Planning a charity walk {Tackle it Tuesday}

Planning a charity walk is not something I've done before. In fact, I didn't want to do it!!  I kept checking to see if CASANA (Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America) had a walk scheduled for my area this summer, and alas no... I kept talking with Karen's SLP in Spokane hoping that maybe she would find someone (besides me) to organize one since we both thought it was a great idea (and since she isn't already busy enough), and again no...

As summer kept getting closer and the details were finalized for the intensive apraxia speech camp that will be in Spokane this summer, I decided that I'd better get it done if I wanted one to happen.  So, here I sit, finding myself trying to figure out what all needs to be done to plan the "Inland Northwest Washington Walk for Apraxia"!!

All I can say is "ACK!!" 

Re-committing to Healthy!

Last fall I finally got fed up with my post-baby body and my lack of commitment to changing it.  I continued to feel down about how I looked but also continued to make less than healthy choices with my eating.  So, I committed to making better choices.  I gave up soda.  I learned how to stop myself from going into the pantry for a couple of goldfish, or a dried mango, or having two cookies with the kids after lunch.  I made "friends" with more vegetables and started adding spinach and kale into my smoothies.  It was also the first time ever that I had eaten eggs but limited the amount of yolks (I would make a scramble with 1 whole egg and three additional egg whites)...

I also committed to changing my workout routine.  I did more cross-training and less straight running.  The running that I did do, I tried to do high intensity intervals - focusing less on distance and more on effective fat burning.

and ... it worked!  I got back down to my pre-baby weight (pre-baby as in pre-Karen!).  I was back into clothes that I hadn't been in for several years.  I still did not have quite the same shape (my middle still has quite a bit of stubborn "stuff" hanging on) but I was finally feeling comfortable in my own skin!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

A couple of weeks ago we had our spring parent-teacher conference for Karen.  We met with her preschool teacher, the kindergarten teacher, and her school SLP.  It was one of those proud Mama moments for me.  Carl & I got to sit there for an hour while all three talked about how sweet, hard-working, persistent, and amazing our daughter was. 

http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/7/714/1CWA000Z/posters/lila-rose-kennedy-dear-teacher.jpg

They all shared in the joy of the progress she's been making (especially evident in the last couple of months) with as much enthusiasm as Carl & I!!  I feel so very thankful for the area we live, the small school that allows such one-on-one interaction between Karen and her teachers and between me and her teachers.

Breaking the routine - enjoying spring!

I love those moments when you break out of your normal routine to do something and it becomes a magical time with your kids.   I tend to get into a rut and think that in order to do something with the kids like go to a park, feed the ducks, take a walk... I need x amount of time and x amount of planning.  As any of you know life often just gets in the way of things you "plan" to do...  Sometimes you have to quit thinking and just do! (ring a bell? I talked about this in January - finally walking my talk!)

Disneyland Final Day

If you are still with me, my hat goes off to you!! I know my recap has been a little (ok a lot) on the long winded side, but I want to remember our trip.  Hopefully this is something my girls will read years down the road and it will bring back some memories!

Friday started off with everyone in great spirits. We once again ate in our room and then headed out for an (relatively) early start.  We rode the monorail in and decided to go on Nemo's Submarine ride.  It was not a hit... Megan really, really doesn't like thinking she is under the sea... Karen didn't like the loud noises (but really enjoyed the Nemo, Marlin, Dori sightings along the way).  To make things up to the girls, we headed from there to a Small World and smiles abounded!!

Disneyland Day 4

Wednesday afternoon I had walked to a grocery store to get some infant Tylenol for Lauren's fever and also picked up some breakfast foods.  So Thursday, we were able to start our day cheaply with breakfast in our room!  Then we were off to California Adventure.  We had an early start this day, so we headed straight for Radiator Springs racers, but it was again too busy.  As it was on Tuesday, it was broken down and they weren't even giving out Fast Passes since they didn't know how long it would be down.  We stopped for a quick photo op with Lightening McQueen.  The girls didn't like his racing engine noise... can you tell?!

Disneyland Day 3

Wednesday we had a much better start to our day.  All three girls enjoyed their Mickey shaped waffles for breakfast and then we were off to Disneyland!

First stop - back to see if Tinkerbell was home.  We had better luck this morning.  The girls were incredibly cute - they were so excited while waiting in line and so shy once we got up to meet her.  You can tell by their postures standing with her how shy they were acting!  It was neat that they thought we all shrunk as we walked in and then got big again.  Megan kept talking about "remember when we got small and met Karen's Tink?" (Karen plays with a Tinkerbell toy at home and Megan has a Rosetta).

Disneyland Day 2

We decided that getting to the parks for the Magic Hour wasn't as important to us as letting our little ones sleep, so we had a slower start to our day on Tuesday.  It was about 9:30 when we rolled into California Adventure.  We immediately headed for Cars Land thinking we would get a fastpass for the Races ride.  Unfortunately, the ride was broken down and the lines were already incredibly long and fast passes were being given out for the evening!  We tried talking the kids into Mater's ride or Luigi's tires... but both were a resounding No!  After checking wait times, we headed over to Ariel's ride.  I made the mistake of forcing Megan to ride with me (it was a mermaid ride, how bad could it be?!)... well, besides being WAY TOO LOUD, Megan didn't like "being under the sea"... we were both glad when it was over!

Finally the recap! Disneyland Day 1

Okay... it's taken me a month to get to this!!  This will be a little shorter than I intended since it took me so long to get it together!!

We started breaking them into the idea that we were going on a trip about a week before we left.  Without even knowing what "going to Disneyland" really meant, they were excited!  Whenever we see the Disney castle that shows at the beginning of Disney movies, Megan would excitedly exclaim: "Mommy, is that Disneyland?!"

Returning soon...

... To my regular (uh, irregular) blogging schedule...

My house has been fighting colds for the past two weeks and I'm the latest victim. Hoping to get caught back up over the weekend!!

In the meantime... Thankful today for my kiddos (as I am every day) and wanted to share some pics from the last week.

Had a day out alone with Karen (RARELY happens anymore!!).  We enjoyed lunch at Arby's - she is eating her deconstructed sandwich...

Disneyland recap - Part 1

First, let me start off by saying:

First ever family vacation (not visiting other family) = PRICELESS MEMORIES!!

Grandparents that agree to tag along to help = LIFE SAVERS!

Disneyland with a tired 3 year old = ready to send her home on the next plane, um, I mean... 
awesome when we finally see a face other than this...

Disneyland with a 5 year old that was a trooper =  SUPER AWESOME!

Disneyland - the many faces of Megan

I was going through Disneyland photos last night so that I could finally get my recap done and came across a couple series of photos of Megan.  They made me laugh out loud.  She knew she was being photographed and went into "crazy" mode...

She is an absolute ham!  Her little (or large rather) personality seems like it can barely be contained in her little body sometimes! 

For your Friday entertainment, I present miss Megan!

2013 Ultimate Blog Party + Giveaway!

**************************UPDATE*********************************
The winner of my giveaway is Dee L - comment #8!
Dee - please contact me before Saturday, April 20th to claim you prize!

*******************************************************************

Today is a fun day - it is that day when, once again, 5 Minutes for Mom throws their massive Ultimate Blog Party!!  Each year they host a this "party" to introduce bloggers to other bloggers and have a grand time while doing it.  It is my third year participating and I've got my drink in hand, my feet up, and I am ready to party!!

If you are new to Musings of a Palouse Mom from the ultimate blog party, Welcome!  I am excited to get to know YOU and hope that you stick around and get to know me as well!  My name is Renee and here's a little info about me and my blog!

Carl & I have been married for almost 9 years!

We have three beautiful little girls - 

which is nothing short of a miracle
(the beginning of this story can be found here, here, and here)

What will you find on Musings? ... well, I would consider this a Mom blog that shares my journey of being a farmer's wife, a stay at home mom, a (trying to be) woman of faith, a fitness lover, and even at times a try to be cook...

Musings on country living:  I LOVE being a farmer's wife, even during the challenges of busy seasons where my husband is out the door at 5am and not home until after 9pm... I wanted this life from my childhood and never thought it possible until God brought Carl into my life!  I write about the our many adventures in our country life.

Musings on faith:  My faith and religion are EXTREMELY important to me.  I am so imperfect but am striving and struggling to raise my daughters to be servants of Christ who love Him with their whole hearts, souls, and mind.  I share my struggles and successes at keeping Him at the center of our lives.

Musings on family:  My family is everything to me.  Being a mom of three girls 5 and under is an amazing experience, often challenging, but always entertaining. :)  Our oldest has childhood apraxia of speech and is still largely non-verbal.  I share about our journey to giving her a voice.  Our middle suffered from VUR and had multiple hospital stays with kidney infections until it was fixed, I shared about that and now just share about her antics as a typical but EXTREMELY strong-willed three year old!!  Our baby, is just, well, our first typical baby.  For the most part you get cute photos of her!

Musings on fitness: I am the mom of three kids and still struggling to get my body back.  I managed to meet my goal this fall of shedding all the baby weight and am back into pre-pregnancy clothes!! My over-arching goal is simply to get back to being comfortable in my own skin again!  Running is usually my go-to exercise, but I also have been trying to mix it up more.  I write about my journey in juggling fitness with motherhood, injuries, and house projects!

Musings on food:  I love to cook, bake, can... pretty much anything in the kitchen I enjoy.  I'm not necessarily very good at it - some things turn out great, most things turn out ok, and a few things go straight into the garbage... I have a hard time following recipes to the letter which could explain some of my kitchen escapades!  I want to share more about my adventures in the kitchen!

In honor of 5 minute for Mom's 2013 Ultimate Blog Party, I am doing a giveaway from a good friend's Etsy shop - My Sweet Potato 3.  She makes custom crochet hats and photography props.

Follow along and leave a comment on this post to be entered to win:  One item of your choice up to $30!!

Giveaway Ends at midnight April 12th and a winner will be picked via random.org!

Click HERE to go back to the UBP13 Linky List!!!