Tuesday 31 December 2013

Done and Done

It's 11:27 on New Years Eve and I am fairly certain I will not be running any more miles in 2013.  In fact, I am fairly certain that I will be lucky if I drag myself up to bed rather then falling asleep on the couch before midnight, seeing as I am already up 2 hours past my bedtime.  So given that the totals are in, this is how running went in 2013...

I raced:
-Around The Bay 30K (3:02ish)
-Ottawa Marathon-42.2K (3:48:17)
-Sears Great Canadian Run-50K (5:14ish)

My total mileage for the year was 1805 miles!

Leigh will be on soon to tell you all about his 2013 in running, and how he went out in style.

Happy New Year!

Monday 16 December 2013

You Got It


This commercial just came on the PVR'd Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer I was snuggled up watching with the boys.  Lucas immediately said, "Hey!  That's Sick Kids!" I tried to keep my tears as inconspicuous as possible, but the Daddy in the rocking chair with his baby sent me over the edge.  We sat with Cooper in one of those rockers for so many hours, his throbbing chest pressed up against us while he slept.

There are so many ways to give to Sick Kids, and what better time of year to do it.

This is the link to the Sick Kids Foundation website where you can find all the information you need to make a donation.

Get Better Gifts

Treasure Box Wish List

We will be going to Toronto for our annual Family Christmas date.  The boys will see Santa, we'll check out the Christmas windows at The Bay, and we'll go out for dinner like we do every year.  This year we will also make a stop at Sick Kids to drop off Treasure Box toy donations.  Lucas even used some of his own money to buy a cool Lego set for a kid who has to spend Christmas in the hospital.

I know that everyone's budgets are stretched this time of year, but I encourage you to give what you can.  If you would like to make a toy donation, but can't make it to Sick Kids we would be glad to add to the pile we will be bringing.  Just contact us so we can meet up (in Guelph, Georgetown, Brampton, and surrounding areas) to get your donations before we head to Sick Kids on Saturday.


Friday 13 December 2013

What a difference a year makes!

A year ago life looked something like this for us inside the walls of Sick Kids.  Twelve days before Christmas, and Christmas couldn't have been farther from our minds.  As you know Cooper, and our family were very well cared for at Sick Kids.

This is our spunky little boy now, you would never guess how he spent this day a year ago.  His scar has faded so much that people don't stare at swimming lessons anymore, he has shot up to the top of the height growth chart, and finally found his way to the 50% from his old place falling off the bottom of the weight chart.  We have been so blessed.


Wednesday 4 December 2013

The Polar Express Love Continues

Had a stroller run planned this morning, and woke up having a hankering to do a longish run.  We learned on the way to school that the sidewalks were VERY slippery, so Coopy and I headed to the trail by our old house, thinking that the crushed gravel surface on the trail would be less slippery...It was not.  Much of the trail was icy, but we still managed to make it work.  Cooper didn't make a peep the whole 10 miles.  I bundled him up in the stroller, turned the audio book of The Polar Express on my phone on repeat and tucked it in the inside pocket of the stroller and then pulled the stroller cover down, creating some pretty good surround sound for him.  Everyone was happy, he got to listen to Liam Neeson read his favourite story, and I got to run without having to answer the question, "what's for dinner mommy?" for 10 miles.
I know he looks miserable in this picture, but really he was happy and cheerful the whole run.  When we were done and I wanted to take his picture...Another story.  Maybe it's because I needed my phone (his story) to take the picture.
 On the way home we were passing a Tim Horton's and I was reminded of the Gingerbread White Hot Chocolate I had seen a sign for yesterday.  So we made a quick hot chocolate detour, and headed home.

Be smart and make your own hot chocolate detour.  The gingerbread white hot chocolate was amazing!    Dare I say (without Leigh asking for a divorce) that I think it's better then the salted caramel Starbucks hot chocolate, and it doesn't cost your first born to get it.  Going to check out Bulk Barn to see if they have the mix there...Though it could be a problem for me to have this stuff in the house all the time.

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Something remarkable happened!

A few times over the last couple of week Leigh and I have been able to run on weekday mornings, at the same time, without a babysitter!  For those of you with kids, you know that this truly is remarkable. No, we did not become neglectful parents and leave our sleeping rugrats home alone.  We got...
A $150 treadmill, second hand on Kijiji.  Not only does it make Leigh really fast (see how blurry he is...that's called speed, and a foggy iphone camera lens from my cold outside run), but it opens up a whole new world of possibility where we can both run while the boys are sleeping!  It is currently living in the garage because Leigh threw out his back the day after he picked it up, but it will soon have it's own little corner in the basement.

In other news, our house is buzzing with Christmas excitement.  Cooper has been obsessed with The Polar Express.  Both the book and movie are in heavy rotation.  It's going to blow his mind when he finds out I have the audio of the story on my phone for him!  When I asked him what he wants for Christmas, without hesitation he declared, "a bell."  He has held firm with that request.  Still 2 weeks later whenever we ask, he says he wants a bell.  It is the most darling, adorable thing I have ever heard. It helped me decide what I want for Christmas...For that sweet precious little boy to stay 3 years old forever.