a Tarheel warm up suit. Not the most creative or adorable Halloween costume for a 2-year old, but he was happy in it and had a good time!

Oh yeah, and the wig was just to humor me for the photo. Ben really wore it as part of his 70's dude outfit. Not sure what a blue wig has to do with the 70's but he was looking cool.

Then for the Trick or Treating......We ate a picnic dinner at Claire's friend, Delaney's house, where all the girls giggled and chased each other rather than eat dinner. Then we started house to house. Claire would ring the doorbell and JT would scream "trick treeeee" before the homeowner could even open the door. It was adorable. And cold. But super fun!

Stroller Strides - Stroll R Treat 2008

2008-10-30T08:15:00.000-04:00

For the second annual Stroll R Treat, we had a spooky-fun class downtown Charleston and then a Halloween celebration at Hazel Parker Playground. We had a ton of Stroller Strides babies all dressed up in their Halloween costumes and one goofy adult dressed up.....yep, me. But we had healthy treats for kids and lots of fun! What a great Stroller Strides tradition.

And watch the slideshow we put together!

Future Mountain Climber

2008-10-14T16:49:00.001-04:00

This is one of JT's new favorite activities. Looks like we will be investing in a big boy bed soon!

Thinking

2008-10-04T16:45:00.000-04:00

My little man is almost always in motion. Here is a rare glimpse of him pausing on a pumpkin. I wonder what he is thinking about?

School is Cool

2008-09-30T13:48:00.000-04:00

Claire has now been in school for a month and she is loving it! She loves being a helper (her favorite is "wake-up fairy"), art center, computers, book buddies (her reading homework 2x each week) and all her new friends!

My Kids Make Me Happy

2008-09-29T13:58:00.002-04:00

Last Days of Summer

2008-09-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

Summer is coming to a close and we are taking advantage of all the lowcountry warmth that we can! Instead of heading to the pool, we set up a sprinkler in our backyard and had a little old-school water fun!

Up to our Necks In It

2008-09-20T13:31:00.002-04:00

On September 20, I completed the USMC Ultimate Challenge Mud Run and a challenge it was! Christy Schachte, Jodie Cochran, Stewart Harris and I formed a 4 woman team called MOMS ROCK AND RUN. Whew! What an experience. 4.2 miles of wooded terrian. Hills. Climbs. Swims. One ER trip (for Stewart - she is okay). And several days of full-body soreness! But it was an awesome experience for the personal challenge and the teamwork! Our primary goal was to finish and try our best with our secondary goal be to complete the course in 1 hour. Well.....our team finished in under 1 hour - and even better we were only 6 seconds slower than my husband's all-male, all-competitive team! Our official finish time was 59:40 giving us a top 10 finish among female competitors! 8th overall out of 99 teams! Sign me up for next year!

Read the article about our experience! Post and Courier Article

First Day

2008-08-19T12:13:00.003-04:00

Today was Claire's first day of school. Kindergarten. She bounced into her class happy and eager. I have cried all day.

I'm pretty sure it's dead now, right?

2008-08-12T12:55:00.004-04:00

Claire is getting so big and so funny! Can you believe she starts Kindergarten next week!?!

This past weekend, Claire and Ben enjoyed throwing the crab pot and cast net to catch blue crabs and shrimp off our dock. They had a ball and Claire wasn't grossed out in the least by the beheading of the shrimp or the steaming of the crabs. But as she and Ben were enjoying the fruits of their labors on the back porch, Claire paused with crab meat on her fork and asked her Daddy "I'm pretty sure it's dead now, right?"

Other funny tidbits she has said recently

In the car - "Please turn the music down, Mommy. I am trying to do a daydream."

When exasperated trying to help JT - "Don't just point and scream 'that'! Be more pacific."

Mom and Tot Olympics

2008-08-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

To celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Stroller Strides and My Gym hosted a Mom and Tot Olympics on 8/8/08! It was so much fun. We started with a flag march with all the kids and moms marching around the room and waving their ribbons. There were mom games - like a wall sit competition - and kid games. Everything from a baby crawl to a mom/child 3-legged race. Moms and kids both had a ball playing in the gym and competing for ribbons and prizes together.

Childhood obesity is a huge problem facing our children's generation. Exercising IN FRONT of your children like we do in Stroller Strides helps them learn by seeing what you do! No matter how much you "talk" health at home, kids actually seeing you be healthy makes much more of an impact. And exercise WITH your kids - like at the Mom and Tot Olympics - help them learn exercise doens't always have to be a "work"-out. Sometimes it is a "fun"-out!

Easy at-home activities to help you and your children get moving together:

Indoor volleyball game with balloons. Non-helium, of course. Add in a math challenge by counting how many times you can bounce it back and forth before it hits the ground.

Obstacle course. Use anything in your house you can find. Ex/ crawl over 3 sofa pillows, tiptoe around the coffee table, climb over an ottoman, walk across a balance beam (masking tape on the floor) etc!

Dance party. Turn your favorite kid music on and dance. Take turns with your child hitting the pause button and "freezing" your dance position in a funny pose!

Hula Hoop contest.

Nature/Treasure Walk. Walk around the block with your child and let her search for nature and treasure finds. One of the little joys of parenthood is letting your children show you the beauty in little things, like a white feather on the ground, that as adults we often miss.

Play games - Hulabaloo and Hyper Dash (both sold at Target) are two quick moving favorites with a preschool educational twist as well!

Follow the Leader. Walk like an elephant, hop like a frog, slither like a snake, gallop like a horse, march, walk like a robot, etc. all around your house. Let your child be the leader some too!

Penny Pick-up. Dump a bunch of pennies on the floor. Set 2 cups up far across the room. You and your child race to get the most pennies in your own cup within a set timelimit. To make it harder you can make a rule that you may only collect 1 penny each trip. Count the pennies when you are done. Kids love to time themselves too. My daughter, Claire, will do this multiple times just to try to get faster and beat her previous result! So get a stopwatch. And let your child time your performance too.

Laugh and have fun! If you smile and enjoy yourself, your children will too!

Metro Man

2008-08-06T14:44:00.007-04:00

I have a 5 1/2 year old daughter who developed her own fashion sense early. At first it had to be purple. Now pink is the color. I can buy adorable outfits but she will mix and match tops and bottoms to make her own. She is a girl. This is expected. I have learned not to shop without her for approval (or it will just sit collecting dust in the closet) and I just let her dress herself in the mornings.

But JT.....he is a boy. He is not even 2 yet. He is supposed to be easygoing and just allow me to put whatever I want on him. Well, he is turning into a little opinionated fashionista. His favorite shirt is his monkey shirt. It is really just a light blue t-shirt with a screen print monkey on it that his Cat bought him in St. John, but he has grown so tall this summer that now his belly hangs out. So now it is just a pajama shirt. But he loves that thing. Getting it off of him in the morning is torture. I will toss it in the dirty clothes and he will fish it out "monkey, peeeeze. Peeeeze mama. Peeeeze!" With the pleases escalating in urgency with each ask. Then he doesn't want just a plain red or blue shirt. Heaven forbid the seersucker shorts. It has to have something on it. A dog. A fish. A car. An alligator. A whale. A bear. He likes animals and cars. Even his diapers have cars on them (or fish for the pool) and he would rather pull his shorts off so he can see the diaper image than wear shorts!

JT also loves to watch me put on make-up and copy me. His favorites to use are the powder brush and the eyelash curler. And last week when Claire and I were having our "cure" day, he wanted his toes painted too. I managed to distract him with building blocks, but the painted toes are coming for sure.

He also loves to use the blow dryer. As soon as I mention shower he starts attempting to take his clothes off and runs screaming toward the shower saying "shou, shou!". Well, he used to love long showers playing with his car stick-on toys and rubber ducks, but now as soon as we are in the shower, he points to the water and demands "off". He pounds on the shower door " bow dry, bow dry, peeeeze." So, yes, all he really wants to do is blow dry his own hair. I think we need Ben to hang around the house more.

Splash Island

2008-08-04T13:25:00.005-04:00

I taught a Stroller Strides class out at Palmetto Islands County Park on Friday and then we all stayed at Splash Island for a playdate. It was the perfect day for splashing and swimming. JT is a wild little man and will approach any new challenge with gusto. No fear. Claire has grabbed this swimming bull by the horns and is getting braver and more confident in the water everyday. JT went down the baby slide about a million times. Claire got so brave that she went down the super slide - all by herself! She even is a confident enough swimmer to conquer the lazy river without a life jacket on. She was so proud! We had so much fun that we stayed for 4 hours!

Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world

2008-07-31T13:07:00.001-04:00

A month ago, Claire couldn't swim. Would not even allow her face to go underwater. Not only is she swimming like a fish now, she can also boogie board! How awesome is she! She paddles out, catches a wave and squeals with delight as she rides the wave in to the shore. She and Daddy even rode a few together and would high-5 each other at the crest of the wave. Truly awesome.

Beach Kid

2008-07-31T12:38:00.003-04:00

I remember going to the beach in the summers as a child and how much fun it was. I don't remember being too sandy or too hot or too tired. Nor do I remember cousins fighting over Fruit Roll-Ups (which my mom promised is true). I just remember the sunshine and the sand and the water. The non-stop playing outside all day long and the thill of outdoor showers. The BLT sandwiches, watermelons and ice cream. Collecting seashells and playing card games. Summer beach trips are part of my wonderful memories of the best of childhood.

Being on the parent side of that vacation is a new adventure. We spent last week at a wonderful rented beach house on the Isle of Palms. It was a 'stay'cation of sorts for us since we didn't really travel anywhere. But we did pack up and leave our own home to spend the week on the IOP, so it felt as separated as a beach a plane flight away.

We had an absolute ball. Claire made fast friends with her California cousin, Anna, and they were two peas in a pod all week long. Will rented a surf board and taught us all to surf. I even stood up on the board and really surfed. It was awesome and one of those things everyone must do before they die. Put it on your list! The adults had a 'Cousins Night Out' where we went to Fleet Landing for dinner and enjoyed rooftops drinks at Coconut Joe's late into the night. The weather was perfect and we took advantage of all that sunshine. I even taught a Stroller Strides class out on the sand. With up to 19 people in that house at any one time, we enjoyed each others company, got to know each other and each others children better and had lots of laughs!

But being a parent makes the vacation a little more work. Kids don't sleep late yet. Meals must be made. Lifeguarding in the ocean is a must. Showers must be forced upon sandy kids. Cousin squabbles must be officiated. Adult personalities must be blended into a harmonius large family unit. It had its challenges. But watching the kids laugh and play on the beach was so worth it all! And a glass of good Gaddy wine at night and all the adults laughed the night away too.

My kids won't remember any of that other filler either. They will just remember how awesome and fun it was to play at the beach on their summer vacation! Looking forward to doing it again next summer!

Water Day at Stroller Strides

2008-07-18T13:11:00.001-04:00

It is hot and humid this SC summer, so I decided to teach a Water Specialty Class for Stroller Strides. Instead of weight balls we used water balloons. For relay races we used buckets of water and big sponges. It was so much fun combining exercise with water play. It felt a lot less like a "work"-out and more like a "fun"-out! We all felt like kids at play - and had one of our biggest laughs at any class when Theresa busted a water balloon directly on herself when doing abs!

We ended up not popping all our water balloons during class, so Claire and I had a huge water balloon fight with the leftovers. I opened the water balloon fight up to everyone as optional, but no moms joined in right away. It wasn't a required part of class but just something fun if interested. Well, come to find out they weren't put off by a water balloon fight. They were just so thrilled watching how Claire and I played together. We were laughing and squealing and chasing each other until our stomachs hurt! And the moms were holding their infant daughters and envisioning their child growing up and playing fun games with them just like Claire and I were playing together. How sweet is that! As a mom you always try to make memories for your children. But in reality it is not the big grand gesture or activity. It is the small everyday laughter in a simple water balloon fight.

SHE CAN SWIM!

2008-07-14T13:28:00.003-04:00

At the beginning of the summer, Claire would not put her face underwater. Now she can swim like a beautiful little mermaid! She has even mastered getting toys off the bottom of the pool, a front flip underwater and a cannonball jump! In Morehead City she started practicing her dive! What an amazing improvement in one month! Yeah! We have a swimmer!

Beach Vacation

2008-07-14T13:05:00.008-04:00

Claire, JT and I traveled to NC to spend the week with family. We started off in Goldsboro visiting Mama and Frankie. Claire spent her days in Goldsboro at tennis camp learning to play!And Anne dropped in for a few days with baby Davis. He is really developing his adorable little personality! We had a ton of fun with him. Check out those eyelashes~

Then we headed to Morehead City for a long weekend at the beach. What a blast!

Family is the best!

Drive Drive

2008-07-14T12:31:00.006-04:00

One of JT's favorite things to do in the world is drive. He wants to sit in the front seat of my car - seatbelt and all - and turn that steering wheel while screaming "Drive! Drive!" Every button will be mashed. The wipers will whirr and the radio will get turned up. He especially likes to turn the heat on in the summertime as hot as it can blow. I even drove around town one hot sunny summer afternoon with my fog lights on because of his special button pushing talent. When it comes time to move on to a new activity he has a death grip on the steering wheel and will scream like I am torturing him! Well, in NC this past week on vacation he finally was tall enough to reach the gas pedal on the red jeep so he could really Drive-Drive. He can't steer but he doesn't care. He runs right into the pinestraw and his plea for help just means turn him around. Watch him go!

True Artist

2008-07-04T11:48:00.006-04:00

Claire has always loved art. Art is her thing! She even says when she grows up she wants to be an artist. Well, we spent all afternoon yesterday decorating both her bike and JT's car for the 4th of July neighborhood parade. With her new red and white striped dress on, she pedaled past the judges.....and WON! She was the big winner for the bike category. Awesome. She is very proud of her new ribbon that says "winner" and she is ready to go to Target to find her prize with her $10 gift card. Whooo hooo! Happy 4th of July!

Claire decorated JT's car too. He usually LOVES to drive-drive. But today with all the crowd he was a little hesitant to get in and join the parade. A little donut is all he needed to put this big smile on his face!

Reality of Home

2008-07-02T12:57:00.001-04:00

Some silly pics of the kids caught in real life action! If you notice Claire's clothes seem a little tight - they are! She is wearing JT's size 2T outfit. And little man J likes to climb in the sink and brush his teeth. Of course, they both like to talk on the phone!

I love the reality of home. Such a safe place to be yourself and be loved just the way you are. Whatever your weird quirks or silly habits, they are always welcome at home. And family just loves you more for them!

The Overflow of Hearts

2008-06-28T12:10:00.005-04:00

I am so amazed. I asked the Stroller Striders to donate childrens books. It was a simple request but you never know when you ask someone for donations if they are going to care about what you care about or not. And as confident as I can be in some areas of my life, asking others to help me is not one of them. Well, I am wowed! The Stroller Striders poured out a true overflow of support. We collected over 50 books yesterday with more coming! I am so blessed to know such wonderful women and mothers. THANK YOU ALL!

A little background - My Stroller Strides group tries to do some sort of community outreach each quarter. Even though as moms we all understand life is not all about "me" anymore, we can still fall into that trap that life is all about "us". So taking some time to care about our neighbors is so important to help make this a better world and to teach our children to love others as well.

Since we are all mostly full-time mothers, we dont have the time - or babysitters - to help build a Habitat for Humanity house. But I absolutely love what they do at Habitat and wanted to support them. So what we did was adopt a new Habitat family with preschool-aged children like us! We collected books for the 3-year old boy and 2-year old girl as well as handpainted them personalized bookshelves! Habitat for Humanity is helping them break out of poverty housing and build a new, safe home for them to raise their family. With a solid home foundation, our books will help the children now be raised on a strong eductional foundation as well. I couldn't be happier for them and thankful for the wonderful and generous Stroller Strides families who supported this project!

Amazing Personality

2008-06-20T10:25:00.000-04:00

JT has the most amazing, adorable personality! He goes as fast, fast, fast as possible all day without rest. Then bam! When he is asleep, he is asleep. I joke he has two speeds - on and off!

This month he is putting on other peoples shoes, wanting to sit on the potty (mostly so he can flush without being reprimanded), opening doors (even the ones with child locks on them), making animal noises and pointing out his favorite things in books (animals and cookies) and wakes up begging to go to the "poo-poo" aka the pool! He has learned some colors - his favorite is blue! And he still just chats up a storm. He will run in, tell you a huge, long gibberish story. Wait for your response and then toddle away satisfied. I am loving this stage! Can you believe he is almost 2?

A new PR.....

2008-06-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

Each month, Stroller Strides picks a run of the month to do as a group. Some months we have a ton of moms - the Cooper River Bridge Run - and some months noone is interested in spending their Saturday up early running a 5K.

This month our race was the Sullivan's Island 5K. It is a flat route through residential streets on the island, but it was hot. Southern humidity hot. Dead of August hot. In June. But my Stroller Striding mom, Amy, wanted to run and I was happy to join her.

We stretched out and were ready to go! I let Amy set the pace and we clocked 9:17 for the first mile. We ran steady and confident. It was a nice race. But what was even better was that Amy slammed her previous personal record by almost 5 minutes! She finished this 5K in 30:22! Setting a new PR is awesome. Helping a Stroller Stride mom set one is just as awesome as setting one myself. I was so thrilled!

Summertime Movies

2008-06-04T10:15:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh, the relaxing summertime movie. Claire LOVES all things Barbie - so we have watched a ton of Barbie and the Magic of the Rainbow, Barbie Swan Lake, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, etc. JT just hangs out for popcorn time!

Victory!!!!!

2008-06-02T10:32:00.000-04:00

Ben and I went on our first major vacation since JT was born and it was awesome! We cruised on the Carnival Victory and left out of the Port of Charleston. No airplanes needed! Each grandmother kept one child, so the kids were in capable hands. We had nothing to worry about and nothing to do for an entire week but lounge and eat and drink! It was amazing.

Ben and I played a lot of blackjack and I am proud to say, that I made it to the final table of a blackjack tournament. I was in third place in chips going into the final hand but I did not pull out the win. All I won was a size XXL t-shirt, but I am was so proud! It was awesome.

People either love or hate cruising. We thought it was great. We booked a balcony room and that was certainly the way to go. Sometimes you just need a private space to relax in. The buffet food was plentiful but, well, buffet food. But the dinners at night were wonderful.

We tried to gym it up to not gain too much weight.....running on a treadmill on a moving boat is a bit challenging. So we did exercise some....but gained weight more! Ready to get back to Stroller Striding!

Memorial Weekend in Morehead City

2008-05-26T10:40:00.000-04:00

Grandparents are the best! Here are Cat and Big with their 3 grandchildren -
Claire, 5
JT, 1 1/2
Davis, 7 months

Playin' in the Mud

2008-05-15T10:42:00.000-04:00

Playing in the mud sounds like something my little JT-man would like to do. But I have gotten some Stroller Striding moms together to for a Mud Run team. We are team Moms Rock and Run. Silly name but I can't help it. The race isn't until September so we have some time to psyche up for it. We will scaling walls, balancing over rivers, swimming through mud, carrying teammates over hills. It is going to be so messy we have to duct tape our shoes to our pants. Four miles of adventure. I can't wait!

Check out the website for details about the race!
http://www.usmcmudrun.net/

Backyard Fun

2008-04-27T21:22:00.001-04:00

We spent most of the beautiful 80 degree spring afternoon playing in the yard. JT and Claire both loved eating their popcicles. And they both cried when they dropped them. And they both got new popcicles.

Claire loves to do crazy tricks on the swings, and JT prefers the real swing to the baby swing. He is certainly our wild man. He only scraped up one knee playing today, so it was a good day for him.

Ballerina Star

2008-04-27T21:16:00.000-04:00

Today was the first of Claire's two ballet recitals. She is a china doll. Of course, we think she is the star of the show!

Spring has sprung

2008-04-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Claire is playing soccer now! She is so much fun to watch. She hustles on the field and prefers to play defense or goalie. Since her Houser Homes team seems to beat everyone else about 4-0 the goalie doesn't have a tough job! So she may practice a little ballet in the goal. Last week we watched her talking to herself just waiting patiently on the blue line for something to happen. And she definitely prefers to be in the game rather than on the sidelines.....

JT enjoys soccer....mostly for the snacks.

JT has been loving Claire's shoes.
And here is JT playing (aka drinking) in the water fountain at Marion Square.
This is Claire trying to fish (we only had LUNA bars for bait which fish don't care for by the way) at Brittlebank Park downtown Charleston after a Stroller Strides class.

Davis is Baptised

2008-04-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Davis and welcome to the household of God! Davis was baptised at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Goldsboro, NC on April 20!

Pictured: Mama, Andrew, Anne holding Davis, Big, Cat with Claire, and me holding JT.

Feeling Encouraged!

2008-04-18T14:15:00.000-04:00

I purchased Stroller Strides in October and have loved it. I love the moms. I love the workouts. I love being out with JT everyday in the awesome lowcountry. But running a business can be hard. It is hard not to take it personally when I have a no-show class, but I do understand that babies get sick and people go on vacations and errands need running. So I try to not to get discouraged by small classes. I really want Stroller Strides of Charleston to be the best fitness program for moms in the lowcountry! So classes don't have to be huge, they have to be good. But if they are good then more moms will come.......well, this month has been just awesome. I have taught HUGE classes and so encouraged! I am watching moms get healthy AND I have seen some great new friendships start to bloom. YEAH, Stroller Strides!

Trying to Get Organized.....

2008-04-18T14:09:00.000-04:00

Stroller Strides and LUNA Moms Clubs hosted Stacey Crew, author of The Get Organized Guide for New Moms to join us after class and help us get organized! She gave lots of helpful tips and inspiration. And you know what? That ever growing pile of paper stuff in my to-be-filed stack.....it is okay! It doesn't have to be perfectly filed away all the time. As long as it is out of my everyday sight (it is stacked on top of the file cabinet in the guest bedroom closet) and there is a plan and purpose for it than it is perfectly okay do get to it when I get to it! Nice to know! Moms beat ourselves up all the time to try to get everything done, everything clean and keep everyone happy in the process and it is just overwhelming. Simplify and spend time on the important stuff. I love that!

Cousin Davis

2008-04-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

Baby Cousin Davis came into town for his first Charleston visit on April 6! He is a chunky monkey and a ball of fun! This was our best attempt to get all 3 kids in a photo together. They loved each other though. Claire even crawled into Davis' crib to play with him when he was fussy!

Girls on the Run

2008-04-04T13:47:00.000-04:00

Claire ran her first race on Friday, April 4. She and her good pal, Delaney, ran 1/4 mile in the Cooper River Bridge Kids Run at Hampton Park. The weather was sunny and warm, and the girls ran as hard as their little legs could carry them! They were so proud to cross that finish line and they both received finishers medals! Think they will be the next US track and field sensations.....or maybe future Stroller Strides instructors!

They also rode a camel, danced with vegetables, climbed a tree, ate kettle corn, petted farm animals and won small candy and prizes....what a day!

MoM Strides

2008-03-19T07:55:00.000-04:00

Our first MoM Strides was held on March 18. My Stroller Strides group teamed up with Christy Schacte, owner of the MoM Spa, and created this free walking group, aptly called MoM Strides. It is so nice to just get out and walk and talk and just enjoy the spring in the lowcountry. Working out is fun, but hanging out is fun too.

Our goal was to get a group of women together to walk or jog the Cooper River Bridge monthly as well as participate as a team in local races. We wanted to help women and mothers focus on their own health and fitness as well as be a good role model of health for their children.

We had a great group of about 20 moms for the first walk. Some were Stroller Striders, some were from the MoM Spa and some were friends of those women. Some had strollers, some didn't. Some were runners and some were walkers. It doesn't matter what your age or speed, this is a group to enjoy the company of other women and to support each other in leading lives of health and fitness. I am looking forward to our next monthly bridge walk!

13.1

2008-02-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

When I agreed to run my first half marathon it was due a bit to peer pressure and a bit to get a Valentine's weekend away.....but once I started training I really got into it. There is something really peaceful about pounding the pavement for hours with no one to take care of but yourself. I had a really motivating training partner, Emily, and we followed a reasonable (well, to us 5:30 a.m. is reasonable to get running time kid-free) training schedule including speed work. We trained for the run 3 days a week and balancing that with my Stroller Strides workouts was nice cross training.

So, the run came and we were ready! We ran the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon this past Saturday, February 16. The start was 6:30 a.m. The weather was perfect. Cool but not cold. A little windy but nothing to complain about when you are running on Ocean Blvd! We ran the exact race we trained for and had energy to power through the finish. Now, we didn't set any world records or anything but just completing 13.1 miles without walking is very impressive to me! We finished in 2:12.23!

I think I am now addicted. I loved the run. I loved the sense of accomplishment. I loved the crowds and the excitement of the race. I am so excited to get to the next big race!

Now, my poor husband was ready to set a PR but he came down with THE dreaded stomach bug on Friday - the day before the race! This was the same bug the rest of us had a week prior. Poor guy was sick the entire race and really should have been in bed. He still beat my time even sick.....but he wasn't really healthy enough to run his best. On to the next race for him.

So, if you want to set a goal you think is HUGE, do it! It is an amazing feeling to work so hard for something and see yourself succeed.

http://www.mbmarathon.com/

My Superstar

2008-02-13T14:40:00.000-05:00

Here she is, hamming it up for the camera. And Mr. JT doing exactly what he does best.....

My kids are hilarious!

2008-01-14T13:56:00.001-05:00

I love it when they surprise me! I just never know what each new day will bring. Here are a selection of funny short videos of my kids being kids!

Video 1 - Do I Feed My Child? Just imagine how hard he had to work the get the box from the pantry and get it open this far....I wish I caught the whole thing on video! A determined little sucker!

Video 2 - 5 Going on 16! Cat and Big bought Claire her first car - a JEEP! Once she got reverse down she was too cool.

Video 3 - Merry Christmas! We were just having a ball!

Video 4 - JT invented this game and Claire is just joining in the fun!

Video 5 - Here Claire is learning to play tennis in her new pink tennis outfit with her new pink tennis racket. She has a better swing in later videos, but the posing for the camera and celebratory dance just capture her little personality perfectly!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-04T06:47:00.001-05:00

We are getting ready for Christmas.... Here is our Christmas card photo!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

2007-11-22T07:19:00.000-05:00

Go Elf Yourself

2007-11-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious! A little early for Christmas maybe....especially when it is 75 degrees outside....but who cares! Dance and laugh!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9549748151

We made the big committment......

2007-11-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

We did it! We finally agreed....and we did it!!! No, we are not having another baby. We are running in our first Half Marathon! Ben and I officially signed up for the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon for next February. I feel a little bit like I have just jumped off a building -- but we have time to train. And the weather is nice and cool. Thirteen miles.....uhhhh. I shudder to think of it. But we will train and be ready! I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN. And I know this will be so awesome for my almost 5-year old to watch. She will see her mom teaching Stroller Strides and then see me train and complete something as challenging as a 1/2 Marathon. I hope that shows my little girl that you can do anything you set your mind to. I am so excited. Terrified, but thrilled!

www.mbmarathon.com
www.strollerstrides.com

Now, I better go start making that grocery list to start cooking for Thanksgiving.....

Starting Stroller Strides

2007-11-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

So I have been the owner of Stroller Strides for one month now and it doesn't feel like a job at all! It totally is fun! The women are awesome (I already knew that, of course) but the business part is so exciting too. I am a nerd but I am loving learning quickbooks. And I was so proud when that big leather binder of checks came in the mail.....I felt like a little kid touching my dads checkbook! Right now I am focused on:

1. enjoying the moms in the program,

2. bringing in new moms and

3. planning my grand re-opening party in January.

We are going to have a Happy HEALTHY New Year Celebration Jan 9, with vendors covering skin care, childrens fitness, vitamins, nutrition, dental care, breast heath, etc! I think this will be awesome.

I called my friend and Stroller Strider, Robyn, last week and talked to her about helping with the new years party. She was so funny. She reminded me of the first day I came to Stroller Strides back in Jan 2007. I told everyone that I just wanted to hurry up and lose my baby weight so I could get pregnant again! Ha ha! Who would have that that not even a year later I am the new owner of Stroller Strides. And a true believer in total health. Not just the skinny "hot mom" mentality but focused on leading a healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. And leading others moms through this new maze of motherhood together. Life moves fast!

Praise Pals

2007-11-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Praise Pals started last week at St. Andrews and it was awesome! We had 18 kids ages 3-6 participate in worship through music and arts. Youth choir for the new millenium! Claire is dancing through the house singing the songs already. And we constantly have it in our cars. I had been listening to Top 40 lately but the lyrics have gotten so vulgar that I was worried to listen to it in front of my daughter. Even though she may not understand the words, "Smack That" was just plain awful for even me to listen to. So I am glad to turn off the radio and the commercials and tune into Praisen'tations. http://www.samp.cc

The Age of Technology

2007-11-12T20:41:00.000-05:00

I love the internet - email and ebay are awesome! But I do seem to be a bit behind in the rest of the computer technology world. So this is my first attempt at blogging....Last month I purchased the local Stroller Strides franchise so I "needed" a new laptop to help run the business part of it. And then, of course, if you have a laptop then you need a wireless connection. And here is where by computer technology fails. I can't seem to make the wireless thing work and all I do is connect on a neighbor "George"'s wireless which keeps booting me out every few minutes. So back to the desktop. Maybe I just need a blackberry. That would really be cool.