Nice Day for a Duck

It's another dreary day here on the Treasure Coast but we are counting our blessing that this is a tropical storm and not a hurricane.  My husband likes to say it's a nice day for a duck.  I'd have to agree.  The tornado warnings are a bit unsettling though.  At least in Indiana we had basements.  Here in Florida, I guess I'll be crawling in the kitchen cabinets if things get scary.  Wouldn't that be fun for the boys!

Speaking of the boys, I completely forgot to show off their cuteness on the rides at the mall yesterday.

Today started bright and early.  I actually did something I've been wanting to do for a while...I got up before everyone else in my household just for ME.  I know, it sounds crazy to get up when no one else is demanding my attention but I keep hearing this advice from other moms, and even from the Bible, (see Proverbs 31) so I decided to give it a try and I must say, it was quite nice.  I had my coffee and did some reading, greeted my husband, used the bathroom in peace, and then went to the gym.  What a nice way to start the day.  The boys were still sleeping when I left but they were awake when I got home.  They got to have some daddy time.  I think if I can get up a little earlier, I can still squeeze everything in before the boys get up so Daddy doesn't have to do the morning wake-up call all alone.  It's definitely something I'm going to be pursuing.  The only drawback is an earlier bed time but as they say...

I wouldn't mind being all of the above!  It's worth a try. 

This is week 2 of my half-marathon training plan and today called for cross training.  After alot of jumping around yesterday, I opted for the elliptical in order to give my legs a break from the pounding that running and plyometrics provide.  Don't worry though, I kept the intensity high by increasing the resistance or incline every 10th of a mile for a total of 5 miles.  My workout looked like this...

• Mile 1: from easy resistance, increase resistance every tenth of a mile
• Mile 2:  slightly decrease resistance and increase incline every tenth of mile
• Miles 3-4: from low resistance and flat incline, alternate between increasing resistance and incline every tenth of a mile
• Mile 5: alternate between decreasing resistance and lowering incline every tenth of a mile

I liked this pattern and the constant changing helped pass the time quickly...so did reading my book.  I'm about a tenth of the way into Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn and it is a page turner.  Anyone else out there read it? I'll let you know my overall opinion when I'm done with it.

When the boys got up from their nap, I had a smoothie waiting for them and couldn't wait for their feedback.  So far they've liked spinach in pancakes and muffins so today I decided to give it a try in their smoothies and it was a winner.  For those of you who have trouble getting your kiddos to eat greens, I seriously suggest you try it.  You can't even taste the spinach.  

I made two smoothies for them using:

• 1 Chobani champions yogurt
• 1 small banana
• 1 BIG handful of spinach
• 1/2 cup orange juice

They gulped them down.  This will definitely be a repeat on their menu.  Hopefully they like the spinach stuffed meatloaf we'll be eating for dinner tonight too.  I'll let you know.

Time to turn this cabin fever upside down with a little dance party and the best dance partners a girl could ask for.  Stay safe and dry...and don't forget to MOVE!