Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Archives for December 2022

Seven Magical Years

We woke up early because we had a holiday party to attend for our neighborhood.

It was so cute, they had Santa, crafts, games, treats and elves reading stories. The kids loved it and loved seeing their friends.

Both kids loved giving letter they had written to Santa and visiting with him. We have visited Santa at this party every year except 2020 where we saw him socially distant outside.

2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021

The kids have never really been scared of Santa, but the Easter Bunny is a different story. I can’t believe we have already have had seven magical years of visiting Santa.

We did have to leave a little early to get to Emerald’s preschool holiday concrete.

I wasn’t sure how things would go since Emmy usually doesn’t like to preform in front of people. But she did great, sang and danced and seemed to have a great time.

I just love her so much and I am so happy that after three years of getting to do these kinds of things for Cannon that Emmy finally gets her turn. Also love her sequence skirt!

In the afternoon I had the important task of getting my hair done. I LOVE having my hair done I hate spending the time to do it. After that it was time at the bike park on Cannon’s new fat bike.

Must take advantage of these mild days and ice free trails.

Better Than Nothing + Before and After

The kids have been loving doing little brain breaks with YouTube kids exercise. It would be better outside. But sometimes it’s better than nothing!

Cannon was in need of a haircut so we ran out and got hime a trim.

A little before and after….

I had a doctors appointment in the afternoon so we just hung out and had pizza for dinner.

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Emmy’s Last Day

Emmy had her last day of school for the year.

She was SO excited that they got to wear PJs to school and knew exactly which ones she wanted.

We also made little Christmas gifts for her teachers.

All the surveys said that teachers really want gift cards for Christmas so that is what we got them! We added some candy to a little glass tree tumbler that I love and home made tags. Emmy loves her teachers and loved giving them gifts.

We spent the rest of the day running around picking up Cannon from school and listening to the Cinnamon Bear in the car.

I LOVE the Cinnamon Bear when I was a child and I was so excited when I found it as a podcast. You are supposed to listen to one chapter a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas eve. Sometimes we get behind and just double up when needed.

Other things we do daily until Christmas include:

Advent calendars for the kids. Last year we did Disney calendars since we were going to Disneyland for Christmas. This year they have Super Mario and Littlest Pet Shop. We are hoping to go to Super Mario land at Universal Hollywood when it opens 2023.

We read a chapter in How Winston Delivered Christmas every day, but we don’t always do the crafts they suggest as we just don’t have time.

The book is so beautiful!

And of course we do Elf on the Shelf everyday.

The magic of Christmas is so much fun to do with the kiddos.

Do you have any Christmas traditions you do everyday in December?

Because I Said I Would…

I have been trying to focus on my overall health more lately not just getting in running shape.

One way I am doing that is having Athletic Greens every day. The packaging is so good!

I have some travel packs but switched to the regular container with a scoop. It’s a lot less packaging but also has to be refrigerated. I am glad that I have the canister for at home and some travel packs for when we are on the road. We have lots of fun travel planned for 2023, more on that another day.

It was a beautiful day so we got out to play outside.

We also got a carwash while we were out, the kids are loving this Grinch Car Buddy.

The kids had broccoli cheddar soup for lunch, I love this easy lunch for them!

We had some school work to do before PE in the afternoon.

We choose swimming as our PE activity and enjoyed an empty pool!

Cannon is tall enough to go down the water slides on his own now so we can enjoy those when it’s just the three of us as well now.

After swimming the kids played while I ran on the treadmill. I really didn’t want to but I did, because I said I would.

Then it was the dinner/bed time hustle.

What is something you do even if you don’t want to because you said you would?

It’s That Time of Year….

I thought I would share some photos from my phone that show it’s that time of year….

It’s the time of year for holiday themed snacks.

And wearing Christmas outfits to school.

And for running outside while Cannon rides his bike.

It’s the time of year for asking for everything when we visit the store. Cannon has really gotten into Minecraft lately. I do think this bee is pretty cute.

It’s the time of year for researching spring marathons,

And finishing my run inside on the treadmill later in the day. My PT commented that I had the “old school” foot pod on my shoes. And it made me realize that I just kept using my foot pod when I got a new watch but I think I can just calibrate my watch without it. I just don’t seem update my tech very quickly, I will keep my phone, computer, watch often longer than I should.

Are you one to update your tech often?

What makes you know it’s that time of year?

Reset Day + Christmas Play Kitchen

We started our day with a little bit of school, it’s really fun to get to see Cannon’s progress in reading. The brain really is an amazing thing.

Emmy was excited about learning about telling time on an analogue clock, thanks to my brother for the cool Alexa enabled Mickey clock! Otherwise we wouldn’t have anything other than digital clocks.

For PE we went to do the timed mile run. The path around this lake is exactly a mile so it’s a fun place to go run.

It’s not flat but that’s okay, we just time it so we can see if we make progress as the year goes on. I was so impressed that both kids ran the entire way, and posted their fastest time yet. Most importantly they LOVED it and had fun the entire way. I hope exercise always feels like play to them!

We didn’t have much else exciting going on the rest of the day, just lots of cleaning and laundry. I used to think that we should get set up for the week over the weekend but that’s never how we do things. We squeeze as much fun and adventures into the weekend as possible and the house is always a wreck Monday morning. I have just accepted now that Mondays have to be my reset days to try to get things back in order as much as possible.

I also put together the kids’ Christmas play kitchen.

I think I might like this one as much as our Halloween one.

The elves got in on this one too.

Do you have a reset day?

Did you run the mile in school? I did and loved it!

A Day at Keystone Ski Resort

We woke up and got on the road to Keystone a little later than we would have liked.

The drive was really beautiful and I was grateful for our new snow tires. A lot of the parking was full by the time we got there (we should have left at least an hour earlier) but Keystone has great family parking and we got an awesome spot.

We took our time to figure out the lay of the village and picking up Emmy’s season pass. We rode the gondola up to the top to see the learning hill, ice fort and lodge. The fort was still being worked on but that will be fun for future trips.

The views from the top are incredible, Dillion Lake, Ten Mile Range and Breckenridge were all visible on this clear day.

Emmy really liked the hand warmers.

We met some friends that were up skiing as well for lunch and tried to learn as much from them as possible as they have been skiing with their kids for a few years now.

We grabbed our ski gear and went back up the gondola to try skiing for the first time. I have been skiing a few times as a teenager in Oregon but basically remember nothing, Cory has only ever been snow boarding so we were all learning together.

Our friends let us borrow their ski leash and this REALLY helped the kids feel confident and learn without sliding all the way down the mountain.

Emmy was scared to try but with the leash she loved it and can’t wait to go again.

Cannon could go without the leash but it was easier for him to learn technique with it so we will definitely be buying a couple of these.

The kids did great on the magic carpet as well, I on the other hand almost bit it getting off. I did better than I though I would and can’t wait to do longer runs.

The village was super cute and we had the best day, we can’t wait to learn more and see the other side of the resort, we only explored the River Run section today.

If you ski or snowboard where is your favorite resort? We are thinking we might need the full Epic Pass next year so we can visit many more of the resorts.

It Will Be There + First Timers

We finally got out on a family run this morning, it felt good to move our bodies.

I was supposed to go for an 8 mile long run today but I feel like if I did that I would use too much energy and I would get sicker instead of getting well. I am thinking of trying for my long run Monday morning but only if I am feeling much better. Keeping things really short and easy until then. The running will be there when I am ready.

We spent the day finishing our Christmas lights and prepping gear for our first time up on the mountain to go skiing. We are really excited.

Even our elves got in on the excitement and got bundled up to ride their miniature chair lift.

Dancing + Gingerbread + It Feels Good

Just a few updates from our Friday:

It rained outside for about 3 minutes (while it was sunny) so the kids had to go outside and dance, obviously. We spent the morning doing school and Cannon took his math final, he worked through the first grade curriculum really fast and aced his test. I am really proud of how hard he is working and the progress we are making. We need to think of something big to celebrate.

After lunch I did my PT and ran a little on the treadmill while the kids played.

Then the kids and I ran to the library to refresh our stash, I love Jan Brett books, and pick up a pizza for dinner.

Then we had a gingerbread house decorating party to go to.

It was nice to be out and see our friends again.

We are feeling better but still wore our masks because we are following the CDC guidelines, after this weekend we will back to normal.

After the kids went to bed our elves brought some play food to leave out for Santa. This little set is just the cutest and I can’t wait for the kids to see it!

What are you up to this weekend?

Currently – December 2022

Catching up on the last few days with some currently:

Currently enjoying some winter weather.

and had Humphry join us for some school.

and enjoying their friendship.

Currently way too much energy at bed time.

and excited about getting our epic passes,

And currently in a very messy eating stage for Emmy.

Currently living in fleece lined joggers and Ugg Slippers (floor mat from our play kitchen).

and enjoying the elves brining us advent calendars.

Cannon got a Mario calendar and Emmy got a Littlest Pet Shop. I used to LOVE Littlest pet shop when I was a kid! Anyone else play with LPS when they were little?

Currently running everyday in December, I am sure often with the kids in tow. Cannon is ahead of me on his bike. Emmy just wanted a ride in the stroller and it took me back to the days of tiny babies riding in the bob in their car seats.

running, stroller running, Mother Runner

Baby Cannon 2016

Currently doing nature study on winter ponds

And playing in icicle adorned playhouses.

And reading lots of books for gingerbread week.

What are you up to currently?

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